24/7 Wall St.

Stocks were indicated to open handily lower on Monday as China retaliated with new tariffs of its own against the United States. Investors have seen multiple reasons that might justify the “sell in May and go away” mindset, particularly with the markets still being so close to all-time highs. It’s time for investors to be considering how to position their portfolios 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 Monday, May 13, 2019.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the target price was raised to $202 from $145 (versus a $144.56 prior close) at Credit Suisse.

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BOOT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Pivotal Research.

Buckeye Partners L.P. (NYSE: BPL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel, but this is after its units rose by 28% to $41.75 on Friday based on a merger and passed up the prior $36.00 consensus target price.

California Resources Corp. (NYSE: CRC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Endo International PLC (NASDAQ: ENDP) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $9 target price (versus an $8.06 close) at JPMorgan.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with an $86.50 price target at HSBC. Shares closed up 0.9% at $76.56 on Friday and were indicated down 0.9% at $75.88 on Monday. The consensus target price was $85.17, and the 52-week range is $64.65 to $87.36.

51job Inc. (NASDAQ: JOBS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Goldman Sachs BDC Inc. (NYSE: GSBD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo and to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. Its shares closed down 0.3% at $20.67 on Friday, and the consensus target price was $21.21.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform and its target price was lowered to $1.10 from $2.30 (versus a $1.56 close, after almost a 12% drop) at BMO Capital Markets.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with an $18 price target (versus a $21.34 close) at UBS.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the target price was raised to $29 from $24 at Barclays. The stock closed up 1.1% at $26.12 on Friday and had a consensus target price of $25.64.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities. The call was based on valuation and with its new products being likely able to outpace coming patent expiration headwinds.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) was started with a Neutral rating at UBS and was started with an Equal Weight rating Barclays. Citigroup started it with a Buy rating. Shares were indicated down 4.4% at $27.76 on Monday as the quiet period ended.

Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

PTC Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $49 from $43 (versus a $40.86 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Longbow Research. After closing up 0.4% at $67.27, it has a consensus target price last seen at $70.50.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim in a valuation downgrade. Shares closed down 0.7% at $258.83 on Friday, with a consensus target price of $246.77 and a 52-week trading range of $117.64 to $266.72.

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SNNA) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Stemline Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: STML) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with an $18 price target (versus a $16.10 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm did note that Stemline’s Elzonris launch is still on track and that the downgrade was because the shares fully reflect that value already.

Taylor Morrison Home Corp. (NYSE: TMHC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $24 from $22 (versus a $20.39 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that the company’s proactive financing campaigns, its small exposure to California and two-thirds exposure to active adult and entry-level homes are all positive catalysts ahead.

Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird, which also raised its target price to $65 from $61 (versus a $54.91 close).

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned an $88 target price (versus a $78.94 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $22 price target (versus an $18.85 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) closed up almost 6% at $79.63 on Friday, in a post-IPO range of $59.94 to $80.79. Piper Jaffray started it as Overweight with a $90 target price. Morgan Stanley started it as Equal Weight with a $75 target price. It was started with a Market Perform rating at Wells Fargo, a Sector Weight rating at KeyBanc, as Hold at Stifel and as Neutral at Goldman Sachs. JPMorgan started it with an Overweight rating.

The Jefferies Franchise List of top stocks to buy is loaded with companies that have little (if any) worries about the higher tariffs being placed on Chinese goods.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included 3D Systems, Allergan, Alcon, Booking, GoPro, IAC/Interactive, Lowe’s, Yelp and more.

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