First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) has been a total disaster, but short covering and bottom-fishing traders are snapping up shares.  After an all-time low of $13.75 this week, shares recovered to $14.92 on Thursday on the most active volume in two weeks (over 10 million shares).  Shares are indicated above $15.00 for Friday but we will see if this can hold. SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) recovered more than 10% on Thursday after a recent low of $4.94 with a close of $5.59 on over 4 million shares (most since Feb 17 at 7.3 million shares).

One potential problem to consider is that the tariffs could inadvertently impact some of the U.S. producers of solar panels as well.  The issue is that many components involved in making these PV panels also come from China.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is a loser in this tariff effort.  Shares were at $2.60 just last Friday and the ADRs closed down at $2.13 on Thursday.  Shares are indicated higher on Friday but we will have to see how it pans out.  Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) is another loser with its ADR closing at $6.08 Thursday after having been at $7.50 just last Friday.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) closed lower on Thursday at $2.91, but this is actually in-line with prices just last Friday and its 52-week range is $2.54 to $7.90.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) is often lost in the shuffle as it is on the technology side of the solar PV process.  It is also in LED technology.  Shares closed down at $4.49 on Thursday against a 52-week low of $4.24.  The 12 million shares traded on Thursday was the highest trading volume seen since last August.

If you really want to know what the trend is on a global-solar basis, just follow the Guggenheim Solar (AMEX: TAN).  This ETF closed down yet again at $18.35 on Thursday after closing at $19.21 the prior day and against a $20.61 close last Friday.

Unfortunately, the solar sector has its share of woes and pain.  Austerity, expiration of tax credits, a lack of cost-effectiveness, and other issues are going to be present for the time being whether tariffs exist or not.

JON C. OGG

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE), The AES Corp. (NYSE: AES), Ameren Corp. (NYSE: AEE), and Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE: LNT) reported first quarter earnings this morning, and the results are mixed to say the the least.

Duke reported first quarter adjusted EPS of $0.38, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37. Revenue came in at $3.63 billion, better than the estimate of $3.6 billion. In the company’s announcement, it had this to say about the weather: “On an adjusted basis, the effects of mild weather during the quarter were largely offset by the implementation of new customer rates in the Carolinas and reduced operation and maintenance costs at the regulated utilities.” The company also said that it expects to get regulatory approval for its purchase of Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE: PGN).

Spectra reported EPS of $0.51, one penny below the consensus estimate. Revenues totaled $1.54 billion, down -4% from the same period a year ago and well below estimates of $1.62 billion. Spectra, too, blamed the weather, and low natural gas prices: “First quarter 2012 earnings in line with expectations, except for the effects of lower commodity prices and warmer-than-normal weather.” Spectra primarily operates natural gas transmission and distribution lines.

AES reported adjusted EPS of $0.37, significantly better than the consensus estimate of $0.27. Revenues totaled $4.74 billion, again well above the estimate of $4.5 billion. AES did not blame the weather or complain about low prices. The company’s Latin American operations provided the boost. The company reaffirmed guidance with a caveat that cash flow from operations and free cash flow would be at the lower end of their respective ranges. AES also lowered its expected earnings from continuing operations by $0.06 for the year.

Ameren reported adjusted EPS of $0.22 versus a consensus estimate of $0.23. Revenues totaled $1.66 billion, again a slight miss compared with the estimate of $1.7 billion. Ameren did blame the weather for lower natural gas sales and low electricity prices for reducing demand. The company did reaffirm full-year EPS guidance of $2.20-$2.50 versus the consensus estimate of $2.33.

Alliant reported adjusted EPS of $0.50, well down from the consensus estimate of $0.63. Revenue totaled $765.7 million, sharply lower than the estimate of $822.1 million. Warm weather cost the company 22 heating days, with an negative impact of -$0.12 on adjusted EPS. The company reaffirmed full-year EPS guidance of $2.75-$3.05 versus a consensus estimate of $2.93. Alliant also said that full-year EPS would be near the lower end of the range.

Duke and AES, both of which derive a good portion of their revenues and profits from power generation, were able to overcome the effects of warm weather and low natural gas prices even though both companies complained about the weather. The gas companies had a tougher time, but only Alliant really got battered by warm weather effects.

Paul Ausick

So, why are things so bad in the garbage and waste management sector? It is almost scary if you reviewed the earnings report from last week’s reports from Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM), Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) and Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN). Even Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (NYSE: BIN) had a bad report. In case you forgot, Bill Gates has been a huge investor in this sector with a 15% or higher stake in Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) via his personal investment entity called Cascade Investment.

Last week, particularly Friday, was just brutal on the shares of these companies due to such poor earnings from the waste management sector leaders. A contrarian take against the grain would be that this sector just got a lot cheaper for those investors who have a very long-term outlook. We want to see which companies are now a bargain and which ones may still deserve some caution.

Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) took it on the chin last week as booked revenue of $3.30 billion and, while that was above the consensus of about $3.2 billion, the non-GAAP earnings of $0.38 EPS was shy of the $0.41 EPS estimate as GAAP earnings shrank by 5% from a year earlier. The company also reported a drop in the gross margin, operating margin and net margin. The $15-plus billion garbage company was down by more than 3% when the other reports were taken into consideration, with shares trading just above $34 and very close to the Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $34.40. This was just a $36 stock on Wednesday and the 52-week range is $27.75 to $39.69.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter results as revenue increased 0.9% to $1.98 billion, but earnings per share fell by 7.8% to $0.38 EPS based on lower recycled commodity prices and higher fuel costs. The $10 billion waste company was said to have lost a large national account due to competitive pricing that will cost about $25 million in 2012 sales and it noted a loss of one or two municipal disposal contracts. The company is holding on to its pricing structure and it did manage to raise volume and said that they are seeing positive C&D activity and special waste volume. Republic was down over 11.5% at one point Friday morning at $27.50 and the 52-week range is $24.72 to $33.10.

Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN) turned in sales growth of more than 13% to $376 million, which was just above estimates, and it claimed increased pricing strength and that its C&D waste volume offset commodities and fuel prices. Still, its EBITDA margin was lower at 30.5% based on lower recycled commodity values and also on higher expenses due to its County Waste acquisition in 2011. The company’s franchise market model is allowing for pricing power and supposedly keeping customer churn lower. Waste Connection shares were down more than 1% on Friday again with shares above $32 and its 52-week range is $29.06 to $35.95. This was probably the only bright spot, but with a $3.5 billion market cap its stock trend was dictated by problems at the larger peers.

U.S. investors often forget about Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (NYSE: BIN) because it is based in Canada, but it has a $2.5 billion market cap. Keep in mind that this is the old BFI Canada, and it offers waste services in Canada and in the United States. A weak report from this company last week took a lot of wind out of its sails as well: $0.19 EPS versus $0.24 EPS expected, but revenues rose 3.6% to $438.3 million versus $434.3 million expected. The company reaffirmed its 2012 outlook. Shares were down more than 6% at $21.40 on Friday against a 52-week range of $18.35 to $25.56. The consensus target from Thomson Reuters is closer to $25 over the next year.

Gabelli issued a report on Friday calling a Waste Connection private market value of $31 for 2012 and $34 in 2013. What is interesting is that Thomson Reuters has a consensus target objective of just over $38 for the next 12 months. Gabelli also maintained its Buy stance on Republic Services and Thomson Reuters had a consensus target of $34.60 before considering the double-digit percentage drop on Friday morning.

Raymond James downgraded Republic Services to Market Perform from Outperform based upon the report. We would not be surprised at all if there are more analyst downgrades due to how the whole sector was soft. These reports from last week may set a sour tone for the smaller US Ecology Inc. (NASDAQ: ECOL) as it is set to report its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Its market cap is only $390 million.

