Stocks were indicated to take a small breather on Thursday morning, but the major indexes remain close to all-time highs. Even with market conditions having reached frothy levels, many investors have yet to make any major changes to their holdings after the incredible gains from 2019.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
We have provided these analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Thursday, February 20, 2020.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $64 target price at Wells Fargo. AMD closed up 3.5% at $58.90 a share and was indicated down 0.5% at $58.60 ahead of Thursday’s open. It had a $48.59 consensus target price, and its 52-week high of $59.27 was seen just this week.
Allegion PLC (NYSE: ALLE) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.
American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) was started as Outperform with a $111 target price (versus a $103.50 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets.
American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was maintained as Equal Weight but its target price was raised to $147 from $128 at Wells Fargo. Shares closed down 0.4% at $138.70, which was above its prior $131.10 consensus target price.
Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $140 from $130 at Raymond James. Citigroup raised it to Buy from Neutral and raised its target price to $144 from $115. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $145 from $130. Shares closed up 4.5% at $123.89 ahead of the call and were indicated up 1% at $125.15 afterward. Its prior consensus target price was $125.75, and its 52-week trading range is $95.51 to $127.30.
Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. The stock closed up 20% at $14.09 on Wednesday, with an $11.06 consensus target price, and its 52-week trading range is $2.44 to $16.63.
Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the sell-off after a rare earnings miss could also be a rare buying opportunity. Shares most recently closed at $429.00 and have a consensus price target of $415.27.
CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) was started as Market Perform with a $28 target price (versus a $26.43 close) at BMO Capital Markets.
CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and its price objective was lowered to $12 from $14 (versus a $13.33 close) at Merrill Lynch. The prior consensus target price was $13.51, and the 52-week trading range is $9.64 to $15.30.
Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) was maintained as Strong Buy and its target price was raised to $50 from $39 at Raymond James. It closed at $41.25 a share, with a consensus target price of $41.97.
Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D) was started as Market Perform with a $91 target price (versus an $87.84 close) at BMO Capital Markets.
Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR) was started as Market Perform with a $132 target price (versus a $133.09 close) at BMO Capital Markets.
24/7 Wall St.
