RBC: 3 “Strong Buy” Stocks That Could Step on the Gas in 2020

The Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of an expert is a “person with a high level of knowledge or skill relating to a particular subject or activity.”

Apply this to the investing world, and how do we see this in action? We pull out TipRanks’ Top Wall Street Firms and notice who sits at the top of the heap.

Occupying the throne right now is renowned investment bank RBC Capital, which means that among the company’s employees there are seasoned pros with a proven track record for success.

Utilizing the TipRanks Stock Screener tool, we’ve found three stocks receiving Strong Buy ratings from most analysts in general, and endorsed by RBC in particular. Let’s take a closer look:

Ovid Therapeutics (OVID)

Ovid Therapeutics shares are on a tear. The stock price of this neurological medicines firm has raced ahead 66% this year, leaving the Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) in its dust. But would you believe it has even further to run? Would you believe it could go up another 200%? RBC analyst Brian Abrahams does. In his latest research note, Abrahams reiterated an Outperform rating on OVID, along with a price target of $12.00 (To watch Abraham’s track record, click here)

The drug maker has several therapies in the pipeline. Leading programs in development right now are OV101, which focuses on a potential treatment for Angelman syndrome and Fragile X syndrome, two neurodevelopmental disorders caused by genetic mutations, and OV935, a program focused on developing potential therapies for people living with rare epilepsies.

Top-line data from a Phase 3 NEPTUNE trial of OV101 in Angelman's Syndrome should be released in mid-2020, and Abrahams thinks there is a very reasonable chance of success. While acknowledging some risk given disease heterogeneity, unclear dose dependence, and inconsistent subdomain effects in ph.II, the 5-star analyst noted, “We believe clinical and preclinical data for the company's lead candidate OV101, an extrasynaptic GABAA receptor agonist, are in totality supportive of the drug's activity in Angelman Syndrome, and believe the stock price currently underappreciates the likelihood the drug succeeds in improving clinical symptoms of the disease in ph.III. Given the high unmet need in this population, we believe FDA will be permissive -- highlighted by the Agency's endorsement of the pivotal trial design -- and if approved, should enable good uptake and pricing power.”

Other analysts are even more optimistic. Indeed, the average price target on Wall Street is $13.50 -- implying nearly 240% upside. And over the last three months, no one on the Street has assigned Ovid shares anything less than a "buy" rating. (See Ovid stock analysis on TipRanks)

Anaplan (PLAN)

This year has seen a number of car crash IPO’s, as several over valued startups got on the receiving end of a harsh reality check following public listings. One to avoid such a fate, is cloud computing ‘connected planning’ platform, Anaplan.

The company’s name derives from the combination of analysis and planning, which makes sense to us, as it makes software that connects people in a shared environment to business data in order to make better-informed plans and decisions.

Anaplan impressed Wall Street with its latest F3Q20 earnings report. The company handily beat expectations on several key metrics, including top-line, billings, and margins. Additionally, this led to management significantly boosting its FY20 guidance.

RBC’s Alex Zukin believes that a ‘large addressable market’ can serve as a catalyst for Anaplan’s growth, noting, “Anaplan indicates that the Planning market is a $21B+ opportunity (based on IDC forecasts). We believe customers are paying legacy vendors billions of dollars today and there is potential for spend significantly above that if greenfield, excel-based business processes meaningfully start to convert to Planning vendors.”

Anaplan’s growth potential has Zukin reiterating his Outperform rating, along with a price target of $70. PLAN is currently trading at $52.56, indicating gains of 33% might be in the cards should Zukin’s target materialize. (To watch Zukin’s track record, click here)

What’s the Street’s plan for PLAN, then? The consensus is that the connected planning innovator is a Strong Buy, a rating achieved as a result of 9 "buy" and 3 "hold" ratings issued in the past 3 months. The average stock-price forecast of $63.33 implies upside potential of 20% from current levels. (See PLAN stock analysis on TipRanks)

Analog Devices (ADI)

Last and least, we come to semiconductor maker Analog Devices, which scored an "outperform" rating (i.e. "buy") from 5-star RBC analyst Mitch Steves.

ADI stock is up nearly 38% in 2019 compared to the S&P 500, which has returned 24%. That’s impressive, but the big question for investors is whether the company (and its stock) can maintain the momentum. Steves suggests that if everything goes as planned, ADI will be a $136 stock in the next 12 months, implying about 18% return. (To watch Steves’ track record, click here)

The company’s recent FQ4 numbers were mildly below Street expectations. Revenues of $1.44 billion slightly missed the Street’s estimate of $1.45 billion, while EPS of $1.19 came below the $1.22 estimate. FQ1 guidance also missed the Street’s targets.

Steves commented, “We continue to believe that sentiment is still quite negative on the stock and remain positive as operating margin expansion should begin in Q2 and beyond [...] We remain positive on ADI and its suggestion of a recovery in Q2 is in line with our Analog view as well.” The analyst further added, “We are seeing positive trends within ADI’s communications business, as the company manages to sustain share gain and capture 5G opportunities. Being exposed to 5G radio content represents significant differentiation relative to the analog group, in our view.”

The RBC expert is not alone in his take on ADI, as 11 Buys and 3 Holds from the analysts tracked by TipRanks over the last 3 months result in a Strong Buy consensus rating. The average price target stands at $125.57. (See ADI stock analysis on TipRanks)