Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. VF CORP DOUBLE UPGRADE: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Robert Ohmes upgraded VF Corp (VFC) to Buy from Underperform and raised his price objective to $96 from $65 ahead of the company's earnings report on July 20, telling investors in a research note that he believes Vans will be a "go-to-brand" for the back-to-school selling season. He said his channel checks indicate accelerating momentum in Vans, especially classic styles, and that the $50-$60 price point is attractive given consumers' shift to value. RAYMOND JAMES DOWNGRADES AT&T: Raymond James downgraded AT&T (T) to Market Perform from Outperform. Analyst Frank Louthan said he views the Department of Justice appeal of the Time Warner case as a negative and said it is a "frustrating delay." Louthan expects the suit to be a "significant overhang" for an extended period of time, which will limit share appreciation, but remains confident AT&T will prevail. AT&T is lower by 2% in late morning trading. STIFEL STARTS GALMED WITH A BUY: Stifel analyst Adam Walsh initiated Galmed (GLMD) with a Buy rating and $35 price target, calling it a "legitimate late-stage NASH play" after Aramchol recently proved itself in a Phase 2 trial as a clearly active and "very safe" compound for treating NASH. Galmed is trading higher by over 17% in late morning trading. MORGAN STANLEY HIKES WWE TARGET TO $100: Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said that WWE (WWE), by securing rights fees in its new five-year agreements with NBC (CMCSA, CMCSK) and Fox (FOX, FOXA) that are 3.6 times higher than its prior five-year broadcast agreement with NBC, has gained a "massive increase" in earnings power and "extremely high" visibility into the associated revenue. Given the recently announced deals, he raised his price target on WWE shares to $100 from $58 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock. WILLIAM BLAIR CALLS KEMPER PULLBACK 'BUYING OPPORTUNITY': William Blair analyst Adam Klauber said he views shares of Kemper (KMPR) as "even more attractive" after the recent pullback, which he attributes to selling pressures from Infinity Property shareholders receiving Kemper stock. Klauber said Kemper "continues to be our top conviction idea," and kept an Outpeform rating on the name. Kemper is higher by 4.8% in late morning trading.
