Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Atmel, BlackBerry, Citigroup, DSW, JC Penney, 2U, TD Ameritrade, Vertex and Many More

September 28, 2015 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated lower after weak overseas trading and economic news after more weakness in China. The markets are continuing to look for the right earnings multiple to factor in slower growth. Still, investors have shown after every sell-off that they will buy weakness as they hunt for value and bargains.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning in order to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Atmel Corp. (NASDAQ: ATML) was raised to Strong Buy from Market Perform with a $10.00 price target (versus an $8.02 prior close) at Raymond James. Atmel has a $9.27 consensus analyst price target and a $5.84 to $10.50 trading range over the past 52 weeks.

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) was maintained as Underperform at Credit Suisse. RBC Capital Markets maintained its Sector Perform rating but lowered its price target to $8.00 from $9.00. BlackBerry shares closed down 7.7% at $6.49 after earnings on Friday, and its 52-week range is $6.41 to $12.63.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, with a $62.00 price target (versus a $50.55 close). The report said Citi’s valuation now appears to more adequately discount its concerns, without accounting for the fundamental progress made year to date.

DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $312 from $38 (versus a $26.84 close) at B. Riley. DSW closed down 4% Friday and has a 52-week range of $26.56 to $39.58.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $13.00 price target (versus a $9.43 close) at Sterne Agee. Shares of J.C. Penney have a consensus price target of $9.87 and a 52-week range of $5.90 to $10.20.

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Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) was started as Buy with a $50 price target (versus a $40.68 close) at Jefferies. Newell Rubbermaid has a consensus price target of $47.64 and a 52-week range of $31.14 to $44.51.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE: AMTD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. TD Ameritrade has a consensus price target of $38.47 and a 52-week range of $28.34 to $39.05.

2U Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU) was reinstated as Outperform with a $40.00 price target (versus a $35.21 close) at Credit Suisse. Shares of 2U have a consensus target of $40.40 and a 52-week range of $14.91 to $39.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus, with a $126.00 price target, after a 7% drop to $103.28 on Friday. The firm said that its call is after falling 16% in the past week as investors fled biotechs due to valuations and potential government pricing regulations, and the firm says its earnings outlook has become more transparent on a cystic fibrosis drug.

Additional key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Monday were in the following:

Amber Road Inc. (NYSE: AMBR) was started as Buy at Needham, with a $7.00 price target (versus a $4.54 close).

Aqua America Inc. (NYSE: WTR) was reiterated as Buy with a $35 fair value estimate (versus a $26.36 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE: BF-B) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, and the price target was cut to $93 from $100 (versus a $99.58 close).

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was started as Hold with an $86 price target (versus a $79.77 close) at Jefferies.

Endologix Inc. (NASDAQ: ELGX) was raised to Buy with a $16 price target (versus a $11.671 close) at BTIG.

Fibrocell Science Inc. (NASDAQ: FCSC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush Securities.

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Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ: GLPG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE: IRT) was started as Hold with a $9.00 price target (versus a $7.73 close) at Deutsche Bank.

InterXion Holding N.V. (NYSE: INXN) was started as Overweight with a $33 price target (versus a $26.92 close) at Barclays.

MINDBODY Inc. (NASDAQ: MB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $17 price target (versus a $16.76 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Natera Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $12.94 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: SBLK) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $3.00 price target (versus a $2.43 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Varian Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE: VAR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was cut to $76 from $83 (versus a $75.27 close) at Goldman Sachs.

ALSO READ: 9 Well-Known Dividend Stocks Yielding Over 5%

In case you missed Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Intel, 3M, Nike, Box and over a dozen more.

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