The futures were mixed on Friday, as we finish a wild trading week that was punctuated by the passing of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, which the president signed Thursday afternoon. Some expect the stimulus checks to start going out as early as this weekend. Both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 closed at all-time highs. The Nasdaq had a strong day as well, closing up over 2% with heavy volume across the board.
Despite the big follow through rally on Thursday, top analysts on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, so last week’s volatility may stick around.
Wall Street analysts have been examining earnings results and also looking to see what guidance for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength, while repositioning portfolios for the start of the second quarter and the rest of 2021.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, March 12, 2021.
AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) saw its target price raised to $75 from $54 at Cowen. That compares with the lower $66.43 consensus price objective and Thursday’s close at $57.82, which was up over 8% for the day.
Antero Midstream Corp. (NYSE: AR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, with a $7.50 price target. The consensus target is $7.94, and the shares were last seen on Thursday at $9.44.
Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) was raised from Neutral to Buy at Goldman Sachs. The brokerage firm has traded in a 52-week range of $3.41 to $9.86 and has a consensus price objective of $11.19. Thursday’s closing price was reported at $9.69.
Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities, which also lowered the price target to $54. The consensus target is $55. The last trade for Thursday came in at $61.93, up 3% on the day. With shares trading right at the 52-week high, this looks like a valuation call.
