Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Applied Materials, Camping World, CarMax, Ensco, Foot Locker, Under Armour, Wayfair, Walmart and More

Investing

Published: May 17, 2019 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 8:39 pm

Stocks had been staging a recovery rally all week after Monday’s sell-off, but the Dow Jones industrials were indicated down about 200 points and the S&P 500 was indicated down about 20 points on Friday as reality set in that a trade war likely will not last just a few days or even weeks. Investors have multiple reasons that might magnify the “sell in May and go away” mindset, particularly as the major market indexes are still quite close to all-time highs. It’s time for investors to be considering 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 in an effort to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of these 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 Friday, May 17, 2019.

Advanced Disposal Services Inc. (NYSE: ADSW) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $33 price target (versus a $32.11 prior close) at Credit Suisse. It has a consensus target price of $31.13 and a 52-week trading range of $22.05 to $33.01.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was trading lower after Nomura/Instinet maintained only a Neutral rating and lowered its estimates and its price target to $175 from $180 on concerns about Apple’s China exposure during the ongoing trade tensions. The call is with Apple shares having risen 20% so far in 2019, and the consensus target price is $216.17.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) managed to beat earnings expectations and guidance looked above expectations, and after closing up 0.4% at $41.66, its shares were indicated up over 4% at $43.45 on Friday morning. B. Riley FBR upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the target price to $54 from $46.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets. After closing down 0.3% at $12.27, it was indicated down 2% at $12.02 on Friday, with a prior 52-week range of $17.23.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) was maintained as Neutral with a $65 price target (versus a $75.94 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that loan performance weakened in April while sales strength persisted.

Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was slashed to $2 from $7 (versus a $2.05 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted the significant potential market for rezafungin, but it believes positive data may not lift shares sufficiently to allow Cidara to avoid challenging financing.

Cincinnati Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: CINF) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $110 from $90 at Credit Suisse. Shares closed up 0.7% at $97.15 ahead of the call, and the consensus analyst target is $88.31. The company is a member of the 50-year dividend hike club, along with 10 others.