Ericsson (ERIC), Monsanto (MON) & More: These Stocks Are Getting Some Love from Analysts

Ahead of the big debate between the two leading presidential candidates, the markets have opened on a jittery note, with all major indices trading in the red. However, crude prices are showing an uptick, which may have a soothing effect on the market. Apart from these factors, the markets are also being affected by analyst action, including ratings changes on several stocks.

Some of the prominent stocks that received upgrades from analysts recently are Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON), Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP), Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR), and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T).  In this article, we will look at the new ratings and price targets for these stocks and discuss why the analysts like them.

At Insider Monkey, we track more than 750 hedge funds, whose 13F filings we analyze as part of our small-cap strategy. Our research has shown that imitating a portfolio that includes the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds can outperform the market by as much as 95 basis points per month on average (see more details here).

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Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded by Credit Suisse to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underperform’ this morning. The investment bank does not have a price target on the company’s stock, which has fallen by 28% this year. Ericsson recently announced slashing 3,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting initiative, as well as plans to close the last of its Swedish manufacturing sites. It’s hoped that the cost-cutting measures will help boost the company’s bottom-line. Among the funds we track, 12 were long $73 million worth of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) shares in aggregate at the end of June, having amassed 3.50% of its outstanding stock.

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) was upgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Underperform’ by Sanford C. Bernstein following its merger agreement with Bayer. The research firm also boosted its price target on the stock to $114.26, up from the previous target of $82.81. Despite the upgrade, analyst Jonas Oxgaard noted that it’s too early to know whether the merger will be approved by authorities. In addition to the merger news, Monsanto recently announced that it will invest $1.6 million towards a climate change initiative. The initiative will help farmers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The number of funds in our database long Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) stood at 87 at the end of June, up from just 51 at the end of March.

Three more stocks that analysts are loving right now are analyzed on the next page.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP) received both a rating upgrade as well as a price target boost from Robert W. Baird. The agency raised its rating on the stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ and nearly doubled its target price on it, to $45 from $25. The company recently purchased a ranch on a 6,000-acre parcel of land near a North Dakota site where thousands are protesting its Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline, which will carry crude from North Dakota to Illinois, has been approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers. 22 hedge funds in our database have positions in Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP) as of June 30, with their aggregate holdings valued at about $833 million.

Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR)‘s stock has received a number of analyst updates this morning. Goldman Sachs started coverage on the stock with a ‘Buy’ rating and has set an $81 price target on it. Meanwhile, Stifel Nicolaus boosted its price target on the stock to $66 from $65 and has a ‘Hold’ rating on it, while Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’, while maintaining a $78 price target on it. While Goldman Sachs is cautious on the hotel sector as a whole, it likes Marriott’s Starwood acquisition and believes the company has attractive returns and locations which are not being fully appreciated by the market. 36 hedge funds that we track held about $1.72 billion worth of Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) shares at the end of the June quarter, up from 33 funds holding $1.28 billion in Marriott positions at the end of the March quarter.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) stock received a positive ratings boost from HSBC this morning. The firm now has a ‘Hold’ rating on it, up its previous rating of ‘Reduce’. The company is looking to expand its international market by making a foray into Argentina. AT&T also recently announced signing an agreement with Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) to buy some of its spectrum. 55 of the hedge funds in our system held about $3.55 billion worth of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock as of the end of the June quarter, up from 51 funds holding $3.20 billion in stock at the end of the March quarter.

Disclosure: None