Based upon the new share price drops, the dividends of each are looking better: a 3.9% yield for Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM), a 2.8% yield for Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) but only 1.1% for Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN). Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (NYSE: BIN) now has a 2.5% dividend yield.

Things are bad enough in the sector that Enerkem Inc., a Canadian biofuel company backed by Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO), even withdrew its registration statement with the SEC that would have allowed it to raise almost $140 million in an initial public offering. Enerkem develops refineries that convert trash into gases that get reprocessed to be turned into ethanol and other chemicals. The outfit cited market conditions in the filing. This is sector-specific market conditions, because, in case you had not noticed, the market has managed to hold up well in earnings season. These “market conditions” are also against the backdrop of what has been a super-premium IPO market.

It may take a bit for the dust to settle here because this was widespread disruption. That being said, we would start to look at a contrarian outlook now that the sector is on sale for those investors who invest with a multiyear horizon. Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) took it on the chin the worst of the lot, and it is not easy to bet against Bill Gates for too long in his post-software investments.

JON C. OGG

Today we have seen a diverging set of calls in the utility sector.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch has issued a somewhat cautious outlook, while Credit Suisse has talked up the risk-adjusted returns.  This is on the heels of a deep value and growth screen we ran on Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC); Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR); American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE: AEP); and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG) as those utilities averaged dividend yields of close to 5%, were all large-cap, were down for the year so far, had operating margins of 15% or more, and a return on equity of at least 10%.

Credit Suisse’s outlook noted that there are still plenty of risk adjusted returns with the regulated utility group offering annual rates of return of 7% to 11%.  The breakdown is roughly 3% to 7% in earnings per share plus the $% to 5% in the dividend yields.  And on the risk side of the equation, CRedit Suisse sees a beta range of only 0.6 to 0.7 for the group.  The firm noted that this is a very compelling return in a low interest rate environment and fundamentally against the S&P 500 Index that would “require a minimum growth rate of 7% plus the 2.1% dividend yield to match the Utility stocks.”

Bank of America gave an earnings preview for the first quarter for utilities and brought up no winter, low earnings, and updating gas curves.  The mild weather is expected to drag down first quarter utility earnings by 6%.  The low natural gas price adjustments have been ratcheted down significantly from 2012 to 2014.   NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NVE) is noted as being expected to have a large dividend hike.

BofA also noted that Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN) has risen sharply and NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and GenOn Energy, Inc. (NYSE: GEN) have both dropped sharply on the coal/gas switching theme, but the firm’s take is that the stocks may be extended too far on both sides as it does not see much change in guidance from any of the three companies.

It is always interesting when you see different calls when the same data is available.  It is a part of what makes a horserace.

JON C. OGG

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) would now effectively be considered a broken IPO if this price was retroacted back to its IPO price.  Maxim is late on its call with a SELL rating, but all you have to do is look at the objective price target to guess why this is so bad: it is calling for $9 per share and it leaves room for it to go lower.  Today marks an ALL-TIME LOW!!!!!

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) is one you have to ‘love’ when it is likely one of the Chinese solar panel dumpers in America and elsewhere.  Its ADRs are down 9.6% late-day at $2.94 on above-average volume.  The 52-week low here is $2.55.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is in the same LDK boat today with a 7% drop on light volume to $2.43 against a 52-week low of $1.70.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) is down 2.6% more at $5.36 and its 52-week low is $4.94.  Total probably either better think of how to cover its tracks here for that $1 billion (and then some) majority stake acquisition.  It either better write down its value or it better consider buying the rest at about half-price.

With the losses realized in the alternative energy sector investments (not including valuation write-downs) this is a sad but fair question to ask… Can the world afford Earth Day?

