Posts for Ticker ‘AET’

Should Healthcare Insurers Be Close to 52-Week Highs (UNH, WLP, CI, HUM, AET)

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) and most healthcare related insurers are trading higher today despite the coming health-insurance reform.  The Senate voted over the weekend to open a debate on its version, or versions, of a healthcare reform bill.  While this is aimed at getting insurance to 31 million people, even the executives of the large insurers do not exactly know what the impact will be.  And if they do know, they are not saying anything to their employees and partners.  The public option is still an unresolved issue.  These stocks are all higher, but the real amazement is that most of these stocks are actually all trading up close to 52-week highs.

WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) is up over 4% at $54.47 (52-week high is $55.72) and CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) is up almost 7% at $32.13 (52-week high is $33.00) after J.P.Morgan raised their ratings to Overweight.
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The 100 Hardest Working Brands In The World

hersheyThere are a number of ways to rank brand values. One of the most important is the level at which a brand contributes to the market value of a public company.

24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed  by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”.  Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless.  How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business.  Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets.  A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value.  If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list: Read More »

Top Analyst Upgrades (AET, AMZN, AMX, BJ, CAL, ERTS, FO, FPIC, HUM, MAR, HOT)

These are this Wednesday morning’s top analyst upgrades and positive research calls that we have seen from Wall Street:

Aetna (AET) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Amazon.com (AMZN) Raised to Buy at BofA Merrill Lynch.
America Movil (AMX) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Continental (CAL) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Fortune Brands (FO) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
FPIC Insurance (FPIC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Humana (HUM) STarted as Buy at Collins-Stewart.
Marriott Hotels (MAR) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Starwood Hotels (HOT) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

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

Still No Death Blow for Insurers (AET, HUM, UNH)

Bull and Bear ImageThe Obama speech to a joint session of Congress last night did not exactly deliver the death blow to health insurers.  It also did not give the insurers the keys to the palace.  Despite the call for an exchange and the notion of a public option still being included, there was a backdoor left open for this to be in regional markets where there is limited competition.  There are other potential workarounds that need to be met, and the real wild card is going to be over new entrants in pre-existing conditions.  So far we are seeing a positive move in top health insurers like Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), and UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH).
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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AET, APD, ADSK, ENOC, LEN, ERIC, MET, PRGO, PM, VECO)

These are the top Wall Street research calls with analyst upgrades and downgrades early this Tuesday morning:

Aetna (AET) Raised to Sell from Conviction Sell List at Goldman Sachs; no real upgrade.
Air Products (APD) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Autodesk (ADSK) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
EnerNOC (ENOC) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Lennar (LEN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
LM Ericsson (ERIC) Cut to Sell at UBS.
MetLife (MET) Cut to Neutral at BofA Merrill Lynch.
Perrigo (PRGO) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Philip Morris (PM) Cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Veeco (VECO) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG
JULY 28, 2009

Media Digest 7/28/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NY Times, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The recession has badly hurt investments in green technologies.

Reuters:   Obama called for deeper China ties with the US.

Reuters:   BP’s (BP) profits fell sharply.

Reuters:   Bank of America (BAC) will cut 10% of its branches Read More »

Top Day Trader Alerts (AET, GLW, TMS, YGE, CALM, ANR)

The following are some of the top stocks to watch for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity. There are links through to more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) shares are down sharply on earnings affected by significantly higher commercial medical costs.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) shares are down on disappointing expectations for glass shipments.

Thomson (Nasdaq: TMS) shares are rising after the French media and technology firm said agreed to a debt restructuring with its creditors.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (NYSE: YGE) shares are up on comments by CNBC’s Jim Cramer on his “Mad Money” show.

Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (Nasdaq: CALM) are down sharply in the premarket after a big earnings miss.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) sees some early signs of a market turnaround, but are falling after missing EPS by 16 cents.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Media Digest 7/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NY Times, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Airline on-board entertainment systems face competition from handheld devices like the Apple (AAPL) iPod.

Reuters:   Bernanke will be on PBS to take his message about Fed plans to a broader audience.

