Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CSC, Chevron, Coach, Duke, Newmont, Sprint and More

February 24, 2015 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were mixed on Tuesday after hitting new highs last week. The S&P 500 is above 2,100 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is above 18,000, and the Nasdaq wants to challenge the 5,000 mark again for the first time in 15 years. One trend that has been set in stone over the past two years or more is that investors buy stocks after every single pullback. They see each retreat as a chance to buy stocks they wanted to own or that are overlooked or offer value.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week. The aim is to find new investment and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.

Computer Science Corp. (NYSE: CSC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was raised to Outperform from Perform and the price target was raised to $50 from $36 (versus a $41.71 close) at Oppenheimer.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was reiterated as Buy with a $99 target after last week’s earnings, and shares closed at $79.26 on Monday.

Newmont Mining Co. (NYSE: NEM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.

ALSO READ: The 5 Stocks Taking the Nasdaq to 5,000

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with $3.25 price target (versus a $4.67 close) at a firm called BTIG Research.

Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations were as follows:

Avinger Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGR) was started with a Buy rating and $18 target (versus a $10.66 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Basic Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: BAS) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE: BPT) was started as Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

Chegg Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee, with a $45 price target, after closing at $36.87.

Eni SpA (NYSE: E) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was maintained as a Buy at Canaccord Genuity, but the price target was raised to $68 from $64.

HSBC PLC (NYSE: HSBC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

ALSO READ: 5 Top Technology Buyout Candidates

Memorial Production Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: MEMP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NCLH) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Olympic Steel Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral.

Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) fell 5% on Monday and shares were down another 14% at $18.75 early on Monday. The company was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, to Hold from Buy at Topeka Capital Markets and to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Worthington Industries Inc. (NYSE: WOR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform.

ALSO READ: 5 Oil Stocks Analysts Want You to Buy Now

In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations, they included Arch Coal, Boeing, CSX, DirecTV, LabCorp and a dozen more.

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