Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
MCDONALD'S UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY: Morgan Stanley analyst John Glass upgraded McDonald's (MCD) to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised his price target for the shares to $210 from $173. The analyst said he expects the benefits from the company's U.S. store remodeling to become apparent in 2019. McDonald's modernization efforts should produce "best-in-class" sales results for years to come, Glass told investors in a research note. He believes the market may be underestimating the remodeling benefits and thinks the company's free cash flow is positioned to accelerate in 2020 and 2021 as remodeling costs wind down.
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO UPGRADED TO SECTOR PERFORM AT RBC: RBC Capital analyst James Jones upgraded British American Tobacco (BTI) to Sector Perform from Underperform while lowering his price target for the shares to GBP 27 from GBP 34. The analyst said key risks from a possible FDA menthol cigarette ban and margin erosion from growth in next-generation products are priced in at current valuation levels.
TJX UPGRADED TO BUY AT ARGUS: Argus analyst Chris Graja upgraded TJX (TJX) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $55. The analyst said the rating change is driven by the pullback in the stock price given the company's growing store traffic, single-A credit ratings, and a 22% annualized dividend growth. Graja further noted that TJX's Marmaxx segment has now delivered quarterly increases in store traffic for 17 consecutive quarters and believes that the company is "very well positioned" for the holiday spending season after a 7% rise in Q3 comps and based on his recent store visits.
DICK'S CUT TO NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN: JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers downgraded Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) to Neutral from Overweight and cut his price target for the shares to $41 from $46. The analyst believes the risk/reward is "turning more balanced" following Wednesday's Q3 results. He believes his thesis has largely played out with the stock up 47% versus a year ago. Horvers reduced his valuation to reflect the "more uncertain earnings outlook." In late morning trading, Dick's shares are down over 8% to $34.25.
DISNEY'S SALE OF SPORTS NETWORKS SEEN REVALUING MSG NETWORKS: MSG Networks (MSGN), as the only pure-play regional sports networks security publicly traded, is "vastly under-covered and under-appreciated," Imperial Capital analyst David Miller told investors in a research note. Disney (DIS) is selling off the Fox Regional Sports Networks, which the company must do per Department of Justice decree issued on June 27, added the analyst. He believes that as the closest pure-play comparable to these networks, the terminal value of the transaction should lead to a revaluation of MSG Networks in the public markets. Miller kept an Outperform rating on MSG Networks with a $32 price target.
McDonald's
+2.21 (+1.18%)
British American Tobacco
+0.2 (+0.56%)
TJX
-0.8 (-1.67%)
Dick's Sporting
-3.015 (-8.10%)
MSG Networks
-0.05 (-0.18%)
Disney
-0.18 (-0.15%)