Part of the issue is not just dumping.  It is austerity measures.  Governments have supported alternative energy endlessly.  That trend has started to come to an end and ultimately this sector is going to have to learn to survive and thrive without subsidies And without government loan guarantees.  It is a bad spot to be in when you rely on government hand-outs to survive when governments can no longer afford to keep handing that money out.

JON C. OGG

If you combine the losses in the major stocks around solar, wind, and other alternative energies, the losses are billions and billions of dollars in the American companies alone.  We have outlined the profile of each exchange traded fund and we have covered some of the losses elsewhere.  We have tracked 20 stocks in a portfolio over the last year in the alternative energy sector and it is shocking that only 4 of the 20 stocks are not down by more than 50% from their 52-week highs.  It is even worse that 10 of the 20 stocks are down by at least 70% from their 52-week highs if you include the implosions.

We used FinViz performance metrics for the returns, or a lack of returns.  We counted the assets under management directly from each ETF’s website, although we would note that outflows of assets have been seen on top of absolute losses in share price.

First Trust Global Wind Energy (AMEX: FAN) is full of mostly foreign issue holdings and even the king of wind power called Vestas in Europe only has about a 6% weighting with other names coming from Europe and China.  On Friday morning it was trading at $7.17 versus a 52-week range of $7.09 to $12.20.  The loss here over the last year is about 38%.  Assets under management: $24.8 million

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index (NASDAQ: QCLN) is very thinly traded and at $10.10 on Friday it has a 52-week range of $9.00 to $17.02.  It aims to track the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index and is supposed to invest at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise the index.  Some names are not exactly what investors might consider as green, but Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) and Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) are each weighted more than 7%.  The loss here is 36.6% over the last year.  Assets under management: $18.7 million

Guggenheim Solar (AMEX: TAN) is full of solar stocks which are both domestic and also trade as ADRs from foreign issues which you probably know well if you follow the solar sector.  It invests at least 90% of its assets in common stocks which make up the MAC Global Solar Energy Index.  At $22.77, the 52-week trading range is $22.00 to $88.70 and this has lost 69% over the last year.  Assets under management: $60.7 million

Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (AMEX: KWT) is also full of solar stocks, but many do not trade in the United States.  The Van Eck Global ETF aims to track the Ardour Solar Energy Index and puts at least 80% of its assets into common stocks in the index.  At $3.39 it has a 52-week range of $3.29 to $13.08 and this one is down 69.9% from a year ago. Assets under management: $12.7 million

PowerShares Global Wind Energy (NASDAQ: PWND) is thinly traded and aims to track the NASDAQ OMX Clean Edge Global Wind Energy Index.  The ETF is full of companies which are not US-based and which are not even traded in the U.S. markets. The top 5 names account for more than 40% weighting and the names are China Longyuan Power Group, EDP Renovaveis, ENEL Green Power, Vestas Wind Systems, and China High Speed Transmission Equipment.  At $6.49, its 52-week range is $6.41 to $11.29, and the shares are down 40.8% from a year ago. Assets under management: $13.4 million

PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (AMEX: PBW) invests in all forms of clean energy and invests in companies globally.  Eight of ten of its largest weightings do trade in the U.S. and it invests 80% of its assets into common stocks in the WilderHill Clean Energy Index.  At $5.15 it has a 52-week trading range of $4.80 to $10.38 and it is down over 46% over the last year.  Assets under management: $181.1 million

The only good news about the current value of more than $300 million ETFs above is that they have at least not fallen anywhere near as much as some of the key companies which Americans have tried to invest their retirement and speculative money in.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is down over 84% over the last year and it still has a market value of $1.8 billion.  The loss here is about $8 billion over the last year in what is supposed to be America’s best solar bet.  First Solar generated $2.76 billion in sales in 2011.  It is currently among the worst stock charts in technology.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) received a huge purchase of a majority stake by Total but that has not kept its shares from sliding and sliding.  At $5.62, its 52-week range is $4.94 to $22.36, and shares are down over 63% over the last year and Total is down probably about 70% in value on this one.  Its market value is now barely $650 million but it generated over $2.1 billion in sales in 2011.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) is down 69% over the last year and at $3.50 its 52-week range is $3.31 to $12.00.  Its market value is still more than $800 million and its total revenue in 2011 was $2.71 billion.  The loss is far worse when you consider that this was a $90 stock at the peak of the alternative energy and oil boom in 2008.

