Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Acushnet, Delta, Devon Energy, Edison International, Hertz, Royal Caribbean, Sociedad Quimica, Zscaler and Many More

Investing

Published: March 1, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:04 am

Stocks were indicated to open handily higher on Friday after a small drop on Thursday. Some investors are scratching their heads after the violent sell-off at the end of 2018 instantly turned back around with a V-bottom bounce that became an equally violent rally, with the Dow Jones industrials rising more than 3,000 points off the lows at the start of the year. Investors still have to deal with mixed news reports, trade policies, peace negotiations, politics and slightly less robust business coverage. Investors also should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

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 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 Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

Just like that, the first two months of 2019 have come and gone. These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, March 1, 2019.

Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE: GOLF) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Compass Point, but KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target to $28 from $26. Shares closed at $24.91, in a 52-week range of $20.24 to $27.87. The consensus target price is $25.41.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed at $35.63. The 52-week range is $28.81 to $57.44, and the consensus analyst target is $45.78.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) also was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed at $49.58, The consensus target price is $62.68, and the 52-week trading range is $45.08 to $61.32.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform and its target price was lowered to $38 from $39 (versus a $29.51 prior close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Edison International (NYSE: EIX) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch. The stock closed at $59.89 and has a 52-week range of $45.50 to $71.00. The consensus target price is $66.50.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein, a day after JPMorgan raised it to Overweight from Neutral. Shares closed up 10.7% at $19.67 ahead of Friday’s call.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight but the price target was raised to $18 from $14 at Barclays. Shares closed at $19.10, in a 52-week range of $13.01 to $22.70 and with a consensus target price of $22.00.

L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.