Posts related to ‘Water’

Stocks That Missed the Rally (ABT, MO, AWK, BKC, ENER, GENZ, KR, ORB, WMT, LEAP, PCS)

Here we are going into yet another earnings season.  We saw Monday how the market has rallied significantly from the March lows and the major indexes are even up in positive territory for the 2009 calendar.  The DJIA is up 51% from its absolute lows of March, and the S&P 500 has rallied more than 61% from its absolute lows in March.  If you look at the December 31, 2008 closing bell levels, the DJIA is now up about 12.75% and the S&P 500 is now up more than 19% year-to-date.

But almost as always, there are still some key very large and/or very active stocks which have not recovered anywhere close to the same amounts with the overall stock markets.  Some of these lagging stocks are Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).  Two similar situation stocks that are Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS).  We wanted to explore the forward values and relative performance, and the consensus estimates based upon Thomson Reuters data.  Only two of these stocks have market capitalization rates under $1 billion, and almost all are very actively traded and well known in their sectors.
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Posted on: October 12, 2009 – 5:03 pm in Biotech, Charts, Consumer Goods, Defensive Stocks, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Retail, Utilities, Value Investing, Water, , , , , , , , , , ,

Baird Unexcited About Green and Less-Dirty Energy (FSLR, ENOC, MXWL, ITRI, SPWRA, ORA, CCC)

solar-panel-picRobert W. Baird has started several of the green or less-dirty energy players and water-plays in new coverage this morning.  Most of these are very unexciting ratings with a “Neutral” rating.  Among these are First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC), Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MXWL), Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA).  Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) and Calgon Carbon (NYSE: CCC) were started with “Outperform” ratings at the firm.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: June 17, 2009 – 6:57 am in Alternative Energy, Analyst Calls, Green Biz, Water, , , , , , ,

IPO FILING: Douyuan, A Chinese Water Play (DGW)

Duoyuan Global Water Inc. has filed as a foreign issuer to come public in the U.S. via an initial public offering.  The proposed offering is for up to $86,250,000 via the sale of 5,000,000 American Depositary Shares which represent 10,000,000 Ordinary shares.  The stock has the proposed ticker of “DGW” on NYSE, and an initial price range was set at $13.00 to $15.00.
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Posted on: June 2, 2009 – 7:04 am in ADR, China, IPOs, Water,

Pepsi’s Dividend Hike Signals Twist in Bottling Mergers (PEP, PBG, PAS)

pepsi-logoPepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) has just come out and announced it was going to hike its dividend by some 6%.  The $1.70 annualized dividend will now be $1.80 on an annual basis that is paid out quarterly.  Normally, these announcements are a blip on the radar, but this could actually signal that it has the capital to pay more for that proposed Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (NYSE: PBG) acquisition.  It may even have an ultimate impact on PepsiAmericas Inc. (NYSE: PAS).
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Posted on: May 5, 2009 – 6:05 pm in Dividend, Food, Mergers and Buy Outs, Water, , ,

If Coke Follows Pepsi’s Bottling Roll-Up (PEP, PAS, PBG, KO, COKE, CCE, KOF, CCH

pepsi-logoThis morning’s news of Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) offering to acquire bottling affiliates PepsiAmericas Inc. (NYSE: PAS) and Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (NYSE: PBG) may be a surprise to some, but it is far from a shock.  Having multiple companies processing different parts of the same business may not be the most efficient model under certain circumstances.  Interestingly enough, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) has a similar structure with affiliated entities that are outside publicly traded stocks.

coke-logoCoca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (COKE), Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CCE), Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A.B de CV (NYSE: KOF), and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A. (NYSE: CCH) are all affiliated companies.
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Posted on: April 20, 2009 – 10:32 am in Food, Mergers and Buy Outs, Water, , , , , , , ,

Layne Christensen Misses by a Mile (LAYN)

Water and energy services firm Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ:LAYN) missed analysts’ estimates of quarterly EPS of $0.40, coming in at $0.24 excluding an impairment charge of $16.1 million. Including the charge, the company had a net loss of -$0.59. Annual EPS was off by nearly a dollar, $1.37 v. expectations of $2.35. Even excluding the impairment charge, the company missed annual EPS estimates, coming in at $2.20.
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Posted on: March 30, 2009 – 8:16 am in Earnings, Oil & Gas, Water,

