5 Unusual Analyst Upgrades From This Tuesday

September 20, 2016 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were trading flat on Tuesday after investors have had more pundits warn that the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike might be higher than they expect. Investors have still found more reasons to buy stocks on weakness rather than sell them. Those same investors also want to find new ideas to generate income or gains ahead.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas. Some analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, and some of these analyst calls stand out more than others.

Here are five analyst upgrades (official rating and/or price target) that were not covered in depth on our daily analyst calls this Tuesday morning.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) may have received a lot of new cash from a capital raise, and now analysts have started getting back on the AMD wagon after a sharp pullback. This may not sound like a big Buy rating here, but it removes the equivalent of one more Sell rating. AMD shares were raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein, and the firm raised its target price to $5 from $3 in the call. The shares were last seen flat at $6.16, but this was a day after Jefferies reiterated its $9 price target.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was already rated as Buy at Deutsche Bank, with the firm believing some of the regulatory pressure in China will pass. Now Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $219 from $182. Even at the end of August, Deutsche Bank said that new ads regulation affects short-term search growth while the consumer engagement shift poses challenges in the long term. Baidu shares were last seen up 1% at $186.66, with a consensus analyst target price of $183.56 and a 52-week trading range of $130.77 to $217.97.

Education Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: EDR) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Robert W. Baird. The firm’s analysts gave a $47 price target, versus a $42.97 prior close and a post-upgrade price of $43.61. The real estate investment trust also offers a 3.5% dividend yield. It invests in college housing communities located near university campuses. This is one way to be in the for-profit side of education without the wrath.

ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON) has now completed its acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor and analysts have chimed in. ON Semiconductor was last seen up 1.7% at $11.72 and hit a 52-week high of $12 on Tuesday. The following analyst calls have been seen:

  • B. Riley has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $16 from $15.
  • Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $15 from $13.
  • Deutsche Bank reinstated ON Semiconductor as Buy and gave a $15 price target.
  • Jefferies has a Hold rating, but it raised its target price to $13 from $10.50.
  • JPMorgan has a Neutral rating, and it raised the price target to $13.50 from $12.
  • Stifel has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $15 from $13.

PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM) was raised to buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $37.50 from $35 (versus a $33.01 close) at Jefferies. This was actually as it downgraded AEP on valuation, noting that the firm believes a final rate case decision from state regulators later this month will be more balanced than what is priced into the stock. The stock was last seen up 1.9% at $33.63 a share, with a 52-week range of $25.92 to $36.15 and a consensus target price of $36.60.

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