While Fools should generally take the opinion of Wall Street with a grain of salt, it's not a bad idea to take a closer look at particularly stock-shaking upgrades and downgrades -- just in case their reasoning behind the call makes sense.
What: Shares of Charles Schwab (SCHW -0.05%) climbed 3% this morning after Compass Point upgraded the discount broker from sell to neutral.
So what: Along with the upgrade, analyst Michael Tarkan raised his price target on the stock to $20 (from $23), representing about 13% worth of downside to yesterday's close. Although Tarkan thinks Schwab shares are still on the expensive side, the company's market-topping Q3 results and guidance yesterday definitely give him a better operational outlook.
Now what: Compass raised its 2013 EPS estimate from $0.74, to $0.76, and its 2014 view from $0.90, to $0.93, on an improved net interest margin outlook. Compass noted:
While we continue to expect actual interest rate hikes (which the company needs to meet normalized earnings expectations) remain a longer-term event, we expect SCHW shares can find support over the next 12 months if modest macro progress continues.
Of course, with Schwab shares up about 90% over its 52-week lows, and trading at a 25-plus forward P/E, much of that macro optimism might already be baked into the valuation.