The ‘Safety Premium’ In Water Investing (AWK, WTR, AWR, CWT)

water-image1We have been investigating several of the “safe sectors” for investing to identify which ones may have seen the worst or which ones could continue to have issues regardless of whether or not recent stock market strength holds up or not.  Water is supposed to be one of those immune sectors as people have to drink water every day and just about every aspect of life revolves around water.  So we are starting out with domestic water utilities, because this is the first line of defense in the water sector and the most defensive portion of the water sector.  In theory, these do not require any new community growth or new water-intensive industries for the “defensive” thesis to hold up.  We briefly wanted to review American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), Aqua America Inc. (NYSE: WTR), American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR), and California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT).
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Posted on: March 23, 2009 – 10:35 am in Defensive Stocks, Water, , , ,

IBM: Big Blue Goes Green and Blue (IBM)

water-imageIBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is expanding into the water business. One part of the effort is to develop a smart grid of sensors and software to help manage water systems. The other part of the plan appears to be creating improved technologies to support water systems.
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Posted on: March 13, 2009 – 10:53 am in Technology Companies, Water,

Water Profits Rise on Higher Rates (AWK, WTR)

Water_imageAfter the market closed yesterday, American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) reported third quarter EPS of $0.55 on revenues of $672 million. EPS was right on expectations, but revenues fell short by about 12%. The floods in the Midwest reduced water sales by 4.8% from the same period a year ago, reducing EPS by about 4%.

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Posted on: November 6, 2008 – 9:30 am in Earnings, Utilities, Water, ,

Artesian Resources, Winning Water Assets On Bad Week (ARTNA)

Water_imageCecil County, Maryland, has approved the transfer of its water distribution and wastewater assets to Artesian Resources (NASDAQ:ARTNA) this week. This is just the latest in a string of conversions from publicly-supported water systems to private companies. The conversions typically spring from deteriorating infrastructure, which could cost local governments millions of dollars they don’t have to repair.

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Posted on: October 9, 2008 – 10:31 am in Water,

Calgon Carbon Heads Into S&P Small Cap 600 Index (CCC, MDRX)

S&P’s Index Group has announced that  Calgon Carbon Corp. (NYSE: CCC) will replace Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) in the S&P Small Cap 600 after the close of trading on Friday.

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Posted on: October 6, 2008 – 5:37 pm in Index, Water, ,

3M Wants To Expand Alternative Energy & Water Efforts (MMM)

3m_logoThere were some interesting comments out of 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) where CEO George Buckley was speaking to institutional investors and investment analysts about the company’s core business operations.  One area that may represent huge growth for the company is the alternative energy sector.  CEO George Buckley was highlighting 3M ventures in solar energy, industrial air and water filtration, mining and minerals extraction, oil and gas, and food safety.  But it also discussed alternative energy efforts in further detail and noted that the company was launching a renewable energy unit as soon as next month. 

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Posted on: September 9, 2008 – 11:13 am in Alternative Energy, Conglomerates, Water,

IPO PRICING: Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERII)

Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) has priced its initial public offering of 14,000,000 shares of common stock at $8.50 per share, which was within the $7.00 to $9.00 range.

Of these shares, 8,078,566 are being sold by the company and 5,921,434 are being sold by selling stockholders. Net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Citigroup and Credit Suisse were joint book-runners, and HSBC Securities, Janney Montgomery Scott, and SEB Enskilda AS were listed as co-managers.  The company has granted the underwriters a 30-day over-allotment option to purchase an additional 2,100,000 shares of common stock.

Jon C. Ogg
July 2, 2008

Posted on: July 2, 2008 – 6:53 am in IPOs, Water,

Desalination IPO On Deck: Energy Recovery (ERII)

A company called Energy Recovery, Inc. is set to come public via an initial public offering this week. If pricing does not occur tonight or in the wee hours of Wednesday morning then the offering might have to sit and wait until next week. Assuming we actually get the pricing on a holiday shortened week, the last data we saw on this was a 14 million share IPO with a range of $7.00 to $9.00 per share.

While this sounds like an oil well play, the company is actually a desalination play that turns salt water into fresh water.  The company is a developer and manufacturer of efficient energy recovery devices utilized in the rapidly growing water desalination industry.  It operates primarily in the sea water reverse osmosis segment of the industry.

The deal is set to come from Citigroup and Credit Suisse and will trade under the "ERII" stock ticker on NASDAQ.

