24/7 Wall St. » APD

After the Sell-Off: Value & Upside In Major Industrials (APD, BA, CAT, DE, DOW, DD, DHR, ITW)

Administrator — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:25:39 +0000

Summer can often be an interesting time in the markets and so far the “Sell in May and go away!” them has worked. What has also taken place is that many of these stocks have sold off to levels where they are either well off their highs or to where these offer value and upside to the consensus price targets. We have covered this in gold miners and in major oil outfits, but we are taking a look at the value and upside in many of the key industrial names which are key drivers and barometers of the U.S. economy.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through the industrial products, chemicals, and heavy equipment makers to see which outfits offer investors the least risk and most reward. Consensus targets are from Thomson Reuters and we have evaluated the following: Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD); The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA); Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT); Deere & Company (NYSE: DE); The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW); E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD); Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR); and Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW).

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) traded at $79.50 with a market value of $16.8 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $98.75 and the 52-week trading range is $72.26 to $98.00. Air Products’ most recent yield was listed as 3.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 24% but we would note that the consensus target is still above the 52-week high.

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) traded at $71.05 with a market value of $53.2 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $86.08 and the 52-week trading range is $56.01 to $78.35. This DJIA component’s most recent yield was listed as about 2.5%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 21% but we would note that the consensus target is almost $8.00 higher than the 52-week high and you have to go back to before the recession to find Boeing shares that high.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded at $91.25 with a market value of $59.5 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $130.95 and the 52-week trading range is $67.54 to $116.95. Caterpillar’s most recent yield was listed as 2.0%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 44% but we would note that the consensus target is almost 10% above the 52-week high.

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) traded at $74.50 with a market value of $30 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $92.79 and the 52-week trading range is $59.92 to $89.70. Deere’s most recent yield was listed as 2.4%. The implied upside to the consensus target is about 25% but we would note that the consensus target is about $3.00 higher than the 52-week high.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) traded at $30.00 with a market value of $35.9 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $37.23 and the 52-week trading range is $20.61 to $37.30. Dow’s most recent yield was listed as a very high 4.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 24% but we would note that the consensus effectively is the same as the 52-week high.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD) traded at $48.40 with a market value of $45.3 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $58.33 and the 52-week trading range is $37.10 to $56.20. DuPont’s yield was listed as about 3.5%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 20% and that target is about $2.00 above the 52-week high.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) traded at $51.85 with a market value of $35.9 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $60.95 and the 52-week trading range is $39.34 to $56.45. Danaher’s most recent yield was tiny at only 0.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target is only about 17% and it is worth noting that the analyst consensus target is more than $4.00 above the 52-week high.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) traded at $54.40 with a market value of $26 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $61.53 and the 52-week trading range is $39.12 to $59.27. ITW’s most recent yield was listed as 2.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is only about 13%, making this the least ‘implied upside’ winner of the lot. This one is also only down about 8% from its most recent high as well.

You can see that there is a very mixed bag here. The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) leads in the dividend department with a 4.2% yield. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is the leader with ‘implied analyst upside’ of 44% but it seems a stretch in the upside if you look at where the stock has been and how volatile the stock has been. Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) has the least amount of ‘implied analyst upside’ but it has also held up among the best during the market sell-off.

Gold & Silver Miners With Most Upside & Value

Major Oil Companies WIth Most Upside & Value

Conglomerates With Most Upside & Value

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Economy, Industry, Infrastructure, Value Investing Tagged: APD, BA, CAT, DD, DE, DHR, DOW, ITW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, AEM, APD, ALU, MDRX, AMZN, AMCC, BIDU, CBG, CTCT, DECK, EBAY, LOGI, PCS, PM, REGN, SNDK, STX, WDC, ZNGA)

Administrator — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:17:32 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Friday.

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy with a target price of $55 at Argus.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Maintained Underperform and cut estimates at Jefferies.

Allscripts Healthcare (NASDAQ: MDRX) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML; Raised to Buy at Nomura; Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs; Maintained Hold but raised target to $230 at Canaccord Genuity.

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (NASDAQ: AMCC) Cut to Hold at Wunderlich.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Maintained Neutral but target cut at Credit Suisse.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBG) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT) Cut to Neutral at Janney; Cut to Market Perform William Blair.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) Cut to Hold at Jefferies; Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $48 from $40 at Argus.

Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) Raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas.

MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) Cut to Hold at Argus; Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $94 from $88 at Argus.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML; Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; Maintained Hold but cut target to $13 from $15 at Canaccord Genuity.

AAR Corporation (NYSE: AIR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AEM, AET, ALU, AMCC, AMZN, APD, BIDU, CBG, CTCT, DECK, EBAY, LOGI, MDRX, PCS, PM, REGN, SNDK, STX, WDC, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABB, APD, AKAM, COP, GD, HOG, HES, INFY, MAN, MAR, SAP, S, TRV, WPI)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:20:54 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Thursday.

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Raised to Buy on weakness at UBS.

ConcoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Raised to Neutral at Macquarie.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) Raised to Buy at Argus.

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) maintained Hold at Argus.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABB, AKAM, APD, COP, GD, HES, HOG, INFY, MAN, MAR, S, SAP, TRV, WPI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, T, XRX, GE, LNKD, BIG, AZO, APD, BHI, COH, ITW, MHP, RSH, RF, HSY, NFLX, IBM, NAT, EGLE)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:11:08 +0000

Markets opened mixed this morning, with the DJIA showing much more strength than the S&P 500, which opened higher, or the Nasdaq, which opened lower. The S&P Case-Shiller house price index showed another decline in home prices (our coverage here), although new home sales rose slightly. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index was lower this month as well (our coverage here). Tech stocks have been weak all day as sentiment about the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings report faltered following comments from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) related to iPhone connections (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.25% at 79.220. The GSCI commodity index is down -0.28% at 675.82, with commodities mostly rising on the weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $103.55/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.48% at $118.14/barrel. Gold settled up 0.7% today, at $1,643.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 74 points to 13,001.56 (0.58%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 9 points (-0.30%) to 2,961.60, and the S&P 500 rose 0.37% or about 5 points to 1,371.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) reiterated ‘buy’ with a target price of $13 at Argus; General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reiterated ‘buy’ with a target price of $22 at Argus; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; and AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: AT&T is up 3.9% at $31.81; Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) is down -4.3% at $84.91; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is up 5.3% at $43.23 (more coverage here); Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) is down -4% at $72.10 (more coverage here); Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) is up 2.7% at $56.71; McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP) is down -3% at $47.65; RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) is down -10.3% at $5.36 after posting a new 52-week intraday low of $5.27; Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) is up 5.4% at $6.42; The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) is up 5.7% at $65.86 after posting a new 52-week intraday high of $66.94; and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is down -14.6% at $87.01.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up .0.8% at $200.24. The tech giant raised its dividend today. More coverage here.

North American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) is up 1.5% at $14.01. Shipping rates for dry bulk shippers are rising and tanker rates, especially for the smaller (1 million barrels) crude carriers of the Suezmax class. Many other shippers are also getting a boost today, including Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ: EGLE), which is up 6.8% at $1.88.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee wraps up its two-day meeting and Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a press conference this afternoon. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
11:30 a.m. – 5-yr note auction
2:00 p.m. – FOMC forecasts

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, APD, AZO, BHI, BIG, COH, EGLE, GE, HSY, IBM, ITW, LNKD, MHP, NAT, NFLX, RF, RSH, T, XRX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADBE, ARG, APD, AAPL, ARMH, CA, DRIV, DPZ, GES, HOG, KMI, LGF, OVTI, UPS, UTX)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:01:24 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.

Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc (NYSE: APD) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated at Buy and raised target to $740 at Stern Agee; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $700 at Credit Suisse.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

CA Inc. (NASDAQ: CA) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Digital River Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Raised to Outperform at BMO.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: LGF) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Hunger Games looks larger than Twilight.

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) Raised to Buy at Needham.

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) Reiterated near-term Hold and long-term Buy.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ADBE, APD, ARG, ARMH, CA, DPZ, DRIV, GES, HOG, KMI, LGF, OVTI, UPS, UTX

Upside Potential in Basic Industrial Stocks (CAT, DD, DOW, DE, APD, EMR)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:09:30 +0000

While global GDP growth is expected to be slower this year, there are a couple of areas where investment will probably continue at relatively high levels. These are mining and agriculture. New mines continue to be developed — at great cost — and the global demand for food leads to a greater demand for the machinery and chemicals that are used to produce that food.

With that in mind, we’ve looked at several companies involved in basic industries like heavy equipment, chemicals, and electrical components to try to determine if there are any value plays available to investors. The companies we examined were Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), The Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD), and Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR).

