The futures were mixed on Thursday, after another big risk-off day on Wall Street in which the culprit remained the same. Soaring interest rates were cited again as the impetus behind all the major indexes closing lower for the second straight day. Yields did not surge as much as on Tuesday, but the five-, 10- and 30-year treasury debt all ended at 52-week high yields. The biggest concern has been the sheer speed of the yield increases, and that combined with the ongoing fighting in Ukraine and a pick-up in COVID-19 cases in China and the United Kingdom, added to the dour mood on the street.
One positive for investors is that oil was down big time, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closing down over 4%. Gold closed modestly higher, while the only equity indexes closing in the green were utilities and REITs, a sure sign that investors are nervous.
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 Thursday, April 7, 2022.
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Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI | AYI Price Prediction): Baird lowered its $230 price target on the Outperform-rated stock to $210. The consensus target is $229.88. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $168.01 a share.
Allegion PLC (NYSE: ALLE): Goldman Sachs lowered the $153 price target on the Buy-rated stock to $137. The consensus target is $140.77, and Wednesday’s closing share price was $106.97.
Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has a $200 price objective. The consensus target is $187.87. The final trade Wednesday was reported at $163.75.
Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $210 target price. The consensus target for the chip giant is $204.83. Wednesday’s close was at $160.28 a share.
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Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of the pharmaceutical heavyweight with an Overweight rating. It also raised the $265 target to $364 and called the stock a top pick for 2022. The consensus target is $290.43. The stock popped almost 5% on Wednesday to close at $305.84.
Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $66 target price. The consensus target is $59.63. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $59.73.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): Stephens started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $170 target price. The consensus target is $187.41. The shares ended Wednesday’s session at $138.90.
Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN): Jefferies kept a Buy rating on the chemical leader and has a $49 target price. The consensus target is $46.56. The stock retreated almost 4% on Wednesday to close at $34.70.
ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT): Goldman Sachs lowered its price target to $110 but maintained a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $108.00, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $72.43.
Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT): Goldman Sachs lowered the $33 target price to $29 while maintaining a Sell rating. The consensus target is $37.38 and shares last closed at $26.25 apiece.
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ: KDP): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on the beverage giant and has a $44 target price. The consensus target is $40.00. Wednesday’s close at $37.83 was up close to 3% for the day.
Lands’ End Inc. (NASDAQ: LE): Zacks has selected this stock as its Bear of the Day, citing the persisting supply chain challenges in retail. The stock has traded as high as $44.40 a share in the past year but closed most recently at $15.99, which is down more than 18% year to date.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy, and the $150 price objective went to $195. The consensus target is $181.13. The stock closed at $130.85 on Wednesday.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the yoga and athletic apparel heavyweight, and the firm has a $450 target price. That compares with the lower $427.57 consensus target and Wednesday’s final print of $371.83.
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Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of the pharmaceutical leader with an Equal Weight rating and an $80 target price. The consensus target is $92.38, and shares were last seen trading at $84.97.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY): Stifel started coverage with a Buy rating and an $84 price objective. The consensus target is $59.80. The closing share price on Wednesday was $56.10.
QualTek Services Inc. (NASDAQ: QTEK): Oppenheimer started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $7 target price. The consensus target is $8.00. The last trade Wednesday was for $2.80, after an almost 4% gain on the day.
Quanta Service Inc. (NYSE: PWR): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $129 target price. The consensus target is up at $135.69. The stock closed on Wednesday at $129.41.
Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the fast-growing electric vehicle maker’s shares and has an $84 price objective. The consensus target is higher at $87.69. Wednesday’s $40.10 close was down almost 5% for the day.
Sage Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and has a $74 target price. The consensus target is just $61.90. The last trade Wednesday was for $37.49 a share.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK): Goldman Sachs maintained a Neutral rating on the popular power tool company and lowered the $184 target price to $160. The consensus target is up at $206.92. The stock closed on Wednesday at $139.75.
Trane Technologies PLC (NYSE: TT): Goldman Sachs cut the price target to $157 from $180 and kept a Neutral rating. Shares close at $151.99 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $142.53 to $207.06.
Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: XHR): Luxury travel is red hot in 2022, says Zacks, which named this real estate investment trust as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $18.40, and the consensus target price of $21.33 would be a 52-week high.
Yeti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI): Though Berenberg upgraded the popular cooler giant to Buy from Hold, it lowered the $103 target price to $92. The consensus target is $91.82. The shares closed Wednesday at $54.96, which was down almost 8% on the day. They reclaimed over 4% in the premarket session.
Zeta Global Holding Corp. (NYSE: ZETA): Oppenheimer started coverage with a Perform rating and a $20 target price. The consensus target is just $13.50. The shares were last seen on Wednesday at $12.10, but the stock was up almost 4% in premarket action.
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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Block, Boeing, Cemex, Constellation Brands, FirstEnergy, Freeport-McMoRan, GoodRx, Hasbro, Kosmos Energy, PayPal, Shopify, Starbucks, Toast and Williams-Sonoma. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AbbVie, Bristol-Myers, JetBlue and more.
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