Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Eagle, Atlassian, Match, NextEra, Nordstom, Office Depot, Roku, Stamps.com, Tanger and More

May 9, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were trading lower again on Thursday morning ahead of the tariff news, with President Trump signaling that China basically broke the deal at the last minute. Investors have seen more than ample reason to “sell in May and go away” with the markets still being so close to all-time highs. It’s time for investors to consider how they want their portfolios positioned for the rest of 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary and trading data have been added on some of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, May 9, 2019.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was removed from the Best Ideas List at Wedbush Securities. The firm still favors the stock over the long term, but it is moving to the sidelines as recent market volatility has been a concern and as the current share price seems to have priced in much of the bull-case upside. Also, RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to Sector Perform from Outperform. The stock’s $22.92 close compares with a 52-week range of $17.00 to $29.88, and it had a consensus target price of $24.86.

Atlassian Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $125 price target (versus a $117.17 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus target price is $116.53, and shares just hit a new all-time high on Wednesday.

Laredo Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: LPI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $7 price target (versus a $3.46 close) at Robert W. Baird. It had a consensus target price of $4.38, with a $791 million market cap and a 52-week trading range of $2.80 to $10.43.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $66 price target (versus a $67.88 close) at Goldman Sachs. This is after the shares closed up 12.4% after strong earnings, but the stock had a $58.24 consensus target price ahead of the move.

NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform and the price target was raised to $202 from $187 (versus a $187.88 close) at Scotiabank. The consensus target price is $197.37, and the 52-week high is $195.55.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush. Shares closed up 1.4% at $39.93 on Wednesday and were indicated down by 1.6% at $39.30 on Thursday. The consensus target price is $50.69, and the 52-week trading range is $38.91 to $67.75. This upscale apparel retailer’s shares just hit a 52-week low the previous day, and that is now close to challenging five-year lows.

Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy in a two-notch downgrade at Merrill Lynch, and the firm halved its price objective to $2 from $4 in the call. The stock closed down 1.3% at $2.21 after earnings, but its shares initially had been higher on potential turnaround ambitions.

OraSure Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OSUR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity. It closed at $9.75 and has a 52-week range of $8.75 to $17.97. Its consensus target price was $12.67.

Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PTGX) was raised to a Buy rating from Hold with a $17 price target at Stifel. The closing price (after a 6% gain) on Wednesday was $9.54.