United Air upgrade, Wingstop double downgrade and Booz Allen coverage resumption among today's top calls on Wall Street Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to learn which companies the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.
Research analysts at Wall Street's largest banks issue recommendations on whether a stock should be bought, held, or sold. The Fly's team of financial market experts scours hundreds of research notes daily to uncover the best trading ideas. Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
Top 5 Upgrades:
- Exane BNP Paribas analyst James Hollins upgraded United Airlines (UAL) to Neutral from Underperform with a $38 price target. Though Hollins acknowledges that "exceptional" pent-up demand represents one step forward, the conflict in Ukraine is driving materially higher input costs from fuel that may continue into 2023 and beyond, the analyst tells investors in a research note. He now sees only limited downside to United's share price.
- BofA analyst Ronald Epstein upgraded Garmin (GRMN) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $140, down from $165. The company was a clear beneficiary of the pandemic with consolidated revenue growth of 11% in 2020 and 19% in 2021, but while COVID evolves into an endemic, the growth story for Garmin is not over, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Raymond James analyst C. Gregory Peters upgraded Allstate (ALL) to Strong Buy from Outperform with a price target of $165, up from $145. Peters believes Allstate has the biggest opportunity for valuation rerating over the next 18 months and expects management's aggressive approach to rate increases and improving auto profitability to be a catalyst for the relatively undervalued stock, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Citi analyst Gabriel Gusan upgraded StoneCo (STNE) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $15, down from $18, following the Q4 results. At current levels, the analyst thinks StoneCo's valuation looks attractive.
- Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel upgraded Tractor Supply (TSCO) to Outperform from Perform with a $270 price target. Tractor Supply represents "one of the best run, most optimally-positioned, still expanding retail chains, within discretionary," Nagel tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Piper Sandler analyst Nicole Miller Regan double downgraded Wingstop (WING) to Underweight from Overweight with a price target of $102, down from $195. The analyst expects the shares to "experience resistance in terms of garnering the same premium multiple in the face of a restaurant industry expansion cycle."
- UBS analyst Steven Fisher downgraded Cummins (CMI) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $214, down from $260. The analyst believes that as investors recognize 2023 as the peak for the North America truck cycle, Cummins' multiple will contract towards its historical peak multiple of 9-10 times earnings.
- Piper Sandler analyst Peter Keith downgraded Joann (JOAN) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $11, down from $12, following the Q4 results. The company's sales outlook for 2022 looks unfavorable as comp trends have stepped down an additional 5% in recent weeks, and its gross margin should face headwinds from contracted ocean freight rates well into 2023, Keith tells investors in a research note.
- KeyBanc analyst Steve Barger downgraded NN, Inc. (NNBR) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. With IHS again reducing its global auto production forecast and given concerns around Europe activity levels and further inflation-driven gross margin pressure, Barger thinks challenges are likely to continue in 1H22.
- Goldman Sachs analyst George Tong downgraded TransUnion (TRU) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $109, down from $125. The company unveiled attractive medium-term financial targets at its analyst day this week but the shares may be range-bound over the near term since its recently completed acquisition of Neustar that is margin-dilutive, Tong tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Coverage Initiations:
- Stifel analyst Bert Subin resumed coverage of Booz Allen (BAH) with a Buy rating and $96 price target as he is resuming coverage of eight companies in the U.S. Government Services space and initiating coverage of one with a positive sector view underpinned by rising geopolitical tensions, the fact that the public perception of threats is increasing, and his view that the battle space is becoming incrementally more digital.
- Jefferies analyst Ashley Helgans initiated coverage of Rent The Runway (RENT) with a Buy rating and $13 price target. The analyst said that low consumer penetration and post-COVID event backlog support FY22 subscriber and top-line growth of over 40% and over 50%, respectively.
- Stifel analyst Bert Subin resumed coverage of Leidos (LDOS) with a Buy rating and $126 price target as he is resuming coverage of eight companies in the U.S. Government Services. Leidos has a scale advantage that he views as under-appreciated, Subin said.
- Raymond James analyst Jayson Bedford assumed coverage of Becton Dickinson (BDX) with a Market Perform rating. Bedford believes Becton Dickinson is capable of sustainable 5% revenue growth and thinks it should be able to generate 10% earnings growth annually, but feels sentiment largely reflects this growth profile, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Mullan initiated coverage of Performance Food Group (PFGC) with a Buy rating and $62 price target. The analyst continues to like the industry's sales outlook over a multi-year period despite concerns about a consumer led restaurant traffic slowdown in the coming months.
Symbols:
UAL GRMN - $116.50 /
+4.615 (+4.12%)
ALL - $130.87 /
+4.385 (+3.47%)
CMI JOAN BAH RENT WING STNE TSCO NNBR TRU LDOS BDX PFGC Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street