Turmoil in the Middle East, particularly in the Red Sea and Suez, sent crude prices on a wild ride. Prices dropped by about $3.50 a barrel early in the week and had gained all of that back and a little more by Friday morning. Here is a recap of the week’s events.

Red Sea attacks drive crude prices up

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude both traded up by around 3.5% Friday morning, following Thursday attacks by U.S. and British forces that killed five people in Yemen. The Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have sent shipping rates for crude and refined products soaring. (These 29 countries are at war right now.)

Yemen is situated at the southern end of the Red Sea on the east side of the Bar el-Mandeb Strait. The route through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea is critical to European and North American shipments of oil and LNG to Asia. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 12% of the world’s oil and 8% of the global supply of LNG travels through the Red Sea.

The attacks are forcing shippers either to re-route or suspend shipments. Reuters reported earlier in the week that the chartering cost of a very-large crude carrier (VLCC) capable of transporting 2 million barrels of oil has risen from $8 million to $10 million, adding $1.00 per barrel. That drives the price of WTI crude higher than similar grades of crude from Middle Eastern producers like the UAE. One Singapore-based oil trader told Reuters that “U.S. crude is no longer competitive in Asia.”

Natural gas giants merge

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK) and Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) announced an agreement Thursday to complete an all-stock merger of the two natural gas producers. The deal’s total value is $7.4 billion, or $6.69 per share based on Chesapeake’s closing price of $77.18 on Wednesday. Southwestern shareholders will receive about 1 share of Chesapeake stock for every 12 Southwestern shares.

Once the merger is completed, the combined company will have a market cap of around $24 billion and will get a new name. Chesapeake is the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas (behind Exxon Mobil). The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

Southwestern shareholders did not like the deal, shaving about 2.5% from the share price after Thursday’s announcement. Chesapeake’s shareholders believe they’re getting a good deal (the premium to Southwestern’s share price was about 4.5%), and the stock rose by more than 3% Thursday. Once the deal is done, the new company has a reasonable chance of being included in the S&P 500.

Briefly noted

According to S&P Global Platts, OPEC+ countries produced 130,000 barrels a day more in December than in November. Even so, OPEC production was down by about 1 million barrels a day compared to December 2022. Deeper cuts from both OPEC’s 13 member nations and its 10 partners in OPEC+ are scheduled to begin in January.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) earlier this week. Berkshire Hathaway now owns about 34% of Oxy’s outstanding common stock.

Reuters reported Friday morning that China’s crude oil imports reached a record 11.28 million barrels a day in 2023, up 11% year over year. Natural gas imports rose by 9.9% to nearly 120 million tons, second only to the amount imported in 2021.

The post Energy News Roundup: Chesapeake Energy (CHK) Merger, Red Sea Conflict and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Despite a negative print for the December consumer price index numbers, the three major indices mainly closed flat Thursday, after steep morning losses were erased by noon. Equities traded about by about a third to a half a point in Friday’s premarket session. The surprising increase in the inflation data, combined with more hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve governors, kept stocks defensive. However, the prominent technology leaders helped keep a bid under the market. With fourth-quarter earnings ready to start in earnest, all eyes will be on the results.

Bonds

Despite the surprising inflation report, Treasury yields finished the day flat across the curve. This all came after the December numbers represented the most significant monthly change in the index since last September. The 10-year note closed at 3.97%, while the two-year was last seen at 4.26%.

Commodities

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished higher and could be going much higher after U.S. Military strikes in Yemen targeting Houthi militants could increase the dangers in the region. Brent closed up 0.80% at $77.41, while WTI jumped 2.17% to end the day at $73.58. Natural gas was also strong, closing up 1.74% at $5.15.

Gold also finished modestly higher, as the February contract closed at $2,033.20, up 0.69%. The geopolitical issues around the globe with two wars that the United States is participating in by proxy, plus the expansion of the war in the Middle East, have kept buyers seemingly grabbing any drift down in the bullion. Bitcoin closed down 0.38% at $46,167 as some ETF exuberance brought in the sellers.

Here are the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and other calls for Friday, January 12, 2024.

Upgrades

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK) from Neutral to Buy at both Citigroup and Mizuho. The former boosted its $82 price target to $95, while the target at the latter increased from $96 to $104.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) from Hold to Buy, with its price target raised from $73 to $112, at Jefferies.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV) from Neutral to Buy at Roth MKM, which raised its $92 price target to $114.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $160 at Citigroup.

Downgrades

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) from Outperform to Neutral at Exane BNP Paribas. No price target was given. (These are the most delicious beers in America.)

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) from Sector Perform to Underperform, and a $54 price target lowered from $50, at RBC Capital Markets.

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) from Overweight to Equal Weight with a price target of $198 at Barclays.

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI) from Overweight to Equal Weight with a price target of $18 at Barclays.

Other Calls

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) coverage was resumed at J.P. Morgan with an Overweight rating and a price target increase from $19 to $23.

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) was initiated with a Buy rating and price target of 7,300 pence (about $93) at Goldman Sachs. (These 25 American industries are booming.)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) was reiterated at a rating of Market Perform, but with a price target increase from $85 to $95, at TD Cowen.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was resumed with a Neutral rating and price target of $52 at J.P. Morgan.

The post 5 Top Wall Street Biggest Analyst Stock Calls as Inflation Spikes appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were trading flat after a solid rebound Wednesday that saw all the significant indices finish the day higher, with the Nasdaq leading the way, closing up 0.75% at 14,969.65. With the December inflation data slightly above expectations and significant bank earnings kicking off the fourth-quarter earnings reports this week, all eyes will be only on the results but also the forward commentary, as many feel the consumer is tapped out and spending could fall off a cliff.

Bonds

Treasury yields were mixed across the curve as bond traders held fire, waiting to see how the inflation picture was trending. While many continue to make the case that rate cuts could come as soon as March, New York Federal Reserve President John William threw cold water on that possibility, saying in a speech Wednesday, “I expect that we will need to maintain a restrictive stance of policy for some time to achieve our goals fully.” The 10-year note closed trading at 4.03%, while the two-year paper was at 4.36%.

Commodities

After a strong move higher recently, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed lower on Wednesday, after some large inventory builds offset concerns over the Middle East war expansion. Brent finished the session down over 1% at $76.81, while WTI closed at $71.37, down 1.2%. Natural gas was the loser, closing 4.73% at $3.04.

Gold closed Wednesday modestly higher, with the February contract finishing the session at $2,034.40. The song remains the same, with significant central bank buying and geopolitical concerns keeping the wind in the sails of the bullion. Bitcoin was higher by 1% as the Securities and Exchange Commission finally gave the green light to exchange-traded funds for the cryptocurrency, which many feel could increase prices.

Earlier Thursday morning, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) and Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) agreed to an all-stock merger valued at $7.4 billion. Chesapeake shareholders will own 60% of the combined company. The company will get a new name. (These five excellent dividend stocks have yields over 10%.)

Here are the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and other calls for Thursday, January 11, 2024.

Upgrades

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) from Hold to Buy with a price target of $18 at Jefferies.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) from Equal Weight to Overweight at Barclays, which also increased its $19 price target to $30.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) from Perform to Outperform with a price target of $510 at Oppenheimer.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) from Neutral to Outperform, and a $240 price target raised to $300, at Robert W. Baird.

Downgrades

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) from Buy to Hold with the price target lowered from $155 to $135 at Deutsche Bank.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) from Outperform to Perform at Oppenheimer. No price target was given.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA) from Neutral to Sell, with the price target cut from $17 to $11, at Redburn Atlantic.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX) from Neutral to Underperform with a price target of $65 at Exane BNP Paribas.

WPP PLC (NYSE: WPP) from Buy to Sell at UBS. The firm cut its price target from 1,200 pence to 700 pence as well.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) from Overweight to Equal Weight, and price target lowered from $150 to $135, at Wells Fargo.

Other Calls

The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (NYSE: IPG) initiated with a Neutral rating and price target of $36 at UBS.

Netease Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) coverage resumed with an Outperform rating and a price target of $126.

The post 5 Red-Hot Stocks Top Thursday’s Biggest Wall Street Upgrades and Downgrades appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher after another risk-off day Wednesday that saw all the major indexes close the day lower following Tuesday’s dreadful decline. Top analysts cited some positive earnings reports from retail giants Target (despite slashing its profit outlook) and TJX, but Walmart’s strong report likely helped boost the argument for the strong consumer. However, consumer credit card debt is now above a record $1 trillion, as Americans continue to spend, and that mounting debt could be a big problem down the road, especially if interest rates continue higher. Home builder optimism also cratered, as 30-year fixed mortgage rates surged back to the 7.62% level, the highest in 22 years.

Treasury yields were higher across the curve Wednesday, as sellers are starting to anticipate a possible increase in the federal funds rate in September. The 10-year note closed the day at 4.28%, and the two-year paper finished at 4.97%. The inversion, which has been in place for almost a year now, signals recession, which often starts 14 to 18 months after such a yield inversion starts.

After a rough start to the week, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude bounced back Wednesday to finish the day higher. Traders cited the week’s huge inventory draw, which came after the preceding week’s surprising inventory build. Brent closed at $83.24, while WTI closed at $79.14. Natural gas closed higher at $2.60.

Gold also bounced back after a difficult week (and summer), as some in the industry are touting gold, silver and Bitcoin as holdings in case the economy collapses. That does not look imminent now, but after 16 months of rising interest rates, and the potential for more coming in September and perhaps even December as well, we could see a major economic slowdown. The December contract closed at $1,934.70. Bitcoin closed the day at $29,126.40.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each weekday with a goal of finding fresh 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 Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, August 17, 2023.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH): Citing top-line growth that has stalled out, Zacks selected this chemical company as its Bear of the Day. The stock has traded as high as $114.36 in the past year but closed most recently at $86.24.

Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE: BRX): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $27 target price. The consensus target is $25.24. The shares closed on Wednesday at $21.84.

Callon Petroleum Co. (NYSE: CPE): Citigroup’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price hike to $45 from $40. The consensus target is $46.93. The shares closed at $35.37 on Wednesday.
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CAVA Group Inc. (NYSE: CAV): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $54 target price. The consensus target is $45.86. The shares closed on Wednesday at $46.93.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): J.P. Morgan reduced its Overweight rating to Neutral and its $97 target price to $96. The consensus target is up at $106.28. The shares closed on Wednesday at $82.58.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): Mizuho’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price hike to $209 from $204. The consensus target is $186.24, and shares closed on Wednesday at $158.63.

GE Healthcare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GEHC): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $90 price objective. The consensus target is $89.63. The shares closed at $70.67 on Wednesday.
Getty Images Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GETY): Imperial Capital upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line. Its $5.75 target price is less than the consensus target of $6.8. The last trade on Wednesday was at $4.16.

Gulfport Energy Corp. (NYSE: GPOR): As J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, its $117 target price increased to $131. The consensus target is $134.67. The shares closed on Wednesday at $111.30.

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ: KDP): UBS upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, and the target price jumped from $27 to $42. The consensus target is $38.47. The stock closed on Wednesday at $33.85.

Matador Resources Co. (NYSE: MTDR): When Mizuho upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, the analyst raised the target price to $78 from $66. The consensus target is $69.33. Wednesday’s close was at $58.78.

Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $48 target price. The $43.13 consensus is closer to Wednesday’s $36.17 close, which was up almost 7% on the day.

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Overweight rating. Its $27.50 target price is higher than the consensus target of $23.14 and Wednesday’s $21.11 closing share price.

PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR): Its Bull of the Day stock has been firing on all cylinders lately, says Zacks. Shares of the truck maker last closed at $84.56, and the $90.26 consensus price target would be an all-time high.

Permian Resources Corp. (NYSE: PR): Mizuho upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised its $13 target price to $16. The consensus target is $13.93. Wednesday’s close was at $12.23.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD): J.P. Morgan’s upgrade was to Overweight from Neutral, and its $251 target price popped to $264. The consensus target is $252.89. The stock closed on Wednesday at $234.15.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating. Its $1,045 price objective is well above the $871.95 consensus figure, as well as Wednesday’s $797.34 close.

Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): Citigroup downgraded the shares from Buy to Neutral with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $81.42 for now. The final trade Wednesday was for $40.50 a share.
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Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. Its $26 target price is still above the consensus target of $21.42, which is below Wednesday’s close at $23.82.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $35 target price. That is well above the $25.60 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $29.69.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has a $280 target price. The consensus target is $277.61. Wednesday’s final trade was for $239.29 a share.
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August and September typically are the worst months of the year for stocks, so it makes sense now to take winnings and move to dividend-paying safe-haven stocks. Seven of them are trading incredibly cheaply and offering investors very timely entry points.

There are 20 banks still pouring billions of dollars into the fossil fuel industry. But there is good news on the climate crisis.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Dick’s Sporting Goods, Home Depot, Navitas Semiconductor, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, TJX Companies, Uber Technologies and Workday.

The post Thursday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chevron, GE Healthcare, Keurig Dr Pepper, News Corp, Visa and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were trading mixed after a lousy start to the trading week across Wall Street. All the major indexes finished lower, with the exception of the Russell 2000, as traders sitting on gains are looking to finish off the quarter nicely higher. They likely will, with the Nasdaq up just shy of 30% so far this year and the S&P 500 up almost 14%. Tech stocks have seen the best first half of the year since 1999.

The laggard so far has been the venerable Dow Jones industrial average, which is up less than 2% so far this year. With corporate buybacks on hold for second-quarter earnings, the market still very overbought and the prospect of more rate hikes (perhaps another one July), we may be in store for a volatile week in front of the 4th of July holiday.

Treasury yields were flat to modestly lower, as some buyers followed through on last week’s gains. Bond traders remain concerned that despite 500 basis points of increases in the federal funds rates, inflation remains stubbornly high and sticky. The potential for a commercial real estate meltdown also keeps a bid under the safe-haven government debt. The 10-year note finished the day at 3.72%, while the two-year paper closed at 4.73%, keeping the inversion between the two bonds at 40-year highs.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished slightly higher. The biggest story across the energy complex Monday was OPEC’s estimates that oil demand could surge a stunning 23% by 2045. This despite more renewables, and a seemingly consistent push to add solar and wind projects. Natural gas followed through on Friday’s gains up 1.6% at $2.77.
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Gold followed through on Friday’s gains, as buyers pushed the bullion higher to close at $1,934. Bitcoin, which was on fire last week, finished the day modestly lower as some profit-takers moved in on the cryptocurrency giant. It closed at $30,369 after jumping over 15% last week.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Tuesday, June 27, 2023.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Citing a decade low after a big earnings guide lower, Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $212.25 in the past year but closed most recently at $67.29.

Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: LNT): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and boosted its $55 price objective to $58. The consensus target is $56.50. Monday’s closing share price was $52.97.
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Alnylam Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and has a $249 target price. The consensus target is $249.95, and the stock closed on Monday at $191.35.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Though UBS downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, it also lifted its $123 target price to $132. The consensus target is $132.03. Monday’s $118.34 close was down over 3% on the day.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered its $109 target price to $90. The consensus target is $116.30. Monday’s close was at $82.94.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $324 target price. That compares with a $335.59 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $281.58.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Underweight rating and a $31 target price. The consensus target is $38.88. Monday’s close was at $34.47.

Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL): Gordon Haskett upgraded the popular retailer to Buy from Accumulate, yet lowered its target price to $175. The consensus target is $213.09. The shares closed on Monday at $156.61.

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform and trimmed the $133 target price to $119. The consensus target is $124.17. The last trade for Monday was posted at $111.08.

Century Communities Inc. (NYSE: CCS): B. Riley Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has an $82 target price. The consensus target is $63.33. The shares closed on Monday at $71.64.
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Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: CAKE): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $33 target price. The consensus target is $37.27. Monday’s close was at $32.41.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $112 target price. The consensus target is $107.22. The shares closed on Monday at $81.46.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY): Zacks named this stock as its Bull of the Day, citing earnings momentum and a possible breakout. The stock closed most recently at $42.66, and the $56.50 consensus price target would be a multiyear high.

Enovis Corp. (NASDAQ: ENOV): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $70 target price. The consensus target is $66.80. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Monday at $61.50.
Green Brick Partners Inc. (NYSE: GRBK): B. Riley Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and has a $62 target price. The consensus target is $44.00. The stock closed on Monday at $53.12.

Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a bit price target cut to $37 from $56. The consensus target is $50.56 for now. Monday’s $31.50 close was down almost 10% for the day on the downgrade.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Stifel stuck with a Hold rating but raised its target price to $65 from $55. The consensus target is $72.55. The stock closed on Monday at $65.45.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB): Capital One started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $396 target price. The consensus target is $384.14. The shares closed on Monday at $379.98.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Gordon Haskett downgraded the stock to Accumulate from Buy. Its $120 target price compares with a consensus target of $119.42 and the most recent close at $107.61.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW): The BMO Capital Markets upgrade to Outperform from Markets Perform included a target price bump to $275 from $269. The consensus target is $256.89. The stock closed on Monday at $251.71.
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Sotera Health Co. (NASDAQ: SHC) KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sector Weight and has a $24 target price. The consensus target is $19. The shares closed over 2% higher on Monday at $18.42 after the upgrade.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a target price hike to $248 from $185. The consensus target is $197.13. Monday’s close at $241.05 was down 6% for the day on the downgrade.

TG Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TGTX): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is $30.06. The stock closed on Monday at $22.87.
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This week, Micron Technology is among companies expected to lift their dividends, showing that they are doing well and have the earnings and cash flow strength to increase their payouts.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Academy Sports and Outdoors, Accenture, Clorox, Fiserv, Moderna, Planet Fitness, Sarepta Therapeutics, Tesla, Under Armour, Ventas, Viatris, Wayfair and Welltower.

The post Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Advance Auto Parts, Alphabet, Micron Technology, Ross Stores, Tesla and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures for all the major indexes turned lower on Tuesday, after edging out a small gain to start the week. While earnings season is still in full swing, markets remain hesitant to decide whether they are in back on the upswing. This partly is due to the fact that the Federal Reserve is still somewhat uncertain on the future of interest rates. On one hand, rampant inflation should be met with higher rates, as the policy has been, but with an easing of rates there is decreased risk of recession later on. It is a difficult tightrope for Fed Chair Powell to walk in the near term.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude bounced back slightly on Monday, but WTI pushed lower Tuesday morning, with its price holding just above $78 a barrel. While oil has backed up from the big move higher, which was a result of OPEC announcing a big production cut, analysts cite the summer driving season and increased Chinese demand as support for higher prices to come.

Gold edged lower Tuesday but was holding just below the $2,000 level at $1,989. Some feel that gold can take a run at new all-time highs, should there be any disruptions in the equity markets. Bitcoin continued its slide yet again in Tuesday’s premarket, down slightly at $27,388.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $73 price target. The consensus target is $70.67. The stock closed on Monday at $66.08.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML): Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. The consensus target is $736.29. The stock closed down almost 1% on Monday at $627.38.

Black Knight Inc. (NYSE: BKI): Citing negative year-over-year growth and falling estimates, Zacks selected this software stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $79.78 in the past year but closed most recently at $55.54. That is down about 10% year to date.
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Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE: BXMT): BTIG Research resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $19 price target. That is well below the $22.83 consensus target but above Monday’s closing print of $17.70.
Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM): Stephens downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut its price target to $60. The consensus target is $61.00. Monday’s final trade was for $54.34 a share.

Capri Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: CPRI): Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and cut the price target to $45 from $58. The consensus price target is $60.03. Monday’s closing share price was $45.00.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Stephens started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $91 price target. The consensus target is $110.00. The shares closed on Monday at $82.47.

CNX Resources Corp. (NYSE: CNX): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $17 price target. The consensus target is $19.22. The shares closed on Monday at $15.68.

Columbia Sportswear Co. (NASDAQ: COLM): Piper Sandler started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $92 price target. The consensus target is $98.64. Monday’s close was at $89.78.

DigitalOcean Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DOCN): Needham downgraded it to Hold from Buy. The consensus target is $40.00, and Monday’s close was at $32.87.

EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT): Stephens initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $36 price target. The consensus target is $42.08. The stock closed on Monday at $32.74.

First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC): Janney’s downgrade was to Sell from Neutral. It also trimmed its $10 price target to $8. The consensus target is $53.30. Monday’s $16.00 close was up almost 12% for the day.
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Globe Life Inc. (NYSE: GL): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating. The firm’s $120 price target is much less than the $129.13 consensus target. The stock closed down slightly on Monday at $107.31.

Ladder Capital Corp. (NYSE: LADR): BTIG Research resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $10 price target. The consensus target is $12.50. Shares closed on Monday at $9.18.

Luminar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: LAZR): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $12 price target. The consensus target is $12.68. Monday’s close at $5.61 was down over 1% on the day.

Masimo Corp. (NASDAQ: MASI): Zacks makes the case that its Bull of the Day stock has benefitted from a resurgence in the health care sector. Shares hit a 52-week high of $198.00 in the past week and last closed at $196.06, which is up more than 32% year to date.
PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD): Goldman Sachs lowered its Buy rating to Neutral and cut its $116 price target to $93. The consensus target is $106.69, and shares closed slightly higher on Monday at $66.75.

Squarespace Inc. (NYSE: SQSP): Citigroup’s upgrade was to Buy from Neutral. It also raised its $30 price target to $40. The consensus target is $29.42, but Monday’s close was at $30.71.

Starwood Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: STWD): BTIG Research resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $19 price target. The consensus target is up at $23.21. The stock closed on Monday at $17.49.

Talos Energy Inc. (NYSE: TALO): Stephens initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $21 price target. The consensus target is $24.20. The stock closed on Monday at $13.75.

Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS): When Barclays upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight, it also raised its $132 price target to $142. The consensus target is $141.47. The stock closed on Monday at $140.70.

V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC): Piper Sandler resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $29 price target. Shares last closed at $22.92, below the $28.36 consensus price target.
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XPeng Inc. (NYSE: XPEV): Jefferies lifted its Underperform rating to Hold and its $4.20 price target to $9.30. The consensus target is $13.25. The stock closed at $9.29 on Monday.

Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA): The Credit Suisse upgrade to Outperform from Neutral came with a price target hike to $326 from $311. The consensus target is $360.08. Monday’s close was at $288.19.

ZTO Express Inc. (NYSE: ZTO): As Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, its price target increased to $42 from $37. The consensus target is $35.21. The stock closed on Monday at $27.94.
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These 20 banks are still pouring billions into the fossil fuel industry.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ally Financial, Arbor Realty Trust, Chesapeake Energy, C3.ai, Endeavor, First Solar, Kingsoft Cloud, Kite Realty, Medtronic and Opendoor Technologies.

The post Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Aflac, Chesapeake Energy, First Republic Bank, Luminar, Starwood, VFC, XPeng and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures dipped lower to start out the week after a fairly uneventful Friday. Earnings are continuing to roll in, but markets have yet to really pick a definitive direction. Many expect the Federal Reserve to pivot and even lower rates this year, but with inflation remaining stubbornly higher than expected, not only will rates go up another 25 basis points in early May, some now feel there could be even more rate hikes coming down the pipe after that.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude continued their slide, as WTI pushed even further below the $80 a barrel level to $77. While oil has backed up from the big move higher, which was a result of OPEC announcing a big production cut, analysts cite the summer driving season and increased Chinese demand as support for higher prices to come.

Gold edged higher but is still holding just below the $2,000 level at $1,994. Some feel that gold can take a run at new all-time highs, should there be any disruptions in the equity markets. Bitcoin traded lower again in Monday’s premarket, down just over 2% at $27,338.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, April 24, 2023.

ADC Therapeutics S.A. (NYSE: ADCT): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and cut its price target to $2 from $7. The consensus target is $12.17. The stock closed on Friday at $2.30.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Neutral from Underperform and raised its $24 price target to $28. The consensus target is $32.12. The stock closed down almost 2% on Friday at $25.86.

Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ: DRTS): H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $9 price target. That is well above the $16.50 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $2.85.
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Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX): Loop Capital raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $65 price target. The consensus target is $78.13. Friday’s final trade was for $52.13 a share.

Arbor Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: ABR): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade was to Neutral from Overweight. The analyst also cut the $15 price target to $11, well below the $16.00 consensus target. Friday’s closing share price was $10.69.
AZEK Co. Inc. (NYSE: AZEK): As Loop Capital lifted its Hold rating to Buy, the $27 price target increased to $33. The consensus price target is $29.21. The shares closed on Friday at $26.70.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BR): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $169 price target. The consensus target is $161.92. The shares closed on Friday at $143.69.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Truist started coverage with a Buy rating and a $100 price target. The consensus target is $111.71. Friday’s close was at $80.85.

Clearwater Paper Corp. (NYSE: CLW): The RBC Capital Markets upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform included a price target hike to $42 from $38. The consensus target is $38.00. Friday’s close was at $32.67.

Costamare Inc. (NYSE: CMRE): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Its $15 price target is now $10, and the consensus target is $13.00. The stock closed on Friday at $9.50.
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Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNX): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $56 price target. The consensus target is $45.38. Friday’s $17.85 close was up almost 4% for the day.

C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI): Wolfe Research’s downgrade was to Underperform from Peer Perform. The firm’s $14 price target is much less than the $20.33 consensus target. The stock closed down over 3% on Friday at $20.06.

Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EDR): Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $30 price target. The consensus target is $32.00. Shares closed on Friday at $25.01.

Eve Holding Inc. (NYSE: EVEX): TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating. The consensus target is $8.50. Friday’s close at $7.49 was down over 1% on the day.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): Citigroup downgraded it to Sell from Neutral and cut the price target to $194 from $220. The consensus price target is $216.41, and shares closed slightly higher on Friday at $216.89.
Heritage Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: HFWA): Keefe Bruyette reset its Outperform rating to Market Perform and cut the price target to $23 from $31. The consensus target is $28.00. Friday’s close was at $19.70.

HighPeak Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: HPK): Truist started coverage with a Sell rating and a $10 price target. The consensus target is up at $43.38. The stock closed on Friday at $22.58, down close to 1.5% on the day.

IDEAYA Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: IDYA): When Stifel upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold, it raised its $18 price target to $24. The consensus target is $26.10. The stock closed on Friday at $14.93.

Insperity Inc. (NYSE: NSP): Truist cut its Buy rating to Hold and has a $128 price target. The consensus price target is $134.33. The stock closed on Friday at $129.74.

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: KC): Even though Goldman Sachs downgraded it to Sell from Neutral, the firm raised its $4 price target to $5.10. Shares last closed at $6.68, coming in just below the $7.21 consensus price target.

Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG): J.P. Morgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $25.00. The stock closed at $21.16 on Friday.
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Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE: MSGS): Seaport Research Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and a $36 price target. The consensus target is $229.25. Friday’s close was at $198.67.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): Wells Fargo’s upgrade was to Overweight and it raised its $77 price target from $100. The consensus target is $88.64. The stock closed on Friday at $85.73.

Opendoor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN): Wedbush cut its Outperform rating to Neutral and its $3.50 price target to $1.70. The consensus target is $3.66. The stock closed on Friday at $1.54.
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See the 50 most recognizable company slogans in America.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, Chegg, Citizens Financial, Comstock Resources, Coterra Energy, CubeSmart, Emerson Electric, Fastly, General Electric, Las Vega Sands, Medical Properties Trust, Microsoft, Nio, Novavax, Raytheon Technologies, Sea, Tesla, Tripadvisor, Ventas, Welltower and WestRock.

The post Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Ally Financial, Chesapeake Energy, C3.ai, First Solar, Medtronic, Opendoor Technologies and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded lower in what will be a busy week for economic data on Wall Street. The major indexes finished Monday mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the only loser on the day, and barely one at that. It was down just 0.03% to close at 12,804. Top strategists will be watching closely as the consumer price index numbers and the Federal Open Market Committee minutes drop Wednesday, while the producer price index and initial jobless claims come in Thursday.

The big banks will mark the unofficial kick-off for the first-quarter earnings reporting parade on Friday. While the money center leaders should be able to deliver predictable results, the smaller regional banks will be watched closely, as many lost huge deposits after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March.

One of the flies in the equity market ointment Monday was that interest rates across the Treasury curve jumped sharply higher on Monday, especially on the short end. The two-year note crossed back over 4% to end the day at 4.01%, and the five-year note yield jumped a stunning 16 basis points. The inversion with the 10-year note tightened as the benchmark paper finished the session at 3.42%. The inversion suggests the potential for recession.

After a big week last week, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished Monday modestly lower. This came despite chatter across Wall Street that energy giant Exxon Mobil was in acquisition discussions with Permian Basin leader Pioneer Natural Resources. This would mark the energy giant’s biggest deal since the merger with Mobil in 1999. Natural gas finished the day at $2.17, up over 8% for the day.
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Gold dropped almost 1% on Monday, falling back below the $2,000 level to close at $1,992, after a strong move over the past few weeks. Bitcoin was a winner Monday, closing up over 3% at $29,232.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line and has a $36 target price. The consensus target is $34.39. The stock closed on Monday at $31.85.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Evercore ISI raised its In Line rating to Outperform with a $194 target price. The consensus target is $184.19, and the stock closed on Monday at $168.62.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Keefe Bruyette downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its $90 target price to $75. The consensus target is $94.75. Monday’s closing share price was $66.36.
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Booking Holings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): This travel website operator is the Zacks Bull of the Day stock, with the analyst making the case that it should outperform over the next 6 to 12 months. The shares last closed at $2,572.57 apiece, and the $2,773.85 consensus price target would be an all-time high.
Catalent Inc. (NYSE: CTLT): Deutsche Bank’s upgrade was to Buy from Hold, and the analyst raised the $56 target price to $88. The consensus target is $77.92. The stock closed more than 3% higher on Monday at $67.26.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $130 target price. The consensus target is $114.88. Monday’s $77.54 close was up 3% on the day.

Cushman & Wakefield PLC (NYSE: CWK): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. Its $15 target price dropped to $11.50, even lower than the $16.79 consensus target. The last trade for Monday came in at $9.60, which was down more than 2.5% for the day on the downgrade.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock from Outperform to In Line with a $236 target price. The consensus target is $238.05. The shares ended trading on Monday at $210.77.

Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR): BTIG Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $50 target price. The consensus target is $50.78. The stock closed on Monday at $35.05.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and kept its $65 target price. The consensus target is $60.94. Monday’s close at $49.82 was up over 3% for the day.

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS): Stifel lowered its $73 target price on the Buy-rated toymaker to $68. The consensus target is $70.30. The shares finished Monday at $52.21.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) The RBC Capital Markets downgrade to Sector Perform from Outperform included a target price trim to $79 from $81. The consensus target is $88.94. The stock closed on Monday at $73.93.
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Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $476 target price. The consensus target is $484.87. The shares closed on Monday at $444.72.

Kemper Corp. (NYSE: KMPR): Credit Suisse’s upgrade was to Outperform from Neutral, and its $56 target price is now $78. The consensus target is $70.20. On Monday, shares closed at $57.69.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Northcoast upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a $321 target price. The consensus target is just $295.84. Monday’s close was at $283.78.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP): Stifel upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $75 price objective. The consensus target is $71.63. The stock closed at $65.05 on Monday.
New Fortress Energy Inc. (NYSE: NFE): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 target price. The consensus target is $71.63. Monday’s final trade was for $65.05 a share.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS): though J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight, it also trimmed its $97 target price to $96.50. The consensus target is $97, and shares closed on Monday at $87.74.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD): Stifel lowered its $293 target price to $286. The consensus target is $256.45. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Monday due to the acquisition chatter.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF): UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $21 target price. The consensus target is $23.37. The stock closed on Monday at $18.41.

Southwestern Energy Inc. (NYSE: SWN): Siebert Williams Shank started coverage with a Hold rating and a $6 target price. The consensus target is $8.38. Monday’s close at $5.28 was up over 5% on the day.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN): Zacks pointed to headwinds that meat producers face as it named this one its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $99.54 in the past year but closed most recently at $61.05, which is down about 7% in the past 90 days.
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Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NYSE: WBD): Truist Financial initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $19 target price. The consensus target is $21.18. Monday’s close was at $15.40.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY): As D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, its $34 target price was nudged up to $35. The consensus target is $36.60. Monday’s close was at $30.43.

Xometry Inc. (NASDAQ: XMTR): JMP Securities started coverage with a Market Outperform rating and a $20 price target. The consensus target is $28.89. The positive coverage had shares closing at $14.96 on Monday, up 10% for the day.
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A wave of mergers and acquisitions in the energy space may be starting, and these five top exploration and production companies could be swallowed up next. Plus, they all pay solid dividends while investors wait and see.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Comerica, Datadog, FedEx, Ferrari, Leslie’s, Monster Beverage, Mosaic, Pinterest, Pure Storage, Skyworks Solutions, Toast, Wells Fargo and Welltower.

The post Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades Downgrades: Block, Hasbro, McDonald’s, Pioneer Natural Resources, Tyson Foods, Warner Bros Discovery and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were mixed to open up a new trading week, after a spectacular Friday that saw all the major indexes up big. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the winner, closing up almost 2%. Needless to say, the same things that had been driving stocks lower were the impetus for the large move higher Friday: Interest rates finally took a breather and declined. The easing of rates, plus very oversold conditions, and some, albeit small, positive inflation data all combined to provide a nice tailwind for stocks on Friday.

Those Treasury yields dropped across the curve, with the benchmark 10-year note and the 30-year long bond both seeing double-digit declines as the buyers piled in to buy Treasury debt at the highest yields since November. While the short two-year note yield dropped to 4.86% (the Thursday close at 4.90% was the highest since 2006), the wide inversion with the 10-year note, which closed at 3.96%, remained. Bond traders and history both say that this gap is a precursor to a recession.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate both had a strong finish to the week, with WTI closing the day up almost 2% at $79.68. The two benchmarks finished the week strong, and many feel that pricing and demand could soar over the summer. Natural gas was the huge winner, finishing Friday at $3, up almost 9%. Gold finished the day flat, while Bitcoin was pounded again, closing down almost 5% at $22.301. This after trading over the $25,000 level just over two weeks ago.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, March 6, 2023.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its target price to $180 from $175. The consensus target is $168.21. The shares closed Friday at $151.03, which was up close to 4% for the day on the strong technology tape.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $720 target price for the stock. The consensus target is just $657.35. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Friday at $632.76 after a strong earnings beat.

Casey’s General Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: CASY): J.P. Morgan’s upgrade to Neutral from Underweight included a target price boost to $211 from $173. The consensus is up at $256.58. The stock closed at $213.18 on Friday.
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ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CHPT): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $26 target price. The consensus target is $20.87. Friday’s final trade was for $11.08 a share.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed its $117 target price to $87. The consensus target is higher at $121.50, and Friday’s closing print of $84.17 was up almost 3% for the day on strong energy pricing.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): Truist Financial raised its $568 target price to $571 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $552.48. Friday’s close at $475.26 was down 2% on the day.

C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI): BofA Securities reiterated an Underperform rating but raised its $14 target price to $16. The consensus target is $15.44 for now. Friday’s close at $28.48 was up 33% on the day, much of it clearly a short squeeze after the company reported results for the quarter that crushed analysts’ expectations.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $492 target price is higher than the $471.82 consensus target. Friday’s $430.28 close was a 2% gain on the day.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ): As Gordon Haskett downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, it lowered its $344 target price to $315. The consensus target is $347.21. Friday’s last trade was delivered at $304.76 a share.

Empire State Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESRT): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform with a $9 target price. The consensus target is $7.95, and shares ended Friday trading at $7.74.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, and its $140 price target increased to $250, well above the consensus target of $186.91. Friday’s $182.21 close up 6% on the day after positive earnings and a host of Wall Street upgrades.
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Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $145 target. The consensus target is $144.16. The shares ended Friday at $126.60, which was up close to 4% on positive Wall Street comments.

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral and cut its $47 target price to $38. The consensus target is $44.99. The stock closed Friday at $40.63, which was down close to 3% for the day.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI): J.P. Morgan downgraded the shares to Underweight from Neutral. It also trimmed its $53 target price to $50, further from the $58.86 consensus target. Friday’s final trade was for $56.77. As the stock is trading near a 52-week high, this may be a valuation call.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR): J.P. Morgan upgraded shares of the grocery giant to Overweight from Neutral. Its $54 target price compares with a $51.61 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $45.98.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $275 target price. The consensus target is $228.75. Friday’s close was at $199.73.

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL): Goldman Sachs lowered its $54 target price on the Buy-rated company to $46. The consensus target is up at $61.83. Friday’s close at $44.04 was down close to 5% on the day after earnings beat expectations but the company offered downbeat guidance.

Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. (NASDAQ: PLYA): Pointing out that travel bookings remain red hot in 2023, Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $9.44, and the $12.50 consensus target would be a 52-week high.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG): J.P. Morgan upgraded the legacy consumer staples giant to Overweight from Neutral. The analyst also nudged the $150 target price to $155, in line with the $155.02 consensus target. The final trade for Friday was reported at $140.95 a share.
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Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): The Zacks Bear of the Day has seen earnings estimates falling alongside natural gas prices, says the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $37.44 in the past year but closed most recently at $27.92.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX): While Citigroup reiterated a Neutral rating, it also bumped its $27 target price to $30. The consensus target is $29.20. The last trade on Friday was reported at $30.40. That was up close to 8% for the day in the wake of solid fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): Stifel lowered their target price on the Buy-rated shares to $135 from $165. That compares with the higher (for now) $170.51 consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $119.24, down over 11% on the day despite beating analysts’ estimates.
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Two tech giants and a leading defense contractor are among five large-cap Wall Street favorites expected to raise their dividends this week, making their Buy-rated stocks excellent total return candidates for investors.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Array Technologies, CarMax, Coupang, Discover Financial Services, Intel, Kohl’s, Marvell Technology, Moderna, Nio, Nvidia, Okta, Plug Power, Salesforce, Sandstorm Gold, Silvergate Capital, Uber Technologies and Western Digital.

The post Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Broadcom, Costco, C3.ai, First Solar, Kroger, Lowe’s, Marvell Technology, Procter & Gamble and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher on Valentine’s Day, after a big Monday to start the trading week in which all the major indexes finished the day higher. The big data release Tuesday is the January consumer price index (CPI) numbers, and while the year-over-year results were higher at 6.4% (versus 6.2%) and the year-over-year core numbers were above estimates at 5.6% (versus 5.5%), the month-over-month numbers came in as expected. The move higher will clearly give the Federal Reserve all the ammo needed for another 25-basis-point increase in March.

J.P. Morgan recently said that the current rally is likely to be the high point for this year, while Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson, who made a strong bearish call last year, feels that lows for stocks will come in the spring, noting that risk-reward for investors now is “as poor as it has been.”

Treasury yields closed lower on Monday, as the bond market waited for the aforementioned CPI. Worried investors have been flocking to the safety of higher yields in the short maturities. The two-year paper closed Monday at 4.52%, while the 10-year note closed at 3.72%, maintaining the widest inversion since 1981.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed slightly lower on Monday. This came after a big week last week in which the crude benchmarks surged 8.5% higher, the largest advance for the two since early in October. Natural gas had another rough day Monday, falling almost 3% and trading at levels not seen since September of 2021. Gold and Bitcoin both finished Monday lower.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Tuesday, February 14, 2023.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Roth MKM downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and cut its $180 price target to $140. The consensus target is $165.16, and the stock closed on Monday at $152.19.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB): Credit Suisse’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral included a target price boost from $32.00 to $43.50. The consensus target is $38.80. Monday’s close was at $40.39.
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Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Though Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating on the biotechnology giant, it lowered its $280 target price to $260. The consensus target is $261.03. Monday’s final trade was for $243.66 a share.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Baird cut its Overweight rating to Neutral and its $290 target price to $230. The consensus target is $252, and Monday’s closing share price was $248.15.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Scotiabank’s downgrade was to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform, and its $118 price target is now $100. The consensus target is $110.63. The stock closed over 4% lower on Monday at $86.85.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): The Zacks Bear of the Day stock has a volatile recent history and a weakening outlook, says the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $107.31 in the past year but closed most recently at $83.47, which is down more than 11% year to date.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $72 target price, which is well above the consensus target. The shares closed Monday’s session at $56.40.

Fastly Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLY): When BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Underperform, it raised its $10.50 target price to $16. The consensus target for now is $10.45. The shares closed on Monday at $12.60, which was up 27% on the rare double upgrade.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE): Roth MKM’s upgrade was to Buy from Neutral. It also boosted its $180 target price to $240, well above the $202.87 consensus target. The shares ended Monday trading at $207.01.

Globus Medical Inc. (NYSE: GMED): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Underperform from Buy and slashed its $83 target price to $63. That compares with the $74 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $59.43.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $95 target price. The $89.19 consensus is somewhat closer to Monday’s closing price of $80.08 a share.

Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS): As Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Hold from Sell, the analyst lifted the $43 target price to $56. The consensus target is $56.41. Monday’s close at $56.56 was up close to 3% on the day.
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Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $65 target price. The consensus target is $62.18. The last trade on Monday was for $39.77 a share.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM): The Exane BNP Paribas upgrade was from Neutral to Outperform with a $60 target price. The consensus target is $73.18. Monday’s close was at $48.30.

Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): BofA Securities initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and a $64 target price. The consensus target is $81.53. The shares closed on Monday at $75.56.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): The Underweight rating at Piper Sandler was lifted to Neutral, and its $133 target price rose $138. The shares have a consensus target of $139.71 and the most recent close was at $108.43.
Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy and its $130 price target to $145. The consensus target is $129.26. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Monday at $122.88.

Sprout Social Inc. (NASDAQ: SPT): Cantor Fitzgerald’s downgrade was from Overweight to Neutral with a $53 target. The consensus target is $72.36. The shares closed on Monday at $60.95.

Toast Inc. (NYSE: TOST): KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated an Overweight rating and bumped its $26 price target to $30. The consensus target is $24.47. The stock’s close on Monday at $23.94 was up 5% for the day.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $15 target price. The consensus target is $12.63, and shares closed Monday at $10.74.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $135 price target. The consensus target is $131.97. The stock closed on Monday at $107.66.
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Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ: WFRD): Making the case for this oilfield services provider as an industry standout, Zacks named it the Bull of the Day stock. Shares closed on Monday at a 52-week high of $69.44, and the $75.75 consensus price target signals about 9% additional upside.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line. The analyst also raised the $34 target price to $41, above the $40.88 consensus target. The shares closed almost 5% higher on Monday at $44.15 on the upgrade.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM): The Barclays downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight came with a price target reduction from $26.50 to $15.00. The consensus target is up at $29.71. Monday’s $20.97 close was down almost 7% for the day on the downgrade.
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With dark clouds on the economic horizon, seven Warren Buffett stock picks appear to be well positioned in the current higher interest rate environment and likely to hold up better than others should the market retest the lows printed back in October.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Affirm, Bloom Energy, FREYR Battery, International Flavors & Fragrances, Interpublic Group of Companies, Lyft, Micron Technology, Nutrien, Seagate Technology, Tapestry, VFC, Walmart and Western Digital.

The post Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amgen, Caterpillar, Coinbase, Disney, Match, Newmont, Toast, Under Armour and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were higher on Thursday, after a rough day across Wall Street Wednesday as all the major indexes closed lower. That was due to a combination of less than stellar earnings and the fact that many analysts and strategists feel that there is a strong possibility that recession will take current forward estimates considerably lower. Add to the mix, continued massive tech layoffs, the prospect of more interest rate hikes, deteriorating financial conditions and inflation numbers that were trending down but could turn higher again as oil and other commodities spike.

Treasury yields were once again flat to modestly lower across the curve Wednesday, after a big spike to the upside over the past week. Short rates continue to dwarf the long end of the curve, as the two-year and 10-year inversion plainly shows. The short paper closed Wednesday at 4.43%, while the longer note ended the day at 3.65%. The 78-basis-point difference is the widest since 1981 and suggests recession is on the way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished the day higher, both closing up almost 2%, following a big move earlier in the week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration confirmed a build of 2.4 million barrels in inventory. This came as an Iranian representative said oil could hit $100 per barrel in the latter half of 2023 if China’s demand returns. Natural gas closed the day down over 7% at $2.40. Gold closed slightly higher, while Bitcoin was down over 1% to close below $23,000.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, February 9, 2023.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL): Redburn upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $25 target price. The consensus target is $16.57, lower than Wednesday’s close at $16.98 a share.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight with a $186 target price. The consensus target is $183.75. The shares closed on Wednesday at $179.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): Barclays began coverage of the retailer with an Overweight rating and a $2,663 price objective. The consensus target is $2,634.20, and the stock closed at $2423.36 on Wednesday.
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Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY): Barclays started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $88 target price. The consensus target is $83.87. The stock closed on Wednesday at $86.40.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Citigroup started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $90 target price. The consensus target is up at $130.40. Wednesday’s close was at $81.98.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Redburn’s upgrade was from Neutral to Buy with a $55 target price. The consensus target is $51.00. The final trade on Wednesday was for $39.44 a share.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade was from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $96 price objective. The consensus target is higher at $115.85. The stock closed on  Wednesday at $115.60.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG): Barclays began coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $237 target price. The consensus target is $264.92. The stock closed at $227.64 on Wednesday.

Duck Creek Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: DCT): D.A. Davidson’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a target price cut to $19 from $22. The consensus target is $16.00. The stock closed on Wednesday at $18.80.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and raised its $323 target price to $328. The consensus target is $300.21. The stock closed over 4% lower on Wednesday at $218.87. The company posted strong earnings.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $70 target price. The consensus target is $64.03. Wednesday’s close at $59.64 was up almost 11% on the day following outstanding numbers for the quarter.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS): Wells Fargo reiterated an Overweight rating and lifted its $390 target price to $420. The consensus target is $394.46. Wednesday’s close was at $375.10.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight. It also trimmed its $22 target price to $21, further from the $23.08 consensus target. The stock closed 10% lower on Wednesday at $19.02 after earnings beat estimates but sales dropped.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR): Goldman Sachs lifted its $61 target price to $68 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $66.57. Wednesday’s last trade came in at $58.27.
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Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LW): The Zacks Bull of the Day stock should do well regardless of whether a recession comes, says the analyst. Shares of the packaged foods company last closed at $98.99 apiece, and the $106.67 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI): Citing an earnings and revenue outlook trending in the wrong direction, Zacks selected this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $82.06 in the past year but closed most recently at $58.03. That is down almost 7% year to date.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $400 target price. The consensus target is $377.89. On Wednesday, the closing share price was $309.28.

Lumen Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LUMN): Citigroup downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral and slashed its $6.25 target price to $3.50. The consensus target is $6.10 for now. Wednesday’s close at $3.95 was down 21% on the day after the company beat consensus estimates but gave dreadful forward guidance.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Stifel raised its $52 price target to $55 while keeping a Hold rating. The consensus target is higher at $64.17. Wednesday’s $60.25 close was down 3% for the day.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE: NTR): TD Securities cut its Buy rating to Hold. Its $91 price objective is less than the $98.90 consensus target. Wednesday’s close at $78.17 was down almost 4% on the day.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC): When Morgan Stanley upgraded the advertising behemoth to Equal Weight from Underweight, it hiked its $85 price target to $95. The consensus target is $83.30. The stock closed on Wednesday at $92.88.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL): The BofA Securities upgrade was to Neutral from Underperform. The analyst raised the $40 price target to $78, well above the $69.29 consensus figure. The stock closed on Wednesday at $74.51.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP): As BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Underperform, it raised its $19 target price to $38. The consensus target is $24.33. The double upgrade had shares closing almost 4% higher on Wednesday at $25.09.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL): The Sell rating at Redburn is now at Neutral, with a $55 target price. The consensus target is $57.38. Wednesday’s close was at $50.77.

United Rental Inc. (NYSE: URI): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating. Its $544 target price compares with the $443.50 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $458.04.
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Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Barclays initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $159 target price. The consensus target is $140.22. The stock closed Wednesday’s session at $140.22.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): Barclays upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight and has a $70 target. The consensus target is $52.52. Wednesday’s close was at $62.46.

Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN): Goldman Sachs boosted its $36 target price on the Sell-rated shares to $40. The consensus target is higher at $47.71. The stock closed on Wednesday at $47.90.
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With all signs pointing to a looming recession, alternative assets are in demand. Six top gold stocks are rated Buy at BofA Securities and come with respectable dividends, making them great ideas now for worried investors.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alcoa, Cloudflare, Foot Locker, Fortinet, Lockheed Martin, On Semiconductor, Ovintiv, Pfizer, Take-Two Interactive Software, Tyson Foods and ZoomInfo Technologies.

The post Thursday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Airlines, American Express, Best Buy, Dollar General, Goldman Sachs, Royal Caribbean, Walmart and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

On this date two years ago, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil traded at right around $40 a barrel, and Brent crude traded at around $41 a barrel. WTI crude traded at $83.40 a barrel Thursday morning, while Brent was at $90.25. Both are down by about a third from their peak levels in early March.

The global breakeven price for crude for 90% of extraction projects was projected to remain below $50 a barrel through 2040, according to a September 2021 report from IHS Markit/S&P Global. Nearly half (44%) break even at $40 or less per barrel.
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Of course, IHS Markit’s analysts did not anticipate the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which sent crude prices soaring, nor did it anticipate soaring inflation, which has dampened demand for crude. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s short-term outlook dated September 7, the average price for a barrel of WTI in 2022 will be $98.07, falling to $90.91 a barrel in 2023. Brent crude will average about $6 a barrel more in both years.

The EIA also forecasts that natural gas will average $15.40 per million BTUs this year and $16.36 in 2023. The Russian cutoff of natural gas supplies to Europe has driven prices there to around three to four times the U.S. price this year. Deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe have reached record levels, up by 5.8 million tons year over year in August. European stockpiles heading into winter sit at around 86% of capacity, above the five-year average for this time of year.
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For oil and gas producers, this cyclical upswing has generated bigger profits and shareholders have been among the primary beneficiaries as the companies raise dividends and increase share buybacks. While volatility in the energy markets is likely to continue, analyst Neil Mehta and his team at Goldman Sachs issued a new report Wednesday naming 10 small-cap and mid-cap oil and gas stocks that are “attractive relative and absolute opportunities” ideas for investors. All 10 are rated Buy.

Antero Resources

Antero Resources Inc. (NYSE: AR) is a supplier of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) and has at least 15 years of core inventory left in the Appalachian Basin. The key risks to Goldman’s view of the company are falling prices and rising costs chipping away at free cash flow. The firm’s 12-month price target on Antero is $48, and the average target of 15 analysts is $52.13.

The company’s market cap is about $11 billion, and June-quarter sales totaled $2.2 billion. The 52-week range is $15.38 to $48.80, and shares closed Wednesday at $35.83. Total shareholder return over the past 12 months is 118%, even though Antero does not pay a dividend. The buyback yield at the end of the June quarter was 3.3%, and the debt paydown yield was 8.3%.

Calumet Specialty Products

Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: CLMT) is a master limited partnership (MLP) that manufactures and sells a variety of oil-based and renewable products. Goldman recently upgraded its rating on the stock from Neutral to Buy based on Calumet’s renewable fuels projects and potential for future returns. Goldman’s six-month price target on Antero is $23, and the average target of six analysts is $27.80.

The company’s market cap is about $1.3 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled $1.42 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $7.33 to $18.47, and shares closed Wednesday at $15.95. Calumet does not pay a dividend, but the one-year share price increase yielded a total shareholder return of nearly 118%.
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HF Sinclair

HF Sinclair Corp. (NYSE: DINO) is an independent producer, refiner and marketer of oil and refined products. In Goldman’s view, the company’s refining margins are a major positive in the current macro environment, and Sinclair’s outlook for capital returns to shareholders is solid, especially through share repurchases. Mehta and his team expect $400 million in share buybacks next year and about $350 million in dividends. Goldman’s 12-month price target on Sinclair is $58, and the average target of 16 analysts is $58.79.
Sinclair’s market cap is nearly $11 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled about $11.2 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $29.14 to $58.50. Shares closed at $50.51 on Wednesday. The company pays an annual dividend of $1.60, and the one-year total shareholder return was 71%.
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Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: MGY) has primary operations in the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk areas of south Texas. It produces 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent in oil, natural gas and NGLs. Goldman believes the company’s low-cost assets could generate low-double-digit free cash flow at a Brent crude price of $90 or more per barrel. Goldman’s 12-month price target on Magnolia is $28, and the average target of 14 analysts is $23.83.

Magnolia’s market cap is $6.2 billion, and June quarter sales totaled $484.7 million. The stock’s 52-week range is $16.02 to $36.33, and shares closed Wednesday at $21.55. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share, and the total shareholder return over the past 12 months was 36.3%.

PDC Energy

PDC Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCE) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company operating primarily in the Wattenberg Basin of northeastern Colorado and the Delaware Basin in West Texas. Goldman supports its Buy rating on the company’s ability to obtain new permits in Colorado and ramp production back to previous levels. PDC faces regulatory risk in Colorado, along with production/cost risks. Goldman’s 12-month price target on PDC is $74, and the average target of 13 analysts is $96.83.

The company’s market cap is about $5.9 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled $1.14 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $43.01 to $89.22, and shares closed on Wednesday at $61.09. PDC pays an annual dividend of $1.40, and the total shareholder return over the past year was 50.5%.

Kosmos Energy

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) is a deep-water oil and gas exploration and production company with operations offshore of Ghana and Equatorial Guinea, as well as in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The company is also developing natural gas projects offshore of Mauritania and Senegal. In Goldman’s view, Kosmos offers strong cash flow generation, and the analysts expect free cash flow yield to reach 37% in 2024. Goldman’s six-month price target on the stock is $8.50, and the average 12-month price target of 10 analysts is $9.18.

The company’s market cap is about $2.7 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled nearly $621 million. The stock’s 52-week range is $2.33 to $8.48, and shares closed on Wednesday at $5.87. Kosmos does not pay a dividend, but the rising stock price pushed the total shareholder return over the past year to 154%.
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Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK) is another independent oil and gas exploration and production company. The company’s assets are located primarily in the Marcellus shale of the Appalachian Basin, the Haynesville/Bossier shale of northeastern Louisiana, and the Eagle Ford shale in south Texas. Chesapeake has long been one of the country’s biggest producers of natural gas, and that has been bolstered by its oil-rich Eagle Ford assets.
Goldman sees more than 15 years of drilling inventory in the core natural gas properties and likes the company’s plan to “deploy the bulk” of its free cash flow to shareholders. Goldman’s 12-month price target on the stock is $117, well below the $145.08 per-share average of 14 analysts.

The company’s market cap is about $12.3 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled about $2.8 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.75 to $105.93, and shares closed Wednesday night at $102.08. Chesapeake pays an annual dividend of $6.87 (yield of 6.71%), and the total shareholder return for the past 12 months was 89.8%.
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Delek US

Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) is a refiner and marketer of petroleum and biodiesel products, the owner and operator of product storage and distribution facilities, and the owner and operator of around 240 convenience stores. Goldman likes the company’s refining business, which the analysts say “drives improved capital allocation flexibility” with room for more upside. The company does face a challenge in unlocking its full value due to sum-of-the-parts valuation issues. Goldman’s six-month price target is $34, on par with the average target of $33.77 of 14 analysts.

Delek’s market cap is about $5.9 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled about $5.9 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $14.07 to $35.23, and shares closed Wednesday night at $26.33. Delek pays an annual dividend of $0.80 (yield of 3.04%). The total shareholder return for the past 12 months was almost 70%.
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Ovintiv

Formerly known as Encana, Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE: OVV) is also an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. It holds assets in the Permian and Anadarko basins, the Bakken shales, and the Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, along with several projects in Canada.

Goldman approves of the company’s focused debt reduction and Ovintiv’s plan to direct 50% of free cash flow (not including dividend payments) to shareholders. Inflation, pricing, production and costs must all break right in order to make the dream come true. Goldman’s 12-month price target on the stock is $62, compared to the average target of $56.70 of 24 analysts.

Ovintiv’s market cap is about $12.2 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled about $3.74 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $28.73 to $63.30, and shares closed Wednesday night at $47.97. The company pays an annual dividend of $1.00 (yield of 2.08%) and the total shareholder return for the past 12 months was 78.7%.
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Weatherford

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ: WFRD) is an oilfield services company that operates worldwide. According to Goldman’s analysts, Weatherford “carries discovery value” because the equity is based on the same factors as those that apply to large-cap rival Schlumberger, also Buy-rated by Goldman and one of the stocks on the firm’s Conviction List.

The international business, especially from the Middle East, is a strong differentiator for Weatherford as it is for Schlumberger. The risks to that outlook are primarily on the execution side. Goldman’s 12-month price target on the stock is $38, compared to the average target of $45.40 of five analysts.

Weatherford’s market cap is about $2.2 billion, and second-quarter sales totaled about $1.06 billion. The stock’s 52-week range is $16.53 to $40.16, and shares closed Wednesday night at $30.15. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past 12 months was nearly 80%. The total return includes a debt paydown of more than 11% but no share buybacks.

The post 10 ‘Attractive’ Small and Mid-Cap Oil & Gas Stocks Goldman Sachs Loves Now appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Nobody was really surprised when the August consumer price index showed yet another month of rising prices. While the headline number has decreased since June (mostly due to lower gasoline prices), consumers are still getting stung by inflation. With top Wall Street firms raising their September federal funds increase forecasts to 75 basis points last week, and the year-end terminal rate to 4.00% to 4.25%, it is a safe bet that it will be rough for stock investors in the near term.
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Mortgage applications have dropped to their lowest levels in 22 years, as interest rates are the highest to buy a home since 2008. That is a sure sign that clouds are forming. So, what should investors do now? Seek out companies that can continue to do business as usual, those that will not be stung by inflation and will pay big dividends, and that have stocks rated Buy by top Wall Street firms. We found seven that make good sense now.

However, it is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.
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Chesapeake Energy

This is a very safe energy stock for worried investors who feel the market may have a serious downdraft. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) an independent exploration and production company focused on oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from underground reservoirs in the United States.

The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana, as well as the liquids-rich resource play in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

As of December 31, 2021, it owned interests in approximately 8,200 gross productive wells, including 6,500 wells with working interest and 1,700 wells with an overriding or royalty interest, and it had estimated proved reserves of 661 million barrels of oil equivalents.

Shareholders receive a 6.88% dividend. Wells Fargo has a $130 price target on Chesapeake Energy stock. The consensus target is even higher at $143.17, and shares ended Monday’s trading session at $103.83.

Foot Locker

Shares of this athletic shoe retailer have rallied from lows and look ready to move higher. Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) engages in the retail of athletic footwear, apparel, accessories, equipment and team licensed merchandise under the Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports and other brand names.

As of January 29, 2022, it operated 2,858 retail stores in 28 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as 142 franchised Foot Locker stores located in the Middle East and Asia. The company also offers its products through various e-commerce sites and mobile apps.

Shareholders receive a 4.35% dividend. The Jefferies price objective of $61 is well above the $38.33 consensus target. Foot Locker stock closed over 3% higher on Monday at $39.54.
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Gilead Sciences

This stock is trading at a very reasonable 9.05 times estimated 2022 earnings and has big-time upside potential. Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
Gilead Sciences provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/Eviplera, Stribild and Atripla products for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vosevi, Vemlidy and Viread for the treatment of liver diseases. It also offers Yescarta, Tecartus, Trodelvy and Zydelig products for the treatment of hematology, oncology and cell therapy patients.
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In addition, Gilead provides Letairis, an oral formulation for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension; Ranexa, an oral formulation for the treatment of chronic angina; and AmBisome, a liposomal formulation for the treatment of serious invasive fungal infections.

Gilead Sciences stock comes with a 4.50% dividend. Oppenheimer’s $90 price objective is the highest on Wall Street. The consensus target is $69.74, and Monday’s closing print of $68.01 was up over 4% on the day.

LyondellBasell Industries

This top chemical company with a sterling balance sheet is another solid play for conservative investors. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) manufactures chemicals and polymers, refines crude oil, produces gasoline blending components and develops and licenses technologies for production of polymers.

Over half of earnings are generated in the company’s Olefins and Polyolefins Americas segment, where costs are linked to the price of cheap natural gas in the United States, while selling prices are correlated with the price of oil. The company has pursued a strategy of low-cost, high return on invested capital debottlenecks coupled with cash returns to shareholders.

Note that debottlenecking is the process of identifying specific areas or equipment in oil and gas facilities that limit the flow of product (known as bottlenecks) and optimizing them so that overall capacity in the plant can be increased.

Investors receive a 5.66% dividend. The analysts at Barclays have set a $102 price target. That compares to the $99.95 consensus target for LyondellBasell Industries stock, which closed on Monday at $85.31.
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Newell Brands

This top consumer goods stock is a safe play for investors worried about a toppy market, and it has backed up recently. Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: NWL) is a manufacturer and marketer of consumer products with six reporting segments: Writing (Sharpie, Paper Mate, Waterman, Parker), Home Solutions (Rubbermaid, Calphalon, Goody), Tools (Irwin, Lenox), Commercial Products (Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Rubbermaid Healthcare), Baby & Parenting (Graco, Aprica) and Jarden (Yankee Candle, Jostens, Oster, Sunbeam, Mr. Coffee, K2, Marmot, Rawlings, Coleman, First Alert and many more).

Consumer staples stocks like Newell tend to be solid ideas in times of inflation and rising rates. In 2021, the company’s cash distributions to shareholders were close to $400 million. During the period, Newell produced roughly $600 million, which included an abnormally large $350 million in cash spent on an inventory buildup, which the company attributed to preparation for sales growth. With a dividend payout ratio below 70%, Newell should continue to easily support the large and tempting dividend.
Though Newell Brands posted mixed second-quarter results (earnings did top estimates) and lowered its fiscal 2022 outlook, the company’s solid assortment of always-needed products makes it an ideal pick if the going gets rough again.

The dividend yield is 5.07%. Newell Brands stock has a $21 price target at UBS, but the consensus target is higher at $23.10 The shares were last seen on Monday trading at $18.18.
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Philip Morris International

This company has continued to grow global market share and its stock makes good sense for total return investors now. Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is one of the largest international cigarette producers, with a share of 28% of the international cigarette/heated tobacco market. Key combustible brands include Parliament, L&M and Marlboro, one of the most valuable brands in the world.

The company is commercializing IQOS, a heat-not-burn product, in over 40 markets, which could drive earnings in the years to come. Most on Wall Street believe the company offers superior underlying growth prospects, both near term and long term. The share price has been weak of late as investors have questioned the growth potential of its reduced-risk products, and the overall market weakness has contributed. All of its sales are outside of the United States.

Philip Morris International stock investors receive a 5.24% dividend. The $109 BofA Securities price objective is in line with the $109.57 consensus target. Monday’s close was at $97.66 a share.
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U.S. Bancorp

This top super-regional bank is among the higher-paying dividend bank stocks. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) provides various financial services in the United States through a network of 2,434 banking offices, principally operating in the Midwest and western regions of the United States, as well as through online services and a network of 4,232 ATMs.

The company offers depository services, including checking accounts, savings accounts and time certificate contracts; lending services, such as traditional credit products; and credit card services, lease financing and import/export trade, asset-backed lending, agricultural finance and other products. It also provides ancillary services comprising capital markets, treasury management and receivable lock-box collection services to corporate customers; and a range of asset management and fiduciary services for individuals, estates, foundations, business corporations and charitable organizations.

In addition, U.S. Bancorp offers investment and insurance products to its customers principally within its markets, as well as fund administration services to a range of mutual and other funds. The company also provides corporate and purchasing card and corporate trust services, and merchant processing services, as well as cash and investment management, ATM processing, mortgage banking and brokerage and leasing services.

Shareholders receive a 4.01% dividend. The Wells Fargo price objective is $60, and the consensus target is $54.66. U.S. Bancorp stock closed at $47.56 on Monday.
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The reality is that we are in one of the worst economic periods in America in decades. Profligate government spending combined with a Federal Reserve that never saw the wave of inflation coming until it was too late (and even admitted it) and now is forced to raise interest rates at a level not seen in years. With that in mind, buying stocks that will pay dependable dividends until this mess is sorted out makes total sense now.

The post 7 Surprising Stocks With Fat Dividends That Offer Some Very Solid Inflation Protection appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher on Wednesday, after an up and down Tuesday when it seemed like many investors and traders were more than ready to take some of the 9% gains from July off the table. All the major indices closed lower. Some across Wall Street linked the weakness to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan and rising tensions with China. With next week’s consumer price index print for July due, and Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report also looming, investors are also trying to factor in a big drop in consensus earnings estimates for this year and 2023.

Yields exploded higher across the Treasury curve on Tuesday, as investors who piled into the safe-haven securities over the past two weeks brought out the sellers in a big way. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note (which had fallen almost 100 basis points since mid-June), rose 14 basis points, helping to keep the omnipresent two-year and 10-year inversion in place. Soon it may be the 90-day T-bill and the 10-year note, which will be even more worrisome for the bond market.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both traded higher on Tuesday, after being gashed in a big way Monday. Natural gas was down a stunning 7%, falling back below $8. Gold closed higher, while Bitcoin closed down over 2% at 22,762.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE): Raymond James upgraded the shares from Market Perform to Outperform with an $8 target. The consensus target is $7.33. The stock closed up 8% on Tuesday at $4.05 on no news we could find.

Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL): Goldman Sachs began coverage of the popular retailer with a Buy rating and a $183 target price. The consensus target is higher at $206.06. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $148.05.
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Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Bernstein downgraded the heavy equipment giant to Market Perform from Outperform and has a $195 target. The consensus target is $291.88. The shares closed Tuesday at $183.51, down almost 6% for the day after posting disappointing second-quarter results.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Benchmark started coverage with a Buy rating and a $137 target price. The consensus target is $129.36. The shares closed on Tuesday at $90.25.
Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH): UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and lowered its $167 target price to $124. The consensus target is $135.89. Tuesday’s close was at $117.72 a share.

Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK): Piper Sandler upgraded the shares from Underweight to Neutral and set a $17 price target, in line with the $17.05 consensus target. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $15.98 per share.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ): BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $290 price target. The consensus target is $274.63. The close Tuesday was at $245.00.

Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. (NYSE: NAPA): Citigroup resumed coverage of shares of the very popular wine and vineyards company with a Buy rating, but it sliced the $24 target price to $22. The consensus target is $24.50. The shares closed on Tuesday at $18.43.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): Citigroup reiterated a Neutral rating on the legacy automaker and trimmed the price target to $15 from $16. The consensus target is $15.96. The last Ford trade for Tuesday was posted at $15.16 a share.

Four Corners Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: FCPT): Berenberg lowered its Buy rating to Hold and trimmed its $31 target price to $30. The consensus target is $30.17. The stock closed on Tuesday at $28.53.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and lowered the $137 price objective to $109. Tuesday’s close was at $96.48.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $61 target price. The consensus target is $69.55. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $52.22.
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Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS): This restaurant operator was selected as the Bear of the Day stock at Zacks, which cited the ongoing impact of higher costs. Shares have traded as high as $13.44 in the past year but closed most recently at $5.15, which is down more than 38% year to date.

On Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON): Goldman Sachs raised the $60 price target to $68 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $72. The stock closed over 3% higher on Tuesday at $65.50.

PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI): BofA Securities cut its Buy rating to Neutral and has a $178 target price. The consensus target is $171.36. Tuesday’s last trade at $154.10 a share was down over 4% on the day.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX): It pays to be a refiner in 2022, says Zacks, which named this one as its Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $87.54, and the consensus price target of $114.99 would be a 52-week high.
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Northland Capital started coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $25 target. The consensus is up at $34.14. The stock closed on Tuesday at $23.23, up over 9% for the day on zero news we could source.

Revolve Group Inc. (NYSE: RVLV): Baird maintained an Outperform rating and $50 target price in front of Wednesday’s earnings print. The consensus target is $49.17. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $29.05.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Goldman Sachs began covering the popular discount retailer with a Buy rating and a $102 price objective. That compares with the lower $96.35 consensus and Tuesday’s close of $79.83, which was down 3% on the day.

Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA): Goldman Sachs stuck with a Neutral rating but bumped the $9 price target to $10. The consensus target for the generic drug giant is $10.07. The stock closed at $9.83 on Tuesday, up almost 4% for the day.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $70 target price. The consensus target is $75.30. The shares ended Tuesday’s session at $61.64.

Tricon Residential Inc. (NYSE: TCN): The Raymond James upgrade to Strong Buy from Outperform came with a target price trim to $16 from $17. The consensus target is $14.22. The shares closed on Tuesday at $10.96.
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Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER): Raymond James upgraded shares of the ride-sharing leader from Market Perform to Outperform with a $38 target price objective. That compares with a higher $47.71 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $29.25, which was up a massive 19% after the company hit earnings targets and announced a $2 billion share buyback.

Woodward Inc. (NASDAQ: WWD): Truist Financial downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and slashed the $121 price target to $88. The consensus target is $117.43. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $93.29, down almost 11% after earnings and revenue dropped for the quarter
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Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon, Chevron, Comcast, Meta Platforms, Spirit Airlines and Starbucks. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Intel, Pinterest, Snowflake and more.

The post Wednesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Caterpillar, Ford, Mosaic, Phillips 66, Plug Power, Ross Stores, Uber and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures are trading lower Tuesday after a tepid start to the week where the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 posted small gains while the Nasdaq was down 0.43%. Some Wall Street analysts have suggested that we are basically in another bear market rally, and some believe that if the S&P 500 should hit or cross the 4000 level, that is the place to sell the rally or to put short positions back on. With the major tech players stepping up to the earnings plate starting today, and a flood of additional S&P 500 company earnings results this week, the results will be coming in fast and furious.

The sellers finally returned to the Treasury market as the bond crowd continued to size in the likely 75-basis-point increase to the fed funds rate this week. Yields across the Treasury curve were higher, while the two-year and 10-year note inversion remained in place yet again. The two-year closed trading at a 3.02% yield while the 10-year closed at a 2.82% yield. An inversion often signals a recession, and we will get preliminary second-quarter gross domestic product numbers this week.

Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate closed higher on Monday while natural gas continued its parabolic move higher, with the commodity now closing in on the $9 mark up over 5% yesterday. Gold traded lower once again while Bitcoin also backed up yesterday down over 2% after a big run off the recent lows.

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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 across Wall Street on Tuesday July 26, 2022.

Allbirds, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIRD) Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and has a $9 price target. The consensus target across Wall Street is $8.70. The last trade Monday was filled at $5.14.

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE: AR) Scotiabank resumed coverage on the shares with a Sector Perform rating and a $47 target. The Wall Street consensus target for the company is set just higher at $49. The shares closed Monday’s trading session at $39.17 up close to 7% likely on the jump in natural gas.

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN) Seaport Research Partners upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $180 target price. The consensus target across Wall Street is posted at $161.14. The shares closed Monday at $114.06.

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Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) Keefe Bruyette downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform while lowering the price target on the company to $115 from $127. The consensus is set at $127.33. The stock was last seen Monday at $97.26.

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT) Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $32 target. The consensus was not available. The shares ended Monday at $28.75.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Scotiabank resumed coverage with a Sector Perform rating and a $111 target price. That is versus the higher $129.36 consensus and Monday’s closing trade of $92.31.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Baird reiterated its Outperform rating on the popular Mexican food restaurant and has a big $1800 target price. The consensus is posted at $1779.52. The last Monday trade was posted at $1328.87.

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) Scotiabank resumed coverage on the energy giant with a Sector Outperform rating and a $54 target. The consensus is set at $55.81. The last trade on Monday was recorded at $44.98 up close to 7% as natural gas prices continued to soar higher.

Hanger Inc. (NASDAQ: HNGR) Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and lowered its target price to $18.75 from $24. The consensus is posted at $26. The last trade on Monday was reported at $18.51.

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Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) UBS downgraded the chemical giant to Neutral from Buy and has a $40 price target for the stock. The consensus is $40.17. The final trade Monday hit the tape at $29.

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX) Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and has a $415 target price for the shares. The consensus across Wall Street is set much higher at $521.14. The final trade for Monday was filled at $375.56 down close to 5%.

InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC) BofA Securities initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and a $60 target price, The consensus is a stunning $104 for now. Monday’s last trade hit the tape at $57.41 down almost 9% on now negative news we could source.

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) Barclays downgraded the semiconductor capital equipment giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the price target to $450 from $625. That is versus the much-higher $598.62 consensus price objective and Monday’s closing print of $457.45.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) Piper Sandler resumed coverage on the sports shoe and apparel giant with a Neutral rating and a $115 price target. The consensus is posted at much higher at $140.23. The stock closed trading Monday at $109.28.

Open Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: LPRO) Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut the price target to $8 from $14. The consensus is $24.50 for now. The last Monday trade was filled at $10.17 down almost 8%.

Owl Rock Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCC) Wells Fargo cut the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight and trimmed the price target to $12 from $13.75. The consensus target is $15.25. The shares closed Monday at $12.43.

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Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the stock to go with its $335 price target objective. The consensus is set much higher at $371.89. The last trade on Monday was reported at $317.04.

Pegasystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) Macquarie downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $54 target price. The consensus is $90.90. The shares closed down 4.5% Monday at $47.82.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Baird is keeping a Neutral rating on the bank after the company posted solid second-quarter results. The analysts have a $23 target that is in line with the $23.88 consensus. The last trade on Monday came in at $21.29 up over 3%.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) All of Wall Street dogpiled the stock after a horrible dumpster-fire earnings miss last week. Morgan Stanley joined the party and downgraded the shares to Underweight from Overweight and cut the price target in half to $8 from $17. The consensus target is $25.85 for now. The last Monday trade came in at $9.95.

Weber Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBR) BofA Securities downgraded the popular grill maker to Underperfrom from Neutral and sliced the target price to $5 from $9. The consensus is set at $8. The shares were hammered Monday, closing down almost 13% after the CEO left the company and sales have slumped.

Westlake Corporation (NUSE: WLK) Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Overweight to Neutral with a $115 target price. The consensus is posted at $129.87. The stock was last seen Monday at $92.19.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) Loop Capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and body-slammed the price target to $90 from $159. The consensus target is posted at $65.80. The shares closed Monday at $71.81 up over 8%. Vince McMahon’s departure from the wrestling giant was cited as one reason for the gain.

Here are Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades.

Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alcoa, Blue Apron, Enterprise Products Partners, GSK, Nordstrom, Southwestern Energy, Tesla and More

They included Activision Blizzard, Autodesk, Boston Beer Company, CBRE Group, Etsy, Peloton, Snap, Splunk, United Airlines and more.

The post Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Allbirds, Antero Resources, AutoNation, Blackstone, Chesapeake Energy, Chipotle Mexican Grill, EQT Corporation, Lam Research, Regions Financial, Snap, World Wrestling Entertainment and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

In May, natural gas prices at Henry Hub, the main U.S. pricing point, jumped to more than $8.00 per million BTUs, still well below the July 2008 peak of $12.69. Demand for natural gas is being driven by European demand for a replacement of Russian gas following the invasion of Ukraine. Demand for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) is especially strong.

In a new research note from Umang Choudhary and his analyst team, Goldman Sachs remains bullish on U.S. natural gas stocks due to the high demand for LNG and the gas producers’ more disciplined approach to meeting that demand. That said, economic risks related to a June explosion at the Quintana, Texas, Freeport LNG export terminal and to future supply growth that is “likely to be met with very limited growth in US LNG exports.” The Freeport terminal may not return to service until September due to public safety concerns.

Gas producers are working with estimates of $2.95 to $3.13 per million BTUs for 2024 and 2025, based on an estimated Brent crude oil price of $90 per barrel. Futures trading currently has 2024 and 2025 prices at $4.57 and $4.37, respectively, and Goldman Sachs has estimated a mid-cycle price of $3.50. The analysts recommend that investors look for companies that offer “the best risk-adjusted returns in the near-term taking into account the company’s assets, balance sheet and FCF [free cash flow] outlook.”

Choudhary and his team have initiated coverage on Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK) with a Buy rating and a 12-month price target of $106 per share. Based on Friday’s closing price of $83.18, the upside potential to Goldman’s price target is 27.4%. Chesapeake joins Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR), EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) and Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE: CTRA) as the four Buy-rated stocks in Goldman’s natural gas coverage.
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At the other end of the spectrum, or what Goldman calls its barbell, Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell. The price target on the stock was left unchanged at $12. Comstock’s shares already trade above Goldman’s price target.

The other high-volatility barrel stocks are Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), which was maintained as a Sell, and two Neutral-rated stocks, Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) and National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE: NFG).
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Looking in more detail at Chesapeake, Choudhary and his team liked the post-bankruptcy acquisitions of Vine Energy and Chief Oil & Gas, the former located in the Haynesville play and the latter in Appalachia, that have given the company more than 15 years of inventory and potential free cash flow yields of 26%, 24% and 15% in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively, better than the industry average for gas-focused exploration and production companies. This allows Chesapeake to “deploy the bulk of its FCF towards a capital returns program — a combination of fixed/variable dividends and share repurchases.”
Comstock Resources also holds attractive assets in the Haynesville play and could improve its balance sheet by generating more free cash flow and increasing returns to shareholders. Goldman’s analysts estimate that free cash flow generation for 2022, 2023 and 2024 will be 25%, 19% and 6%, respectively, lower than the peer average in the past two years. The analysts also note that Comstock “is levered to natural gas prices due to its less strong balance sheet/growth strategy, [and] we believe further upside to natural gas prices, especially in the winter, is a key risk to our Sell-rating.”

Choudhary and his team also commented on the other stocks in Goldman’s natural gas-focused stock coverage. Antero has “underperformed in part due to lower NGLs [natural gas liquids] prices.” Still, the company’s expected free cash flow allows for “meaningful capital returns in form of share repurchases.” Goldman’s price target on Antero’s stock is $43, implying an upside potential of 31.5% based on Friday’s closing price of $32.69.

Buy-rated EQT is well-positioned to take advantage of Goldman’s long-term natural gas forecast for an average free cash flow yield of around 17% between 2023 and 2026. The analysts assume $1.5 billion in share buybacks this year and $1.9 billion next year. Goldman lowered EQT’s $48 price target to $47, implying an upside potential of 28.3% based on Friday’s closing price of $36.62.

The fourth of Goldman’s Buy-rated stocks is Coterra Energy. The stock’s price target was cut from $31 to $30, implying a potential gain of 11.4% based on Friday’s closing price of $26.92. The analysts expect Coterra to “deploy the bulk of its FCF towards dividends/share repurchases.” Free cash flow yield this year is estimated to be 23%, higher than the 22% average for the peer group.
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The analysts maintained their Sell rating on Range Resources and their 12-month price target of $31. At Friday’s closing price of $27.01, the implied gain based on Goldman’s target is about 14.8%. The company could $1.5 billion in debt reduction by the end of this year and complete a $500 million share buyback plan at the same time%.

Southwestern Energy, which now holds some 275,000 net acres in the Haynesville play, has a downside risk from “higher inflation … due to higher service/labor costs.” Southwestern also plans to reduce net debt to around $3.5 billion by the end of 2023, and Goldman expects share buybacks to total about $900 million in the same time frame. At Friday’s closing price of $5.76, the upside potential based on Goldman’s unchanged price target of $7.50 is 30.2%. The company’s free cash flow yield for 2022 is estimated at 15%, well below the peer average.
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National Fuel Gas, like Southwestern, has a Neutral rating from Goldman Sachs. Unlike Southwestern, the company operates in Appalachia and has non-regulated gathering assets and a regulated pipeline/distribution business. Goldman notes that the company “is likely to be defensive relative to our upstream gas coverage if natural gas prices are lower.” The analysts maintained a $60 price target on the stock, implying a potential drop of 7.1% based on Friday’s closing price of $64.26.

The post Goldman Sachs Picks Another Natural Gas Winner (and a Loser) appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher on Monday, after a big risk-on rally that saw all the major indexes close higher on Friday. That was sparked by some better than expected retail sales numbers and by one of the big banks coming through with second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates.

While the scorching inflation reports for June last week contributed to yet another down week for the markets, the talk of a 1% increase in the federal funds rate at the end of this month was tamped down by two Fed governors, saying they were fine with the projected 75-basis-point increase.

Buyers returned to the Treasury market Friday, as yields were modestly down across the curve. The two-year and 10-year note inversion remains in place, with the former closing at a 3.11% yield and the latter at a 2.93% yield. Again, bond market participants view the inversion of those securities as a recession harbinger.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed over 2% higher Friday after a week of losses had oil at its lowest level in months. Natural gas also closed almost 2% higher. Gold closed lower, while Bitcoin traded higher, closing near $21,000.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Monday, July 18, 2022.

ACI Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: ACIW): Stephens initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $31 target price. The consensus target is $39.40. The stock was last seen Friday at $26.82, a 3% gain on the day.
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Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Like other growth stocks, this Bear of the Day has tumbled, says Zacks, and it faces the prospect of slowing consumer spending. Shares have traded as high as $289.23 in the past year but closed most recently at $65.98. That is down about 59% year to date.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): BofA Securities reiterated a Neutral rating on the aerospace and defense giant while raising its $150 price objective to $170. The shares have traded as high as $241.15 in the past 52 weeks but closed most recently at $147.74.
Chegg Inc. (NYSE: CHGG): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $20 target price. The consensus target is $29.04. Friday’s closing print of $19.42 was up almost 6%.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $106 target price. That compares with the higher $127.30 consensus target and Friday’s close at $83.18, which was up over 5% for the day. The shares followed through Monday morning, up an additional 2% in the premarket.

DexCom Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM): Bernstein started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $105 target price. The consensus target is $122.31. The stock ended Friday at $79.14, up over 3% on the day.

Double Verify Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DV): Goldman Sachs started coverage on the digital media company with a Buy rating and a $30 target price. The consensus target is $32.40. The final trade for Friday was filled at $24.23, up almost up 8% on the upgrade.

Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE): Baird downgraded the shares to Neutral from Outperform and lowered the $78 target price to $74. The final trade for Friday was reported at $57.03.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Sell rating, and it trimmed the $12.10 target price to $11. The consensus target is $16.77. The stock ended trading on Friday at $9.64, up close to 9% on no reported news we could source.
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IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IQV): SVB Leerink started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $256 target price. The consensus target is $261.53. The stock closed up over 3% on Friday at $219.08.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM): Berenberg upgraded the stock from Sell to Hold with a $120 target price. The consensus for the money center and investment giant is $142.67. The stock closed on Friday at $112.95, up almost 5% for the day.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC): Mizuho initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $48 target price. The consensus target is $42.97. The stock closed Friday at $38.01.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK): The Zacks Bull of the Day stock continues to make acquisitions and its fundamentals make it an attractive play for the second half of 2022, says the analyst. Shares last closed at $94.96, and the $98.43 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): UBS reiterated a Hold rating on the entertainment streaming giant while slashing its $355 target price to $198. The consensus target is $289.87 for now. The stock closed up over 8% Friday at $189.11. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results after the close on Tuesday.

Omnicell Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL): SVB Leering initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $124 target. That compares with the $160.25 consensus target and Friday’s close at $109.69.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $22 price target to $13.50. The consensus target is $21.02. The stock closed on Friday at $12.72.

ProFrac Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PFHC): BofA Securities downgraded the stock after its recent initial public offering to Neutral from Buy. It also sliced the target price to $18 from $26. The consensus target is up at $29. The stock was last seen Friday at $14.72, up over 3% for the day.

Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE: PWR): Argus started coverage with a Buy rating and a $200 price objective. The consensus target is much lower at $145.81. The shares ended Friday’s session trading at $128.01.

Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI): Truist Financial lowered its Hold rating to Sell with a $66 price objective. The consensus target is $96.89. Friday’s close was at $76.66.

TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE: FTI): Though BofA Securities upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy, it trimmed the $9.50 target price to $8. The consensus target is $9.24, and shares closed on Friday at $5.94.

Vivid Seats Inc. (NASDAQ: SEAT): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and an $8 target price. The consensus target is up at $13.88. Friday’s close was at $8.08, up almost 9% for the day.
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Seven top companies have some of the highest payouts in the Dividend Aristocrat universe. They supply products or services unlikely to go out of style or demand, and their stocks are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms.
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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon.com, Amphenol, Centene, CF Industries, Fiserv, Juniper Networks, Medical Properties Trust, Mosaic, Payoneer Global and Tesla. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Allogene Therapeutics, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Qualcomm, Toyota, Yelp and more.

The post Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Block, Boeing, Chesapeake Energy, JPMorgan, Kraft Heinz, Merck, Netflix and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were higher across the board as decision day for the Federal Reserve has arrived, and Wall Street seems split on the verdict. Many feel that the Fed will stay with a 50-basis-point increase, while a growing contingent feels the heavy artillery is coming out and a 75-basis-point increase will be dealt to investors. In fact, Goldman Sachs said earlier this week that it thinks the central bank is so far behind the curve that it expects 75-basis-point hikes Wednesday and in July. Either way, the path of least resistance for the stock market still seems to be lower until the inflation and recession worries subside.

After an early attempt to rally on Tuesday, the major indexes closed mixed, as they all jumped higher off the midday lows. After closing in on $125 a barrel early Tuesday when OPEC announced that not only did it not increase output in May, but production actually decreased, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude surprisingly closed lower.

Natural gas, which has been on a parabolic move higher this year, closed down at $7.19, a stunning 17% decline after Freeport LNG, the nation’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, said its plant that shut down last week due to an explosion probably will not return to full operations until near the end of this year.

Selling continued in the Treasury market Tuesday in front of the Fed announcement on rates. Yields rose once again across the curve, with both the five-year and 10-year notes closing at 52-week high yields. The five-year continues to trade inverted to the 30-year long bond, as traders sense a recession may be closer than expected. Gold closed lower, while cryptocurrencies were once again down, with Bitcoin dropping almost 2%.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN): Baird lowered its $378 price target to $340 while maintaining a Neutral rating ahead of the company’s earnings. Shares hit a 52-week low of $268.17 last month but closed on Tuesday at $275.17.

B&G Foods Inc. (NYSE: BGS): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight and raised the $25 price target to $33. The consensus target is $25.63. Tuesday’s close was at $22.27.
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Braze Inc. (NASDAQ: BRZE): Goldman Sachs lowered its $65 price target to $56 but kept a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $68.20. The stock closed up 9% on Tuesday at $32.05, after a very solid earnings report.

Bridgebio Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: BBIO): Goldman Sachs boosted its $19 price target to $21 while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $23.33. The stock closed almost 10% higher on Tuesday at $6.51, after the company posted positive clinical data.
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): This key software player in semiconductors has seen price targets move above $200, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $143.39, and the consensus price target of $192.14 represents upside of about 34%.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $115 price target. That compares with a $131 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $87.65, which was down over 6% for the day.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and a $55 target price, noting that e-commerce trends remain sluggish. The consensus target is $58.24. Tuesday’s close was at $42.58.

Envista Corp. (NYSE: NVST): Baird downgraded the shares from Outperform from Neutral and lowered the $54 price target to $46. The consensus target is $55.38. The stock closed at $37.09 on Tuesday.

Henry Schein Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC): Baird dropped its Outperform rating to Neutral and cut the $103 target price to $88. The consensus target is $90.73. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $75.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE): Deutsche Bank downgraded the legacy tech company’s stock to Hold from Buy and cut the $18 price target to $16. The consensus target is $17.65. The stock closed on Tuesday at $13.67.

Horizon Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: HZNP): UBS began coverage with a Buy rating and a $139 price objective. The consensus target is $137.46, and the closing share price on Tuesday was $81.27.

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN): BofA Securities downgraded the chemical giant to Underperform from Buy and lowered the $45 price target to $34. The consensus target is $46.12. Shares closed on Tuesday at $30.36.
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Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: JAZZ): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $194 target price objective. The consensus target is $202.13. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $143.06.

Leslie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL): Stifel lowered its $29 price target on the poll equipment and supplies giant to $25 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $26.50. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $16.05.

New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYCB): B. Riley Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and sliced the $16 target price to $11. The consensus target is $12.96. The stock closed on Tuesday at $9.10.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE): J.P. Morgan lowered its price target to $125 from $146, and it has a Neutral rating. The consensus price target is $136.13. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $113.72.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): Stifel lowered its $83 price target to $72 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $91.17. The shares were on fire Tuesday, closing up almost 11% to $70.72, after the tech giant posted very solid results for the quarter.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE: PBF): Wells Fargo raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight with a $57 price target. The consensus target is just $34.25. The closed almost 4% higher on Tuesday at $38.92.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX): BMO Capital Markets began covering the energy giant with an Outperform rating and a $132 target price. That compares with the $114.69 consensus and Tuesday’s closing print of $104.13.

Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC): This software company was selected as the Bear of the Day stock at Zacks, which cited weaker guidance and falling estimates. Shares have traded as high as $59.38 in the past year but closed most recently at $35.97, which is down more than 15% year to date.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SLCA): Evercore ISI upgraded the shares to Outperform from In Line and has a $20 target price. The consensus target is $19.60. The stock closed over 3% higher on Tuesday at $13.90.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): J.P. Morgan reiterated an Underperform rating on the legacy steel maker, and it lowered its price target to $28 from $34. The consensus target is $34.86. The shares closed on Tuesday at $20.06.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO): BMO Capital Markets began covering the refining heavyweight with a Market Perform rating and a $155 price objective. The consensus target is $135.68. The stock closed Tuesday’s session at $133.75 per share.
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With many top energy companies poised to have a strong second half of 2022, seven stocks with reasonably safe and reliable distributions have room to run and are rated Buy across Wall Street.

Also see which two cryptocurrency stocks J.P. Morgan warns investors to stay away from and which four cybersecurity stocks Jefferies thinks are most likely to benefit from growing security concerns.
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Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, American Eagle Outfitters, Azek, Bausch Health, Coinbase Global, Dell Technologies, Fidelity National Information Services, Invesco, Marathon Petroleum, Netflix, New Residential Investment, Spotify Technology, Stitch Fix and Volta. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Adobe, AstraZeneca, Best Buy, Chemours, Oracle, Royalty Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical and Tractor Supply.

The post Wednesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chesapeake Energy, eBay, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle, Phillips 66, US Steel and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

After years of a low interest rate environment, many investors have turned to equities, not only for the growth potential but also for solid and dependable dividends that help to provide an income stream. What this equates to is total return, which is one of the most powerful investment strategies going. While interest rates are rising, these companies still make sense for investors looking for solid growth and income potential.

We like to remind readers about the impact total return has on portfolios because it is one of the best ways to help improve the chances for overall investing success. Again, total return is the combined increase in a stock’s value plus dividends. For instance, if you buy a stock at $20 that pays a 3% dividend, and it goes up to $22 in a year, your total return is 13%. That is, 10% for the increase in stock price and 3% for the dividends paid.

Five top large-cap companies are expected to raise their dividends this week, so we screened our 24/7 Wall St. research universe and found that all are Wall Street favorites and rated Buy at some of the top firms.

While it is always possible that not all of them do indeed raise their dividends, top analysts expect them to, and generally the data is based on past increases in the firm’s dividend payouts. It is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.
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Baxter International

This is a strong health care play, especially with hospitals and doctors returning to non-COVID-19-related procedures in a big way. Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) provides a portfolio of renal and hospital products.

Its Renal segment provides products and services to treat end-stage renal disease, irreversible kidney failure and acute kidney therapies. This segment offers a comprehensive portfolio to meet the needs of patients across the treatment continuum, including technologies and therapies for peritoneal dialysis, in-center hemodialysis (HD), home HD, continuous renal replacement therapy and additional dialysis services.

The Hospital Products segment manufactures intravenous (IV) solutions and administration sets, premixed drugs and drug-reconstitution systems, pre-filled vials and syringes for injectable drugs, IV nutrition products, infusion pumps, inhalation anesthetics and biosurgery products. This segment also provides products and services related to pharmacy compounding, drug formulation and packaging technologies.
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Shareholders currently receive a 1.58% dividend. The company is expected to raise its $0.28 per share dividend to $0.32. Morgan Stanley has a Wall Street high $105 target price on Baxter International stock. The consensus target is $94.00, and the shares closed on Friday at $71.06.

This is a very safe energy stock for worried investors who feel the market may have a serious downdraft. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) an independent exploration and production company focused on oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from underground reservoirs in the United States.

The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana, as well as the liquids-rich resource play in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

As of December 31, 2021, it owned interests in approximately 8,200 gross productive wells, including 6,500 wells with working interest and 1,700 wells with an overriding or royalty interest, and it had estimated proved reserves of 661 million barrels of oil equivalents.

Chesapeake Energy stock comes with a 3.42% dividend, which is expected to be lifted to $0.55 a share from $0.48. Wolfe Research’s $111 price target is less than the $117.67 consensus target. The stock closed Friday’s trading session at $82.02.

Devon Energy

This stock may be offering one of the best value propositions among the Goldman Sachs picks and is utilizing the variable dividend strategy. Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is an independent energy company that primarily engages in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and NGLs in the United States and Canada. It operates approximately 19,000 wells.

The company also offers midstream energy services, including gathering, transmission, processing, fractionation and marketing to producers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil and condensate through its natural gas pipelines, plants and treatment facilities.

Production is weighted toward crude oil while growth opportunities are liquids focused, anchored by the Delaware Basin, SCOOP/STACK, Eagle Ford Shale, Canadian Oil Sands, and the Barnett. Devon also owns equity in the publicly traded midstream master limited partnership EnLink.

Devon Energy now pays investors a 6.88% dividend. That dividend is expected to rise to $1.15 a share from $1.00. Truist Financial has set a Wall Street high $91 target price, while the consensus target on Devon Energy stock is $74.79. Friday’s closing print was $58.17.
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Diamondback Energy

This red-hot energy play has had a big run but looks poised to press even higher. Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional and onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.
The company primarily focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin, as well as the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin.

Diamondback Energy holds working interests in 4,326 gross producing wells, as well as royalty interests in 4,553 additional wells. In addition, the company owns mineral interests approximately 787,264 gross acres and 24,350 net royalty acres in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, and it owns, operates, develops and acquires midstream infrastructure assets, including 927 miles of crude oil gathering pipelines, natural gas gathering pipelines and an integrated water system in the Midland and Delaware Basins of the Permian Basin.

Shareholders receive a 1.85% dividend. The dividend is expected to rise by a dime per share to $0.70. The $200 Raymond James price target is well above the $176.86 consensus target. Diamondback Energy stock ended Friday at $126.23 a share.

Packaging Corp. of America

This company should continue to do well, especially if the economy does not totally bog down. Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States.

The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods, multicolor boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages and other industrial and consumer products. This segment sells its corrugated products through a direct sales and marketing organization, independent brokers and distribution partners.
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The Paper segment manufactures and sells commodity and specialty papers, as well as communication papers, including cut-size office papers and printing and converting papers. This segment sells white papers through its sales and marketing organization.

Shareholders currently receive a 2.47% dividend. The company is expected to lift the dividend to $1.20 from $1.00. The Packaging Corporation of America stock price target at Truist Financial is $182. The consensus target of $167.40 is closer to Friday’s close at $161.17.
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These five top blue-chip companies with stocks rated Buy across Wall Street are expected to lift the dividends they pay to shareholders. Not only is increasing dividends and returning capital to investors important, but it also shows that the company is doing well and has the earnings and cash flow strength to increase the payouts.

The post Red-Hot Energy Companies Among 5 ‘Strong Buy’ Stocks With Expected Dividend Hikes This Week appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were mixed Monday, after the big Super Bowl win by the Los Angeles Rams. The stock market continued its downward spiral on Friday after yet another aborted rally attempt fell apart. Comments last week by St. Louis Federal Reserve President Bullard continue to haunt traders, as he supports a 100 basis point, or 1%, increase in the federal funds rate by July 1, with a 50 basis point increase in March. While other Fed members walked that back, reports indicate that the CME FedWatch tool feels there is a 77.3% chance of that happening, versus the 93.8% last Thursday.

Once again sellers have returned to the Treasury markets, as both the five-year and 10-year note yields posted 52-week highs, with the 10-year at the highest yield since late 2019. Oil prices also shot almost 5% higher Friday, as Canadian oil exports to the United States hit record levels. This after the United States became a net exporter of oil just a few years ago.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, February 14, 2022.

Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and lifted the target price to $120 from $105. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $101.69 a share.

Carpenter Technology Corp. (NYSE: CRS): JPMorgan raised its Neutral rating to Overweight, and its target price ticked up to $53 from $52. The consensus target is $43.25. The stock closed on Friday at $38.73, up almost 17% after posting incredible fiscal second-quarter results.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): JPMorgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and an $85 price objective. That compares with a much higher $98.82 consensus and Friday’s closing print of $69.15, which was up over 5% for the day.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day, suggesting that the road may be bumpy a little while longer for this online pet retailer. The stock has traded as high as $120.00 in the past year but closed on Thursday at $52.10, which is more than 16% lower year to date.

Cloudflare Inc (NYSE: NET): Stifel reiterated a Hold rating on the shares but lifted the price target to $128 from $113. Credit Suisse kept an Outperform rating and boosted the $140 target price to $150. Piper Sandler and Baird both maintained a Neutral rating, but Piper Sandler hiked its price target to $125 from $115 while Baird slashed its $210 target price to $130. The consensus target is $743.12, and Friday’s final trade was almost 10% lower for the day to $104.92, despite results that were in line with expectations.
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Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO): Citigroup reiterated a Neutral rating on the soft drink behemoth but raised the target price to $65 from $60. UBS kept a Buy rating and increased the price target to $68 from $67. Truist Securities also maintained a Buy rating, and it lifted the $65 target to $79, while Wells Fargo stayed with an Overweight rating and bumped the target to $69 from $67. The consensus target is $64.63, and the shares were last seen on Friday at $60.29.

Doximity Inc. (NYSE: DOCS): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $74 target. The consensus price objective is $67.18. The stock closed on Friday over 6% lower to $56.36, despite blowing out earnings results last week.

Enova International Inc. (NASDAQ: ENVA): Janney downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy but nudged up the target price to $48 from $46. The consensus target is $50.20. The stock closed Friday at $44.83, down close to 4% on the day.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. (NYSE: FMS): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and trimmed the price target to $30.30 from $32.40. The consensus target is up at $38, and the shares were last seen Friday at $32.35, down almost 4% for the day.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK): DZ Bank’s downgrade was to Hold from Buy. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded in a range of $33.53 to $46.86, and it has a $48.38 consensus price objective. The last trade on Friday was reported at $44.30.

Ideanomics Inc. (NASDAQ: IDEX): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $3 target price. The consensus target is $5. The stock closed on Friday at $1.02 per share.

Macrogenics Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX): BMO Capital Markets started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $31 price objective. The consensus target is $37.89. The closing share price on Friday was $10.71, after retreating almost 7% for the day.
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Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Wedbush upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and raised the $100 price target to $120. The consensus target for the memory chip giant is $109.46. The shares closed on Friday at $89.76.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB): Tigress Financial started coverage with a Buy rating and a $630 price target. The consensus target is just $558.57. The last trade on Friday was reported at $427.17, which was down over 5% for the day.

Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MPWR): Needham upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy with a $530 price target. The consensus target is higher at $570.39. The shares were ended Friday trading at $424.29, up 4% after crushing estimates.

Morphic Holding Inc. (NASDAQ: MORF): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $64 price target. The consensus target is up at $88.75. The last trade on Friday came in at $41.87, down almost 5% for the day.
O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and lifted the target price to $765 from $740. BofA Securities kept a Neutral rating and hiked its $680target price to $700, while Truist Securities maintained a Buy rating and boosted the target for the popular auto parts retailer to $837 from $796. The consensus target is $743.12, and the last trade on Friday was at $668.28 per share.

SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): BofA Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $17 price target. The consensus target is $18.95. The stock closed on Friday at $12.40.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $121 price objective. That compares with a higher $132.65 consensus target and Friday’s last print of $72.83.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Barclays reiterated an Underweight rating and cut the price target on the social media giant to $34 from $64. Wedbush kept a Neutral rating and moved the target price down to $42 from $46. BofA Securities bucked the trend, keeping a Buy rating but also slashing the price objective on the company to $54 from $79. Baird maintained a Neutral rating and lowered its price objective to $46 from $80. The consensus target is $54.27, and Friday’s closing share price was $35.84, down close to 4% for the day.

Viad Corp. (NYSE: VVI): Sidoti’s downgrade was from Buy to Neutral with a $42 target price. The consensus target is $59.33. The stock was last seen on Friday at $337.10, down almost 7% after the company posted a fourth-quarter loss despite beating revenue estimates.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the retail giant from Underperform to Neutral with a $136 price target. The consensus target is $167.56. The shares closed at $135.33 on Friday.

Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Stifel reiterated a Hold rating on the online real estate stock but lifted the target price to $65 from $60. D.A. Davidson kept a Buy rating but slashed the $125 target price to $78, while RBC Capital Markets maintained an Outperform rating and sliced its target price 30% to $70. The consensus target is $77.47, and the final Friday trade was reported at $53.92, which was up close to 13% on the day.
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This week, Analog Devices, Foot Locker and a handful of other top companies are expected to hike their dividends. Their stocks are rated Buy across Wall Street as well, making them excellent total return candidates.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Agnico-Eagle Mines, Datadog, Fox, MGM Resorts, Norwegian Cruise Line, Peloton Interactive, Ross Stores, Twilio and Yum China.
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The post Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chewy, Coca-Cola, GlaxoSmithKline, Micron Technology, SoFi, Teladoc, Twitter, Walmart and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The price of a barrel of oil has jumped by nearly 60% over the past 12 months from around $50 to nearly $80. Crude’s price increase has been marred by intermittent concerns that OPEC would hike output and that COVID-19 would slow down global growth. Since December 1, when crude traded for around $65 a barrel, the price of a barrel of crude rose has risen by 20%.
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Analysts at Bank of Americas Securities on Monday published a research note on U.S. oil and gas producers, along with several ratings changes, that reflects the firm’s belief that the sector will see a post-COVID demand recovery this year. They believe the sector is undervalued by about 30%:

[W]e expect investor apathy conflated with ESG concerns to be replaced by what we would regard as a more rational view on the value proposition of ‘old energy’, against a realistic pace of any energy transition & anchored on transparent valuations defined by free cash flow and defended by outsize cash returns prioritized over growth.

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BofA’s analysis is based on two main points: Saudi Arabia (along with Russia) “has de-facto control of oil markets” and the kingdom will continue efforts to contain volatility in global oil markets; and U.S. producers have “unprecedented capacity to return cash to investors, with average sector [free-cash-flow] yield of 20% in 2022.”

Before looking at BofA’s top ideas for the sector, here are the 11 new and changed ratings the firm made Monday morning.

Canada-based Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE: SU) was initiated with a Buy rating and a price objective of $40 (C$44). Suncor’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 30%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 15%. Suncor’s total return for the past 12 months is 48.4%.

Exxon Mobil-controlled Canadian producer Imperial Oil was initiated with a Buy rating and a price objective of C$60. Imperial’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 25%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 10%. Suncor’s total return (on Toronto-traded shares) for the past 12 months is nearly 80%.

Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy Inc. (NYSE: CHK) was initiated with a Buy rating and price objective of $90. Chesapeake’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 35%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 16%. Chesapeake only began paying dividends in May and does not yet have a 12-month return.
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California Resources Corp. (NYSE: CRC) was initiated with a Buy rating and a price objective of $64 a share. The estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 47%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 12%. The company’s total return for the past 12 months is about 73%.
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Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (NYSE: CNQ) was initiated at Neutral with a price objective of C$68 (about $53.80). Its estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 17%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 17%. The company’s total return (on Toronto-traded shares) for the past 12 months is almost 80%.

Denbury Inc. (NYSE: DEN) was initiated at Neutral with a price objective of $92. Denbury’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 15%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 14%. Its total return for the past 12 months is nearly 177%.

National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE: NFG) was initiated at Underperform with a price objective of $66. Its estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 3%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 5%. The company’s total return for the past 12 months is 52%.

Devon Energy Inc. (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral, but the price objective raised from $50 to $57. Devon’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 18%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 14%. Devon’s total return for the past 12 months is about 176%.
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Pioneer Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: PXD) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral, and the price objective raised from $230 to $234. Pioneer’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 18%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 13%. Its total return for the past 12 months is about 56%.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded from Neutral to Underperform, and the price objective raised from $18 to $19. The estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 5%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 16%. Marathon’s total return for the past 12 months is 138%.

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE: CTRA) was downgraded from Neutral to Underperform, and the price target lowered from $26 to $23. Coterra’s estimated share-price upside in 2022 is 12%, and BofA estimates free cash flow yield (before dividends) for the year at 12%. The company’s total return for the past 12 months is almost 33%.

In addition to these new and changed ratings, BofA listed eight oil and gas producers as its top ideas in the energy sector. Suncor was among the eight, with the analysts citing the company’s sector-low break-even price of $35 a barrel and its dividend coverage, “setting the stage for leading cash return growth off an already compelling yield proposition (~5.3% dividend yield).”
Here’s a quick look at the other seven top ideas. All have been given a Buy rating.

APA Corp. (NYSE: APA) has a price objective of $47, implying upside potential of 59% to last Friday’s closing share price. The company formerly known as Apache is expected to show a 23% free cash flow yield and already has committed to return 60% of free cash flow to shareholders.
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Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) has a price objective of $131, implying upside potential of 54%. Cash flow is expected to rise by 64% year over year, largely on the strength of the company’s Liza project offshore of Guyanan.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) has a price objective of $52, implying upside potential of 59%. Even if crude oil were to average $60 a barrel in 2022, BofA thinks Oxy’s cash flow will still be around $7 billion. If debt reduction targets can be met by mid-year, that would “reset the dividend 5x and kick start buybacks to exploit high equity beta.”
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Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) has a price objective of $100, implying upside potential of 46%. According to BofA, “Debt reduction, asset sales and project starts reload capacity for buybacks, while a refining recovery can close the gap of 50% upside to fair value.”

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) also has a price objective of $100, implying upside potential of 27%. Conoco begins the year “with one of the most conservative [balance] sheets that has net debt/cap of 14%, prospective free cash yield of 14% and current dividend yield of 1.1%.”

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) has a price objective of $118, implying upside potential of 24%. The company is expected to reduce cost guidance over the course of 2022, improving further on the company’s $36 per-barrel break-even point. EOG also has the highest dividend yield of any pure-play exploration and production company at 3.3%.

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE: OVV) has a price objective of $56, which implies upside potential of 47%. Formerly known as Encana, Ovintiv makes it to BofA’s top ideas list because the analysts believe the company’s free cash flow is “overly discounted, providing potential to meet its $3bn debt target ahead of schedule providing capacity for a step-change in cash returns via buybacks.”
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Markets pulled back on Wednesday despite very solid numbers from the ADP jobs report. The 807,000 in private payrolls added for the month of December completely blew out the consensus estimate of 410,000 job gains. Although the economy is clearly on the road to recovery, big tech needs to get its act together on Wednesday.

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 Chevron, GE, Intel, Sirius XM, Under Armour and more.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $30 price target. Shares were trading around $24 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $28.89.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): The UBS downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $575 from $635. The 52-week trading range is $420.78 to $699.54, and shares were last seen trading near $537.
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Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO): BofA Securities lowered its Buy rating to Neutral and cut the price target to $50 from $56. The 52-week range is $40.46 to $52.59, and shares were trading near $49 apiece.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT): JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Underweight from Neutral, and it cut the $285 price target to $271. Shares were trading around $268 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $304.40.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK): UBS’s downgrade to Sell from Neutral came with a price target cut to $176 from $185. Shares were trading around $179 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $131.01 to $189.65.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): BofA Securities downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and lowered the $285 price target to $255. The 52-week range is $198.64 to $276.69, and shares were trading near $226 apiece.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): BofA Securities resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and cut the $70 price target to $55. Shares were trading around $64 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $60.42 to $221.00.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Underweight from Overweight. Shares were trading around $29 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $35.05.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Wells Fargo’s upgrade was from Equal Weight to Overweight with an $84 price target. Shares were trading around $68 on Wednesday, and the 52-week trading range is $40.00 to $69.46.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ): Stephens downgraded the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight and has a $500 price target. The 52-week trading range is $319.71 to $567.57, and shares were last seen trading near $528.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight with a $325 price target. Shares were trading around $287 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $296.94.
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LoanDepot Inc. (NYSE: LDI): Piper Sandler upgraded it to an Overweight rating from Neutral but trimmed the price target to $8 from $9. Shares were trading around $5 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $9.62.

Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR): Wells Fargo’s upgrade was to Equal Weight from Underweight. Shares were trading around $31 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $32.56.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC): Jefferies downgraded it to Hold rating Buy and has a $410 price target. Shares were trading around $393 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $282.88 to $408.03.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY): Wells Fargo lowered its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and cut the $35 price target to $29. Shares were trading around $34 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $41.04.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating but cut the price target to $50 from $70. Shares were trading around $34 on Wednesday, and the 52-week trading range is $32.39 to $171.09.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target to $70 from $59. Shares were trading around $55 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $33.36 to $61.71.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS): Piper Sandler’s upgrade was to Overweight from Neutral, and the firm cut the $58 price target to $53. Shares were trading around $34 on Wednesday, and the 52-week trading range is $32.42 to $89.90.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN): BofA Securities downgraded it to Underperform from Neutral and cut the price target to $575 from $675. The 52-week trading range is $441.00 to $686.62, and shares were last seen trading near $608.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM): UBS downgraded it to a Neutral rating from Buy, and it cut the price target to $265 from $315. Shares were trading around $234 on Wednesday, and the 52-week trading range is $201.51 to $311.75.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM): The RBC Capital Markets downgrade was to Underperform from Sector Perform. The 52-week trading range is $163.38 to $208.95, and shares were last seen trading near $179.
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The top 10 ideas for the first quarter of 2022 from BofA Securities look like outstanding stock picks for growth investors who are a little worried about the potential for volatility this year.
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Markets pushed higher on Monday, as Christmas might have come a little late this year in terms of a Santa Rally. The Nasdaq was up over 1% on the back of big tech. The S&P 500 was up nearly 1%, while the Dow Jones industrials were up just above 0.5%. This marks the last trading week of 2021, and as it stands now, each of the major averages is up around 20% (S&P 500 is up over 28%) — potentially more if this rally keeps up.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Monday. 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 CarMax, Global Payments, Huya, JD.com, Paychex and more.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Siebert Williams Shank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $90 price target. Shares were trading around $64 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $94.11.

DouYu International Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: DOYU): BofA Securities resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and a $3.30 price target. Shares were trading around $2.50 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $4.15.

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GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME): Ascendiant Capital reiterated a Sell rating. Shares were trading around $146 on Monday, and the 52-week trading range is $17.08 to $483.00.

Lucid Diagnostics Inc. (NASDAQ: LUCD): Ascendiant Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $16 price target. The 52-week trading range is $4.61 to $13.52, and shares were last seen trading near $5.

MKS Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: MKSI): Needham reiterated a Buy rating with a $215 price target. The 52-week range is $138.70 to $199.44, and shares were trading near $175 apiece.

SMART Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SGH): Rosenblatt reiterated a Buy rating and increased the $75 price target to $100. The 52-week trading range is $35.34 to $70.33, and shares were trading near $70.

Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSCO): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Equal Weight rating and cut the price target to $69 from $76. Shares were trading around $48 on Monday. The 52-week range is $45.65 to $76.00.

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Four battered stocks have as much as 90% upside to the analysts’ price targets, and even if they only get halfway to the targets, they will be huge winners for the coming year. They look like great ideas for growth stock investors seeking stocks to rotate into their portfolios.

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The futures were down on Tuesday after the latest Producer Price Index numbers and after a serious risk-off Monday in which all the major indexes and the transports closed down big. The selling was not surprising after the markets posted the best week in 10 months last week. Again the blame from some pundits across Wall Street was the Omicron variant, (which posted its first reported death Monday) despite some reasonably good chatter about existing vaccines and those in the works.

In addition, monetary policy remains front and center, as portfolio managers and traders price in a faster increase in tapering and an early lift off for rate increases. Treasury buyers were seen across the curve as yields declined.

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 Tuesday, December 14, 2021.
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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): BofA Securities raised the technology heavyweight to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target to $210 from $160. The consensus target is $172.55. The stock closed Monday at $175.74.

Avalara Inc. (NASDAQ: AVLR): Goldman Sachs began covering the stock with a Buy rating and a $200 price target, which is lower than the consensus of $212.17. Monday’s closing trade was reported at $142.94.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): Piper Sandler raised the plant-based food stock to Neutral from Underweight and nudged the $61 target price to $64. The consensus target is higher at $74.14. Monday’s closing share price was $63.42.

Cambium Networks Corp. (NASDAQ: CMBM): JPMorgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and slashed the price target to $30 from $49. The consensus target is $52.38. The last trade on Monday was reported at $22.99.
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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Johnson Rice raised the stock to Buy from Accumulate. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded in a range of $40.00 to $69.40, and it has a massive $92.89 consensus price target. The last trade on Monday was reported at $61.91, which was down almost 3% on the day.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock, pointing out that shares have mostly tumbled amid slowing growth and a wide-ranging recalibration of pandemic high-flyers. The stock last closed at $55.26, though they have traded as high as $120.00 in the past year.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): JPMorgan raised the cybersecurity leader to Overweight from Neutral and has a $255 price target. That compares with the higher $297.54 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $198.68.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): MoffettNathanson started coverage with a Neutral rating and $36 price target. The consensus target is a stunning $63.04. The stock was last seen on Monday at $28.85, after retreating over 5% on basically no news.

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT): Keefe Bruyette upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform with a $51 price target. The consensus target is $56.70, and the closing price on Monday was $43.99 per share.

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE: GIL): The apparel maker is in the midst of a big comeback year and its long-term outlook is strong, says Zacks, which selected it as the Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $40.31 and have a consensus price target of $42.28.
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Globus Medical Inc. (NYSE: GMED): BofA Securities raised Underperform rating to Buy and boosted the $55 target price to $80. That compares with a $85.71 consensus and Monday’s final trade at $68.96 per share.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Loop Capital raised the stock to Buy from Neutral. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $61.05 and $105.92. The consensus price target is $103. The last trade for Monday came in at $86.51.

HireQuest Inc. (NASDAQ: HQI): D.A. Davidson began coverage of the stock with a Buy rating and a $26 price target. Monday’s closing print was $19.78 a share.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI): Deutsche Bank began coverage with a Buy rating. The 52-week trading range is $76.70 to $140.17, and the consensus price target is $123.81. The final trade for Monday came in at $81.83.
MKS Instruments Inc. (NYSE: MKS): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $190 target price. The consensus price objective is up at $213.20. The final Monday trade came in at $157.15, which was down almost 3% for the day.

Paycor HCM Inc. (NASDAQ: PYCR): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $31 price target. The consensus price objective is $41.45. Monday’s last trade was reported at $29.62.

Qualtrics International Inc. (NASDAQ: XM): Goldman Sachs began coverage with a Buy rating and a $53 price target. The consensus price objective is $54.36. Monday’s closing trade was at $33.46.

SAP S.E. (NYSE: SAP): UBS raised the European software giant to Buy from Neutral The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $120.08 and $151.48, and it has a consensus target price of $157.75. The last trade on Monday hit the tape at $137.95.

Sono Group N.V. (NASDAQ: SEV): Berenberg started coverage with a Buy rating and a $21 price target, while Craig Hallum also began covering the company with Buy rating but a $23 price objective. No consensus target was available as the stock had a recent initial public offering. The shares pulled back almost 9% on Monday to close at $13.00.

TaskUs Inc. (NASDAQ: TASK): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and jacked the $37 target price to $55, which compares with the massive $66.17 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $42.85.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Neutral rating. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $11.01 and $35.38, and the consensus price objective is $36.47. Monday’s last trade was recorded at $31.95.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the price target =to $185 from $130. The consensus target is $170.68. The final trade on Monday came in at $139.75.
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Three top stocks are among the top aerospace and defense selections at Goldman Sachs. While perhaps not as exciting as momentum-juiced technology stocks, they have robust growth potential and will stand long after many meme stocks are in the Wall Street graveyard.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Coca-Cola, CommScope, Coupa Software, GoPro, HubSpot, Merck, NetApp, Pfizer, Shopify, Spirit Airlines and Warner Music. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Amazon.com, Chewy, PayPal and more.
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Friday morning futures were positive, with investors seemingly sanguine ahead of the weekend. After a fairly positive week, markets turned lower on Thursday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Symposium. More hawkish commentary from members of the Fed lifted futures going into the conference, but there is still more to be seen as to what will come of it.

Across Wall Street, the focus this week has been the commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who will be speaking via videoconference at the annual Economic Policy Symposium on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. Recent Fed commentary suggested that the tapering of the $120 billion per month purchase of government and mortgage debt could be in the works by the end of the year and purchases could be completed by the end of 2022. That could become clearer this week.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, which may have seen beginning last week, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into any market strength while repositioning portfolios for the balance of 2021.
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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, August 27, 2021.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to an Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $220 price target. That compares with a $222.47 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $208.82.

Applied Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: APLT): Goldman Sachs lowered its Neutral rating to Sell and cut the price target to $10 from $16. Shares last closed at $17.78, and the consensus price target is $44.17.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): Morgan Stanley downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $1,650 price target. The shares have traded between $1,085.85 and $1,666.63 in the past year and closed on Thursday at $1,588.90.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): Telsey Advisory Group downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform with a $72 price target. The $64.13 consensus target is higher than Thursday’s close at $54.25.
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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): BMO Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $70 price target. Shares last closed at $53.11, but they have traded as high as $59.30 in the past year.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY): Truist’s upgrade to Buy from Hold came with a $54 price target. The shares most recently closed at $36.58 and have a consensus price target of $52.22.

Decker’s Outdoors Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK): This was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the maker of Hoka One One is one of the hottest retailers in the world. Shares most recently closed at $423.12 and have a consensus price target of $486.50.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR): Telsey Advisory Group downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform and has a $102 price target. The closing share price on Thursday was $93.48. The 52-week trading range is $84.41 to $120.37.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE): While Morgan Stanley downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight, the firm also raised the price target to $230 from $225. Shares most recently closed at $224.47 and have a consensus price target of $230.94.

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a price target cut to $31 from $40. The last trade for Thursday hit the tape at $29.10. Analysts have a consensus price target of $32.82.

Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LL): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day, suggesting that supply chain and logistics pressures were hitting this flooring retailer hard. Shares last closed at $20.06, and the consensus price target is just $20.50.

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL): Craig Hallum lowered its Buy rating to Hold and has a $63 price target. The stock was last seen on Thursday trading at $63.24, in a 52-week range of $35.30 to $64.07.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY): Morgan Stanley downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $630 price target. The shares most recently closed at $600.28, and they have a consensus price target of $650.40.
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Alcoholic beverage stocks are very cheap on a historical basis and are offering some incredible entry points. Four of them look like solid plays for investors concerned about lofty valuations and the potential for some market volatility going forward.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fate Therapeutics, Kimberly-Clark, Nordstrom, Roblox, TJX Companies and Zoom Video Communications. More analyst calls were seen later in the day, including on CarGurus, Coupang, Marathon Petroleum and Yum! Brands.
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With the trading day more than halfway over, the broad markets had a roaring start to the week with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting record intraday highs. While markets slid last week, Monday was a fairly positive day and the gains. Investors in general seem to be growing optimistic ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium later this week.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Monday. We have included the latest analyst call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts.

For those that might have missed it, 24/7 Wall St. had an earlier round of analyst calls on Monday that included Continental Resources, JD.com, Robinhood, SeaWorld and more.

Candel Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CADL): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $9 price target. Credit Suisse started it with an Outperform rating and a $15 price target, and Jefferies started it with a Buy rating and a $22 price target. Shares traded near $7.68 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $5.51 to $8.68.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $64 price target. The stock traded near $52 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $40.00 to $59.30.

Nuvalent Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVL): JPMorgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $34 price target, and Cowen started it with an Outperform rating. The stock was changing hands near $29.30 a share on Monday, in a 52-week range of $17.00 to $29.56.

Rallybio Corp. (NASDAQ: RLYB): Evercore ISI initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $40 price target. The stock traded near $13 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $11.86 to $25.78.

Riskified Ltd. (NYSE: RSKD): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $33 price target. KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage with a $35 price target. Piper Sandler started it with an Overweight rating and a $32 price target. Credit Suisse started it with an Outperform rating and a $33 price target. The stock was changing hands near $28 a share on Monday, in a 52-week range of $25.50 to $29.89.

Traeger Inc. (NYSE: COOK): Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $28 price target. Piper Sandler started with an Overweight rating and a $30 price target. RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $29 price target. Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $36 price target. The shares were trading near $27 on Monday, and the 52-week range is $21.95 to $32.59.

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Jefferies is very positive on four business development stocks now for balanced growth and income investors. They pay outsized dividends and offer growth potential, so the total return possibilities look to be very solid.

Two hot tech stocks are among those expected to see dividend hikes this week. Also, now that its quiet period is over, see how the analysts landed on Robinhood stock.

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Stocks were mixed in the midday Wednesday’s trading, as the S&P 500 tried to post an all-time high for the fifth straight day. Once again Tuesday, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq printed all-time highs. Investors are keeping an eye on the tug-of-war between Republicans and the president over the infrastructure bill, as Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell says the infrastructure bill hinges on Democrats abandoning plans to link it with a larger reconciliation package. Wall Street is also waiting for Friday’s June jobs report, which could also be a major market mover.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest analyst call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts.

In case you missed it, Wednesday’s early analyst upgrades and downgrades included Allegro Microsystems, JinkoSolar, Masco, Micron Technology, Plug Power, Smith & Wesson and Virgin Galactic.

Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL): Northcoast raised the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $230 price target. That compares with a consensus target of $216. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $111.79 and $197.21.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK): Capital One started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $57 price target. The consensus target is set higher at $63.80. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $40.00 and $56.99.

Cohu Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU): Rosenblatt started coverage with a Buy rating and a $65 price target. The lower consensus price objective is $58.67. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $15.73 to $51.86.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS): Cowen reiterated its Outperform rating on the popular retailer and raised the price target to $147 from $132. The posted consensus target is $112.22. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $37.68 and $102.92.

Shoals Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS): Piper Sandler started shares of the solar energy parts company with an Overweight rating and a $43 price target. The consensus target is $39.80. The shares have traded between $20.94 and $0.44 over the past 52 weeks.

Open Text Corp. (NASDAQ: OTEX): Barclays downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $56 price target, not far from the consensus target of $56.88. The stock has traded between $36.18 and $51.84 a share over the past year.

Score Media and Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: SCR): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Equal Weigh rating, and the firm has a $22 price target. No consensus target was available. The stock has traded in a wide 52-week range from $4.03 to $45.00.

