Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: MGM, Nationstar, Shutterfly, Twitter and More

January 13, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

Bull and BearWe are now entering the second full trading week of 2014, and analysts are making many key changes to their coverage universe. This comes at the same time that investors are continuing to position themselves for the year ahead. 24/7 Wall St. looks over dozens of Wall Street analyst research reports each morning to find new investment ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst calls are stocks to buy. Others research calls cover stocks to sell. These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised handily, to $33.50 from $21 (versus a $25.36 closing bell), at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The drivers behind the upgrade are an upside to Macau, to valuation as Cotai gets closer and a continued Las Vegas recovery.

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NSM) was raised to Buy from Neutral, but the price target was cut to $40 from $45, at Sterne Agee. Shares were also reiterated as Outperform and the price target was cut to $44, versus a prior target of $46, at Credit Suisse.

Shutterly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) was given two different analyst calls this morning. It was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays. RBC Capital markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a price target of $64, versus a closing price of $46.42.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) has seen analysts be negative and downgrade the stock several times since the end of December, all driving the stock lower. Now we have a call from Goldman Sachs offering support for Twitter on Monday. The firm raised its price target to $65 from $46 on Monday, which now appears to be the highest price target on the street, versus any other bulge bracket firms.

Other Key Analyst Calls

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) was raised to Buy from Neutral and given a $33 price target at Sterne Agee.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was reiterated as Buy with a $19 price target at Sterne Agee. The call was based on the new full-sized pickup trucks out later in 2014 as possibly the most important product information at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) was raised to Outperform from Perform by Oppenheimer.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.

Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ: SRCL) was started as Outperform with a target price of $140 (versus a $115.42 close) at Credit Suisse.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) was downgraded to Underweight from an already cautious Equal Weight rating at Morgan Stanley.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

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