Stock Price Targets and Analyst Ratings

A stock rating is a simple heuristic given by analysts who review the firm's financial statements, listen to conference calls, chat with company executives and compare the stock to others in the industry or sector. Finally, an analyst uses all this information to produce a simple recommendation and price target.

When a public analyst goes on CNBC or the "Wall Street Journal" to give a "buy" or "sell" rating on a particular stock, they take all their research and pare it down into a simple designation. While there's no true consensus on what constitutes a buy or sell rating, an analyst usually does have "skin in the game" when devising ratings. 

Ratings often pair with price targets, which put a hard number on what the analysts believe the company stock should be worth. So, for example, you might see an analyst report something like, "Buy NVIDIA Inc. (NASDAQ: NVDA), price target $350," which means that particular analyst believes investors should buy NVDA shares up to a price of $350 per share.

A stock analyst is a market professional with the skills to interpret financial data and the connections within companies to speak on the record with higher-ups. Analysts generally fall into one of two different camps: buy-side or sell-side. These positions will seem similar, but they tend to be employed by various institutions and have different responsibilities in their particular market "territories." 

• Buy-side analysts: Analysts on the buy side tend to work for funds, such as ETF providers or hedge funds. They don't dig as deeply into company financial data or conference calls as sell-siders. Instead, they focus on general areas or industries where their funds have vested interests. In addition, buy-side analysts often forge relationships with sell-side analysts for individual stock research. A buy-side analyst's primary goal is to find and utilize the most accurate and dependable sell-side analysts.
• Sell-side analysts: If buy-side analysts work for funds (i.e., institutions that buy securities), you can probably guess which type of institution employs sell-side analysts. Brokers, banks and other firms that sell securities to investors use sell-side analysts to give reports to the public. While buy-side analysts also give ratings and price targets, the reported "buy" and "sell" ratings in financial media typically come from folks on the sell side.

Buy and sell-side analysts often use different rating systems when making their recommendations. You might even find two sell-side analysts with similar "buy" recommendations with vastly different price targets in the same stock. As a result, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the various methodologies analysts use to utilize their research correctly.

Stock analyst ratings don't follow a strict structure, although most have roughly the same grading system for the securities they review. The labels may differ slightly (i.e., overweight vs. outperform), but the five most common analyst ratings go like this.

Checking out analyst ratings isn't a necessary step for investing, but it can be helpful for those looking to dig deep into an asset's prospects. Analyst research often has quotes from company executives, questions from conference calls and in-depth reporting on the company's balance sheet, income statement and other essential documents. Analysis like this is complex for individual investors to do on their own, especially considering how frequently analysts interact with the executives they cover. But access often comes with a downside, which we discuss more below.

Both buy and sell-side analysts strive for accuracy because giving consistently wrong commendations can be hazardous for job security. However, investors should be aware that analysts might not always have the best interest of the retail investor at heart when making their recommendations.

For starters, being an analyst requires access to company employees and management. Analysts typically ask questions during conference calls and speak with C-suite executives on the record about their firms' prospects. Executives usually don't want to hear adverse reports about their companies, so analysts are incentivized to paint a rosy picture to retain access. The SEC has been questioning the authenticity of analyst ratings (especially on the sell-side) since 2002 when it asked bluntly, "Why are there so few sell ratings?"

Of course, there are other areas of the securities analysis market to face scrutiny. If you recall, during the 2008 financial crisis, the biggest credit rating agencies were all held to the fire due to claims that conflicts of interest influenced their ratings. The biggest rating agencies in the world were accused of "misrepresenting the risks associated with mortgage-backed securities." Remember, analyst ratings aren't spat out by computer algorithms but by living, breathing people who may have agendas other than providing the most precise and accurate reports on a company's future prospects.

Analyst ratings are the "buy" and "sell" labels, plus price targets, that investment researchers attach to specific securities. These ratings are based on financial data, earnings reports and conversations with company executives.

Analyst ratings provide plenty of helpful information, but you shouldn't use an analyst's "buy" rating as the sole reason you purchase a security. Analysts aren't immune to conflicts of interest or outside parties' influence, so ensure you always understand why a stock was labeled a "buy" or "sell."

Ratings give investors the analyst's overall opinion about a particular stock and price targets based on the company's valuation and prospects. Analysts often attend conference calls, ask questions and provide in-depth information about companies that are difficult to acquire elsewhere.