24/7 Wall St.

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Tuesday at a time when some volatility has started to return to the major stock indexes. The stock market is still very close to all-time highs, and the trend that has prevailed for more than half of the eight-year bull market is that investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off. Many investors are also on the hunt for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, August 22, 2017.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $215 price target (versus a $169.25 prior close) at Atlantic Equities. Alibaba has a 52-week trading range of $86.01 to $170.60 and a consensus analyst price target of $188.40.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) saw its estimates raised but the retailer was maintained as Hold with a $60 price target (versus a $60.45 close) at Jefferies. Best Buy has a 52-week range of $36.51 to $62.36 and a consensus price target of $60.69.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was maintained as Buy with a $140 price target (versus a $115.62 close) at Argus, with the firm noting that the recent weakness in Deere shares after earnings offers a buying opportunity.  The 52-week range is $80.35 to $132.50 and the consensus price target is $130.61.

Jinko Solar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform but the price target was raised to $25 from $20 at Credit Suisse. The firm believes that the demand is priced in now at $23.70. Jinko Solar has a 52-week range of $12.72 to $29.36 and a consensus price target of $17.35.

Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) was maintained as Buy with a $105 price target (versus an $87.20 close) at Jefferies. It has a 52-week range of $71.24 to $93.75 and a consensus price target of $92.15.

Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, after a weak post-earnings outlook. Mylan has a 52-week range of $29.39 to $47.59. The consensus price target is $40.67.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $120 price target (versus a $97.01 close) at Deutsche Bank. VMware has a 52-week range of $71.81 to $98.20 and a consensus price target of $106.57. Its shares were last seen up 2% at $99.11 after this call.

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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE: BSAC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $27 price target (versus a $29.17 close for its American depositary shares) at UBS.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that it is time to close the tactical trade.

Energen Corp. (NYSE: EGN) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $61 price target (versus a $49.56 close) at Imperial Capital.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $125 at Argus.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive with a $45 price target (versus a $42.50 close) at Susquehanna.

RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ: RDNT) was raised to Buy and the price target was raised to $12 from $7 (versus an $8.60 close) at Jefferies.

24/7 Wall St.
Why Baker Hughes Now Looks So Attractive After Its GE Merger

Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN) was a successful IPO and the last close of $27.56 compares with a $15 IPO price at the end of July. Now its quiet period is ending, and Redfin was started as Outperform with a $31 price target at Oppenheimer. Merrill Lynch started it as Neutral with a $28 price objective. Goldman Sachs started it as Neutral with a $20 price target, and RBC Capital Markets started Refin as Sector Perform with a $28 target.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $200 from $210 at Argus.

Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) saw its price target lowered to $35 from $45 (versus a $39.35 close) at Oppenheimer.

Tempur Sealy International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $80 price target (versus a $61.51 close) at Stifel.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $200 from $180 (versus a $174.01 close) at Argus.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Applied Materials, Baker Hughes, Blue Apron, Deere, Foot Locker, Lululemon, Nike, Plains All American, Total and many more.