Analyst Upgrades: Boston Scientific, HAL, Jack in the Box

Analysts are weighing in today on medical device maker Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), commodity juggernaut Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), and restaurant chain Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on BSX, HAL, and JACK.

• BSX is up 10% at $16.27 -- and touched a seven-year peak of $16.35 -- after announcing it would pay Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) $600 million to end a multi-year lawsuit. In response, analysts are weighing in, with Stifel and J.P. Morgan Securities each bumping their price targets to $18, and CRT Capital raising its mark to $19. All three brokerage firms kept the equivalent of a "buy" rating on the shares, which have been strong thus far in 2015, adding 23%. The optimistic outlook from these analysts only mirrors the upbeat attitude seen on the Street. Of the 21 brokerage firms covering Boston Scientific Corporation, 13 call it a "buy" or better, with eight deeming it a "hold," and no "sells" to be found.


• BMO initiated coverage on several oil stocks last night, including HAL, giving it an "outperform" rating and setting a $53 price target -- representing an 18.9% premium to the stock's current perch at $44.59. While Halliburton Company has dropped over 18% in the past 52 weeks, it's picked up steam in 2015, adding over 12% since the start of the year. Still, speculators are bearishly skewed, according to data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). The equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio across those exchanges comes in at 0.66, outranking 66% of all similar readings from the past year. In early trading, HAL was last seen 0.6% lower.


• JACK is up 7.2% at $94.34 in early action -- and hit a record high of $96.10 -- after reporting a fiscal first-quarter earnings beat and upping its full-year guidance. Following this, Barclays raised its price target by $6 to $90, but kept its "equal weight" opinion. Analysts on the Street have mixed feelings toward Jack in the Box Inc. Six covering brokerage firms call the stock a "buy" or better, with the remaining five saying it's a "hold." Elsewhere, in the security's options pits, short-term speculators are more put-skewed than normal, according to JACK's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR). This reading of 1.36 lands in the 86th percentile of its annual range. On the charts, the shares have been strong, to say the least. In the past 52 weeks, JACK has added over 65%.