Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: APA, Baker Hughes, Block, Costco, Intuit, Kimco Realty, Micron Technology, PayPal, Phillips 66, Robinhood, Southwestern Energy and More

Investing

Published: March 31, 2022 8:52 am

Last Updated: March 31, 2022 9:05 am

The futures were mixed on Thursday, as we look to finish what has been a rollercoaster of a first quarter and head into April, which is historically one of the best months for the stock market. The financial media and Wall Street pundits are anxiously awaiting the no-farm payroll numbers for March, which are expected to come in with 450,000 jobs added. All the major indexes closed lower, after stocks had surged 11% over the past two weeks. Many across Wall Street trading desks feel that the recent move higher is nothing more than a bear market rally in what was a very oversold market.

Treasury yields were down across the curve, as institutional accounts may be buying and squaring up portfolios to end the quarter. Brent crude, West Texas Intermediate and spot natural gas all traded up over 3%, while gold finally closed higher after a bad stretch in March.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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, March 31, 2022.

Academy Sports + Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ: ASO): Goldman Sachs raised its $54 target price to $61 while maintaining a Buy rating on the popular retail outlet’s stock. The consensus target is $55.73. The final trade on Wednesday was posted at $39.17.

APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): Mizuho raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $56 price objective. The consensus target is $45.26. The final trade on Wednesday was at $41.20 a share.

Aramark Corp. (NYSE: ARMK) Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $45 price target. The consensus target is $41.93. The shares closed on Wednesday at $37.87.

Baker Hughes Co. (NASDAQ: BKR): Wells Fargo upgraded the oilfield services giant to Overweight from Equal and raised the $28 price target to $43. The consensus target is $35.26. The shares closed on Wednesday at $37.35.