Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Citigroup, Comcast, Cypress Semi, Huya, Six Flags, Tesla, Teva, US Steel, Verizon, Zynga and More

May 30, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher after Wednesday’s sell-off marked a two-day slide on continued trade war fears. Investors probably are wondering if they should have listened to the “sell in May and go away” calls that have dominated all month. Despite a China trade war and a political climate in the United States that is boiling, the major market indexes are still quite close to all-time highs, while the Federal Reserve is ignoring a widening inverted yield curve. All this adds up to a scenario in which investors have to be considering how they want their portfolios positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

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 Thursday, May 30, 2019.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, but the target price was lowered to $231 from $240 based on China exposure and ongoing trade tariff fallout that has been hurting Apple and other companies. The stock closed down 0.5% at $177.38 a share on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $142.00 to $233.47, and the consensus target price is $216.17.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which cited Citi’s realistic path to growth in 2020, even if there is not a story of stronger global growth and without needing higher interest rates. It has a 52-week range of $48.42 to $75.24 and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim, with the firm calling out growth in its broadband segment and also noting that NBCUniversal is operating at high levels. It has a 52-week range of $30.67 to $43.96 and a consensus target price of $47.23.

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight and the price target was raised to $15.50 from $11.00 at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed up 12% at $17.25 on news that the company is a potential buyout candidate now. Its consensus target price was up at $18.15 ahead of the call. It has a 52-week range of $11.75 to $18.59.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. It has a 52-week range of $2.52 to $5.90 and a consensus target price of $1.98.

EVO Payments Inc. (NASDAQ: EVOP) was started as Neutral with a $28 price target (versus a $30.05 prior close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Huya Inc. (NYSE: HUYA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $26 price objective (versus a $21.10 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. It has a 52-week range of $2.38 to $3.98 and a consensus target price of $3.99.

RTI Surgical Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RTIX) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $7 target price (versus a $4.01 prior close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) was reiterated as Neutral with a $51 price target (versus a $50.18 close) at Wedbush Securities, but the firm did note that its investor meetings point to multiple paths for upside.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was lowered to $30 from $44 (versus a $26.72 close) at Deutsche Bank. It has a 52-week range of $26.42 to $51.69 and a consensus target price of $40.58.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was maintained as Underweight at Barclays, but the firm did lower its price target to $152 from $190 (versus a $189.86 close). Tesla has a 52-week trading range of $185.04 to $387.46 and a consensus target price of $283.32.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy in a two-notch downgrade at Merrill Lynch. The firm also slashed its price objective to $9 from $19 in the call. Teva shares closed up 1.9% at $9.70 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $8.95 to $25.96. The consensus target price is $18.67.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Hold rating at Deutsche Bank. It has a 52-week range of $12.64 to $39.23 and a consensus target price of $19.43.

UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: URGN) was started with a Neutral rating at JPMorgan.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, based on valuation reflecting its own historical levels. The firm did note that Verizon is still well positioned as a defensive stock for a bumpy climate. It has a 52-week range of $47.13 to $61.58 and a consensus target price of $59.64.

ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. It has a 52-week range of $55.93 to $97.31 and a consensus target price of $83.86.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the target price was raised to $8.25 from $6.50 at Stephens. It has a 52-week range of $3.32 to $6.31 and a consensus target price of $6.89.

The Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research is General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS), with the firm noting that sometimes boring is profitable for this Strong Buy rating. The firm’s Bear of the Day call was in Potbelly Corp. (NASDAQ: PBPB), noting that while sandwich shops were all the rave a few years ago, its business seems to have gone stale.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls included Allstate, CalAmp, Chubb, Costco, Esperion Therapeutics, Flex, Hartford Financial Services, Nio, Rockwell Automation, Roku and many more.

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