24/7 Wall St.

Stocks had been selling off up until today, but the major equity indices were up after strong earnings from the Dow Jones industrials added support. Some investors have reconsidered what the nine-year bull market may bring in 2018 and beyond. It is clear that the trend of buying pullbacks has become more vulnerable to sellers, volatility and each major news headline. Many investors are finding it hard to decide how they want their assets positioned for the longer term.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, April 24, 2018.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) was down 13.5% at $51.90 on Monday after the United States softened its Rusal sanctions. Citigroup downgraded Alcoa to Neutral from Buy. The stock had a consensus target price of $67.25.

Allergan PLC (NYSE: AGN) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $220 price target (versus a $159.89 prior close) at Citigroup.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was down 0.3% ahead of earnings at $1,073.81 and was last seen down just 0.2% at $1,071 or so on Tuesday morning after the report. Pivotal Research maintained Alphabet as Hold but cut its price target to $970 from $1,040. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating with a $1,350 price target. Merrill Lynch maintained its Buy rating but lowered its price objective to $1,270 from $1,360.

Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR) was maintained as Buy with a $55 fair value (versus a $51.07 close) at Janney. Merrill Lynch maintained it as Buy with a $54 price objective.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $54 price target (versus a $43.91 close) at Goldman Sachs. BP’s American depositary shares were up almost 1% at $43.91 on Monday, and they were up 1.3% at $44.49 on Tuesday. The consensus price target is roughly $45.20, and the 52-week range is $33.90 to $44.62.

Epizyme Inc. (NASDAQ: EPZM) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $20 from $24 (versus a $15.30 close) at Wedbush. The firm believes that the secondary malignancy causing a partial hold looks to be a one-off event and the long-term thesis remains intact. Shares were down 3.5% on Monday and indicated down 12.4% at $13.40 on Tuesday.

First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $19 price target (versus a $15.14 close) at Mizuho.

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Jefferies Has 5 Huge Reasons You Should Buy Energy Stocks Now

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FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) was reiterated as Buy and the price objective was raised to $37 from $35 (versus a $34.50 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm believes the transition to a regulated utility is the focus as disclosures are still coming.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was reiterated as Underperform with a $57 price target (versus a $74.37 close) at Credit Suisse.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $59 from $58 at JPMorgan.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was reiterated as Buy at Argus, with the independent research firm saying that the recent weakness offers a buying opportunity for new buyers.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $25 price target (versus a $19.87 close) at Susquehanna.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) was reiterated as Buy and with a $70 target price at Argus. Shares closed down 1% at $62.88 on Monday and have a consensus target price of $75.36.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was reiterated as Buy with a $300 price objective (versus a $223.88 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm noted that Nvidia’s next-gen gaming graphics cards specs were leaked and on the horizon will represent a tailwind for the shares.

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The Independent Research Case for GE Shares to Go Back to $20 or Even Higher

Perrigo Co. PLC (NASDAQ: PRGO) was reiterated as Buy with a $93 target price at Argus.

SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB) was reiterated as Buy and was added to the US 1 list at Merrill Lynch. The firm noted that its growth momentum still has plenty of legs.

Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform with a $16 price target (versus a $13.74 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Credit Suisse has given an earnings season update now that more than one-quarter of the S&P’s market cap has reported earnings. The firm indicated that earnings are beating by 6.7% and that 80% of companies are beating earnings estimates. That compares to 4.7% and 68% over the past three years. Overall, first-quarter expectations are for revenues to rise 7.4%, earnings up 18.1% and EPS growth of 20.0%. The firm noted that EPS is on pace for 22.9% if there is a typical beat rate for the remainder of the earnings season. The recent tax change is also adding 7.1% to the bottom-line, and ex-benefit EPS growth is on pace for 15.8%, versus 22.9%, when included.

Monday’s top analyst calls were in shares of Amazon.com, Caterpillar, Exxon Mobil, Honeywell, Lululemon Athletica, Merck, Petrobras, Under Armour and many more.