Bed Bath & Beyond, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Etsy, Plains All-American Pipeline, Truist Financial and More – 24/7 Wall St.

Futures traded flat on Tuesday after a positive start to the trading week on Monday as all major indices closed higher. Most of the rally over the past week (fourth straight week, longest stretch since early November) was attributed to some large hedge fund short coverings and a surge in corporate buybacks as earnings season ends this week, as well as the added presence of the Return of the small army to action. A lower volume of summer dog days has also helped contribute to the month-long meltdown.

Treasury yields fell along the curve on Monday as recession fears pushed investors back to the safety of US Treasuries. The 2-year and 10-year inversions remained in place, with the former closing at 3.20% and the latter at 2.79%, possibly adding to recession concerns.

The big news on Monday was the energy complex’s big pullback as both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed but were far from intraday lows. Saudi oil giant Aramco said it could ramp up production, which coupled with disappointing economic data from China challenged sellers. Gold and Bitcoin both ended the day slightly lower.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports every day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls are for stocks to buy. Other calls are related to stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that a single analyst call should never be used as the basis for buying or selling a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and launches observed on Tuesday, August 16, 2022.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD): BMO Capital Markets has upgraded its stock to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its price target to $321 from $298. The consensus target is $287.76 and the stock ended Monday’s trading at $274.11 a share.

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. (NYSE: AEL): Evercore ISI downgraded shares to inline from outperform and raised its price target to $44 from $42. The consensus target is $42.56. The stock closed at $41.54 on Monday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY): B. Riley Securities downgraded the meme stock darling to Sell from Neutral, but kept a price target of $5. The consensus target is $3.49. Shares closed nearly 24% higher at $16.00 on Monday after the retail army surged.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (NYSE: CFR): Compass Point has upgraded the regional banking company to Buy from Neutral. The company’s price target is $152, above the consensus target of $141.00. The last trade for Monday was reported at $138.04 per share.