Analyst Downgrades: McDonald's Corporation, 3M Co, and Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), 3M Co (NYSE:MMM), and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Josh Selway

Nov 21, 2016 at 9:59 AM

Analysts are weighing in on Dow stocks McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and 3M Co (NYSE:MMM), as well as retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on MCD, MMM, and ANF.

MCD is up a mere 0.01% at $120.01, after J.P. Morgan Securities removed the stock from its "Analyst Focus" list. While McDonald's Corporation has been rallying with the broader market since the presidential election, the shares may now be fighting resistance at their flattening 200-day moving average, positioned just above the $120 mark. Most analysts share J.P Morgan Securities' downbeat outlook, too, as 64% rate the stock a "hold" or worse.
MMM is down 0.9% to trade at $171.48, after Goldman Sachs cut its rating to "sell" from "neutral." Still, the shares remain almost 14% higher for the year, holding above the $170-$171 level. This area -- also home to MMM's rising 200-day moving average -- acted as resistance from April through June, and could now act as support. If 3M Co does resume its prior uptrend, an unwinding of put traders could act as a tailwind. Specifically, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 2.02 reveals put open interest more than doubles call open interest among options expiring within three months. Plus, this SOIR ranks above three-fourths of all others from the past year, suggesting this heavy of a put-skew is far from the norm.

ANF gapped lower on Friday on disappointing earnings, and the shares are sliding yet again as analysts continue to weigh in bearishly. No fewer than nine brokerage firms have lowered their price targets on ANF since Friday's close, including a cut to $12 from $20 at RBC, which also downgraded the stock to "underperform" from "sector perform." Abercrombie & Fitch Co. was last seen 0.3% lower at $14.55, meaning it's now dropped nearly 56% since topping out at $32.83 back in March. However, this is all just fine with ANF short sellers, who currently control one-fourth of the stock's total float.

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