Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Bank of America, Pandora and More

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. They include Apple, Bank of America, Pandora Media, Staples and Smith & Wesson.

Published March 5, 2014, 8:55am ET · 2 min read

investor research

Stocks are trying to rally again on Wednesday after challenging a new high on the S&P 500. Meanwhile, many investors still want to protect themselves against the next major sell-off but they also want upside from the market. 24/7 Wall St. looks over dozens of Wall Street analyst research reports each morning for new ideas. Some are stocks to buy and some are stocks to sell. These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) was started as Outperform at Keefe Bruyette Woods.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy with a $610 price target at Argus on the new CFO news.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was reiterated as Neutral, but the earnings estimates were cut, due to lower capital markets trading activity, at Credit Suisse.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) was downgraded to Neutral and removed from the prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) was raised to Neutral from Sell at MKM Partners.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Nomura.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen and Co.

Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Jon C. Ogg

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.

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