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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Best Buy, Emerson Electric, Genpact, IBM, Lululemon, Manchester United, Sherwin-Williams, SCANA and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: December 17, 2018 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 1:38 pm

Stocks were hammered on Friday as global growth concerns continued to weigh on the markets, and Monday morning equity futures indexes tried to tick up but just dribbled lower ahead of the opening bell. Investors have seen less upside from buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years, and the daily volatility has started to rattle even the strongest bulls over the most recent weeks. Now is the time that investors have to consider how they want their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while 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, December 17, 2018.

Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: AXON) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $3 price target (versus a $1.01 prior close) at Jefferies. It has a 52-week trading range of $0.93 to $6.59, and this call is after the firm raised $30 million in a secondary offering.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price objective was cut to $50 from $70 (versus a $55.37 close) at Merrill Lynch. Best Buy has a 52-week range of $55.06 to $84.37, and it had a consensus target price of $73.79.

Calyxt Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT) was raised to Buy from Neutral with an $18 price target at Goldman Sachs. The 52-week range is $9.25 to $27.23, and the consensus target price of $25.21.

Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. It has a 52-week range of $92.16 to $129.47 and a consensus target price of $127.33.

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (NYSE: CPK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $86 price target (versus a $93.12 close) in a valuation downgrade at Janney.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was lowered to $71 from $85 (versus a $60.44 close) at Barclays. It has a 52-week range of $59.96 to $79.70 and a consensus target price of $79.05.

Genpact Ltd. (NYSE: G) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan. It has a 52-week range of $26.46 to $34.79, and the consensus analyst target price is $33.33.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIII) was raised to Buy from Hold with a$40 price target at Stifel. The 52-week range is $28.50 to $51.20, and the consensus target price of $47.60.

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDRA) was reiterated as Outperform with a $13 price target (versus a $3.98 close) at Wedbush Securities. The call is after positive Phase 2 study data in its target of refractory melanoma. It has a 52-week range of $3.89 to $20.40. It has a consensus target price of $18.33.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $125 price target (versus a $131.04 close) at Deutsche Bank. The 52-week range is $119.38 to $179.07, and the consensus target price of $137.22.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was maintained as Outperform but the target price was lowered to $167 from $175 at RBC Capital Markets. The 52-week range is $114.09 to $171.13, and the consensus target price of $153.58.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $151 target price (versus a $119.12 close) at Stifel. Lululemon has a 52-week range of $74.90 to $164.79, and it had a consensus target price of $163.55.

Manchester United PLC (NYSE: MANU) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $26 price target (versus a $17.49 close) at Jefferies. The 52-week trading range is $16.91 to $27.70.

MFA Financial Inc. (NYSE: MFA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $7.50 price target at JMP Securities. It has a 52-week range of $6.72 to $8.29. The consensus analyst target is $7.38.

Middlesex Water Co. (NASDAQ: MSEX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $53 price target (versus a $58.56 close) in a valuation downgrade at Janney. This was after a 7% gain on Friday, and its 52-week range is $33.96 to $60.31.

Nightstar Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: NITE) was started as Overweight with a $28 price target (versus an $11.64 close) at Barclays. The 52-week range is $9.59 to $29.55, and the consensus target price is $34.25.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (NYSE: SMG) was raised to Outperform from Underperform at Raymond James. It has a 52-week range of $62.50 to $110.12 and a consensus target price of $92.33.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $415 price target (versus a $386.00 close) at JPMorgan. It has a 52-week range of $355.28 to $479.64, and the consensus target price is $443.27.

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Dire Warnings About Analyst Calls During Bear Markets and Broad Sell-Offs

SCANA Corp. (NYSE: SCG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $51 target price (versus a $50.98 close) at Guggenheim. Shares managed to close up 6.3% on Friday despite the big sell-off, and the 52-week range is $33.61 to $51.27.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) was raised to Buy from Hold and the target price was raised to $143 from $136 (versus a $118.36 close) at Deutsche Bank. The 52-week range is $106.41 to $176.62.

Taiwan Liposome Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: TLC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $13 price target (versus a $6.00 close) at Janney. Also, H.C. Wainwright started it with a Buy rating but a $9 target price. It has a 52-week range of $5.80 to $8.16.

Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) was started as Buy with a $51 price target (versus a $41.54 close) at Argus. The 52-week range is $41.40 to $59.19, and the consensus target price is $56.92.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Activision Blizzard, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, Ciena, Delta Air Lines, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, Regeneron, Tesla and many more.