Stocks have been selling off in September, and Monday, September 21, was a continuation of that selling. The Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 were both indicated down about 2% in Monday’s futures trading. Many investors who missed out on the recovery rally might be looking for new ideas about how to get back in the market now that selling has come back into play. That said, COVID-19 cases are popping up outside of the United States and are still strong in the country. There is also a slowdown of the recovery, and Washington, D.C., is in gridlock and there is a highly contentious election coming up.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.
Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Monday, September 21, 2020.
American States Water Co. (NYSE: AWR) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $79 price target (versus a $69.99 prior closing price) at Wells Fargo.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.
Brooks Automation Inc. (NASDAQ: BRKS) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $52 price target (versus a $45.51 close) at Stifel.
Carrier Global Corp. (NYSE: CARR) was started with a Buy rating and a $35 target price (versus a $30.79 close) at Goldman Sachs.
CorMedix Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMD) was started with a Buy rating and a $20 price target (versus a $4.61 close) at Truist Securities. The analyst noted that its Defencath could change the standard of care when it comes to central venous catheters. The stock was indicated up 8% at $4.98 on Monday, and the market cap is only about $160 million.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush Securities.
Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with an $89 price target (versus a $76.42 close) at Piper Sandler.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that blowout quarterly results highlighted its ability to thrive during the coronavirus. Shares last closed at $242.78 and have a consensus price target of $276.50.
HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the coronavirus brought the entire travel and leisure industry to nearly a complete. Shares most recently closed at $57.02 and have a consensus price target of $51.35.
KLA Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $211 price target (versus a $178.96 close) at Stifel.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $352 price target at Stifel.
ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE: MAN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $90 price target (versus a $70.69 close) at Truist.
Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLCO) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with an $18.75 price target at Credit Suisse. The stock closed at $18.10 on Friday, with a $22.52 consensus target price, but its American depositary shares were indicated down 6% at $17.01 on Monday.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform at ScotiaBank.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $68 target price at RBC Capital Markets. Shares closed down 0.7% at $59.75 on Friday but were indicated up 3.7% at $62.00 on Monday on news of the TikTok investment being given approval.
Portland General Electric Co. (NYSE: POR) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight but its target price was lowered to $38.00 from $45 (versus a $34.99 close) at Barclays.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) was started with a Sell rating at Summit, and the firm assigned only a $175 price target. The stock closed up over 5% at $240.00 on Friday but was indicated down 8% at $223.20 on Monday. Summit was not in the underwriting syndicate.
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $61 price target (versus a $52.81 close) at Barclays. It had a $59.53 consensus target price.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and its price target was lowered to $20 from $28 (versus a $28.23 close, after a 5.2% drop) at JPMorgan. It had a $30.81 consensus target price, and its stock was indicated down almost 8% at $26.00 on Monday.
Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) was raised to Hold from Underperform with a $5.60 price target (versus a $5.34 close) at Jefferies.
United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $147 price target (versus a $159.66 close) at Credit Suisse. UPS had a $148.65 consensus target price.
Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and its price target was lowered to $115 from $138 (versus a $117.93 close) at JPMorgan.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $230 from $215 (versus a $202.61 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Visa had a $223.06 consensus target price ahead of the call.
Investors are once again looking to the utility sector for safe and dependable dividends. With interest rates likely to stay at current levels for years, these reliable companies make sense now for income investors who would have bought bank CDs in the past.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AES, Ambarella, Beyond Meat, Bloom Energy, Facebook, Home Depot, SunPower, Tesla and Valero Energy.
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