Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, BP, Chevron, DraftKings, Exxon, FedEx, NextEra, Nikola, Penn National, Twitter, Zillow and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: September 24, 2020 8:55 am

Last Updated: September 24, 2020 9:02 am

Stocks sold off sharply with roughly 2% losses in the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 on Wednesday, and Thursday’s index levels were indicated to open down marginally as well. Many investors missed out on the recovery from late in March through September, but some of the key stocks have now pulled back significantly in September. Investors are looking toward the election and are facing a slowing recovery, and interest rates are now expected to remain close to zero for a very long time.

Now is a time that investors are looking for new ideas and trying to decide how they want to be positioned heading into the fourth quarter. 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 seen on Thursday, September 24, 2020.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $1,800 from $1,760 at Morgan Stanley. Alphabet stock closed down 3.45% at $1,409.39 on Wednesday and has a $1,769.27 consensus target price.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $20 from $13 at Robert W. Baird. The stock closed down almost 4% to $13.35 a share on Wednesday, with an $11.15 consensus target price.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was started as Sector Perform with a $23 price target at Scotiabank.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform at Scotiabank. MKM Partners started it as Buy with a $121 price target as well.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) was started as Outperform with a $65 target price at Macquarie. The stock was down 7% at $50.12 on Wednesday and had a $49.29 consensus target price.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at Scotiabank.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was raised to Buy from Hold and its target price was raised to $281 from $175 (versus a $241.42 prior close) at Stifel.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its target price was raised to $245 from $220 at UBS. The stock closed down nearly 3% at $186.12 on Wednesday, and it had a $247.60 consensus price target.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Scotiabank.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $32 price target at Credit Suisse Shares closed up almost 21% at $33.46 apiece on Wednesday, and they have a $20.91 consensus target price.

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Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank.

NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) was started with a Buy rating and a $299 target price (versus a $273.31 close) at Seaport Global.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Wedbush Securities, which also slashed its target price to $14 from $45. Nikola also was named the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said its bulls have gotten their face ripped clean off this week with the start-up’s survival now question. Shares closed down almost 26% at $21.15 on Wednesday and were indicated down another 11% at $18.83 on Thursday.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank.

Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $66 price target at Macquarie. The stock closed down 7.2% at $69.00 on Wednesday and had a $60.29 consensus target price.

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this has been one of the coronavirus heroes. Shares most recently closed at $111.32 and have a consensus price target of $138.69.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $795 from $695 (versus a $677.32 close) at Loop Capital.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and its price target was lowered to $18 from $20 (versus a $12.70 close) at JPMorgan.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE: TME) was started with a Buy rating and a $17 price target (versus a $14.73 close) at Needham. It had a $17.98 consensus price target ahead of the call.

Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) was started with a Sector Perform rating and a $44 target price at Scotiabank.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was maintained as Neutral but its price target was raised to $40 from $33 (versus a $45.33 close, after a 6% gain) at Mizuho.

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $220 from $190 at Benchmark. Shares closed down 1.5% at $194.32 ahead of the call, with a $198.38 consensus price target.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $120 from $100 (versus a $96.32 close) at Benchmark.

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Goldman Sachs has raised some price targets by 10% or more, including on four top blue chips.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AGCO, American Express, Carvana, CME, Deere, Nike, Tesla, Trimble, Twitter, Waste Management and ZoomInfo.