The losses here have been in the billions and it only scratches the surface on the alternative energy sector losses.  This takes no consideration of the disappearance of Evergreen Solar, Energy Conversion, Solyndra, and Solar Trust.  This also skips over the ethanol losses as well. We do not want to only seem one-sided here even if billions upon billions of real money has been lost in the alternative energy sector that is reminiscent of the losses after the dot-com bubble burst a decade ago.  Some of the blame may be austerity and Chinese dumping, but investor losses do not come with an asterisk in the monthly statements.

The losses in alternative energy are massive, but oil companies have generated trillions of dollars in sales. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is worth $401 billion in market value and sales for all of 2011 were $486.4 billion.  Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is worth about $203 billion in market value and it generated $253.7 billion in sales in 2011.  This also marks the two-year anniversary of the BP PLC (NYSE: BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and BP generated the equivalent of $375 billion in sales in 2011.

It is sad to make jokes about losses this big, but a couple quickly come to mind:

• Alternative energy stocks and ETFs have turned 401K plans into 201K or 101K plans.
• How do make a small fortune? Take a large fortune and buy some alternative energy funds.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. has formed a screening on the sector to see which high-yielding utilities may have finally priced in the worst of the news. We ran a screen on Finviz.com looking for the best of the best utilities. In our screen, we chose the following criteria:

• Market cap of $5 billion or more
• Daily trading volume of at least 1 million shares
• Dividend yield of 4%
• Year-to-date stock performance was negative
• Return on equity was at least 10%
• Operating margin of 15% or more
• Debt-to-equity under 1.4-times

The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLU) managed to close up 0.6% at $34.87. Our screen turned up only four of the following utility leaders, with the key criteria being by dividend yield (highest to lowest): Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC); Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR); American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE: AEP); and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG).

With the fear of rising interest rates ahead and higher dividend taxes, investors have tended to shy away from the steady earnings, yields and returns of utilities. The two questions that might matter the most are: 1) What if rates do not rise as much as investors hope? And 2) What if dividend taxes are not going to rise to over 40% for the high-income earners? Another question to ask is: What if the regulatory climate lightens up a tad against the utility sector? If one or two of these possibilities start to become reality, then there may be a huge opportunity in this sector. Even if these issues remain, it may be that most of the bad news is getting close to being factored in.

Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is the leader of the pack due to its 5.55% dividend yield. It has a market cap of $25 billion and trades more than 7 million shares per day. Year-to date its shares have fallen by 11.6%. The utility’s return on equity was listed as 17.9%, its operating margin is 23.6% and its debt-to-equity ratio was less than 1 at 0.94. Exelon closed up 0.6% at $38.06 against a 52-week range of $37.48 to $45.45.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) has a market cap of $11.7 billion and trades 1.2 million shares per day. It has a dividend yield of 5% and year-to date its shares have fallen by 8.4%. The utility’s return on equity was listed as 15.4%, its operating margin is 17.9% and its debt-to-equity ratio was 1.34. Entergy recently closed up 0.5% at $66.43 against a 52-week range of $57.60 to $74.00.