Sempra Energy Inc. (NYSE: SRE): BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral with a $135 price target. The consensus target is up at $150.73. The 52-week trading range for the shares is $112.33 to $143.93.

TechTarget Inc. (NASDAQ: TTGT): JPMorgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and an $81 price target. The consensus target is up at $93.14, and the stock has traded in a 52-week range of $29.80 and $101.12.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Morgan Stanley began coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $115 price target. The consensus target is $123.78. Over the past year, the shares have traded between $65.11 and $174.94.

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The analysts at BofA Securities have made some big changes to the firm’s US 1 list of top stock recommendations. FedEx stock was added, and four that have performed admirably were removed.

Jim Cramer has thoughts on index investing, and Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger opine about China, Robinhood, Zoom and more.
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The futures were mixed on Tuesday morning after investors saw a massive rally Monday, sparked by the out-of-the-park jobs number that came in last Friday when the market was closed for the holiday. Both the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 closed at record highs, while the Nasdaq, Russell 2000 and the Transports also posted solid gains on the day.

While top strategists on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading by the WallStreetBets and Robinhood crowds, some say that volume is starting to wane. Most investors now will be turning their attention to first-quarter earnings results, which start in earnest next week.

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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, which lowered the price target sharply from $73 to $25. Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and lowered its price target to $21 from $40. The shares closed Monday at $21.18, down almost 18% after the FDA rejected the company’s new drug application for Nuplazid.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB) was started with an Outperform rating and a $245 price target at Evercore ISI. That compares with a much lower consensus target of $185.88 and Monday’s last trade of $186.69.
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Allegion PLC (NYSE: ALLE) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at Barclays, which also raised the price target on the company to $150 from $107. That compares with a much lower Wall Street consensus target of $119.90 and Monday’s last trade of $130.03.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette, which kept a $42 price target on the money manager. The consensus target is $39.71, and the stock closed Monday at $41.38.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was started with an Outperform rating and a $58 price target at RBC Capital Markets. No consensus target was available, and the shares closed Monday at $44.66.

Chevron Inc. (NYSE: CVX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, which lowered the price target on the integrated supermajor to $113 from $117. The posted consensus target is $118.82, and the shares ended Monday’s session at $104.51.

Coupang Inc. (NASDAQ: CPNG) was started at Credit Suisse with a Neutral rating and a $47 price target. JPMorgan also started it at Neutral but with a $48 price target. No consensus target was available as the company recently had an initial public offering. The last trade for Monday came in at $45.94, which was down almost 3% on the day.
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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was raised to Outperform from Market at Raymond James, which has a $41 price target for the mining giant. The consensus target is $36.98. The shares closed Monday at $35.36, up almost 5% for the day.

Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: KLIC) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this small-arms dealer for chips breaks out to new highs as investors finally notice the value and growth. Shares most recently closed at $55.59 and have a consensus price target of $59.50.

Par Pacific Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PARR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target slightly to $20 from $19. The consensus target is $18, and the stock closed trading on Monday at $14.80, after retreating almost 4% for the day.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) was downgraded to In Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI, which drastically lowered the price target to $125 from $160. The consensus target is $161.35, and the last trade for Monday was reported at $109.09.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, which maintained a $177 price target on the Permian Basin energy leader. The consensus target is up at $190.47, and Monday’s closing price of $152.18 came after a pullback of almost 7% after the company announced yet another large shale deal.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities, which has a $75 target for the popular social media stock. The consensus target is $74.03, but the stock closed Monday at $54.11.

Trade Desk Inc. (NYSE: TTD) was started with an Outperform rating and a $770 price target at Evercore ISI. The consensus target for the digital media leader is up at $848.06. The last trade on Monday came in at $653.18.

Vishay Intertechnology Inc. (NYSE: VSH) was raised to Buy from Hold at Loop Capital, which has a $30 price target. The consensus price objective is $23.40, and the stock closed Monday at $25.51.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was raised at Argus from Hold to Buy with a $160 price target. The consensus target is $119.92, and the final trade on Monday was at $131.07.

Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) was started with a Buy rating and an $81 price target at New Street. The consensus price objective is $75.26, and the shares closed Monday at $64.74.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) was downgraded to In Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI, which has a $41 price target. The consensus target is $38.27. The last trade to hit the tape Monday was reported at $42.04. As it is trading near the 52-week high, this could be a valuation call.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG) was started with an Outperform rating and a $179 price target at Evercore ISI. The consensus target for the online digital real estate giant is higher at $205.36. The final trade for Monday was reported at $137.21.

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The stock market is extremely pricey, and a BofA Securities strategist has made the case that conservative growth and income investors now need to focus on secure dividend stocks.

See which two new stocks Goldman Sachs suggests investors buy pronto.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AMC Entertainment, Caesars Entertainment, Ford, Harley-Davidson, JetBlue Airways, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Spotify and Tesla. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Charles Schwab, Chesapeake Energy, Citigroup and more.
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The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Airbnb, Chevron, Coupang, Freeport-McMoRan, Peloton, Snap, Wynn, Zillow and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

With the trading day more than halfway over, the broad markets were pushing much higher on a really positive jobs report from Friday. The S&P 500 hit another new all-time high in the session, continuing to push even further past 4,000. The Nasdaq and Dow Jones industrial average also saw gains of over 1%.

24/7 Wall St. is looking at some big analyst calls that we have seen so far on Monday. We have included the most recent analyst call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts.

For those that might have missed it, 24/7 Wall St. had an earlier round of analyst calls on Monday that included AMC Entertainment, Caesars, Ford, General Motors, Microsoft, Tesla and more.

Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE: ATH) was downgraded at JPMorgan to Neutral from Overweight, and its price target was cut to $54 from $57. Shares traded near $51 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $21.51 to $55.39. The consensus price target is $57.72.

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Arrival Group S.A. (NASDAQ: ARVL) was started at Cowen with an Outperform rating. The stock was trading on Monday near $15 a share. The 52-week trading range is $9.50 to $37.18.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe Research. The stock traded near $68 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $31.63 to $68.86. It has a consensus price target of $68.29.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK) was resumed as Neutral at Seaport Global Securities. The stock traded near $44 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $40.00 to $48.79.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded at Wolfe Research to Peer Perform from Outperform. The stock traded near $73 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $38.76 to $76.13. Its consensus analyst target is $82.29.

Coupang Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) was started at Deutsche Bank with a Hold rating with a $46 price target. Goldman initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $62 price target, and Mizuho started it at Neutral with a $50 price target. The stock traded near $45 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $41.41 to $69.00.

Mohawk Group Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MWK) was started as Buy at BTIG Research with a $45 price target. The consensus price target is $44.80. Shares traded around $30 on Monday, in the 52-week range of $1.62 to $48.99.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) was upgraded at Tudor Pickering from Hold to Buy with an $87 price target. The stock traded near $75 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $35.44 to $84.39. It has a consensus price target of $84.69.

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Three Goldman Sachs top oil stock picks are all solid ways for investors to play the upswing in crude prices and an improving 2021 economy. They offer a degree of safety and income, as well as exposure to a sector with good upside potential.

In addition, GameStop finally cashes in on the meme stock craze, and how long can Tesla continue to dominate in electric vehicle sales.

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The post Charles Schwab, Chesapeake Energy, Citigroup and More Monday Afternoon Analyst Calls appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

With the trading day more than halfway over, the broad markets were trading mixed. The Dow traded up fractionally while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq traded down less than 1%.

For those that might have missed it, our earlier round of analyst calls on Wednesday included Blue Apron, Facebook, Palantir Technologies, Agilent, and more.

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell at B. Riley. The stock’s 52-week range is $8.51 to $129.71 and shares traded at around $66.40 Wednesday afternoon. The consensus price target on the stock is $91.54.

Chesapeake Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: CHK) was initiated at Wells Fargo with an Overweight rating and a price target of $54 a share. The stock’s 52-week range is $41.55 to $45.47 following emerging from bankruptcy earlier this month. Shares traded up about 1% at around $44.00.

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Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR) was started at R.F. Lafferty with a Buy rating and a price target of $23 a share.  The stock traded at around $19 Wednesday in a 52-week range of $8.70 to $23.63. The consensus price target on the stock is $21.20. The electric automaker came public in October.

Hexo Corp. (NYSE: HEXO) was upgraded from Neutral to Sector Outperform at CIBC and Alliance Global Partners maintained a Buy rating and boosted its price target from $9.50 to $14.00. Shares traded down nearly 6% Wednesday at $8.58 in a 52-week range of $1.38 to $11.04. The consensus price target on the stock is around $4.00.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was reiterated at Outperform at Telsey Advisory Group and the firm lifted the price target on the stock from $120 to $130 per share. The stock traded down about 0.4% at $111.35 in a 52-week range of $59.82 to $122.58 with a consensus price target of $123.53.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was reiterated at Deutsche Bank as a Buy. The bank also lifted its price target from $255 to $330 per share. The stock traded down about 2% Wednesday at $270.45 in a 52-week range of $32.33 to $274.82, a new high set earlier in the day. The consensus price target on the stock is $227.37.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Argus but left the price target unchanged at $20 per share. Shares traded up about 0.3% at $22.48 in a 52-week range of $7.15 to $23.50. The stock’s consensus price target is $22.08.

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The post Arcturus Therapeutics, Chesapeake Energy, Square, and More Wednesday Afternoon Analyst Calls appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Oil and gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) on Sunday filed for bankruptcy protection, two months after reports of discussions with creditors were first reported. The only surprise is that the filing took so long.

Chesapeake has been a dead man walking for the best part of a decade.

The company will reorganize approximately $7 billion in debt and receive $925 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to continue operating. Chesapeake also has secured a $600 million rights offering, backstopped by some of its existing lenders, and a $2.5 billion exit financing package. At the end of March, Chesapeake reported $9.2 billion in long-term debt. According to Bloomberg, the company listed assets of $10 billion and liabilities of $50 billion.

CEO Doug Lawler, who took over in 2013, said that even though the company had eliminated some $20 billion of leverage and financial commitments, “we believe this restructuring is necessary for the long-term success and value creation of the business.”

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In its early days, the company, under co-founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon, was an early adopter of the drilling practice that has come to be known as fracking. In the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, natural gas prices soared to more than $13 per million BTUs in 2008 (as of Monday morning, the price is around $1.60 for an equivalent amount).

If the company couldn’t make money once prices collapsed, the next best thing was to buy and sell leasing rights to proven reserves. The company’s business model began to emphasize an aggressive plan to lease acreage in many shale gas plays. Next, the company proved the presence of the energy resource and, finally, flipped the property for a profit.

In early 2012, for example, Chesapeake sold a 25% stake in its leases in Ohio’s Utica shale play to French oil major Total for $2.3 billion. At time, McClendon said, “This Utica transaction is our seventh significant JV and in these seven JVs, Chesapeake has sold approximately 1.5 million net acres for total leasehold consideration of $14.8 billion while retaining 3.6 million net acres as of the JV date with an indicated value by the JV partners of $45.7 billion.” By then, natural gas traded at around $3 per million BTUs.

A few months later, Chesapeake’s board discovered (it said) that McClendon had reportedly borrowed up to $1.1 billion using his interests in Chesapeake’s wells as collateral without disclosing the loans to shareholders. In May, the board ousted McClendon as board chair and terminated the program that gave him the right to participate in every new well the company drilled.

In June, Reuters reported that it had discovered a series of emails between Chesapeake and Canadian oil and gas firm Encana that suggested the companies had engaged in bid-rigging. (Encana changed its name to Ovintiv in January 2020 and moved its headquarters to the United States.) In 2016, McClendon was indicted on the charges. The day following that announcement, he was killed in car crash.

In January 2013, McClendon resigned as CEO after receiving a munificent retirement package and after his board’s review exonerated him of any wrongdoing related to his well participation in the company’s wells.

Lawler’s term as CEO began in May of 2013 and has been driven by a commitment to reduce Chesapeake’s debt. But that has been getting harder to do because of low prices for both oil and natural gas. The leases the company had accumulated are worth less, as are the hydrocarbons it produces on its own.

With few buyers and falling revenues from oil, Chesapeake skipped an interest payment on its debt due earlier this month and noted that a payment due June 30 was unlikely to materialize. The bankruptcy filing was virtually certain to occur before the company missed that payment.

Chesapeake shares closed at $11.85 on Friday, less than half their value following a 1-for-200 reverse stock split in April. On a pre-split basis, the share price would have been about $0.06 at Friday’s closing price.

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The post Chesapeake Energy’s Long Road to Bankruptcy appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

A new week means new speculation about when Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) will file for bankruptcy. In an exclusive story published Monday, Reuters said a filing could come as soon as this week and that Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake is currently negotiating debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing of some $900 million to continue operating as the company winds its way through bankruptcy proceedings.

Chesapeake reportedly missed a debt repayment scheduled for June 15 and may miss another due July 1.

Reuters cites two unnamed sources who say that Chesapeake also is trying to roll a portion of its $9 billion in long-term debt into the DIP package. The company is reportedly seeking a total DIP loan of around $2 billion.

Last week, Bloomberg, also citing unnamed sources, said that the company is negotiating a loan deal that would hand over a “majority of equity” to holders of a first-in, last-out (FILO) term loan. Those negotiations are reportedly ongoing.

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Chesapeake’s Mountain of Debt

Under late CEO Aubrey McClendon, who died in an automobile crash in 2016, after being forced out of the company in 2013, Chesapeake’s total debt had ballooned to around $13 billion.

Shortly before McClendon’s death, crude oil prices ranged at around $30 a barrel, having plunged from a high of more than $100 a barrel in the summer of 2014. The plummeting price was due almost entirely to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), drilling techniques that Chesapeake had adopted relatively early on its oil and natural gas shale assets.

The company piled on debt as McClendon continued acquiring drilling leases, proving them up and then trying to resell them for a profit. The strategy worked until it didn’t. Then Chesapeake began selling off assets at whatever price it could get in order to make its debt repayments.

What a Bankruptcy Means for Chesapeake

In what usually is thought of as a last resort, Chesapeake in April completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split, primarily in order to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Chesapeake Energy traded at a pre-split price of around $0.13 and a post-split price of about $26.00. The stock closed at $16.00 on Tuesday (about $0.08 on a pre-split valuation).

Last month, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Chesapeake said, “Management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Since then, shares have traded at more than $77 and just above $9.

When a company like Chesapeake, with several billion more dollars of liabilities than assets, files for bankruptcy, there is essentially no chance that shareholders will receive a dime. Some market watchers have attributed the wild swings in Chesapeake’s share price to inexperienced investors sitting at home under government order and with no sporting events to bet on. Why not take a flyer on a well-known name that seems to be trading at a fraction of its value?

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The answer, of course, is that even that fraction of value is too high. Chesapeake’s assets are currently valued at around $7.8 billion and its liabilities at around $11.7 billion.

Then there is the herd instinct of investors. If a stock jumps 400% in a very short time, some investors will jump in just for fear of missing out (FOMO) on a potential windfall. Chesapeake traded more than 15 million shares the day its stock price topped $77. That’s nearly three times a daily average volume that was itself inflated by the reverse split and previously low price per share.

In the early afternoon Tuesday, Chesapeake stock traded down more than 19% at $15.20, in a post-split range of $7.77 to $430.00.

At this time tomorrow, a new spate of bargain hunters may drive the price back up to around $20, and then the profit-takers will show up to push the share price down again. A bankruptcy filing could settle everything, amid much wailing from those left holding a drawerful of essentially worthless stock.

If anonymous sources are to be believed, the reckoning is only days away. Look away if you can’t stand the sight of blood.

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The post Chesapeake Energy Stock May Soon Be Worthless appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Since opening at $12.91 a share on June 1, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) stock had increased by around 440% to $69.92 by the closing bell on June 8. In the June 9 premarket trading session, the stock traded down more than 50% at around $32.80.

Has the stock market lost its mind? Is there hidden value in shares of Chesapeake Energy that investors have been missing for the past six years or so? Will a likely bankruptcy filing somehow make what was a penny stock just weeks ago one of the great comeback stories of all time?

In mid-April, Chesapeake completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split as it struggled to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. These splits are usually bad news for investors. It’s often the last stop for a troubled company before bankruptcy and delisting.

About a month later, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that there was “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” With assets valued at around $7.8 billion and liabilities of $11.7 billion, preparing to file for bankruptcy was the obvious next step. Until, suddenly, it might not have been.

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Fundamental Reasons Chesapeake Is Getting Some Love

Crude oil prices have been rising since mid-April, from around $10 a barrel to nearly $40 recently. Analysts and investors see $40 as a break-even price for shale producers, and when prices reach that level, wells that have been shut-in can be restarted, and new drilling also may commence.

The higher price is almost entirely due to an agreement among OPEC+ members to extend production cuts of 9.6 million barrels through the end of July. The cartel and its partners have concluded that prices will continue to rise if production cuts are maintained as the global economy reopens following lockdown periods in many of the world’s largest economies. Rising demand and restricted supply means higher prices. The higher prices may have offered a ray of hope to Chesapeake investors.

Another fundamental, though, is cash, or the lack of it. Bloomberg reported on June 8 that Chesapeake had begun negotiating a debt restructuring, including skipping repayment obligations due to be paid on June 15. According to unnamed sources, the company would hand over a “majority of equity” to holders of a first-in, last-out (FILO) term loan.

FILO loans are created as a separate tranche within a company’s revolving credit facility. The loans are fully funded at closing (that’s the first-in part), and when it is repaid, the FILO funds cannot be reborrowed and no prepayments are required (that’s the last-out part). FILO loans are typically second in seniority to senior revolving loans.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, Chesapeake also is negotiating for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. Because DIP loans move to the top of the repayment list if a bankruptcy filing is made, they are usually financed by large creditors who expect to receive most of their original loans back.

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Is FOMO Fueling the Share Price Run-Up?

Anytime there’s a massive increase in stock prices for companies that are on the verge (or already in bankruptcy protection), many investors see an opportunity to buy low and somehow be able to sell high. A once-solid NYSE-traded stock is available for relative pennies and this appears to present an opportunity for easy profits. Fear of missing out (FOMO) snares a lot of inexperienced retail investors.

However, making a profit by owning stock in a company that is in or headed for bankruptcy almost never happens. The principal reason, of course, is that shareholders are last in line to be repaid.

When a company like Chesapeake, with several billion more dollars of liabilities than assets, files for bankruptcy, there is essentially no chance that shareholders will receive a dime. Some firms may include a provision in their bankruptcy filings to issue new stock to existing shareholders, but those plans must be approved by the bankruptcy court and are often foregone in favor of more senior claims.

If, as most analysts expect, this Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer does file for bankruptcy, shares purchased in the past few days very likely will be worthless, along with all the other shares.

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The post Why Chesapeake Energy Stock Jumped More Than 400% appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) stock has been beaten up for the last few years, and it only seems to be getting worse. With bankruptcy in the cards and a mountain of debt, survival for the oil and gas company is doubtful.

The COVID-19 pandemic crashed the market and no industry was spared. Oil stocks were hit especially hard — with oil prices turning negative in April — and Chesapeake Energy may have gotten the worst of it all.

Looking at the chart, Chesapeake Energy stock now trades near $14 a piece and has greatly under-performed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average.

Chesapeake Energy currently has a market cap of $137 million, which might not appear to make sense as the company has $7.8 billion in assets on its balance sheet. At the same time, however, the company has $11.7 billion in liabilities.

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Bankruptcy

In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Oklahoma City-based energy company noted that bankruptcy was on the table, citing low commodity prices as a large contributing factor.

Chesapeake noted in this filing that it expects to violate its financial covenants coming up over the next twelve months. The company pointed to depressed oil and natural gas prices. According to the filing, “If the current depressed prices persist, combined with the scheduled reductions in the leverage ratio covenant and an expected significant reduction in our borrowing base in our scheduled determination, then our liquidity and our ability to comply with our financial covenants during the next 12 months will be adversely affected.”

These financial covenants require Chesapeake to be within a 4-to-1 ratio of debt to consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) by October. In this case, bankruptcy could be useful in restructuring the debt and staying alive just a little longer.

Even with restructuring from bankruptcy, success is not assured, as the company noted in the filing: “However, there can be no assurances that the company will be able to successfully restructure its indebtedness, improve its financial position or complete any strategic transactions.”

Perhaps the most damning comment in the filing was that “there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Even with bankruptcy, restructuring, or strategic transactions, there is a very likely chance of failure or insolvency.

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Near-Term Recovery

Since most of Chesapeake’s problems are related to the price of oil, the recent recovery may provide a ray of hope for the company and for its investors.

Oil started the year close to $60 per barrel. While prices have bounced off the lows in April there is still a long way to go. The price of $40 per barrel is considered the level at which domestic producers break even — anything after that is profitable. Oil currently trades just over $37 per barrel.

However, it’s likely that oil and gas prices will continue to recover as countries across the world reopen their economies and life returns to a “new normal.” The engines of these economies run on oil. COVID-19 was an acute episode that put business on hold, leading to a glut in supply. Now with things reopening and many stock prices moving higher, Chesapeake may have a shot at survival.

If oil prices do continue to recover, Cheseapeake will undoubtedly benefit and might be seen by some as a stock to buy, but it may be too little too late. The biggest beneficiaries will be companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX), rather than smaller oil exploration and production companies like Chesapeake. At this point, it’s still focused on survival.

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The post How Bankruptcy Could Actually Save Chesapeake Energy Stock appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) may be on its last legs after completing a reverse stock split in mid-April. Summer is usually a time to take vacations, but for Chesapeake it will be more doom and gloom, and investors should consider this when looking at the company’s stock.

Oil stocks have taken a beating since the COVID-19 pandemic hit markets in late February. Chesapeake has easily gotten the worst of it. What’s even worse is Chesapeake’s long-term chart and all of the analysts’ Sell ratings.

For some perspective, the stock currently trades around $13 a share and has dramatically underperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average. Chesapeake’s stock is down 92% year to date and down 75% in the past quarter alone. In 2014, on a split-adjusted basis, the stock price was just below $6,000. Since then shares of Chesapeake Energy have lost 99% of their value.

There doesn’t appear to be a way out for Chesapeake as the cost of debt is reaching a point where it may be too great to bear. Filing for bankruptcy may be in the cards for this oil and natural gas company.

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Splitting Headache

Any seasoned investor will tell you that reverse stock splits signal some type of financial issue within a company. Generally, smaller firms will reverse split to maintain compliance with the exchanges because their stock has fallen so far.

The split ratios are often around 1-for-10 or 1-for-20 for the sake of regaining compliance. Companies choose these ratios to provide a buffer zone so if the stock falls they will not have to split again. The higher the ratio, the bigger the buffer. Considering the usual range of split ratios, Chesapeake is planning for the apocalypse.

Back in April, Chesapeake completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split to maintain compliance with the New York Stock Exchange and avoid delisting. The share price was roughly $0.13 before the split and closed at $26.85 the day it was announced.

While shares generally rise following a regular stock split, the inverse is true for a reverse stock split. Chesapeake stock has lost about 50% of its value since the reverse split. Chesapeake shareholders must have a migraine by now.

Golden Parachutes?

Chesapeake recently decided to prepay executive bonuses for a grand total of $25 million to 21 company employees. For perspective, the company has a market cap of $130 million.

The company also noted that its annual incentive plan will be converted to give employees an opportunity to receive cash retention payments earned on a quarterly basis over a 12-month period, as long as they continue to work for Chesapeake.

These prepaid bonuses look like golden parachutes, but if these 21 people can save the company, $25 million may be worth it.

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What’s worse is that Chesapeake has long-term debt of more than $9 billion, and even rising oil prices may not be enough to save the company. Debt is just one issue, but the COVID-19 pandemic has presented more problems.

The pandemic has caused many companies to rebuild their balance sheets. Chesapeake’s problem is that its balance sheet was never really strong to begin with and its debt burden is cringeworthy. At the end of the quarter, its cash and cash equivalents on hand totaled $82 million. Total assets came in at $7.8 billion and total liabilities were $11.7 billion.

Chesapeake has many problems to overcome to get back on track, and at this point they look insurmountable.

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The post Time to Give Up on Chesapeake Energy Stock? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) has been on a long slide down for the better half of a decade. Recent volatility in oil prices hasn’t helped the company — or oil stocks in general. It’s tough to call a bottom for Chesapeake Energy stock. While the markets are recovering handily, it could still sink even lower.

Chesapeake Energy stock currently trades around $14 a share and has underperformed the S&P 500 year to date. In 2014, on a split-adjusted basis, the stock price was just below $6,000. Since then shares of Chesapeake Energy have lost 99% of their value.

Chesapeake currently has a market cap of $136 million. In 2014, the market cap was closer to $20 billion. It’s hard to make a case for this as a stock to buy, especially when considering its past.

Recovery?

After oil prices moved sharply lower in a never-seen-before market event in April, investors may be fearful of getting back into oil companies. Since then oil prices and the major players in the industry have made a comeback, but the future is still uncertain.

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Oil prices are indeed recovering, but the recovery still has a long way to go. Crude oil started the year closer to $60 per barrel, and we are a far cry from there.

Even with oil prices recovering, the main beneficiaries are the major oil and gas companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). Smaller oil production companies like Chesapeake will benefit some, but survival is still a primary concern.

As the U.S. economy begins the process of reopening, oil prices appear to be rising in anticipation of increased demand. Gas prices have been sinking over the past two months, but a reversal could be in place as lockdowns are lifted and more Americans want to get out of the house. Historically, gas prices rise during the summer as more consumers travel, and perhaps a lesser version of this trend could be on the way.

Summertime Blues

Summertime is when most Americans go on vacation. With consumers largely avoiding airlines in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, it makes sense that more people would gas up their cars and hit the road, rather than take to the skies. In fact, automobile traffic across the country has already begun increasing with June just around the corner.

If more people are driving during the summer then oil prices should rise, right? Perhaps, but there’s an underlying problem with this assumption.

As more metropolitan areas return to a “new normal” in terms of traffic, energy firms should see a boost. However, the reopening of major cities is not uniform. Cities like Los Angeles are more uncertain of their reopening timeline, whereas cities like Houston are already in the process of opening up.

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Another major factor to consider is that nearly 39 million Americans have filed for unemployment. This means that even as people start returning to their workplaces, about 10% of the U.S. population will not be commuting to their jobs every day. Also the wages from these jobs could have been used for vacation travel. Until more people feel comfortable about their employment situations, travel volume will remain deflated. For oil prices to pick up and stay up definitively, traffic will have to pick up as well.

So Where Does Chesapeake Stand?

Currently, Chesapeake is between a rock and hard place, and not because it’s headquartered in Oklahoma City. Although there could be some positive catalysts coming over the summer as the economy reopens, it won’t recover right away.

Many companies have resorted to rebuilding their balance sheets during this pandemic. Chesapeake’s problem is that its balance sheet was never really strong to begin with. At the end of the quarter, its cash and cash equivalents totaled $82 million, which is not bad compared to a $136 million total market cap. However, when total assets are only $7.8 billion and total liabilities are $11.7 billion, the picture looks bleak.

The key to surviving this pandemic is outlasting it. Cash and liquidity are king. Chesapeake may outlast the coronavirus, but at what cost? Its debt burden might sink it regardless.

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The post Chesapeake Energy Stock’s Summer of Doom and Gloom appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

President Trump was a cheerleader for the oil industry this week as crude oil prices surged. On Monday, he tweeted: “OIL (ENERGY) IS BACK!!!!”

Since then, oil prices have gone even higher. On Thursday both the Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude hit their highest prices since early March. As demand vanished last month, Brent fell below $16 a barrel, a 21-year low.

Analysts say inventories are tightening as production has slowed. Starting this month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and others (known as OPEC+) agreed to cut production by 9.7 billion barrels a day.

And demand is slowly creeping back into the system, with more people driving and airlines ramping up for increased activity. “With much of the U.S. entering reopening mode, crude demand seems like it will continue to improve over the coming weeks,” said Oanda analyst Edward Moya.

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Even the most battered of oil stocks have risen this week. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was up nearly 64% in the last five days. The stock price closed at $14.16, up 6.87%, Thursday. For comparison, the S&P 500 was up 3.52% in the last five days.

For Some, Bankruptcy Looms

Still, the specter of bankruptcy hasn’t faded for some oil and natural gas companies. “Despite the recent relative oil price recovery, dozens of U.S. operators are still threatened by bankruptcies even at a WTI oil price of $30 per barrel,” Rystad Energy said in a statement on Wednesday.

Based in Oslo, Norway, the energy research firm predicts that 73 American exploration and productions companies could seek Chapter 11 protection this year. If the market remains depressed, another 170 firms could follow next year.

Rystad tracks over 9,000 oil and gas operators in the U.S. Many are small, family-owned businesses that may only manage a few oil wells. These players are particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus crisis. “If they shut their wells, they are not likely to ever restart them again,” the company said.

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For the past several months, analysts have been expecting Chesapeake to file for bankruptcy. Now that crude oil prices have begun to recover, investors may think the oil and gas producer is on the mend.

Fundamental Problems

But rising oil prices alone may not be enough for Chesapeake with headquarters in Oklahoma City. The company has a long-term debt overhang of more than $9 billion.

In mid-April, Chesapeake completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split as it struggled to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. These splits are usually bad news for investors. It’s often the last stop for a troubled company before bankruptcy and delisting.

A few days ago, Tudor, Pickering & Holt analysts issued a final Sell rating, and stopped covering Chesapeake, according to Forbes. “We see low odds of CHK surviving in its current form or spending within cash flow without further expanding leverage metrics,” the analysts said.

Of 13 Wall Street analysts covering the stock, 10 have advised Sell and 3 advised Hold. CFRA analyst Paige Meyer recently slashed her price target to $0.

“We do not expect [Chesapeake] to be in compliance with its financial covenants beginning in Q4 2020, which would result in an act of default on the credit facility,” Meyer wrote. Bank of America analysts recently assigned a slightly better target of only $0.06.

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The post Oil’s Rebound Unlikely to Fuel Chesapeake Energy Stock appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) have jumped from a low of $7.77 on May 14 to close at $12.49 just two trading days later. The stock rocketed 32% higher in morning trading Friday. The two-day jump represents a stock price increase of nearly 61%.

Did the company strike more oil or natural gas? Has Chesapeake Energy stock become a cryptocurrency? What causes a stock that has lost about 95% of its value since January to soar that much?

The Only Recent News From Chesapeake Didn’t Seem Particularly Good

On May 15, Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CG) filed an amended Schedule 13G with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting that it held no shares in Chesapeake. That was quite a shift from February 14, when the investment firm reported that it had acquired an 8.8% interest in Chesapeake (172.9 million shares).

Carlyle’s sale occurred on May 12, about a month after Chesapeake completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split. Shares of Chesapeake Energy traded at a pre-split price of around $0.13 and a post-split price of about $26. The stock closed at $26.85 on the day the reverse split was announced.

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Generally, when a major private equity firm dumps its entire stake in a company, the share price falls. In this case, Carlyle may just have been getting rid of a stock that had lost about half its value in the three months the firm owned it. Commodities prices had tanked, oil stocks were sliding and one analyst had put a Strong Sell rating on Chesapeake’s shares. The reverse split just meant that Carlyle owned fewer shares in a still-declining company.

Just last week, Carlyle pulled out of a deal to acquire a stake in the global travel business of American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP). Carlyle had partnered with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to offer $450 million in exchange for 20% of the Amex business. The two partners claim they pulled out because Amex was going to use the money for operations rather than expansion and dividends.

The parallels between Carlyle’s investment in Chesapeake and its putative investment in Amex are easy to spot, especially in light of the firm’s first-quarter loss of more than $600 million.

How Chesapeake Plans to Survive

Aside from the reverse split that raised serious concerns among investors about Chesapeake’s ability to survive, the only other step the Oklahoma City-based company has taken recently is to prepay executive bonuses totaling $25 million to 21 company employees. The company also said its annual incentive plan will be converted to provide an opportunity for employees to receive cash retention payments earned on a quarterly basis over a 12-month period as long as they continue to work for Chesapeake.

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On the one hand, the prepaid bonuses don’t look good. On the other hand, if ensuring that these 21 people can save the company, it may be a small price to pay.

Analysts and some reporters have expected a Chesapeake filing for bankruptcy for several months, if not longer. Now that crude oil prices have begun to recover after a record-breaking dive last month, the company may appear to investors to be on the mend.

With a long-term debt overhang of more than $9 billion, Chesapeake is not going to be saved by rising oil prices alone. Even if crude somehow reaches $40 a barrel again, the company’s ability to survive as a going concern remains dangerously thin.

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The post Has Rising Crude Lit a Fire Under Chesapeake Energy Stock? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The latest news on Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) suggests the end may be near. The oil exploration and production company was hammered this week after CFRA analyst Paige Meyer became the latest to slash her price target to $0. Bank of America analysts recently assigned a slightly better target of only $0.06.

It’s been a spectacular fall for CHK stock, which once traded at the equivalent of $520 per share, following a 200-for-one reverse stock split. CFRA also moved the stock from a Sell to Strong Sell rating.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy closed at $9.60 Wednesday, down a whopping 94.19% year to date. For comparison, the S&P 500 is down 12.71% for the same period.

What Happened

“One of the largest impacts of the pandemic has been a significant reduction in global demand for oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas,” Chesapeake reported in a recent SEC filing. Airline travel is basically nil while automobile traffic is also significantly reduced.

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At the same time, there’s been a supply surplus, severely impacting oil prices. Even as world economies went south, Saudi Arabia and Russia were not cutting production in March. But by April, world producers finally agreed to cut daily production by 20 million barrels, representing 20% of the global daily supply.

Even with these cuts, some experts say production is still too high. On Wednesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) further cut its forecast for 2020 crude demand. OPEC and other oil-producing nations may agree on further production cuts based on April production.

Against this backdrop, Chesapeake’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11 was bleak. “Management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the 10-Q report said. The company is saddled with $9 billion in debt. Many think a bankruptcy filing is imminent.

Things are so bad at the Oklahoma City-based company that it plans to prepay a total of $25 million in incentive compensation to 21 top executives in a bid to keep them on board. “The board and compensation committee … determined that the historic compensation structure and performance metrics would not be effective in motivating and incentivizing the company’s workforce,” the company said in a recent filing.

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Chesapeake Energy’s incentive plans for other employees were also modified. The new program would offer “cash retention payments earned on a quarterly basis over a 12-month period,” contingent on continued employment.

The Dreaded Reverse-Split

In mid-April, Chesapeake completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split as it struggled to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. These splits are usually bad news for investors. It’s often the last stop for a troubled company before bankruptcy and delisting. Some recent examples include Aurora Cannabis Corp. (NYSE: ACB), Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) and Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD).

In reverse stock splits, companies reduce the number of shares publicly traded in order to boost the share price. This method is often used because the company’s share price has dropped below NYSE or NASDAQ minimum listing requirements.

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The post Is Reverse Split the Last Dance for Chesapeake Energy Stock? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Few words in the financial world carry more weight than “management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) put those words into its first-quarter 10-Q report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 11. Shares of Chesapeake then plunged more than 12% to close below $13 a share. The stock has lost about half its value in less than two weeks.

In mid-April, Chesapeake completed a 1-for-200 reverse stock split as it tries to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Chesapeake Energy traded at a pre-split price of around $0.13 and a post-split price near $26. The stock closed at $26.85 on the day the reverse split was announced.

It’s not like this is the first time that the oil and gas company has teetered on the edge of extinction, but it may well be the final time.

Chesapeake’s Salad Days

Based in Oklahoma City, Chesapeake was founded in 1989 by Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward, and it really hit its stride with the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing boom of the mid-2000s. Ward left the company in 2006 and, under McClendon, Chesapeake aggressively leased acreage in many shale gas plays then proved the presence of the energy resource and, finally, flipped the property for a profit.

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Chesapeake’s business model was to beat its competitors to new discoveries, to lock up as many acres in a new field as it could, to produce enough gas to demonstrate that the new field was as good as the company claimed, and then to sell the assets to raise more cash and start the process over again.

This may be a fine strategy for a real estate investment trust (REIT) or a private equity firm, and it was a lucrative strategy for Chesapeake when natural gas prices were high. However, natural gas prices tumbled following a mid-decade surge above $12 per million BTUs, and Chesapeake’s long-term debt of around $14 billion (in 2008) became an albatross. The company tried shifting to a higher proportion of oil and natural gas liquids production, but then commodities prices dropped.

Chesapeake sold some $10 billion in assets in 2010, but most of the proceeds went to buy more leases and fund capital spending. Only about a third of it went to pay down debt. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, 10 years later, Chesapeake’s long-term debt totaled around $9.6 billion.

The McClendon Legacy

Founder and longtime CEO McClendon was among the most colorful of the energy industry’s executives. One of McClendon’s perks was a well participation program that allowed him to invest up to 2.5% in new Chesapeake wells. McClendon allegedly used this right as collateral for loans to pay for his share of drilling the wells and borrowed $1.1 billion to fund his portion of the work.

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Later in 2012, the SEC opened an investigation into a bid-rigging allegation related to leases in Michigan’s Collingwood shale play. McClendon was forced out as CEO in 2013, and on March 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted him on the bid-rigging charge. He was killed in an automobile crash the next day.

Successor Doug Lawler has faced both low oil and gas pricing and huge debt headwinds. The reverse stock split was a last-ditch attempt to avoid bankruptcy.

What’s Next for Chesapeake?

While the stock market is voting on the future of Chesapeake, the bond market already may have sealed the company’s fate. A 5.375% coupon senior unsecured note due next year was selling on Monday for $0.036 on the dollar. That’s preposterously low.

The reverse stock split, the collapsing bond prices and the never-ending weight of debt have combined to threaten Chesapeake’s ability to remain a “going concern.”

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Oil and natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is preparing a potential bankruptcy filing, according to an exclusive report Wednesday from Reuters. Chesapeake has long been operating under the twin problems of massive debt and low energy prices.

According to Reuters, Chesapeake is in discussions with its creditors about debtor-in-possession financing that would allow the company to continue its operations while it navigates a Chapter 11 reorganization. The loan could total about $1 billion, although sources said the amount has not been agreed upon.

The unnamed sources noted that the discussions have only just begun and that Chesapeake could try, instead, to persuade its creditors to restructure the company’s debt without going through bankruptcy proceedings. The company has not responded to the report.

Chesapeake’s long-term debt totals nearly $9 billion, and other maturities and expenses add more than $1 billion to the company’s troubles. A $192 million payment is due in August could be skipped, according to sources, and another payment of $136 million is due July 1.

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Earlier this month, Chesapeake completed a one-for-200 reverse stock split primarily in order to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares traded at a pre-split price of around $0.13 and a post-split price of about $26. The stock closed at $26.85 on Wednesday and plunged to below $15 (about $0.075 on a pre-split valuation).

Chesapeake was founded in 1989 by Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward and really hit its stride with the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing boom of the mid-2000s. Ward left the company in 2006 and, under McClendon, Chesapeake aggressively leased acreage in many shale gas plays then proved the presence of the energy resource and, finally, flipped the property for a profit.

While that was a lucrative strategy when natural gas prices were high, falling prices caused prices for oil leases to tumble and Chesapeake’s debt of around $13 billion became an albatross. The company tried shifting to a higher proportion of oil production, but then crude prices dropped.

On March 1, 2016, McClendon, who was forced out as the company’s CEO in 2013, was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for bid-rigging. He was killed in an automobile crash the next day.

In premarket trading Thursday, Chesapeake’s stock price was down about 37% at $15.87, but shortly after the open, shares were seen at $20.72.

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With a declaration of a National Emergency around the coronavirus in the United States, President Donald Trump and the United States now have extra powers and capabilities to enact measures that will more rapidly allow for diagnosis and treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic. The moves will also allow for extra measures to be taken that will, at least in this instance, help to support and perhaps even stimulate the economy now that the 11 -year bull market has died and with recession risks flashing. After the worst day since the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash, stocks rebounded handily upon the announcement.

The S&P 500 rose 230 points to close at 2,711.02 and the Dow rose by 1,985 points to close at 23,185.62 on Friday. The tech-heavy NASDAQ also rose by 673 points to close at 7,874.88. These gains were all roughly 9.3%, after losses of more than 9% on Thursday.

While the National Emergency declaration was the catalyst to push stocks even higher in the last 30 minutes of the day, the big news from the stimulus and support equation is how the U.S. plans to treat the battered oil and gas sector of the economy. After recently halting planned oil sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the United States is reversing its path and will be buying oil. President Trump’s quote — “We’re gonna fill it up. It’s a good time to fill it up.”

Prior to the last planned sale of oil being cancelled in recent days, the SPR held roughly 635 million barrels of crude oil. The current storage capacity is about 713.5 million barrels.

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24/7 Wall St. recently noted that alternative measures beyond the Federal Reserve’s usual tools of cutting interest rates further or bond buying that the U.S. could use cheaper prices to begin acquiring and even stockpiling commodities, including energy. Of the 6 points we made, one pertaining to commodities said:

Also under the special powers, particularly if it pertained to fighting the bogeyman of deflation, the government could begin purchasing certain commodities. Rather than using current plans to unload some of the oil held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, the government could try to buy more oil at cheap prices. Low oil and gasoline prices can trigger deflationary pressure. Would the government also decide to start creating a stockpile of other items? Perhaps buying copper and metals, or further on down the commodity chain.