Jon C. Ogg
July 1, 2008

Posted on: July 1, 2008 – 10:12 am in IPOs, Water,

American Water Works, Open For Trading (AWK)

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) has opened for trading.  The first real open-print was $20.60 for some 6.62 million shares.  Unfortunately, this is going to gear down some of the water expectations on the utility side.

The $21.50 pricing was well under expectations, and those expectations had been trimmed already.  At $20.60 it is already trading as a busted IPO.  We’ll give this one some time before calling this one by any name.

Despite the weakness, we actually think this will be huge for the water industry in general.  That underwriting group was so large that this will create much more in water coverage from Wall Street analysts.  Since opening, shares have weakened and are down to $20.45.

For whatever it is worth, one of the most defensive stocks that investors can flock to when they get worried about earnings and the market and the economy is in water utilities.  This is the largest water utility in the US.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other IPO’s, secondary offerings, special financings, spin-offs, and other special situations.

Jon C. Ogg
April 23, 2008

Posted on: April 23, 2008 – 9:05 am in IPOs, Water,

American Water Works IPO Looks Slightly Under Water (AWK)

American Water Works Co. (NYSE: AWK) is coming back on the US market.  The deal has priced this evening and will trade on the NYSE on Wednesday morning.  A trader has noted that the IPO went from warm, to cool, and now it is pricing under the range. 

Gross proceeds are roughly $1.25 Billion.  This IPO will now be 58 million shares at a price of $21.50 per share.  Unfortunately, that isn’t exactly off to a great start.  This is lower than the original share price indication terms and under the expected number of shares being sold.  Just a few weeks ago the largest US water utility was going to sell 64 million shares at a range of $24.00 to $26.00 per share.

It seems that if we are in the midst of a housing crisis, maybe being the water utility has more nuances than you’d imagine. Considering how there are not enough water instruments for US investors currently, this is a huge disappointment for what could have been one of the largest IPO’s of 2008.

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch are the lead managers; and co-managers are Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Edward Jones, Janney Montgomery Scott, Societe Generale, Wachovia Securities, Boenning & Scattergood, HSBC, The Stanford Group and Williams Capital Group were listed as the underwriters.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other IPO’s, key financings, secondary offerings, and other special situation previews.

We have made our calls around for syndicate desks and traders that could still be reached, and this is coming from more than one group on the pricing and share count. 

Elsewhere in water, we covered a desalination play.

Jon C. Ogg
April 22, 2008

Jon Ogg is a producer of and editor for both the Special Situations newsletter and the "10 Stocks Under $10" weekly newsletter for 247WallSt.com; he can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: April 22, 2008 – 7:13 pm in IPOs, Water,

IPO Filing: Energy Recovery Inc.; A Desalination Play (ERII)

Energy Recovery, Inc. has filed to come public via an initial public offering.  The company lists that it will sell up to $175 million in stock in the offering, although that is merely for filing purposes and no shares count nor price range has been indicated.  Energy Recovery has applied to take the ticker "ERII" on NASDAQ.  Citigroup and Credit Suisse were listed as joint book-runners or co-leads on it.

The company is a developer and manufacturer of efficient energy recovery devices utilized in the rapidly growing water desalination industry.  It operates primarily in the sea water reverse osmosis segment of the industry.

In the process, high pressure is used to drive sea water through filtering membranes to produce fresh water.  Its primary product, the PX Pressure Exchanger, helps optimize the energy intensive process by recapturing and recycling up to 98% of the energy in the high pressure reject stream, thereby reducing energy consumption by an estimated 60% as compared to the same process without any energy recovery devices.

It has also noted its system deliveries.  Energy Recovery estimated that its devices shipped as of December 31, 2007 reduce electricity consumption in desalination plants by approximately 300 megawatts relative to comparable plants with no energy recovery devices. Assuming a rate of $0.08 per kilowatt-hour, this would result in annual electricity cost savings of approximately $210 million in the aggregate, which would equate to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of approximately 1.5 million tons per year.

As of December 31, 2007, it noted having over 4,000 PX devices shipped to desalination plants worldwide, in locations such as China, Europe, India, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, North America and the Caribbean.  Net revenues have grown from $4.0 million in 2003 to $35.4 million in 2007.

