Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Aflac, Commercial Metals, ConocoPhillips, Nio, Occidental, Royal Dutch Shell, Target, Wells Fargo and more

Investing

Published: January 12, 2021 8:49 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2021 9:19 am

The futures traded higher on Tuesday morning as all eyes on Wall Street shift away from the political scene and back to fourth-quarter earnings, which start coming in later this week. With all of the major indexes and the Russell 2000 still trading close to all-time highs, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for 2021, as a pullback could be in the offing.

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 Tuesday, January 12, 2021.

Acacia Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ACIA) was resumed in coverage at Rosenblatt with a Buy rating, and the analysts also lifted the price target to $110. The Wall Street consensus target is much lower at $80 and the stock closed Monday at $82.09, up 3% on the day.

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Equal Weight to Buy with a $53 price target. That compares with a lower consensus target of $44.45. The stock closed Monday trading at $44.51. Shares were up over 3% in Tuesday’s premarket.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) was downgraded at JPMorgan from Outperform to Neutral with a $115 price target. The $106 consensus target is less than Monday’s close at $114.43.

Bloom Energy Inc. (NYSE: BE) was downgraded at Morgan Stanley from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $34 price objective. The consensus price target is $22.69, and the shares closed Monday at $34.58.

Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC) was downgraded at BofA Securities from Neutral to Underperform with a $21 price target. The consensus target is $22.29. The last trade on Monday came in at $21.66.

Commvault Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler, which also lifted the price target to $68. The $42.83 consensus target compares with Monday’s final print of $56.43.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $56 target at Mizuho. The consensus target is $51.39, and the closing trade Monday was at $45.36.

Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D) was raised from Equal Weight to Overweight with an $80 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is higher at $83.26. The stock was last seen on Monday at $72.67.

Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the coronavirus has devastated the global travel industry and this stock has suffered. Shares last closed at $142.96 but have a consensus price target of $122.34.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which also raised the price target to $235. The consensus target is $210.29. The shares closed Monday’s trading at $208.07.