It is without surprise that the major oil companies and the even more beaten down second and third tier companies saw a late-day pop. The gains were perhaps not as strong as some may have expected, at least in the majors, but the end of day buying was notable.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) closed up 2.5% at $38.12. It was closer to $36.50 before the oil comments were made. Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) popped much more with a 9.4% gain to close at $83.42. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) closed up a whopping 19.9% at $14.26.

In the oil services sector, Baker Hughes Company (NYSE: BKR) closed up almost 19% at $12.73 and Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) closed up 11.4% at $7.15. Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) shares closed up a sharp 12% at $16.16 on Friday afternoon.

Further down the line, the moves were very impressive as long as even a look-back to December 31 is not given much thought.

The moves were also seen in the exploration and production stocks that have been battered so much in recent weeks. That said, the move to fill up SPR might not be enough to help their profits. Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA), which just capitulated with a sharp dividend and capex cut, closed up about 4% at $8.07. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) was down to $0.15 as of Thursday’s close, but it roughly doubled (to $0.30) by the end of the day. Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL) was up about 73% at $1.30 by the end of the day.

The speculative offshore oil stocks have been equally battered in this process. Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE: DO) shares appear to have closed up 164% at $3.76 on Friday, but it was a $7.19 stock at the end of 2019. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) saw a 15% pop to $1.55.

The oil infrastructure leaders within master limited partnerships and related players are not supposed be that sensitive oil prices, but it turns out that when your customers all start losing money and many are now at-risk businesses, even the so-called toll road operators have been under severe pressure of late. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) was up over 8.8% at $15.52 by the end of the day, and Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was up 6.6% at $14.78 at the end of the day. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) closed up 5.3% at $6.70 on Friday.

For a reference against ETFs, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLE) closed up 9.2% at $32.19 on Friday.

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Investors in the oil and gas part of the energy sector can pick just about any bad cliche they want to when it comes to industries at this time. With the coronavirus knocking demand for oil likely into a negative demand for 2020, you can now add on a Saudi-Russia price war after last week’s OPEC+ meeting went about as badly as it could have gone. The move is going to be a game-changing one for any company that is tied to the price of oil, but it’s also spilling over to other areas that have affiliations with the sector. That means its bankers, energy debt holders and even alternative energy players, as they are now just that much less competitive against lower gasoline and energy prices.

24/7 Wall St. has tracked more than 35 analyst downgrades in the oil patch on Monday. Most of these now have Neutral/Hold ratings, with some Sell/Underperform ratings too, but even the stocks that were maintained with a Buy rating saw target prices slashed on Monday. Goldman Sachs has now warned that, under the worst cases, oil could drop close to $20 per barrel. That’s a lose-lose situation for even the strongest of oil giants. A report from DNB Bank in Norway has warned that this will turn into an outright price war, and a portfolio manager at Tortoise sees shale producers having an entire year of lost cash flows.

Credit Suisse chose to actually raise Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) to Outperform from Neutral, but it downgraded Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) to Neutral from Outperform. On Phillips 66, the firm believes it is much better suited to handle lower-margin refining environment than Delek, which has historically relied on wider Permian diffs to produce positive free cash flow. The firm now sees further narrowing of in-land diffs acting as a headwind for Delek. Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is also noted as more positive view in the sector. Delek was down 26% at $12.64, while Phillips 66 shares were down “only” 6% at $65.10. Valero was last seen down only 4.55 at $60.25.

Merrill Lynch also has announced that oil is going to have to adjust to a bleak new reality of lower oil prices and that the Russia-Saudi price war changes everything. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) were maintained as Buy at Merrill Lynch, but the firm cut its target to $75 from $99. Exxon stock traded down over 15% at $40.20 on Monday morning, and that is after a 4.8% drop to $47.69 on Friday, but the drop had narrowed to 9.2% as of mid-Monday afternoon. Exxon would now have an indicated dividend yield of 8.6%. Merrill Lynch maintained Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) as Underperform but lowered its target to $84 from $110. Chevron had traded down 15% to $81.05 on Monday morning, after falling 1.9% to $95.32 on Friday, but this stock was down about 13.6% at $62.30 on Monday afternoon.

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Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY), which is now worth less than the value of the bad acquisition it made last year, was last seen down 33% at $17.25. Merrill Lynch downgraded Occidental to Neutral from Buy and slashed its price objective to $30 from $75. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was maintained as a Buy rating at Merrill Lynch, but the firm cut its price objective to $52 from $78. ConocoPhillips was trading down 25% at $34.00 on Monday afternoon.

While it had downgrades and lower price objectives on just about every company in the sector, it kept Buy ratings with lower targets on the following: Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) to 25 from $34, Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) to $71 from $127, Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) to $60 from $77 and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) to $116 from $93. The performance was awful on Monday afternoon. Concho was down 19% at $46.83, Hess was down 35% at $32.09 and Pioneer was down 32% at $71.37.

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SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded more than 25 in its oil exploration and production universe. The firm now sees an oil price collapse as a price war kicked off this weekend as Saudi Arabia responded to Russia after it refused to endorse new production cuts for the OPEC+ group and after it refused to extend the existing oil cuts that end in three weeks, along with continued oil demand destruction due to COVID-19. The firm spoke with oil executives over the weekend and now suggests the E&P players are likely in for a bleak period, if the price war and COVID-19 impact last more than a quarter. The list of downgrades is too large to write out, but these are the tickers: APA, CPE, CDEV, CHK, XEC, CLR, DVN, FANG, ESTE, ERF, EOG, XOG, HPR, MGY, MRO, MTDR, NOG, OXY, OVV, PE, PXD, RTLR, REI, ROSE, VNOM, WLL and WPX. Many of those stocks were down 20% to 30% in early trading. Here is how some of those stocks have performed on Monday:

• Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) was down 15% at $20.70 on Friday’s sell-off and was indicated down another 30% or so at $14.20 on Monday morning, but by the afternoon its shares were down 45% at $11.35.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was down another 18% to less than $0.18 on more than 150 million shares as of Monday afternoon.
• Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) was last seen down 45% at $8.11 on Monday afternoon.
• Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded to Hold, and STRH cut its target to $7 from $18, with shares last seen down 44% at $3.80 on Monday afternoon.
• Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was down 17% at $1.33 on Friday. While it previously saw a drop of 40% at $0.78, it was down about 28% at $0.955 on Monday afternoon.
• WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE: WPX) was down 42% at $3.76 on Monday afternoon, down from a 52-week high of $15.33.

Even the infrastructure side of the equation was being hammered on Monday as the fallout will have a widespread effect. That sector already had decoupled from the old notion that it was insulated from the effects of lower oil prices. Robert W. Baird downgraded Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered its target price to $9 from $15. Energy Transfer units were last seen down 21% at $8.04.

Tellurian Inc. (NASDAQ: TELL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird, and its target price was slashed to $2 from $5. Tellurian was last seen down over 23% at $0.93 on Monday.

Indications were awful on Monday elsewhere in the master limited partnership and MLP-like infrastructure leaders. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) closed down 5.3% at $22.42 on Friday and was indicated down 19% at $18.11 on Monday. Enterprise Products Partners would now have a 9.8% indicated dividend yield, if it can be maintained in the quarters ahead. Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was down almost 1.9% at $19.33 on Friday but it was trading down over 10% at $17.25 on Monday. Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) was last seen down over 14% at $38.84, and it has the sole approved LNG export terminal of its kind.

International oil giants were pinched as well. BP PLC (NYSE: BP) American depositary shares were down 4.1% at $31.25 on Friday, but the drop on Monday was almost 19% to $25.50. Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) fell by 2.8% to $42.31 on Friday, followed by a 16.5% drop to $35.32 late on Monday.

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Stocks have entered into formal correction mode with greater than a 10% drop from the high, and it took just six trading days to get there. This has been the worst week for stocks since the financial crisis, and the selling has been in most sectors. While the public may feel panic, many analysts and investors are trying to maintain their long-term views for what happens after the coronavirus fears of pandemic begin to dissipate (assuming they do), as has happened with other outbreaks. Despite the volatility and the added pressure from the political election cycle this year, many investors have not made that many major changes to their holdings after the incredible gains from 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid. Again, many analysts are sticking with their Buy and Outperform ratings on key stocks, even if they are trimming targets and earnings expectations due to coronavirus interruptions already seen or expected.

We have provided these analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Friday, February 28, 2020.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that bulls are sounding the alarm on this security stock. Its shares most recently closed at $46.21 and have a consensus price target of $63.67.

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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was reiterated as Outperform with an $18 target price (versus a $10.28 prior close) at Wedbush Securities, with the firm saying its restructuring plan with another 10% of staff cuts is another important step forward in its turnaround.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was down 5.6% at $106.14 ahead of earnings on Thursday, but the shares were last seen down 13% at $92.00 as the strong guidance was really just more at the high end of estimates for such a high-flyer and high-value stock. UBS reiterated its Neutral rating and raised its target price to $90 from $85.

CBOE Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at MKM Partners. The stock was kicked out of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 Index. It was down 15% at $0.26 on Thursday and was indicated down another 11% at $0.23 on Friday.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $35 from $41 (versus a $17.46 close) at MKM Partners.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was down almost 9% to $148.40 on Thursday. Wells Fargo reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target price to $165 from $156.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) was down over 5% at $43.56 on Thursday and was indicated down another 3.5% at $52.00 on Friday’s post-earnings reaction. Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its target price to $55 from $59. Morgan Stanley maintained its Equal Weight rating and lowered its target price to $63 from $66.

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: DNLI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $24 target price (versus a $19.02 close) at Wedbush.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $190 target price at Jefferies. Shares closed down 3% at $157.66 on Thursday, compared with a 52-week high of $167.04 and a prior consensus target price of $174.08.

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FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) closed down almost 18% at $44.42 on Thursday. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded it to Hold from Buy with a $50 target price (versus a $44.43 close). Needham maintained its Buy rating and lowered its target to $50 from $56. Robert W. Baird downgraded it from Outperform to Neutral.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) has seen its shares run higher on hopes that its remdesivir can help mute or cure the coronavirus. A firm called DZ Bank in Germany downgraded the share to Hold from Buy.

Harpoon Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HARP) was started as Buy with a $31 target price (versus a $14.73 close) at SunTrust, effectively giving it more than 100% implied upside despite the market sell-off.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started as Overweight with a $55 target price at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock was down 5.2% at $37.78 a share on Thursday, as the market is punishing companies that have to move people around in the public.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. It was down 4% at $34.74 on Thursday, and that is down from $59.65 on January 17 before the coronavirus news began to really take off.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) was up 28% to $11.80 on Thursday and was indicated up 25% at $14.75 on Friday, as it is a potential coronavirus winner. B. Riley FBR reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target price to $16 from $12.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) was maintained as Buy and the target price was lowered to $44 from $48 (versus a $34.50 close) at UBS.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE: RBS) closed down 4.7% at $4.68 on Thursday and was indicated down another 2% at $4.58 on Friday morning. Merrill Lynch raised it to Neutral from Underperform.

Sabre Corp. (NASDAQ: SABR) was down another 10% at $14.50 on Thursday, even after the earlier drop after earnings this week. Mizuho maintained it as Buy but slashed its target price to $18.50 from $27.00.

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Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this roller-coaster of a stock is still headed lower. Shares last closed at $25.84, with a consensus analyst target of $36.64.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) was reiterated as Buy with a $305 target price (versus a $250.01 pre-earnings close) at SunTrust. Wells Fargo raised it to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $310 target price.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) was down 5.8% at $32.45 on Thursday, as the stocks that move you around the public are taking a hit in the sell-off. KeyBanc Capital Markets started Uber as Overweight with a $48 target price.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was maintained as Equal Weight but the target price was raised to $90 from $85 at Morgan Stanley. The stock was up 6% at $113.55 per share on Thursday, as it could benefit from companies on-boarding its services faster if we enter the stay-at-home economy.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Biogen, Cree, Etsy, Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Rite Aid, Solar Edge, Square, 3D Systems, Virgin Galactic and many more.

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Oil and natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) on Wednesday issued a preliminary fourth-quarter operational update. Investors wanting to know whether the struggling company can stay afloat got a bit of good news.

Chesapeake expects fourth-quarter oil production to range between 125,000 and 126,000 barrels a day, an increase of 10,000 to 11,000 barrels compared with third-quarter 2019 production. The company also estimates that production on a barrels of oil equivalent basis will be in a range of 476,000 to 478,000 barrels a day, essentially flat with third-quarter production.

Oil production is set to account for about 26% of Chesapeake’s total hydrocarbons production in the fourth quarter, slightly more than the 21% posted in the same quarter last year.

Natural gas prices are expected to average $2.57 per million cubic feet in 2019, some 59 cents below the 2018 average. The expected average price for 2020 is 24 cents below the 2019 price. None of this is working in Chesapeake’s favor.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s most recent forecast for 2019 crude prices calls for an average of $57 a barrel, rising to $59 a barrel in 2020 and $62 a barrel in 2021. Those estimates are almost certainly too optimistic for this year and next.

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The company’s financial picture also brightened with the retirement of $900 million in indebtedness for one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Brazos Valley Longhorn, acquired in late 2018 in a $4 billion merger deal with Wildhorse Resource Development. At the time of that deal, Chesapeake stock was trading at nearly $4 a share.

CEO Doug Lawler offered some non-specific comments on the company’s performance:

We delivered strong cash flow during the [fourth] quarter on lower costs and higher oil volumes. Natural gas and natural gas liquids volumes were sequentially lower due to our decisions to direct capital to the highest-margin opportunities in our portfolio, enhancing our profitability. Our strong results in the fourth quarter have continued into early 2020 and are setting the foundation for the company to reach free cash flow this year. We remain committed to achieving further meaningful debt reduction through asset sales, capital markets transactions and cost discipline.

Chesapeake is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on February 26. Analysts are expecting a loss of $0.06 per share on revenues of $2.11 billion. For the full fiscal year, the estimated net loss totals $0.25 per share on $8.8 billion in revenues.

In the mid-morning Wednesday, Chesapeake stock traded up more than 6%, at $0.55 in a 52-week range of $0.51 to $3.57. It went on to close regular trading at $0.54 per share. The consensus 12-month price target on the stock is $0.92. Trading volume is more than 83.5 million shares daily.

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Stocks were indicated to open lower on Wednesday, but that is after the S&P 500 hit 3,100 the prior day after last week’s all-time highs. Investors still have a lot of pressing issues and risks to consider now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider what changes they should be making for their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Wednesday, November 13, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $66 from $56 (versus a $51.95 prior close) at UBS.

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AECOM (NYSE: ACM) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $48 from $38 at Barclays.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $270 from $260 at Barclays.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) fell 3.5% to $65.31 after multiple target cuts on Tuesday, and shares were indicated another 2.1% lower at $63.90 on Wednesday morning. Citigroup downgraded it to Sell from Neutral and lowered the target price to $58 from $62.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was started with a Sell rating and a $27 target price (versus a $29.52 close) at UBS.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was assumed with an Outperform rating and assigned a $295 target price at RBC Capital Markets, with the firm noting that Apple has deeper means to integrate into the everyday lives of its customers in its ecosystem. Apple closed down 24 cents at $261.96 a share on Tuesday.

BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ: BDSI) was reiterated as Buy with a $10 target price (versus a $5.85 close) at Janney, with the firm noting that its guidance was raised for 2019 and strong 2020 guidance was announced.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $150 from $142 at Argus, with the independent research firm calling it one of the leading office REITs. with a $3.6 billion development pipeline that is focused outside the New York metropolitan area.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed down 17% at $0.67, in a 52-week range of $0.65 to $3.78.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Diplomat Pharmacy Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) fell 50% to $3.10 on Tuesday after receiving a “going concern” warning after wider losses. Barclays downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the price target to $3 from $7.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating with a $50 target price. Shares closed down 1.8% at $45.37 on Tuesday and had a $47.02 prior consensus target price.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was started with an Underweight rating and a $14 target price (versus a $17.16 close) at Barclays.

GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that it looks like the GoPro fad may be coming to an end, with shares plummeting over 94% in the past 5 years. Shares most recently closed at $4.56, with a consensus price target of $5.45.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) closed down another 2.2% at $15.63 on Tuesday. Barclays started it with an Equal Weight rating and a $16 target price.

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JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was started with a Buy rating and a $25 target price (versus a $19.30 close) at UBS.

Jumia Technologies A.G. (NYSE: JMIA) was maintained as Outperform, but its target price was lowered to $8 from $23 (versus a $5.84 close, after a 12.3% drop) at Raymond James. The 52-week range is $5.59 to $49.77.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $32 from $30 (versus a $27.00 close) at Argus.

L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) was started with an Underweight rating and a $16 target price (versus a $17.53 close) at Barclays.

Marker Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRKR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $10 from $15 (versus a $3.92 close) at Janney, with the firm noting that the impact from the clinical hold on its IND filing for MultiTAA T cell therapy for AML (due to two reagents supplied by third-party vendors used in its manufacturing) should represent a slight delay in the program’s clinic entry.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with an $18 target price (versus a $20.93 close) at JPMorgan.

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) was started as Overweight and assigned a $34 target price (versus a $27.02 close) at Barclays.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was started as Overweight and assigned a $111 target price (versus an $89.50 close) at Barclays. Nike has a 52-week range of $66.53 to $96.87, and its prior consensus target price was $102.74.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $175 from $173 (versus a $136.13 close) at Citigroup.

Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this is an innovations machine that has a diverse portfolio of wireless capabilities. Shares last closed at $90.97 and have a consensus price target of $89.94.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was started as Overweight with a $130 target price (versus a $111.36 close) at Barclays.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was reiterated as Neutral at Citigroup, but the firm did raise its target to $208 from $174. Also, Credit Suisse upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform with a $191 target price.

Sanofi S.A. (NYSE: SNY) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $52 from $50 at Argus.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was started as Neutral and a $60 target price at UBS.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was started as Buy and its target price was set at $140 (versus a $118.99 close) at UBS.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was started as Overweight and a $66 target price (versus a $58.40 close) at Barclays.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was started with an Equal Weight rating and a $19 target price (versus a $17.29 close) at Barclays.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was started with a Buy rating and a $110 target price at UBS, with the firm pointing out that United has better cost management initiatives than its rivals and that it can expect to see margin expansion as a result.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was started with an Underweight rating and a $76 target price (versus an $84.60 close) at Barclays.

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We screened the Raymond James Favorite Analyst picks looking for new ideas with big upside potential, and we found five that growth stock investors may want to add now that look outstanding ideas,

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Albermarle, Amgen, Applied Materials, Biogen, CRISPR Therapeutics, CrowdStrike, CSX, Kroger, Slack, Teva Pharmaceutical, Xerox and many more.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) reported third-quarter 2019 results before markets opened Tuesday. The oil and gas exploration and production company posted an adjusted net loss per share of $0.11 on revenues of $2.09 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.01 on revenues of $2.42 billion. Second-quarter results also compare to consensus estimates for a net loss of $0.10 and $2.12 billion in revenues.

Average daily production in the second quarter totaled approximately 478,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, down about 11% year over year and down 3.6% sequentially. Oil accounted for about 24% of daily third-quarter production, compared to 17% in the same period a year ago.

Oil production averaged approximately 115,000 barrels a day in the third quarter, up from 89,000 barrels in the year-ago quarter. Natural gas production fell from about 2.332 billion cubic feet per day to 1.989 billion cubic feet, and natural gas liquids tumbled from 59,000 barrels a day to 32,000 barrels.

Chesapeake maintained its oil production guidance for the 2019 fiscal year in a range of 43 to 44.5 million barrels and total production, including natural gas and natural gas liquids at 177 million to 184 million barrels of oil equivalent. Daily production guidance was also left unchanged at 484,000 to 505,000 barrels a day.

Price realizations on oil were less than $2.00 a barrel higher than a year ago, while natural gas realizations were lower by $0.31 per thousand cubic feet. Chesapeake knocked $1.24 off its gathering, processing and transportation costs in the second quarter, lowering it to $6.12 per barrel of oil equivalent.

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CEO Doug Lawler commented:

We expect our oil production to grow approximately 10% in the fourth quarter, compared to the third quarter, and we remain on track to meet our 2019 total production and capital expenditure guidance. Our capital efficiency improvements, expected reduction in cash costs and anticipated capital plan position us to target free cash flow in 2020.

Analysts have estimated that the fourth-quarter net loss per share will come in at $0.06 on revenues of $2.17 billion. For the full year, analysts expect a loss per share of $0.22 and $8.97 billion in revenues.

Early in Tuesday’s session, the stock traded at $1.36, down more than 12%, after jumping more than 8% on Monday. The stock’s 52-week range is $1.26 to $3.87. The consensus 12-month price target on the shares is $1.68. Average volume is just over 57 million shares traded daily, and more than 109 million shares changed hands on Monday.

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While most of Wall Street focuses on large and mega cap stocks, as they provide a degree of safety and liquidity, many investors are limited in the number of shares they can buy. Often the biggest public companies, especially the technology giants, trade in the low-to-mid hundreds, all the way up to over $1,000 per share. At those steep prices, it’s pretty hard to get any decent share count leverage.

Many investors, especially more aggressive traders, look at lower-priced stocks as a way to not only make some good money but to get a higher share count. That can really help the decision-making process, especially when you are on to a winner, as you can always sell half and keep half.

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Every week, we screen our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for stocks with Buy equivalent ratings at major firms and priced under the $10 level (last week’s picks included Clear Channel Outdoor and Glu Mobile), and this week was no exception. We focused on the underperforming energy sector and found five new stocks that could provide investors with some solid upside potential. While more suited for aggressive accounts, they could prove exciting additions to portfolios looking for solid alpha potential.

Callon Petroleum

This is a small-cap stock that Northland Securities favors. Callon Petroleum Co. (NYSE: CPE) is an independent oil and natural gas company that is engaged in the exploration, development, acquisition and production of oil and natural gas properties. The company focuses on the acquisition and development of unconventional oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin.

Callon’s drilling activity focuses on the horizontal development of various prospective intervals in the Midland Basin, including multiple levels of the Wolfcamp formation and the Lower Spraberry shale. The company made a huge $570 million acquisition of 29,000 net acres last May, which more than doubled its Delaware Basin footprint.

Merrill Lynch has a price target on the shares is $9, and the Wall Street consensus target is $8.68. The stock traded on Friday’s close at $3.93 a share.

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Chesapeake Energy

This company has been in and out of the news often frequently the past 20 years, and its stock offers brave investors an incredible entry point. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is one of the largest U.S. companies engaging in the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs.

The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays, including the Marcellus in Northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania; Haynesville in northwestern Louisiana; Eagle Ford in south Texas; Brazos Valley in southeast Texas; Powder River Basin in Wyoming; and Mid-Continent in the Anadarko Basin of northwestern Oklahoma. As of December 31, 2018, it owned interests in approximately 13,200 oil and natural gas wells, and it had estimated proved reserves of 1,448 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Morgan Stanley has a $2.50 price target, which is well above the $1.95 consensus target. Shares closed on Friday at $1.36 apiece.

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This company has been one of the favorites around Wall Street among the smaller more nimble companies. Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with its principal producing properties located in the Utica Shale of Eastern Ohio and along the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The company reported second-quarter net income of $235 million, or $1.47 per share. Adjusted earnings results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The independent oil and gas company posted revenue of $459 million in the period as well, also topping Street forecasts. Gulfport is scheduled to post third-quarter results at the end of this month.

The $6 Wells Fargo price target is shy of the $6.63 consensus figure. The stock was trading at $2.60 per share as Friday’s session came to a close.

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Jagged Peak Energy

Shares of this smaller energy company have sizable upside potential from current trading levels. Jagged Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: JAG) is a Permian Basin oil and gas producer with 70,000 net acres in the Southern Delaware Basin in three operating areas.

Its largest position is held in Whiskey River (35,000 net acres), which is located in Reeves and Ward counties, followed by Big Tex (22,000 net acres), which is located in Pecos County, and Cochise (12,900 net acres), which straddles Ward and Winkler counties.

The stock has lagged this year, but SunTrust feels a turnaround could be imminent:

We believe Jagged Peak has made strides in operating efficiency / well economics lowering costs while boosting volumes post processing of 3D seismic data and further asset delineation. We favor the company’s “baseload” plan of stable growth and development while maintaining a strong balance sheet. We forecast the company’s efficiency improvements to result in a 15% YoY decrease in well costs on a per lateral foot basis. Jagged Peak has ample core inventory for large-scale development even after high-grading its Big Tex position.

SunTrust has set a $12 price target on the stock. The consensus target is $11.43, and the stock ended the week at $6.76 a share.

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Northern Oil and Gas

Stifel analysts remain very positive on this small-cap energy play. Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE: NOG) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas properties, primarily in the Bakken and Three Forks formations within the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana. It is the largest non-operator in that basin.

With Bakken returns continuing to improve to well above 50%, and Northern’s operating partners representing what may be as the best operators in the basin, there is upside potential.

The company posted solid second-quarter results and also announced its chief executive officer will step down, a move that some on Wall Street welcome after some issues in the past. It was noted this week the company is expected to have free cash flow equal to almost three-quarters of the stock market capitalization over the next year.

Stifel has a monster $5.80 price target. The consensus target is $3.72, and the shares were changing hands at $1.89 on last look.

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These are five energy stocks for aggressive accounts that look to get share count leverage on companies that have sizable upside potential and to add energy exposure. While not suited for all investors, these are not penny stocks with absolutely no track record or liquidity, and major Wall Street firms have research coverage.

The post 5 Energy Stocks Trading Under $10 With Huge October Upside Potential appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Crude oil prices spiked by around 20% over the weekend following the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq crude processing plant. It could have been worse.

High global crude oil stockpiles may be the single biggest reason that OPEC and its partners have been cutting production. The producers want to drain those stockpiles, forcing consuming nations to bid up prices for current production. Among the developed nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), stockpiles are required to be equal to 90 days of consumption.

If the outage at Abqaiq exceeds three or four weeks, prices could rise further. The price of Brent crude for immediate delivery was up more than 9% in London at $66.27 a barrel on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for immediate delivery traded up about 9.7% at $60.16. Looking further into the future, though, shows WTI prices up about half as much and Brent prices up by about 6.8%.

Those futures contracts indicate two things: the price of crude will come down as the damage to Abqaiq is repaired and Brent prices are going to retreat more slowly. In the United States, oil and gas exploration and production companies are getting big boosts to their share prices as investors see these companies benefitting from constrained global supply.

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Here 10 companies that saw share prices soar in early trading Monday.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) closed at $7.54 on Friday and traded up about 42.4% to $10.74, in a 52-week range of $6.00 to $55.17.

Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: XOG) closed at $3.23 on Friday and traded up about 26.6% to $4.09, in a 52-week range of $3.04 to $11.82.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) closed at $32.14 on Friday and traded up about 13% to $36.34, in a 52-week range of $27.54 to $71.95.

Chesapeake Energy Inc. (NYSE: CHK) closed at $1.78 on Friday and traded up about 12.4%, at $2.00 in a 52-week range of $1.26 to $4.98.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) closed at $8.55 on Friday and traded up about 10.4%, at $9.44 in a 52-week range of $7.45 to $26.67.

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) closed at $24.34 on Friday and traded up about 9.3% to $26.59. The 52-week range is $25.86 to $50.03.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) closed at $12.70 on Friday and traded up about 8% to $13.72, in a 52-week range of $11.39 to $24.20.

Devon Energy Inc. (NYSE: DVN) closed at $25.07 on Friday, and it traded up about 7.3% to $26.89. The 52-week range is $20.37 to $41.94.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) closed at $57.34 on Friday and traded up about 6.6%, at $61.10 in a 52-week range of $50.13 to $80.24.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) closed at $2.23 on Friday and traded up about 6% to $2.37, in a 52-week range of $1.56 to $6.23.

Supermajors Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) both traded up by a more modest 1.5% early Monday.

There are a few things to notice about these big price boosts. First, share prices for all these firms remain nearer to their 52-week lows than to their 52-week highs. It’s been a miserable year for most of them, and more than one big price spike will be needed to recover all the lost ground.

Second, capital expenditures have been cut in order to allow the companies to keep generating investor returns, and even if new wells could come online quickly enough, U.S. pipeline capacity out of the nation’s biggest producing fields is at or near its limits. Monday’s spiking prices do not reflect any growth in production, just higher prices for current production. Higher prices are likely to be only a short-term phenomenon.

Third, even if more production were magically to occur in the next few weeks, and even if the pipeline capacity were available, President Trump already has said the federal government stands ready to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which has a 600-million barrel stockpile. Those barrels and the president’s determination to keep gasoline pump prices down are conspiring against higher share prices for producers.

Fourth, even if U.S. producers could get oil to export facilities along the Gulf Coast, U.S. export capacity is already jammed up. Industry analysts at Orbital Insight put it this way:

It is critical to note that U.S. export infrastructure is maxed out and investor concerns around shale profitability are causing drilling slowdowns. The result is that regardless of an SPR release, the U.S. will be hard-pressed to export any additional oil into the world market. An SPR release would allow some U.S. import rejection, freeing oil to be purchased on global markets, much of which will not be positioned to reach key consumers in a timely way.

Finally, don’t discount entirely the fact that the drone attack offers a good opportunity for a short squeeze.

All this said, the scary thing about the attack on Abqaiq is that it demonstrates just how easy (and cheap) it is to wreak havoc on the world’s largest, and arguably most important, commodity market. That risk is likely to be priced in from now on.

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This has been a volatile week with big ups and downs, and stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Thursday after Wednesday’s selling pressure lessened late in the day. Earnings season has peaked, but many companies are still finding themselves as big winners or big losers based on their reports. Even with all the trade uncertainty dominating the news, the major stock market indexes have seen just over a 5% pullback from the all-time highs put in just last month. Investors have many reasons to remain cautious and positive alike, but they also have to be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, August 8, 2019.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $192 target price (versus a $199.04 prior close) at Barclays.

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Aqua America Inc. (NYSE: WTR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy in a valuation call at UBS, but the firm raised its target price to $45 from $42 in the call. Shares closed up 2.2% at $42.06 on Wednesday, in a 52-week high of $42.32 and with a prior consensus target price of $42.33.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. The stock closed down 4.5% at $10.38 on Wednesday, but it was indicated down 26% at $7.65 after earnings on Thursday.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was cut to $130 from $156 at Goldman Sachs. Caterpillar closed down 1% at $120.78 on Wednesday and was indicated down another 1.1% at $119.45 on Thursday.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. CenturyLink closed down 3.1% at $11.58 on Wednesday and was indicated down another 4.2% at $11.30 on Thursday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) was started as Overweight with a $50 target price at Barclays. It closed down 1.7% at $65.14, and the shares were indicated up 0.6% at $65.52 on Thursday.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $52 target price at Barclays. Cisco closed down 0.5% at $52.34 on Wednesday and was indicated up 0.3% at $52.50 on Thursday. It has a consensus target price of $59.23.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was started as Overweight with a $35 target price at Barclays.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $53 target price at Barclays.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $152 target price at Goldman Sachs. The stock closed up 0.1% at $134.59, and the consensus target price was $140.24.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was started as Overweight with a $160 target price at Barclays, and Morgan Stanley raised its rating top Equal Weight from Underweight with a $130 target price. Shares closed down 1.56% at $134.00 on Wednesday, and the prior consensus target price was $160.82.

Green Dot Corp. (NYSE: GDOT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. Deutsche Bank maintained its Hold rating and lowered its target to $29 from $44.

GreenSky Inc. (NASDAQ: GSKY) was up 1.5% at $6.91 on Wednesday, but this was closer to $10.50 earlier this week ahead of earnings. Raymond James downgraded it to Market Perform from Outperform.

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Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) was down 5.1% at $14.17 on Wednesday but was indicated up 3.6% at $14.69 on Thursday. Barclays raised it to Overweight from Equal Weight and the target price was set at $19.

Inogen Inc. (NASDAQ: INGN) closed down 23.3% at $42.32 on Wednesday after earnings. SVB Leerink downgraded it to Market Perform and cut the target to $47 from $78, and Stifel downgraded it to Hold from Buy and cut its target to $48 from $85.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $27 target price at Barclays.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was trading up 2.7% at $60.29 ahead of earnings, but the stock rose 8% at $65.25 after earnings. Canaccord Genuity reiterated it as Buy and raised its target to $78 from $75. Atlantic Equities upgraded it to Neutral from Underweight, and Wedbush Securities raised its rating to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $75 from $67.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but the target price was raised to $95 from $77 at UBS. Match shares closed up 24% at $91.77 after earnings on Wednesday, and its prior consensus target price was $79.59.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $47 target price at Barclays.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy and the target price was cut to 44.50 from $7.50 at Raymond James. This is a day after its shares closed down 30.8% at $2.65 and hit a new 52-week low of $2.41.

REV Group Inc. (NYSE: REVG) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, and the firm put its target price at $12.00. Shares closed down 0.8% at $13.04 on Wednesday, and it had a consensus target price of $12.61.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) closed up 2.5% at $100.97 ahead of earnings, and the shares were indicated up 17% at $118.16 on Thursday after the earnings reaction. Stephens raised it to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the target price to $120 from $84, and Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Roku to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $134 from $77 in the call. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Sector Perform rating but raised its target to $107 from $90 in its call.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was started as Underweight and assigned a $37 target price at Barclays. The stock closed down 0.2% at $44.58 a share on Wednesday and was indicated to open flat on Thursday. It had a consensus target price of $47.13.

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3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Shares were down 0.2% at $8.15 ahead of earnings, but the reaction was down 18% at $6.70 in early trading on Thursday. The consensus analyst target was $9.50 ahead of the report, and the 52-week trading range is $7.81 to $21.78.

Wabtec Corp. (NYSE: WAB) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $89 from $84 at Goldman Sachs. It closed up almost 3% at $75.31 on Wednesday, but the shares were lower by 2.25 at $73.65 after General Electric priced a 20.5 million share offering at $72.50.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $53 target price at Barclays.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.

Zacks has named Sonic Automotive Inc. (NYSE: SAH) as its Bull of the Day, saying that this auto retailer’s shares are soaring thanks to growing profits and an expanding footprint. The Bear of the Day is Delphi Technologies PLC (NYSE: DLPH). Zacks noted that weaker-than-expected earnings and tariffs are weighing heavy on this stock.

The top analyst calls from Wednesday included Arconic, Boston Beer, Dunkin’ Brands, DuPont, GreenSky, International Flavors & Fragrances, Merck, Walt Disney and many more.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) reported second-quarter 2019 results before markets opened Tuesday. The oil and gas exploration and production company posted an adjusted net loss per share of $0.10 on revenues of $2.39 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13 on revenues of $2.29 billion. Second-quarter results also compare to consensus estimates for a net loss of $0.06 and $2.39 billion in revenues.

The company posted its best-ever quarterly oil production, pumping an average of 122,000 barrels a day. Chesapeake raised its oil production guidance for the 2019 fiscal year to a range of 43.0 million to 44.5 million barrels and total production, including natural gas and natural gas liquids, to 177 million to 184 million barrels of oil equivalent. Daily production guidance was raised to 484,000 to 505,000 barrels a day.

Average daily production in the second quarter totaled approximately 496,000 barrels of oil equivalent, down from 530,000 barrels in the second quarter of last year. But oil comprised about 25% of this year’s production, compared with just 17% of last year’s.

Price realizations on oil were more than $7 a barrel higher than a year ago, while natural gas realizations were lower by $0.16 per million cubic feet. Chesapeake knocked $1.04 off its gathering processing, and transportation costs in the second quarter, lowering it to $6.00 per barrel of oil equivalent.

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CEO Doug Lawler commented:

As we formulate our initial 2020 plans, we expect to allocate more capital to oil growth areas, with less capital going toward our gas assets. As a result, with an approximately flat capital program to 2019, we project our 2020 oil volumes will show double-digit percentage growth over 2019, while our gas volumes will show a double-digit percentage decline, yet our projected adjusted EBITDAX remains approximately the same at 2019 levels using today’s lower NYMEX strip pricing and current hedge position.

Analysts have estimated that the third-quarter net loss will come in at $0.05 on revenues of $2.42 billion. For the full year, analysts expect a loss per share of $0.11 and $9.55 billion in revenues.

Once again, Chesapeake’s middling results have been outweighed by rising volume guidance and reduced expenses. The company’s success for the rest of this year now depends on its realized prices for crude oil and natural gas, neither of which is within its control. But investors must think it’s doing all it can to turn a profit because they were pushing the stock higher in Tuesday’s premarket trading. At last look, the stock traded at $1.61, up more than 3%, after tumbling nearly 4% on Monday. The stock’s 52-week range is $1.51 to $4.98, and the low was posted Monday. The consensus 12-month price target on the shares is $2.55.

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It seems impossible to fathom, but this is the last day of the second quarter in 2019. The bull market is well into its 10th year, and the major indexes are all quite close to all-time highs. Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Friday, but all attention is on this weekend’s G-20 meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping to see if a trade war deal can be made. Investors need to be considering how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the second half of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Friday, June 28, 2019.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AJRD) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $50 target price (versus a $43.18 prior close) at Canaccord Genuity. Shares were indicated down 0.4% at $43.00 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $27.69 to $43.22.

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed down six cents at $199.74 on Thursday, but the stock was indicated down as much as 0.75% in the after-hours session after chief designer Jony Ive announced he was leaving Apple to start his own company. Wedbush noted that this is a loss and may look like a major changing of the guard, but the firm did maintain its Outperform rating and $235 price target. Nomura/Instinet reiterated its Neutral rating on Apple with a $175 price target, noting that his departure is a sentimental negative on the stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Cantor Fitzgerald. Shares rose 4% to $28.82 on Thursday but were indicated down 2% at $28.22 on Friday morning.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was maintained with a Neutral rating at JPMorgan, but the firm cuts its target price to $120 from $150 (versus a $116.04 close). Baidu has a 52-week range of $106.80 to $274.00.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $250 from $280 (versus a $239.77 close) at Piper Jaffray. Biogen was indicated down 1.5% at $236.10 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $216.12 to $388.67.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $2.75 target price at Morgan Stanley. Chesapeake closed down 1.6% at $1.88 on Thursday and was indicated up almost 3% at $193 on Friday. The 52-week range is $1.71 to $5.60.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was reiterated as Neutral at JPMorgan, but the firm did raise its target to $650 from $600. Chipotle was down 0.5% at $724.12 a share on Thursday, and it has a 52-week range of $383.20 to $749.25. The prior consensus target price was $688.00.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Stephens.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was started as Hold with a $42 target price at Deutsche Bank. It closed up 1.2% at $39.68 ahead of the call, with a consensus target price of $53.10 and a 52-week trading range of $38.76 to $67.05.

Dine Brands Global Inc. (NYSE: DIN) was started with a Buy rating at Deutsche Bank, which set its price target at $116 in the call. Shares closed up 2% at $94.35 ahead of the call, and the prior consensus target price was $125.75.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James, after it rose 7.9% to $25.39 in the day-after earnings reaction.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $63 target price at Citigroup. It closed up 1.3% at $66.93 ahead of the call and was indicated down over 4% at $64.00 on Friday morning.

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McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $215 from $195 at JPMorgan. McDonald’s was up almost 1% at $206.27 on Thursday and was indicated up about 30 cents from its closing price after the call. It has a 52-week range of $153.13 to $206.39 and a consensus target price of $216.92.

Netgear Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $28 price target (versus a $25.99 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported that its quarterly revenue increased by 4% to $10.2 billion, but it was actually up 10% on a currency-neutral basis. Shares closed up 1.3% at $83.66 ahead of earnings, and the after-hours trading was looking for direction. Wedbush reiterated Nike as Outperform with a $96 target price.

Office Properties Income Trust (NYSE: OPI) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform with a $27 target price (versus a $25.16 close, after a 3% gain) at RBC Capital Markets.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE: PAGS) was started as Overweight with a $41 target price (versus a $37.64 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Patterson Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO) was reiterated as Underweight and the target price was cut to $20 from $22 at JPMorgan.

Plantronics Inc. (NYSE: PLT) was started as Outperform with a $50 target price (versus a $36.17 close) at Evercore ISI. The stock was indicated up 1.6% at $36.75 on Friday, and it had a prior consensus target price of $78.33.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which also raised its target price to $125 from $114. The firm called Procter & Gamble a clear beneficiary of end-market growth acceleration, and the team sees 3% growth continuing into the future.

Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) was started with a Buy rating at Nomura/Instinet, and the firm assigned a $108 target price in the call. Shares closed up 2.8% at $85.46, and the 52-week trading range is $65.94 to $98.30.

