Investing
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: eBay, GoDaddy, Kinder Morgan, Owens Corning, SanDisk, TI, VMware and More
October 22, 2015 8:55 am
Last Updated: October 23, 2015 9:19 am
Stocks were indicated higher on Thursday, but that is after the gains this week have been harder and harder to hold on to. Investors keep demonstrating that they will buy their favorite stocks and other value stocks or opportunities. 24/7 Wall St. reviews looks for these opportunities for its readers, and as such reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy and others cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.Source: Thinkstock
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) saw its price target raised to $28 from $27 at Canaccord Genuity, noting a solid third-quarter earnings report that highlighted stabilizing trends. Jefferies reiterated its Hold rating on eBay and raised its target to $28.00 from $27.00 as well.
GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $40.00 price target (versus a $26.86 prior close) at UBS. GoDaddy has a consensus price target of $33.00 and a post-IPO trading range of $20.00 to $33.00, but what stands out is that UBS is now $4.00 higher than the prior street-high analyst price target of $36.00.
Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel, despite the higher dividend announcement. Credit Suisse downgraded Kinder Morgan to Neutral from Outperform with a $39.00 price target. Kinder Morgan was talking about alternative financing that hurt the stock and exposure to oil prices as “not immune,” so shares were down 6.4% at $29.40 in early trading Thursday. Its 52-week range is $25.81 to $44.71.
Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. RBC Capital Markets has a Sector Perform rating but raised its target price to $52 from $50 (versus a $45.95 close). Owens Corning has a consensus analyst price target of $48.38 and a 52-week range of $30.82 to $47.90.
SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus on the heels of the Western Digital buyout news. SanDisk closed up 2% at $76.78 on the formal earnings report, but it was up massively from before the rumors broke about the deal. The consensus target price was closer to $70, based on its own fundamentals.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley, and the price target was raised to $58 from $55 in the call. Shares were indicated up 8% at $56.00 in early trading after solid earnings.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer, with its tech analyst saying it is now just too long to wait for the cycle. VMware was down 19% at $55.42 on Wednesday, and the new 52-week range is $52.72 to $93.43.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen Thursday in the following:
Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was reiterated as Buy with a $16.00 (versus an $8.94 close) price target at Jefferies, noting strong results and a faster turnaround.
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