Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Garmin, Micron, US Steel, Urban Outfitters, Williams Companies, Hormel and More

Stocks are still quite close to all-time highs, but the markets were indicated to open marginally lower on Monday, August 22. The bull market is now seven and a half years old, but investors keep proving that they will buy any market sell-off. Those same investors are looking for new ideas to generate income or gains.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Others feature stocks to sell or to avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday morning:

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. The stock closed most recently at $54.38, and it has a 52-week trading range of $30.93 to $56.19, with a consensus analyst price target of $48.83.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was reiterated as Buy but the price price target was raised to $20 from $16 (versus a $16.25 prior close) at Mizuho. It has a 52-week range of $9.31 to $19.30 and a consensus price target of $16.00.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $27 price target (versus a $20.38 close) at Citigroup. The stock has a 52-week range of $6.15 to $27.64 and a consensus price target of $21.46.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but the price target was raised to $35 from $33 (versus a $37.81 close) at Goldman Sachs. The 52-week range is $6.15 to $27.64, and the consensus price target is $21.46.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $31 from $27 at Argus. Shares closed at $27.68 on Friday, and the firm noted a 33% run-up since its Energy Transfer merger was terminated. Argus believes it remains at a deep value discount versus its old $60 high. Williams has a 52-week range of $10.22 to $49.50 and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $43 price target (versus a $38.66 close) at Credit Suisse. The 52-week range is $29.18 to $45.72, and the stock has a consensus price target of $41.00.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:

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