We frequently discuss IPO’s, back door plays into IPO’s, spin-offs, and more on our open email distribution list.

Jon C. Ogg
April 1, 2008

Posted on: April 1, 2008 – 7:32 am in Alternative Energy, IPOs, Water,

American Water Works Sets IPO Terms… $1.6 Billion For Starters (AWK)

American Water Works Company, Inc. has finally sets its pricing range in its latest SEC FILING today.  This was the fifth such amendment to the original filing in 2007.  The mostly regulated water utility will still trade under the proposed ticker "AWK" on the NYSE.

The initial pricing terms are putting this in a range of $24 to $26 per share, for 64 million shares.  In our last update, we noted the underwriters were as follows:  Goldman Sachs, Citi, Merrill Lynch all listed as lead underwriters; Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and UBS; and co-managers listed as Edward Jones, Janney Montgomery Scott, Societe Generale, Wachovia Securities, Boenning & Scattergood, Cabrera Capital Markets, HSBC, Stanford Group Company, and The Williams Capital Group.

We will covering this one routinely via our open email distribution list.  At the mid-point of the range, this IPO would yield gross proceeds of $1.6 Billion.

Jon C. Ogg
March 31, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 31, 2008 – 9:33 am in IPOs, Water,

IPO UPDATE: American Water Works, Inc. (AWK)

Last night there was another amended filing for American Water Works, Inc. and its upcoming giant IPO.  The giant water utility will still trade with the "AWK" ticker on the NYSE, and this may end up at the end of the year being the second or third largest US IPO for 2008 (way behind Visa).

We have had numerous inquiries on the timing of this IPO.  So far, we have the roadshow indicated in mid-April for investor presentations.  That could signal an April-end IPO or early May actual listing on the NYSE.  But so far that is conjecture and we are waiting for word back from the lead underwriters  Now that we are closer to the IPO, her is the full list of underwriters:

  • Goldman Sachs, Citi, Merrill Lynch all listed as lead underwriters;            
  • Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and UBS;
  • Edward Jones, Janney Montgomery Scott, Societe Generale, Wachovia Securities
  • Boenning & Scattergood, Cabrera Capital Markets, HSBC, Stanford Group Company, and The Williams Capital Group are all listed as co-managers.

As a reminder, this used to trade in the U.S. before it was acquired by RWE in Germany.   We’ll be keeping close tabs on this via our open email distribution list as we get closer to this IPO.

In 2007, it posted $2.2142 Billion in total operating revenue, which it claims is approximately four times the operating revenue of the next largest investor-owned company in the United States water and wastewater business.  It also posted $15.1 million in operating income for 2007, but that number includes $509.3 million of impairment charges relating to continuing operations.  The net loss recorded was $342.8 million.  Regulated businesses account for some 89.9% of its operating revenues.

Here was our summary for the original filing last year and here was our last update on this one.

Jon C. Ogg
March 27, 2008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: March 27, 2008 – 12:29 pm in IPOs, Water,

American Water Works Closer To IPO (AWK)

American Water Works may be closer to coming public.  The huge water utility has an amended IPO Filing with full fiscal details for 2007.  It lists that is intends to sell up to $1.5 Billion in securities and it will trade under the ticker "AWK" on the New York Stock Exchange.

The lead underwriters include Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch.  Others in the syndicate are JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Edward Jones, Janney Montgomery Scott, Societe Generale, Wachovia Securities, Boenning & Scattergood, Cabrera Capital Markets, HSBC, Stanford Group Company, Williams Capital Group.

The company has regulated subsidiaries subject to economic regulation by state public utility commissions in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.  It employs nearly 7,000 workers and serves drinking water, wastewater, and other water services to 15.6 million in 32 states and in Ontario, Canada.

In 2007, it generated $2.214 Billion in revenue and some $15.1 million in operating income, including $509.3 million in impairment charges.  Its regulated operations generated 89.8% of operating revenues in 2007.  We had previously noted that American Water Works generated $2.1 billion in total operating revenue in 2006, and pro forma for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 is $1.66 billion in operating revenues.

This is being sold back to the U.S. investor base as it is owned by RWE Aktiengesellschaft in Germany.  All IPO proceeds are going to RWE.  Here was the original filing summary if you care to compare the data.

Jon C. Ogg
March 6, 2008

Posted on: March 6, 2008 – 1:06 pm in IPOs, Water, , ,