Friday futures were fairly positive after major averages turned higher for the second time this week on Thursday. While it took nearly the entire trading session to finally turn positive, what pushed equities markets over the goal line was news that the Federal Reserve was growing much more hawkish on fighting inflation.

One of the biggest concerns of late has been the sheer speed of the yield increases, and that combined with the ongoing fighting in Ukraine and a rise in COVID-19 cases in China and the United Kingdom is contributing to more market headwinds.

On the other hand, one positive for investors is that oil was down big time, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closing under $100 in recent days. Gold has proven to be volatile recently as well, and when the market’s universal safety hedge and store of value is uncertain, that is 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 Friday, April 8, 2022.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and raised the $68 price target to $82. The consensus target is $86.75. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $86.10 a share.

AppFolio Inc. (NASDAQ: APPF): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the share to Overweight from Sector Weight and has a $143 price target. The consensus target is $117.67, and Thursday’s closing share price was $111.01.

ArcBest Corp. (NASDAQ: ARCB): BofA Securities downgraded it from Buy to Neutral with a $76 price target. The consensus target is $125.22. The final trade Thursday was reported at $70.88.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (NYSE: CP): The BofA Securities downgrade was from Buy to Neutral with an $81 price target. The consensus target is $83.13. Thursday’s close was at $76.32 a share.
Centennial Resource Development Inc. (NASDAQ: CDEV): Zacks has named this as its Bull of the Day stock, with the analyst pointing out that this energy play is powering to multiyear highs. Shares last closed at $8.97 and have a consensus price target of $10.00, which would be a 52-week high.

Cooper Companies Inc. (NYSE: COO): Needham initiated coverage with a Hold rating. The consensus target is $477.58. The stock closed Thursday at $415.98.

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the $190 price target to $160. The consensus target is $192.00. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $154.43.

FTC Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FTCI): Piper Sandler’s downgrade was to Neutral from Overweight, and it cut the price target to $4 from $9. The consensus target is $7.63. The shares ended Thursday’s session at $4.62.

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ): UBS downgraded the share to Neutral from Buy and has a $40 price target. The consensus target is $37.20, and the stock closed on Thursday at $40.06.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT): UBS upgraded it to Buy from Neutral and cut the price target to $95 from $107. The consensus target is $106.64 and shares last closed at $71.52 apiece.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR): BofA Securities lifted its Neutral rating to Buy and raised the price target to $75 from $61. The consensus target is $52.00. Thursday’s close at $59.88 was up close to 2% for the day.

Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and raised the price target to $65 from $62. The stock has traded as high as $79.45 a share in the past year but closed most recently at $64.87.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE: PAGS): Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $25 price target. The consensus target is $31.38. The stock closed at $18.98 on Thursday.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG): Raymond James started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $175 price target. The consensus target is $164.77, and shares were last seen trading at $158.86.

Rackspace Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RXT): Oppenheimer’s downgrade was to Perform from Outperform. The consensus target is $15.28. The last trade Thursday was for $10.95.

Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $125 price target. The consensus target is $109.29. The closing share price on Thursday was $100.98.
Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Sell from Neutral included a price target cut to $13 from $15. The consensus target is $17.15. The stock retreated over 3% on Thursday to close at $12.07.

Schneider National Inc. (NYSE: SNDR): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy and has a $23 price target. The consensus target is up at $30.38. The stock closed on Thursday at $22.04.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE): Cantor Fitzgerald started it at Overweight with a $15 price target. The consensus target is higher at $18.80. Thursday’s $11.25 close was down almost 2% for the day.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): Gordon Haskett upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and raised the $255 price target to $300. The consensus target is up at $275.87. The stock closed on Thursday at $228.19.

Terex Corp. (NYSE: TEX): Robert Baird downgraded it from Outperform to Neutral with a $44 price target. The consensus target is $55.86. The last trade Thursday was for $33.44 a share.

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and have a $258 price target. Shares close at $244.86 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $195.68 to $278.94.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS): BofA Securities downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and has a $204 price target. Shares last closed at $192.70, and the consensus target price is $243.00.

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Institutional interest in five top stocks has grown. They all pay solid and dependable dividends and have support from some of the top Wall Street firms, making them excellent ideas for what could be a turbulent rest of 2022.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Analog Devices, Eli Lilly, Fastenal, Global Payments, Keurig Dr Pepper, Lululemon Athletica, Merck, Occidental Petroleum, Rivian Automotive and Stanley Black & Decker. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Blackstone, Ford, Rite Aid and more.

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