This Week’s Notable Upgrades and Downgrades

Stock analysts can provide valuable insight into the sentiment around a certain stock or sector and shed some light on what is possible or likely for a stock.  Stirring in the analyst community can sometimes be early signs of stock movement, which is why our team reviews dozens of analyst research reports each and every day with the goal of finding new investment ideas for our readers. 

Of the hundreds of reports, we reference weekly, some stand out among the others for various reasons.  Our team has sifted through this week’s reports and whittled it down to the most pertinent news for you.   

In the past week, there were more downgrades than upgrades, with stocks near record highs ahead of the holiday-shortened week.  Here is a list of notable upgrades and downgrades for the week of August 30th. 

Friday, September 3rd

  • Clorox (CLX) was downgraded by Argus Research from buy to hold.
  • Blackstone Minerals (BSM) was upgraded by Wells Fargo from equal weight to overweight.  The firm raised their price target from $11 to $13 which represents a 19% increase from its current level.  

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company.  Zacks Investment Research lowered Black Stone Minerals from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 24th. Raymond James raised their price target on BSM from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday.

  • Forte biosciences (FBRX) was the recipient of several downgrades after the company announced the clinical trial of FB-401 for the treatment of atopic dermatitis failed to meet statistical significance.
    • Truist Securities analyst Nicole Germino downgraded FBRX from buy to hold.
    • B. Riley Securities analyst Kalpit Patel downgraded FBRX from buy to neutral and announced a $3 price target.
    • Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Michael Higgins downgraded FBRX from buy to neutral.
    • Chardan Capital analyst Keay Nakae downgraded FBRX from buy to sell and announced a $4 price target.
    • Brookline Capital analyst Kumaraguru Raja downgraded FBRX from buy to hold.

“We are appreciative of the clinical trial sites and the patients for participating in this trial, and we are grateful to our investors for taking the risk to support the advancement of a new therapeutic modality for atopic dermatitis,” said Paul Wagner CEO of Forte Biosciences.

“The topline data is disappointing, and we will continue to analyze the data; however, given this readout, we will not continue to advance FB-401. We expect to provide investors with an update on the future plans for the company over the next several months,” Wagner added.

Thursday, September 2nd

  • Anheuser Busch Inbev (BUD) was upgraded by JPMorgan from underweight to equal weight.  The firm gave a $57 price target.
  • Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI) was downgraded from buy to neutral bb both Janney Montgomery and Wedbush. 


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Wednesday, September 1st

  • Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE) was upgraded by Barclays from equal weight to overweight along with a price target of $19. 
  • Apple (AAPL) was upgraded by Wolfe Research from underperform to peer perform and given a new $155 price target, up from the previous target of $135.
  • Rosenblatt Securities analyst Mark Zgutowicz downgraded Facebook (FB) from buy to neutral, saying that the days of minimal competition are essentially over.  

Tuesday, August 31st

  • BancorpSouth Bank (BSX) was upgraded by Raymond James to strong buy and given a $36 price target
  • Lake Street analyst Jaeson Schmidt downgraded DSP Group (DSPG) to hold from buy with an unchanged $22 price target after Synaptics (SYNA) announced it was acquiring the company for $22 per share in cash.  While “admittedly surprised” at the timing, he sees limited risk to the deal getting done or of a competing bid, Schmidt said.

Needham and Cohen and Co. also downgraded the stock, the latter lowering its price target to $22 from $24.  

Monday, August 30th

  • Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI) was upgraded by Citigroup from sell to neutral and given a price target of $73 from the previous target of $73.
  • Piper Sandler upgraded Amerant Bancorp Inc. (AMTB) from neutral to overweight and raised its price target from $23 to $30 which represents a 14% upside from its current price.

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