Posts for Ticker ‘AGO’

52-Week High Club (AGO, SMTL, SINA, TWB)

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) over 32% to a yearly high of $28.14 after the company posted earnings of $0.44 per share, beating analysts estimates.  

Semitool Inc (NASDAQ: SMTL) rose over 30% to a yearly high of $11.00 after Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT) agreed to buy the company for $11.00 per share, or $364 million.  

Sina Corp (NASDAQ: SINA) rose over 10% today to a yearly high of $47.95 after the Chinese internet portal beat earnings and projected margin improvements.  

Tween Brands Inc (NYSE: TWB) rose over 11% today to a yearly high o $10.16 after the company posted a profite of $0.58 per share, beating analyst estimates.  

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: November 17, 2009 – 3:56 pm in Financial Stocks, Media, Mergers and Buy Outs, Retail, Semiconductor, Technology Companies, , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (AGO, CP, KOF, GENZ, SHAW)

These are some of the top early-bird analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts early this Monday morning:

Assured Guaranty (AGO) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Genzyme (GENZ) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Shaw Group (NYSE: SHAW) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: August 31, 2009 – 8:02 am in Analyst Calls, , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club 7/22/2008 (TXN)(AMD)(MRK)(VMW)(AGO)(SNDK)

Sad_clownTexas Instruments (TXN) Bad earnings take chip company down. Falls to $23.28 from 52-week high of $38.79.

AMD (AMD) Chip company may have changed CEOs but Wall St. still thinks company is dead. Sells down to $4.32 from 52-week high of $15.69.

Merck (MRK) Major drug trial goes wrong. Company suspends guidance. Drops to $31.15 from 52-week high of $61.62.

Read More »

Posted on: July 22, 2008 – 2:56 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

Top 10 Early Bird Analyst Calls (ARTC, AGO, FDRY, IFF, PETS, PDS, CRM, SNDK, TEF, TXN)

These are ten of the early bird analyst calls we are seeing this Tuesday morning with over 2 hours to the open:

  • ArthroCare Corp. (NASDAQ: ARTC) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
  • Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Foundry Networks (NASDAQ: FDRY) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE: IFF) Started as Underweight at Lehman.
  • PetMed Express (NASDAQ: PETS) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Piper Jaffray.
  • Precision Drilling (NYSE: PDS) Raised to Outperform at CIBC.
  • salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Jon C. Ogg
July 22, 2008

Posted on: July 22, 2008 – 6:19 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AGO, BRCM, CMI, IBM, JCP, MBI, MF, MOT, NOV, VISN)

These are ten of the analyst calls we are focusing on this Monday morning in the early pre-market trading hours:
Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) started as Buy at UBS.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) started as Neutral at Robert W. Baird.
Cummins (NYSE: CMI) Raised to Buy from Sell at UBS.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
MBIA (NYSE: MBI) Started as Neutral at UBS.
MF Global (NYSE: MF) Cut To Mkt Perform at KBW.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
Natl Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) raised to Market Perform at RBC Capital Markets.
VisionChina Media (NASDAQ: VISN) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Jon C. Ogg
June 23, 2008

Posted on: June 23, 2008 – 6:31 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Assured Guaranty Scores One From Wilbur Ross (AGO, MBI, ABK)

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) may not be the largest household name for a bond insurer or financial guarantor when you consider the woes of Ambac Financial (NYSE: ABK) and MBIA (NYSE: MBI).  But the company just scored a huge win this morning after it has been announced that Wilbur Ross is investing up to $1 Billion in the company.

The initial investment will run some $250 million to be used for purchasing common stock, and then there are performance hurdles and other issues that would allow the company to have another $750 million from Wilbur Ross.

Of course we heard the announcement that another bailout has hit a snag.  Just because one buyer buys a foreclosure on your street doesn’t mean there won’t be more housing pain.  But it may at least help signal that beginning of the end is closer rather than farther away.

Assured Guaranty shares are trading up 11% at $25.39 in early pre-market trading.

