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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chesapeake Energy, Motorola Solutions, Pfizer, Spirit Air, Symantec, Under Armour, US Foods and More

courtesy of Jon Ogg

The stock market was indicated handily higher on Monday, negating most of last week’s major drop. Is the trend of buying the dips already coming back into play that fast?

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while other reports feature stocks to sell or to avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday morning:

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was resumed in coverage at Jefferies with an Underperform rating, although the price target was raised to $3 from $2 (versus $4.51 prior close). The firm thinks the liquidity runway has been extended, reducing the risk of default and immediate liquidity issues. Chesapeake Energy has a consensus analyst price target of $4.44 and a 52-week trading range of $1.50 to $12.06.

Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) was started with a Neutral rating and given a $73 price target (versus a $67.33 close) at Citigroup. It has a consensus price target of $72.75 and a 52-week range of $56.40 to $76.83.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $40 from $42 (versus a $34.75 close) and the GEPxit drivers waning led Pfizer to be removed from the Jefferies Franchise Pick List. The consensus price target is $38.71, and the 52-week range is $28.25 to $36.46.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $55 from $44 (versus a $42.48 close) at Credit Suisse. The consensus price target is $55.33. The 52-week range is $32.73 to $66.18.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) was raised to Buy from Sell and the price target was raised to $24 from $16 (versus a $19.97 close) at UBS. It has a consensus price target of $19.47 and a 52-week range of $16.14 to $24.39.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $48 price target (versus a $37.22 close) at Buckingham Research. The consensus analyst target is $53.62, and the 52-week range is $31.62 to $52.95.

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE: USFD) saw its quiet period come to an end. After closing at $23.96 on Friday, its post-IPO range is $23.32 to $25.64. The stock was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $28 price target at Deutsche Bank. Goldman Sachs started it as Neutral with a $28 target, and JPMorgan started it as Overweight with a $27.50 price target. Morgan Stanley started it as Equal Weight with a $28 price target. BMO assigned a Market Perform rating with a $25 price target.

Other top analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following:

  • Credit Acceptance Corp. (NASDAQ: CACC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Janney, and the upgrade was said to be based on valuation.
  • Perrigo Co. PLC (NYSE: PRGO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.
  • Theravance Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: TBPH) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $21.82 close) at Guggenheim.

You can follow @JonOgg if you wish to get analyst upgrades and downgrades directly on your Twitter feed.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Electric Power, Mobileye, PayPal, Phillips 66, Smith & Wesson, Viacom and over a dozen more.

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