Intuit initiated, Charter downgraded: Wall Street’s top analyst calls

The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today’s research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• DA Davidson upgraded First Foundation (FFWM) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $9, up from $8, following the company’s announced capital raise. While the bank’s near-term profitability remains under pressure, the capital raise is a “clearing event,” allowing the company the capacity to sell loans, reducing concentration levels and earnings pressure, and build its allowance for credit losses, while maintaining solid capital levels, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• BMO Capital upgraded Permian Resources (PR) to Outperform from Market Perform with an unchanged price target of $21. The firm likes the company’s increased Delaware footprint, plus “strong” operational and acquisition track record.
• Citi upgraded Pampa Energia (PAM) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $58, up from $51. The firm says it has been on the sidelines on Pampa for a long time, but now upgrades the shares as it believes the market does not appear to be adequately rewarding the company’s growing gas production profile.
• Leerink upgraded AN2 Therapeutics (ANTX) to Outperform from Market Perform with an unchanged price target of $5. After AN2 provided an unanticipated announcement in February that they were detecting “potentially lower-than-expected efficacy” on a blinded basis in their Phase 2 study, investors assumed that epetraborole may not be a viable drug candidate, but the firm believes that there is “a decent chance” that AN2 could show signs of efficacy in super refractory Mycobacterium avium complex, or MAC, patients in August when AN2 reports their Phase 2 data.
• DNB Markets upgraded Dorian LPG (LPG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $52, up from $48.10. Due to “solid” U.S. production and exports, the firm expects the “robust” VLGC freight market to persist and sees upside potential to its $45,000/day spot rate for the next four quarters.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Citi downgraded Charter (CHTR) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $255, down from $280. The company faces risks to both consensus estimates and to valuation as the organic broadband environment is getting “tougher” relative to expectations, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Barclays downgraded Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $37 price target after the company agreed to be acquired by Boeing (BA) for $4.7B, or $37.25 per share. Citi also moved to the sidelines on the name.
• Stephens downgraded First Foundation to Equal Weight from Overweight after the company announced a $228M capital raise. While shares will be down significantly and the company is “arguably in a better position pro forma,” the firm prefers to take a wait-and-see approach with more tangible book value dilution to come and likely continued sentiment headwinds, adding that its $10 price target is under review.
• Barclays downgraded Pacira BioSciences (PCRX) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $25, down from $38. The “surprise” generic Exparel approval “diminishes the halo of impenetrability” around the drug, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• DA Davidson downgraded Azek (AZEK) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $44, down from $57. The firm’s latest decking contractor survey points to a deceleration in activity over Q2 as well as near-term contractor growth expectations that have moved lower.

Top 5 Initiations:

• RBC Capital initiated coverage of Intuit (INTU) with an Outperform rating and $760 price target. The firm likes Intuit’s “successful transition” to a subscription model and its market leadership position in tax and accounting software.
• BTIG initiated coverage of MGM Resorts (MGM) with a Buy rating and $52 price target, citing the company’s “attractive” fundamental story along with a “favorable” risk/reward and mixed investor sentiment on the stock.
• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Absci (ABSI) with an Overweight rating and $7 price target. The firm says partnerships provide early validation for Absci, its lead program ABS-101 addresses well-understood biology, and the stock’s valuation “provides a compelling entry point.”
• H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of Abeona Therapeutics (ABEO) with a Buy rating and $15 price target. The firm believes that pz-cel ought to achieve peak sales of over $300M in the U.S. alone, driven by ultra-premium pricing of roughly $850K per patient, and sees “no other RDEB therapy is likely to be capable of providing a long-term potential cure or definitive wound closure in the same manner as pz-cel.”
• Canaccord initiated coverage of Alarum (ALAR) with a Hold rating and $42 price target. While shares have “clear momentum,” the firm remains “cognizant of risk at these valuation levels,” the analyst tells investors.