Oil stocks Chevron and Schlumberger are feeling pressure from dropping crude prices
Analysts are weighing in on retailer Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), as well as oil-and-gas stocks Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on shares of TGT, CVX, and SLB.
Amazon Victim TGT Downgraded at Citi
Target stock has been hammered in the past week, losing nearly 12% after Amazon not only announced plans to buy Whole Foods, but just yesterday unveiled a new subscription fashion service. Amid soft traffic and escalating competition, Citi downgraded TGT stock to "neutral" from "buy." Target was last seen 0.5% higher at $51.15. In the meantime, options traders may need to reassess their positions. For example, TGT's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.52 is just 1 percentage point from a 52-week low, meaning options traders targeting contracts that expire within three months are far more call-skewed than normal.
CVX Stock Drops With Oil Prices
Dow member Chevron took a hit yesterday, as energy stocks sank with crude oil prices. This morning, Macquarie downgraded CVX shares to "neutral" from "outperform," and slashed its price target by $20 to $105. Chevron is now down 0.2% at $106.23, bringing its year-to-date deficit to almost 10%. Making matters worse, the 200-day moving average has served as stiff resistance since mid-April. More bearish analyst attention is a possibility, since CVX's average 12-month price target stands at $123.35, territory not charted since September 2014.
SLB Stock Exploring New Lows
Schlumberger stock is down 0.6% at $66.36 to trade just above yesterday's annual low of $66.04, after no fewer than three brokerage firms weighed in. Specifically, Barclays downgraded SLB stock to "equal weight" from "overweight," and took a hatchet to its price target, reducing it to $73 from $98. Morgan Stanley and HSBC cut their respective price targets to $90 and $80. Schlumberger has been falling fast since the start of the year, yet 13 of 19 covering brokerage firms still recommend buying the shares. As such, SLB looks like a candidate for more bear notes in the near future, especially if the energy sector remains under pressure.