The futures were higher on Wednesday, after all the major indexes closed up Tuesday. Wall Street will be focused on Thursday’s release of the consumer price index, which is forecast to come in at up 6.7% year over year, versus the December print of 7.1%. While improving, “sticky inflation” on food and other items remains stubbornly high, and the tailwind from lower energy prices could decrease as demand accelerates.

Treasury yields were up by double digits across almost the entire curve after some big buying had driven yields on most maturities down to the lowest levels since the fall. The buying was an anomaly to many who feel that the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer stance will be in place with a terminal rate above 5%. Analysts are mixed on whether the next increase in rates will be by 25 or 50 basis points at the end of the month.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed higher, with Brent reclaiming the $80 a barrel level. Despite the sideways trading, many energy analysts and pundits, including those at Goldman Sachs, feel that both major benchmarks will creep higher this year. The Goldman team sees Brent at $105 by the fourth quarter. Gold closed modestly higher Tuesday, while Bitcoin was up close to 1%, back over the $17,000 level.

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, January 11, 2023.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and lowered its $40 target price to $25. Wall Street has a $31.12 consensus target. Tuesday’s last trade came in at $26.70.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT): Goldman Sachs upgraded the cell tower giant to Buy from Neutral. It also lifted its $215 target price to $245, but the consensus target is still higher at $248.82. The stock closed on Tuesday at $221.96.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM): Zacks selected this stock as its Bull of the Day, suggesting that food inflation should mean higher profits for the agricultural products giant. Shares last closed at $86.23, and the $101.29 consensus price target would be an all-time high.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Wells Fargo’s upgrade was to Overweight from Equal Weight, with the $17 target price lifted to $22. The consensus target is $20.28, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $19.48.

Azek Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: AZEK): Though Citigroup cut its Buy rating to Neutral, it bumped its $21 target price up to $23, near the $22.90 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $22.98.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC): The Hold rating at Odeon is now at Buy with a $38.44 target price. The consensus target is $40.56. The stock closed on Tuesday at $34.12.

Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade was from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $35 target price. The consensus target is $28.70. The stock closed almost 11% higher on Tuesday at $22.01, solely on the upgrade.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a target price cut to $220 from $269. The consensus target for the company is $203.04. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $206.71.

Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL): KeyBank Capital Markets lifted its Sector Weight rating to Overweight. Its $27 target price is higher than the $25.21 consensus target. Tuesday’s $21.43 close was up over 7% for the day on the upgrade.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG): Mizuho resumed coverage with a Buy but lowered its $211 target price to $195. The consensus target is $180.87. Tuesday’s close was at $141.95.

DoubleVerify Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DV): Barclays upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight and bumped the $25 price target to $29. The consensus target is $31.09. The stock closed almost 7% higher on Tuesday at $24.51 on the upgrade.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): Citing estimates that are beginning to come back down to earth, Zacks named this homebuilder as its  Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $104.16 in the past year but closed most recently at $93.58, after climbing nearly 30% in the past 90 days.

Dynatrace Inc. (NYSE: DT): The Barclays downgrade was to Equal Weight from Overweight. It also trimmed its $42 target price to $39, well below the $43.62 consensus target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $36.69.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): Mizuho’s prior Neutral rating is now Buy, and its target price increased in a big way to $140 from $90. The consensus target is $120.74. Tuesday’s close was at $110.10.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight, and the price target increased from $125 to $145. The consensus target is $138.82. The stock ended Tuesday trading at $128.72.

GoDaddy Inc. (NASDAQ: GDDY): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and has an $80 target price. The consensus target is up at $93.06. The shares closed at $73.04 on Tuesday.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ): UBS downgraded the money management heavyweight to Neutral from Buy while bumping the $19 target price to $20. The consensus target is $17.15. The stock closed on Tuesday at $19.52.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $21 target price. The consensus target is $23.36. The stock closed on Tuesday at $20.86.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS): Odeon boosted its Sell rating to Hold with an $88.75 target price. The consensus target is $93.92. The stock closed on Tuesday at $88.92.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR): Barclays upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight and has a $200 target price. The consensus target is $192.56. Tuesday’s $161.13 close was a gain of almost 5% for the day due to recent upgrades, including this one.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP): As Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, it cut its target price to $71 from $83. The consensus target is $77.14, and Tuesday’s close was at $64.21.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI): UBS upgraded the shares to Neutral from Sell and moved its target price to $167 from $160. The consensus target is $180.52. The stock closed on Tuesday at $166.07.

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE): When J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, the firm bumped its $71 target price to $75. The consensus target is $69.61. The shares ended Tuesday’s session at $69.21.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade to Equal Weight from Underweight included a price target hike to $50 from $40. The consensus target is up at $65.46. The stock closed on Tuesday at $58.93, up almost 3% on the day.

Ryder System Inc. (NYSE: R) Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $100 target. The consensus target is $90.86. The shares closed on Tuesday at $86.24.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV): Evercore ISI’s upgrade to Outperform from In Line included a target price boost to $220 from $183. The consensus target is $186.40, and the stock ended trading on Tuesday at $191.22.

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI): Truist Securities cut its Buy rating to Hold and slashed its $65 target price to $28. The consensus target is $44.43. The shares ended Tuesday trading at $25.47.

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Ten outstanding companies in five defensive and outperforming sectors pay generous and reliable dividends, and their stocks offer investors stung by an appalling 2022 the best path to generate solid total return in 2023.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Campbell Soup, DoorDash, Eli Lilly, Enterprise Products Partners, Mastercard, Oracle, Silvergate Capital, Uber Technologies, VICI Properties, Visa and Welltower.

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