Jon C. Ogg
February 29, 2008

Posted on: February 29, 2008 – 8:23 am in Financial Stocks, Private Equity, , ,

Media Digest 11/20/2007 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Barron’s

According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs (GS) issued a report saying the housing sector had much further to fall and that some financial institutions would have to raise money to stay in business. The report listed MBIA (MBI), Ambac (ABK), Security Capital Assurance (SCA), and Assured Guaranty  (AGO) as "desperate" and Citigroup (C) and Washington Mutual (WM) as "needy".

Reuters writes that HP (HPQ) rode big sales in laptops to a record quarter.

The Wall Street Journal writes that United Rentals sued Cerberus over a broken takeover.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Pfuzer (PFE) won a key court case that may block some suits over whether its drug Celebrex caused heart problems.

The Wall Street Journal writes the GOP members of Congress are attacking an FCC plan to block cable expansion.

The Wall Street Journal writes that the Nasdaq is trying to take some companies away from the NYSE.

The New York Times writes that US company sales overseas may keep the US economy from falling into recession.

The New York Times writes that employess at CBS News (CBS) have voted to strike.

The FT writes that China has voiced alarm at the price of the US dollar.

Barron’s writes that shares of Echostar (DISH) fell when a reported indicated that the company would not be bought by AT&T (T).

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 20, 2007 – 4:16 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Week of Stock Buybacks & Repurchase (COH, FIC, MIR, AVCT, HOT, AGO, HEES, CBG, TER, FDO, RWT, LH, VIGN, CSCO)

Coach (NYSE:COH) has decided that the recent stock crush is a good opportunity to announce a $1 Billion share buyback plan. This represents roughly 30 million shares, or 5-times average volume; $12 Billion market cap.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FIC) approved a $250 million share buyback plan, compared to a market cap of $2 Billion.

Mirant Corp. (NYSE:MIR) had one of the more impressive buybacks and share retirement plans announced, although its shares fell 8% because of losses.  Mirant’s total return plan is some $4.6 Billion, which includes $1 Billion in open market purchases and a $ 1Billion accelerated buyback plan.  This has been under review for the Special Situation Investing Newsletter.

Avocent Corp. (NASDAQ:AVCT) added 3 million shares to its stock repurchase program; Avocent has repurchased 11.2 million shares of the 12 million shares previously approved. The buyback equates to $75 million more in buybacks if completed, compared to a $1.25 Billion market cap and it represents about 8 days of trading volume.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HOT) raised its dividend and added $1 Billion to share buybacks, compared to a $10.5 Billion market cap.  This one has also been under review for the Special Situation Investing Newsletter.

Read More »

Posted on: November 9, 2007 – 12:39 pm in Stock Buybacks, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club

Assured Guaranty (AGO) Small bond insurance company. Wall St. hates bonds. Drops to $17.79 from 52-week high of $31.99.

AMBAC (ABK) Big bond insurance company in world where bonds are bad. Down to $26.96. The 52-week high was $96.10.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) Quarterly loss. Falls to $11.61 from 52-week high $19.15.

MBIA (MBI) Bond insurance company. Dead in the water. Down to $36.92 from $76.02 high for last year.

Citigroup (C) Down to $38.13 on possible dividend cut. From 52-week high of $57.00.

Smith Micro (SMSI) Rough quarter. Down to $10.65 from 52-week high of $21.20

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 1, 2007 – 3:10 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

Earlybird Analyst Calls (June 19, 2007)

ACLI cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
ACOR raised to Buy at B of A.
AGO cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
ANAD started as Buy at Oppenheimer.
ANET cut to Neutral at Baird.
ATHR started as Buy at Oppenheimer.
AV cut to Mkt Perform at JMP Securities.
BAC raised to Buy at UBS.
BEAS cut to Neutral at UBS.
CHD started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
CI raised to Neutral at B of A.
EGLE started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
EPIC started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
GNK started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
GNTX raised to Buy at B of A.
KNX raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
LCC raised to Neutral at UBS.
MCHP cut to Mkt Perform at Piper Jaffray.
QMAR started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
SDXC started as Buy at Kaufman Bros.
SKH started as Buy at Jefferies.
SRE raised to Buy at Citigroup.
TZIX started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
WERN raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
YRCW cut to Mkt Perform at Wachovia.

Jon C. Ogg
June 19, 2007

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

Posted on: June 19, 2007 – 6:20 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,