Street Wrap: Today’s Top 15 Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations

AT&T upgrade, Tesla downgrade, and Bill initiation among today’s top calls on Wall Street

The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today’s research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly. 

Top 5 Upgrades:

• HSBC upgraded AT&T (T) to Buy from Hold with an unchanged price target of $21. The "severely negative market reaction" to the company’s lower subscriber growth and "weak" Q1 free cash flow generation offers an opportunity, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Citi upgraded XPO Logistics (XPO) to Buy from Neutral with a $50 price target following the addition of two executives from Old Dominion (ODFL). The addition of Dave Bates as COO following the adding of former Old Dominion CFO Wes Frye to the board "greatly enhances the company’s operation credibility," the analyst says. [read more]
• Argus upgraded Dollar General (DG) to Buy from Hold with a $250 price target. The company is a "rare retailer" that is growing square footage and posting positive comparable sales. [read more]
• Raymond James upgraded Plains All American (PAA) to Strong Buy from Outperform with a price target of $17, up from $16. The analyst thinks Plains is the largest beneficiary of a more active OPEC+. The underlying story continues to improve, and the stock’s valuation "remains very compelling." [read more]
• JPMorgan upgraded NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $73, down from $81, after assuming coverage of the name. NextEra Energy Partners provides investors access to downstream ownership of renewable projects, offering "high-quality cash flows and industry-leading dividend growth," the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Truist downgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $154, down from $245. The analyst says lower pricing and margins diminish the value of Tesla’s core automotive business. [read more]
• Piper Sandler downgraded Big Lots (BIG) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $7, down from $12. Demand for both home furnishings and mattresses has deteriorated since March and will likely remain challenged in the months ahead, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Seagate Technology (STX) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $60, down from $72. The firm says the company’s "more cautious commentary" suggests the hard disk drive market recovery has been pushed out two quarters, with visibility in the timing of a recovery more limited. [read more]
• Stephens downgraded Everbridge (EVBG) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $34, down from $41. Yesterday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management terminated its statewide contract with Everbridge following an emergency alert test that was mistakenly sent to Florida residents’ cellphones at 4:45 AM, the firm says. [read more]
• Raymond James downgraded Williams (WMB) to Outperform from Strong Buy with a price target of $36, down from $40. Williams still represents a core long-term holding, but the downgrade is based on lower estimates and sentiment that is likely to take longer than previously contemplated to turn higher, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• UBS initiated coverage of Bill (BILL) with a Buy rating and $95 price target. The shares trade at roughly a turn discount to peers with similar revenue growth, which is due to the company’s material total payment volume deceleration and rising competition concerns, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Roth MKM initiated coverage of DoorDash (DASH) with a Neutral rating and $72 price target. The company is a market share leader that’s growing faster and demonstrating higher profitability relative to Uber (UBER), but given the potential near-term softness in consumer spending, the risk-reward on the stock looks "balanced," the firm said. [read more]
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of UnitedHealth (UNH) with an Overweight rating and $591 price target. Heading into an election cycle in a cost-inflationary environment makes the company’s features of innovation, ROIC, and risk diversification even more valuable, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Truist initiated coverage of CyberArk (CYBR) with a Buy rating and $185 price target. The firm says that the company’s transition to a subscription-based model has resulted in strong visibility and durability of its business as well as higher customer lifetime value. [read more]
• Benchmark initiated coverage of Grab Holdings (GRAB) with a Buy rating and $4 price target as part of the firm’s industry launch of Southeast Asia e-commerce stocks. The firm believes that digital economy growth in Southeast Asia will outperform global markets in the next three to five years and anticipates market consolidation as subscale players struggle to survive and ultimately exit. [read more]