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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Bazaarvoice, GM, Home Depot, MGIC, Nike, T-Mobile and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: November 28, 2017 9:05 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:27 am

Stocks were indicated higher on Tuesday after a mixed session on Monday. The markets remain right at all-time highs, and the one trend that has won time after time is that investors have been rewarded every time they buy pullbacks. Those same investors are continuing to look 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 28, 2017.

Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) was up 13% at $5.42 on Monday on word that it was going private for $521 million, but investigations by firms over whether the deal is fair have already been commenced. Bazaarvoice traded a whopping 24.1 million shares. It was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $5.50 price target (versus a $5.43 prior close) at Credit Suisse. Bazaarvoice’s 52-week trading range is $3.80 to $5.45 and the consensus analyst target price was $6.33.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was reiterated as Buy and the price objective was maintained as $57 at Merrill Lynch. With GM shares at $44.17, Merrill Lynch sees the upcoming investor event showcasing AV/EV/mobility leadership potentially serving as a catalyst for big upside to its stock.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities. The stock closed up 1% at $174.16 on Monday and was indicated up 0.4% at $174.95 on Tuesday. It has a 52-week range of $128.68 to $174.91 and a consensus target price of $178.37.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) was started as Outperform and assigned a $17 price target (versus a $14.38 close) at Wells Fargo. It has a 52-week range of $9.00 to $14.75 and a consensus target price of $15.53.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC, with the firm noting that competitive pressures are going to continue rather than improve. Nike closed up 0.5% at $59.63 on Monday but was indicated down 1.15% at $58.95 on Tuesday morning. Nike’s consensus target price was $58.83, and its 52-week range is $50.06 to $60.53.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) was reiterated as Buy with a $72 price target (versus a $62.78 close, up 1.8%) at Jefferies, and the firm said that T-Mobile remains its top pick in the space due to attractive growth opportunities and upside to shareholder returns. The 52-week range is $53.78 to $68.88, and the consensus analyst target is $71.37.

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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

Aquantia Corp. (NYSE: AQ) was up 0.7% at $11.80 on Monday. It was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $15 price target at Deutsche Bank, and it was started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley with a $15 price target.

Ares Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: ARCC) was started as Outperform with an $18 price target (versus a $16.37 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm’s investment view and bullish outlook take into consideration Ares’s market leading position, unique drivers of yield growth in addition to industry risks and valuation.

CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $29 price target (versus a $29.39 close) at Robert W. Baird.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was reiterated as Buy with a $51 target price at Argus with the firm positive after strong third-quarter results.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $52 price target (versus a $44.15 close) at Wells Fargo.

IHS Markit Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $52 price target (versus a $43.87 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

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Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $30 from $22 (versus a $23.38 close) at Credit Suisse.

Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $55 price target (versus a $57.85 close) at Barclays.

Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP) was up after its announced its acquisition of Time, and Jefferies raised Meredith to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $80 from $56 (versus a $67.55 close).

Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $72 from $64 (versus a $61.77 close) at Jefferies. The firm did a recent customer survey that points to higher penetration rates with Monster’s recent innovation helping to broaden its consumer base.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE: PBF) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $29 price target (versus a $33.12 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $205 price target (versus a $214.92 closing price) at Robert W. Baird.

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) was started as Market Perform with a $22 price target (versus a $20.64 close) at Wells Fargo.

Synlogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SYBX) was started as Outperform with a $20 price target (versus a $10.04 close) at Wedbush. Its upside thesis is based on two promising assets in or about to enter the clinic and a proprietary drug discovery technology that merges synthetic biology with the microbiome. The firm thinks the platform has the potential to disrupt the current standard of care for a number of disorders.

Tesaro Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRO) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $154 at Argus. Shares closed down 2.3% at $81.52 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $80.99 to $192.94.

We are starting to see very preliminary 2018 projections for stock market expectations, but these are all subject to change into December and January. Credit Suisse’s Global Equity Strategy 2018 outlook is forecasting roughly a 9% total return (gains plus dividends) for global equities in 2018. It has maintained its Underweight level for U.S. equities but has marginally increased its exposure, and the firm has a 2,875 target for the S&P 500 at the end of 2018. Continental Europe is its top Overweight (Germany, Spain and French midcaps), and Japan was raised to a small Overweight from a Benchmark weighting. In emerging markets, the firm is reducing its Overweight ratings of China and Russia and adding to its Overweight of India. While it sees interest rates rising, Credit Suisse struggles to see U.S. 10-year yields above 3%.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in shares of AECOM, Ciena, Evoqua Water Tech, Funko, GlaxoSmithKline, Square and many more.