Uptick in the number of Hold and Sell ratings for companies in the S&P 500

Despite a 4.4% increase in the price of the S&P 500 over the past month, analysts have become more pessimistic on the market based on changes to their ratings since January 1. While the number of Buy ratings dipped slightly (-0.5%), the number of Hold ratings rose 6.3% and the number of Sell ratings jumped 13.2% during the month.

Overall, 52% of the ratings on companies in the S&P 500 were Buy ratings, 43% of the ratings were Hold ratings, and 5% of the ratings were Sell ratings. At the sector level, the Energy sector has the highest percentage of Buy ratings (64%), while the Utilities sector has the lowest percentage of Buy ratings (31%).

However, analysts still project a double-digit increase in the price of the market over the next twelve months. The bottoms-up target price for the S&P 500 is 1477.66, which is 12.6% above the closing price on January 31 (1312.41). At the sector level, the Energy sector has the highest difference between the bottoms-up target price and closing price (+19.3%), while the Utilities sector has the lowest difference between the bottoms-up target price and closing price (+5.6%).

Read more about the trends in target prices and recommendations for companies in the S&P 500 index in this month's edition of FactSet Targets & Ratings Monthly.

All of the data used to compile FactSet Targets & Ratings Monthly is available in the FactSet workstation.