Rapid7 Inc. (NYSE: RPD) was started with a Buy rating at Nomura/Instinet, and the firm assigned a $70 target price. The stock closed up 4.4% at $55.79 and has a 52-week range of $26.27 to $58.74.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE) was started as Overweight with a $33 price target (versus a $28.80 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

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Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) was started with a Hold rating at Deutsche Bank, after closing up 2.3% at $54.42 and against a 52-week range of $50.84 to $75.24. It had a consensus target price of $60.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) was up 4.1% at $54.52 after beating lower earnings expectations on Thursday. JPMorgan maintained it as Overweight but lowered the target price to $73 from $74. Its consensus target price was $57.90.

Just about every major bank was just granted Federal Reserve approvals under the 2019 CCAR stress tests to increase their dividends and share buybacks starting July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.

Wells Fargo says that the highest telecom and communications yield of the S&P 500 (at 9%) is finally safe to buy.

After many false starts during the long bull market, value stocks may finally be ready to run. Goldman Sachs has screened for those that have solid upside potential, and here are five with big implied upside.

With this being the end of the second quarter, here are some additional groups of analyst calls. Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, CenturyLink, Delphi Technologies, General Motors, Ford, Intel, KB Home, Micron Technology, Nordstrom, Nvidia, Tesla, Zscaler and more. Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in AbbVie, Archer Daniels Midland, ConocoPhillips, FedEx, Fox, Kinder Morgan, Lennar, Micron Technology, Slack Technologies and Virtu Financial and many more.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) remains in turnaround mode after the Aubrey McClendon years. Despite having tried to move to more of a mix of oil and gas, Chesapeake reported a larger net loss $44 million, or $0.03 per share, from $6 million ($0.01 per share) a year earlier.

The headlines sound bad, but the earnings report on an adjusted basis evaluated by analysts came to earnings of $0.14 per share. This met the Refinitiv consensus target. Chesapeake noted that the quarter showed a continued shift to a higher oil mix and a focus on cutting expenses.

It turns out that the net loss came as Chesapeake has been spending more than analysts anticipated, and then there were lower oil and natural gas prices that also played a role. Capital expenditures came to $605 million in the quarter, and that was reported to be more than 20 million higher than expected. With prices still mixed, oil and gas producers have faced continued pressure by the investing community to keep capital spending low and to return cash to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividends.

Chesapeake’s earnings report indicated that daily average production was down by 12.6% to about 484,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (from 554,000 a year earlier). While lower prices prevailed, that production was actually about 4% higher than expectations. Where the higher production hurt was that average realized prices for natural gas were down by 12% (to $3.07 per thousand cubic feet) and natural gas liquids prices were down by 21% (to $20.03 per barrel). Oil prices fell marginally to $56.86 per barrel (down just three cents).

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Chesapeake closed on its acquisition of WildHorse Resource for its oil play in February, and that $4 billion merger gave it a stronger footprint in oil-rich acreage in Texas. The company believes that it is now on track to deliver on transformational oil growth in 2019. The release said:

Driven by shallower production declines in South Texas due to well spacing and base production improvements and continued improvement in the Powder River Basin, which achieved record production during the quarter and again in the month of April 2019, the company remains on track to deliver oil growth of approximately 32% with a year-end oil mix of approximately 26%.

Chesapeake also signaled in its release that approximately 70% of its 2019 forecast production for oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids was hedged as of May 3, 2019. The release included that approximately 70% and 80% of its remaining 2019 forecasted oil and natural gas production at average prices of $58.75 per barrel and $2.83 per thousand cubic feet, respectively. Chesapeake also showed that it has basis protection on approximately 6 million barrels of its remaining projected 2019 Eagle Ford oil production at a premium to West Texas Intermediate of approximately $5.69 per barrel. WTI was last seen trading at $61.62 on Wednesday morning.

Doug Lawler, Chesapeake’s president and chief executive, gave an official statement for the quarter:

We continue to execute on our strategic priorities and once again delivered strong financial and operational results. The encouraging early results from our Brazos Valley business unit, which we now project will be cash flow positive at the asset operating level in 2019, demonstrates our capability to apply our capital and operating efficiency to immediately transform a new asset in our portfolio. We believe we will see significantly more savings in the year ahead as we fully integrate our Brazos Valley operations into Chesapeake. With our transformational oil growth and capital efficiency continuing to improve, our confidence is strong as we drive towards achieving our strategic priorities of meaningful margin enhancement, sustainable free cash flow and a net debt to EBITDAX ratio of two times.

Chesapeake shares were down initially by 4% at $2.68 at the open, but they were last seen up by four cents at $2.82 on Wednesday morning. The stock has a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60, and it previously had a consensus target price of $3.07.

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Stocks were indicated to open higher on Friday after strong bank earnings. The major equity indexes are still up in the double-digit percentages and the S&P 500 remains within striking distance of its all-time highs. Investors should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, April 12, 2019.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at a boutique firm called New Street Research. The firm believes that consensus estimates are too optimistic about upcoming iPhone replacement rates and that the current value is pricing in overly excited estimates on other aspects of the business. The call also came with a $170 price target, which indicates about 15% downside if it proves to be right.

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Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $200 price target at Mizuho. The 52-week range is $117.72 to $172.11, and the consensus target price is $182.64.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, with the valuation taking the price target down to $2.50 from $2.75, as the firm sees a less favorable competitive positioning with Chesapeake versus peers.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $132 from $120 (versus a $120.33 prior close) at Barclays. Microsoft has a 52-week range of $90.28 to $120.85 and a consensus target price of $128.38.

Murphy Oil Inc. (NYSE: MUR) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs. After it closed down 0.2% at $28.59, the stock has a 52-week trading range of $21.51 to $36.53.

Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) was reiterated as Outperform at Wedbush Securities with a $130 price target (versus a $119.94 close). The firm’s channel checks point to a positive first quarter driven by large deals and a growing international contribution from the likes of Latin America and a solid security demand environment and renewals.

Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $22.52 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that Redfin is a residential real estate brokerage with a fundamentally different relationship with technology, and the firm sees it capturing market share in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Smartsheet Inc. (NYSE: SMAR) was started as Buy and assigned a $45 price target (versus a $38.64 close) at Needham. The 52-week range is $13.15 to $33.76, and the consensus target price is $24.50.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was resumed with an Overweight rating and assigned a $137 price target at JPMorgan after the firm unveiled its streaming service starting at $6.99 per month. The analyst call noted that Disney surprised on the upside at its investor meeting by providing more financial disclosures and by revealing a more content-rich streaming service than previously expected.
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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was started with a Neutral rating at Buckingham Research.
• California Resources Corp. (NYSE: CRC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: CRSP) was started with an Outperform rating at Evercore ISI.
• Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.
• Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) was started with an Outperform rating at Evercore ISI.
• LogMeIn Inc. (NASDAQ: LOGM) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at Barclays.
• Sykes Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: SYKE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
• Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. (NYSE: WDR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Apple, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CEMEX, CVS, Eli Lilly, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Incyte, MercadoLibre, U.S. Steel and many more.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles increased by 25 billion cubic feet for the week ending March 29.

Analysts were expecting a storage injection of around 30 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is an injection of 5 billion cubic feet, but last year’s withdrawal totaled 20 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories rose by 23 billion cubic feet in the week ending March 29. The EIA reclassified certain working stocks of natural gas to base stocks last week. The storage build would have been 29 billion cubic feet without the reclassifications.

Natural gas futures for May delivery traded down about two cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.68 per million BTUs, and rose to around $2.70 shortly after the announcement.

For the period between April 11 and April 17, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

A strong spring storm with heavy rain and snow will track across the Midwest today with chilly conditions behind the cold front where lows will drop into the 20s and 30s. The southern US will be very warm to locally hot with highs of 70s to 90s, while mild over the West Coast with mostly 50s to 70s, coolest over the wetter Northwest. Another cool shot will sweep across the northern and central US Sat-Tue with lows of 20s and 30s for stronger national demand, then warming late next week.

[nativounit]

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week, rising to around 13.7% below last year’s level and to 29.6% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.155 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 485 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.640 trillion cubic feet and 183 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.338 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

According to the EIA, natural gas-fired combined-cycle (NGCC) electricity generation capacity surpassed coal-fired capacity last year. As of January, U.S. gas-fired capacity totals 264 gigawatts compared to 243 gigawatts for coal-fired generation. Total natural gas-fired capacity surpassed coal-fired capacity more than 15 years ago, but 2018 marks the first time that NGCC capacity alone has surpassed coal-fired capacity. More efficient NGCC capacity now accounts for about half of total U.S. natural gas-fired capacity.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.5%, at $81.98 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 0.3% to $3.39, in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 0.8% to $99.48. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 0.3%, at $23.68 in a 52-week range of $21.91 to $39.87.
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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles increased by 23 billion cubic feet for the week ending March 29.

Analysts were expecting a storage injection of around 18 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 28 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 29 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 36 billion cubic feet in the week ending March 22.

Natural gas futures for May delivery traded down less than a penny in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.67 per million BTUs, and fell to around $2.64 shortly after the announcement.

[nativounit]

For the period between April 4 and April 10, NatGasWeather.com expects “low” demand and offers the following outlook:

High pressure will cover much of the country through early next week with highs of 50s and 60s across the northern US, locally 70s. The southern US will be warm with highs of 70s and 80s, while slightly cooler exceptions will occur over the West and portions of the Tennessee Valley where weather systems will track through. Areas of showers and cooling will increase across the northern and central US mid and late next week as weather systems sweep through.

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week, rising to around 16.8% below last year’s level and to 30.9% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.130 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 505 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.635 trillion cubic feet and 228 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.358 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

On Wednesday, natural gas prices fell to an all-time low negative level of −$3.38 per million BTUs at the Waha Hub in the Texas panhandle. Gas producers have been paying customers to take gas since March 22, according to a report at Oilprice.com. The plunge was related to constrained pipeline capacity out of the Permian Basin and a glitch at a compression station on Kinder Morgan’s El Paso Natural Gas pipeline.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.8%, at $81.55 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) also traded up about 0.8% to $3.17, in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 0.4% to $93.54. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 1.1%, at $23.24 in a 52-week range of $21.78 to $39.87.
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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 36 billion cubic feet for the week ending March 22.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 43 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 41 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 66 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 47 billion cubic feet in the week ending March 15.

Natural gas futures for May delivery traded up less than a penny in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.71 per million BTUs, and traded essentially flat shortly after the announcement.

For the period between March 28 and April 3, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

Mild conditions will build across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, and Northeast the next few days with highs warming into the 40s to 60s. It will be very warm across the southern US and Mid-Atlantic Coast today and Fri with highs of 70s and 80s for light demand The West and central US will be unsettled but only slightly cool into Saturday before a more impressive cold shot with lows of teens to 30s drops out of Canada and sweeps across the northern, central, and eastern US this weekend through early next week, including cooling Texas and the South. However, warm conditions will again spread across the country late next week.

[nativounit]

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week, rising slightly to around 20.5% below last year’s level but falling to 33.2% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.107 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 551 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.658 trillion cubic feet and 285 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.392 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

This week is the last of the EIA’s official winter withdrawal season. Injection season begins on April 1 and runs through the end of October. Last year, however, injections of new supplies on natural gas into storage were delayed until May, and the United States started the 2018–2019 heating season with stockpiles at a 13-year low. At the end of March 2018, U.S. stockpiles totaled 1.36 trillion cubic feet. A total storage withdrawal of around 64 billion cubic feet over the course of this week would match that level.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.3% to $80.59, in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 1.1%, at $3.16 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 0.4% at $94.95. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 0.2%, at $23.92 in a 52-week range of $21.78 to $39.87.

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Just when it looked as if crude oil prices were going to pull back, suddenly a one-day surge higher of 2.4% ($1.40) has taken oil back above $60 per barrel. With each barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude hitting $60.22, this is allowing oil to yet again challenge highs going back to November 2018 when oil was in free fall.

While the OPEC export cuts are keeping supplies tighter than normal, the lack of exports from Venezuela also is taking a toll, even as U.S. exports may run at all-time highs. The move also precedes the weekly EIA oil inventory data due this afternoon.

One additional driver is that institutional investors finally have started to rotate back into energy in recently. Some funds had been exiting fossil fuels and others had avoided them until valuations went far under historic norms. Even earlier in March, short sellers (mostly institutions) had mostly seen decreased short positions as the share prices were rising.

Crude oil has been a boom and a bust for energy stocks. Oil has risen from $46 per barrel at the end of 2018 to over $60 per barrel on last look. It was also up at $75 at the start of last October, before the market meltdown hurt every equity.

The gains have been massive in the top exchange traded funds and leadership stocks year to date as the institutions have bought shares. We have run performance screens using Finviz, and the gains do include dividends, if the dividends have been paid.

Year-to-date gains are 14% in the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA: XLE). And despite the outperformance of 2019, it is still down about 2.5% from a year ago. This is the largest of the major oil and gas ETF. With shares at $66.59 on Tuesday, it has a 52-week trading range of $53.36 to $79.42. Over the past five years, it has a broader range of just under $56 to a high of $100.

The ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas (NYSEARCA: DIG) ETF was up 3.3% at $31.35 on Tuesday, up a sharp 30% so far in 2019 alone, and that’s still down almost 10% from a year ago.

In the oilfield services sector, there is the VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEARCA: OIH). Its shares were up almost 2% at $17.23 on Tuesday, and that’s still down about 2% from last week. Its new multiyear low during the selling carnage went down to $13.13, and that is down from a 52-week high of $29.87. This fund is up 20.5% so far in 2019 but it is down about 30% from this time a year ago.

The Alerian MLP ETF (NYSEARCA: AMLP) is the largest of the ETFs tracking master limited partnerships (MLPs), and it is up 14% so far in 2019. But that’s up only about 6% from this time a year ago. Trading 1% higher at $10.06 on Tuesday, this was marginally higher last week, and the 52-week range is $8.27 to $11.41. Its last dividend gave it a current 7.7% dividend yield, but that payout changes as the underlying MLPs see payout changes.

The InfraCap MLP ETF (NYSEARCA: AMZA) is a smaller ETF tracking MLPs, and its shares were last seen up 1.1% at $5.99, in a 52-week range of $4.71 to $8.18. This ETF is still down by 15% from this time a year ago.

The Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: VDE) was seen up 1.7% at $89.88 on Tuesday, and its gain of 14.6% so far in 2019 pales against a 4% loss from this time a year ago.

The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEARCA: XOP) was last seen up 2.3% at $30.77 on Tuesday. That is up almost 14% so far in 2019, and it is down by 13% from a year ago.

And the iShares Global Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: IXC) was last seen up 14% so far in 2019, and it is basically flat compared with a year ago.

To look at the major movers inside the top energy ETFs and funds, here are the year-to-date gains seen by some of the top energy sector leaders:

• Baker Hughes: 27%
• Chesapeake Energy: 48%
• Chevron: 13%
• Exxon: 17%
• Hess: 47%
• Occidental: 6%
• Schlumberger: 18%
• Kinder Morgan: 31%
• Enterprise Products: 18%

24/7 Wall St. would remind investors that it can be a painful game just chasing performance for the sake of chasing today’s and yesterday’s winners. That said, momentum investors have done well here, and the institutional buying may not abate if energy prices keep heading higher. These gains are happening while the commodity is at the highest price since last November.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 47 billion cubic feet for the week ending March 15.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 45 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 56 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 87 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 204 billion cubic feet in the week ending March 8.

Natural gas futures for April delivery traded down about a penny in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.81 per million BTUs, and traded essentially flat shortly after the announcement.

[nativounit]

For the period between March 21 and March 27, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

A weather system will track across the Northeast today and Friday with rain, snow, and chilly lows of 20s and 30s. The southern US will be mild to warm with highs of 60s to 80s, while mild across the western and central US with highs of 40s to 60s. After a brief break across the Midwest and Northeast late this weekend, another cold front is expected Tue-Wed with a swing back to strong demand as lows drop into the teens to 30s.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week, falling to around 21.6% below last year’s level and to 32.7% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.143 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 556 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.699 trillion cubic feet and 315 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.458 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Next week is the last of the EIA’s official winter withdrawal season. Injection season begins in April and runs through October. Last year, however, injections of new supplies on natural gas into storage were delayed until May, and the United States started the 2018–2019 heating season with stockpiles at a 13-year low. At the end of March 2018, U.S. stockpiles totaled 1.36 trillion cubic feet. A total storage withdrawal of 100 billion cubic feet over the next two weeks would match that level.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down less than 0.1%, at $81.27 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 1.2%, at $3.22 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 0.9% to $95.01. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Also, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 0.9%, at $24.75 in a 52-week range of $21.65 to $39.87.

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It is important to understand that the stock market really is a market full of stocks. Index weightings change over time, and many sectors and their underlying stocks outperform or underperform the broader market indexes handily over time. One sector that had been a perpetual underperformer of the great bull market has been the energy sector.

It’s easy to point a finger at energy companies sometimes. The oil and gas leaders tend to trade as a group, and if they win from higher energy prices many consumers have sacrifice spending on non-energy spending. That’s one theory at least.

One issue that has been a continued weight around the sector is that some funds and some investors have started to turn their back completely on fossil fuels and energy that is not considered to be renewable or cleaner than gasoline and the like.

The Dow Jones industrials were last seen up 11% so far in 2019 and up about 4% from a year ago. The S&P 500 was up even more so far in 2019, with a gain of 13%, but that’s about 3% higher than this time last year.

[nativounit]

In the theory that a rising tide lifts all ships, energy is outperforming the broader market at this time, with year-to-date gains of 15.5% in the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA: XLE). And despite the outperformance of 2019, it is still down almost 2% from a year ago.

The exchange traded fund is the largest of the major oil and gas ones. With shares at $66.50 on Wednesday, it has a 52-week range of $53.36 to $79.42. Over the past five years, it has a broader range of just under $56 with a high of $100.

Crude oil has been a boom and a bust for energy stocks. Oil has risen from $46 per barrel at the end of 2018 to almost $60 per barrel on last look. It was also up at $75 at the start of October, before the market meltdown hurt every equity.

More energy ETFs are looking strong as well. The ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas (NYSEARCA: DIG) ETF is up a sharp 33% so far in 2019 alone, and that’s still down almost 9% from a year ago.

The Alerian MLP ETF (NYSEARCA: AMLP) is the largest of the ETFs tracking master limited partnerships (MLPs), and it is up 15% so far in 2019 but up just about 2% from a year earlier. At $10.12, it is back above $10 and has a 52-week range of $8.27 to $11.41. Its last dividend gave it a current 7.7% dividend yield, but that payout changes as the underlying MLPs see payout changes.

There is a smaller ETF in the MLP sector, the InfraCap MLP ETF (NYSEARCA: AMZA). A Finviz screen showed that it was up 21% so far in 2019 but still down over 17% from a year ago.

In the oilfield services sector, there is the VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEARCA: OIH). Its shares were back up at $17.55, after hitting a 52-week low and multiyear low of $13.13. Its 52-week high is $29.87 — just to show how ugly that group was doing. Its gain of 24% so far in 2019 is much stronger than most energy ETFs, but it is also still down about 28% from this time a year ago.

The Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: VDE) was seen up almost 17% so far in 2019, but it was still down over 2% from this time last year.

The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEARCA: XOP) was last seen up almost 14% so far in 2019, and that is still down 12% from a year ago.

And the iShares Global Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: IXC) was last seen up 16% so far in 2019, and up just 1% from a year ago.

It’s never a good strategy to just chase performance for the sake of chasing today’s and yesterday’s winners. That said, there has been some rekindled interest in the oil and gas leaders of late and this sort of buying requires major institutional buying of the shares to see gains of this sort.

Just don’t keep your eye off of the price of oil. These gains are happening while the commodity is at the highest price since last November.

To look at the major movers inside the top energy ETFs and funds, here are the gains seen by some of the top energy sector leaders:

• Baker Hughes — up 29% YTD
• Chesapeake Energy — up 50% YTD
• Chevron — up 15% YTD
• ExxonMobil — up 18% YTD
• Hess — up 43% YTD
• National Oilwell Varco — up 9% YTD
• Occidental — up 8% YTD
• Schlumberger — up 20% YTD
• Kinder Morgan — up 30% YTD
• Enterprise Products — up 17% YTD

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) had a strong Monday, and its shares opened higher again on Tuesday after a positive analyst report from Raymond James. The firm’s James Freeman has reiterated his Outperform rating and raised his target price to $4.50 from $4.00.

The move follows a crude oil rally that has gone to a 2019 high, after a poor performance in much of the fourth quarter of 2018. This new target for Chesapeake implies upside of over 40%.

Freeman does not yet see positive cash flows in 2019, with the report noting that the oil and gas player likely is going to “modestly outspend cash flow in 2019.” Still, Freeman does see Chesapeake as having a good chance of being roughly cash flow neutral in 2020 while the company continues to pay down its debt.

In a prior report this year, Freeman had praised Chesapeake for eliminating three of its rigs in the Haynesville shale play as a means to curb negative cash flows and for looking at further divestiture opportunities to be better focused.

[nativounit]

Crude oil futures traded up 0.5% at $59.37 early Tuesday and were at the highest levels since mid-November.

Chesapeake shares closed up 6% at $3.15 on Monday, and the stock was open up more than 6% at $3.35 early Tuesday. Its 52-week range is $1.71 to $5.60, and the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) consensus target price was $3.09 ahead of this call.

Chesapeake shares already had risen 50% so far in 2019, versus year-to-date gains of about 13% for the S&P 500 and almost 30% for crude oil.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 204 billion cubic feet for the week ending March 8.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 210 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 99 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 88 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 149 billion cubic feet in the week ending March 1.

Natural gas futures for April delivery traded up about two cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.83 per million BTUs, and traded essentially flat shortly after the announcement.

For the period between March 14 and March 20, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

Temperatures will be warm across the S. Great Lakes and East the next couple days with highs of 50s to 70°F for Chicago today and NYC Friday. The southern US and Mid-Atlantic Coast will be spring-like with highs of 60s to 80s for very light demand. A strong storm continues across the Midwest/central US with rain and snow, but with only modest cooling. The West remains unsettled but warming. Colder weather systems will arrive East of the Rockies this weekend through next week with lows of 10s to 30s for strong demand.

[nativounit]

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week, falling to around 23.2% below last year’s level and to 32.4% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.186 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 569 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.755 trillion cubic feet and 359 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.545 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.1%, at $80.79 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 2.0%, at $3.08 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 0.8% to $89.30. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 0.5% to $25.00, in a 52-week range of $21.65 to $39.87.

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After the strong start to the year, the momentum in the big U.S. stock indexes began to slow late in February. Trade concerns and fears of inflation or another recession lingered, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before Congress, the earnings reporting season wound down, and even Warren Buffett himself had a bad day just ahead of the release of his highly anticipated annual letter.

Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the February 15 and February 28 settlement dates, those sellers were cautious overall, as moves were mixed and generally modest. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was the standout among the top six, with a sizable reduction in the number of its shares short. Further down list, short sellers piled on rival Eli Lilly, and GE also had a notable decline.

Note that all the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks had readings of more than 100 million shares as of the most recent settlement date.

Chesapeake Energy
> Shares short: More than 204.35 million
> Change from prior period: −0.1%
> Percentage of float: 18.2

After a sizable decline in the previous period, the short sellers took a breather on Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) in the latter half of February. That figure is down from the more than 235 million shares short posted at the end of January. At the daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it still would take about four days to cover all short positions.

Chesapeake posted better-than-expected quarterly results and an upbeat forecast during the period. The stock ended those two weeks almost 15% higher, most of that gain in the last couple of days of the month. The S&P 500 saw a gain of a little more than 1% between the settlement dates.

The stock dropped more than 13% in the past week and ended Monday at $2.75 a share. That is still around 31% higher year to date. Chesapeake Energy shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 apiece and as low as $1.71 each over the past year.

[nativounit]

Pfizer
> Shares short: Around 138.18 million
> Change from prior period: −11.4%
> Percentage of float: 2.4

This notable decline only reclaimed a little of the almost 265% rise in the previous period to by far the greatest level of short interest at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) so far this year. At the end of January, less than 43 million shares were short. And at the daily average volume on the most recent settlement date, it would take about six days for short sellers to cover their positions.

Pfizer has been considered one of the best dividend stocks for retirees to own. By the end of the final two weeks of February, the share price had risen about 2%, though it had been up nearly 3% at one point in the period. The shares have continued to retreat since the end of the short interest period.

The stock closed Monday’s trading at $41.50 a share, after pulling back more than 3% in the past week. Pfizer’s 52-week low of $34.32 was seen last spring, and the 52-week high of $46.47 was from this past December. Shares are down about 5% year to date.

Rite Aid
> Shares short: More than 126.48 million
> Change from prior period: +1.0%
> Percentage of float: 11.9

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) jumped a couple of spots on the most shorted NYSE stocks list despite this marginal gain. The latest reading was the greatest number of shares short so far this year. At the daily average volume during the most recent period, it would take about 15 days for investors to cover all short positions.

Rite Aid recently said it plans a reverse stock split in order to avoid being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The share price had given up about 8% by the latest settlement date, though it had been down more than 9% at one point. The stock retreated further after the end of the month.

The shares closed most recently at about $0.69 apiece, which is less than 3% lower than at the start of the year. They have changed hands as low as $0.60 and as high as $2.12 apiece in the past 52 weeks, with that low posted just after last Christmas.

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J.C. Penney
> Shares short: Over 119.47 million
> Change from prior period: +5.7%
> Percentage of float: 39.6%

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) also climbed the most-shorted list during the latest two-week period. This gain ended five straight periods of shrinking short interest. It would take about seven days for sellers to cover their short positions after the latest daily average trading volume surged to a year-to-date high.

This struggling retailer posted mixed quarterly results and announced more store closures last month. Its share price spiked more than 25% late in the period but ended the month with a gain of less than 17%. The stock regained its moment after the beginning of this month.

In the past week, the shares are up 14% more and closed most recently at $1.81 apiece. That is around 74% higher year to date. The 52-week low, which was seen late last year, was $0.92, while the 52-week high of $3.54 was reached last April.

Snap
> Shares short: Nearly 117.31 million
> Change from prior period: −8.2%
> Percentage of float: 17.8

Despite this shrinkage in the number of its shares short, Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) stayed put in its spot on the most shorted list in the most recent period. And it followed a nearly 12% decline in this social media and camera company’s short interest in the prior period. At the end-of-month daily average trading volume, it would take about four days for investors to cover all short positions.

The company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results early last month. The shares ended the latest short interest period almost 7% higher, though they had been up more than 12% earlier in those two weeks. The share price increased a bit more after the settlement date.

The shares were last seen trading at $9.96 apiece. That compares to the 52-week low of $4.82 reached back in December. The 52-week high, seen about a year ago, was $18.35 a share. The stock now is up more than 80% since the beginning of the year.

Alibaba
> Shares short: More than 114.73 million
> Change from prior period: +0.5%
> Percentage of float: 4.4

Even with little change in its short interest, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) ticked up this list between the settlement dates. And this was the second highest number of its short shares so far this year. At the daily average trading volume on the most recent settlement date, the days to cover figure was eight, up from less than five in the prior period.

Alibaba and Office Depot have announced a partnership. Short sellers watched Alibaba shares jump more than 8% by the end of the month, with most of the gain coming in the middle of the period. Again, the S&P 500 saw a gain of a little more than 1% during the short interest period.

The stock closed at $ 180.41 a share on Monday, which is down from a multiyear high of $211.70 reached last summer. The 52-week low, seen on Christmas Eve, was $129.77 a share. The stock has gained more than 31% since the beginning of 2019.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY). Like Pfizer in the prior period, peer Eli Lilly rode its own surge in short interest — about 194% — onto the list of the 10 most shorted NYSE stocks. GE dropped out of the top six with the only short interest decline among these four.

Lingering outside the spotlight of the top 10 at the end of February were Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT), Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) and Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S).

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 149 billion cubic feet for the week ending March 1.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 140 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 109 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 57 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 166 billion cubic feet in the week ending February 22.

Natural gas futures for April delivery traded up about a penny in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.86 per million BTUs, and traded at $2.85 shortly after the announcement.

For the period between March 7 and March 13, NatGasWeather.com expects “high” demand and offers the following outlook:

Frigid cold continues across much of the central, northern and eastern US with lows again into the -10s to 20s, but with temperatures now moderating to close the week. The southern US continues to rapidly warm with highs the next several days being spring-like and in the 60s to 80s. The West remains cool and unsettled as weather systems bring rain and snow. After a mild break across the Great Lakes and Northeast this weekend, a new cold shot will sweep through early next week followed by rapid warming mid-week.

[nativounit]

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week, falling to around 14.9% below last year’s level and to 25% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.390 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 464 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.854 trillion cubic feet and 243 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.633 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to this latest report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.5%, at $79.67 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 0.2%, at $2.98 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 0.6% to $91.35. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded flat at $25.10, in a 52-week range of $21.65 to $39.87.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 166 billion cubic feet for the week ending February 22.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of between 160 and 179 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 104 billion cubic feet and last year’s withdrawal totaled 85 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 177 billion cubic feet in the week ending February 15.

Natural gas futures for April delivery traded up about a penny in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.82 per million BTUs and dipped to around $2.80 within an hour.

[nativounit]

For the period between February 28 and March 6, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

Mostly mild conditions for the Ohio Valley and East the next few days with highs reaching the 40s and 50s. It will remain warm across the southern US & Mid-Atlantic Coast into the weekend with highs of 60s to 80s, then cooling this weekend into next week. The West will be cool and stormy as weather systems bring rain and snow. Finally, frigid cold across the Plains will spread south and east this weekend through next week w/lows of -20s to 20s, 20s and 30s into Texas portions of the southern US for very strong national demand.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week, falling to around 9.1% below last year’s level and to 21.6% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.539 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 424 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.963 trillion cubic feet and 154 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.693 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers are reacting to today’s report:

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down about 0.5% at $79.09 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 1% at $2.93 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 1% at $94.11. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

The United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEArca: UNG) traded up about 0.2% at $24.79 in a 52-week range of $21.65 to $39.87.

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As February began, the federal government shutdown was over and the January employment report was stronger than expected, but ongoing concerns about trade and fears of a recession lingered. It was also a time when bond king Bill Gross retired, high-profile CEO Jeff Bezos revealed a politically motivated blackmail scheme, and the empire he founded abandoned plans to build a second headquarters in New York City.

Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the January 31 and February 15 settlement dates, those sellers were shifting priorities, as moves were mixed with some swings quite sizable. The stock still at the top of the list, Chesapeake Energy, led the decliners, but the biggest swing was the more than 200% gain in the number of Pfizer shares short. It and Encana both pushed their way up the list.

Note that all the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks had readings of more than 100 million shares as of the most recent settlement date.

Chesapeake Energy
> Shares short: More than 204.57 million
> Change from prior period: −13.7%
> Percentage of float: 18.2

This decline ended three consecutive increases in the number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short. The end of January figure was the greatest level of short interest in the past year. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about four days to cover all the short positions.

Natural gas inventories shrank less than expected and Chesapeake shares retraced earlier gains during the short interest period. The stock ended those two weeks about 9% lower, though they had been down almost 20% at one point. The S&P 500 saw a gain of less than 3% between the settlement dates.

The stock popped almost 6% in the past week and ended Wednesday at $2.90 a share. That is around 31% higher year to date. Chesapeake Energy shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 apiece and as low as $1.71 each over the past year.

[nativounit]

Pfizer
> Shares short: More than 155.95 million
> Change from prior period: +264.8%
> Percentage of float: 2.7

This was by far the greatest level of short interest at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) so far this year. In the previous period, less than 43 million shares were short. At the daily average volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about seven days for short sellers to cover their positions.

Pfizer has been considered one of the best dividend stocks for retirees to own. By the end of the first two weeks of February, the share price had retreated around 1%, though it had been down almost 4% earlier in the period. Again, the S&P 500 managed a gain of less than 3% between the settlement dates.

The stock closed Wednesday’s trading at $42.93 a share, after rising more than 2% in the past week. Pfizer’s 52-week low of $34.32 was seen last spring, and the 52-week high of $46.47 was from this past December. Shares are still down less than 2% year to date.

EnCana
> Shares short: Over 149.81 million
> Change from prior period: +36.0%
> Percentage of float: n/a

The strong run of short interest in the past few periods lifted EnCana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) to number three on the list by the mid-February settlement date. The most recent reading is about double the number of shares short at the beginning of the year. And it would take about three days for sellers to cover their short positions after the latest daily average trading volume increased.

This Canadian energy producer remains a top pick at Merrill Lynch. EnCana’s share price pulled back more than 14% but then almost entirely recovered by the end of the two-week period. The stock climbed a bit further after that.

The shares pulled back fractionally in the past week and closed most recently at $6.89 apiece. That is still more than 19% higher year to date. The 52-week low, which was seen late last year, was $5.00, while the 52-week high of $14.28 was reached last August.

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Snap
> Shares short: Nearly 127.78 million
> Change from prior period: −11.9%
> Percentage of float: 21.6

This shrinkage in the number of its shares short allowed Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) to slip a couple of places on the list. The prior figure was the highest level of social media and camera company’s short interest in at least a year. At the mid-month daily average trading volume, it would take about three days for investors to cover all short positions.

The company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results between the settlement dates. The shares ended the latest short interest period more than 34% higher, almost all that gain coming in the wake of the earnings report.

The shares were last seen trading at $9.81 apiece. That compares to the 52-week low of $4.82 reached back in December. The 52-week high, seen almost a year ago, was $18.51 a share. The stock now is up more than 77% since the start of the year.

General Electric
> Shares short: Almost 125.96 million
> Change from prior period: +7.5%
> Percentage of float: 1.5

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) also slipped down the list despite the gain in the number of its short shares in the first two weeks of this month. Note that the previous reading was the lowest level of short interest since last September. At the daily average trading volume on the most recent settlement date, the days to cover remained at less than one.

We recently identified GE as a “fallen angel” stock with huge upside potential. The shares ended the two weeks about 10% higher, though it had been up over 13% earlier in the period. In the initial two weeks of this month, the Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 3%.

GE’s shares were closed at $10.88 on Wednesday, which is up from a multiyear low of $6.40 reached in the first half of December. The 52-week high, seen last spring, was $14.99 a share. The stock has gained more than 49% since the beginning of 2019.

Rite Aid
> Shares short: More than 125.29 million
> Change from prior period: +12.5%
> Percentage of float: 11.9

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) returns to the top six most shorted NYSE stocks with this notable gain. The latest reading was the greatest number of shares short so far this year. At the daily average volume during the most recent period, it would take about 10 days for investors to cover all short positions.

Rite Aid plans a reverse stock split in order to avoid being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Short sellers watched its share price bounce from down more than 8% to up over 3% but end by the latest settlement date only fractionally lower. The stock has retreated since then.

It closed most recently at about $0.76 a share, which is around 31% lower than 90 days ago. The shares have changed hands as low as $0.60 and as high as $2.12 apiece in the past 52 weeks, with that low posted just after last Christmas.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP), CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Alibaba is the only one of these that saw an increase in short interest in those two weeks. CenturyLink is the only one that was not in the top six in the prior period.

Lingering outside the spotlight of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks was Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) and Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT).

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 results before markets opened Tuesday morning. For the quarter, the oil and gas exploration and production company posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.49 on revenues of $3.07 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.33 on revenues of $2.52 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to consensus estimates for EPS of $0.19 and $2.3 billion in revenues.

For the full year, Chesapeake reported EPS of $0.85 and revenues of $10.23 billion, compared to 2017 EPS of $0.90 and revenues of $9.5 billion. Analysts were looking for $0.83 in EPS and revenues of $9.53 billion.

CEO Doug Lawler commented:

We have also materially improved our financial leverage and significantly reduced our obligations, commitments and complexity. Our 2018 accomplishments of 10 percent adjusted oil growth, improved realizations and lower absolute cash costs compared to 2017 resulted in the highest EBITDA generated per boe for Chesapeake since 2014, when oil averaged more than $90 per barrel and gas averaged more than $4 per thousand cubic feet.

[nativounit]

Lower costs, higher realized prices and higher production, that’s a formula that can’t be beaten, and Chesapeake expects to continue to improve in those three areas again this year. The company’s outlook calls for oil production growth of 32% to a range of 116,000 to 122,000 barrels a day and to account for 26% of total oil and gas production by the end of this year, up from 21% in 2018.

Chesapeake also expects to wring out another $200 million in cash costs this year. That reduction is expected to add 12% to 15% to EBITDA per barrel of oil equivalent, building on its $12.81 EBITDA per barrel total for last year. The company also expects capital spending to be relatively flat compared with a 2018 total of $2.39 billion.

Analysts have estimated that first-quarter EPS will come in at $0.15 on revenues of $2.2 billion. For the full year, analysts expect EPS of $0.59 and $9.42 billion in revenues. There will be some changes made soon to these numbers.

The combination of better-than-expected results with a massively upbeat forecast has warmed investors’ hearts. Shares traded up about 9% shortly after the opening bell at $2.87, above the prior 52-week range of $1.71 to $2.67. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock was $2.96 before results were announced.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 177 billion cubic feet for the week ending February 15.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 170 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 148 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 134 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 78 billion cubic feet in the week ending February 8.

Natural gas futures for March delivery traded up nearly four cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.67 per million BTUs, and popped to around $2.69 after the report was released.

[nativounit]

For the period between February 14 and February 20, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

Conditions will warm across the Ohio Valley, and Northeast the next few days with highs into the 40s and 50s but also with rain and snow along a frontal boundary between cold central US air and warming Eastern US air. The West will be cool to cold as weather systems track through. Mild high pressure will dominate the South & Mid-Atlantic Coast Thu-Sun with highs of 60s to 80s, warmest over the Southeast. Stronger cold shots will sweep across the northern and central US late next week.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week, falling to around 4.1% below last year’s level and to 17.5% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.705 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 362 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.067 trillion cubic feet and 73 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.778 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers are reacting to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down about 0.8%, at $77.92 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 4.4%, at $2.63 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 2.9% to $95.94. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Also, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 1.8% at $24.00 in a 52-week range of $21.65 to $39.87.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 78 billion cubic feet for the week ending February 8.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 84 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 160 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 183 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 237 billion cubic feet in the week ending February.

Natural gas futures for March delivery traded down about a penny in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.59 per million BTUs, and dipped to around $2.58 after the report was released.

[nativounit]

For the period between February 14 and February 20, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

Mild conditions with highs of 40s and 50s will return across the S. Great Lakes to Northeast Thu-Fri. The West will be cool to cold with areas of heavy rain and snow. The southern US will be warm with highs of 60s to 80s, although cooling Sun-Tue. This weekend through Wed will be quite chilly as cold air sweeps across much of the country with lows of -10s to 20s North and 20s to 40s over the South. Late next week, mild high pressure will build across the southern and eastern US with highs of 50s to 80s returning, warmest over the South.

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week, rising to just 1.6% below last year’s level and to 15% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.882 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 333 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.215 trillion cubic feet and 30 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 1.912 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.2%, at $76.43 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 0.8%, at $2.51 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 0.4%, at $97.14. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 0.6%, at $23.04 in a 52-week range of $21.61 to $39.87.

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After a rough fourth quarter, with a particularly brutal December, things seemed to be looking up for stock investors in the new year, even with the bull market nearing 10 years old and economic numbers somewhat shaky. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the January 15 and January 31 settlement dates, those sellers were shifting priorities, as moves were mixed but some swings quite sizable.

Among stocks at the top of the list, Bank of America and General Electric led the decliners with double-digit percentage downswings. On the other hand, short sellers moved on Ford and CenturyLink in a big way.

Note that all the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks had readings of more than 100 million shares as of the most recent settlement date.

Chesapeake Energy
> Shares short: More than 236.98 million
> Change from prior period: +6.4%
> Percentage of float: 26.5

After two consecutive surges in the number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short, this further gain kept this oil and gas company in its spot at the top of the list. This was the greatest level of short interest in the past year. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about six days to cover all the short positions.

Natural gas inventories helped reverse the year-to-date uptrend in Chesapeake shares during the short interest period. The share price rose almost 6% but ended those two weeks with a gain of only about 1%. The S&P 500 saw a gain of more than 4% between the settlement dates.

The stock has retreated since the end of January, and it ended Monday at $2.40 a share. That still is around 10% higher year to date. Chesapeake Energy shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 apiece and as low as $1.71 each over the past year.

[nativounit]

Snap
> Shares short: More than 144.97 million
> Change from prior period: +4.1%
> Percentage of float: 25.2

Another modest gain in the number of its shares short was enough to lift Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) into second place on the list. And this was the highest level of social media and camera company’s short interest in at least a year. At the end-of-month daily average trading volume, it would take about six days for investors to cover all short positions.

The stock received an analyst upgrade in wake of news of the retirement of its chief financial officer. The shares ended the latest settlement period more than 3% higher, but this was after being down nearly 13% around the time of that management change announcement.

The shares were last seen trading at $8.99 apiece. That compares to the 52-week low of $4.82 reached back in December. The 52-week high, seen about a year ago, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is up about 58% since the start of the year.

