Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AON, Cognizant, Disney, Dow, PayPal, PG&E, PNC, Qualcomm, Shopify, Tesla, Valero, Wells Fargo and More

Stocks were indicated to open weak on Monday after the “sell in May” theme coincided with Friday’s start to a new month. There are many companies reporting earnings, and investors are trying to decide whether stocks rebounded too much from the March lows or if the gradual reopening of the economy and the trillions of dollars of stimulus are set to win the day. This is a time when investors need to be looking at new ideas to decide how to be best positioned for the summer and the rest of 2020.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find some of those new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid. Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv.

Analysts are still making many upgrades, downgrades, reiterations and initiations ahead of and after key earnings reports. While some are still cutting price targets and earnings estimates for the coming quarters and the year, many are maintaining their prior official ratings. There are even many traditional upgrades and reiterations taking place as though things were close to normal. Remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

These are the top analyst calls seen on Monday, May 4, 2020.

AON PLC (NYSE: AON) was maintained as Buy but its price target was cut to $215 from $260 at MKM Partners.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $48 price target (versus a $40.59 prior close) at Compass Point.

CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $81 price target (versus a $69.70 close) at Jefferies.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA Securities.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $57 from $48 (versus a $46.70 close) at Wedbush Securities, which noted that it is undervalued in the new at-home economy.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYO) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA Securities.

Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) was downgraded to Underperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was reiterated as Overweight but the price target was raised to $140 from $115 (versus a $120.61 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

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