Analyst Downgrades: 3D Systems, Chevron, and Deere

Analysts are weighing in today on 3-D printing specialist 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), oil-and-gas issue Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), and farm equipment firm Deere & Company (NYSE:DE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on DDD, CVX, and DE.

• Jefferies cut its price target on DDD to $42, but underscored its "buy" rating. It's been a dreary 2014 for DDD shareholders, with the stock shedding more than 61% of its value year-to-date to churn at $36.04. In spite of this downward trajectory, there are still pockets of optimism lingering on the Street. Six out of 17 covering analysts maintain a "strong buy" recommendation, and the consensus 12-month price target of $46.30 sits at a 28.5% premium to current trading levels -- and in territory not charted since late September. Should 3D Systems Corporation extend its downward trajectory, another round of bearish brokerage notes may be on the horizon, which could translate into a fresh wave of selling pressure.


• HSBC weighed in on a number of energy names today, and for CVX, this meant a price-target reduction to $131 from $140, and a reiterated "overweight" rating. On the charts, the stock has sold off with a number of its sector peers in recent months, and since hitting a record high of $135.10 in late July, shares of CVX are down nearly 14% to trade at $116.47. Against this backdrop, option bears have been active, as evidenced by the equity's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 1.22, which ranks in the 93rd percentile of its annual range. In other words, puts have been bought to open over calls with more rapidity just 7% of the time within the past year.


• Ahead of next Wednesday morning's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, DE saw its price target cut to $78 from $83 at BMO, with the brokerage firm underscoring its tepid "market perform" rating. Technically speaking, the stock has given back 5.5% this year to trade at $86.33, but appears to have found a foothold atop its 120-day moving average, currently located at $86.19. Traders, meanwhile, have shown a distinct bearish bias toward Deere & Company. In the options pits, the equity's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 5.40 ranks higher than 97% of similar readings taken during the past year. Elsewhere, short interest jumped 5.7% over the last two reporting periods, and now accounts for a lofty 11.2% of the security's available float. What's more, it would take two weeks to cover these bearish bets, at average daily trading levels.