Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Barrick Gold, CannTrust, Foot Locker, Inogen, L3Harris, Merck, Petrobras, Starbucks, Symantec, Tesla and More

Investing

Published: July 3, 2019 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 6:59 pm

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Wednesday ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are right at all-time highs after strong stock and bond inflows, and that is even with the markets knowing that earnings and guidance are looking quite soft after the trade spat with China. Investors need to be considering how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the second half 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 traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

Before getting into the heart of things, as this is the day before July 4, investors should expect that the trading volumes will be light throughout the day. That said, volume and volatility in many less active names may dry up almost entirely after the first 30 to 60 minutes of trading.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, July 3, 2019.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: GOLD) was up 4% at $15.59 on Tuesday and was indicated up another 1.5% at $15.79 on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised the shares to Outperform from Market Perform and its price target $20 from $14.50. The stock has a 52-week range of $9.53 to $16.45 and a consensus target price of $14.74.

Benefitfocus Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT) was started as Neutral at JPMorgan. After closing down 1.4% at $25.63, it has a 52-week range of $25.02 to $60.66.

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE: BBU) was reinstated as Outperform and was given the same prior $48 target price (versus a $38.57 prior close) at Credit Suisse. The firm had been restricted in coverage, noting an issuance of $795 million of equity by way of a bought deal and two private placements, and the firm noted that it is now leading with liquidity in an environment of potentially ample opportunities.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CTST) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $7 price target at Citigroup. Shares previously closed down 2.9% at $4.97 and have a 52-week range of $4.35 to $11.97. The market cap is $686 million.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $44 price target (versus a $36.43 close) at Loop Capital. The consensus target price was $45.00 ahead of the call, and its 52-week trading range is $34.03 to $43.51.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was started as Buy and assigned a $140 price target (versus a $119.13 close) at Argus. The independent research firm noted that the data-center real estate investment trust continues to have solid market operations and strong opportunities in the global colocation market, and it also called the shares undervalued at this price. The stock has a 52-week range of $100.05 to $125.19, and the consensus target price is $126.62.

Domtar Corp. (NYSE: UFS) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets. It closed down 1.5% at $43.66 on Tuesday and was indicated down 2.3% at $43.66 on Wednesday.

Inogen Inc. (NASDAQ: INGN) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $72 target price (versus a $65.26 close) at JPMorgan. It has a 52-week range of $62.31 to $287.79, its prior consensus target price was $98.50 and it has a $1.4 billion market cap.