Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BlackBerry, GXO, Huntington, Sonos, Tencent Music, ViacomCBS, Wendy's and More

Investing

Published: August 18, 2021 8:50 am

Last Updated: August 18, 2021 9:25 am

The futures were trading mixed on Wednesday, after a brutal Tuesday when all the major indexes and the transports were absolutely hammered, following five straight record closes for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials. Once again, growth concerns spurred by weaker-than-expected retail sales and a belief that the market is due for a pullback were cited as reasons for the broad sell-off. We have noted recently that there has not been a 5% correction in the stock market for almost a year, which is highly unusual. The 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds continue to be bid higher and bought for safety as yields continue to plunge.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. This comes as some of the Fed governors and media pundits are hinting that a tapering of the $120 billion per month purchase of government and mortgage debt known as quantitative easing could be in the works sooner rather than later.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for the rest of 2021.

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 Wednesday, August 18, 2021.

ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ: ACVA): Piper Sandler raised the stock to Overweight from Neutral but lowered the target price to $26 from $30. The consensus target is higher at $36. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $20.56.

Amcor PLC (NYSE: AMCR): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell from Neutral and also dropped the price target to $11.50 from $12.50. The consensus target is $12.48. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $12.10.