Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Arconic, Boston Beer, Disney, Dunkin', DuPont, GreenSky, IFF, Merck and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 7, 2019 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 5:40 pm

After a big sell-off on Monday and a partial recovery on Tuesday, the markets were indicated to open lower on Wednesday as bond yields continue to slide in the wake of three central banks lowering their interest rates. Earnings season has proven to be quite mixed and has created some very big wins or bad misses on individual stock prices. With all the trade uncertainty dominating the news, the major stock market indexes remain rather close to all-time highs. Investors have many reasons to remain cautious, but they also have to be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest 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 investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, August 7, 2019.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) was raised to Outperform with a $460 price target (versus a $389.06 prior close) at Macquarie.

Aramark Corp. (NYSE: ARMK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Arconic Inc. (NYSE: ARNC) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $31 target price (versus a $24.57 close) at Barclays.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $92 price target at Argus.

DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that the sale or spin-off of the N&B platform has been a large part of its thesis for some time.

GreenSky Inc. (NASDAQ: GSKY) was down over 34% at $6.81 on Tuesday. Sandler O’Neill downgraded it to Hold from Buy, and Citigroup also downgraded it to Hold from Buy.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) was down almost 16% at $118.91 after earnings on Tuesday. JPMorgan raised its rating to Overweight but lowered its target price to $125 from $127 in the call.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $105 price target at Argus.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at CIBC.

NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

New Relic Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) was maintained as Outperform at Wedbush Securities, but the stock was removed from the Best Ideas List due to price action.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was maintained as Neutral at Credit Suisse after earnings as the shares were indicated down 5% at $134.85 on Wednesday morning.

WEC Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: WEC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

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4 Red-Hot Stocks to Buy That Have Virtually No Trade-Related Worries

Credit Suisse’s equity strategy team sees no near-term further escalation to the U.S.-China trade war, but the firm also sees no settlement either. The report noted that if China chose to offset the impact of current tariffs, the renminbi could fall to around 7.20 per dollar. While the U.S. yield curve remains worrying, the 2/10 year has yet to invert as it has prior to most recessions.

Jefferies issued a pretty damning piece on coal stocks on Tuesday, but what was surprising was that the firm had many Buy ratings in coal stocks ahead of that call.

Zacks has named Adidas as its Bull of the Day, saying that there are a few reasons to be bullish on the brand. The Bear of the Day is Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP). Zacks noted that this stock’s earnings growth is looking like it is tapped out.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Anheuser-Busch, Arch Coal, BHP, Cars.com, Cigna, FireEye, Ford, 3M, Northrop Grumman, Take-Two Interactive Software, T-Mobile and many more.