Analyst Update: Zynga, Prudential Financial, Sunrun

Analysts adjusted their ratings and price targets on Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU), and Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN)

Karee Venema

Feb 11, 2016 at 2:22 PM

Analysts are weighing in on gaming stock Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), insurance firm Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU), and solar energy company Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on ZNGA, PRU, and RUN.

ZNGA has plunged 13.6% today to $1.84 -- and earlier hit a record low of $1.78 -- after the company's current-quarter bookings forecast fell short of Wall Street's expectations. In fact, Zynga Inc said it plans to release just one game this quarter. Additionally, the stock received no fewer than seven price-target cuts, including one from Piper Jaffray to $2.50 from $3, with the brokerage explaining it believes "visibility is relatively low." In the options pits, short-term speculators have rarely been as put-skewed toward ZNGA as they are now -- the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.09 sits just 6 percentage points from a 52-week peak.

Financial-related stocks have taken it on the chin this week, and sector component PRU is headed for a weekly loss of almost 12%. Today, the shares hit a two-year low of $57.25 -- and were last seen down 10.1% at $57.62, flirting with their biggest intraday percentage drop in three years. Weighing on PRU is the company's worse-than-expected earnings report and subsequent round of bearish brokerage notes. For instance, J.P. Morgan Securities cut its price target to $96 from $101, saying it expects currency headwinds to lower Prudential Financial Inc's earnings per share by 2%-3% this year and next. This price action is likely catching call buyers off guard. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), PRU's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 5.87 ranks in the bullishly skewed 72nd annual percentile.

It's been a tough week for solar stocks, as well, as evident in the price action for RUN. Week-to-date, the shares are off 35.7% -- including today's 15.7% plunge to $5.12. What's more, the Wall Street freshman logged an all-time low of $5.03 earlier. Sparking today's sell-off is a downgrade to "equal weight" from "overweight" and price-target cut to $7 from $12 at Barclays, which also weighed in on SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY). More negative analyst attention could be on the horizon, considering all five analysts covering Sunrun Inc. maintain a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.

For other stocks in analysts' crosshairs, read Analyst Upgrades: Facebook Inc, Kinross Gold Corporation, and Cisco Systems, Inc. and Analyst Downgrades: Twitter Inc, Tesla Motors Inc, and SolarCity Corp.

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