Johnson Controls upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Nicole Deblase upgraded Johnson Controls (JCI) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $112, up from $101. The company’s new CEO Joakim Weidemanis introduced himself to the investment community on last week’s Q1 earnings call “with a clear message,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Weidemanis sees significant operational improvement opportunities after just six weeks on the job, and execution on these opportunities should allow Johnson Controls “to close its long-standing margin gap” versus key peers over time. It views the stock “as a rare opportunity to own a name” with 500 basis points of operating margin improvement potential “that is nowhere near embedded in current consensus forecasts.”