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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, GE, JD.com, Peabody Energy, Qualcomm, WisdomTree and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: November 14, 2017 9:05 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:26 am

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Tuesday, but the indexes remain close to all-time highs hit just last week. The trend that has continued to dominate the markets is that investors have bought every major sell-off for more than five years now. Investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.

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 these analyst reports and research notes cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, November 14, 2017.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $51 target price (versus a $46.72 prior close) at Wells Fargo. Shares were up 0.4% on Monday and indicated up 0.4% more at $46.90. Coca-Cola’s 52-week trading range is $39.88 to $46.98 and its consensus analyst target price is $48.11.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was raised to Buy from Hold at HSBC. The American depositary shares closed at $17.93, and they were indicated up 1.4% at $18.20 on Tuesday morning. The 52-week range is $15.09 to $20.94, and the consensus target price is down at $14.32.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) closed down over 7.1% at $19.02 at close to a five-year closing low after cutting the dividend and showing its strategy. GE shares were downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform with a $20 target (down from $25) at RBC Capital Markets. Merrill Lynch maintained its Buy rating, but lowered its price objective to $23 from $27. GE now has a 52-week range of $18.75 to $32.38, and its price target was $24.87.

JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, but it was maintained as Outperform and the price target was raised to $52 from $50 at Wells Fargo. JD.com closed up 3.45% at $41.34 after a strong Singles Day in China, but the stock was indicated down 1.3% at $40.80 on the heels of this downgrade. The 52-week range is $25.25 to $48.99. The consensus target price is $50.23.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) was started as Buy with a $38 price target (versus a $31.18 close) at Jefferies. The firm noted that Peabody is the world’s largest coal miner and has come out of bankruptcy with a greatly improved balance sheet and strong free cash flow generation and capital returns. Peabody’s 52-week range is $22.58 to $32.50, and it has a consensus target price of $37.50.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $77 from $70 at RBC Capital Markets. It closed up 3%at $66.49 on Monday and was indicated up 0.4% at $66.75 on Tuesday, a day after formally rejecting the $70 buyout offer from Broadcom.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform with a $12.50 target price (versus an $11.28 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. It was maintained as Sell but the price target was raised to $8.50 from $8.00 at UBS. WisdomTree closed down 5.5% at $11.28 on Monday after making an acquisition, but shares were indicated up 0.4% at $11.33 on Tuesday.

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Other key analyst calls are included below:

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $162 from $156 at Jefferies.

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) was maintained as Market Perform but the price target was raised to $150 from $110 at Wells Fargo.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was started as Neutral with an $89 target price (versus an $83.55 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was started as Buy and assigned a $106 target price (versus a $93.69 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm removed it from the prized Conviction Buy List.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was started as Neutral with a $22 price target (versus a $22.14 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) was reiterated as Buy with a $35 price target (versus a $28.69 close) at Jefferies.

Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI) was started as Overweight with a $17 target price (versus a $12.08 close) at Barclays.

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) was started as Sell with an $18 target price (versus a $20.85 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

SuperValu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) was started as Sell with a $14 price target (versus a $15.30 close) at Goldman Sachs.

TG Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TGTX) was started with a Buy rating and given a $33 price target (versus an $8.25 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

United Natural Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI) was started as Neutral with a $41 target price (versus a $39.70 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Monday’s top analyst calls included Best Buy, Equifax, Gilead Sciences, MongoDB, NVIDIA, Rio Tinto, Teva Pharmaceutical, UPS and many more.