Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amgen, Beyond Meat, Cisco, Home Depot, Microsoft, RingCentral, Shake Shack, Tilray, Uber, Under Armour, US Steel and More

November 5, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open higher again on Tuesday morning in a continued breakout to the upside. This is just a day after the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 both hit new all-time highs and as the 10-year yield was moving back up to challenge 1.80% and the 30-year was back over 2.25%. It seems fair to expect that, even if it will never happen, the media’s endless “recession is imminent” calls in prior weeks need to come with an apology. Still, investors have a lot of pressing issues and risks to consider now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider 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. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some 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 sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Tuesday, November 5, 2019.

AECOM (NYSE: ACM) was raised to Buy from Hold and the target price was raised to $49 from $44 at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed up 1.8% at $41.61 on Monday and were indicated up 1.5% at $42.25 on Tuesday, with a consensus target price of $45.22 and a 52-week trading range of $24.83 to $41.85.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) closed down 1.6% at $214.41 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $219.48 and a 52-week trading range of $166.30 to $219.84. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded it to Overweight from Neutral and raised the target price to $255 from $230.

A.O. Smith Corp. (NYSE: AOS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that tariffs, interest rates and currency moves are hurting results at the leading U.S. water heating manufacturer. Shares last closed at $50.86, with a consensus price target of $52.83.

aTyr Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: LIFE) was started with a Buy rating and an $8 target price (versus a $3.73 prior close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO) was reiterated as Outperform rating and its target price was raised to $54 from $45 (versus a $43.72 close) at Credit Suisse.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein, but the firm maintained its $106 target price in the valuation/growth opportunity call, now that the shares have pulled back so much. The stock closed down another 2.7% at $79.79 on Monday, but its shares were indicated up 3.7% at $82.75 on Tuesday. The prior consensus target price was $118.90, and the post-IPO trading range is $45.00 to $239.71.

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that western apparel is a surprisingly consistent and profitable business and this is the undisputed industry leader. Shares most recently closed at $38.26, with a consensus price target of $43.42.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) was maintained as Neutral but the target price was raised to $134 from $131 (versus a $138.53 close) at Citigroup.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was raised to Outperform from Underperform and its target price was raised to $165 from $145 (versus a $147.72 close) at Credit Suisse. The prior consensus target price was $163.06.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $221 from $203 (versus a $183.12 close) at Citigroup.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was maintained as Neutral but its target price was lowered to $49 from $50 (versus a $47.48 close) at Credit Suisse. Cisco has a $55.13 consensus target price.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $200 from $175 (versus a $179.18 prior close) at Citigroup.

Everbridge Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG) was down over 5% at $67.40 after earnings, with a $101.09 prior closing price. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating and lowered its target to $90 from $100.

EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was reiterated as Outperform at Raymond James, and the firm raised its target price up to $30 from $20. Merrill Lynch raised its rating to Buy from Underperform and vaulted its price objective to $35 in its call. The stock closed up two cents at $21.77 on Monday and was indicated up 27% at $27.65 on Tuesday after exceeding earnings and revenue expectations.

Ferrari N.V. (NYSE: RACE) was maintained as Neutral but the target price was raised to $162 from $156 (versus a $169.99 prior close, after a 5.3% gain) at JPMorgan, and Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $205 from $185.

FirstCash Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) was maintained as Equal Weight at Barclays, but the firm cut its target price to $100 from $110. Shares closed down 0.6% at $83.92, and the consensus target price was $99.67 ahead of the call.

Hudson Ltd. (NYSE: HUD) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price objective was lowered to $10 from $14 at Merrill Lynch. The stock closed down 2% at $12.42 on Monday, but it was indicated down 15% at $10.50 on Tuesday in reaction to the earnings report. The prior consensus target price was $16.60, and the 52-week trading range was $10.33 to $21.10.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $330 from $282 (versus a $278.10 close) at Citigroup.

McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) was up 3.6% at $1.73 on Monday, but it was indicated down 7.5% at $1.60 after its chief financial officer resigned. Citigroup maintained it as Neutral but cut its target to $1.60 from $2.00.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was kept at $170 (versus a $144.55 close) at Wedbush Securities, with the firm talking up the JEDI contract award representing a turning point in the cloud battle between it and Amazon and noting that its cloud momentum is still in its early days of playing out within the company’s massive installed base.

Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $100 from $85 (versus an $88.85 close) at Citigroup.

Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $114 from $111 (versus a $100.90 close) at Citigroup.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was down 2.6% at $157.65 on Monday, and it had a consensus target price of $173.94. Raymond James reiterated it as Strong Buy and raised its target to $190 from $175.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was up 8.7% at $83.35 on Monday, and it had a consensus target price of $76.18. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $90 from $80.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) closed up 1.7% at $84.21 ahead of earnings, but the stock was indicated down 17.5% at $69.50 after an earnings disappointment. JPMorgan reiterated it as Underweight but lowered the target price to $63 from $69. Wedbush maintained its Neutral rating and lowered its target price to $75 from $84.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $140 from $130 (versus a $121.03 close) at JPMorgan.

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) was started as Neutral and a $20 target price at Cantor Fitzgerald. Tilray closed up 2.2% at $22.10 on Monday, and it had a consensus target price of $38.42.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) was down 0.9% at $31.08 ahead of Monday’s earnings report, and Tuesday’s early indications had its shares down 6.3% at $29.12. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $64 from $62. However, Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its target to $45 from $58, and Barclays maintained its Overweight rating but cut its target to $40 from $50.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was down 18.9% at $17.14 on Monday after news of a federal accounting probe broke. Wedbush maintained it as Neutral but cut the target price to $20 from $23. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating but lowered its target to $20 from $25. Goldman Sachs maintained its Buy rating and lowered its target to $26 from $33. The consensus target price was $21.68 ahead of the news.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. U.S. Steel closed up 0.7% at $13.30 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $9.71 and a 52-week trading range of $9.93 to $29.84.

Vir Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ: VIR) closed up 5% at $15.75 on Monday and was indicated up 6% at $16.70 on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs started it as Buy with a $37 target price, and Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $25 target price.

Wells Fargo lifted targets in the home improvement retailing sector. Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was reiterated as Outperform and the target raised to $260 from $250 (versus a $234.92 close). Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was reiterated as Outperform, and its target was raised to $130 from $125 (versus a $112.62 close).

The analysts at Jefferies have four top growth stock picks for this week that are all members of the firm’s Franchise Picks list. These tech leaders all have solid upside to the firm’s price targets.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alibaba, AT&T, Bank of America, BlackBerry, Boeing, Citigroup, Cloudflare, DocuSign, Lululemon Athletica, Marvell Technology, Pinterest, Verizon Communications and many more.

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