Reuters:   Some Democrats oppose the current healthcare plan. Read More »

CBO Pans Healthcare Plan

uncle sam

Obama’s health care received perhaps its harshest criticism to-date Thursday, after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it will “significantly” expand public spending in an already unbalanced budget.

The testimony puts serious doubt in the ability that a health care reform bill might be passed ahead of the August recess. In the near-term, that may be seen as a boon for private health insurance providers including Aetna Inc. (AET), Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), United Health Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) and HealthNet Inc. (NYSE: HNT). Read More »

Health Net’s Major Loss.. Likely Lesson For All Insurers (HNT, HUM, AET, UNH)

Burning Money PicHealth Net Inc. (NYSE: HNT) is one of today’s worse performers on the heels of losing its Pentagon health insurance contract.  The Pentagon picked Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) for its Tricare health program  for members of the armed forces, their families, and survivors.  They will replace Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and Health Net Inc. in 2010.  There is an interesting take here, and it is one that all large health care insurers serving federal and local governments should pay close attention to now that the Administration is on the attack in the field of health care insurance.
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The Big Morning Movers Analysis

bearSeveral stocks will make major moves at the open.

Noven (NOVN) is up on a buyout.

Changes in military healthcare buying may effect Aetna (AET), United Health (UNH), and Humana (HUM).

Novellus (NVLS) is likely to move on large volume after earnings news.

Dell (DELL) is dropping on negative comments about the last quarter.

CIT (CIT) is up more than 20% in the pre-market on news that it may get government bail-out funds.

Douglas A. McIntyre

BioHealth Business Daily (CI, AET, MYL, JAZZ, PTIE, GSK, ALNY, FOLD, HALO, AOB, STEM)

Here are some of the top stories affecting key drug and biotech stocks that are covered in-depth today at BioHealthInvestor.com:

Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), and other managed care companies are rising despite making health care reform concessions, as shareholders see they have a seat at the bargaining table.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) has received FDA approval for a generic version of an AstraZeneca (AZN) prostate cancer drug — a rather unusual new generic.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: JAZZ) shares are up more than 25 percent after the company took steps to ease a cash crunch that had curtailed drug development.

King Pharmaceuticals (KG) and Pain Therapeutics (PTIE) said  they expect to resubmit a new drug application in mid-2010, slightly later than anticipated.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) announced a positive study on its Cervarix vaccine, although it’s unclear if the company can play catch-up to Merck & Co.’s (NYSE: MRK) Gardasil.

See our in-depth feature this week on five fast-growing biotechs with improving analyst estimates: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: FOLD), Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO), American Oriental Bioengineering Inc. (NYSE: AOB), and Stemcells Inc. (Nasdaq: STEM).

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Health Care Companies Play Let’s Make A Deal (CI, AET, HUM, UNH, WLP, CVH, THC, HLS)

biotech

Managed health care company stocks are rising Tuesday despite press reports that hospitals will contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward insuring the nearly 50 million Americans who do not have coverage.

The cuts would largely come from the amount the insurers receive as reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.

Shares of Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM), and UnitedHealthGroup Inc (NYSE: UNH) each are up more than 4 percent in early trading, with shares of WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) also on the rise.

Read more at BioHealth Investor….

Medicare Winners Under New Healthcare Plans (MRK, PFE, AET, CI, CVH, HUM, UNH, WLP)

Everyone is trying to figure out who the winners and losers are likely to be under a watered-down healthcare program under the Obama administration and with a Democratic Congress.  What is certain is that changes to the old way of healthcare are coming, yet the uncertainty is becoming just how far away from the existing model this will get.  Mike Tarsala contributed a a brief round of explanations for the way this will likely impact drug giants Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).  There is also a solid take on how companies like Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM), Coventry Health Care Inc. (NYSE: CVH), Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), United Health (NYSE: UNH), WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET) are likely to be viewed.

More details of this can be seen at BioHealthInvestor.com.

Cramer’s Obama Healthcare Winner: WellPoint (WLP, CI, UNH, AET)

Cramer ImageJim Cramer came out with a healthcare maintenance  stock tonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY which he thinks will survive and perhaps thrive under the Obama healthcare plan.  His pick in the healthcare maintenance sector is WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP).  Cramer said he has not been in support of Cigna (NYSE: CI), UnitedHealth (NYSE:  UNH) and Aetna (NYSE: AET).  He also said he won’t be going there.