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) has a consensus target price of $131.61. At a current price this morning of $116.00, the company’s implied gain is 13.5%. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has gained more than 28%, with a 12-month share price gain of nearly 15.5%. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 10.23 and Caterpillar pays a dividend yield of 1.6%. The world’s largest maker of construction and farming machinery expects to grow EPS by 25% year-over-year in 2012 to about $9.25 and to double to as much as $20/share by 2015. Given Cat’s past success, none of this is out of reach.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont, has a consensus price target of $56.47. At its current price of $51.29, Dupont’s implied gain is 10%. Year-to-date shares are up about 12%, but for the preceding 12 months, the company’s stock is down more than -3%. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 10.68 and DuPont pays a dividend yield of 3.2%. DuPont is auctioning its car paint business and could reap as much as $4 billion at the time of sale. The company has struck some recent deals with Chinese solar panel makers and DuPont expects to continue increasing its sales in the agriculture, alternative energy, and other high-value markets.

The Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) has a consensus target price of $36.92. At a current price of $34.07, the potential upside is 8.4%. Dow shares have lost about -4% in the past 12 months, though since January shares have risen more than 18%. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 9.96 and Dow pays a dividend yield of 3.0%. Like other chemical companies, Dow is getting a nice benefit from low natural gas prices. The company expects 2012 growth in all its operating divisions, with agriculture and plastics leading the gains.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has a consensus target price of $94.59. At the current price of $83.84, the implied gain is 12.8%. For the past 12 months, the stock has dropped -5.6% though shares are up about 8.5% in the new year. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 10.01 and Deere pays a dividend yield of 1.90%. In the company’s most recent quarter, EPS beat estimates, but sales were a little slower than investors had hoped for. At less than half the market cap of Caterpillar, Deere’s long-term debt is also less than half Cat’s. That gives it some flexibility, and allowed the company to offer $1 billion in 5- and 10-year notes earlier this week at coupons of 1.4% and 2.75%, respectively.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) has a consensus target price of $100.60. At the current share price of $92.20, the potential upside is 9%. The company’s shares posted a slight gain of 1.4% in the past 12 months, and are up more than 8% since the beginning of the year. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 13.68 and Air Products pays a dividend yield of 2.60%. One of S&P’s Dividend Aristocrats, Air Products had only a so-so quarter and doesn’t expect a lot of improvement until the second half of this year.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) has a consensus target price of $56.42. At the current share price of $50.90, the potential upside for the stock is 10.8%. Emerson’s shares have lost about -14% in the past 12 months, but are up more than 9% year-to-date. The company’s forward P/E ratio is 12.80 and Emerson pays a dividend yield of 3.10%. Another of S&P’s Dividend Aristocrats, Emerson had a sub-par first fiscal quarter, but is expecting to resume sales growth both in its networking and its climate products business as bandwidth demand grows in the US and new housing construction ticks up.

Between the two equipment makers, Caterpillar has performed better over the past year and really shows no signs of pulling back. Among the chemical companies, there is no clear choice and all are pretty fully valued at this point. The make-or-break for these companies will be natural gas prices, which should rise as production of gas is cut back. Emerson is counting on a continued buildout of wireless networks and a rise in home and office building construction. Overall, Caterpillar seems to be the best choice.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Economy, Industry, International Markets Tagged: APD, CAT, DD, DE, DOW, EMR

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (NFLX, PAAS, HAL, HD, KORS, APD, BHI, CLWR, APD, BHI, CLWR, EMC, WDC, CSX, ZION, AAPL, BLRX, LEE, BONT, IDCC, ACHN)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:11:04 +0000

All three major equity indexes opened lower this morning and while all have tracked back to last night’s close, only the Nasdaq Composite has managed to wobble to a small gain for the day. The stalled negotiations between Greece and its bondholders are weighing down European markets and the effects are felt on this side of the Atlantic. Earnings reports haven’t boosted the market at all today, even though some have been quite good. The euro has hit $1.30 again. In commodities, WTI crude oil is down -0.51% at $99.07/barrel and Brent crude is down -0.36% at $110.18/barrel. Gold closed off -0.77% at $1,665.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 33 points to12,675.75 (-0.26%), the NASDAQ rose just 2 points (0.09%) to 2,786.64, and the S&P 500 fell -0.10% or just more than 1 point to 1,314.63.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) maintained as ‘outperform’ with a $100 target price at Credit Suisse; Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) maintained as ‘outperform’ but estimates lowered at Credit Suisse; Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) maintained as ‘buy’ but target price lowered to $54 at Argus; Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $51 at Argus; ;and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) started as ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley, as ‘outperform’ at Baird, and as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) is down nearly -3% at $87.29; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is down -0.57% at $47.46; Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up 2% at $1.79; EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is up 6.7% at $25.01; Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is up 6.2% at $36.85; CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) is down -3.5% at $21.89; and Zions Bancorp. (NYSE: ZION) is down -7.6% at $17.15. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reports earnings after markets close today. See our coverage here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

