Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
BIOGEN CUT TO HOLD AT STIFEL: Stifel analyst Paul Matteis downgraded Biogen (BIIB) to Hold from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $346 from $397. The stock has been "remarkably resilient" in the wake of two recent events -- Roche's (RHHBY) crenezumab futility and Tecfidera's inter partes review institution, Matteis told investors in a research note. However, both these events "imply elevated risk to the long-term bull case," noted the analyst. He believes that with decreased confidence in Alzheimer's, a looming Tecfidera legal saga, and "well documented" competitive threats to Spinraza, Biogen "has become a harder story" to have conviction in. As such, Matteis recommended investors move to equal-weight rating on the stock.
U.S. STEEL UPGRADED TO BUY AT BERENBERG: Berenberg analyst Paretosh Misra upgraded U.S. Steel (X) to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $30 from $23, citing an increase in EBITDA estimates from higher pricing. Misra expects rising raw material costs, abating global demand concerns, favorable seasonality, and supportive price spreads will push a recovery in U.S. steel prices.
AARON'S UPGRADED TO BUY AT NORTHCOAST: Northcoast analyst Tim Vierengel upgraded Aaron's (AAN) to Buy from Neutral with a $65 price target, saying the Best Buy (BBY) partnership is a key point of growth. Vierengel feels Aaron's Progressive unit is the best tertiary lease-to-own solution for large national retailers and thinks the potential sourcing opportunity is a good reason to own the stock at these levels.
D.R. HORTON CUT TO NEUTRAL AT WEDBUSH: Wedbush analyst Jay McCanless downgraded D.R. Horton (DHI) to Neutral from Outperform as the shares are within 5% of his unchanged $48 price target. He also removed D.R. Horton from the Wedbush Best Ideas List, due to the ratings change. In a research note to investors, McCanless said he believes the recent pullback in mortgage rates has been a positive stock price catalyst for D.R. Horton and its peers, and says while this catalyst may persist for an extended period of time, he is stepping to the sidelines as he does not see any new catalysts emerging that would support a higher price target. McCanless also downgraded Lennar (LEN) to Neutral.
SEAPORT INITIATES CANNABIS STOCKS: Aphria (APHA), KushCo Holdings (KSHB), and HEXO Corp (HEXO) were initiated with Buy ratings and respective price targets of $18, $10, and $12 by Seaport Global analyst Brett Hundley, while Canopy Growth (CGC), Aurora Cannabis (ACB), and Tilray (TLRY) were initiated with Neutral ratings.
Biogen
-12.47 (-3.72%)
Roche
+ (+0.00%)
U.S. Steel
+0.06 (+0.25%)
Aaron's
+0.2 (+0.37%)
Best Buy
-0.15 (-0.25%)
D.R. Horton
-0.11 (-0.28%)
Lennar
-0.15 (-0.31%)
APHA
+
KushCo Holdings
+ (+0.00%)
Hexo
-0.09 (-1.51%)
Canopy Growth
-0.93 (-2.01%)
Aurora Cannabis
+0.01 (+0.14%)
Tilray
-1.58 (-1.95%)