Analyst Update: Continental Resource, Cal-Maine, Kite Pharma

Analysts adjusted their ratings on Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR), Cal-Maine Foods Inc (CALM), and Kite Pharma Inc (KITE)

May 18, 2015 at 12:16 PM

Analysts are weighing in today on oil-and-gas company Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR), egg producer Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM), and drugmaker Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on CLR, CALM, and KITE.

Goldman Sachs has chimed in on several commodity names, including CLR -- which saw its rating boosted to "buy" from "neutral," and its price target to $60 from $46. This hasn't had much of an impact on the shares, though, which are off 0.1% at $46.95. Continental Resources, Inc. has advanced more than 22% year-to-date, but has struggled in recent weeks after getting rejected by its descending 200-day moving average. Option traders are decisively bearish toward the stock. CLR's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio checks in at 4.49 -- just 8 percentage points from a 12-month peak.

CALM has soared nearly 10% today -- and hit a record high of $60.39 earlier -- to trade at $60.37. Helping the shares in their upward trek is an upgrade to "overweight" from "equal weight" at Stephens. Cal-Maine Foods Inc has been on fire for some time, lifted recently by bird flu concerns. Specifically, during the past month, the equity has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by almost 36 percentage points. Short sellers may be feeling the heat. More than 28% of CALM's float is sold short, which would take over two weeks to buy back, at average daily volumes.

KITE is down 5.6% at $47.23, after the company reported a surprise quarterly loss last Friday. To make matters worse, Jefferies trimmed its price target on the security to $83 from $84. On the year, Kite Pharma Inc is now off roughly 18%. Despite these technical struggles, the brokerage bunch has been extremely bullish toward the shares, as all four covering analysts consider them a "strong buy." Also, KITE's consensus 12-month price target of $83.17 stands at a 76% premium to current trading levels.

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