Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CVS Health, DataDog, Enphase Energy, Nvidia, RTX, Splunk, UPS and More

Investing

Published: September 13, 2023 8:49 am

The futures traded mixed after a risk-off Tuesday that saw all the major indexes finish the day lower. Tech stocks, which have led the way this year, were under pressure after Oracle posted revenue below analysts’ expectations and gave very disappointing guidance, noting slowing cloud sales growth. The other big tech story was Apple’s release of the new iPhone 15 and a host of other new products.

The big news Wednesday morning is the August consumer price index print that came in above expectations. While many feel that the Federal Reserve will hold rates where they are next week and finish the rate hikes in November, things could change between now and then.

Treasury yields closed mixed in front of the inflation data, and there is a good chance that we could see some big volatility the rest of the week as traders reset. The 10-year note closed at 4.28%, while the two-year paper closed at 5.02%. The inversion between the two still points to recession next year.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were both higher Tuesday, hitting highs not seen since last November. The combination of production cuts, and large inventory draws at a time of year that often sees a slowdown for energy use has helped to drive the two benchmarks higher. Supply disruptions in Syria were also cited for the continued strength. Brent closed up 1.5% at $92.14, while WTI was up 1.60% to finish at $88.90. Natural gas also had a big day, closing up over 5% at $2.75.

Gold finished the day lower on some solid dollar strength and some technical selling in front of the inflation data. The December contract closed the day at $1,935.70, down 0.59%. The big story of the day was a jump higher in Bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency was up 3.75% to close at $26,094.10. This came after massive selling on Monday drove the price down 3.5%. Traders cited a serious short squeeze for the big move higher.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each weekday 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, September 13, 2023.

BRP Inc. (NASDAQ: DOOO): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and pushed its $81 target price up to $94. The consensus target is higher at $105.48. Tuesday’s $75.00 closing share price was up over 2% on the day.

CareTrust REIT Inc. (NYSE: CTRE): When RBC Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Outperform from Sector Perform, its $19 target price rose to $23. The consensus target is $22.56, and Tuesday’s close was at $20.15.

Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy and its $523 price target to $580. The consensus target is $527.69, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $511.79.

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CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS): Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform and has an $80 target price. The consensus targets $91.41. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $70.52.

DataDog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $120 target price. The consensus target is $106.55. The stock closed down almost 4% on Tuesday at $98.22.

Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EDR): TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $28 target price. The consensus target is up at $32.82. Tuesday’s close was at $22.15.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH): Truist Financial’s downgrade to Hold from Buy included a target price cut to $135 from $210. The consensus target is $202.58 for now, and Tuesday’s last trade was for $123.35 a share.
Extreme Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $35 target price. The consensus target is $33.29, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $25.32.

First National Corp. (NASDAQ: FXNC): Janney downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. Its $19 target price is the same as the consensus target, and the stock closed just shy of that on Tuesday at $18.94.

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB): Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $62 price target. The consensus target is $61.87. Tuesday’s close was at $52.35.

Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES): B. Riley Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $31 target price. The consensus target is $27.30. The stock closed on Tuesday at $23.21.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $119 target price. The consensus target is $109.90. The stock closed at $101.28 on Tuesday.

Lindsay Corp. (NYSE: LNN): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $146 target price. The $137 consensus target is closer to Tuesday’s close at $123.04.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating. Its $650 target price compares with the consensus target of $623.79 and Tuesday’s close at $448.70.

Qiagen N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN): Baird started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $50 price target. The consensus target is $51.83. The closing share price on Tuesday was $41.84.

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. (NASDAQ: REXR): Scotiabank started coverage with a Sector Perform rating and a $59 target price. The consensus target is higher at $62.56. The shares finished Tuesday’s session trading at $52.50.

RTX Corp. (NYSE: RTX): Barclays lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and its $100 target price to $75. The consensus target is $99.43. Tuesday’s closing print of $75.56 was down another 2%, after reporting earlier this week that the company’s profits would be taking a hit.

SiteOne Landscaping Supply Inc. (NYSE: SITE): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $185 target. That is higher than the $166.67 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing share price of $162.92.

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Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK): Strong earnings helped its Bull of the Day trend higher, says Zacks. Shares last closed at $122.60, and the consensus price target of $127.44 would be a 52-week high.

TKO Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: TKO): Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $114 target price. Shares hit a 52-week high of $103.98 on Tuesday but closed at $103.05.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS): BofA Securities cut its $190 target price to $177 but stuck with a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $189.63, and the shares closed almost 3% lower on Tuesday at $156.57.

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Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, DoorDash, Enbridge, Foot Locker, Kenvue, Nu, RTX, SharkNinja and Tesla.

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