The most talked about and market-moving research calls on Wall Street are now collected in one place. Here are today’s research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.
Top 5 upgrades:
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Wolfe Research upgraded 3M (MMM) to outperform Peer Perform with a $125 price target. The company’s new CEO Bill Brown is “bringing The Right Stuff to 3M,” boosting confidence in its medium-term earnings prospects, it tells company to investors in a research note.
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Stephens has undergone an upgrade Par technology (PAR) of Overweight from Equal Weight with a $60 price target, up from $46. As a leader in restaurant technology, Par is well positioned to capitalize on demand for loyalty, cloud-native POS and data analytics solutions, the company says, adding that it believes the sale of government subsidiaries will tell the story simplifies and adds valuable capital flexibility. .
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BofA double upgraded Kimberly Clark (KMB) to buy at Underperform with a $160 price target, up from $115. Following Kimberly-Clark’s first-quarter volume change after two years of volume declines, the company is seeing the beginnings of a longer-term improvement.
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Janney Montgomery Scott has upgraded MON (MAA) to buy at Neutral with a fair value estimate of $150. After meeting with management, the company is more confident about the apartment real estate investment trust’s near-term operating trends, and less concerned about the new offerings that are still ubiquitous in MAA’s core markets.
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Bradesco BBI upgraded PagBank (PAGS) to outperform neutral with a $16 price target, citing increased profitability and the company’s “attractive” valuation for the upgrade.
Top 5 downgrades:
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Wolfe Research reduced Roper Technologies (ROP) to Peer Perform from Outperform without price target. The company believes the stock’s valuation is more balanced and sees a less clear path for future estimate revisions.
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Canaccord relegated Cara Therapeutica (CARA) is moving from Buy to Hold with a price target of $1, down from $10. The company announced that oral difelikefalin did not demonstrate a meaningful clinical benefit over placebo at any dose as part of the dose-finding part A of its KOURAGE Phase 3 study in notalgia paresthetica. HC Wainwright and Needham have also downgraded Cara Therapeutics to a neutral-equivalent rating.
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Barclays has downgraded its rating NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $25, down from $32. With limited debt capacity if the company wants to stay within its credit ratings, and an ‘extremely high’ payout ratio of 95%, NextEra has limited potential options beyond a distribution cut, requiring a cut of at least 45% to pay off the remaining financing of its convertible equity portfolio, the company tells investors in a research note.
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Janney Montgomery Scott has lowered his rating Generac (GNRC) to Neutral from Buy with an estimated fair value of $154, up from $126, after recently hosting a Fireside Chat with CFO York Ragen and Director of IR Kris Roseman. Following management discussions and a review of the company’s model, the company believes further multiple expansion is unlikely and would like to gain further clarity on the rollout of updated energy technology products in the 2025-plus period before raising estimates.
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Goldman Sachs lowered the rating W. Berkley (WRB) from Buy to Neutral with a price target of $83, down from $88. The company says recent litigation trends, including record highs in recent years in pending litigation in the U.S. District Courts, introduce an “element of uncertainty” regarding claim cost trends, especially given the increasing number of large judgments .
Top 5 initiations:
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Goldman Sachs started reporting on it Chipotle (CMG) with a Buy rating and a $3,730 price target. The company initiated coverage of the restaurant industry with a “selective constructive” view. Goldman’s top idea is Chipotle Mexican Grill. The company also began covering Restaurant Brands (QSR), Sweetgreen (SG), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), and Starbucks (SBUX) with Buy ratings.
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Goldman Sachs started reporting on it McDonald’s (MCD) with a neutral rating and a $288 price target. The company sees a balanced risk/reward for McDonald’s given the near-term risks of launching the $5 national menu. Goldman also began coverage of Yum! Brands (YUM) and Wingstop (WING) with neutral ratings.
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Goldman Sachs started reporting on it Wendy’s (WEN) with a Sell rating and a $16 price target. The company believes that scale is becoming increasingly important in a tougher competitive environment and sees several challenges in view of the insecurities of lower-income consumers and the intensification of value competition. Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Jack in the Box (JACK) with a sell rating and a $55 price target.
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Argus started reporting on GE Vernova (GEV) with a Buy rating and a $190 price target. GE Vernova is a well-managed, financially strong company that appears “well poised” to benefit from megatrends such as the energy transition, global electrification and global decarbonization, the company told investors in a research note.
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Barclays started reporting on it NetEase (NTES) with an Equal Weight rating and a $104 price target. The company says the Chinese online gaming market is maturing, while NetEase has a large market share and potential peak margins.
