Sometimes, a little extra analyst love can spark a hefty gain in a stock price. That’s about what happened to Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE:SPR), who saw shares shoot up over 6.5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading. This was thanks largely to an upgrade at Robert W. Baird and, of course, what went into that upgrade.
Pick the best stocks and maximize your portfolio:
- Discover top-rated stocks from highly ranked analysts with Analyst Top Stocks!
- Easily identify outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
Baird, via analyst Peter Arment, upped Spirit from Neutral to Outperform, mostly thanks to some recent changes Spirit made that are likely to give its cash flow an all too vital shot in the arm. An “increased focus on execution and costs,” Arment noted, makes for a brighter outlook by itself. But when you add on “higher volumes” within Spirit’s operations, that only improves things all the more.
Baird also looks for Spirit to renegotiate some contracts, a move which will likely benefit Spirit as well. Its recent move to improve its position with Boeing (NYSE:BA) offered vital flexibility with its finances and also room to update—and upgrade—its factories.
A Shakeup at SPR’s Top Brass
Spirit’s ongoing shakeup also hit the company’s top brass. COO Sam Marnick—rather, former COO Sam Marnick—departed the company. Why was unclear, but now, all of those who reported to Marnick will instead report directly to CEO Patrick Shanahan, whom Arment previously credited with many of the new and valuable policies going into Spirit. Shanahan himself is the result of one such brass change, as the previous CEO, Tom Gentile, stepped down to make room for Shanahan.
What is the Target Price for Spirit Aerosystems?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SPR stock based on nine Buys, six Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.08% rally in its share price over the past year, the average SPR price target of $30.13 per share implies 8.73% upside potential.