American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE: AEP) has a market cap of $18 billion and trades 4.9 milllion shares per day. It has a dividend yield of 5% and year to date its shares have fallen by 7.5%. The utility’s return on equity was listed as 11.1%, its operating margin is 18.4% and its debt-to-equity ratio was 1.24. Shares closed up 0.5% at $37.97 and the 52-week range is $33.09 to $41.98.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG) has a market cap of $15 billion and trades 3.6 milllion shares per day. It has a dividend yield 4.9%. Year to date, its shares have fallen by 8%. The utility’s return on equity was listed as 14.1%, its operating margin is 24.4% and its debt-to-equity ratio was the lowest of the group at only 0.80. Public Service Enterprise closed up 1% at $30.33 against a 52-week range of $27.97 to $35.48.

What is interesting about this group is that AEP is the only member of the four that is not down more than 10% from its 52-week high, and all of these are closer to their 52-week lows than their highs.

JON C. OGG

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) has announced a restructuring and it is really is a series of layoffs and closures.  First Solar will close its manufacturing operations in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, in the fourth quarter of 2012.  The company will also “indefinitely idle four production lines” at its manufacturing center in Kulim, Malaysia, on May 1, 2012.  The company noted further personnel reductions in Europe and the U.S.  All in all, the layoffs globally will come to about 2,000 positions or about 30% of the workforce.  Doesn’t that sound like great growth???

The efforts are said to generate savings of $30 to $60 million this year and are projected to save $100 to $120 million annually going forward. First Solar is claiming that this will drive down the average manufacturing cost to a range of $0.70 to $0.72 per watt in 2012 as a result of the changes.  The prior projection was $0.74 per watt and the company is forecasting the average module cost in 2013 will be $0.60 to $0.64 per watt.

For total charges related to these ‘savings initiatives’ the company will record $245 to $370 million, with about $80 to $120 million being cash expenditures.  These charges will come primarily in the first quarter of 2012 and the rest charges will take place throughout the remainder of this year.  First Solar has also voluntarily paid down approximately $145 million of debt ahead of schedule in 2012 under its German loan agreement.

Bringing the cost per watt down this much may act to drive margins higher, but that assumes a flattening out of price trends in solar PV modules.  With Chinese dumping efforts and with the tariffs being so small against the dumping initiatives, this requires a large degree of trust that things will go as well as the company hopes.

Here is the company’s comment that goes to the core issues surrounding the new solar market trends: “The solar market has fundamentally changed, and we are quickly adapting our market approach and operations to maintain and build upon our competitive advantage.  After a period of robust growth, First Solar is scaled to operate at higher volumes than currently exist following the reduction of subsidies in key legacy markets. As a result, it is essential that we reduce production and decrease expenses to reflect the smaller volume of high-probability demand we forecast. These actions will enable us to focus our resources on developing the markets where we expect to generate significant growth in coming years.”

We’ll see.

First Solar shares were initially up as much as 4% or 5% in the early pre-market indications but after 15 minutes of trading the stock is only up 1.6% at $21.12.  As a reminder, anything under $20.00 is the demarkation line of what would have market a busted IPO level.

JON C. OGG

First Solar’s 230 Megawatt Antelope project fears are being alleviated with Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) as the buyer.  The hold up was said to be fears that DOE had regarding local permitting, but recent DOE loan guarantee failures (Solyndra for one) have likely made the DOE be more careful about throwing money into projects if there is obvious trouble.  Had the deal not closed, First Solar could have been forced to buy the project back. The DoE had approved $646 million in loans for the project.

After the deal is closed, First Solar’s only involvement will be in the construction and operation of the facility.

First Solar closed unofficially up 5.9% at $21.38 against a prior 52-week range of $20.05 to $147.20.

JON C. OGG

What is interesting at PPL is that its 5.2% dividend yield puts it above the average dividend yield and the $27.66 closing price on Monday compares to a 52-week trading range of $25.00 to $30.27.

Morgan Stanley and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.  The underwriters will be granted an option to purchase up to an additional 1,485,000 shares of common stock as a greenshoe option to cover any over-allotments.

Considering the size differential of the company’s market capitalization rate versus the small size of the offering, we would not look for much impact in the shares.

JON C. OGG