Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AECOM, Intercept, Kinder Morgan, Rackspace, SunEdison, Disney and More

By Jon C. Ogg Published Aug 12, 2014 at 8:37 AM EDT

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Stocks were holding on to small gains on Tuesday even after weaker sentiment was reported out of Europe. It looks as though investors have decided they can now shop around for stocks that have pulled back. Each morning of the week, 24/7 Wall St. reviews many analyst research reports to find new investment and trading ideas. Some of these research reports feature stocks to buy, and others feature stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street analysts.

AECOM Technology Corp. (NYSE: ACM) was already at Buy, but the engineering and infrastructure support company was added to the US 1 list at BofA Merrill Lynch.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) shares surged some 50% higher following its Flint trial results. The stock was in our after-hours most active stocks as well. Intercept was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA Merrill Lynch later on Monday after its consolidation move. Credit Suisse raised its price target to $49 from $41 on Tuesday morning.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) was reiterated as Neutral with a $35 price target at BofA Merrill Lynch. Canaccord Genuity maintained its Hold rating.

Sunedison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $28 price target (versus the $21.65 Monday close) at Goldman Sachs.

Actavis plc (NYSE: ACT) was reiterated as Buy with a target price of $255 (versus a $202.72 Monday close) at Argus. The analysts maintain that the recent weakness has presented an attractive buying opportunity.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $50 price target (versus a $41.57 Monday close) at Stifel.

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (NASDAQ: AMCC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and was given a $10 price target (versus $8.59 Monday close) at FBR Capital Markets.

Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) may have fallen almost 4% after earnings on Monday, but on Tuesday it was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $18 from $15 at Credit Suisse.

ALSO READ: 11 Analyst Stock Picks Under $10 With Massive Upside

El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: EPB) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

EV Energy Partners, LP (NASDAQ: EVEP) was started with an Outperform rating and a $44 price target (versus $37.67 Monday close) at Credit Suisse.

HomeAway Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) was started with a Buy rating at UBS.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was started with a Buy rating and a $200 price target (versus $164.14 Monday close) at Stifel.

magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (NASDAQ: CALL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $14 from $22 at Canaccord Genuity. This was on the heels of weak earnings and guidance, with shares indicated down almost 9% to under $12 in premarket trading.

NII Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NIHD) was dropped from coverage at BofA Merrill Lynch. This is like a downgrade-squared.

Pacific Coast Oil Trust (NYSE: ROYT) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI) was started with a Buy rating and a $53 price target (versus $44.65 Monday close) at Stifel.

Skullcandy Inc. (NASDAQ: SKUL) was raised to Hold from Underperform by Jefferies.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) was started as Buy with a $150 price target (versus $120.92 Monday close) at Stifel.

U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was reiterated as Buy but the price target was raised to $41 from $31 (versus $35.54 Monday close) at Argus. The call is after narrower losses and strong guidance.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was reiterated Buy and the price target was raised to $101 from $96 (versus $87.50 Monday close) by Argus.

ALSO READ: New Analyst Biotech Stock Picks With Massive Upside

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was reiterated as Outperform with a $70 price target (versus $59.69 Monday close) and was maintained as a Top Pick by Credit Suisse.

In case you missed Monday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included shares of Achillion, Gap, GNC, King Digital, Pepsi, Tesla and a dozen or so more companies.