Analyst Upgrades: The Habit, The Mosaic, and Apple

Analysts are weighing in today on Wall Street newcomer Habit Restaurants Inc (NASDAQ:HABT), potash producer Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS), and electronics giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on HABT, MOS, and AAPL.

• Longbow Research started coverage on HABT with a "buy" rating and $44 price target -- a hair's breadth from the stock's record high of $44.20, tagged Dec. 12. The brokerage firm also initiated coverage on sector peer Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK) with an "underperform" rating and $21 target. Since going public in late November, HABT has added 5.5%, settling Friday at $31.64, and is poised for a 3% jump out of the gate today. Some analysts already had high expectations for Habit Restaurants Inc, even before today's bullish note. The stock's average analyst price target comes in at $40.75, representing a nearly 29% premium to current levels. Also, of the five brokerage firms covering the shares, two rate them a "strong buy," with the remaining three calling them a "hold."


• Morgan Stanley set MOS' price target at $56, while lifting its rating to "overweight" from "equal weight." Since touching a December low of $43.59, the stock has added 14% to close Friday at $49.70. Mosaic Co has certainly grabbed the attention of options bulls. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), MOS' 10-day call/put volume ratio of 8.89 ranks in the 91st percentile of its annual range, revealing increased interest in call buying over put buying in the past two weeks. Traders may be preparing for the security's next earnings report, slated for release on Wednesday morning.


• AAPL saw its price target boosted at Canaccord Genuity to $145 from $135. The brokerage firm kept its "buy" rating on the stock, which has added 7.7% in 2015, settling at $118.93 last week -- after hitting an all-time high. In other news, Apple could reportedly debut a Swiss franc bond sale as early as tomorrow. On the sentiment side, Apple Inc.'s options traders have had their eyes on calls of late. The equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.64 is lower than four-fifths of all readings from the past 52 weeks. This indicates short-term speculators are more call-heavy than usual right now. The analyst community is overwhelmingly bullish on AAPL, with 80% of brokerage firms handing out "buy" or better recommendations.