The futures were trading lower on Wednesday, after another mixed trading day. The Dow Jones industrials led the way, riding on the strength of the big-box retailers Walmart and Home Depot, both of which were up big. Despite the big recent market run, which has been attributed to systematic fund buying, corporate stock buybacks and the return of the meme stock crowd, many strategists at the big banks and brokerage firms feel that a big Federal Reserve pivot is unlikely next month and the smallest the increase in the federal funds rate will be 50 basis points.

Yields crept higher across the Treasury curve Tuesday, with all the major maturities up slightly. The inversion between the two-year and 10-year notes widened to a whopping 45 basis points, with the two-year closing at 3.27% and the 10-year at 2.82%. Bond traders see the inversion as a recession sign.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed lower, as Barclays joined Goldman Sachs by lowering its Brent price to $103 a barrel from $108, citing Russian oil supplies and surpluses. Barclays also lowered its WTI target to average $99 in 2022 and 2023. The big winner was natural gas, which stormed above the $9 level, up almost 7% on the day. Gold and Bitcoin both closed 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 Wednesday, August 17, 2022.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $26 price target. The consensus target is up at $31.78. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $26.45 a share.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Credit Suisse upgraded the tech giant to Outperform from Neutral and has a $201 target price objective. The consensus target is $183.30. The stock closed Tuesday at $173.03

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK): Baird maintained an Outperform rating while nudging the price target up to $264 from $260. The consensus target is $247.44. Tuesday’s close was at $233.64.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the apartment real  estate investment trust and raised the $225 target price to $248. The consensus target is $229.57. The stock closed on Tuesday at $219.24.

CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP): Craig Hallum raised its Hold rating to Buy and boosted the $8 price target to $10. The consensus target is $9.75. The stock closed on Tuesday at $6.25, up close to 8% for the day, likely on the upgrade.

Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating but lowered the price target to $100. The consensus target is $63.35. The stock closed over 7% higher on Tuesday at $54.59.

Denbury Inc. (NYSE: DEN): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target price to $144 from $132. The consensus target is just $96.07. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $78.90.

Elanco Animal Health Inc. (NASDAQ: ELAN): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price cut to $24 from $28. The consensus target is $25. The stock closed on Tuesday at $19.08.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX): Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $230 target price. The consensus target is $224.44. Tuesday’s close was at $215.99.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $90 price target for the biotech leader. The consensus target is $69.79. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $66.33 a share.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and $400 target after the big-box retailer’s solid earnings report. The consensus target is lower at $351.19. The shares closed Tuesday at $327.38, up over 4% on the back of the solid earnings print.

Matson Inc. (NYSE: MATX): Wolfe Research started coverage with an Underperform rating and an $80 target price. The consensus target is higher at $99. The final trade on Tuesday came in at $84.82.

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and a $535 target. The consensus target is $498.73. The stock closed on Tuesday at $503.62.

Navitas Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: NVTS): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $12 target price. The consensus target is $9.63. The final trade on Tuesday was for $7.76 a share, up a stunning 26% after revenues jumped for the quarter and the company made a very positive acquisition, buying GeneSic Semiconductor.

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK): The BMO Capital Markets downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included a target price cut to $18 from $21. The consensus target is $20.65. The stock closed on Tuesday at $15.96.

Rattler Midstream L.P. (NASDAQ: RTLR): Wells Fargo cut its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and trimmed the $17 target price to $14. The consensus target is $16. The stock closed on Tuesday at $14.19.

RPT Realty (NYSE: RPT): Mizuho downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and clipped the price target to $11 from $12. The consensus target is $12.55. The stock closed on Tuesday at $10.96.

Shoals Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $40 target. The consensus target is $25.23. Tuesday’s $26.32 close was up over 5% after the company met earnings expectations.

Simply Good Foods Co. (NASDAQ: SMPL): Goldman Sachs lowered the $49 price target on the Buy-rated stock to $44. The consensus target is $45.23. The stock closed at $33.59 on Tuesday.

SITE Centers Corp. (NYSE: SITC): When Mizuho raised its Neutral rating to Buy, it also bumped its target price to $17 from $15. The consensus target is $16.17. Tuesday’s last trade was at $15.45 a share.

SNDL Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL): Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock to Speculative Buy from Hold and has a $5 target. The consensus target is $5.73. The stock closed on Tuesday at $3.06.

TriNet Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TNET): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral and raised the $89 price target to $96. The consensus target is $97. The last trade on Tuesday was filled at $90.98.

UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the Buy-rated stock to $57 from $51. The consensus target is $53.60. The closing share price on Tuesday was $50.39.

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Declining prices are putting the top energy dividend stocks back on sale. Investors wanting to initiate or add positions have a chance to buy seven of the top names in the sector at prices that are the lowest this summer.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Bed Bath & Beyond, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Etsy, Illinois Tool Works, Plains All-American Pipeline, Poshmark, PPL, Revolve and Truist Financial.

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