Analysts are weighing in on restaurant stock Yum China Holdings Inc (NYSE:YUMC), airline company Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL), and manufacturing concern Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on shares of YUMC, DAL, and NAV.
Yum China stock is trading 0.5% lower at $39.82, after the company reported better-than-expected same-store sales and revenue for the third quarter, despite posting earnings that came in below forecasts. As a result, Oppenheimer and Morgan Stanley each raised their price targets to $45.
Not all analysts, however, are convinced YUMC stock will resume its quest for record highs. Three of the seven brokerage firms following the security rate it a lukewarm "hold." The shares hit an all-time high of $42.12 on June 8. The stock had since struggled under the weight of its 40- and 50-day moving averages, but still boasts a year-to-date lead of more than 50%.
Another stock flying higher on analyst love is Delta Air Lines stock, last seen trading 1.4% higher at $52.43, after Deutsche Bank boosted its price target onto $63 from $59 -- in uncharted territory. Up 6.4% year-to-date, DAL shares are now pacing for their fourth consecutive close above their 80-day moving average -- a trendline the stock hadn't closed above since August before Monday.
Options traders have been upping their bullish appetite for DAL stock -- one of the best stocks to buy in October -- of late, too. This is evidenced by the security's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.00 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) -- good enough to rank in the 82nd annual percentile. In other words, options players have bought to open three calls for every put in the past two weeks.
A third stock on the rise thanks to bullish analyst attention is Navistar International stock. The truck maker is up 1.7% to trade at $44.88, after Jefferies raised its price target to $53 from $47. The brokerage firm cited the company's alliance with Volkswagen -- specifically, plans to launch an electric truck in North America by the end of 2019 -- which it believes could result in a buyout in the future.
NAV shares have been surging on the charts since mid-June, and currently boast a roughly 43% year-to-date gain. The security isn't far from the annual high of $45.47 it hit Wednesday, either. As such, bears are jumping ship. Short interest on the equity has dropped by 9% during the past two reporting periods to just 6.25 million shares.