Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AGNC, Annaly, Arbutus, Blackstone, Chevron, Enphase, Exxon, GM, Intel, Tesla, Skyworks and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: July 24, 2020 9:14 am

Last Updated: July 24, 2020 9:41 am

Stocks were taking another leg lower on Friday after Thursday’s sell-off. Some of the top stocks are selling off after earnings, and now the momentum plays are all weighing on the market as investors grapple with high valuations and a very weak economy. Many investors missed much of the recovery rally since March and are looking for new ideas for how to be positioned heading into the second half of 2020 and ahead of the election.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find 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.

Remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision. Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst calls we have seen on Friday, July 24, 2020.

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $15 target price at Deutsche Bank.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) was raised to Buy from Hold and its target was raised to $7.75 from $6.75 at Deutsche Bank.

Arbutus Biopharma Corp. (NASDAQ: ABUS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. Shares rose over 100% to $6.20 on Thursday as Moderna failed to invalidate one of their patents for a vaccine program, but Arbutus was up another 13% at $7.00 on Friday morning. Even after the huge pop, it had only a $427 million market cap.

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its target price was raised to $70 from $53 (versus a $52.55 prior close) at JPMorgan.

Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $64 from $58 (versus a $56.67 close) at Barclays.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was started as Buy with a $120 price target (versus a $91.01 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was started as Buy with a $51 price target at SunTrust.

eHealth Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) was last seen down about 18% at $114.00 on Friday morning after disappointing numbers in its earnings the prior day. Barclays maintained it as Overweight but cut its target to $140 from $150. SVB Leerink reiterated it as Market Perform and raised its target to $110 from $108.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) was started as Market Perform at JMP Securities. Shares closed at $61.67 ahead of the call, with a $54.93 consensus target price.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was started as Hold with a $41 price target (versus a $43.70 close) at SunTrust.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $32 from $30 (versus a $26.76 close) at Barclays.

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