General Electric
> Shares short: More than 117.19 million
> Change from prior period: −22.5%
> Percentage of float: 1.4

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) dropped to third place, by just one spot despite the plunge in the number of its short shares in the latter two weeks of last month. Note that this was the lowest level of short interest since last September. The daily average trading volume shrank somewhat during the latest period, but the days to cover remained at less than one.

GE posted disappointing quarterly results at the end of the month. Yet, the shares ended the two weeks more than 15% higher, with most of that gain coming after the release of the earnings report. In the latter two weeks of last month, the Dow Jones industrial average rose almost 5%.

GE’s shares were last seen trading at $10.03, which is up from a multiyear low of $6.66 reached in the first half of December. The 52-week high, seen last spring, was $15.59 a share. The stock has gained more than 26% since the beginning of 2019.

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J.C. Penney
> Shares short: More than 114.60 million
> Change from prior period: −4.5%
> Percentage of float: 38.1

That was the lowest number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short since last March. It would take about 20 days for sellers to cover their short positions after the latest daily average trading volume was cut nearly in half. Note that this stock had topped the most shorted NYSE stocks list back in November.

The question now is whether this struggling retailer can avoid going the way that rival Sears has done. J.C. Penney’s share price ended those two weeks marginally lower, having recovered from about a 9% decline during the interval. That recovery has not stuck, though.

The stock pulled back more than 6% in the past week and closed most recently at $1.26 a share. That is still more than 11% higher year to date. The 52-week low, which was seen late last year, was $0.92, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached almost a year ago.

Bank of America
> Shares short: More than 113.61 million
> Change from prior period: −14.2%
> Percentage of float: 1.2

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) drops one spot down the most shorted NYSE stock list for the third period in a row. The latest reading was the smallest number of shares short since last July. After a notable increase in the daily average volume during the most recent period, it would take about one day to cover all short positions.

This North Carolina-based financial giant posted fourth-quarter results last month that were better than some of its peers. Short sellers watched its share price increase more than 13% but end up with a gain of less than 9% by the latest settlement date. The stock rose a bit more immediately after.

However, the stock closed most recently at $28.41 a share, after retreating marginally in the past week. The shares have changed hands between $22.66 and $33.05 apiece in the past 52 weeks, with that low posted back on Christmas Eve.

Alibaba
> Shares short: More than 112.70 million
> Change from prior period: −3.3%
> Percentage of float: 4.4

This was a retreat from the greatest level of short interest at Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) since last August in the previous period. And it ended three consecutive periods in which the daily average volume had decreased. So as of the end of January, it would take about six days for short sellers to cover their positions.

Strong cloud computing revenue growth helped the most recent quarterly results from this Chinese e-commerce giant. The share price ended the final two weeks of January more than 7% higher, boosted late on the period by the earnings report.

The stock closed Friday’s trading at $167.45 a share. That is over 22% higher than at the beginning of the year. The 52-week low of $129.77 was seen during the Christmas Eve sell-off, and the 52-week high of $211.70 was from last June.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD), Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL). Each of these saw a gain in the number of its shares short, led by the double-digit percentage increases at Encana (the second in a row) and Ford that lifted them into the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks as of the latest settlement date.

Lingering along with them outside the spotlight of the top 10 were Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET).

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 237 billion cubic feet for the week ending February 1.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 250 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 150 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 116 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 173 billion cubic feet in the week ending January 24.

Natural gas futures for March delivery traded down nearly seven cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.60 per million BTUs, and it rose to about $2.62 afterward.

For the period between January 24 and January 30, NatGasWeather.com expects “high” demand and offers the following outlook:

Cold air over the Plains will spread into Texas and across the Midwest today and Friday with a wintery mess of precipitation. Temperatures behind the core of the cold front will drop into the -10s to 20s, but also with teens to 30s into Texas and the South. It will be mild for one more day over the East with highs of 50s to 80s, although rapidly cooling Fri-Sat as the Midwest front arrives. The West will be unsettled and cool to cold. A mild break will return across the southern and eastern US early next week before another cold front arrives late in the week.

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Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week and fell to 6.4% below last year’s level and to 17.5% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 1.960 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 415 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.375 trillion cubic feet and 135 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 2.095 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to this report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down about 1.2%, at $74.38 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 5.8%, at $2.45 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down 4.4% to $91.92. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Also, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 3.5%, at $23.03 in a 52-week range of $21.56 to $39.87.

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After one of the most brutal Decembers for stock investors in many years, we turned the calendar page on a new year. While the volatility did not go away, the markets have seen some solid gains since the Christmas Eve lows. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the December 31 and January 15 settlement dates, those sellers were looking for direction, as the short interest moves were mixed and mostly mild.

The stock at the top of the list, Chesapeake Energy, bucked the trend with another sizable increase in the number of its shares short during the two-week period. On the other hand, Bank of America and Ford led the short interest decliners in that time.

Note that the five most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 115 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, all but one of the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.

Chesapeake Energy
> Shares short: More than 222.63 million
> Change from prior period: +21.1%
> Percentage of float: 24.9

With the second such surge in the number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short, this oil and gas company affirmed its spot at the top of the list. The last time short interest was more than 200 million was last April. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about four days to cover all the short positions.

Chesapeake released preliminary 2018 figures during earlier this month and investors were pleased. Its share price rose more than 40% in the two weeks, much of that gain coming after the announcement. The S&P 500 saw a gain of around 6% in that period.

The stock has retreated since the settlement date, and it ended Friday at $2.78 a share. That still is more than 32% higher year to date. Shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 and as low as $1.71 in the past year.

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General Electric
> Shares short: More than 151.27 million
> Change from prior period: −0.5%
> Percentage of float: 1.8

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) stayed into second place despite little change in the number of its short shares in the initial two weeks of this month. Note that the prior figure was the highest level of short interest since last March. The daily average trading volume shrank somewhat during the latest period, but the days to cover remained at less than one.

GE was one of several companies that seemed to be struggling to survive in 2019. Yet, the shares ended the two weeks more than 16% higher, though it had been up more than 20% earlier in the period. In the first two weeks of this year, the Dow Jones industrial average rose about 5%.

GE’s shares were last seen trading at $9.16, which is up from a multiyear low of $6.66 reached last month. The 52-week high, from almost a year ago, was $16.43 a share. The stock has gained about 21% since the beginning of 2019.

Snap
> Shares short: More than 139.28 million
> Change from prior period: +2.2%
> Percentage of float: 24.2

That modest gain in the number of its shares short was enough to lift Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) into third place on the list. And it was the highest level of the social media and camera company’s short interest since November. At the mid-month daily average trading volume, it would take about nine days for investors to cover all short positions.

The stock was downgraded by Goldman Sachs and others but upgraded by Cowen in the first two weeks of this month. The shares ended the latest settlement period more than 19% higher, though they pulled back immediately afterward.

The shares were last seen changing hands at $6.40. That compares to the 52-week low of $4.82 reached a little more than a month ago. The 52-week high, seen almost a year ago, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is up around 16% year to date.

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Bank of America
> Shares short: More than 132.40 million
> Change from prior period: −8.2%
> Percentage of float: 1.4

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) drops one spot down the most shorted NYSE stock list for the second period in a row. The latest reading was the smallest number of shares short since last November. After a notable decrease in the daily average volume during the most recent period, it would take about two days to cover all short positions.

Bank of America was one of the banks recently identified as receiving the most customer complaints last year. Short sellers watched its share price increase more than 9% by the latest settlement date and keep rising afterward.

The stock closed most recently at $29.58 a share, after climbing around 20% since the start of the year. The shares have changed hands between $22.66 and $33.05 apiece in the past 52 weeks, with that low seen on Christmas Eve.

J.C. Penney
> Shares short: More than 120.05 million
> Change from prior period: −1.8%
> Percentage of float: 39.9

That was the lowest number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short since last April. It would take about 10 days for sellers to cover their short positions at the latest daily average trading volume. Note that this stock had topped the most shorted NYSE stocks list back in November.

This struggling retailer is poised to shutter more stores this spring, as the new CEO tries to find a way to keep the company afloat. The share price ended those two weeks almost 30% higher, but note that it had been up more than 38% during the interval.

However, the stock pulled back sharply afterward but has recovered and closed most recently at $1.35 a share. That is nearly 30% higher year to date. The 52-week low, seen late last month, was $0.92, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached early last year.

Alibaba
> Shares short: More than 116.49 million
> Change from prior period: 1.8%
> Percentage of float: 4.5

This is the greatest level of short interest at Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) since last August. And note that the daily average volume has decreased for three consecutive periods, so as of mid-January it would take about seven days for short sellers to cover their positions.

Some are predicting that the Chinese e-commerce giant will make a large and splashy acquisition in Europe this year. The share price ended the first two weeks of January more than 12% higher, and since then it has continued to rise.

The stock closed Friday’s trading at $159.21 a share. That is about 16% higher than at the first of the month. The 52-week low of $129.77 was seen during the Christmas Eve sell-off, and the 52-week high of $211.70 was reached last June.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) and CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL). The two telecoms rejoined the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks in the most recent period with gains of 8% or so. The other two saw very modest declines in the numbers of their shares short.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY) were the ones that slipped out of the top 10 in this period. Lingering along with them outside the spotlight of the top 10 was Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET). Meanwhile, EnCana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) saw a double-digit percentage gain in the number of its shares short, but yet not enough to get it close to the top 10.

Also note that short sellers piled on Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) — a gain of well more than 200% — between the settlement dates, but so far it remains well outside the top 10.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 163 billion cubic feet for the week ending January 18.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal of around 154 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 185 billion cubic feet and last year’s withdrawal totaled 273 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 81 billion cubic feet in the week ending January 11.

Natural gas futures for March delivery traded up about nine cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $3.01 per million BTUs, and ticked down to around $3.00 after the report was released.

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For the period between January 24 and January 30, NatGasWeather.com expects “high” demand and offers the following outlook:

A mild break will last one more day across the East with highs warming into the 40s to 60s. However, another polar blast currently advancing through the Midwest will sweep through the East Fri-Sat with lows dropping back into the -10s to 20s for very strong demand. A brief break will follow to start next week ahead of the strongest polar blast in the series Tuesday through Friday. The West will see a mix of mild, cool, and cold.

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week from about 2.0% to 1.4% above last year’s level and also rose from about 14.8% to 11.4% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 2.370 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 305 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.675 trillion cubic feet and 33  billion cubic feet above last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 2.337 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down less than 0.1%, at $71.25 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 0.2%, at $2.69 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down 0.1% to $96.50. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Also, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 0.9%, at $26.54 in a 52-week range of $21.56 to $39.87.

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Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday, but Thursday’s soft opening ended up marking another day of gains after Fed Chair Powell spoke and soothed more rate-hike fears. It is important to realize that the Dow Jones industrial average has bounced about 1,300 points from its lows right after the first of the year. Investors have become used to the notion that buying the sell-offs has come with less reward, or even more losses, than in prior years. This has made it more difficult to position assets for the long haul, when there has been so much volatility.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, January 11, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $65 target price (versus a $51.35 prior close) at Stephens.

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Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $4.00 from $3.50 at Raymond James after its solid forecast for production and hedges.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) was maintained as Buy at Argus, but the independent research firm cut its price target to $210 from $260 after a poor earnings result.

DCP Midstream L.P. (NYSE: DCP) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $36 target price (versus a $31.70 close) at Raymond James. It has a consensus target price of $42.21, and the master limited partnership has better than a 10% yield equivalent for its distribution.

Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and its target price was lowered to $69 from $72 (versus a $71.90 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a target price of $120 (versus a $105.78 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $125 target price (versus a $91.01 close) at Stephens.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at Barclays. Shares closed down 3.1% at $25.25 with weaker mall-based retail stocks on Thursday, and they were indicated down another 2.9% at $24.51 on Friday. The consensus target price was $29.50.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $10.50 price target (versus a $9.09 close) at Stephens.

L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) was maintained as Neutral but the price target was lowered to $30 from $36 at Credit Suisse, which noted that the hope for a recovery now looks like it is being pushed out farther.

Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch, but also Deutsche Bank downgraded it to Hold from Buy. After shares closed at $26.81, the consensus target price was still up at $30.50 ahead of the calls.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was maintained as Overweight but the price target was lowered to $430 from $475 at Morgan Stanley. Also, Raymond James raised it to Strong Buy from Outperform and raised the price target to $450 from $435. UBS also raised Netflix to Buy from Neutral with a $410 price target. Netflix closed up 1.5% at $324.66 on Thursday and was indicated up another 1.6% at $330.00 on Friday. Its consensus target price was $389.85 ahead of these calls.

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Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA) was started as Overweight and assigned an $80 target price (versus a $68.84 close) at Piper Jaffray. The consensus target price is $76.06.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was started with a Neutral rating and given a $30 target price at Buckingham Research. RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to Underperform from Sector Perform.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the target price was lowered to $68 from $75 at Goldman Sachs. The firm feels that Starbucks will be the next big company after Apple to warn about its business in China hurting overall results. The stock closed up 0.5% at $64.19 ahead of the call but was indicated down almost 3% at $62.38 after the downgrade, and its consensus target price was $68.64. Shares have traded between $47.37 and $68.98 in the past year.

Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $138 target price (versus a $110.00 close) at Stephens.

Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $72 from $64 (versus a $64.33 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was started with a Neutral rating at Buckingham Research.

Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA) was raised to Outperform from In-Line with a $37 price target (versus a $32.36 close) at Imperial Capital. Viacom has a 52-week range of $27.01 to $40.64.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was reinstated as Neutral with a $160 target price at Credit Suisse. The firm still sees some positives but also sees risk/reward more fairly balanced at current valuations.

Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

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Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the target price was lowered to $76 from $83 at Goldman Sachs. After closing up 0.7% at $91.79 on Thursday, the stock was indicated down 2.2% at $89.76 on Friday. Its consensus target price was $95.00.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $50 target price (versus a $45.41 close) at Piper Jaffray. The consensus target price is $44.04, and the 52-week range is $24.76 to $48.24.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Stephens.

Foundation Building Materials (NYSE: FBM) and BMC Stock Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BMC) both were started with Neutral ratings at Credit Suisse. Despite positive company-specific factors in margin expansion and high free cash flows, the firm sees moderating housing activity and an uncertain macro backdrop to leave the stocks range-bound.

The World Gold Council, which is by its nature and target industry is supposed to be positive about the prospects of gold, issued a very convoluted outlook with the market turmoil and uncertainties clouding its outlook for gold in 2019.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Bed Bath & Beyond, Boeing, Constellation Brands, Dell Technologies, Dollar General, Lockheed Martin, National Oilwell Varco, Snap, Twitter, Yelp and many more.

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December turned out to be one of the most brutal for stock investors in many years. That should have been good news for short sellers, depending on how they had themselves positioned headed into the end of the year. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the December 14 and December 31 settlement dates, those sellers were loading up on a few of their favorites.

Those stocks at the top of the list, Chesapeake Energy and General Electric, saw sizable increases in the numbers of their share short during the two-week period. On the other hand, Bank of America and J.C. Penney had modest declines in their short interest in that time.

Note that the five most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 120 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, all of the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.

Chesapeake Energy

The number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short jumped about 22% in the most recent period, affirming this oil and gas company’s spot at the top of the list. The reported short interest of more than 198.66 million shares represented 22.2% of the total float. The year-to-date peak back in March was over 210 million shares short. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about four days to cover all the short positions.

The volatility and market downturn had Chesapeake hitting new 52-week lows as the year wound down. Its share price dropped almost 25% but then recovered somewhat to end those two weeks a little more than 9% lower. The S&P 500 retreated more than 4% in that time. The stock now trades more than 21% higher than a week ago, and it ended Thursday at $2.73 a share. That still is almost 41% lower over the past 90 days. Shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 and as low as $1.71 in the past year.

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General Electric

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) jumped into second place with around a 9% pop in the number of its short shares in the latter two weeks of last month. Note that it was the highest level of short interest since last March. The more than 152.09 million shares reported most recently represented 1.8% of the conglomerate’s total float. The daily average trading volume grew somewhat during the period, but the days to cover remained at less than one.

Restructuring moves at GE had some wondering if the parts were worth more than the whole. The shares ended the two weeks about 7% higher, despite being up about 12% earlier in the period. In the final two weeks of last month, the Dow Jones industrial average pulled back about 4%. GE’s share price was last seen at $8.94, up from a multiyear low of $6.66 last month. The 52-week high, seen early last year, was $19.39 a share. The stock has lost nearly a third of its value in the past 90 days.

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Bank of America

Bank of America Corp.’s (NYSE: BAC) short interest in the latest two-week period slipped from more than 147.88 million or so shares to almost 144.28 million, allowing the stock to drop down one spot on the list. The most recent reading represented just 1.5% of the financial giant’s total float. At the posted daily average volume as of the end of December, it would take about a day to cover all short positions.

This stock likewise sank to new 52-week lows during the brutal month of December. While its share price ended the latest settlement period with a gain of around 3%, it had been down almost 7% at one point. The stock closed most recently at $25.73 a share, which is down about 12% in the past 90 days. The shares have changed hands between $22.66 and $33.05 apiece in the past 52 weeks, with that low seen on Christmas Eve.

Snap

Holding on to its place the list in the latest period was Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), even though the number of its shares short grow more than 6% in the latter two weeks of December, essentially reclaiming a similar decline in the prior period. The over 136.34 million shares reported most recently represented 23.7% of the social media and camera company’s total float. At the daily average trading volume at the end of the year, it would take about seven days for investors to cover all short positions.

The company lost its second hardware chief in a year back in December. The shares ended the latest settlement period almost 6% lower, though they had been down about 17% before Christmas. The shares were last seen changing hands at $6.22. That compares to the 52-week low of $4.82 reached during the short interest period. The 52-week high, seen almost a year ago, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is down more than 5% in the past 90 days.

J.C. Penney

The number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short decreased more than 2% from the previous settlement date to more than 122.21 million at the end of December. That was a whopping 40.6% of the department store operator’s float, and it would take about 11 days for sellers to cover their short positions at the latest daily average trading volume. Note that this stock had topped the most shorted NYSE stocks list back in November.

This struggling retailer’s shares became a penny stock during the holiday shopping period. Short sellers watched the share price pop about 9% early on but then end the period down nearly 11%. However, the stock has jumped 20% or so this past week and closed most recently at $1.28 a share. That is still about 28% lower than three months ago. The 52-week low, seen in during the period, was $0.92, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached early last year.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT), Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY). The first three in this group saw at least some shrinkage of short interest, while the number of shares short grew for the latter two during the two-week period.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) had a double-digit percentage gain in its short interest and it once again found itself just outside the spotlight of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks. Not far behind it were CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN).

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 91 billion cubic feet for the week ending January 4.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a storage withdrawal in a range of 50 billion to 115 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 182 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 359 billion cubic feet, an all-time record driven by extremely cold weather along the east coast. Natural gas inventories fell by 20 billion cubic feet in the week ending December 28.

Natural gas futures for February delivery traded up about five cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $3.03 per million BTUs, and rose to around $3.06 after the report was released.

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For the period between January 10 and January 16, NatGasWeather.com expects “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

A strong cold front will push across the Great Lakes and Northeast the next several days with lows reaching the 0s to 20s for strong demand. However, much of the rest of the country will be mostly mild with highs of 40s to 70s to counter. Weather systems with rain and snow will track into the West Coast with rain and snow, but with only slight cooling. This weekend into early next week will bring weather systems across the southern and eastern US with rain and snow, followed by warming mid next week.

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week from about 14.3% to 7.2% below last year’s level and also rose from about 17.2% to 15.1% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 2.614 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 464 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.078 trillion cubic feet and 204 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 2.818 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down about 1.2%, at $71.54 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 2.2% to $2.70, in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 06% to $98.58. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 0.8%, at $25.10 in a 52-week range of $21.56 to $39.87.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) shares surged after reporting preliminary data for 2018. What is interesting is that the news of operations might have seen a different reaction back when energy prices were much higher. All in all, Chesapeake’s production was lower, but it was also better than forecast. Chesapeake now plans to run 14 drilling rigs this year, down from a prior level of 18 rigs. Another boost here may be from its hedging activities.

Chesapeake’s news release showed that its estimated average 2018 fourth-quarter production range was approximately 462,000 to 464,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D), and it estimated that its average 2018 fourth-quarter oil production range was approximately 86,000 to 87,000 barrels of oil per day.

Also worth noting was that Chesapeake’s divested Utica oil volumes are said to have been completely replaced by oil volume growth from its Powder River Basin and Eagle Ford Shale plays in the two months after that sale. In the Powder River Basin, it achieved a net production exit rate of approximately 38,500 BOE/D. The company’s Eagle Ford net production averaged roughly 105,000 BOE/D, with about 58% oil, at a rate that was shown to be better than the company had previously expected.

Chesapeake also reported that its estimated 2018 fourth-quarter capital expenditures came to about $545 million, and that includes $50 million of capitalized interest and Utica investments.

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The Utica Shale divestment and its debt refinancing have reduced Chesapeake’s level of roughly $2.6 billion in secured leverage. According to the company, that positions Chesapeake with ample liquidity and no significant near-term debt maturities. That said, the company’s year-end debt balance was roughly $8.2 billion, including $419 million that had been drawn on its revolving credit facility. All in, Chesapeake’s total debt was reduced by approximately $1.8 billion from the end of 2017. The company also showed that it has approximately $2.5 billion of available liquidity under its senior secured revolving credit facility.

Chesapeake also is partially hedged to protect against lower prices. The company confirmed that it had downside protection on approximately 590 billion cubic feet of its forecasted 2019 gas production at $2.85 per thousand cubic feet, and it also has downside protection on approximately 16 million barrels of its projected 2019 oil production at $58.61 per barrel. Its oil basis protection was on approximately 7 million barrels of its forecasted 2019 Eagle Ford oil production at a premium to West Texas Intermediate of more than $6 per barrel.

The company will issue more detailed guidance later in the first quarter and expects to close on its WildHorse Resources merger. Doug Lawler, president and chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy, said of 2018 and the outlook into 2019:

Looking forward to 2019, we are confident in our ability to drive further competitive performance through the quality of our investments and our capital and operating discipline. We have secured a strong hedge position for gas and oil which provides stability and certainty in our cash generating capability. We plan to reduce our 2019 capital expenditures by lowering our rig count by approximately 20 percent, expecting to average 14 rigs versus our current rig count of 18. Further, we expect our capital efficiency to improve in 2019 as total net capital per rig line is projected to decrease by 15 to 20 percent compared to 2018. The improvement in our capital efficiency, along with our focus on our high-margin oil investments, should result in higher operating cash flow and stronger margins in 2019 compared to 2018.

We look forward to consummating the merger with WildHorse Resources and further strengthening our portfolio and competitiveness with another strong oil growth asset. We plan to provide detailed capital guidance for the combined company later in the 2019 first quarter, but at present we anticipate operating four rigs on the WildHorse acreage in 2019. We look forward to further building on our track record of performance in 2019 and are excited to continue demonstrating our leadership and differential competitiveness.

When energy prices are not as strong, sometimes lower production with higher margins is better than just having higher production.

Chesapeake shares were last seen trading up almost 15% at $2.82 on Wednesday, and the trading volume of 50 million shares was already 25% above a normal day’s trading volume in just over the first two hours of the day.

While a one-day price change of 15% is not out of bounds for speculative energy stocks, investors should take notice that Chesapeake’s shares have now recovered a sharp 60% gain from the lows seen just in December.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Friday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 20 billion cubic feet for the week ending December 28.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal in a range of 31 billion to 75 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 121 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 122 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 48 billion cubic feet in the week ending December 21.

Natural gas futures for February delivery traded up about eight cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.98 per million BTUs, and slipped to around $2.95 after the report was released.

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For the period between January 3 and January 10, NatGasWeather.com expects “low to very low” demand and offers the following outlook:

A weather system will track across the Southeast the next few days with areas of rain. The rest of the country will warm into the weekend with highs of 40s and 50s gaining ground across the northern US and 60s and 70s across the southern US. Weather systems will track into the West Coast the next several days with rain, snow, and cooler conditions. The East will become warmer than normal apart from a quick cold shot across New England late Sunday. Next week will be mild over most of the country with light demand until late in the week.

Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week from about 20% to 14.3% below last year’s level and also rose from about 21% to 17.2% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 2.705 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 560 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.265 trillion cubic feet and 450 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.155 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to this latest report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 2.5%, at $70.34 in a 52-week range of $64.65 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 9.2%, at $2.33 in a 52-week range of $1.71 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 3.3% to $92.93. The 52-week range is $82.04 to $133.53.

Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 1.3% to $24.53, in a 52-week range of $21.56 to $39.87.

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December has turned out to be one of the most brutal for stock investors in many years. That should be good news for short sellers, depending on how they had themselves positioned. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the November 30 and December 14 settlement dates, those sellers were loading up on their favorites, particularly the top three on the list.

Note that the three most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 130 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, eight of the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.

Chesapeake Energy

The number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short grew more than 7% in the most recent period, on top of a 10% jump in the late November period. The most recently reported short interest of more than 162.73 million shares represented 18.2% of the total float. The year-to-date peak back in March was over 210 million shares short. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about four days to cover all the short positions.

Chesapeake sank to new 52-week lows this month. Its share price retreated 23% or so across those two weeks, and even more since that time. The stock is trading less than 3% higher than a week ago, and it ended Wednesday at $2.19 a share. That still is down more than 50% over the past 90 days. Shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 and as low as $1.71 in the past year. That low was seen during the Christmas Eve sell-off in the markets.

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Bank of America

Bank of America Corp.’s (NYSE: BAC) short interest in the latest two-week period grew by more than 7% to over 147.88 million, following an 18% surge in the previous period. That lifted it to the number two spot on the list, though the latest reading represented just 1.5% of the total float. As of the middle of December, it would take about two days to cover all short positions at the listed daily average volume.

This stock also was a member of the 52-week low club during the period. Its share price ended the latest settlement period with a retreat of more than 15%, while the S&P 500 saw a decline of less than 8%. The stock closed most recently at $24.11 a share, which is down about 20% in the past 90 days. The shares have changed hands between $22.66 and $33.05 in the past 52 weeks.

General Electric

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) also rose up the list with a more than 3% pop in the number of its short shares in the first two weeks of this month, its second similar rise in a row. The more than 139.71 million shares reported most recently represented 1.6% of the conglomerate’s total float, and that compares to the year-to-date high above 155 million shares short seen back in March. It still would take less than a day for investors to cover all short positions.

GE has continued its restructuring efforts this month. Its shares ended the two weeks more than 7% lower, despite being down about 13% earlier in the period. In the initial two weeks of this month, the Dow Jones industrial average pulled back about 8%. GE’s share price was last seen at $7.39, after hitting a 52-week low of $6.66 earlier in December. The 52-week high, seen almost a year ago, was $19.39 a share. The stock is about 35% lower than 90 days ago.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were the following:

• Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): 128.95 million shares (−6%)
• J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP): 125.60 million (−7%)
• Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT): 118.47 million (−7%)
• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): 115.22 million (+5%)
• Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD): 113.62 million (−2%)
• Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): 98.10 million (+2%)
• Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY): 93.71 million (+5%)

Lingered outside the spotlight of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks were Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) and CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), as well as Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), even though the number of its shares plummeted by a double-digit percentage between the settlement dates. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) saw a sizable rise in short interest, but not yet enough to lift it into the top 10.

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December 20, 2018: Here are four stocks trading with heavy volume among 1,534 equities making new 52-week lows Thursday. On the NYSE, decliners led advancers by about 3.5 to 1 and decliners led advancers on the Nasdaq by about 2.63 to 1.

The three major indexes are on track close the day with losses in the neighborhood of 1.5% to 2%. Crude oil traded down about 4.8% on the day to settle at $45.88 a barrel. February crude futures today became the front-month contract. Gold settled up 0.9% at $1,267.90.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) traded down about 1.7% to post a new 52-week low of $23.76 Thursday after closing at $24.18 on Wednesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $33.05. Volume was about 15% higher than the daily average of around 71 million. The big bank had no specific news.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) traded down about 5.4% to post a new 52-week low of $28.19 Thursday after closing at $29.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $39.33 and volume was about 50% above the daily average of around 40 million. The company had no specific news today.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) dropped about 10% Thursday to set a new 52-week low of $1.82. Shares closed at $2.02 on Wednesday and the stock’s 52-week high is $5.60. Volume was about 60% higher than the daily average of around 33.8 million. The once high-flying oil and gas producer is drifting into nowhere land on a boatload of debt, but that’s been the case for a few years now. There was no specific news today.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) traded down about 1.8% Thursday and posted a new 52-week low of $30.86 after closing Wednesday at $31.41. The stock’s 52-week high is $64.66. Volume was about double the daily average of around 34 million. The chipmaker reported less-than-fabulous quarterly numbers Wednesday night. The stock reversed course during the trading session and may close the session with a modest gain.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 141 billion cubic feet for the week ending December 14.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal in a range of 116 billion to 146 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 144 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 166 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 77 billion cubic feet in the week ending December 7.

Natural gas futures for January delivery traded up about seven cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $3.80 per million BTUs, and edged higher to around $3.82 after the report was released.

[nativounit]

For the period between December 19 and December 25, NatGasWeather.com expects “low” demand and offers the following outlook:

A strong weather system will bring heavy rain to the Southeast today, then track up the East Coast Fri-Sat with rain and snow, just not very cold compared to normal. Mild conditions will dominate most of the rest of the country with highs of 40s and 50s north and 60s to locally 70s elsewhere. There will be a brief cold shot across the Midwest and East next week, focused around Christmas Eve for locally stronger demand. The West will see weather systems with valley rains & mountain snows.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week from 19.9% to 20.1% below last year’s level and also fell from 19.9% to 20.6% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 2.773 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 720 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.493 trillion cubic feet and 697 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.470 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down about 0.8%, at $70.21 in a 52-week range of $69.60 to $89.30. The low was set earlier this morning.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded flat at $2.02, in a 52-week range of $1.93 to $5.60. The low as posted this morning.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up less than 0.1% to $93.00. The 52-week range is $90.87 to $133.53. The low also was posted earlier this morning.

In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 2.7%, at $30.95 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $39.87.

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December 19, 2018: Here are four stocks trading with heavy volume among 1,002 equities making new 52-week lows Wednesday. On the NYSE, decliners led advancers by about 2.75 to 1 and decliners led advancers on the Nasdaq by about 2.81 to 1.

The three major indexes are on track close the day with losses following the not-so-dovish FOMC announcement. Crude oil traded up about 2.1% on the day to settle at $47.24 a barrel after a bullish (for crude prices) U.S. inventory report. The January crude futures contract expired today. Gold settled up 0.2% at $1,256.40 but traded lower following the FOMC report.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) traded down about 8.3% Wednesday and posted a new 52-week low of $31.29 after closing Tuesday at $34.11. The stock’s 52-week high is $64.66. Volume was nearly triple the daily average of around 32 million. The chipmaker reported less-than-fabulous quarterly numbers last night and investors were less forgiving than analysts.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) dropped about 5.2% Wednesday to set a new 52-week low of $2.01. Shares closed at $2.12 on Tuesday and the stock’s 52-week high is $5.60. Volume was about 25% higher than the daily average of around 32.8 million. The company had no specific news.

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Weatherford International plc (NYSE: WFT) traded down about 10% to post a new 52-week low of $0.35 Wednesday after closing at $0.39 on Tuesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $4.41. Volume was about 15% higher than the daily average of around 25.1 million. The oilfield services company had no specific news.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) traded down about 2.6% to post a new 52-week low of $45.30 Wednesday after closing at $46.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $66.31 and volume was less than 10% above the daily average of around 23.2 million. The bank settled a class-action suit today for $480 million.

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December 18, 2018: Here are four stocks trading with heavy volume among 827 equities making new 52-week lows Tuesday. On the NYSE, decliners led advancers by about 1.25 to 1 and decliners led advancers on the Nasdaq by about 1.38 to 1.

The three major indexes are on track close the day not far from the break-even line. Crude oil traded down a whopping 7.3% on the day to settle at $46.24 a barrel. Gold settled up a mere 0.1% at $1,253.60.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) dropped about 6.7% Tuesday to set a new 52-week low of $2.10. Shares closed at $2.25 on Monday and the stock’s 52-week high is $5.60. Volume was about 25% higher than the daily average of around 32.8 million. The company had no specific news..

Weatherford International plc (NYSE: WFT) traded flat to match a 52-week low of $0.38 Tuesday after closing at $0.38 on Monday. The stock’s 52-week high is $4.41. Volume was roughly equal to the daily average of around 24.7 million. The oilfield services company sold its well-logging business yesterday.

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Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) traded down about 9.4% Tuesday and posted a new 52-week low of $3.57 after closing Monday at $3.94. The stock’s 52-week high is $9.51. Volume was about 60% higher than the daily average of around 13.8 million. Another oilfield services firm getting hammered by falling crude oil prices and investor wariness over exploration and production spending for next year.

Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) traded down about 2.8% to post a new 52-week low of $5.57 Tuesday after closing at $5.73 on Monday. The stock’s 52-week high is $14.31 and volume was nearly 30% lower than the daily average of around 21.7 million. The Calgary-based energy company had no specific news.

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December 13, 2018: Here are four stocks trading with heavy volume among 503 equities making new 52-week lows Thursday. On the NYSE, decliners led advancers by about 1.74 to 1 and decliners led advancers on the Nasdaq by about 2.51 to 1.

The three major indexes are on track close the day mixed with the Dow posting a small gain. Crude oil traded up about 2.8% on the day to settle at $52.58 a barrel. Gold settled down 0.2% at $1,247.40.

XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO) traded down about 32% at a new low of $41.05 Thursday after closing at $60.27 on Wednesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $116.27. Volume was more than 30 times the daily average of around 1.2 million. The transportation and logistics firm cut its profit forecast yesterday and a well-known short seller piled on Thursday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) dropped about 2.3% Thursday to set a new 52-week low of $2.51. Shares closed at $2.57 on Wednesday and the stock’s 52-week high is $5.60. Volume was about 30% lower than the daily average of around 31.8 million. The oilfield services company had no specific news. Natural gas prices softened following today’s storage report.

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Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) traded down about 0.9% Thursday and posted a new 52-week low of $55.47 after closing Wednesday at $55.98. The stock’s 52-week high is $80.70. Volume was about 10% higher than the daily average of around 18 million. The company has agreed to sell 32 branches in Wisconsin. The bank had no specific news.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) traded down about 10% to post a new 52-week low of $0.88 Thursday after closing at $0.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $2.55 and volume was nearly 50% higher than the daily average of around 11.3 million. The struggling drug store chain had no specific news.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 77 billion cubic feet for the week ending December 7.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal in a range of 72 billion to 95 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 79 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 59 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 63 billion cubic feet in the week ending November 30.

Natural gas futures for January delivery traded up about 14 cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.28 per million BTUs, and it dipped to around $4.26 after the report was released.

Natural Gas Intelligence director of strategy and research Patrick Rau does not expect gas prices to fall much lower before a dead-of-winter rebound: “This could be as low as we get without giving up on winter.”

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For the period between December 13 and December 19, NatGasWeather.com predicts “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

A strong weather system will sweep across Texas and the South today into Friday with areas of rain, locally as snow, then across the Southeast Friday and Saturday. The rest of the country from Fri into early next week will be mostly mild with highs of 40s and 50s across the northern tier and 60s, to locally 70s elsewhere. A fast moving weather system will race across the Northeast early next week with colder temperatures but remaining mild over the rest of the country.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week from 19.1% to 19.9% below last year’s level and also fell from 19.1% to 19.9% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 2.914 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 723 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.637 trillion, as well as 722 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.636 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to this latest report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 1.2% to $76.94, in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 0.2%, at $2.57 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down less than 0.1%, at $103.90. The 52-week range is $96.54 to $133.53.

Moreover, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 3.4%, at $34.36 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $39.87.

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By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, investors and traders likely would have been grateful for a break from the six weeks or so of volatility and sell-offs. By then, the major U.S. indexes were in the red for the year, and some sectors and many individual stocks remained in bearish territory. By the end of last month, many were likely ready to put the year in the rearview mirror and figure out how to position themselves for the coming year.

Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the November 15 and November 30 settlement dates, those sellers were renewing bets on some of their favorites. Yet, J.C. Penney and Rite Aid bucked the trend with shrinking short interest as the holiday shopping season got underway.

Note that the six most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 120 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, all the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.

Chesapeake Energy

The number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short jumped about 10% in the most recent period, allowing this oil and gas company to reclaim the number one spot on the list. The reported short interest of nearly 151.69 million shares represented 16.9% of the total float. The year-to-date peak back in March was over 210 million shares short. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about five days to cover all the short positions.

Falling natural gas prices dragged on Chesapeake as the month came to a close. Its share price retreated more than 21% across those two weeks, and even more since that time. The stock is trading around 9% lower than a week ago, and it ended Tuesday at $2.57 a share. That still is almost 5% higher over the past 90 days. Shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 and as low as $2.53 in the past year.

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Snap

Also rising up the list in the latest period was Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), which saw the number of its shares short grow more than 6% in the latter two weeks of November. The over 138.37 million shares reported most recently represented 24.0% of the social media and camera company’s total float. At the daily average trading volume at the conclusion of last month, it would take about 10 days for investors to cover all short positions.

The company posted a disappointing quarterly report in November. The shares ended the latest settlement period with a decline of around 3%, though they had been down about 12% before the Thanksgiving holiday. The share price was last seen at $5.75. That compares to the 52-week low of $5.57 reached this week. The 52-week high, seen early this year, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is down more than 41% in the past 90 days.

Bank of America

Bank of America Corp.’s (NYSE: BAC) short interest in the latest two-week period surged by about 18% to more than 136.09 million, pushing this stock a few spots higher on this list. That reading represented just 1.4% of the total float. As of the end of November, it would take about three days to cover all short positions, after the daily average volume shrank again in the latest period.

This stock remains a top Warren Buffett holding. Its share price ended the latest settlement period with a gain of around 3%, which was about the same as the S&P 500. The stock closed most recently at $24.58 a share, which is down more than 20% in the past 90 days. The shares have changed hands between $24.29 and $33.05 in the past 52 weeks.

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J.C. Penney

The number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short decreased about 5% in the latest period to almost 135.22 million. That was enough to allow it to drop from the top of this most-shorted list. But note that short interest has grown in nine of the past 14 periods, and most recently it was still a whopping 44.9% of the department store operator’s float. The daily average trading volume shrank again during the two weeks, so the days to cover number increased from about 10 to 13.

This struggling retailer posted another disappointing quarterly report ahead of the two-week period. Short sellers watched the share price retreat more than 10% but then end the period up around 9%. The stock has popped 4% or so this past week and closed most recently at $1.38 a share. That is still over 24% lower than three months ago. The 52-week low, seen in mid-November, was $1.05, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached early this year.

General Electric

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) remained in the top six with a more than 3% pop in the number of its short shares in the latter two weeks of the month. Note that the last big move was a jump of more than 23% in the latter half of September. The more than 135.06 million shares reported most recently represented 1.6% of the conglomerate’s total float, and it compares to the year-to-date high above 155 million shares seen back in March. The daily average trading volume shrank handily during the period, but the days to cover remained at less than one.

GE continued its restructuring efforts during the short interest period. The shares ended the two weeks more than 6% lower, despite being up about 2% twice earlier in the period. In the final two weeks of last month, the Dow climbed about 3%. GE’s share price was last seen at $6.76, after hitting a 52-week low of $6.66 a day earlier. The 52-week high, seen early this year, was $19.39 a share. The stock is almost 45% lower than 90 days ago.

Weatherford International

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) remains in the top six on the list though the number of its shares sold short decreased less than 2% so in the final two weeks of last month. The more than 130.35 million shares short reported most recently represented 12.9% of the oilfield service provider’s total float. The days to cover reading ended the period at around four, given the last seen average daily volume.

Weatherford shares were downgraded by one analyst as the short interest period got underway. Short sellers watched the share price tumble more than 30% by month’s end and a little more since then. The stock closed most recently at $0.45 a share, a few cents more than the 52-week low hit earlier in the day. The 52-week high, from last January, was $4.41. Now the stock is down 82% or so from three months ago.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) and Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). Rite Aid and Sprint saw the numbers of their shares short dwindle, while short interest in Alibaba and Transocean rose marginally.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) again lingered outside the spotlight of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks, along with Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB), Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY), Ensco PLC (NYSE: ESV) and Gerdau S.A. (NYSE: GGB). Note that EnCana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) saw another sizable rise in short interest, but not yet enough to lift it into the top 10.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Friday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 63 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 30.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal of between 51 and 77 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 58 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 3 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 59 billion cubic feet in the week ending November 23.

Natural gas futures for January delivery traded up about 13 cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.46 per million BTUs, and rose further to around $4.48 after the report was released.

