Analyst Ratings -- Which Stocks Have the Most Buys/Sells?

We recently gathered the analyst ratings for each stock in the S&P 1500.  As shown in the first chart below, largecap stocks currently have the highest percentage of buy ratings at 49%.  Midcap stocks have 43% buy ratings, while smallcaps have 45%.  Largecaps also have the lowest amount of sell ratings at 6%.  On a sector basis, Financials have the least amount of buy ratings at just 36%, while Energy stocks have the highest at 54%.  The bearishness among analysts on Financials is not surprising given the sector's poor performance in recent months.  If anything, this negative sentiment should be good for the sector, because it can't get much worse.  Any news that isn't completely terrible will begin to be treated positively. 

Below we highlight the stocks in the S&P 1500 with the highest percentage of buy and sell ratings.  We only looked at stocks that have at least 10 analysts covering them.  As shown, only two in the index have 100% buy ratings -- SPN and TMO.  PCP, GES, TGI, UTX, HLX, GOOG, DV and CELG round out the top ten.  We generally treat sentiment as positive as this as a negative since it can't get much better.  It means the stocks have no room for error on the earnings front.    

UTI, THC, LEN, F, PAS and NYT have the highest percentage of sell ratings in the S&P 1500.  The majority of stocks on this list are down big on the year, because analysts lower ratings as performance drops.  Interestingly, PAS is up 62% on the year, but 40% of analysts still have a sell rating on the stock.  This suggests the stock's run may still have legs.