24/7 Wall St.

Stocks tried to stabilize on Monday, and Tuesday’s early indications were for Dow and S&P 500 futures to be up almost 1%. Last week’s sell-off may have been the worst opening week for stocks for anyone who is living, but investors have bought every market pullback for over four years now, and the Dow and S&P 500 were both already challenging the formal 10% correction mark.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning. The aim is to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Wednesday’s top analyst calls.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, with the firm noting that management is unlikely to be aggressive. In our own 2016 bullish and bearish outlook for American Express, it was shocking to see how analysts were still somehow looking for 18% upside in 2016.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSEMKT: LNG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. After closing at $33.47, the consensus analyst price target is still supposedly (or somehow) up at $71.00, and its 52-week trading range is $32.83 to $82.32.

GoldCorp (NYSE: GG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was shaved to $14.00 from $15.50 (versus an $11.44 prior close) at Credit Suisse. Goldcorp has a consensus price target of closer to $18.50 and a 52-week range of $10.87 to $25.00.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target was raised to $66.00 from $57.00 at Morgan Stanley. Our 2016 bullish and bearish outlook had a consensus target much lower at $57.00 ($57.63 now after target hikes). Microsoft closed most recently at $52.78 and it has a 52-week range of $39.72 to $56.85.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies in a call in which the firm remains cautiously optimistic on U.S. steel players versus European players, but the firm’s price target was cut to $45.00 from $52.00. Nucor closed at $36.29 and has a consensus price target of $48.00 and a 52-week range of $25.44 to $50.70.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) was already rated as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm added it to the prized Conviction Buy List, and the price target is $37.00 (versus a $28.90 close). The consensus target price is $38.48, and the 52-week trading range is $27.92 to $36.40.

Tyco International PLC (NYSE: TYC) was raised to Neutral from Sell but the price target was cut to $31.00 from $33.00 (versus a $30.57 close) at UBS. Tyco has a consensus price target of $38.29 and a 52-week range of $30.04 to $44.00.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS with a $7.00 price target (versus a $6.57 close). Whiting has a consensus target that is still somehow up above $20, and it has a 52-week range of $6.24 to $41.57.

Other key analysts upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday were in the following:
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) was downgraded to Hold from Underperform and the price target was cut to $3.00 from $6.00 at Jefferies.

Black Knight Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: BKFS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $37.00 price objective (versus a $29.25 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform and it has a $50 price target (versus a $32.43 close) at Raymond James.

Conn’s Inc. (NASDAQ: CONN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $42 price target (versus a $30.16 close) at FBR Capital Markets.

Dr Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $87.00 price target (versus a $92.72 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Electronics for Imaging Inc. (NASDAQ: EFII) was started as Overweight with a $52.00 price target (versus a $41.94 close) at Barclays.

IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) was maintained as Buy and the price target was cut to $123 from $136 at Stifel.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $3.00 price target (versus a $3.34 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE: MMC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform but the price target was trimmed to $61.00 from $62.00 (versus a $52.67 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, and the price target was cut to $28.00 from $43.00 (versus a $21.96 close). The consensus price target is $32.05, The 52-week trading range is $17.83 to $52.70.

Plains GP Holdings L.P. (NYSE: PAGP) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was slashed to $10.50 from $24.00 (versus an $8.37 close) at JPMorgan.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch, and the firm assigned a $35.00 price objective (versus a $31.11 close).

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $90 from $94 at RBC Capital Markets.

TimkenSteel Corp. (NYSE: TMST) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was slashed to $4.50 from $20.00 at Jefferies.

Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) was started as Overweight with a $35.00 price target (versus a $24.13 close) at Stephens.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm cut its price target to $95.00 from $111.00.

If you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, BHP Billiton, CA, CarMax, Dean Foods, Freeport-McMoRan, Newmont Mining, Shire, Wells Fargo and well over a dozen more companies.

If you want this on your Twitter feed, follow @jonogg for analyst and research alerts.