10 Stocks That Had Their Price Targets Raised Tuesday

The markets opened higher today before sliding slightly into the red as investors await June’s data on import and export prices, the Treasury’s budget report, and the latest Beige Book report, all of which are slated to be released later today. Meanwhile, several stocks have received a price target raise from notable financial services firms yesterday, which has investors taking renewed interest in these stocks today. Investors value price target upgrades as they are usually triggered by steady improvement in a company’s performance or material changes to its operations.

Among the most notable stocks that had their price targets raised on Tuesday were Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP), Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF), Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX), Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Four Corners Property Trust Inc (NYSE:FCPT), Energizer Holdings Inc (NYSE:ENR), Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN), and Southern Co (NYSE:SO). Let’s find out the details of this important activity and see what hedge funds think about some of these stocks.

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Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) is in the spotlight today after investment firm Piper Jaffray upgraded the company to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ and upped its price target on it to $60 from $52. Shares touched their 2016 high yesterday and currently trade at $52.39.

Goldman Sachs upgraded Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF) to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ and raised its price target on the stock to $57. The firm also increased its earnings estimates for the food company due to its center-store grocery division, attractive valuation, and FCF yields of 7%. Shares are up by over 1% today at $48.35. Eric Mandelblatt‘s Soroban Capital Partners owned 4.93 million Pinnacle Foods shares on March 31.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX)’s stock is on investors’ radar after the company received ratings upgrades from several financial firms yesterday. RBC Capital upped its target price on Seagate to $27, while Needham & Company increased its target price on the Dublin-based data storage products company to $33. Brean Capital also revised its price target on the stock, to $35 from $30. Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the company to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Underweight’, and hiked its price target on the stock to $27 from $20. Cowen and Company and Maxim Group also raised their price targets on the stock, to $26 and $35 respectively. Seagate is up by 2% today, to $29.93.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s stock gained ground following BMO Capital Markets raising its rating on the company to ‘Outperform’. The firm is bullish on the company due to its “consistency and growth”, despite declining software license revenue. The firm raised its price target on Oracle to $47 from $45. Shares currently trade at $41.34.

Four Corners Property Trust Inc (NYSE:FCPT)’s price target was raised by Robert W. Baird to $21 from $20, though the firm slashed its rating on the company to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’. Shares have gained almost 50% since January 14, pushing them to $21, exactly at Robert W. Baird’s target price.

We’ll discuss the price target upgrades on five other companies on the next page. 

Energizer Holdings Inc (NYSE:ENR)’s price target was raised to $52 from $50 by Goldman Sachs yesterday. The firm, however, cut its rating for the batteries and lighting company to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’. Energizer shares have gained a hefty 45% year-to-date. Energizer was held by 23 of the hedge funds in our database on March 31.

Deutsche Bank AG increased its price target for Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) to $79 from $72 in a report issued to investors on Tuesday. The bank also reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating on the digital commerce solutions company, which trades at $75.75 in late-morning trading.

Needham & Company raised its price target on Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) to $29 from $26 on Tuesday. The firm thinks that Applied Materials’ new products, which were announced ahead of SEMICON West, will drive “incremental revenues” in the second half of fiscal year 2016 and through the 2017 fiscal year.

Wedbush Securities raised its price target on Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) to $66 from $63. The firm also reaffirmed its ‘Buy’ rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group AG also restated its ‘Buy’ rating for the pharmaceutical company in a report published on Tuesday and has a $63 price target on it. Nancy Havens-Hasty‘s Havens Advisors opened a new position in Medivation during the second quarter, consisting of 183,500 shares.

Research analysts at Mizuho Financial Group upped their price target for Southern Co (NYSE:SO) to $52 from $50 in a research report issued on Tuesday. The firm has a ‘Neutral’ rating on the company. Southern Co shares have gained 13% in 2016.

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