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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Tower, Darden Restaurants, FedEx, Hasbro, Parker-Hannifin, Wells Fargo and More

Lee Jackson

Published: July 16, 2018 8:45 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 8:59 pm

The futures traded slightly higher Monday morning, as Wall Street not only keeps a sharp eye on what will be a huge week for second-quarter earnings, but the political world is focused on President Trump’s meeting in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The trend of buying the dips has not worked as well for investors as it has in prior years, and many have been considering how they want their investments positioned for the longer term.

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. Other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary have been added on some of these daily analyst calls. The 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 Monday, July 16, 2018.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. The 52-week trading range for the cell tower giant is $130.37 to $155.28, and the Wall Street consensus price target is $158.50. The stock closed Friday’s trading at $143.23 a share.

Azul S.A. (NYSE: AZUL) was started with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs. The 52-week trading range for the South American airline is $15.53 to $35.05, and the consensus price target for the stock is $31. The shares have been hit hard this year, and they closed Friday at $17.08.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Maxim Group, and the firm has a $112 price target after the stock hit its price target last Friday. The consensus price target is $113.35. The stock closed Friday at $112.09 and has been on fire since May.

Eidos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: EIDX) was started with an Overweight rating and a $32 price target at Barclays. JPMorgan also started the company at Overweight with a $36 target. The company had an IPO in late June, and shares have traded between $18.10 and $24.75 since pricing. The stock closed Friday at $20.77.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. The shipping and delivery giant has traded in a 52-week range of $203.13 to $274.76, and the consensus price target is $287.32. The shares ended trading last Friday at $233.75.

Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets. Over the past year, the shares have traded between $79 and $116.20. The consensus price target for the toy and game giant is $98.71. The stock ended Friday at $96.52 a share.

Parker-Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $152.47 to $212.80. The consensus price target is $191.36, and the stock ended trading at $161.51 on Friday.

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SBH) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $14.05 to $21.36, and the consensus price target is $15.65. Shares were last seen trading at $16.37 apiece.

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V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. The 52-week trading range is $55.51 to $86, and the consensus price target is $87.10. The shares ended last week at $84.84.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette. The 52-week trading range for the bank is $29.27 to $66.31, and the consensus price target is $61.76. The shares closed Friday at $55.36.

Other key analysts upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following:

Brady Corp. (NYSE: BRC) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $31.70 to $40.90, and the consensus price target is $43.20. Shares ended trading on Friday at $39.25.

Constellium N.V. (NYSE: CSTM) was started with a Buy rating and a $14 price objective at Jefferies. That compares with a consensus target of $16.48 and the most recent close at $10.90.

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU) was started with a Hold rating and a $122 price target at Jefferies. The consensus price target is $109.50, and the stock ended Friday’s trading at $107.23.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNX) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays. The 52-week trading range is $34.60 to $51.94, and the consensus price target is set at $53.53. The shares closed Friday at $37.91.

Instructure Inc. (NYSE: INST) was started with a Buy rating and a $55 price target at Citigroup. That compares with a consensus target of $48.50. The stock ended trading on Friday at $45.

NextEra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: NEP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Over the past year, the shares have traded between $36.42 and $48.75. The consensus price target is $46.40. With the stock closing Friday at $46.00, this is perhaps a valuation call.

OraSure Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OSUR) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Stephens. The 52-week trading range is $12.86 to $23.01. The consensus price target is $19.75, and the stock closed Friday at $17.30.

Wyndham Destinations Inc. (NYSE: WYND) was started with a Buy rating and a $65 price target at Jefferies. That compares with a consensus target of $64.44 and last Friday’s close at $45.08.

In case you missed it, here are last Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AT&T, BlackRock, Broadcom, Diageo, Kinross Gold, United Rentals, Williams Sonoma and more.