Wynn Resorts upgraded, PayPal initiated: 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:

• Seaport Research upgraded Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to Buy from Neutral with a $116 price target. The stock’s 9% decline since mid-April is unwarranted, with Wynn having delivered strong Q1 results in Macau and showed continued resilience in Las Vegas, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• JPMorgan upgraded NetApp (NTAP) to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $125, up from $95, following the fiscal Q4 report. The firm says its concerns around gross margin headwinds from a backdrop of rising memory prices has not transpired with the company “executing robustly” to manage the headwinds through pre-buy of memory while driving a richer portfolio mix in relation to higher margin all-flash drives.
• Wolfe Research upgraded Fifth Third (FITB) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $43 price target. The firm says the bank is a “stable operator” that will “block and tackle its way” to generating the greatest alpha in the regional space over the next 12 months.
• Piper Sandler last night double upgraded Independent Bank (IBTX) to Overweight from Underweight with a price target of $58, up from $38, to align with the 0.60 exchange ratio on its $98 price target for South State (SSB). Selling to South State should expedite the valuation creation recovery for Independent Bank shareholders and should deliver outsized returns for the legacy owners, the firm says.
• UBS upgraded Bilibili (BILI) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $18, up from $11.90. The company’s Q1 results brought “robust” advertising progress and a stabilizing game business, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Wells Fargo downgraded Marathon Oil (MRO) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $29, down from $38, after the company entered into a agreement pursuant to which ConocoPhillips (COP) will acquire it in an all-stock transaction.
• Keefe Bruyette downgraded ConnectOne Bancorp (CNOB) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $22, down from $24. The bank retains a fairly high commercial real estate concentration ratio at 442% of total capital, which could limit valuation upside relative to peers over the medium term as it will likely take a couple years for broader investor concerns regarding the uncertainty of future CRE credit performance to be resolved, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• Keefe Bruyette downgraded Valley National (VLY) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $8, down from $12, following a change in analyst coverage. The firm reduced estimates to reflect a more conservative net interest income and credit outlook.
• Citi downgraded Calliditas Therapeutics (CALT) to Neutral from Buy with a $39 price target after Asahi Kasei (AHKSY) announced an agreement to acquire Calliditas for about $39 per ADS or about $1.1B.
• Johnson Rice downgraded Cactus (WHD) to Accumulate from Buy with a $61 price target.

Top 5 Initiations:

• New Street initiated coverage of PayPal (PYPL) with a Buy rating and $80 price target. The analyst says new CEO Alex Chriss is pivoting PayPal toward value.
• Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Sarepta (SRPT) with an Overweight rating and $157 price target. The analyst likes the prospects for Elevidys to receive an expanded Duchenne muscular dystrophy label on its FDA action date of June 21.
• UBS initiated coverage of Agree Realty (ADC) with a Neutral rating and $60 price target. The firm has a cautious stance on the triple net lease real estate investment trust group, saying external growth opportunities will remain limited into 2025, which should weigh on funds from operations growth. The firm’s constructive view on Realty Income (O) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (EPRT) is based on visibility into leverage-neutral investments and accretive spreads.
• Citi initiated coverage of Lionsgate Studios (LION) with a Buy rating and $14 price target. The company has a long, successful track record as a pure play content company, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Beazer Homes (BZH) with an Outperform rating and $37 price target. The firm thinks an improved leverage profile, Beazer’s substantial lot count, and a differentiated product support a volume inflection and believes the valuation “looks attractive,” the analyst tells investors.