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Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Block, Caterpillar, Home Depot, Salesforce, Target, Toast, Under Armour and More
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The futures were lower again on Thursday, after yet another demoralizing day across Wall Street Wednesday in which all the major indexes were shredded, as were the transports and even the utilities. As usual, one of the biggest concerns remains spiraling inflation. It manifested in a big way when big-box retailer Target posted horrible quarterly results and cited rising costs as a big reason for gross margin compression. The shares were hammered, closing down 25% on the day.
Safe-haven buyers came back to the Treasury market, as yields were down across the curve. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower on the day, and natural gas closed flat. Gold was modestly higher, while Bitcoin was rocked again, closing down almost 4%.
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, May 19, 2022.
Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the shares but cut the $216 target price to $170. The consensus target is $232.94. The shares closed down almost 7% on Wednesday at $101.63.
Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Baird has designated the Outperform-rated stock as a new member of the firm’s Fresh Picks list of top stock ideas. The $120 target price is much lower than the $156.57 consensus target. The stock closed over 3% lower on Wednesday at $82.06.
Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH): Evercore ISI’s upgrade to Outperform from Inline included a price target hike to $68 from $55. The consensus target is $59.77. Wednesday’s close was at $55.68.
24/7 Wall St.Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the construction equipment heavyweight and has a $280 price objective. The $235.12 consensus target is closer to Wednesday’s close at $207.94.
Century Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ: CENX): Wolfe Research downgraded the shares to Peer Perform from Outperform, and it sliced the $30 price target to $14. The consensus target is $28.00 for now. The shares closed over 16% lower on Wednesday at $11.54.
Doximity Inc. (NYSE: DOCS): Baird kept an Outperform rating on the shares but slashed the $68 target price to $45 after the company posted solid results but the forward guidance was far less than expected. The consensus target is $66.77 for now. The stock down over 10% on Wednesday to $30.31.
Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): Argus upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy with a $22 price target. The shares have traded as high as $19.50 in the past year but ended Wednesday at $16.23, down over 3% for the day.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the retail giant and has a $356 price target. The consensus target is $368.04. The stock closed over 5% lower on Wednesday at $285.18.
IHS Holding Ltd. (NYSE: IHS): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but trimmed the $20 target price to $18. The consensus target is $20.80. The stock was one of the few winners Wednesday, closing up nearly 2% at $11.21.
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLU): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $17 price target after the company bucked the retail trend and posted incredible results. The consensus target is $17.14. The stock closed Wednesday at $11.55, which was up 15% for the day.
Oxford Industries Inc. (NYSE: OXM): Zacks named this the Bull of the Day stock. The analyst points out that the apparel maker’s strong balance sheet helped it boost its dividend payout. The shares last closed at $83.67, and the consensus price target is $113.25.
24/7 Wall St.Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK): Its Bear of the Day is caught up in the ongoing supply chain logjam that is making its way through every corner of the economy, says Zacks. Shares have traded as high as $354.99 in the past year but closed most recently at $195.40, after hitting a 52-week low on Wednesday.
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Roth Capital raised the shares to Buy from Neutral and has a $242 target price. The consensus target is up at $287.46. The shares closed almost 4% lower on Wednesday at $157.41.
Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): Stifel maintained a Buy rating but cut the $160 price target to $115. The consensus target is $200.99 for now. The shares were last seen Wednesday at $74.20, down over 7% after the company posted a first-quarter loss.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $600 price target. The consensus target is up at $657.60. The stock closed almost 5% lower on Wednesday at $412.25.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): Truist Financial jumped on the bandwagon and downgraded the retailer from Buy to Hold with a $261 target price. Stifel also downgraded the shares, to Hold from Buy, and cut its price target to $185 from $270. The consensus target is $273.93 for now. The shares closed a dumpster fire day at $161.71, down a remarkable 25%.
Toast Inc. (NYSE: TOST): Goldman Sachs lowered its target price on the Neutral-rated shares to $18 from $22. The consensus target is $24.31. Wednesday’s closing share price was $13.21.
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA): Morgan Stanley lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and trimmed the $14 price target to $11. The consensus target is $18.18. The stock closed down almost 8% on Wednesday at $10.53.
Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR): Credit Suisse’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral included a target price hike to $63 from $53. The consensus is in line at $63.39. The last trade for Wednesday was filled at $56.28.
VSE Corp. (NASDAQ: VSEC): When RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform, it also slashed the $65 target price to $48. The consensus target is $64.83 for now. The stock closed down over 7% on Wednesday at $37.82.
Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the popular restaurant stock and has a $120 price target. The consensus target is $119.32. The $72.54 a share close on Wednesday was down over 8% on the day.
Worried investors looking to weather a potential recession may want to consider six top stocks, including Bank of America and PepsiCo, that are Buy-rated at Goldman Sachs and come with dependable and seemingly secure dividends.
Seven REITs have paid big dividends for the past year and are expected to continue paying big dividends. And Goldman Sachs gets picky about financial services stocks.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Home Depot, Intuitive Surgical, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Monster Beverage, Penn National Gaming, Shoals Technologies, Starbucks, Take-Two Interactive Software, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Workday. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Canadian National Railway, Carrier Global, Century Aluminum, Expedia, Ginkgo Bioworks, U.S. Foods, Visa, Welltower and more.
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