During these busy times, it pays to stay on top of the latest profit opportunities. And today’s blog post should be a great place to start. After taking a close look at the latest data on institutional buying pressure and each company’s fundamental health, I decided to revise my Portfolio Grader recommendations for 82 big blue chips. Chances are that you have at least one of these stocks in your portfolio, so you may want to give this list a skim and act accordingly.
This Week’s Ratings Changes:
| Upgraded: From Hold to Buy | Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade |
Fundamental Grade |
Total Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADP | Automatic Data Processing Inc. | B | B | B |
| AFL | Aflac Incorporated | B | C | B |
| BSX | Boston Scientific Corp. | B | C | B |
| CPB | Campbell Soup Company | B | B | B |
| DOW | Dow Chemical Company | B | C | B |
| HSY | Hershey Company | B | B | B |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | B | B | B |
| LRCX | Lam Research Corp. | B | C | B |
| MMM | 3M Company | B | C | B |
| MTB | M&T Bank Corp. | B | C | B |
| MU | Micron Technology Inc. | B | B | B |
| NSC | Norfolk Southern Corp. | B | C | B |
| NTAP | NetApp Inc. | B | B | B |
| PNC | PNC Financial Services Group Inc. | B | C | B |
| RBS | Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC | B | C | B |
| STI | SunTrust Banks Inc. | B | C | B |
| STX | Seagate Technology PLC | C | A | B |
| TRGP | Targa Resources Corp. | A | D | B |
| UGP | Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. | B | C | B |
| UNM | Unum Group | B | C | B |
| XLNX | Xilinx Inc. | B | B | B |
| Upgraded: From Sell to Hold | Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade |
Fundamental Grade |
Total Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Agilent Technologies Inc. | D | C | C |
| ALK | Alaska Air Group Inc. | D | C | C |
| BEN | Franklin Resources Inc. | D | B | C |
| CHKP | Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. | D | C | C |
| DHR | Danaher Corp. | C | C | C |
| EBAY | eBay Inc. | C | C | C |
| ESS | Essex Property Trust Inc. | D | C | C |
| FOXA | Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. | D | B | C |
| GPN | Global Payments Inc. | D | C | C |
| HOLX | Hologic Inc. | D | B | C |
| INTC | Intel Corp. | D | C | C |
| KMX | CarMax Inc. | C | C | C |
| MAS | Masco Corp. | D | C | C |
| MCD | McDonald’s Corp. | C | C | C |
| TROW | T. Rowe Price Group | D | B | C |
| TRV | Travelers Companies Inc. | C | C | C |
| WDC | Western Digital Corp. | C | C | C |
| Downgraded: From Buy to Hold | Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade |
Fundamental Grade |
Total Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEP | American Electric Power Company Inc. | B | D | C |
| AET | Aetna Inc. | C | C | C |
| APA | Apache Corp. | B | C | C |
| BBL | BHP Billiton Plc | C | C | C |
| BHP | BHP Billiton Ltd. | C | C | C |
| BSAC | Banco Santander-Chile | C | C | C |
| CHT | Chunghwa Telecom Co. | B | D | C |
| CNI | Canadian National Railway | C | C | C |
| CNQ | Canadian Natural Resources | B | D | C |
| COG | Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | B | D | C |
| FAST | Fastenal Company | C | C | C |
| FCX | Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | B | D | C |
| FDX | FedEx Corp. | B | C | C |
| HON | Honeywell International Inc. | C | C | C |
| HRS | Harris Corp. | C | B | C |
| ICE | Intercontinental Exchange Inc. | C | C | C |
| O | Realty Income Corp. | B | C | C |
| RIO | Rio Tinto plc | C | C | C |
| RJF | Raymond James Financial Inc. | C | B | C |
| SCCO | Southern Copper Corp. | C | B | C |
| WPZ | Williams Partners, L.P. | C | C | C |
| YHOO | Yahoo! Inc. | D | B | C |
| YUM | Yum! Brands Inc. | C | C | C |
| Downgraded: From Hold to Sell | Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade |
Fundamental Grade |
Total Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGU | Agrium Inc. | C | D | D |
| BABA | Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. | D | C | D |
| CHA | China Telecom Corp. Ltd. | D | C | D |
| CNC | Centene Corp. | D | C | D |
| COL | Rockwell Collins Inc. | D | B | D |
| CP | Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. | D | C | D |
| CVE | Cenovus Energy Inc. | C | F | D |
| FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | D | C | D |
| GGP | General Growth Properties Inc. | F | B | D |
| GM | General Motors Company | D | B | D |
| HDB | HDFC Bank Ltd. | D | C | D |
| HSBC | HSBC Holdings plc | D | D | D |
| IBN | ICICI Bank Ltd. | D | C | D |
| LVLT | Level 3 Communications Inc. | D | C | D |
| MET | MetLife Inc. | D | C | D |
| MFG | Mizuho Financial Group Inc. | D | B | D |
| MGA | Magna International Inc. | D | C | D |
| WAT | Waters Corp. | D | C | D |
| WBA | Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | D | B | D |
| WBK | Westpac Banking Corp | D | C | D |
| ZBH | Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. | D | B | D |
To stay on top of my latest stock ratings, plug your holdings into Portfolio Grader, my proprietary stock screening tool. You may get started here.
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier