The futures were trading lower, as investors return from the long Independence Day weekend. All the major indexes rallied big last Friday and closed higher to start the third quarter and the second half of 2022, despite a slew of bad economic data. The very oversold conditions played a part perhaps, and with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 trading in bear market territory, that also may have been what brought out the bargain-hunting risk-off crowd.

One warning shot that was fired was the continued rally in the Treasury market, where yields across the curve Friday were lower again, especially the five-year and 10-year notes. Investors running to safe-haven investments like Treasury bonds and utility stocks, which also closed higher on Friday, shows there are major concerns going forward.

The latest data from the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker is now in negative territory, predicting second-quarter real GDP growth of −2.078% as of July 1, down from +0.3% on June 27. If that is indeed the case (and as we have said for some time), we will be in a recession, which by definition is two straight quarters of negative GDP. Remember that the final first quarter numbers last week were revised down to −1.6%.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed higher on Friday, as did natural gas, which got run over last week. Gold closed modestly higher, while Bitcoin was hammered once again, closing down close to 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 Tuesday, July 5, 2022.

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $210 target price. The consensus target is $198.38. The last trade Friday was posted at $157.84.

Bally’s Corp. (NYSE: BALY): Stifel slashed its $49 target price on the resort and casino giant to $29, but it kept a Buy rating and a positive long-term outlook on the stock. The consensus target is $41.43. The stock closed trading last Friday at $20.22.

Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC): BofA Securities lowered its $3 price target on the marijuana stock to $2.33 and stayed with an Underperform rating. The consensus target is up at $6.88. The closing share price on Friday was $2.81.

Certara Inc. (NASDAQ: CERT): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $28 target price. The consensus target is $25.00. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Friday at $22.09.
Codiak BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: CDAK): Goldman Sachs lowered its target price to $7 from $8 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is higher at $11.33, and the shares closed Friday at $2.58, which was down over 10% on the day despite reporting some positive clinical data last week.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the shares, which are on the firm’s Conviction List of top stock picks. The $275 target price compares with a consensus target of $271.14. The final trade last Friday was reported at $235.43.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY): Stifel reiterated a Hold rating on the popular restaurant and entertainment stock and has a $36 target. The consensus target is up at $57. The close on Friday at $33.71 was up almost 3% for the day.

Duck Creek Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: DCT): BofA Securities lowered its Buy rating to Neutral and cut the $39 price objective to $16. The consensus target is $20.75. The stock closed over 3% lower on Friday at $14.36.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX): Stifel cut its price target on the Buy-rated shares to $223 from $254. The $232.76 consensus target also compares with Friday’s closing share price of $186.55.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Berenberg downgraded the ground and air delivery giant to Hold from Buy and slashed the $333 price target to $285. The consensus target is $293.82. The last trade on Friday was reported at $223.61.

First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC): Atlantic Equities raised its Neutral rating to Overweight but lowered the $210 price target to $188. The consensus target is $186.63, and the stock closed on Friday at $147.38.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN): Goldman Sachs reinstated a Sell rating on the mutual fund giant and has a $23 target price. The consensus target is $24.67. The last trade on Friday came in at $23.58.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but dropped its target price to $144 from $192. The consensus target is $175.22, and the last trade Friday was for $110.93 a share.

Haemonetics Corp. (NYSE: HAE): Raymond James raised its price target on the stock to $76 from $63 while keeping an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $73.50. The stock closed over 3% higher on Friday at $67.32.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Goldman Sachs lowered its $86 price target on the memory chip giant to $75 while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $94.70. The $53.65 close on Friday was down almost 3% on the day.

Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE: MYE): Buoyed by an undervalued and leading industry group, it is not difficult to see why this stock is a compelling investment, says Zacks, which selected it as the Bull of the Day. The shares last closed at $22.70. That is a gain of more than 13% year to date, while the S&P 500 has retreated almost 20% in that time.
Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA): Daiwa Securities initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $26 price objective. The consensus target is $35.22. Friday’s closing trade was reported at $25.21.

PureCycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PCT): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $16 target price. The consensus is $19.00. The final trade on Friday was recorded at $7.01, down close to 6% for the day after the company named a new chief executive.

RH (NYSE: RH): Goldman Sachs lowered its $262 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $224. The consensus target is $335.07 for now. The shares closed Friday at $220.70, up just shy of 4% on the day.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON): Citigroup began coverage on the shares with a Buy rating and a $66 target price. The $65.83 consensus target also compares with Friday’s closing print of $58.83, which was up over 3% for the day.

Spectrum Brands Inc. (NYSE: SPB): Zacks named this consumer products stock as its Bear of the Day, citing its tendency to fall short of earnings estimates. The shares have traded as high as $107.22 in the past year but closed most recently at $83.46, which is down about 18% year to date.

Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ: SYM): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $15 target price. The consensus target is up at $17.20. The final trade for Friday was reported at $11.89, up over 8% for the day on no reported news we could source.

Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER): J.P. Morgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $120 target price. The consensus target is $128.37. The stock closed over 4% lower Friday at $85.80.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS): Raymond James reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the carrier while bumping their target price up to $160 from $158. The consensus target is even higher at $166.83. The shares ended trading at $136.81 on Friday.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE): Stifel lowered the $176 target price on the stock to $142 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $124.19. Friday’s close at $62.65 was up 5% for the day.

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With the potential for massive downside still looming and interest rates definitely going higher, 24/7 Wall St. searched for Dividend Aristocrat stocks that are in sectors that are defensive but that look poised to do well in the second half of 2022.

Clorox, J.M. Smucker and other top companies are expected to lift the dividends they pay to shareholders this week.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AppLovin, Coty, Etsy, FedEx, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huntington Bancshares, Nutanix, Paychex, Shopify, Simon Property, Tesla, Ventas and Warner Bros. Discovery. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Comcast, Coupang, Harley-Davidson, Micron Technology, XPeng, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and more.

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