Analyst Upgrades: Alere Inc, AT&T Inc., and Sodastream International Ltd

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Alere Inc (ALR), AT&T Inc. (T), and Sodastream International Ltd (SODA)

Jul 15, 2016 at 9:41 AM

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Analysts are weighing in on diagnostics specialist Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR), telecom stock AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), and in-home beverage focus Sodastream International Ltd (NASDAQ:SODA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on ALR, T, and SODA.

ALR cut its 2015 revenue estimate, and said it's still working toward filing its annual report "as soon as practicable." The news prompted Canaccord Genuity to upgrade its assessment to "buy" from "hold," and raise its price target to $56 from $44 -- in eight-year-high territory. Alere Inc has been stair-stepping lower since February, but is 8% higher today at $42.60. Meanwhile, options traders foresee an extended pullback ahead, buying to open 4.29 ALR puts for every call across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) over the last two weeks.
T has had a banner year, surging over 25% to $43.03. In response, Barclays lifted its price target on the stock to $45 from $42, territory not charted in nearly 15 years. Aside from analysts, hopes for AT&T Inc. aren't high on Wall Street, with options traders buying to open twice as many puts as calls across the major exchanges in the past two weeks. The resultant 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 2.00 ranks just 10 percentage points from an annual peak. Looking ahead, T is scheduled to report earnings next Thursday evening, and a strong showing could shake some of the weaker bearish hands free, potentially adding to the upside momentum.

Deutsche Bank and Jefferies both raised their price targets on SODA to $23, representing a slight discount to the stock's current price of $23.84, up 0.9% for the day. The stock has been a beast in 2016, running more than 26% higher, and yesterday notching an annual high of $24.09, amid ongoing M&A speculation. Suffice it to say, Sodastream International Ltd short sellers could be on pins and needles. Over 11% of the stock's float is sold short, representing nearly eight times SODA's average daily trading volume. In other words, there's plenty of cash on the sideline to fuel a potential short-covering situation.

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