The futures were higher Friday, as the rollercoaster stock market continues. All the major indexes closed higher on Thursday, as did the transports. Investors cheered the lowest claims for unemployment benefits in 50 years. This and the concerns over wage inflation brought the sellers back to the Treasury market, as yields across the curve rose modestly yet again. The benchmark 30-year bond closed flat at a 2.51% yield, the highest since the summer of 2019. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed lower, after a wild week, while gold closed almost 1% higher on 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 on Friday, March 25, 2022.
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Ameresco Inc. (NYSE: AMRC): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $73 price target. Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on the stock and lifted the $80 target price to $90. The consensus target is $78.92. The final trade for Thursday came in at $83.41, almost 9% higher after a positive investors day.
Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ARCO): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, and it raised the $7.80 target price to $10. The consensus target is $8.09. The stock, which has been one of our featured top stocks to buy under $10, closed Thursday at $7.83.
Avery Dennison Corp. (NYSE: AVY | AVY Price Prediction): Truist Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $227 target price. The consensus target is $231.36. The stock closed at $166.82 on Thursday.
Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $285 price target on shares of the biotech heavyweight. The consensus target is $252.62. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $213.01.
Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and boosted the $430 target price to $458. The consensus target is $450.70. The shares were last seen Thursday at $410.41.
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Clear Secure Inc. (NYSE: YOU): Goldman Sachs cut its $37 price target to $32 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $34. The stock closed Thursday at $23.93, which was down almost 6% for the day.
Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $63.07 to $102.09 and has a $105.92 consensus price objective. The shares closed on Thursday at $94.04.
Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): Zacks named this as the Bull of the Day stock, citing a record dividend and calling the shares still dirt cheap. The stock most recently closed at $61.54 and has a consensus price target of $63.83, which would be a 52-week high.
First Watch Restaurant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FWRG): Goldman Sachs trimmed the price target on the Buy-rated shares to $22 from $25. The consensus target is $22.10. The shares were last seen Thursday at $12.83.
Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): The BofA Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $355 from $385. The consensus target for shares of the cybersecurity heavyweight is $361.37. They closed on Thursday at $33.71, up almost 5% on the day. As the stock is trading near a 52-week high after a huge run, this could be a valuation call.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Jefferies reiterated a Franchise Pick Buy rating on the shares and has a $60 target price. The consensus target is just $46.70. The closing share price on Thursday was more than 3% higher to $51.45.
HIVE Blockchain Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: HIVE): Truist Securities began coverage with a Buy rating and a $3.75 target price. The shares have traded as high as $5.60 in the past year but closed on Thursday at $2.17.
Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H): Zacks wonders if all the good travel news already priced in and selected this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $108.10 in the past year but last closed at $95.06.
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Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN): Rosenblatt started coverage with a Buy rating. Its $12 price target compares with a $10.10 consensus target. The stock popped over 4% on Thursday to close at $8.58.
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): RBC Capital Markets started coverage of the robotic surgery giant with an Outperform rating and a $340 target price. The consensus target is $336.18. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $281.08.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the homebuilder but dropped the $64 price target to $55, which is less than the $57.15 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $34.38, down almost 5% after earnings fell short of expectations.
Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI): China Renaissance started coverage with a Buy rating and a $37.20 target price. The consensus target is up at $41.98. The last trade on Thursday came in at $27.86.
Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE): Rosenblatt resumed coverage with a Buy rating but lowered the target price to $115 from $125. That is almost in line with the $115.92 consensus target. Thursday’s closing trade of $97.85 was up almost 5% on the day.
Maxar Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MAXR): Baird reiterated that the stock is one of its top picks, with an Outperform rating, and it raised the price target to $52. The consensus target is $42.14. The final trade on Thursday was up over 4% on the day to $38.62.
Petco Health and Witness Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating, and the firm has a $26 price target. Baird has an Outperform rating with a $25 target price. The consensus target is $24.91. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $19.81.
Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST): When Truist Securities downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy, it slashed the $120 target to $70. The consensus target is $113.56 for now. Thursday’s close was at $64.78 a share.
Sonendo Inc. (NASDAQ: SONX): Goldman Sachs cut the $30 price target to $10 but kept a Buy rating. For now, the consensus target is $16.98. The shares closed Thursday at $4.61, down almost 16% after disappointing results.
S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI): Credit Suisse resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $495 target price. The consensus target is $481.27. The last trade on Thursday came in at $407.67.
Terex Corp. (NYSE: TEX): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $60 target price. The consensus target is $56.71. The stock closed at $37.77 on Thursday.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating. Its $305 target price is well above the $273.14 consensus target. Thursday’s close was at $251.70.
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Eight analyst favorite stock picks look like excellent ideas for growth and income investors looking to reset portfolios for the rest of the year. The companies pay solid and dependable dividends and are positioned to thrive from the current inflationary environment.
Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Carnival, Hyatt Hotels, Nio, Nvidia, RealReal, Starbucks, Tyson Foods and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Alcoa, British American Tobacco, Capital One Financial, EOG Resources, Johnson Controls, Traeger, Transocean, Vale and more.
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