CFRA
CFRA is a privately held, independent US research firm known for forensic accounting analysis and its STARS stock rankings. It acquired the rankings with S&P Global's former equity research business and distributes its reports through brokerage and wealth management platforms.
Activity24M
RatingsPrice targetsKey figures
- Stocks covered
- 1312M
- Actions
- 1712M
- Ratings / Price targets
- 5 / 12
- Upgrades / Downgrades
- 2 / 3
- Buy-rated
- 50%of 4 rated
- Median upside
- +12.3%
- Targets raised / lowered
- 2 / 4
- On record
- Nov 2018 – May 2026
Overview
CFRA provides qualitative coverage of more than 1,650 global companies with price targets and STARS rankings, plus quantitative coverage of over 13,000 more (2026), alongside forensic accounting, fund, policy and technical research. Its reports are available to clients of brokerages including Fidelity, Schwab and LPL Financial.
Howard Schilit founded the Center for Financial Research and Analysis in 1994 as a forensic accounting research provider. TA Associates bought it in 2003 and sold it to RiskMetrics in 2007, which MSCI acquired in 2010; Peter de Boer acquired CFRA from MSCI in 2013. CFRA bought S&P Global's equity and fund research business in October 2016 and added Lowry Research and Washington Analysis in 2021.
Milestones
- 1994
Founded by Howard Schilit as Center for Financial Research and Analysis
- 2003
Sold to private equity firm TA Associates
- 2007
Acquired by RiskMetrics
- 2013
Bought from MSCI by Peter de Boer
- 2016
Acquired S&P Global's equity and fund research business
- 2021
Acquired Lowry Research and Washington Analysis
Firm facts
- Legal name
- Accounting Research & Analytics, LLC
- Type
- Independent research
- Founded
- 1994
- Chief Executive Officer
- Peter de Boer
- Director of Research
- Stewart Glickman
- Rating scale
- Strong BuyBuyHoldSellStrong Sell12 months
- Website
- cfraresearch.com
Research philosophy
Our approach blends fundamental equity principles with forensic accounting techniques to establish company value and determine STARS rankings.
CFRA emphasizes that it has no asset management or investment banking business, does not trade, and does not develop products that compete with its clients. It often combines several valuation methods and bases recommendations on expected returns without limiting itself to growth or value investing. Its review process includes a forensic accounting rating and a sector meeting at which the analyst defends the recommendation to peers.
Rating methodology
The STARS (STock Appreciation Ranking System) scale runs from five stars (Strong Buy) to one star (Strong Sell) based on expected 12-month total return versus a regional benchmark.
Coverage12M
Sectors
Most covered24M
| Stock | Rating | Target |
|---|---|---|
 Invitation Homes Inc.INVH | Sell | $27 |
 Netflix, Inc.NFLX | Buy | $100 |
 Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.ABG | — | $225 |
 Salesforce, Inc.CRM | Strong Buy | $380 |
 Caesars Entertainment, Inc.CZR | — | $50 |
 Equinix, Inc.EQIX | Hold | $985 |
 Pool CorporationPOOL | Buy | $304 |
 Starbucks CorporationSBUX | — | $103 |
 TD SYNNEX CorporationSNX | Buy | — |
 Apple Inc.AAPL | Buy | $260 |
Most active analysts
- Arun Sundaram9 notesSBUXCHWYCAVA
- Kenneth Leon9 notesEQIXFOXC
- Angelo Zino8 notesCRUSLSCCADI
- Garrett Nelson8 notesAZODANABG
- Zachary Warring6 notesCZRDKNGHAS
- Catherine Seifert4 notesAIGNYTPGR
Recent actions
| Date | Stock | Rating action | Rating | Target | Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28 | Invitation Homes Inc.INVH | Downgrade | Hold →Sell | ||
| May 27 | Invitation Homes Inc.INVH | Target | $38 →$27 | ||
| May 8 | CGThe Carlyle Group Inc.CG | Target | $47 →$45 | ||
| Mar 6 | Netflix, Inc.NFLX | Upgrade | Hold →Buy | ||
| Jan 27 |  The Trade Desk, Inc.TTD | Downgrade | Buy →Hold | ||
| Jan 5 | Netflix, Inc.NFLX | Downgrade | Buy →Hold | $238 →$100 | |
| Dec 23, 2025 | Pool CorporationPOOL | Upgrade | Hold →Buy | ||
| Dec 22, 2025 | Pool CorporationPOOL | Target | $304 | ||
| Nov 25, 2025 |  Analog Devices, Inc.ADI | Target | $240 →$280 | Angelo Zino | |
| Nov 10, 2025 |  CNH Industrial N.V.CNH | Target | $11 | Nazmi Ghazali | |
| Nov 4, 2025 | ONON Semiconductor CorporationON | Target | $80 →$64 | Angelo Zino |