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Top Analyst Downgrades (AET, CAH, DAKT, GIL, GPI, KGC)

These are the top early analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen this Wednesday morning from Wall Street firms:

Aetna (AET) Cut to Market Perform at Credit Suisse.
Cardinal Health (CAH) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Daktronics (DAKT) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Gildan Activewear (GIL) Started as Underweight at Thomas Weisel.
Group 1 (GPI) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Kinross Gold (KGC) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg

Media Digest 6/3/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   A survey shows the global stimulus spending lacks direction.

Reuters:   The race for “green” cars is still wide open.

Reuters:   GM (GM) and Chrysler will face Senate scrutiny are dealer closings.

Reuters:   Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) are being left behind by healthy rivals.

Reuters:   Obama said it is “make or break” time for healthcare reform. Read More »

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AET, AA, ACI, JEC, GEOY, LLL, NUE, NVDA, BTU, UNH)

These are ten of the individual analyst calls seen out there this Thursday morning ahead of a 3-day weekend:

  • Aetna (NYSE: AET) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Alcoa (NYSE: AA) Raised from Sell to Hold at Soleil.
  • Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Jacobs (NYSE: JEC) raised to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph.
  • GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY) started as Buy at Soeil.
  • L3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.
  • Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform at CIBC.
  • NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Peabody (NYSE: BTU) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citi.
  • UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) cut to Neutral at UBS.

We also saw RBC raise the Communication Towers Sector.

Jon C. Ogg
July 3, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AET, BIDU, F, JNS, IPG, LOW, HD, NEM, NOC, RSH, VM)

These are ten of the top calls we see affecting shares this Friday morning in the early pre-market trading hours:

  • Aetna (NYSE: AET) raised to neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) raised to Buy at Citigroup (up 4% after earnings).
  • Ford Motor (NYSE: F) cut to underperform at Bear Stearns; also cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Ford shares indicated down 3%.
  • Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) raised to market perform at FBR.
  • Interpublic (NYSE: IPG) started as Buy at UBS.
  • Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) & Home Depot (NYSE: HD) both started as Overweight at Lehman Brothers; both shares indicated about 1% higher.
  • Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) raised to Sector Perform at CIBC World Markets.
  • Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) raised to Overweight at JP Morgan.
  • RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) started as Underweight at Lehman Brothers.
  • Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) raised to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.

Jon C. Ogg
April 25, 2008

WellPoint Warned, Now Humana… Blame The 2008 Election (HUM, WLP, AET)

First we saw an earnings warning out of WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) which hurt that stock and most shares in the health insurance field yesterday.  WellPoint cited several factors, including medical costs, lower fully insured enrollment, and an overall weak economy. 

Now we have a warning out of Humana (NYSE: HUM).  The blame here is being put on an analysis of pharmacy claims.  Humana’s numbers look worse with estimates for Q1 being put at $0.44 to $0.46 EPS instead of its prior range of $0.80 to $0.85.  Its full year is now put at $4.00 to $4.25 instead of its prior $5.35 to $5.55 estimate. 

Humana shares opened lower by 25% to under $35.00 in pre-market trading, which will mark a 52-week low and more than half off from its $88.10 highs over the last year.  Shares fell from $over $62 to $47.38 yesterday after WellPoint warned.

The real culprit here may be something far more simple, although this will likely be denied by the insurance industry.  It is an election year and there is a larger chance for government-mandated universal coverage in some form or fashion than there has been in recent election years.  Some insurance professionals believe that in an election year insurance companies don’t like to raise rates so that healthcare costs are not out of control around as voters hit the polls.  Insurance executives keeping up with election coverage already know that healthcare and health insurance rank among the top issues candidates discuss.  This is starting to look all too familiar.

So far, Aetna (NYSE: AET) claimed that it was maintaining its guidance while competitors have lowered numbers.  There is still a lot of the calendar left for 2008.

Douglas A. McIntyre
March 12, 2008