The futures traded lower on Wednesday, after a solid bounce-back risk-on rally Tuesday that came on the heels of a Monday sell-off that was ignited after some bearish and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Powell regarding the potential for bigger interest rate hikes in the federal funds rate.

Goldman Sachs weighed in late Monday with the idea that the next two rate hikes in May and June could both be 50 basis points instead of the expected 25 basis points. Crude oil prices dropped some after a big jump Monday, which likely contributed to the positive tone Tuesday.

All the major indexes and the transports closed higher, but the sellers returned to Treasury securities as the five-year and 10-year notes and the 30-year bond all closed with yields at 52-week highs. Gold, which has traded down almost 7% since early March, once again closed down for the day.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen across Wall Street on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

AES Corp. (NYSE: AES): Citigroup started coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $27 price objective. The consensus target is $28.67. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $23.72.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and a $200 price target. The consensus target for the financial services heavyweight is $199.83. The shares closed on Tuesday at $200.

Aris Water Solutions Inc. (NYSE: ARIS): Stifel raised its $18 price target to $22 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $19.45, and the stock closed at $18.45 on Tuesday.

Baker Hughes Co. (NASDAQ: BKR): Goldman Sachs removed the stock from the Conviction List but maintained a Buy rating with a $41 price target. The consensus target is $34.45. The shares closed on Tuesday at $36.54.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): This discount store operator was selected as the Bear of the Day at Zacks, with the analyst pointing out that earnings are moving in the wrong direction for long-term investors. The stock has traded as high as $73.23 in the past year but closed most recently at $38.70, which is down about 14% year to date.
BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA): Goldman Sachs lowered the $47 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $42. The consensus target is $52.06. The last trade Tuesday was reported at $38.45.

Coupang Inc. (NYSE: CPNG): Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. The 52-week trading range is a wide $15.27 to $50.50, and the consensus price objective is $29.90. The last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $19.70, which was up close to 5% for the day.

CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $90.50 price objective, while the consensus target is $89.53. The stock closed on Tuesday at $90.28.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares of the restaurant giant, and the firm has a $160 target price. The consensus target is $163.02. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $132.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK): Citigroup started coverage on the utility giant with a Buy rating and a $120 price target. The consensus target is $108.62. The closing share price on Tuesday was $106.19.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy and has a $128 target. The consensus price objective is $131. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $130.53. As shares are trading just below the 52-week high, this looks like a valuation call.

HireRight Holdings Corp. (NYSE: HRT): Baird maintained an Outperform rating but trimmed the $26 target price to $23. The consensus target is $24.71. The stock closed Tuesday at $15.54, up a stunning 24% after posting very strong results.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the athletic shoe and apparel giant, but the firm lowered the $192 target price to $165. Stifel kept a Buy rating and has a $160 target price. The consensus target is $168.24, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $133.09.

Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): The Truist Securities downgrade was to Hold from Buy. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $143.30 to $287.44, and they have a $243.11 consensus target. The stock closed down just under 2% on Tuesday after reporting a possible digital breach of its data.

Plains All-American Pipeline L.P. (NASDAQ: PAA): Goldman Sachs trimmed the price target to $15 from $17 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $13.64. The stock closed on Tuesday at $10.71.
Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG): Citigroup started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $69 target price. The consensus target is higher at $72.38. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $67.10.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY): Bernstein raised the top European carrier from Market Perform to Outperform with a $107 target price. The consensus target is $127.20. The last trade on Tuesday was for $86.86 a share.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB): Goldman Sachs added the oil services giant to the firm’s Conviction List and kept a Buy rating on the stock with a $51 price target. The stock hit a 52-week high of $46.27 earlier this month and closed most recently at $41.21 a share.

Target Hospitality Corp. (NASDAQ: TH): Travelers have been on the move again and looking for places to stay, says Zacks, which named this specialty rental and hospitality services provider as the Bull of the Day stock. The shares last closed at $5.48, and the consensus target price is $6.67, which would be a 52-week high.

Visteon Corp. (NASDAQ: VC): Goldman Sachs cut its $156 target price to $138 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $130.29. The final trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $107.86.

Wallbox N.V. (NYSE: WBX): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and has a $29 target price, after the company posted solid fourth-quarter revenue. The consensus target is lower at $25.33. Tuesday’s closing share price was $13.73.

Moving capital to hard assets now makes a ton of sense, especially for growth and income inventors who are underweighted on real estate, one of the best assets out there. Five top real estate investment trusts offer shareholders a generous payout each month rather than quarterly.

See what lit a fire under Chinese tech stocks on Tuesday.

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Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Accenture, Altria, American Airlines, APA, Bumble, Chevron, Datadog, General Motors, Mastercard, Pinduoduo, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tesla, Toast and TotalEnergies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Canopy Growth, ContextLogic, Cronos, Ecolab, Keurig Dr Pepper, LyondellBasell Industries, Procter & Gamble, Phillip Morris International, Sherwin-Williams and more.

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