Investing

Monday Afternoon's Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Southwest Air, United Airlines, Wells Fargo and More

Bet_Noire / Getty Images

Markets kicked off the New Year with a bang, each of the major averages was posting a solid gain for the day. Typically the first trading week of the year is fairly positive. Over the past 13 years, the S&P 500 has ended this week on a positive note 12 times. Investors are also looking forward to Friday to see how December’s employment report will shake out in the midst of the new Omicron variant.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Monday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Exxon, Hilton, McDonald’s Nike, PayPal, Peloton and more.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to an Overweight rating from Neutral and raised the price target to $208 from $181. Shares were trading around $170 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $208.20.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Deutsche Bank upgraded it to Buy from Hold and has a $285 price target. The 52-week trading range is $154.84 to $255.79, and shares were last seen trading near $255.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR): Wolfe Research’s downgrade was to Underperform from Peer Perform, and the firm cut the price target to $621 from $712. Shares were trading around $642 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $771.61.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): The MKM Partners downgrade was from Neutral to Sell with a $13 price target. The 52-week range is $12.86 to $21.96, and shares were trading near $14 apiece.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC): The Barclays upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight included a price target hike to $250 from $220. Shares were trading around $205 on Monday. The 52-week range is $141.60 to $217.60.

Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT): Wedbush raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and has a $14 price target. Shares were trading around $14 on Monday. The 52-week range is $13.84 to $43.00.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut its $135 price target to $120. Shares were trading around $114 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $137.97.

Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): Though BofA Securities upgraded it to Buy from Neutral, the analyst cut the price target to $287 from $385. Shares were trading around $226 on Monday, and the 52-week trading range is $189.61 to $372.70.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV): MKM Partners downgraded it from Buy to Neutral with a $45 price target. Shares were trading around $43 on Monday, and the 52-week trading range is $38.66 to $64.75.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE): The MKM Partners downgrade was to Neutral from Buy, and the firm has a $25 price target. The 52-week trading range is $19.52 to $40.77, and shares were last seen trading near $22.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL): MKM Partners raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $54 price target. Shares were trading around $45 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $59.56.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB): Barclays downgraded to an Equal Weight rating from Overweight with a $68 price target. The 52-week trading range is $42.47 to $63.01, and shares were trading near $57.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): Barclays upgraded to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight with a $68 price target. The 52-week range is $29.40 to $52.57, and shares were trading near $49 apiece.


For investors looking to start 2022 with big dividends and inflation protection, five top real estate investment trusts offer dependable distributions above 4.5% and are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms.

And check out the 2022 Dogs of the Dow.

The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)

The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

 

Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

1 https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.