Honeywell stock just broke past pressure at the $220 mark
The shares of Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) are up 3% at $226.53 this morning, opening at a fresh all-time high, after J.P. Morgan lifted its price target to $250 from $200, calling it a "top pick," while Cowen lifted its price estimate to $240 from $225. Deutsche Bank also chimed in, upgrading the equity to a "buy" from a "hold," citing the company's advantageous exposure to the current phase of the economic cycle, as well as relative underperformance this year.
Today's pop has HON breaking out past pressure at the $220 mark, where the shares have been consolidating since late March. The equity has enjoyed solid support from its 30-day moving average, which caught two recent pullbacks, and now it sports a year-over-year lead of 57.9%.
Analysts were split on HON coming into today, with seven saying "strong buy," and six saying "hold." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $223.95 is a slight discount to last night's close.
Options traders, meanwhile, have rarely been more bullish. This is per HON's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.29 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than all but 1% of readings from the past 12 months, suggesting calls have been picked up at a much quicker clip than usual recently.