Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AECOM, Arconic, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dollar General, eBay, Grubhub, Lowe’s, 3M, Nvidia, Stitch Fix and More

October 15, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Tuesday as bank and other earnings look stronger than anticipated. The reports that China wants more talks before signing the phase one deal are still a weight, as the index gains were up just about 0.2% on average and overseas trading was mixed. Investors have to grapple with a slower economy at the same time that the bull market is well over 10 years old. Now is a time to be considering what changes investors should make for 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 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 mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Tuesday, October 15, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was maintained as Neutral but the target price was raised to $55 from $47 (versus a $55.01 prior close) at Citigroup.

AECOM (NYSE: ACM) was reiterated as Buy at Citigroup, and the firm raised its target price from $43 to $47. Shares closed up 6.3% at $39.50 on Monday, after the announcement that the infrastructure player was selling its management services business for $2.4 billion. The market cap is just $6.2 billion as is.

Amarin Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: AMRN) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $17 target price (versus a $15.45 close) at Goldman Sachs. It has a 52-week range of $11.78 to $23.91, and its consensus target price was $31.71.

Arconic Inc. (NYSE: ARNC) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $34 from $28 at Credit Suisse. The prior close was at $26.84, after a 1.5% move following an upgrade from Cowen.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with an $18 target price (versus a $12.30 close, after a 5.23% drop) at KeyBanc Capital Markets, which noted a favorable near-term outlook, expected merchandising improvements and the new CEO. Shares were last seen trading up 3% at $12.65 after the call.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank, and the firm lowered its third-quarter comparable sales estimate for the Outback Steakhouse parent by almost half and is lowering next year’s comparable sales estimates as well.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that negative revisions for this year could give way to growth next year but for now this isn’t the place to be. The shares last closed at $74.83, with a consensus price target of $106.75.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $170 from $155 at Morgan Stanley.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was maintained with an Equal Weight rating and the target price was lowered to $35 from $37 at Morgan Stanley.

eHealth Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) was down 5.1% at $53.12 on Monday but was indicated up 3.4% at $54.95 on Tuesday. Raymond James started it with an Outperform rating and a $90 target price.

Grubhub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was maintained as Equal Weight and the price target was lowered to $59 from $68 (versus a $54.41 close) at Morgan Stanley.

iHeartMedia Inc. (NASDAQ: IHRT) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $15 target price (versus a $14.79 close) at Goldman Sachs.