Posts for Ticker ‘VMC’

Top Analyst Downgrades (DELL, MLM, NVTL, SWIR, UNT, VMC)

These are this Tuesday’s top pre-market analyst downgrades or cautious research calls we have seen out of Wall Street early on:

Dell (DELL) downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Martin Marietta (MLM) downgraded to Neutral at UBS.
Novatel Wireless (NVTL) Started as Underperform at BMO Capital.
Sierra Wireless (SWIR) Started as Market Perform at BMO Capital.
Unit Corp. (UNT) Cut to Neutral at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
Vulcan Materials (VMC) downgraded to Neutral at UBS.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 22, 2009 – 8:22 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

Secondary Issuers Getting Hit (AMP, ATPG, ERIC, MI, VMC)

We are seeing some active trading in the stocks which raised capital via secondary offerings today.  These are all down except for one and today’s hopper has Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP), ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPG), LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC), Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI), and Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC).
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Posted on: June 12, 2009 – 10:24 am in Secondary Offering, Trading Alert, , , , ,

Unusual Dividend Tracking (CAT, CLX, MSFT, TGT, TSCM, VMC, ACAS, IAF)

Money Stack ImageDividends in general are used as the historic underlying measurement of companies and their abilities to stay profitable at current levels.  Today and last night we have seen some rather unusual dividend news or “in addition to the dividend news” from the likes of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), TheStreet.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSCM), and Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC).  American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS) takes the cake for unusual dividends, and the payout at the Australia Equity Fund Inc. (AMEX: IAF) closed-end fund also borders one the unusual.

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Posted on: June 11, 2009 – 11:08 am in Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Value Investing, , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BHP, COST, DRIV, GT, PX, PZN, RAI, ROK, VIP, VMC)

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen from Wall Street early this Thursday morning:

BHP Billiton (BHP) Started as Outperform at RBC.
Costco (COST) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Digital River (DRIV) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Goodyear Tire (GT) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Praxair (PX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Pzena Investment (PZN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Reynolds American (RAI) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Rockwell Automation (ROK) Cut to Underperform at Baird.
Vimpel Comm (VIP) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Vulcan Materials (VMC) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: April 30, 2009 – 6:53 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ADBE, AMB, BLKB, KO, EMCI, HSII, KFN, OMTR, PLD, VAR, VMW, VMC)

Down_arrow_redThese are some of the top downgrades we have seen this Monday morning with about 2 hours until the open:

  • Adobe Systems (ADBE) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • AMB Property (AMB) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Blackbaud (BLKB) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Coca-Cola (KO) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • EMC Insurance (EMCI) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
  • Heidrick & Struggles (HSII) Cut to Underperform at Baird.
  • KKR Financial (KFN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Omniture (OMTR) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • ProLogis (PLD) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Varian Medical (VAR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • VMware (VMW) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Vulcan Materials (VMC) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
October 6, 2008

Posted on: October 6, 2008 – 6:36 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (CPHD, DRIV, FDRY, MAN, MLM, MPEL, MPS, SMOD, VMC)

These are some of the top analyst downgrades we are seeing affecting shares of stock this morning:

  • Cepheid (CPHD) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Digital River (DRIV) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
  • Foundry Networks (FDRY) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
  • Manpower (MAN) Started as Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Martin Marietta (MLM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Melco Crown (MPEL) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • MPS Group (MPS) Started as Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Smart Modular (SMOD) Cut to Hold at Needham.
  • Vulcan Materials (VMC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
September 10, 2008

Posted on: September 10, 2008 – 6:35 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

More on Pending Merger Arb Spreads (FRK, LEND, ACXM, DJ, NWS, VMC, APPB, IHP)

Earlier today, we sent out a couple pieces discussing some of the pending mergers and spreads still having wide ranges.  This can be indicative of a deal at risk, but some will close and will offer significant opportunities for those willing to tread where others fear. Our first list included some of the larger names out there (ACS, URI, FDC, CCU) and then we covered a second batch (TXU, TRB,SLM, CEN).  We’ll be sending out some specific calls to subscribers of our Special Situation Investing Newsletter ahead of Labor Day.

The Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ) buyout by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NYSE:NWS) isn’t aprivate equity transaction, but it might as well be.  With a $60.00buyout, the current $58.70 price does not signal much perceived risk inthis deal closing.  Rupert wants it and he has won the deal.  There isa reason Murdoch made the list of entrenched leaders, and the fact that he gets his way is the largest part of it.

Florida Rock (NYSE:FRK) shareholders have already agreed to the buyoutby Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC), but at $61.00 this is well under the $68.03cash and stock deal.  This was at a large 40+% premium, so the VMCshare price being lower not act as a hurdle and that old price and thisone should be expected to close.

Acxiom’s (NASDAQ:ACXM) $27.10 buyout offer from SilverLake and Value Actcurrently has only a $23.25 price, giving it a 14% discount to thebuyout price, or actually a 16.5% return from the current price for themerger-arbs.

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. (NASDAQ:LEND) is still a deal completelyat risk as the Lone Star buyout has been extended and no one expectsthat $15.10 price to be done. LEND is suing Lone Star to close thedeal, but if this one gets done at all it would be only logical that itwould close at a far lower price.

We still view the old Applebee’s (NASDAQ:APPB) acquisition by IHOP (NYSE:IHP) being a takeunder, and we didn’t see much premium value when that had spiked up earlier this year in hopes of a deal.

This is a mere sample of pending mergers we are covering to look for opportunities in the Special Situation Investing Newsletter our paid subscribers access.  We will be covering some of these and others with exact plays ahead of the Labor Day holiday.

Jon C. Ogg
August 20, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: August 20, 2007 – 1:25 pm in Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , , , , ,

Pre-Market Stock News (July 19, 2007)

(AMTD) TD Ameritrade trading up 1% after beating and raising target.
(AVCI) Avici Systems trading up 29% on higher revenue guidance after earnings.
(BAC) $1.28 EPS vs $1.20 estimate.
(CAL) Continental $2.10 vs 1.84 estimate.
(CTXS) Citrix trading up 11% after beating revenues and two upgrades so far.
(EBAY) eBay trading down 1% after beating earnings, but lower listings.
(F) Ford bids due today for Rover and Jaguar units.
(HOG) Harley Davidson $0.14 EPS vs $0.13 estimate.
(IBM) IBM traded up 4% after beating earnings.
(JNPR) Juniper Networks trading up 8% after earnings and upgrade.
(LOGI) Logitech $0.14 EPS vs $0.16e.
(NAFC) Nash Finch $0.70 EPS vs $0.63 estimate.
(MOT) Motorola $0.02 EPS vs $0.00 estimate, but had already lowered.
(SAP) SAP trading up 8% after earnings rose 8% and a gain in market share.
(SCHL) Scholastic Corp. $0.93 EPS vs $1.02 estimate; sees 2008 $2.35-2.85 vs. $2.67 estimate.
(SPWR) SunPower $0.25 EPS vs $0.21e; down from $0.29 last year.
(UNH) UnitedHealth $0.87 vs $0.81 estimate.
(UNP) Union Pacific $1.65 EPS vs $1.62 estimate.
(VMC) Vulcan Materials lowerials lowered guidance.
(WIT) Wipro $0.12 EPS vs $0.12e.
(WMT) Wal-Mart is reportedly interested in acquiring China’s largest retailer Beijing Hualian, although companies have denied this.

Jon C. Ogg
July 19, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers. 

Posted on: July 19, 2007 – 7:23 am in Pre-Market Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,