Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI), Horizon Pharma PLC (HZNP), and Manitowoc Company Inc (MTW)
Analysts are weighing in on pizza producer
BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI), drug stock
Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP), and machinery maker
Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE:MTW). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on BJRI, HZNP, and MTW.
- BJRI has plunged 6.2% at $33.46, and earlier touched a two-year low of $32.24, following last night's earnings miss. Wall Street is contributing to the selling pressure, as at least six analysts have cut their price targets -- though Wedbush bumped its outlook up to $40 from $34. Overall, pessimism toward BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has been running high within the brokerage crowd. Eleven of 12 analysts have handed out either a "hold" or a "strong sell" opinion on the stock.
- HZNP is up 1.4% at $18.11, despite a price-target cut to $33 from $35 at Piper Jaffray. The shares are potentially rallying on the recently announced pricing of a $300 million senior note offering. Longer term, however, Horizon Pharma PLC is still down 16.4% in 2016. Plenty of short sellers have been wagering on additional downside for the stock, too. Roughly 13% of HZNP's float is sold short, after short interest climbed 15.1% over the last two reporting periods. At the equity's typical trading levels, it would take seven sessions to buy back these bearish bets. On the other hand, options traders have preferred calls over puts by a huge margin in recent weeks.
- MTW has sunk 8.6% to trade at $4.35, as the Street reacts negatively to the firm's preliminary third-quarter results. In addition to releasing numbers, the company warned that "orders and backlog for company declined double digits during Q3, and these trends have continued into Q4," and added that it will temporarily shut down certain mobile production lines during the current quarter. Responding to the news, Seaport Global Securities lowered its rating to "neutral" and its price target to $5, while Deutsche Bank cut its target price to $4.29. Today's technical troubles are nothing new for Manitowoc Company Inc, which has pulled back 29% from its May 11 high at $6.15. Yet, short-term options traders are extremely focused on calls relative to puts. MTW's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) rests at an annual low of 0.21, with calls outnumbering puts by a 5-to-1 margin among options expiring in the next three months.
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