The futures traded higher Wednesday, after a brutal start to the holiday-shortened week, as all the major indexes closed lower to end May. Needless to say, after the massive rally late last week, much of the selling can be attributed to traders taking profits after the big move higher. The ongoing worries over inflation were exacerbated Tuesday after the European Union agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude spiked higher on the news initially, before closing mixed, and beleaguered motorists returning from Memorial Day holiday trips averaged a stunning $4.62 per gallon at the pump last weekend. That price will be going higher, and possibly much higher, in the near term. Natural gas closed lower by almost 6%, while gold traded lower on the day and Bitcoin modestly higher. Treasury yields were higher across the curve.

The big data points that Wall Street strategists will be watching this week include the ISM Manufacturing Index Wednesday and the May nonfarm employment and ISM Non-Manufacturing Index reports, both due on Friday.

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 Wednesday, June 1, 2022.

Allbirds Inc. (NASDAQ: BIRD): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $10 target price. The consensus target is $8.82. The stock closed on Tuesday at $5.46 per share.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Though JMP Securities resumed coverage with a Market Outperform rating, it lowered the $3,600 price target to $3,450. The consensus target is $3,587.20, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $2,404.19.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO): Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight and slashed the $22 price target to $8. The consensus target is $19.82 for now. The shares closed Tuesday at $12.11, down close to 8% after the downgrade.

Bausch + Lomb Corp. (NYSE: BLCO): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 target price, while Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $22 price objective. The consensus target is $35.88 The stock closed at $17.01 on Tuesday.

Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC): Oppenheimer maintained a Perform rating on the pot stock but did not post a price target. The consensus target is $7.63. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $4.97.
Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL): Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating on the private equity giant and has a $315 price target. The consensus target is $310.63. The stock closed on Tuesday at $254.43.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CFG): Goldman Sachs lowered its $60 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $49. The consensus target is $53.28. Tuesday’s close was at $41.38.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but lowered the $36 price objective to $27. That compares with the $33.88 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $23.18 which was down almost 6% for the day on basically no news.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $425 target after a positive investors day. The consensus target is $415.54. Tuesday’s close was at $357.78.

Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $130 target price. The consensus target is $131.89. The stock closed on Tuesday at $110.16.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): JMP Securities resumed coverage with a Market Outperform rating and a $125 target price. The consensus target is $150.26. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $81.12.

Hibbett Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but trimmed the $75 price objective to $70. The consensus target is $70.67. The shares closed at $50.75 on Tuesday.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB): Alembic Global Advisors downgraded the chemical giant to Neutral from Overweight and lowered the $120 target price to $115. The consensus target is $119.62,  and Tuesday’s closing print was $114.25.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): Atlantic Equities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and cut the $125 price target to $105. The consensus target is $117.65. Tuesday’s closing share price was $100.15.

Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY): Baird raised its Neutral rating to Outperform and boosted the price target in a big way, from $56 to $72. The consensus target is $62.20. The stock closed over 4% higher on Tuesday at $59.81.

Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ: MEOH): Scotiabank’s upgrade was from Sector Perform to Sector Outperform with a $50 target. The consensus target is $46.62. The final trade Tuesday hit the tape at $49.45.

NetScout Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral and trimmed the $35 price target to $33. The consensus price target is $35.88. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $34.33, which was down almost 9% for the day on no news we could find other than the downgrade.

Nurix Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: NRIX): Wells Fargo upgraded the shares from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $25 target price. The consensus target is up at $43.30. The stock closed Tuesday at $10.09, up almost 12% after announcing positive clinical data last week. The stock was down in Wednesday’s premarket.
NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS): Wells Fargo’s upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight included a nudge of the price target to $18 from $17. The consensus target is $18.67. The close on Tuesday was at $16.05.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): This stock is the Bear of the Day at Zacks, which cites weakening momentum in the international market and ongoing COVID-19 uncertainties. Shares have traded as high as $310.16 in the past year but closed most recently at $85.21, which is down almost 55% year to date.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $245 target. The consensus target is up at $306.32. The stock closed down 3% on Tuesday at $268.04.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, and it dropped its $114 target price to $92. The consensus target is $100.10. The closed almost 3% lower on Tuesday at $85.38.

Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the $46 price target to $41. The consensus target is $46.29. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $41.24.

TotalEnergies S.E. (NYSE: TTE): Shares of this oil supermajor have been hot, increasing more than 20% in value year to date, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $58.80, and the consensus price target of $63.98 would be a multiyear high.

Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC): Goldman Sachs lowered its $68 price target to $57 but kept a Buy rating. The consensus target is $62.15. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $49.74.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $335 target. The consensus target is $291.93. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $268.65.

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With inflation and the potential for a recession not going away anytime soon, worried investors may want to consider moving some capital to the seven highest-yielding Dividend Kings.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Boston Scientific, Costco Wholesale, CVS Health, Dell Technologies, Dish Network, Gap, Graphic Packaging, iQIYI, Live Nation Entertainment, Lufax, Macy’s, Medtronic, Occidental Petroleum, UnitedHealth, Urban Outfitters, Workday and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Dow, Estee Lauder, Magellan Midstream Partners, Nektar Therapeutics, Novo Nordisk, Rocket Companies, Sherwin-Williams, Steel Dynamics, Zoom Video Communications and more.

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