Dividend Increases Week 21

 

In this article, I will go through the weekly dividend increases and cuts in popular and well-known stocks. (Member of The Dividend Champions or Canadian All-Star list)

 

Recently, 16 companies announced dividend increases. Note that no dividend cuts or suspensions were announced during this period.

Notable Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades for Week of January 4, 2021 (Part 2)

 

Upgrades:

 

The Hershey (NYSE:HSY) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $168.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.46% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on HSY. Barclays restated a “hold” rating on shares of The Hershey in a research report on Sunday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of The Hershey from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. BidaskClub cut shares of The Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of The Hershey from $155.00 to $149.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 9th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of The Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.88. Read more …

 

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $261.00 price target on the information technology services provider's stock. Bank of America's price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.19% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ACN. Citigroup Inc. 3% Minimum Coupon Principal Protected Based Upon Russell upped their target price on Accenture from $265.00 to $303.00 in a report on Friday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 18th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $222.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $248.07. Read more …

 

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $38.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock, up from their prior price objective of $26.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.24% from the company's previous close.

WFC has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 19th. Wolfe Research raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Monday, December 14th. Barclays raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Compass Point raised Wells Fargo & Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.06. Read more …

 

 

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) was upgraded by analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $240.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.74% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. Stephens downgraded shares of McDonald’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 7th. Smith Barney Citigroup started coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, December 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $231.03. Read more …