The stock market got the rate cut it wanted on Wednesday, but the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 sold off handily as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that this was a mid-cycle adjustment rather than the first of many rate cuts. Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Thursday, but not by enough that the day’s outcome looked certain. Earnings season has proven to be quite mixed and has created some very big wins or bad misses on individual stock prices. With all the trade uncertainty dominating the news, the major stock market indexes remain rather close to all-time highs. Investors have many reasons to remain cautious but they also have to be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, August 1, 2019.
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the target price was lowered to $215 from $217 at HSBC.
Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) was reiterated as Strong Buy and the target price was raised to $125 from $115 at Raymond James. Shares closed up 5.5% at $107.40, in a 52-week range of $77.00 to $109.13. The consensus target price is $110.77.
Altice USA Inc. (NYSE: ATUS) was reiterated with an Overweight rating and its target price was raised to $31 from $25 at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $16 target price at H.C. Wainwright.
American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG.
Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna. Shares closed down 2.1% at $30.75, in a 52-week range of $27.67 to $36.56. The consensus target price is $36.07.
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the target price was raised to $150 from $125 at JPMorgan. Shares closed up 0.4% at $133.26, in a 52-week range of $103.21 to $137.85. The consensus target price is $131.83.
DexCom Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $172 from $150 at Raymond James.
Dine Brands Global Inc. (NYSE: DIN) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.
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