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Tuesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Tower, Best Buy, Dominion Energy, Shell, Southwest Airlines, Union Pacific and More
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The futures traded higher as we get set to close out a wild February. All the major indexes finished the day higher on Monday to bounce back from last week, which was the worst week for the stock market in 2023. In addition, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both down for the third straight week. The rally came despite a rising bearish tone across Wall Street as interest rates look to continue higher and the inflation outlook, while better than in 2022, is still stubbornly higher than the Federal Reserve is willing to tolerate.
Treasury yields were modestly lower Monday, which gave a slight tailwind to the rally, after relentlessly marching higher over the last couple of weeks. The yield on the 10-year note closed the day at 3.92%, after getting close to the 4% level last week. The two-year paper also closed modestly lower in yield at 4.78%. So the wide inversion remains in place, and it often portends a pending recession.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude kicked off the week lower, with both of the major benchmarks down under 1%. This is despite a top energy trading CEO saying he expects prices will be in the $90 to $100 a barrel range in the second half of 2023. Natural gas carved out a nearly 7% gain to finish at $2.73, as futures hit a one-month high. Gold finished Monday higher, while Bitcoin closed down almost 1% at $23,367, following through on last week’s losses.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT): BofA Securities maintained a Buy rating with a $240 target price. The consensus target is $248.06. The stock closed on Monday at $195.08.
Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY): When Telsey Advisory downgraded shares of the retailer to Market Perform from Outperform, it trimmed its $88 target price to $83. The consensus target is $84.35, and the stock closed at $82.63 on Monday.
Celsius Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CELH): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $115 target price. The consensus target is higher at $122.50. Monday’s final trade was reported at $90.02.
Chart Industries Inc. (NYSE: GTLS): Stifel has a Buy rating, and the stock is on the Select List of top picks. The firm’s $224 target price is well above the $198 consensus target. Monday’s close was at $135.14.
Coursera Inc. (NYSE: COUR): The Buy rating at Truist Financial was reduced to Hold, and the analyst cut the $17.50 price target to $12. The consensus target is $18.27 for now. The stock closed on Monday at $11.31, which was down almost 7% on the day.
Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D): BofA Securities trimmed its $53 target price to $52 and kept an Underperform rating. The consensus target is higher at $66.08. The stock closed on Monday at $56.33.
Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: DRVN): Stifel lowered its $45 price target on the Buy-rated stock to $40. That compares with the $38.10 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $28.35.
FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ: FTAI): Stifel raised its $21 target price on the Buy-rated company to $30. The consensus target is $28.17. The closing share price on Monday was $25.78.
Heico Corp. (NYSE: HEI): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $205 target price. The consensus target of $171.87 is lower than Monday’s close at $174.67.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $476 target price is less than the $483.13 consensus target. The stock closed on Monday at $421.62.
NetEase Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES): though BofA Securities lowered its $122 target price to $114, it maintained a Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target is $108.72. Shares closed on Monday at $78.98.
Nomad Foods Ltd. (NYSE: NOMD): Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares from Neutral to Buy with a $21 target price. The consensus target is $22.59. Monday’s $18.86 close was up over 8% for the day despite earnings and revenue misses.
24/7 Wall St.Omnicell Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL): Benchmark raised its Hold rating to Buy and has a $68 target price. The consensus target is $71.89, and shares closed on Monday at $52.96.
Pulmonx Corp. (NASDAQ: LUNG): Wells Fargo’s upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight included a target price hike to $15 from $10. The consensus target is $12.43. The shares closed almost 6% higher on Monday at $10.99.
Relay Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RLAY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $33 target price objective. The consensus target is $35.45. The stock closed on Monday at $16.56.
Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO): Wedbush’s upgrade was from Neutral to Outperform with a $16 target price. The consensus target is $9.40, The shares closed almost 12% higher on Monday at $2.96. The company posted some solid clinical and revenue data last week.
Shell PLC (NYSE: SHEL): As Goldman Sachs upgraded the energy giant to Buy from Neutral, it increased its $74 target price to $85. The consensus target is $69.14. The stock closed on Monday at $61.20.
Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure Inc. (NYSE: SOI): Even though Stifel stuck with its Buy rating, the analyst lowered the $16 target price to $14. The stock has traded as high as $14.61 in the past year but closed most recently at $8.94.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV): Zacks cited several headwinds as it named this low-cost carrier as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $50.10 in the past year but closed on Monday at $33.54. That is down almost 8% in the past month.
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT): Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, and its $88 price target is now $98. The consensus target is $95.07. The stock closed on Monday at $88.81.
Transmedics Inc. (NASDAQ: TMDX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock and has an $85 target price. The consensus is set at $78. The last trade Monday was posted at $77.96.
Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP): BofA Securities boosted its Neutral rating to Buy and raised its $218 target price to $241. The consensus target is $221.74. The stock soared 10% on Monday to close at $212.17, following news of the CEO’s departure.
W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW): This industrial supply giant is the Zacks Bull of the Day stock. The recent momentum is likely to continue through this year, suggests the analyst. The shares last closed at $675.02 apiece, and the $711.78 price target would be an all-time high.
The need for cybersecurity increases every year, and the leading software companies remain among the best tech ideas for investors now. Six outstanding cybersecurity software stocks continue to stand out and are offering solid entry points with enormous upside potential.
Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Block, Broadcom, CarMax, Deere, Esperion Therapeutics, Marvell Technology, MGM Resorts International, Moderna, Newmont, Vipshop and Wingstop.
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