Wednesday’s Top Analysts Upgrades and Downgrades: Bloomin’ Brands, ChargePoint, Clorox, Cloudflare, Intel, Novavax, Owens Corning, Palo Alto Networks, PPL and More

The futures traded higher on Wednesday after another big day of selling that saw the S&P 500 dip into correction territory. Once again, the main culprits appear to be the ongoing specter of Russia invading Ukraine, the huge inflation risks and the interest rate hikes that are coming in March. The concerns were additionally heightened following reports that Russian President Putin was sending “peacekeepers” into the separatist-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine. Those concerns were somewhat tamped down as Russian troops were already in those areas, but many still see the action as very provocative.

The big commodities story Tuesday was oil with Brent crude heading toward the $100 a barrel mark and West Texas Intermediate seemingly on its way to $95. Of course, the rise in the black gold is directly tied to the Ukraine situation, and some across Wall Street have predicted $5 to $7 per gallon gasoline if a full-scale war breaks out in the region.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, February 23, 2022.

Albany International Corp. (NYSE: AIN): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and lowered the target price to $90 from $105. That compares with a consensus target of $96.29 and Tuesday’s closing print of $85.53, which was down over 3% for the day.

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ALSN): Credit Suisse downgraded the shares to Neutral from Outperform and has a $48 price objective. The consensus price target is $41.29. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $39.91.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN): Raymond James reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the restaurant chain giant and raised the $28 price target to $30. Jefferies kept it at Buy and nudged the target price to $36 from $35, while BMO Capital Markets stayed with an Outperform rating and raised the target price from $30 to $33. The consensus target is $29.91. The final trade Tuesday came in at $24.43.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the popular golf club and accessories company to $31 from $27 while maintaining a Neutral rating. The consensus target is up at $39.83, but the stock closed Tuesday at $22.75, down close to 3% for the day.

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE): Piper Sandler lowered its Neutral rating to Underweight and slashed the target price to $140 from $180. The consensus target is higher at $191.80. The last trade on Tuesday was at $144.07 a share.

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