The futures were trading mixed, after a slow start to the trading week that saw the major indexes finish the day lower. With the debt ceiling issues out of the way, all eyes will be focused on the Federal Reserve meeting next week, which will start on the same day that the May consumer price index numbers hit. The strong jobs numbers last Friday, combined with an inflation reading that comes in hot, could tee up yet another 25-basis-point rate hike.

Treasury yields were flat across the board Monday, as the sellers returned to follow through on Friday’s selling before the buyers kicked in after the noon hour Monday. The head of the International Monetary Fund noted Monday that loan demand and lending so far has not seen a significant slowdown and that the Fed may have to keep hiking rates. The 10-year note closed unchanged at 3.69%, while the short two-year paper finished the day slightly lower at 4.46%

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were solid winners early Monday, but that strength faded in the afternoon with Brent closing higher at $76.71 while WTI closed flat at $71.94. While OPEC held its ground on production cuts and maintained the quotas that were already in place over the weekend, Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the cartel, voluntarily cut 1 million barrels per day starting in July, and that cut could be extended if prices do not firm. Natural gas also finished the day higher, closing at $2.27.

Gold finished the day higher, as once again a strengthening dollar has applied some pressure on the bullion. Plus, a report that central bank gold holdings dropped for the first time in over a year provided a slight headwind to the sector. The final trade came in at $1,979.10. Bitcoin also had a rough day, closing down almost 5% at $25,777.

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 Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $77 target price. That compares with the $71 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $67.13.

Blackbaud Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $88 target price is well above the $73.50 consensus target. The stock closed Monday’s session at $74.06.

Blueprint Medicines Corp. (NASDAQ: BPMC): SVB Securities cut its Market Perform rating to Underperform and its $48 price target to $43. The consensus target is up at $73.06. The stock closed Monday at $56.02, which was down almost 4% for the day on the downgrade.
Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET): UBS initiated coverage with a Sell rating and a $55 target price. The consensus target is $57.64. Shares ended Monday trading at $69.91.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): Odeon upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $47.24 target price. The consensus target is $57.65. The shares closed at $40.34 on Monday.

Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK): Citing natural gas prices that have plunged this year, Zacks named this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $22.11 in the past year but closed most recently at $9.55, which is more than 30% lower year to date.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the popular company and moved the shares to Top Pick status. The firm’s $575 target price compares with a consensus target of $545.59 and Monday’s close at $518.25.

DigitalBridge Group Inc. (NYSE: DBRG): As Keefe Bruyette upgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform, it lifted its $12.50 target price to $17.50. The consensus target is $21.06. Monday’s final trade was reported at $14.14, which was up close to 10% for the day on the upgrade.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG): The Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley is now Equal Weight. The analyst also slashed the $235 target price to $180. The consensus target is $227.42. Monday’s $158.86 close was down 4% for the day on the downgrade.

Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D): The Seaport Research Partners upgrade was from Neutral to Buy with a $59 target price. The consensus target is $61.45, and the stock closed on Monday at $50.50.

Equitrans Midstream Corp. (NYSE: ETRN): Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to Overweight from Underweight while raising the target price to $14 from $7. The consensus target is $7.11. The shares closed Monday at $9.50, a one-day gain of almost 5% on the upgrade and the possible positive ramifications from the debt ceiling bill.

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR): When BMO Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Market Perform from Underperform, the $60 target price increased to $64. The consensus target is $67.63. The stock closed on Monday at $63.41.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): Citigroup upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, and its $12.80 target price rose to $16. The consensus target is $13.44. Monday’s close at $12.59 was up over 2% for the day on the upgrade.

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY): RBC Capital Markets started coverage with a Sector Perform rating and an $80 target price. The consensus target is $92.99. The stock closed over 4% lower on Monday at $72.55.
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): Oppenheimer raised its $285 target price to $350 while keeping an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $273. Monday’s closing share price was $271.39.

PROG Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PRG): Loop Capital’s downgrade was from Buy to Hold with a $34 target price. The consensus target is $35.80. Monday’s $32.97 close was down almost 4% for the day on the analyst downgrade.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD): BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform with a $130 target price. The consensus target is $148.38. The shares closed on Monday at $122.09.

RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $90 price target. The consensus target is $92.93. Monday’s final trade was for $82.48 a share.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $190 target price. The consensus target is $179.57. The shares closed on Monday at $132.22.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL): This has been a good year for homebuilders, says Zacks, which selected this one as its Bull of the Day stock. Its shares last closed at $70.84, and the consensus price target of $75.83 would be an all-time high.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, but its $10 target price is shy of the $10.83 consensus target. The stock closed on Monday at $7.87.

Vitesse Energy Inc. (NYSE: VTS): Evercore ISI downgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $23 target price. The consensus target is $22.67. The stock closed at $23.78 on Monday.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Oppenheimer maintained a Buy rating, and its $165 target price compares with a $156.38 consensus target and Monday’s close at $149.80.

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Caterpillar, Ralph Lauren and UnitedHealth are rated Buy across Wall Street and this week are expected to lift the dividends they pay to shareholders, showing that they are doing well and have the earnings and cash flow strength to increase their payouts.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Automatic Data Processing, Bowlero, Dell Technologies, Dollar General, Macy’s, MongoDB, Paychex, SentinelOne, Trade Desk, Valvoline, Warner Music and Xcel Energy.

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