Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Cloudera, Dollar General, GE, Lyft, Match, MongoDB, Palo Alto, Papa John's, Slack, Walmart and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: September 5, 2019 9:02 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 4:36 pm

Stocks traded up on Wednesday, and Thursday was another higher day as the United States and China agreed to sit down for new trade talks in October. The bull market is well over 10 years old and, despite the volatility, the Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq still have double-digit percentage gains so far in 2019. Investors should be considering how to position their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some 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.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Thursday, September 5, 2019.

Cedar Fair L.P. (NYSE: FUN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $60 target price (versus a $56.03 prior close) at Wedbush Securities, which noted strong sales and attendance momentum continuing through August.

Cloudera Inc. (NYSE: CLDR) was up 0.4% at $7.21 on Wednesday, but the post-earnings reaction on Thursday had its shares up 12.6% at $8.12. JPMorgan reiterated its Neutral rating but raised its target to $9 from $8. Wedbush maintained its Neutral rating as well and raised its target to $8.50 from $7.00. Nomura/Instinet reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $10 from $8.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $173 from $153 at Oppenheimer. The shares closed up 1.4% at $157.80 ahead of this call, and the consensus target price had just moved up from $161.73 to $164.04 ahead of this additional analyst call.

General Electric Co, (NYSE: GE) was started with an Equal Weight rating and a $10 target price at Morgan Stanley. GE shares closed up 5.6% at $8.80 on Wednesday and were indicated up 1.5% at $8.93 on Thursday. The consensus target price is $10.82, and the 52-week trading range is $6.40 to $13.25.

Green Dot Corp. (NYSE: GDOT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its target was slashed to $32 from $62 (versus a $29.12 close, after a 1.8% drop) at Jefferies. The consensus target price was $41.09, and the 52-week trading range is $24.19 to $93.00.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT)) was up 2% at $46.35 on Wednesday and was indicated up another 2.7% at $47.60 on Thursday. Deutsche Bank started Lyft with a Buy rating and a $70 target price, which compares with a prior $74.19 consensus target price. Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating with a $75 target price.

Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE: MNK) was last seen down 46% at $1.40 on news it was considering a restructuring as it faces opioid trial exposure that is larger than it can absorb. BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was raised to Buy and the target price was raised to $106 from $90 (versus an $85.64 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. It had closed up almost 2% on Wednesday, and its shares were up 3.1% at $88.30 on Thursday morning. The prior consensus target price was $87.35.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB) closed up almost 6% at $158.66 ahead of earnings, but the shares were trading down less than 2% at $156.00 on Thursday morning’s initial reaction. Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating and raised the target price to $195 from $184. Barclays reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $179 from $178.

National Oilwell Varco Corp. (NYSE: NOV) was upgraded to Buy from Hold and the target price was raised to $25 from $23 at Jefferies. The consensus target price is $26.16, and the shares closed at $20.69 on Wednesday.

NextCure Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTC) was up 7.1% at $39.43 on Wednesday and indicated up another 1.1% at $39.90 on Thursday. Piper Jaffray reiterated its Overweight rating and raised the target price to $54 from $26. The prior consensus target price was $38.00.

Orchard Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: ORTX) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $21 target price at Barclays. Shares closed at $14.70 ahead of this call, with a $1.4 billion market cap and a consensus target price of $24.75. The 52-week trading range is $8.65 to $21.64.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was up 0.7% at $200.49 ahead of earnings and traded up 7% at $214.65 on Thursday morning, with a prior consensus target price of $263.30. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $280 from $250. Credit Suisse reiterated its Underperform rating but raised its target to $195 from $185 in a sector-related call. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating with a $275 price target, and JPMorgan reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $300 from $270.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $90 from $80 at Piper Jaffray. This is the parent of Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes, and the shares were down 2.1% at $74.97 at the prior close, with a $70.50 consensus target price.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $56 from $45 (versus a $48.15 close, after a 3.3% gain) at Credit Suisse.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was up 7.6% at $104.61 on Wednesday and traded up at $105.50 on Thursday. Piper Jaffray raised its target to $109 from $105 and reiterated its Overweight rating.

SJW Group (NYSE: SJW) was reiterated as Buy with a $71 target price (versus a $68.96 close) at Janney. The company received approval by the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to acquire Connecticut Water Service. Its consensus target price is $69.25.

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Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) was up 8% at $31.07 ahead of earnings on Wednesday, but Thursday’s post-earnings reaction on its first earnings as a fully public company had the shares down 12.5% at $27.20. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating and lowered the target price to $35 from $40. Barclays maintained its Overweight rating but lowered its target price to $44 from $45.

Smartsheet Inc. (NYSE: SMAR) was up 1.8% at $47.91 on Wednesday but was indicated down about 7.1% at $44.50 on Thursday’s post-earnings reaction. Wedbush reiterated it as Outperform with a $62 target price.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $125 from $115 (versus a $115.91 prior close, after a 1.1% gain) at Morgan Stanley. Walmart’s consensus target price was $118.67, and its 52-week trading range is $85.78 to $115.96.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Camping World, Cleveland-Cliffs, Coupa Software, Dollar General, DuPont, Nike, Roku, StoneCo and many more.