Monday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Carnival, Five9, Knight-Swift, Las Vegas Sands, Paysafe, Warby Parker and More

Investing

Published: October 25, 2021 8:52 am

Last Updated: October 25, 2021 9:02 am

The futures were higher this Monday, as we start another trading week that will be loaded with third-quarter earnings reports, including many from the big tech companies. The three major U.S. stock indexes hovered near record highs last week. The Nasdaq rose 1.3% over the past five sessions, the S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Dow Jones industrials advanced 1.1%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell acknowledged last week what has become painfully clear to traders and investors: Inflation may not be as transitory as once thought, and worries over rising prices are becoming increasingly evident as mutual fund and hedge fund portfolio managers have turned bearish on growth prospects for the first time since the worst depths of the pandemic, according to a Bank of America Securities survey.

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 Monday, October 25, 2021.

Benson Hill Inc. (NASDAQ: BHIL): Barclays initiated coverage on the stock with an Overweight rating and a $10 price target. No consensus target was available. The stock closed trading on Friday at $6.52.

Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL): Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and slashed the target price from $34 to $24.50. Shares have traded as high as $31.52 apiece in the past year but were last seen on Friday at trading at $22.29.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS): Evercore ISI raised its Sector Weight rating to Overweight with a $381 price target. The lower $345.76 consensus target is closer to Friday’s closing print of $335.36.

Five9 Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the shares from Sector Weight to Overweight and has a $200 price target. The consensus target is $200.72. Friday’s closing trade was reported at $161.43.

Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL): Barclays started coverage of the South American airline with an Overweight rating and an $8 price target. The consensus target is up at $10.39. The closing share price on Friday was $6.12.

Golden Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: GDEN): JPMorgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $60 price target. The consensus target is $63. The stock closed at $48.73 on Friday.

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: INDB): Though Piper Sandler downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight, the firm also lifted the price target to $88 from $82. That compares with $91 the consensus target and Friday’s closing price of $84.83 a share.

Knight Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNX): UBS upgraded the trucking giant to Buy from Neutral and lifted the target price to $65 from $51. The posted consensus target is $63.95. The last trade on Friday came in at $56.28 per share.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the casino giant but trimmed its price target to $67 from $68. Also, citing the impact that COVID-19 is still having on the travel industry, Zacks named this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares last closed at $38.00, and the consensus price target is $49.86.