Notable Upgrades: Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Zillow Group (Z), Monster Beverage (MNST), Cal-Maine Foods (CALM)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) was reiterated a ‘Buy’ by Canaccord Genuity analysts on Monday. The broker also raised its price target on the iPhone maker’s stock to $160 from $155, saying Apple’s strong Q2/15 results and Q3/15 guidance are consistent with our surveys and analysis indicating a very strong iPhone 6 upgrade cycle should continue through fiscal 2015.

On valuation measures, Apple Inc. shares are currently priced at 15.75x this year’s forecasted earnings compared to the industry’s 25.17x earnings multiple. Ticker has a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 1.06 and 13.16, respectively. Price/sales for the same period is 3.47 while EPS is $8.05. Currently there are 33 analysts that rate AAPL a ‘Buy’, 13 rate it a ‘Hold’. 2 analysts rate it a ‘Sell’. AAPL has a median Wall Street price target of $147.50 with a high target of $195.00.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Sunnyvale, California-based tech giant have traded between a low of $83.63 and a high of $134.54 and are now at $126.73. Shares are up about 55% year-over-year and 17% year-to-date.

Analysts at Robert W. Baird are out with a report this morning upgrading shares of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) with an ‘Outperform‘ from ‘Neutral‘ rating. The firm raised its price target for the company to $101 from $80, implying 26% expected upside.

Caterpillar Inc., currently valued at $53.83 billion, has a median Wall Street price target of $84.00 with a high target of $97.00. Approximately 4.80 million shares have already changed hands, compared to the stock’s average daily volume of 5.60 million.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of the construction and mining equipment manufacturer have traded between a low of $78.19 and a high of $111.46 with the 50-day MA and 200-day MA located at $83.38 and $88.73 levels, respectively. Additionally, shares of CAT trade at a P/E ratio of 14.28 and have a Relative Strength Index (RSI) and MACD indicator of 71.39 and +1.14, respectively.

Caterpillar Inc. currently prints a year-to-date loss of around 3%.

Analysts at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey upgraded their rating on the shares of Zillow Group, Inc. (Z). In a research note published on Monday, the firm lifted the name with a ‘Buy‘ from ‘Neutral‘ rating and set a 12-month base case estimate of $130 from $110 per share.

On valuation measures, Zillow Group Inc. Cl A shares have a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 11.42 and 65.71, respectively. Price/Sales for the same period is 16.40 while EPS is ($1.09). Currently there are 4 analysts that rate Zillow a ‘Buy‘, 12 rate it a ‘Hold‘. No analyst rates it a ‘Sell‘. Z has a median Wall Street price target of $106.50 with a high target of $130.00.

Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST) was raised to ‘Buy‘ from ‘Neutral‘ and it was given a $155 from $141 price target at Citigroup (C) on Monday. The banking giant said [via Barron’s], “While we have lowered our near-term EPS estimates, our enthusiasm for the long term is unchanged, owing to: (i) our expectation for robust underlying global category growth; (ii) room for market share expansion for MNST as the brand enters into and expands in new geographies on the back of Coca-Cola’s distribution muscle; and (iii) potential for sharply higher profitability in its int’l business, owing both to scale benefits and improved execution.”

MNST is up $7.00 at $135.47 on heavy volume. Midway through trading Monday, 3.42 million shares of Monster Beverage Corp. have exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 1.39 million shares. The stock has ranged intraday in a price between $129.00-$139.02 after having opened the day at $129.24 as compared to the previous trading day’s close of $128.47.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Corona, California-based company have traded between a low of $63.82 and a high of $144.69. Shares are up 94.30% year-over-year and 18.57% year-to-date.

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (CALM) are up 7.17, or 16.67%, at $50.17, after Sidoti analysts today initiated coverage of the name, giving it a ‘Buy‘ rating and price target of $67 from $51.

On valuation measures, CALM shares are currently priced at 16.56x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them inexpensive compared to the industry’s $26.21x earnings multiple. Ticker has a forward P/E of 16.21 and t-12 price-to-sales ratio of 1.35. EPS for the same period is $3.03.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Jackson, Mississippi-based company have traded between a low of $30.04 and a high of $50.69. Shares are up 50.42% year-over-year and 11.88% year-to-date.

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