Analyst Upgrades: Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (USA), Garmin Ltd., and Nike Inc

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (USA) (NYSE:POT), Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE)

Oct 19, 2015 at 9:44 AM

Analysts are weighing in on commodity concern Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (USA) (NYSE:POT), GPS maker Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), and athletic apparel maker Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on POT, GRMN, and NKE.

POT is off 0.3% at $21.81, after CIBC upgraded the stock to "sector outperform," but lowered its price target to $28. Upbeat analyst notes are relatively rare for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (USA), which boasts just six "strong buys," compared to nine "holds" and a "strong sell." However, considering POT has given up 38% in 2015, the skepticism -- particularly evidenced among short sellers -- isn't too surprising.

After issuing ugly guidance and plunging to multi-year lows last week, GRMN is up 0.9% at $34.38, thanks to an upgrade to "neutral" from "underweight" at J.P. Morgan Securities. As with POT, upbeat analyst attention hasn't come easy for Garmin Ltd., which sports just four "buy" or better endorsements, compared to 10 "hold" or worse recommendations. Plus, short interest represents nearly eight sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand, at GRMN's average pace of trading.

NKE is up 0.8% to explore record highs at $131.71, with help from an upgrade to "buy" from "hold" at BB&T. The blue chip last week issued an encouraging outlook, and the shares now sit more than 36% higher year-to-date. Still, at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), NKE has racked up a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.22, which stands higher than 86% of all other readings from the past year. In other words, Nike Inc option buyers have picked up puts over calls at a much faster-than-usual clip during the past two weeks. An unwinding of this pessimism could translate into added upside for the stock.

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