The futures were mixed Friday, as we get ready to close out a productive week, at least by 2022 standards. The major indexes closed higher again Thursday, as domestic interest rates retreated in a big way. The European Central Bank, which has been late to the inflation party, raised rates Thursday by 50 basis points, the first hike in Europe in 11 years. A string of some solid earnings reports, and the fact that the Federal Reserve likely will stay with a 75-basis-point increase next week instead of the 1% increase some had feared, seems to be among the reasons for the solid tone for stocks this week.

The aforementioned U.S. interest rates were down across the curve as buyers returned on Thursday. The two-year and 10-year Treasury note inversion held its ground on Thursday, with the yield on the 10-year note falling back well under 3% to 2.91%, while the two-year note closed at 3.09%. Again, the inversion of the two securities is seen as a harbinger of a recession.

Consumers and motorists were pleased Thursday as West Texas Intermediate crude closed below the $100 mark at $96.42, while Brent crude also closed down almost 3%. Natural gas took a break from its recent huge run, closing flat just below the $8 mark. This on the heels of Russian President Putin saying Russia will honor its gas commitments to Europe as the Nord Stream pipeline restarts after 10 days of maintenance. Gold closed the day higher up 1.4%, while Bitcoin took a breather closing modestly lower.

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, July 22, 2022.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Goldman Sachs lowered its $90 price target on the Buy-rated aluminum giant to $80. The Wall Street consensus target is $66.62. The stock closed on Thursday at $45.15.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: BHLB): Janney upgraded the shares from Neutral to Buy with a $31 target price. The consensus target is $29.20. The last trade on Thursday was for $27.37.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the biotech giant and has a $224 target price. The consensus target is $237.07. The stock closed over 3% higher on Thursday trade at $214.06.

Blue Apron Inc. (NYSE: APRN): Benchmark initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $10 target price. The consensus target is $9.00. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $3.26.
Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE: BRX): Mizuho raised its Neutral rating to Buy but trimmed its $26 price target to $24. The consensus target is $24.59, and shares ended trading on Thursday at $21.93.

CACI International Inc. (NASDAQ: CACI): Baird started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $335 price target. The consensus target is $315.55. Thursday’s close was at $287.17.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD): This energy master limited partnership just raised its dividend again, points out Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day stock. The shares closed most recently at $25.71, and the consensus target price of $30.85 would be a 52-week high.

FIGS Inc. (NYSE: FIGS): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral and cut the $14 price target in half to $7. The consensus target is $16. The stock closed at $10.43 on Thursday.

GSK PLC (NYSE: GSK): Citigroup resumed coverage of the pharmaceutical giant with a Neutral rating. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $$37.80 to $46.97 and has a $61.43 consensus price objective. Thursday’s $40.41 closing price was down 2% for the day.

Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: HR): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $27 price target. The consensus target is $32. Thursday’s close was at $24.51.

Henry Schein Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $85 from $93. The consensus target is $88.09. The stock closed on Thursday at $77.94.

IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX): Though Goldman Sachs raised its Neutral rating to Buy, the firm also slashed its $530 target price to $435. The consensus target is $534.71. The shares were last seen on Thursday trading at $398.35.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the yoga and exercise apparel giant but slashed the $456 price target to $365. The consensus target is $386.07. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $307.36.

ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE: MAN): Zacks selected this stock as its Bear of the Day, citing a slowing in the global job market. Shares have traded as high as $123.84 in the past year but closed most recently at $79.19, which is down more than 23% year to date.

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 target. The consensus target is $43.33. The stock closed at $23.46 on Thursday.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage on the upscale retailer with an Overweight rating and a $30 target. The lower $23.53 consensus target is less than Thursday’s closing print of $24.48, which was up over 6% for the day on no news we could find.

Oxford Industries Inc. (NYSE: OXM): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $110 target price. That compares with a $113.80 consensus and Thursday’s closing share price of $93.88.
PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH): When Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, it also chopped the $95 price target to $59. The consensus target is $91.53. Thursday’s close was at $62.54.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $31 target. The consensus target is $39.86. The final trade on Thursday hit the tape at $30.42.

Revolve Group Inc. (NYSE: RVLV): KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $36 price target. The consensus target is up at $51.94. The last trade Thursday was for $29.78 a share.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN): Citigroup raised its Neutral rating to Buy. Its $8 target price is less than the $10.82 consensus target. The shares closed on Thursday at $6.67.

Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK): Deutsche Bank downgraded the medical devices and products giant to Hold from Buy and lowered the $285 price target to $205. The consensus target is $264.86. The shares closed at $200.24 on Thursday.

TeeKay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 target price. The consensus target is $21.70. Thursday’s closing trade was reported at $20.00.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the electric vehicle behemoth after the company’s positive earnings report. Yet, the analyst lowered its price target on the shares to $949 from $1,108. That is still well above the $882.87 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $815.12, which was up almost 10% on the day.

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Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ally Financial, APA, Caesars Entertainment, Chevron, Danaher, Datadog, EOG Resources, EQT, Harley-Davidson, Las Vegas Sands, Netflix, Pioneer Natural Resources, Rio Tinto, Twilio, VICI Properties and Western Union. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Compass, Comstock Resources, CSX, DHT, DocuSign, Ford, Palantir Technologies and more.

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