Wednesday Afternoon’s Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Caterpillar, Darden Restaurants, First Solar, LendingClub and More
Markets edged higher on Wednesday after a fairly solid showing on Tuesday. Investors are still considering the potential impact of the Omicron variant, and last week’s Fed meeting last week suggested that tighter monetary policy will be on the way in 2022. While there is a lot to consider (even if there will be a “Santa rally” this year), investors are still at a crossroads for now.
24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Biogen, Goodyear, Krispy Kreme, Micron, Microsoft, Nike and more.
BigCommerce Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BIGC): Wedbush upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and has a $50 price target. Shares were trading around $38 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $70.00.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Bernstein upgraded it to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $240 price target. The 52-week trading range is $175.11 to $246.69, and shares were last seen trading near $202.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI): Stifel’s upgrade was to Buy from Hold and the firm has a $165 price target. Shares were trading around $145 on Wednesday, and the 52-week trading range is $110.89 to $164.28.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): Evercore ISI started coverage with an In Line rating and a $107 price target. Shares were trading around $87 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $67.71 to $123.13.
LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC): Wedbush resumed coverage with an Outperform rating but cut the price target to $40 from $50. The 52-week trading range is $8.08 to $49.21, and shares were trading near $25.
Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST): Wedbush initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $160 price target. Shares were trading around $145 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $263.00.
Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $233 price target. The 52-week range is $141.24 to $210.16, and shares were trading near $203 apiece.
The highest yielding Dow stocks over the past year tend to be in more defensive sectors or undervalued, making them great ideas for 2022, when gains may be harder to come by. Five of them offer growth and income investors incredible entry points and some big, reliable dividends.
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