Recent upgrades for U.S. Bancorp

Edward Jones analyst Shannon Stemm is the latest to upgrade U.S. Bancorp to a "buy." Stemm moved to "buy" on Wednesday and wrote in a research note, "U.S. Bank's attractive geographic exposure, unique fee-income business lines, and its lower reliance on mortgage banking are all likely to result in faster revenue growth than peers."

Kazuki Watanabe from Daiwa Securities moved to "buy" a week earlier than Stemm, and Richard Bove of Rafferty Capital Markets upgraded U.S. Bancorp on Oct. 22.

Analysts are now the most bullish on U.S. Bancorp since March, according to Bloomberg. U.S. Bancorp is covered by 33 analysts, 21 have "holds," 11 have "buys" and 1 has a "sell."

ValueVision name change needed

Last week, ValueVision Media, owner of home shopping channel ShopHQ, rebranded itself as Evine Live. The rebrand included a stock symbol change from VVTV to EVLV. The name change indicates the company's move to more of a digital commerce company, and it's believed it will help erase some of the name confusion from the ValueVision and ShopHQ connection. Mark Smith from Feltl and Co. wrote of the name change last week, "Although unsure of the brand strength in 'Evine Live,' we think rebranding is necessary and will be beneficial."

Mark Argento from Lake Street Capital Markets said "this is a legit name change … or at least warranted in my opinion."

According to Bloomberg, eight of the nine analysts covering Evine Live have "buys;" the lone sell is from a research firm that hasn't updated since May.

Target turns Cartwheels

Analyst Matt Nemer of Wells Fargo Securities is bullish on Target for three reasons: U.S. comparable-store sales and traffic measures are accelerating; selling, general and administrative expenses are expected to stay controlled; and Target is gaining share in mobile and e-commerce.

On the last point, Target has been saying its mobile app, Cartwheel, will drive $1 billion worth of sales.

Patrick Kennedy