Analyst Upgrades: Facebook, GM, United States Steel

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), and United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X)

Karee Venema

Sep 19, 2016 at 9:29 AM

Analysts are weighing in on social media stock Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), automaker General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), and steel producer United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on FB, GM, and X.

Citigroup hiked its price target on FB to $158 from $148 -- in uncharted territory -- saying the Street's growth forecasts for Facebook Inc are "potentially conservative." Against this backdrop, shares of FB are up 0.7% in pre-market trading, after closing last week at $129.07. This projected price action is just more of the same for FB, which has surged 35% year-over-year, and hit an analyst-induced record high of $131.98 on Sept. 7. Options traders have been bracing for a pullback, though. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), FB's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.64 ranks in the elevated 77th annual percentile.

GM is up 2.5% in electronic trading, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight" and boosted its price target to $37 from $29 -- a level not seen by GM since March 2015. Specifically, analysts at the firm say they believe "GM´s businesses can remain relevant and profitable for longer than the market thinks." Drilling down, GM has shed 8.9% year-to-date, based on last Friday's settlement at $30.97. Skepticism has been ramping up toward the stock, too. At the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, GM's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.20 rests above 70% of all comparable readings taken in the past year. Separately, GM is currently in talks with Canadian union workers, in hopes of avoiding a walkout of the Unifor members.

KeyBanc raised its rating on X to "sector weight" from "underweight," saying it believes "investors now appear to be more appreciative of risks." At last check, the shares were up 3.3% ahead of the bell. Longer term, X has been steadily declining since topping out at an annual high of $27.64 in late July, down more than 42% at $15.91. On the sentiment front, short-term traders have been more call-skewed than usual toward the stock. United States Steel Corporation's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.07 is docked lower than all other comparable readings taken in the past year.

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