United Technologies Stock Surges To Lead Dow Gainers After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of United Technologies Corp. surged 2.1% toward a 17-month high in morning trade, enough for them to pace the gainers among Dow Jones Industrial Average components, after Credit Suisse turned bullish on the diversified industrial giant. Analyst Julian Mitchell raised his rating to outperform, after being at neutral since November 2015. He raised his stock price target to $125, which is 13% above current levels, from $108. Mitchell said that "for the first time in several years," he sees little downside risk to consensus analyst earnings expectations, given his belief that profit margins and earnings momentum are close to bottoming. He said headwinds in the aerospace market should start to abate in 2018, and United Technologies' Otis China business should see improved demand in 2017. The stock has run up 15.3% year to date, while the SPDR Industrial Select Sector ETF has rallied 18.7% and the Dow has gained 14.2%.