The futures were much lower Wednesday, after a massive rally to start the holiday-shortened trading week. Many across Wall Street are calling that flat-out a bear market rally, after last week’s dumpster fire in which all the major sectors were down 4% or more. Many now are shifting their focus to the upcoming second-quarter earnings reporting season, which could be the victim of slowing growth, the supply chain mess and red-hot inflation. The latter continues to torch consumers across the board.

Investors are also starting to price in an additional 75-basis-point increase, as the “don’t fight the Fed” mantra works both ways. That was reflected on Tuesday in the Treasury markets, as yields traded higher across the curve. The two-year note yield remains below the 10-year, but the bond market is keeping a close eye on that telltale recession data point indicator.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude traded marginally higher on Tuesday, while natural gas slipped back below the $7 level. Gold was down slightly, while Bitcoin closed almost 3% higher, just over $21,000, after slipping below $18,000 over the weekend.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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 22, 2022.

ABM Industries Inc. (NYSE: ABM): Baird upgraded the shares from Neutral to Outperform with a $50 target price. The consensus target is higher at $59.60. The stock closed on Tuesday with almost a 6% gain at $41.15.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD): Jefferies cut its Buy rating to Underperform and lowered the $25 price target to $10. The consensus target is $29.24 for now. Tuesday’s close at $13.01 was down a stunning 33%, after an FDA advisory committee voted against recommending approval for pimavanserin in treating Alzheimer’s disease psychosis.

Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Underperform from Neutral and slashed the $145 price target to $102. That compares with the remarkable $246.16 consensus target (for now). Tuesday’s closing print of $107.42 was down almost 12% on the day on no posted news except the downgrade.

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS): BTIG Research reiterated a Buy rating but trimmed the $19 target price to $16. The consensus target is $17.05. The last trade for Tuesday was posted at $9.27.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): Goldman Sachs lowered its $181 price target on the energy heavyweight to $162 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $180.23, and Tuesday’s last trade of $154.59 was up over 4% for the day.

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD): Wells Fargo raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight and has a $95 target. The consensus target is $98.96. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Tuesday at $85.91.

Compass Inc. (NYSE: COMP): Compass Point started coverage with a Buy rating and an $8 target. The consensus target is $7.36. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Tuesday at $3.98.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating on the shares but lowered the $140 target price to $123. The consensus target is $127.27. The stock was last seen Tuesday at $99.28, up just shy of 6% for the day.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the shares from Neutral to Outperform with a $46 target price. The consensus target is $42.88. The shares closed on Tuesday at $36.61.

LTC Properties Inc. (NYSE: LTC): The BMO Capital Markets upgrade to Market Perform from Underperform included a price target boost to $40 from $37. The consensus target is $36.67. Tuesday’s closing share price was $37.79.

MarineMax Inc. (NYSE: HZO): B. Riley Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $84  price target to $44. The consensus target is $58.14. The stock closed on Tuesday at $36.42.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Goldman Sachs lowered its target price on the chip memory leader to $86 from $100. The consensus target is $108.54. The shares closed at $56.80 on Tuesday.

MKS Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: MKSI): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and has a $242 target price. The much lower $175.30 consensus target also compares with Tuesday’s final print of $102.92.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Stifel lowered the price target for the streaming giant to $240 from $300 while maintaining a Hold rating. The consensus target is $312.62. The stock closed on Tuesday at $170.91.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating on the athletic shoe and apparel giant. It also lowered the $170 target price to $140, below the consensus target of $159.61. Tuesday’s closing share price was $108.68.

Pennant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG): Stephens downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and dropped the $27 target price to $23. The consensus target is $20.50. The shares ended Tuesday at $13.80, down close to 11% on the day with no news we could source.

Penske Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: PAG): While most stocks have been hovering in bear market territory, this one recently hit an all-time high. So says Zacks, which selected it as the Bull of the Day stock. The shares last closed at $105.25, and the $143.80 consensus price target would be an all-time high.
Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ: RNST): Hovde raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $34 price target. The consensus target is $34.71. The stock closed Tuesday at $28.99, up close to 3% on the day.

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. (NYSE: REXR): Wolfe Research started coverage with a Peer Perform rating and a $63 target price. The consensus is up at $87.71. The last trade Tuesday was reported at $57.09.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): Stifel reiterated its Buy rating. This is one of its Select List of top stock picks, and the firm has a $125 target price. The consensus target on the hard disk drive giant is near $100. Tuesday’s final trade was recorded at $72.70 a share.

Shoals Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS): Goldman Sachs raised the $19 price target on the solar technology stock to $22 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $22.83. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Tuesday at $18.86.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV): Guggenheim resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $252 target price. The consensus target is $214.50. The last trade Tuesday was reported at $185.43.

WestRock Co. (NYSE: WRK): Citigroup’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $45 from $53. The consensus target is $59.54. The close on Tuesday was at $40.16.

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Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, American Tower, Chewy, Charles Schwab, DoorDash, Exxon Mobil, International Paper, Sunnova Energy, Opendoor Technologies, Palantir Technologies, Phillips 66, Six Flags Entertainment, SunPower, Suncor Energy, Under Armour and Virgin Galactic. Analyst calls seen later were on Acadia Pharmaceuticals, CarGurus, CubeSmart, Etsy, Keurig Dr Pepper, Molson Coors Beverage and more.

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