Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Accenture, Ericsson, GM, Phillips 66, United Rentals, Urban Outfitters, Xerox, Yum and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: October 3, 2017 9:05 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:20 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher marginally higher again on Tuesday, continuing Monday’s strong debut to the fourth quarter. The one trend that keeps on trucking in this more than eight year bull market is that investors have managed to keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every market sell-off. Those same investors are also on the hunt for new investing and trading ideas with their capital.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on many of these daily analyst calls. The consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, October 3, 2017.

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive with a $144 price target (versus a $135.44 prior close) at Susquehanna. Accenture has a 52-week trading range of $112.31 to $138.70 and a consensus analyst target price of $142.92.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, sending its American depositary shares down 2.1% to $5.64 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $4.83 to $7.47.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $57 price objective (versus a $42.15 close) at Merrill Lynch. Shares were indicated up 1.6% at $42.83, and that is after a 4.4% rally on Monday to a prior 52-week high of $42.48. GM has a consensus target price of $39.52.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed up 0.8% at $92.38 on Monday, and they were up another 1.7% at $93.99 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $75.14 to $92.67, and the consensus target price is $91.07.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was started with a Hold rating and was given a $157 price target (versus a $139.20 close) at Deutsche Bank. It has a 52-week range of $70.58 to $139.98 and a consensus target price of almost $125.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank. Its shares were up 0.4% at $23.99 on Monday but were indicated down 4.1% at $23.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 52-week range of $16.19 to $40.80 and a consensus target price of $21.11.

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) was started as Neutral at UBS, and it was assigned a $36 price target (versus a $33.46 close). Xerox has a consensus target price of $37.29.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $88 price target at Stifel. Yum has a 52-week range of $59.57 to $78.14 and a consensus analyst target of $79.40.

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Stifel Has 6 Mega Cap Tech Stocks to Buy for Rest of 2017

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Other top analyst calls from this Tuesday were seen as follows:

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRX) was started as Buy and assigned a $10 price target (versus a $5.50 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Changyou.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYOU) was started as Neutral with a $40 price target (versus a $40.14 close) at Credit Suisse.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was started as Hold with a $345 price target (versus a $301.81 close) at Stifel.

Craft Brew Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: BREW) was started as Positive with a $22 price target (versus a $17.80 close) at Susquehanna.

Endocyte Inc. (NASDAQ: ECYT) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $7 price target (versus a $3.63 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that in-licensing of its Phase 3 ready asset has improved its outlook with peak sales potentially at about $1 billion.

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $182 price target (versus a $175.04 close) at UBS.

LGI Homes Inc. (NASDAQ: LGIH) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $49 price target (versus a $48.98 close) at Wedbush, noting that its price target had been met.

Manhattan Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $55 price target (versus a $43.20 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Masonite International Corp. (NYSE: DOOR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $70 price target (versus a $68.70 close) at Wedbush. This downgrade was a valuation call within 5% of its target.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $69 from $66 (versus a $61.82 close) at Jefferies. The firm’s latest doctor survey predicts that Ingrezza will continue to lead the market share in Tardive Dyskinesia (TD).

Rex Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: REXX) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform with a $3 price target (versus a $2.62 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $82 from $75 (versus a $70.99 close) at Jefferies.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in AbbVie, Baker Hughes, CSX, Micron Technology, Nucor, PepsiCo, Western Digital and many more.