Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Albermarle, AEP, Autodesk, Chewy, Domino's, HollyFrontier, Livent, NextEra, RealReal, Square, T-Mobile and Many More

Investing

Published: February 21, 2020 9:15 am

Last Updated: February 21, 2020 9:27 am

Stocks took a breather on Thursday, although the mid-morning selling felt like a major newsbreak sent shares down sharply that was a multitude of reasons (or excuses). Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday morning as well. The market is still very close to all-time highs, but there is still much uncertainty and many ongoing and unresolved developments that investors will have to digest in 2020. Many investors still have not made some of their normal portfolio changes this year either.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try 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 analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other ratings changes seen for Friday, February 21, 2020.

Adesto Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: IOTS) closed up over 54.5% at $12.35 after Dialog Semiconductor announced it was acquiring the company. B. Riley FBR downgraded it to Neutral from Buy.

Albermarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) closed up 5.5% at $94.31 in Thursday’s post-earnings reaction. Wells Fargo maintained it as Equal Weight but lifted its target price to $105 from $80.

American Electric Power Co. (NYSE: AEP) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $115 from $104 at Wells Fargo. UBS reiterated it as Buy and raised its target to $116 from $114.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $250 from $210 (versus a $206.67 prior close) at Citigroup.

Black Stone Minerals L.P. (NYSE: BSM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was indicated up almost 5% at $30.69 on Friday morning. RBC Capital Markets raised its rating to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $38 target price. The consensus target price was $35.91 ahead of that call.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was up over 25% at $373.16 on Thursday’s post-earnings reaction. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target price to $400 from $320. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $410 from $310. Stifel downgraded it Hold from Buy while raising its target price to $365 from $325.

Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Wells Fargo.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) surged on news that Morgan Stanley is acquiring it for $13 billion. JMP Securities downgraded it to Market Perform from Market Outperform as the upside has been seen.

Everi Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EVRI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this company has been building a ton of momentum. Shares recently closed at $14.46 and have a consensus price target of $15.86.

Franklin Electric Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: FELE) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that utilities have done well but that does not mean the rally will last forever. The shares last closed at $59.71, with a consensus price target of $52.00.

HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan, and RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating while trimming its target to $56 from $59.