Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: ADT, Altria, Biogen, Chewy, Deere, Dollar Tree, eBay, Intel, Nike, Kroger, Peloton, Roku, Schwab, Wells Fargo and More

Investing

Published: December 2, 2019 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 12:40 pm

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Monday after a shortened Thanksgiving week in the United States. The major equity indexes set all-time highs again last week. Investors are starting to see upside targets issued for 2020, but there still many pressing issues and risks now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider what changes they should be making 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. 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 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 Monday, December 2, 2019.

ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $81 from $65 at Robert W. Baird.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, with the firm noting that the sell-off has been too much and that cigarette volumes are likely to improve as vaping concerns take deeper root. Altria closed at $49.70 on Friday, with a consensus target price of $52.32.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $1,300 from $1,275 (versus a $1,177.02 prior close) at Wells Fargo.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $250 target price (versus a $299.81 close) at Robert W. Baird.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was raised to Neutral from Sell and its target price was lifted to $50 from $35 (versus a $49.50 close) at UBS.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was reiterated as Neutral with a $30 price target (versus a $24.76 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm believes that the recent selling pressure ahead of the lockup expiration on December 11 has been overdone as the street fears that about 89% of Chewy shares are eligible for sale. Despite a Neutral rating, the firm sees more upside than downside, and it still implies more than 20% upside.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch, but Citigroup maintained its Buy rating while lowering its target to $196 from $200. Deere closed down 0.6% at $168.05 last Friday and it was indicated down 1.2% at $166 on Monday. The consensus target price is $178.80.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was maintained with a Neutral rating at Citigroup, but the firm cut its target price to $103 from $120 in the call. Shares closed down 1.7% at $91.46 last Friday, but they were closer to $112.50 last week before earnings.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $58 target price (versus a $53.37 close) at Morgan Stanley.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was reiterated as Market Perform but its target price was raised to $45 from $43 (versus a $35.52 close) at Wells Fargo. eBay has a consensus target price of $40.13.