Posts for Ticker ‘PNY’

Top Analyst Upgrades (AA, WTR, BEC, CWT, CHRT, CHA, GAS, NOK, PNY, WW)

money-stack-image44These are the top upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts so far early this Thursday morning:

Alcoa (AA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Aqua America (WTR) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Beckman Coulter (BEC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
California Water (CWT) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Chartered Semiconductor (CHRT) Raised to Neutral at HSBC.
China Telecom (CHA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Nicor (GAS) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Nokia (NOK) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Watson Wyatt Worldwide (WW) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

-JON C. OGG

Posted on: March 19, 2009 – 6:23 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Colder Weather Warms Gas Company’s Results (PNY)

HousePiedmont Natural Gas Company (NYSE:PNY) this morning reported results for its 2008 fiscal year, which ended on October 31st. The company reported EPS of $1.49 on earnings of $110 million, compared with EPS in 2007 of $1.40 and profits of $104.4 million.

The company sold more natural gas because 2008 was colder than 2007, and it also benefited from regulatory adjustments. Its customer base grew 2%, and coupled with the weather and the regulatory changes, margins increased by 5% in 2008. The company also cut operating expenses primarily through adjustments to its defined benefit pension plan.

Piedmont reaffirmed its 2009 EPS guidance of $1.55-$1.65. The company’s stock is off about 1% this morning, and it’s trading about 12% off its 52-week high.

Paul Ausick

Posted on: December 29, 2008 – 2:28 pm in Oil & Gas,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (KELYA, KLAC, LRCX, MRVL, PNY, RHI, SNDA, XLNX)

These are the top downgrades and negative analyst calls we are seeing this Thursday morning:

  • Kelly Services (KELYA) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • KLA-Tencor (KLAC) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Lam Research (LRCX) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Marvell Technology (MRVL) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
  • Robert Half (RHI) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • Shanda Interactive (SNDA) has seen estimate and targets cut by Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs.
  • Xilinx (XLNX) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Jon C. Ogg
September 4, 2008

Posted on: September 4, 2008 – 6:26 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,