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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Hasbro, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel, MetLife, United Rentals, UTC, Williams and More
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Stocks rallied on Tuesday and then really got a bump on Wednesday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally cracked the 20,000 level. There remains a path to Dow 21,422 in 2017, but a lot of things have to go right to have that occur. Even with this bull market almost eight years old, investors are still buying the pullbacks, and they are still looking for new and overlooked opportunities.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid. Most of the following analyst calls include some color, and Thomson Reuters was used for consensus analyst price target data.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, January 26, 2017:
Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Monness Crespi & Hardt. Hasbro closed up 1.5% at $86.76 on Wednesday and was indicated down 3.2% at $84.00 early Thursday. It also has a 52-week range of $68.60 to $88.53 and a consensus analyst price target of $86.90.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Shares closed up 0.9% at $112.80 on Wednesday and were indicated down 0.5% at $112.28 on Thursday. Johnson & Johnson’s stock has a 52-week trading range of $99.78 to $126.07 and a consensus price target of $125.47.
Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MKM Partners. Shares closed up 1.2% at $31.56 on Wednesday and were indicated down 13% at $27.40 on Thursday after reporting weak holiday sales. Mattel has a 52-week range of $26.11 to $34.76 and a consensus price target of $35.36.
MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) was started with a Sell rating and assigned a $51 price target (versus a $56.15 prior close) at Citigroup. MetLife has a 52-week range of $35.00 to $58.09 and a consensus price target of $61.08.
United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was indicated higher on Thursday by over 8% to $124.40 after beating earnings and making a small acquisition. It was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $145 price target (versus a prior closing price of $114.26) at Avondale Research. United Rentals has a 52-week range of $41.90 to $115.61 and had a consensus analyst target of $106.13 before the news.
United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was downgraded to Hold From Buy at Argus. UTC closed down 0.6% at $110.96 on Wednesday and was indicated down 0.8% at $110.00 on Thursday. The 52-week range is $83.85 to $112.83. The consensus price target is $117.53.
Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was started as Outperform and assigned a $33 price target at Credit Suisse. The stock closed up 1.1% at $28.81 on Wednesday, and it has a 52-week range of $10.22 to $32.69 and a consensus price target of $32.00.
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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:
Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $77 price target (versus a $58.42 close) at Piper Jaffray.
Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $92 price target (versus an $82.01 close) at Oppenheimer.
International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
Lincoln National Corp. (NYSE: LNC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $77 price target (versus a $69.01 prior close) at Citigroup.
Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $103 price target (versus a $107.36 close) at Citigroup.
Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ: SGMS) was raised to Buy from Underperform with a $20 price objective (versus a $17.00 close) at Merrill Lynch.
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.
Varian Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE: VAR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with an $81.50 price target at Evercore ISI. It closed up 2.3% at $92.42 on Wednesday but was indicated down 5.9% at $87.00 on Thursday after missing earnings expectations.
Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $51 price target (versus a prior closing price of $40.80) at Citigroup.
Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) was started with a Neutral rating and given a $44 price target (versus a prior closing price of $40.95) at Credit Suisse.
Wednesday’s top analyst calls included Alcoa, AK Steel, CenturyLink, Coach, Hyatt, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airline, Transocean, Verizon Communication, Wal-Mart and many more.
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