Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: ConAgra, Dean Foods, GrubHub, HCA, NetApp, Northrop Grumman, SolarCity, UnitedHealth and Many More

courtesy of Jon Ogg

Stocks were indicated sharply higher again on Wednesday, even ahead of the Federal Reserve rate hike decision, wherein the Fed is expected to finally raise interest rates after almost a decade. The trend that has been in place for more than four years now is for investors and traders to buy each and every pullback. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.

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

ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) was started as Buy with a $50.00 price target (versus a $39.31 prior close) at Jefferies. ConAgra has a consensus analyst price target of $45.44 and a 52-week trading range of $33.45 to $45.49.

Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) was started as Buy with a $21.00 price target (versus a $17.17 close) at Jefferies. Dean Foods has a consensus analyst price target of $20.13 and a 52-week range of $14.56 to $19.74.

GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Northland Securities. The stock rose 4.5% to $24.00 on Tuesday and was indicated down 2% at $23.50 on Wednesday morning. It has a consensus price target of $31.68 and a 52-week range of $22.49 to $47.95.

HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was started as Outperform with a $75.00 price target (versus a $65.66 close) at Credit Suisse. HCA has a consensus price target of $87.81 and a 52-week range of $43.91 to $95.49.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was started as Market Underperform with a $24.00 price target (versus a $28.57 close) at JMP Securities. NetApp has a consensus price target of $33.12 and a 52-week range of $28.30 to $43.46.


Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $212.00 price target (versus a $187.84 close) at JPMorgan. Northrup Grumman has a consensus price target of $199.71 and a 52-week range of $141.58 to $193.99.

SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) was maintained as Buy at Canaccord Genuity with a $48.00 price target. This was after the firm’s Analyst Day. The call does not even assume that there will be an ITC extension in a tax extenders bill before the government’s holiday break. It also sees SolarCity becoming potentially cash flow positive in the near term with cost reductions ahead.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was started as Outperform with a $133 price target (versus a $117.61 close) at Credit Suisse. UnitedHealth has a consensus price target of $142.55 and a 52-week range of $95.00 to $126.21.

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Wednesday were seen in shares of the following:
Amplify Snack Brands Inc. (NYSE: BETR) was started as Buy with an $18.00 price target (versus an $11.51 close) at Jefferies.

Apple Hospitality REIT Inc. (NYSE: APLE) was started as Buy and was assigned a $23.00 price target (versus a $20.50 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with an $83.00 price target (versus a $74.55 close) at Keybanc Capital Markets.

Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL) was started as Buy with a $110.00 price target (versus an $88.63 close) at Wunderlich.

CEVA Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA) was started as Buy with a $28.00 price target (versus a $23.95 close) at Wunderlich.

Flowers Foods Inc. (NYSE: FLO) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $26.00 price target (versus a $21.61 close) at Jefferies.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was started as Buy with a $50.00 price target (versus a $39.47 close) at Jefferies.

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) was started with a Buy rating and $85.00 price target (versus a $77.44 close) at Jefferies.

Matador Resources Co. (MTDR) was started as Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.


Penumbra Inc. (NYSE: PEN) was reiterated Buy and the price target was raised to $60 from $58 at Canaccord Genuity. The firm said that Penumbra’s positive stroke study highlights the benefits of aspiration-first therapy, and that is a positive for the stock.

Rice Energy Inc. (NYSE: RICE) was started as Hold with an $11 price target (versus an $8.35 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ: SRCL) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $146 from $155 (versus a $118.53 close). The firm said that the recent dislocation in Stericycle shares is a rare opportunity to own a high-quality, non-patient-volume sensitive HC business at a trough valuation.

TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

If you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of AIG, BHP Billiton, Cypress Semi, Encana, Newell Rubbermaid, Oracle, Twitter, Visa and over a dozen more.

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