Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AT&T, Chipotle, eBay, Intel, Nucor, Occidental, Schlumberger, Snap, United Rentals and More

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Monday after a surge in China from intervention is offering further support, with income-tax changes pledged on Chinese media. Investors have seen lower upside after buying immediately after the big market pullbacks in 2018 than in prior years. And now the investing community needs to consider how to position investments for the rest of the year and into 2019.

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

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

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, October 22, 2018.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Tigress Financial Partners. The stock closed up 1.1% at $32.87 on Friday and was indicated up 0.5% at $33.03 on Monday. It has a 52-week trading range of $30.13 to $39.33 and a consensus target price of $35.48.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform and the price target was raised to $510 from $450 at RBC Capital Markets, with the firm noting Chipotle’s same-store sales growth potential.

Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was set at $60 at Wells Fargo.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $33 price objective (versus a $28.75 prior close, after an 8.9% drop) at Merrill Lynch. Shares were down sharply after PayPal previews eBay gross merchandise valuation deceleration (to 3% from 6% in the second quarter). Merrill Lynch said eBay appears to be growing more in line with retail than e-commerce, and the firm now assumes that the company is contemplating cost cutting or announcing other broader strategic actions.

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE: EC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.

Entasis Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETTX) was started as Outperform and assigned a $19 price target (versus a $7.44 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted its next-generation drugs for next-generation bugs with a pipeline of new antibiotics targeted to resistant bacterial infections. Also, Credit Suisse started it as Outperform and assigned an $18 price target.

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

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Nomura/Instinet. Intel closed down 2.16% at $44.00 on Friday but was indicated up about 1.1% at $44.50 on Monday. Intel has a 52-week range of $40.40 to $57.60 and a consensus price target of $55.26.

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