10 Firms Buck Thursday’s Market Bloodbath

4. Agilon Health Inc. (NYSE:AGL)

Agilon Health jumped by 6.18 percent on Thursday to end at $5.50 apiece as investors resumed bargain-hunting following earning a rating upgrade earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Bernstein upgraded its outlook for AGL to Outperform from Market Perform previously, and gave the company a price target of $8.50, up from the $3.30 previously. The new target represented a 59-percent upside from AGL’s latest closing price.

“Our upgrade reflects our improved confidence in AGL’s turnaround plan and cash position,” Bernstein said. “Since then, we have received several data points that increase our confidence in the turnaround plan, thus lowering the risk of a capital rise.”

The upgrade also took into account earlier announcements that the US government would bolster its Medicare Advantage payments next year, which is more than double what it proposed in January.

According to Bernstein, AGL is now expected to perform “better than expected.”