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

Norfolk Southern upgrade, AutoNation downgrade, and BioMarin initiation among today’s top calls on Wall Street

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Check out today’s top analyst calls from around Wall Street:

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Wolfe Research upgraded Norfolk Southern (NSC) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $255 price target. The shares have underperformed since the Ohio derailment about two weeks ago, but the company’s near-term trends look more favorable, the firm tells investors in a research note. [Read more]

• Goldman Sachs upgraded Vir Biotechnology (VIR) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $53, up from $41. The company will report VIR-2482 data in mid-2023, which should show meaningfully better efficacy than currently approved and rival pipeline-stage flu vaccines, the firm says. [Read more]

• B. Riley upgraded MarineMax (HZO) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $52, up from $33. The firm likes the company’s diversification initiatives and opportunities arising from its real estate portfolio. [Read more]

• Guggenheim upgraded Alliant Energy (LNT) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $52, up from $46, following recent "constructive conversations" with Wisconsin PSC Chairperson Valcq and Commissioner Huebner. [Read more]

• Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded HomeTrust Bancshares (HTBI) to Buy from Neutral with a $34 fair value estimate. The bank has an "excellent footprint in growing cities" throughout the Southeast such as Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville, and now Atlanta, the firm tells investors. [Read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• JPMorgan downgraded AutoNation (AN) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $130, up from $125. The firm believes the company’s recent capital deployment will have little accretion in the near-term. [Read more]

• UBS downgraded DocuSign (DOCU) to Sell from Neutral with a $52 price target. Last week, the company announced a 10% workforce reduction after the 9% reduction in September, sending a negative demand signal about 2024 growth that may not be factored into the stock, the firm says. [Read more]

• Wells Fargo downgraded SentinelOne (S) to Equal Weight from Overweight with an $18 price target, citing concerns about declining demand trends. [Read more]

• Wells Fargo downgraded Cable One (CABO) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $680, down from $850. Slowing broadband subscriber growth, likely from competition, and a "dilutive" 2025 put to consolidate Mega Broadband are key negative catalysts that will de-rate shares, the firm says. [Read more]

• Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Generac (GNRC) to Neutral from Buy with a $137 fair value estimate, noting that the stock has advanced 37% since the firm’s initiation on December 28. [Read more]  Truist also downgraded Generac to Hold from Buy. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Citi initiated coverage of BioMarin (BMRN) with a Neutral rating and $116 price target. While the company is a "pioneering developer" of therapies for rare diseases and has two potential blockbusters in early launches, its recent progress and expected 2023 achievements are priced into the shares, the firm says. [Read more]

• EF Hutton initiated coverage of Alnylam (ALNY) with a Buy rating and $304 price target. Alnylam’s journey from a venture-backed start-up attempting to transform RNA interference technology into a powerful new category of human therapeutics is "nothing short of remarkable," the firm contends. [Read more]

• Needham initiated coverage of Riot Blockchain (RIOT) with a Buy rating and $9 price target. The firm views Riot as a "tier-1 miner" with an estimated all-in breakeven cost of $13,400 per bitcoin, "which places it at the lower end of the spectrum." [Read more]

• BofA reinstated coverage of Autoliv (ALV) with a Buy rating and $130 price target. By fiscal 2025, the firm sees earnings growth of 50% versus the company’s the pre-COVID high of $7.90 per share. [Read more]

• Raymond James initiated coverage of TXO Energy Partners (TXO)  with a Strong Buy rating and $34 price target. TXO Energy is rewriting the E&P MLP story, operating solely conventional assets within the San Juan and Permian basins, resulting in an industry-low 9% annual base decline rate, the firm says. [Read more]

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