5 analyst calls of the day: M&T Bank upgraded, Ollie’s cut to Sell | Pro Recap

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By Davit Kirakosyan

Investing.com — Here is your daily Pro Recap of the biggest analyst upgrades and downgrades you may have missed this morning.

M&T Bank shares up on Citi Citi upgrade

M&T Bank (NYSE:) shares gained more than 3% pre-market today after Citi upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral while cutting its price target to $155.00 from $178.00. The firm views the recent market selloff as an attractive entry point from a risk/reward standpoint as the stock trades above the median implied cost of equity.

According to the firm, M&T Bank is well positioned in the current environment with approximately 50% of deposits FDIC insured. The bank’s capital position is also strong given prudent balance sheet management resulting in lower unrealized losses relative to peers with the optionality to extend duration at higher rates.

“While MTB has more CRE exposure than other regionals in our coverage, we have conviction in the credit position as MTB fared well through the GFC and we believe has a strong management team,” added the firm.

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Ollie’s Bargain Outlet downgraded to Sell despite a Q4 beat

Citi downgraded Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:) to Sell from Neutral and cut its price target to $49.00 from $52.00.

The company reported its Q4 results on Wednesday, beating estimates and issuing a better-than-expected full-year forecast.

According to Citi, despite the beat, several things make it more cautious on the company, including (1) a difficult model to scale and a supply chain that has been choppy for years, (2) weaker new store productivity in the past several years, (3) Ollie’s Army numbers weak, (4) FCF uninspiring with little improvement expected, and (5) several aggressive assumptions built into 2023 guidance including an acceleration in new store productivity and no assumed increase in promotions.

Shares fell nearly 3% pre-market today.

3 more rating changes

Jefferies downgraded Wingstop (NASDAQ:) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $160.00 as valuations seem to reflect an overly optimistic view of near-term SSS momentum.

“While our analysis of recent drivers suggest Street ests are fair, upside appears limited, incl in 2H where the setup/ optics around decelerating trends also adds risk to the multiple,” said the firm.

Baird downgraded Caterpillar (NYSE:) to Underperform from Neutral and cut its price target to $185.00 from $230.00.

“We believe CAT shares are nearing a cyclical pivot point with relative stock performance responding to four fundamental factors: dealer stocking impact on sales growth, backlog progression, price/cost spread (which drives forward margin expectations), and dealer retail sales,” said the firm.

UBS upgraded Pinterest (NYSE:) to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $35.00 from $27.00.

Shares jumped more than 4% pre-market today.