Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Dollar General, eBay, Fresh Market, Marvell, Party City, SAP and More

May 26, 2015 by Lee Jackson

Bull and BearWith traders and investors returning to the markets after the long holiday weekend, it is looking like we will begin the shortened trading week to the downside, as futures are indicating a lower open for markets on Wall Street. With plenty of data set to roll out today and this week, investors will be watching closely for market-moving reports.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst research reports cover new stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Here are Tuesday’s leading analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from top research calls from around Wall Street.

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen.

ANN Inc. (NYSE: ANN) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from a Buy rating. The company released earnings Tuesday morning and missed on revenues, but it kept guidance for second quarter in place. The company is being acquired by Ascena Retail Group in a deal that should close in the last half of this year.

Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD) was started with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse with an $11 price target. Shares closed trading on Friday at $6.10.

comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) was started with a Buy rating at Needham. Shares ended last week at $56.26.

ALSO READ: 10 Stocks to Own for the Next Decade

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was added to the Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed on Friday at $73.56. This company was one of our 10 Stocks to Own for the Next Decade.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Axiom Capital. The firm raised the price target on the stock to $70 from $60. Shares closed on Friday at $59.72.

Enviva Partners L.P. (NYSE: EVA) was started with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs with a $25 price target. Barclays starts it with a Overweight rating and a $25 target as well. Shares closed on Friday at $21.10.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was upgraded to Market Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets. Shares are trading down in Tuesday’s premarket almost 5% at $52.60.

Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Longbow.

L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) was added to the Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy list, and the target price was raised from $104 to $106. Shares of the stock closed trading last Friday at $87.46, down 1.13%.

Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. Shares closed Friday at $82.56. The company saw strong insider buying of the stock last week.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was upgraded to Buy from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. The stock was crushed Friday after reporting very lackluster earnings, falling 8.56% to close at $13.14. Shares traded up at $13.54 in Tuesday’s premarket action.

Party City Holdco Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTY) was started with a rating of Overweight at J.P. Morgan with a price target set at $26. The stock was also started with an Outperform rating at Telsey Advisory Group and a Buy rating at Merrill Lynch, and both firms also have a $26 price objective. The stock closed Friday at $21.80.

ALSO READ: 5 Turnaround Companies That Came Back From the Brink of Disaster

Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. (NYSE: Q) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

SAP S.E. (NYSE: SAP) was started with a Market Perform rating at Cowen with and $80 price target. The stock closed the day on Friday at $74.71.

In case you missed Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included BP, Conns, Netflix, Salesforce.com, Total and more.

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