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For the period between December 7 and December 13, NatGasWeather.com predicts “high” demand and offers the following outlook:

Reinforcing cold air will sweep across the northern US and into the East the next few days where lows will reach the 0s to 20s across the North, with upper 20s to near 40°F over the South and Southeast. Cold air will cover much of the country this weekend, coldest over the Northeast, with strong national demand aided by a weather system tracking across Texas and the southern US with mostly rain, but locally as snow/ice. The West will see a mix of cold and mild. Next week, mild high pressure will gain across the northern and central US.

Over the longer term, Natural Gas Intelligence cites NatGasWeather’s outlook for cooler weather possibly returning after December 20, with cold weather returning around the beginning of the new year.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week from 17.6% to 19.1% below last year’s level and also fell from 19.1% to 19.5% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 2.991 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 725 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.716 trillion cubic feet and 704 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.695 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.3% to $78.63, in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 2.5%, at $2.79 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 3.6% to $105.85. The 52-week range is $96.54 to $133.53.

Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 2.4%, at $36.20 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $39.87.

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Stocks managed to come screaming back from another big sell-off for a mixed close on Thursday, and the indexes turned positive on Friday morning after the payrolls report was strong but not strong enough that the Federal Reserve has to keep its panic button close on raising rates. Investors have seen less upside from buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years, and now they have to consider how they want their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, December 7, 2018.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Overweight but the target price was lowered to $236 from $253 at Morgan Stanley. Apple closed down 1.1% at $174.72 on Thursday and was indicated down another 0.2% at $174.35 on Friday. The consensus target price is $228.43, and the 52-week trading range of $150.24 to $233.47.

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Broadcom Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) closed down just over 2% ahead of earnings at $227.24, but after beating earnings, raising guidance, hiking its dividend and increasing its stock buyback plan even further, its shares were indicated up almost 4% at $236.00 on Friday morning. Morgan Stanley maintained it as Equal Weight and lowered the price target to $250 from $260. MKM Partners reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $285 from $250. BMO Capital Markets has a Market Perform rating but raised its target price to $250 from $230 after earnings.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Chesapeake closed down almost 6% at $2.72 on Thursday but was indicated up 0.7% at $2.74 on Friday. It has a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60, and the consensus target price is $4.32.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was lowered to $37 from $40 at JPMorgan. Shares closed down 1.5% at $27.75 on Thursday but were indicated down another 0.5% at $27.60 on Friday. Devon has a 52-week range of $25.87 to $46.54.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was down 1.6% ahead of earnings and was last seen up less than 1% at $132.50 on Friday morning. Morgan Stanley maintained it as Equal Weight but raised the price target to $138 from $133. Lululemon has a 52-week range of $72.13 to $164.79, and its consensus target price was $163.34.

SecureWorks Corp. (NASDAQ: SCWX) was down 2.7% at $17.10 on Thursday and was indicated down another 4.4% at $16.36 on Friday on the heels of its earnings. RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to Sector Perform from Outperform with an $18 target. Also, First Analysis lowered it to Neutral from Outperform with a $17 target.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $450 from $360 at Jefferies. Tesla closed up 0.9% at $363.06 on Thursday and was indicated up 2.2% at $371.00 on Friday. The 52-week range is $244.59 to $387.46.

Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $71 target price. The consensus target price is $70.71, and the 52-week trading range of $33.13 to $72.76.

Other key analyst calls from Friday were seen as follows:

Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX) was started as Outperform with a $72 target price (versus a $59.85 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

At Home Group Inc. (NYSE: HOME) was maintained as Overweight but the target price was lowered to $38 from $42 (versus a $23.75 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

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Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and its price target was lowered to $20 from $27 (versus a $16.36 close, after a 6.4% drop) at JPMorgan. Carrizo has a 52-week range of $13.49 to $31.57.

Diplomat Pharmacy Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $15 target price (versus a $14.92 close, after a 5% drop) at Robert W. Baird.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) was maintained as Equal Weight but the price target was raised to $52 from $49 at Morgan Stanley.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) was maintained as Overweight and the target price was raised to $180 from $157 (versus a $163.33 close, after a 3.8% gain) at Morgan Stanley.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $118 price target (versus a $102.13 close) at JPMorgan.

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPD) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $68 price target at Goldman Sachs. The stock closed down 1.6% at $74.30 on Thursday and was indicated down over 2.5% at $72.40 on Friday, and it had a consensus target price of $73.21.

Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE: XOG) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at JPMorgan.

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $235 price target (versus a $226.42 close) at Barclays.

Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and its target was lowered to $8 from $11 (versus a $9.18 close) at JPMorgan.

Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

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Matador Resources Co. (NYSE: MTDR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ: MEOH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Mimecast Ltd. (NASDAQ: MIME) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $40 target price (versus a $36.68 close) at Wedbush.

Momo Inc. (NASDAQ: MOMO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $175 target price (versus a $152.32 close) at Barclays.

National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: FIZZ) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $86 target price (versus an $84.30 close) at Guggenheim.

Trinseo S.A. (NYSE: TSE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the target price was slashed to $55 from $80 (versus a $49.65 close) at Jefferies.

United Natural Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI) was reiterated as Underweight and the price target was lowered to $21 from $23 (versus a $19.73 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Alphabet, American Water Works, Apple, Facebook, Macy’s, Southern Copper, Twitter, YY and about a dozen more.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 59 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 23.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal of between 65 billion and 82 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 49 billion cubic feet, and last year’s withdrawal totaled 35 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories fell by 134 billion cubic feet in the week ending November 16.

Natural gas futures for January delivery traded down about six cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.54 per million BTUs, and it slipped further to $4.47 after the report was released.

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For the period between November 29 and December 5, NatGasWeather.com predicts “high” demand and offers the following outlook:

Cool conditions linger across the Great Lakes and East with highs of 20s to 40s. However, warm high pressure will strengthen across the central and southern US the next few days with highs of 60s to near 80F, then expanding across the Great Lakes and East this weekend, with highs warming into the 50s and 60s for light demand. The West will see weather systems bring rain, snow, and colder temperatures. Cold air will spread across much of the country early next week with lows dropping into the -10s to 20s across the central and northern US.

Earlier this week, some natural gas trades at the Waha hub in north Texas were made at negative rates. That is, gas producers had to pay customers to take the gas. The situation is down to a massive increase in the production of natural gas associated with oil production and a shortage of pipeline transportation to move the oil from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast and the natural gas to the central pricing point at Henry Hub in northern Louisiana. Check out our story on what’s going on.

Total U.S. stockpiles of natural gas decreased week over week from 16.6% to 17.6% below last year’s level and also fell from 18.6% to 19.1% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 3.054 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 720 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.774 trillion cubic feet and 644 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.698 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.1%, at $78.54 in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 0.7%, at $2.99 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 0.5% to $104.24. The 52-week range is $96.54 to $133.53.

Also, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 3% to $36.62, in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $39.87.

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Investors and traders hoping for the selling and volatility of October to settle down in November were likely disappointed. Some sectors and many individual stocks remained in bearish territory. And there continued to be plenty to worry about, including falling energy prices, rising interest rates, weakness in international markets, growing effects of the trade war with China and a mixed bag from corporate earnings, not to mention the midterm elections early in the month and the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the October 31 and November 15 settlement dates, those sellers grew wary of the former list toppers, Snap and Rite Aid. Meanwhile, the number of Chesapeake Energy shares short jumped, lifting it to second place.

Note that the six most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 120 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, all of the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.

J.C. Penney

The number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short increased only marginally in the latest period to over 142.26 million. That was enough to put it at the top of the list. Note that short interest has grown in nine of the past 13 periods, and most recently it was a whopping 47.4% of the department store operator’s float. The daily average trading volume shrank again during the two weeks, so the days to cover number ticked up from about nine to 10.

This struggling retailer posted another disappointing quarterly report during the two-week period. Short sellers watched the share price retreat more than 26% but then end the period only down less than 6%. The stock has popped 19% or so this past week and closed most recently at $1.43 a share. That is still almost 14% lower than three months ago. The 52-week low, seen in mid-November, was $1.05, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached early this year.

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Chesapeake Energy

The number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short soared almost 16% in the most recent period, and this oil and gas company jumped up from the number six spot on the list to second place. The reported short interest of over 137.80 million shares was 15.3% of the total float. The year-to-date peak back in March was over 210 million shares short. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about four days to cover all the short positions.

Citigroup became less bearish on Chesapeake during the short interest period. Its share price rose around 6% but then ended those two weeks with a gain of less than 4%. The stock is trading around 9% lower than a week ago, and it ended Tuesday at $2.99 a share. That still is almost 5% higher over the past 90 days. Shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 and as low as $2.53 in the past year.

General Electric

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) remained in the top six with a more than 6% pop in the number of its short shares in the first two weeks of the month. Note that the last big move was a jump of more than 23% in the latter half of September. The nearly 130.93 million shares reported most recently represented 1.5% of the conglomerate’s total float, and it compares to the year-to-date high above 155 million shares seen back in March. The daily average trading volume surged for the second straight period, but the days to cover remained at less than one.

Even with a superstar chief executive, it looks like GE has lost its way. The shares retreated more than 19% during the two-week period, and they continued to slide afterward. In the first two weeks of the month, the Dow pulled back a little over 1%. GE’s share price was last seen at $7.46, after hitting a 52-week low of $7.26 a day earlier. The 52-week high, seen early this year, was $19.39 a share. The stock is more than 42% lower than 90 days ago.

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Weatherford International

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) again finds itself in the top six on the list after the number of its shares sold short increased 7% or so in the first two weeks of this month. The stock was at number 10 on the list a month earlier. The more than 130.35 million shares reported most recently represented 13.2% of the total float. The days to cover reading ended the two weeks at around five, given the last seen average daily volume.

During the short interest period, Weatherford sank to a new 52-week low. Short sellers watched the share price fall more than 36% by mid-month and some more since then. The stock closed most recently at $0.64 a share, about a penny more than the 52-week low hit earlier in the day. The 52-week high, from last January, was $4.41. Now the stock is down 50% or so from three months ago.

Snap

Dropping from the top spot on the list in the latest period was Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), which saw the number of its shares short retreat more than 9% in the first two weeks of November. The over 130.04 million shares reported most recently still represented 22.7% of the social media and camera company’s total float. At the daily average trading volume at the middle of this month, it would take about eight days for investors to cover all short positions.

The company posted a disappointing quarterly report last month. Shares dropped about 15% afterward but ended the latest settlement period with a gain of less than 3%. They pulled back some more afterward, and the share price was last seen at $6.40. That compares to the 52-week low of $5.77 reached during the short interest period. The 52-week high, hit early this year, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is down more than 45% in the past 90 days.

Rite Aid

After the reported number of Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) shares sold short tumbled more than 21 million in the previous period, they pulled back another 17 million or so to over 123.72 million between the most recent settlement dates, declining for the third period in a row. The most recent figure was 11.7% of the company’s total float, as well as more than 60 million less than the highest level of short interest so far this year. The average daily trading volume increased during the period, and the days to cover figure fell from about 13 to 12.

Rite Aid’s recent stockholders meeting resulted in the naming of a new board chair. The share price ended the latest settlement period only fractionally higher, despite being up more than 14% at one point during the two weeks. This past week, the stock slipped more than 3%, while the S&P 500 rose around 1%. The stock closed most recently at $1.10 a share, compared with the 52-week low of $0.98. Rite Aid shares have traded as high as $2.55 apiece in the past 52 weeks, but they are currently more than 20% lower than 90 days ago.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) and Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). Sprint was the lead gainer among these, while the number of shares short at Ford and Back of America was little changed during the period.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) dropped out of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks with a marginal decline in short interest. Note that Gerdau S.A. (NYSE: GGB) and Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) both saw more than 20% gains in the numbers of their shares sold short, but they both fell short of breaking into the spotlight of the top 10.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles decreased by 134 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 16.

Analysts were expecting a storage withdrawal of between 92 and 121 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is a withdrawal of 25 billion cubic feet and last year’s withdrawal totaled 42 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories rose by 39 billion cubic feet in the week ending November 9.

Natural gas futures for December delivery traded up about 4 cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.56 per million BTUs and jumped to $4.70 after the report was released.

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For the period between November 21 and November 27, NatGasWeather.com predicts “high to very high” demand and offers the following outlook:

Cold air continues impacting the central, northern, and eastern US with snow showers, especially downwind of the Great Lakes as a reinforcing cold shot arrives. This will continue to result in strong demand as lows reach the single digits to. A milder break will set up across much of the country Sat-Sun before the next weather systems develops over the west-central US this weekend, then advancing eastward. Much needed showers will push into California the next few days with cooler conditions, while the rest of the West will see a mix of mild and cool periods.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased week over week from 14% to 16.6% below last year’s level and also fell from 14% to 18.6% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 3.113 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 710 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.823 trillion cubic feet and 620 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.733 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers are reacting to today’s report:

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 1.8% at $78.34 in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 4.4% at $3.34 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 4.6% at $107.09. The 52-week range is $96.54 to $133.53.

The United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEArca: UNG) traded up about 3.1% at $37.86 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $39.87.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles increased by 39 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 9.

Analysts were expecting a storage injection of around 33 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is an injection of 19 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories rose by 65 billion cubic feet in the week ending November 2.

Natural gas futures for December delivery traded down about a 40 cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.32 per million BTUs, and slipped to $4.27 after the report was released.

For the period between November 15 and November 21, NatGasWeather.com predicts “very high” demand and offers the following outlook:

Chilly conditions will cover much of the US again with lows of teens to 40s, keeping national demand stronger than normal. A weather system exiting the Southeast will track north up the East Coast with areas of rain and snow, although not as cold as recent systems since its coming from the South. Another strong cold blast is expected into the central, southern, and the eastern US Sat-Wed with lows again of 10-30s north and 30s to lower 40s across portions of Texas and the South/Southeast.

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Total U.S. stockpiles increased week over week from 15.6% to 14.0% below last year’s level and also rose from 16.2% to 14.0% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 3.247 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 601 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.848 trillion cubic feet, and 528 billion cubic feet below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.775 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded down about 0.8%, at $76.75 in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 0.8%, at $3.70 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 1.2% to $99.28. The 52-week range is $96.54 to $133.53.

Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 14.2% at $33.72 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $39.87, a high posted Wednesday.

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Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Tuesday, just a day after Monday’s big stock market sell-off knocked off 602 DJIA points and about 55 S&P 500 points. Still, the worst major index performer was the 3% drop of 210 points on the Nasdaq 100 while the bond market was closed. Investors have faced numerous waves of selling in 2018, and they also have seen lower upside after buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years. It is time for investors to start considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these reports cover stocks to buy, while some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch. The stock was down 0.9% at $67.15 on Monday, and it has a 52-week range of $52.92 to $84.37 and a consensus price target of $79.44.

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Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the target price was raised to $4.50 from $3.50 (versus a $3.46 prior close, after a 4.7% drop) at Citigroup. Chesapeake Energy has a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60, and its consensus target price was last seen at $4.50.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was down only 0.9% at $38.00 after President Trump tweeted about antitrust issues. Barclays just reinstated Comcast as Overweight and assigned a $44 price target. The 52-week trading range is $30.43 to $44.00, and the consensus price target is $43.83.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was started as Outperform and assigned a $55 price target (versus a $41.52 close, after a 4.5% drop) at BMO Capital Markets. Cree has a consensus target price of $46.50 and a 52-week trading range of $30.78 to $51.78.

EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price objective was lowered to $15 from $21 (versus an $11.91 close, after a 5.7% drop) at Merrill Lynch. Canaccord Genuity maintained a Buy rating but still lowered its target to $18 from $23. The 52-week trading range is $11.53 to $22.09, and the consensus price target was $22.40 ahead of this move. The post-earnings drop on Tuesday was down almost 16% at $10.03, for a new low.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura/Instinet with an $18 price target. It has a 52-week range of $16.48 to $22.40, and it had a consensus price target of $22.36.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan after its shares fell almost 33% to $37.50 on lowered guidance. The firm also slashed its price target to $50 from $80. The 52-week trading range is $37.00 to $74.40, and the consensus price target is $74.69.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was raised to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna, which noted that it will win from the benefits of artificial intelligence ahead. The stock has a 52-week range of $176.01 to $292.76 and a consensus price target of $288.79. Shares fell 7.8% to $189.54 on Monday but were indicated up over 1% on Tuesday morning.

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Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD) was raised to Strong Buy from Buy at CFRA (S&P), with the research firm noting that its dividend is sustainable after earnings. The American depositary shares have a 52-week range of $18.45 to $32.75, and the consensus price target is $25.69. Vodafone was indicated up 8% at $20.08 on Tuesday.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was raised to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna, and similar to Nvidia was called a future winner from artificial intelligence trends. The stock closed down 3.8% at $82.33 on Monday but was indicated up 2% at $84.00 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $62.27 to $88.20, and the consensus price target is $86.23.

Other key analyst calls seen on Tuesday included the following:

Achaogen Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Alarm.Com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) was raised to Outperform from In-Line but the price target was trimmed to $58 from $60 (versus a $47.19 close) at Imperial Capital.

Atlassian Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BTIG, after a 3.4% drop to $70.80.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura/Instinet.

Douglas Emmett Inc. (NYSE: DEI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley FBR.

First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $181 price target at Barclays.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura/Instinet.

Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was cut to $6.50 from $9.00 (versus a $4.55 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Magellan Health Inc. (NASDAQ: MGLN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink.

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Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE: PAGS) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup.

Perrigo Co. PLC (NYSE: PRGO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg, but it was up 2.3% at $65.58 on Monday.

SailPoint Technologies Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SAIL) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $33 from $32 at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 4.5% at $24.30 ahead of this call.

Smart Sand Inc. (NASDAQ: SND) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray. It was down 5.5% at $3.07 on Monday.

Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) was maintained as Neutral and the price target was lowered to $74 from $78 (versus a $67.37 close) at Citigroup.

Monday’s top analyst calls included Achaogen, Apple, Athenahealth, Crocs, Finisar, Jabil, Michael Kors, Occidental Petroleum, Starbucks, Walt Disney and many more.

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October turned out to be a very volatile month, with the stock markets seeing a correction and some sectors and many individual stocks slipping into bearish territory. Investors had plenty to worry about, including rising interest rates, weakness in international markets, growing effects of the trade war with China and a mixed bag from corporate earnings, as well as the midterm elections and the upcoming holiday season.

Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the October 15 and October 31 settlement dates, those sellers had become more selective, as short interest moves in a few favorites were quite robust. Oil and gas companies Chesapeake Energy and Weatherford jumped back into the top six, while the one-time king of the hill, Rite Aid, led the decliners during those two weeks.

Note that the six most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 116 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, all of the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.

Snap

Rising to the top spot on the list in the latest period was Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), which saw the number of its shares short rise a little more than 1% in the latter half of October. The more than 143.73 million shares reported most recently represented 25.2% of the social media and camera company’s total float. At the daily average trading volume at the end of last month, it would take about five days for investors to cover all short positions.

The company posted a disappointing quarterly report last month. Shares dropped about 15% afterward but reclaimed about half of that decline by the settlement date. They climbed more afterward, and the share price was last seen at $6.79. That compares to the 52-week low of $5.77 seen during the short interest period. The 52-week high, reached early this year, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is down almost 45% in the past 90 days.

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Rite Aid

The reported number of Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) shares sold short tumbled more than 21 million to 140.89 million or so between the most recent settlement dates, declining for the second period in a row. The most recent figure was 13.4% of the company’s total float, as well as more than 45 million less than the highest level of short interest so far this year. The average daily trading volume declined during the period, and the days to cover figure rose from about 11 to 13.

Rite Aid shares sank to a new 52-week low during the short interest period. Yet the share price ended the latest settlement period almost 14% higher, most of that gain at the end of the period. This past week, the stock popped about 5%, while the S&P 500 rose less than 2%. The stock closed most recently at $1.29 a share, compared with the 52-week low of $0.98. Rite Aid shares have traded as high as $2.55 apiece in the past 52 weeks, but they are currently almost 13% lower than 90 days ago.

J.C. Penney

The number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short barely increased in the latest period to over 140.39 million. Note that short interest has grown in eight of the past 12 periods, and it was a whopping 46.7% of the department store operator’s float most recently. The daily average trading volume shrank during the two weeks, so the days to cover number grew from about eight to nine.

Shares of this struggling retailer fell to another 52-week low during the two-week period. Short sellers watched the share price retreat more than 21% but end the period only down less than 14%. The stock has pulled back another 14% or so this past week and closed most recently at $1.34 a share. That is more than 44% lower over the past three months. The 52-week low, seen in late October, was $1.31, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached early this year.

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General Electric

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) remained in the top six even as the number of its shares short dropped a little in the settlement period. The last big move was a jump of more than 23% in the latter half of September. The more than 122.86 million shares reported most recently still represented 1.4% of the conglomerate’s total float, and it compares to the year-to-date high above 155 million shares seen back in March. Though the daily average trading volume increased in the latest period, the days to cover remained at less than one.

Analysts kept ratcheting down expectations for GE during the period. The shares retreated around 14% during the period, despite being up almost 4% at one point. In those two weeks, the Dow pulled back only fractionally. GE’s share price was last seen at $8.58, after hitting a 52-week low of $8.15 earlier in the day. The 52-week high, from about a year ago, was $20.75 a share. The stock has lost about a third of its value in the past 90 days.

Weatherford International

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) again finds itself in the top six on the list after the number of its shares sold short jumped 17% or so in the final two weeks of October. The stock was at number 10 on the list in the prior period. The more than 121.72 million shares reported most recently represented 12.3% of the total float. The days to cover reading ended the two weeks at around four, given the month’s end average daily volume.

During the short interest period, Weatherford saw an analyst downgrade with a big target price cut. Short sellers watched the share price fall about 56% but recover a little by the end of the month. The stock has pulled back a bit again this month and closed most recently at $1.13 a share. The 52-week low of $1.09 was seen this past week. The 52-week high, from last January, was $4.41. Now the stock is down 61% or so from three months ago.

Chesapeake Energy

The number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short increased more than 9% in the most recent period, and this oil and gas company ticked up one spot on the list. The reported short interest of over 118.97 million shares was 13.3% of the total float. The year-to-date peak back in March was over 210 million shares short. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about three days to cover all the short positions.

In a time when Chesapeake has sold assets to pay down debt, it announced an acquisition during the short interest period. Short sellers watched its share price rise more than 7% but then end those two weeks down around 22%. The stock is trading about 4% lower than a week ago, and it ended Friday at $3.63 a share. That still is almost 12% higher in the past 90 days. Shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 and as low as $2.53 in the past year.

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And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG). The number of shares short shrank for all four of them, led a double-digit percentage decline at Ford.

Lingering just outside of the spotlight of the top 10 again was Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). Note that Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY) continued to retreat from the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks with another double-digit percentage decline. And Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) saw a huge surge in its shares sold short, but it remains well out of the top 10 for now.

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The latest weather forecast for the latter part of this week has pushed natural gas for December delivery up about 8% to a new 52-week high for the contract. Rain and snow are expected across the northern part of the Lower 48, with temperatures falling in the Rockies and the Northern Plains and the cold moving eastward later in the week.

With natural gas stockpiles remain below the five-year average, and a forecast increase in the number of heating degree days is expected to last through the middle of November with the peak occurring in the middle of next week, according to a report from Bespoke Weather Services cited by Natural Gas Intelligence.

According to Bespoke:

On net we do eventually see the pattern trending warmer through the second half of November, which does likely help prices set a high this week, and balances are much looser with power burns off significantly (though production is not yet back to highs).

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While the U.S. Energy Information Administration report due on Thursday could move prices lower on the longer-range warming trend, the cold weather expected this week is “so impressive” that it supports higher bids for the fuel but is also causing a major short covering rally.

The short covering also may be responsible for a boost in the share prices of some natural gas producers. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas, traded up more than 9% just before noon Monday, at around $3.83 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) trade up about 3.7%, at $106.10 in a 52-week range of $ 96.54 to $133.53.

Natural gas for December delivery traded up 7.9% at $3.54, after reaching a peak of $3.57. Gas for January delivery traded at a new high of $3.58 before slipping a bit to $3.55, up 7.3%.

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A lot of money has been committed to mergers and takeovers in the oil & gas industry in just the past week.

The first deal was the $1.7 billion merger between Denbury Resources Inc. (NYSE: DNR) and Penn Virginia Corp. (NASDAQ: PVAC) announced on Monday. The next day Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) revealed an offer of $4 billion for WildHorse Resource Development Corp. (NYSE: WRD) and Thursday saw the biggest offer of all: Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) will pay $5.5 billion for Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX) and assume $2.2 billion in Newfield’s debt.

Earlier in the third quarter, BP plc (NYSE: BP) paid $10.5 billion for all the U.S. shale assets owned by BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BBL), the biggest oil patch deal of all so far this year.

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What’s driving the merger and acquisition machine? One big reason is a company’s balance sheet. Smaller companies may have trouble maintaining a strong balance sheet as they continue to invest (by borrowing) in more exploration and production.

Rising interest rates make debt service from cash flows more difficult and without the scale and efficiency of a larger company, costs cannot be wrung out fast enough to maintain both debt service and increased production.

Shareholders rarely respond positively to companies that buy up other companies because they would rather see purchasing businesses maintain financial discipline in order to generate additional free cash flow that can then be returned to shareholders by means of higher dividends or share buybacks. Long-term strategic shifts, like Chesapeake’s acquisition to lift the higher-margin liquids share of its overall production, are particularly unwelcome.

According to a report in the Journal of Petroleum Technology, at last week’s Deloitte Oil and Gas Conference, Andrew T. Calder of the Kirkland and Ellis law firm told the assembled crowd:

Even the largest companies right now are very nervous about doing a large transaction because they’re scared their stock is going to get absolutely hammered. We’ve been involved in deals that have fallen apart as a result of the stock market reaction. [This is why] public companies are looking for another avenue to make these transactions that may not simply rely on going into the public markets.

Angelo Acconcia, senior managing director at private equity firm Blackstone, applauded Chesapeake and Encana for “making the right decisions.” He added:

They realize that they’re not necessarily going to get appreciated by the public markets today, but they have more information than the public markets, they have a better understanding of their business, and they’re going to make the right long-term decisions. That accountability, while negative today, will prove out to be a winning strategy.

Time will tell whether Chesapeake and Encana made the right decision. But there’s little doubt that the exploration and production business is a buyer’s market right now. Just look at Newfield’s $2.2 billion debt and estimate how much it was going to cost the company to borrow more to continue drilling.

The value of Newfield’s real assets was being stomped on by rising debt. If it slowed down its drilling program, it would have trouble making its debt payments and have to borrow even more at a high interest rate. Encana picked up some 3 billion barrels of resource for a relative song.

The other area ripe for consolidation is oilfield services. There are far too many small and medium-sized businesses and this is quite evident in the cost of capital for these companies. Citi’s vice chairman and global head of energy in the corporate and investment banking division, Stephen Trauber, told conference attendees:

[Small and medium-sized services firms] have a very high cost of capital, they’re very cyclical, and they tend to be the one area of energy that banks loath to lend to because of their cyclicality. It’s a very tough sector to lend to. It’s a sector where they’re not earning great rates of return for investors.”

On top of that, Trauber noted that these companies have a history of over-leveraging when times are good and sticking the banks with bad debt when times turn bad.

The list of small and medium-sized exploration and production companies that could be acquisition targets is probably headed by Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS), which currently has a market cap of around $3.4 billion. Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) has a market cap of around $1.7 billion and recently closed on the acquisition of about $215 million in Delaware basin (Permian) assets from Devon Energy.

There is a long list of oil and gas companies of roughly the same size as Oasis and Carrizo, and whether or not they are acquisition targets depends largely on where the company’s assets are located, how many de-risked well locations remain, and how cheaply the estimated total resource can be acquired. Purchasers probably won’t even worry too much about long-term debt for the right property.

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This last week was a crazy end to the October selling craze being followed by a flood of stock buying this week prior to Friday’s major profit taking. Some of that buying is obviously being helped by corporations  repurchasing their shares. And there had been some less-than-accurate reports that the U.S. and China were ready to draft a new trade program to ease economic tensions.

While the stock market tries to be a real-time judge of economic trends  for the coming one to four quarters, we have all observed that the so-called “efficient market hypothesis” by and large has not worked. Friday morning’s hopped up China-trade-deal-hope went from a Dow that was +300 early on Friday down to over -100 points by lunchtime on Friday. Think about this for a high-low perspective after the October selling zenith: The Dow’s peak price of 25,578.98 (as of Friday morning) was a whopping 1,136 points higher at the peak than Monday’s closing bell price of 24,442.92. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was back up at 3.20% and the 30-year Treasury yield was back up at 3.43% late on Friday.

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24/7 Wall St. has identified the top 20 top investor news items for the week ending Nov. 2. This includes groups of stocks, individual stocks with key news, and key economic trends you cannot ignore. Links back to each have been provided for more detail with some basic color included in this synopsis.

In economics, six key issues stood out that should sum up the week. There is no doubt that Friday’s payrolls report was as strong as a field of garlic with strong jobs and wage growth. That said, it’s also problematic for the markets in the sense that Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve will continue to have cover for their interest-rate hike intentions heading into 2019.

This was just days after China’s PMI reading is showing that growth is now barely above zero — a bad sign for what has been considered the world’s top growth engine. European growth is also elusive, and that may lead to even more delays in Mario Draghi’s ambitions of raising interest rates at the European Central Bank.

While international backdrops are weak, U.S. consumer confidence is looking so strong that it’s growing harder and harder to not expect anything short of a massive retail win over this holiday season — and the continued online holidays sales trends are going to knock your socks off! That said, there is more observation that perhaps “peak housing trends” are continuing to weigh on the housing market.

In overall oversold stocks, there were two key issues that need to be considered during that 1100-point swing in the Dow this last week. 24/7 Wall St. identified 10 of the S&P stocks that were down 40% or more this year for potential buying-bait candidates. Just don’t be fooled into thinking some of these junky stocks are looking good ahead.

We also identified 25 large-cap stocks that looked grossly oversold in their own bear markets into the selling zenith, and many of these names have seen their shares come roaring back during this week’s bargain buying.

In corporate news, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the big story of the week. After all, it’s the world’s largest company by market value. Apple faced a disappointment with earnings and a future lack of clarity on individual unit sales. Apple was down 6.7% at $207.30 late on Friday, versus a 52-week range of $150.24 to $233.47. Apple analysts are also changing the amount of just how bullish they are on the company now.

The other major negative came from General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Along with weak earnings trends and guidance, its new chief executive officer chopped GE’s common stock dividend down to a lousy 1-cent payout. That’s effectively like going back to 2008 and 2009, and GE shares were handily down under $10 at the end of the week. Amazingly, some analysts tried to call a bottom here with the baby being thrown out with the bath water.

Another big gaff came from a massive merger in technology. International Business machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is paying an unbelievable $34 billion to acquire Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT). The price was a 68% premium and an all-time high for Red Hat, but our first look is that IBM might not ever be able to make its money back now that Red Hat’s growth might not be what it once was. If CEO Ginni Rometty is wrong about this transforming IBM as the number-one hybrid cloud provider, then she is going to be fired in an ugly manner. IBM was a $154 stock as recently as Oct. 3, but it was closer to $116 on Friday.

Three big points for Big Oil. Oil and gas giants saw a serious boost late in the week, but the problem for the oil and gas crowd is that oil prices have been backing off their highs from the last month or two. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was up over 4% at $115.37 late on Friday after previously higher oil prices helped it beat earnings expectations. The larger rival Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) rose as well after pleasing the market on its earnings report, but its shares were up just 1.2% at $81.65 late on Friday. This seems hard to imagine, but BP PLC (NYSE: BP) managed to double its earnings and its New York-listed ADSs were down almost 2% at $41.85 late on Friday and were barely higher than Monday’s lows.

Two more big points were seen in energy mergers. The more recent issue is that Encana Corporation (NYSE: ECA) may be paying too much for its $5.5 billion acquisition of Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE: NFX). The second issue in oil and gas mergers is that it seems possible here that Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) may be biting off more than it can (or should) chew in its  $4 billion acquisition of WildHorse Resource Development Corp. (NYSE: WRD). Investors need to take note — consolidation trends in energy may only continue ahead.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was a disappointment for social media investors thinking that the peak selling pressure was all way overdone. Mark Zuckerberg warned of continued pressure ahead on Facebook as the company deals with more fake news and privacy woes. The earnings report now shows that some 2 billion people are using at least one of Facebook’s services every day now. Facebook shares were at roughly $146 ahead of earnings and the stock was still floundering around the $150 mark late on Friday. The trend was for analysts to keep their buy and outperform ratings while trimming their 2019 stock price target expectations.

Three key issues were seen in the world of automobiles the week of Nov. 2. The top issue is that higher interest rates are starting to add in their dose of pouring salt on the wound by limiting car buyers on how much car they can buy (over $1,000 higher financing costs versus a year ago). That said, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) managed to deliver much better than expected earnings and its shares finally showed that they could rise again. Unfortunately, GM also signaled more “peak auto” concerns for longer as it is offering to buy out 18,000 employees out of their jobs.

Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades included shares of Abiomed, Allscripts, Apple, Carbonite, Kraft Heinz, L3, Souther Copper, Starbucks, VeriSign, XPO and about a dozen more key companies.

That’s all for the 20 issues you should not have missed for the week of Oct. 29 to Nov. 2.

Next week may be another wild ride around the midterm elections as the country will find out the makeup of the next Congress. Stay tuned.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stockpiles increased by 48 billion cubic feet for the week ending October 26.

Analysts were expecting a storage injection of around 50 billion to 55 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is an injection of 62 billion cubic feet, and last year’s storage increase for the week totaled 65 billion cubic feet. Natural gas inventories rose by 58 billion cubic feet in the week ending October 19.

Natural gas futures for December delivery traded up about two cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $3.28 per million BTUs, and slipped to $3.27 after the report was released.

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For the period between November 1 and November 7, NatGasWeather.com predicts “moderate” demand and offers the following outlook:

Warm high pressure will dominate the eastern and southern US today with highs of 50s to 80s, hottest over the Southeast. A weather system with heavy showers will push through the Midwest and east-central US with rain and snow, and slightly chilly conditions as lows drop into the 20s to 40s. This system will track into the East late Fri-Sun for a little stronger demand. California and much of the West will be mild to warm.

Total U.S. stockpiles decreased slightly week over week to 16.5% below last year’s level and also dipped slightly to 16.9% below the five-year average.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled about 3.143 trillion cubic feet at the end of last week, around 638 billion below the five-year average of 3.781 trillion cubic feet and 623 billion below last year’s total for the same period. Working gas in storage totaled 3.766 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers are reacting to today’s report:

• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.7% to $80.21, in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up about 1%, at $3.55 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $5.60.
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 1.1% at $106.48. The 52-week range is $96.54 to $133.53.

In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded down about 1.5%, at $26.29 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $27.65.

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If this was a decade ago, investors might not have flinched at hearing that Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was going to make a large acquisition. In 2018, things are quite different. There may be a silver lining here in that its shares have recovered, but that is also happening on a big up-day in the stock market.

Along with earnings this week, Chesapeake announced that the company is making a $4 billion acquisition of WildHorse Resource Development Corp. (NYSE: WRD). That tab is measuring the enterprise value in over $900 million in debt assumption, but the cash and stock value is 5.989 Chesapeake shares per WildHorse share, or a combination of stock and cash. Chesapeake shareholders are expected to own roughly 55% of the combined operations after the merger closes.

Chesapeake is getting hard assets here. The acquisition was shown to be adding about 420,000 net Eagle Ford Sale and Austin Chalk formation acres in Texas. The merger is also said to help save $200 million to $280 million annually in combined costs over the first five years of the deal.

Analysts are mixed on the deal. Sanford Bernstein indicated that the deal would lower Chesapeake’s gas-to-oil split to 68% (gas) from 72% currently. The firm also sees this leading to sooner than expected free cash flow with the deal.

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Still, Chesapeake has been in the process of paring down assets to pay down debt, and the $275 million to $400 million cash needs for the deal are expected to come from Chesapeake’s revolving credit facility.

Credit Suisse also was cautious about this merger. Chesapeake’s rating was left as Underperform, but the firm lowered its price target to $3 from $4. While the merger is shown to improve Chesapeake’s position, it is deemed an expensive deal that leaves Chesapeake overleveraged afterward.

Susquehanna raised its rating on Chesapeake to Positive from Neutral after the deal was announced, and Merrill Lynch maintained its Neutral rating and $6 price objective. Merrill Lynch’s investment rationale said:

Given the sale of its Utica assets and acceleration of Powder River Basin growth, we believe the worse has passed for Chesapeake with the company poised to generate free cashflow for the first time in several years in 2019. While the commodity remains a headwind, debt metrics appear on the route to improvement.

Several other analysts have lowered their price targets:

• Imperial Capital to $5 from $6.
• Jefferies to $2.60 from $3.
• SunTrust Robinson Humphrey to $4 from $5.

CFRA (S&P Global) lowered its target to $4 from $5 while keeping its Hold rating. CFRA’s report explained the target cut rationale as follows:

We believe Chesapeake paid a competitive price for the assets at $9,500 per acre and it will make Chesapeake’s portfolio more diversified between higher-return oil and existing gas assets. However, to finance, Chesapeake will dilute existing shareholders and borrow $275-$400 million, as well as add an additional net debt of $930 million from Wildhorse to a balance sheet that is already stretched thin.

One serious issue to consider about the price being paid here is that Chesapeake had a market cap of almost $3.4 billion ahead of the earnings and acquisition news. Adding in a new $4 billion in enterprise value (debt and equity combined) is a game changer. And for historical comparisons, Chesapeake shares were close to $30 back in 2014 — with an exponentially higher market cap.

Chesapeake Energy shares were last seen up 8.4% at $3.54 on Wednesday, but this stock was at $3.72 two days ago, before the earnings and merger announcement, and they were down at $3.27 as of Tuesday’s post-news close.

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Stocks were indicated to open much higher on Wednesday after Tuesday’s bounce, and earnings may be saving the day, on top of a strong ADP payrolls report. Some investors have remained bullish during this most recent market panic, but many key stocks are in their own bear market with drops of 20% to 40%. Investors also have seen lower upside after buying immediately after the big market pullbacks than in prior years.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, October 31, 2018.

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the target price was lowered to $206 from $212 at Piper Jaffray. Aetna shares closed up 1.3% at $197.65 ahead of this call, and the stock had a consensus target price of $206.00.

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AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.

Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE: BHGE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $37 price target at Guggenheim, and Jefferies downgraded it to Hold from Buy with a $36 price target. Baker Hughes closed up 2.5% at $27.26 on Tuesday, and it was indicated up almost 1% at $27.50 on Wednesday. The consensus target price was $37.60.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was raised to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna.

Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $74 target price (versus a $66.52 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Container Store Group Inc. (NYSE: TCS) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $6 target price (versus a $10.05 close) at JPMorgan. This stock was indicated down 19.9% at $8.05 after earnings disappointed.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Robert W. Baird, and JPMorgan raised it to Neutral from Underweight. The stock closed up 2.3% at $134.40 ahead of these calls, and it had a consensus target price of $158.14.

Eagle Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: EGRX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the target price was slashed to $54 from $82 at Piper Jaffray. The shares closed down 16.5% at $47.50 ahead of this call, after releasing study results on fulvestrant that failed to meet primary bioequivalence endpoints.

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Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its price target was raised to $157 from $147 at JPMorgan.

Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ESIO) was downgraded to Neutral at D.A. Davidson on news that MKS Instruments is acquiring the company. Its shares were up 91% at $28.53 afterward.

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse. The shares were indicated up 2% at $110.59 on Wednesday morning. That compares with a consensus target price of $112.06.

Gardner Denver Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GDI) was already rated as Buy but it was added to the prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs, along with a $34 price target. The stock closed up almost 4% at $26.59 ahead of this call, and it previously had a $33.35 consensus target price.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was down 8.8% at $10.18 on Tuesday after slashing its dividend to a penny. Now, UBS raised GE shares to Buy from Neutral with a $13 price target.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $70 price objective (versus a $63.18 close) at Merrill Lynch. Qualcomm shares had a consensus analyst target of $72.62 ahead of the call.

SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI. Its shares closed up 1.2% on Tuesday, but they were indicated up more than 6% at $54.50 after earnings.

Veracyte Inc. (NASDAQ: VCYT) was raised to Buy with a $17 price target (versus an $11.56 close) at Janney, with the firm noting that revenue acceleration is taking place, along with lower cash burn and a developing margin leverage.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was slashed to $1.50 from $5.00 at UBS. Weatherford closed down 18% at $1.26 on Tuesday, and it previously had a consensus target price of $3.63 before this or other target price cuts from analysts.

Yum China Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YUMC) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $35 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The stock closed up 1.5% at $31.69 ahead of this call but was indicated up almost 7% at $33.90 after beating earnings expectations with a slight miss on revenue.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Akamai Technologies, JetBlue Airways, Nordstrom, Nvidia, On Semiconductor, Southwest Airlines, Ventas and many more companies.

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The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Aetna, Baker Hughes, Chesapeake Energy, Cognizant, Cummins, Eli Lilly, GE, Qualcomm, Weatherford and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..