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Wall Street Roundup: Bullish & Bearish Calls Of The Day

The uncertainty regarding the pace of economic recovery has added to the volatility in the stock market. Amid volatility, TipRanks brings you the latest analyst action on some of your favorite stocks to help you navigate through the ups and downs. Let’s look into the top bullish and bearish calls of the day and see what the Wall Street experts are recommending.

Upgrades

1. Mesoblast Limited

Maxim Group analyst Jason McCarthy upgraded Mesoblast (MESO) to Buy from Hold. According to McCarthy, misses on primary endpoints for heart failure, chronic back pain and COVID-related respiratory distress syndrome, along with a FDA complete response letter (CRL) in Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) caused the stock to pull back significantly. However, McCarthy believes that this is more of a “mismatch” between primary endpoints and the most important endpoints, which should get resolved in clinical trials and through interactions with regulators.

The consensus rating among analysts is a Moderate Buy based on 3 Buys, 1 Hold, and 1 Sell. The average analyst price target stands at $14.38 and implies upside potential of 70% to current levels.

2.  L Brands

UBS analyst Jay Sole upgraded L Brands (LB) to Buy from Hold and increased the price target to $96 from $54. In a note to investors, Sole said that retail stocks, which reflect “strong” post-pandemic growth prospects, are likely to outperform once the economic reopening trade ends. Furthermore, the analyst lifted estimates for fiscal 2021 and 2022 following “very strong” sales in March for department stores and specialty retailers, as indicated by experts.

TipRanks data shows that financial blogger opinions are 71% Bullish, compared to a sector average of 67%.

3. Preferred Bank

Raymond James analyst David Feaster upgraded Preferred Bank (PFBC) to Buy from Hold and maintained a price target of $72. Feaster believes “the growth outlook and profitability profile of the bank is underappreciated by the market. Notably, the bank has consistently posted stronger-than-peer growth, steadily growing in the low-to-mid double digits organically over the past several years. While the challenging economic backdrop has weighed on growth recently, we still believe the bank can conservatively generate high-single-digit growth ex-PPP in 2021 organically, and accelerate to the low-double digits in 2022.”

TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that investors currently have a Very Positive stance on Preferred Bank, with 54.9% of investors increasing their exposure to PFBC stock over the past 30 days.

4. OrganiGram Holdings

BMO Capital analyst Tamy Chen upgraded OrganiGram (OGI) to Hold from Sell following the recent decline in the stock price. Chen maintains a price target of C$4 and is positive on the recently announced collaboration with British American Tobacco (BTI). She revised her forward revenue multiple target upward from 4.5x to 10x.

TipRanks data shows that financial blogger opinions are 56% Neutral, compared to a sector average of 66%.

5. Texas Capital Bancshares

Janney Montgomery analyst John Rodis upgraded Texas Capital (TCBI) to Buy from Hold. In a note to investors, Rodis said that the current “bulk of the selling pressure” on shares might be associated with the Archegos Capital Management default. Although the exact size of Texas Capital’s position is not known, the analyst believes that the selling pressure is “nearing an end” and expects the stock to trade more fundamentally in the coming period.

TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity tool shows that confidence in Texas Capital is currently Neutral, as 3 hedge funds decreased their cumulative holdings of the stock by 124,500 shares in the last quarter.

Downgrades

1. Sempra Energy

Seaport Global analyst Angie Storozynski downgraded Sempra Energy (SRE) to Hold from Buy following the company’s “good, not great” agreement with KKR to sell a non-controlling, 20% interest in the company’s new business platform, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, for $3.37 billion.

According to TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool, investor sentiment is currently Very Negative with 5.9% of portfolios reducing their exposure to SRE in the last 30 days.

2. Vertex

Morgan Stanley analyst Stan Zlotsky downgraded Vertex (VERX) to Sell from Hold and decreased the price target to $18 from $22. Based on the impact of increased competition on the company’s serviceable available market and its premium valuation versus its peers, Zlotsky expects the stock to underperform.

Vertex gets a 1 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score ranking suggesting that it is likely to underperform market expectations.

3. Simmons First National

Raymond James analyst David Feaster downgraded Simmons First National (SFNC) to Hold from Buy “driven by its strong performance since July 2020.” Feaster said, “While we continue to view the fundamental outlook favorably, where SFNC is set for accelerating loan growth, maintains significant credit leverage (LLR ratio exPPP to 1.98%, and +2.3% inclusive of FV marks), and is well-positioned to be an active participant in M&A, we believe this is reflected in its in-line P/E multiple vs. the peer group, and its P/TBV multiple in line with historical discounts. As such, we now view the risk/reward as balanced.”

The Street’s consensus rating on the stock is a Hold based on 2 Hold recommendations. Looking ahead, the average analyst price target stands at $30, putting the upside potential at 2.9% over the next 12 months.

4. FibroGen

Mizuho Securities analyst Difei Yang downgraded FibroGen (FGEN) to Hold from Buy and decreased the price target to $29 from $72 as the analyst sees “higher risk and uncertainty around timelines to regulatory approvals following the clarification of previously disclosed cardiovascular safety analyses on roxadustat…While new data presented using pre-specified criteria still support the benefit/risk profile of roxa, we were surprised by the news and believe this creates higher risk in the near term, and uncertainty around timelines to potential approval.”

Despite the recent downgrade, TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that investors currently have a Very Positive stance on FibroGen, with 10.2% of investors increasing their exposure to FGEN stock over the past seven days.

5. WP Carey & Co

Merrill Lynch analyst Joshua Dennerlein downgraded WP Carey (WPC) to Sell from Buy following a ratings adjustment. Dennerlein believes that the company will shift its focus in 2021 to growth rather than its prior emphasis on portfolio quality and investment grade tenancy.

TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity tool shows that confidence in WP Carey is currently Negative, as 3 hedge funds decreased their cumulative holdings of the stock by 47,600 shares in the last quarter.

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Priti Ramgarhia
Priti Ramgarhia from Kolkata, India, has over fifteen years of experience in the equity research domain. Over the years, she worked with a team on research reports and writing financial blogs, covering various industries and geographies at Zacks Research Private Limited. Later on, Priti moved to join TipRanks as a content writer, covering breaking news articles and analysis pieces. She is a post-graduate, with a Masters in Commerce from Calcutta University and a Masters in Finance from ICFAI.