Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BofA, CME, Conoco, CSX, EverQuote, Home Depot, IAC/InterActive, Snap, Splunk, Square, TJX and More

September 17, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks closed lower on Monday after the attacks in Saudi Arabia caused a record surge in oil prices. Stocks were indicated lower on Tuesday, but a 0.1% or so average index drop was not signaling any clear outcome for the day. The markets have been volatile, and the S&P 500 came within 1% of its all-time high again last week. Investors have to grapple with a much lower growth economy at the same time the bull market is well over 10 years old. They should be considering what changes to make in 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 others 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 Tuesday, September 17, 2019.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was reiterated as Overweight at Morgan Stanley, and the price target was raised to $33 from $31 (versus a $30.13 prior close, after a 0.1% drop) in that call. The consensus target price was $33.19, and the 52-week trading range is $22.66 to $31.37.

Cboe Global Markets Inc. (CBOE) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $133 target price (versus a $111.00 close) at Oppenheimer.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $234 target price (versus a $207.00 close) at Oppenheimer.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS, which raised its target price to $75 from $70. Conoco closed up 9% at $62.53 on Monday’s the surge in oil prices.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was maintained as Neutral at UBS, but the target price was cut to $75 from $81. Shares closed down about 0.1% at $72.39 after Monday’s oil price surge.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was reiterated as Market Perform but the target price was raised to $44 from $40 at Wells Fargo.

EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch. The stock closed up 10.6% at $24.73 on Monday despite the market drop, with a prior consensus target price of $21.07 and a 52-week trading range of $4.05 to $25.22.

Extended Stay America Inc. (NASDAQ: STAY) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that two straight misses of consensus estimates are keeping new buyers away from this stock. Shares last closed at $14.61, with a consensus price target of $17.25.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. Home Depot closed down 1.3% at $230.99 on Monday and had a consensus target price of $226.00.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $290 target price (versus a $229.23 close) at Citigroup. It has a $300.32 consensus target price.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $100 target price (versus a $91.88 close) at Oppenheimer.

Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KPTI) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $15 from $11 (versus an $11.85 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm said that the fresh royalty agreement will alleviate any financing needs that the company would have otherwise had.