Analyst Downgrades: Bob Evans Farms, Alcoa, Morgan Stanley

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on Bob Evans Farms Inc (BOBE), Alcoa Inc (AA), and Morgan Stanley (MS)

Josh Selway

Mar 4, 2015 at 9:20 AM

BOBE
AA
MS

Analysts are weighing in today on restaurant chain Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE), aluminum giant Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), and financial behemoth Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on BOBE, AA, and MS.

BOBE is getting fried ahead of the bell, after reporting disappointing fiscal third-quarter profits and reducing its full-year forecast. The company also announced it is currently not interested in selling its food-products business, BEF Foods. Following this, Miller Tabak and Janney each cut the stock to the equivalent of "hold" from "buy." Bob Evans Farms Inc has previously been strong in 2015, adding 16.5% to close yesterday at $59.64. Still, speculators have been placing bearish bets at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). The equity's 50-day put/call volume ratio across these exchanges is 2.89, in the 92nd percentile of its annual range. Ahead of the opening bell, BOBE is off 20.3%.

AA is down 2.5% in electronic trading, after BofA-Merrill Lynch downgraded the security to "neutral" from "buy," and slashed its price target to $17 from $20, citing a lower aluminum price forecast. Recently, Alcoa Inc has been weak, on a technical basis. With its close at $15.18 yesterday, the stock has now underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 13 percentage points in the past three months. In the options pits, though, traders have preferred calls over puts, among options expiring in three months of less. AA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) comes in at 0.57, in the 29th percentile of its annual range, meaning near-term speculators are more call-skewed than normal -- a dramatic shift from how things were in mid-January, leading into earnings season.

J.P. Morgan Securities cut its price target on MS to $33 from $34, and kept its "neutral" opinion. Still, six of 15 covering brokerage firms say Morgan Stanley is a "strong buy." Yet, on the charts, the shares have struggled since hitting a multi-year high of $39.19 on Dec. 31, losing 8.6% to land at $35.82 at yesterday's close. MS could see additional bearish analyst attention, should its losing streak continue.

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