Investing
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BHP Billiton, Deere, Logitech, Medtronic, Square, Sealed Air, Orbital ATK and More
August 23, 2016 8:55 am
Last Updated: January 13, 2020 4:21 am
Stocks closed marginally lower on Monday, but the markets were looking for direction on Tuesday. Investors seem to have few worries as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are all just under all-time highs. The bull market is now well over seven years old and the S&P 500 is valued at 18 times forward earnings. What is amazing is that investors have proven time after time, without fail, that they will buy their favorite stocks in every market sell-off. Those same investors are also on the hunt 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. Other reports feature stocks to sell or avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday morning:
BHP Billiton PLC (NYSE: BBL) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $33 from $28 (versus a $27.42 prior close) at Jefferies. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $16.36 to $36.66 and a consensus analyst price target of $30.32.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $98 from $90 (versus an $87.96 close) at Argus. The firm sees commodities and currency nearing inflection points and sees margins rebounding off of lows over the next two to three years.
Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. Shares closed at $22.11, have a consensus price target of $22.75 and have a 52-week range of $12.52 to $22.42.
Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT) was started with a Buy rating at Citigroup. The 52-week trading range is $63.98 to $89.27, and the consensus price target is $90.66.
Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel. It closed at $11.82 and has a 52-week range of $8.06 to $15.91. The consensus price target is $12.97, and shares were indicated up 3.4% at $12.22 on Tuesday morning.
Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE: SEE) was started with a Buy rating and given a $54 price target (versus a $46.88 close) at UBS. The 52-week range is $38.02 to $52.83, and the consensus price target is $54.54. Shares were indicated up 3% at $48.35 on Tuesday morning.
Orbital ATK Inc. (NYSE: OA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, but Wells Fargo raised its rating to Outperform from Market Perform. The stock closed at $74.48, has a 52-week range of $67.04 to $94.92 and has a consensus analyst target of $91.75.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:
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