BioLineRx Ltd. (NASDAQ: BLRX) is up nearly 79% at $5.88 after posting a new 52-week high today of $6.87. The biopharmaceutical company has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with a French company to develop and market its hepatitis C drug.

Lee Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LEE) is up more than 26% at $1.39. The newspaper company has been granted permission to exit bankruptcy protection.

The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is up nearly 18% at $3.81. The department store operator has hired a new CEO who was previously the CEO at Lord & Taylor, before that chain was acquired by a Canadian company.

InterDigital Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC) is down nearly -20% at $35.68. The wireless technology developed has shut down its “strategic review” without finding a buyer and will continue to seek additional patent sales and licensing agreements.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) is up more than 17% at $10.79. The drug company, which is developing its own hepatitis C drug, is enjoying a halo effect from BioLineRx’s announcement.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. President Barack Obama delivers his state of the union address at 9:00 P.M ET tonight. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:00 a.m. – Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
10:30 a.m. – 5-year Treasury note auction
2:15 p.m. – Fed chairman Ben Bernanke press conference

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AAPL, ACHN, APD, BHI, BLRX, BONT, CLWR, CSX, EMC, HAL, HD, IDCC, KORS, LEE, NFLX, PAAS, WDC, ZION

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (V, MA, C, CVX, APD, EBAY, ZZ, BLK, BAC, FCS, FCX, MS, LUV, EGHT, TSL, JASO, STP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:04:43 +0000

Stocks opened higher this morning and have mostly remained in positive territory throughout the day. Reports that China was considering lowering its banks’ capital reserve requirements boosted both Asian and European markets this morning, while early morning earnings reports put more air under the opening. Morning reports from the federal government on natural gas, crude oil, and refined products inventories weighed on both commodity prices and energy stocks. Crude is mixed today, with WTI down -0.28% at $100.31/barrel and Brent up 0.7% at $111.44. Gold fell about -0.45% today to $1,652.50.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 46 points to 12,625.19 (0.37%), the NASDAQ rose more than 18 points (0.67%) to 2,788.33, and the S&P 500 rose 0.5% or more than 6 points to 1,314.52.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) maintained ‘sell’ at Argus; Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) maintained as ‘buy’ with target price of $130 but lowered estimates at Argus; and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is up nearly 4% at $31.55; Sealy Corp. Inc. (NYSE: ZZ) is down nearly -18% at $1.51; Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is down -0.75% at $186.39; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 2.65% at $6.98; Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. (NYSE: FCS) is down -3.51% at $14.02; Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is down -0.22% at $44.37; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is up 5.42% at $18.29; and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is up 3.33% at $9.32.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) is up more than 26% at $4.30. The telecom services company reported much better-than-expected earnings for its third fiscal quarter.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is down more than -15% at $8.32. The solar panel maker is falling following Germany’s announcement that it will begin lowering its solar subsidies.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is down nearly -15% at $$1.80. This Chinese solar panel maker is suffering from the German subsidy cut as well.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down -14% at $3.18. Another Chinese solar maker hit by the cuts to German subsidies. The list could go on, but you get the idea.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following event on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: APD, BAC, BLK, C, CVX, EBAY, EGHT, FCS, FCX, JASO, LUV, MA, MS, STP, TSL, V, ZZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, AAP, APD, MT, ADP, BKU, BA, CATM, CSH, CVX, C, HGSI, LAMR, MA, RSH, SMG, UBS, VE, V, WFT, BRCM)

Administrator — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:14:47 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Thursday morning.

ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Cut to Hold at Needham Research.
Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Air Products and Chemical, Inc. (NYSE: APD) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Automatic Data Processing. Inc. (NYSE: ADP) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Cut to Sell at Societe Generale.
Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CATM) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Cash America International (NYSE: CSH) Raised to Buy at Sterne Agee.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) maintained Buy with $130 target but cut estimates at Argus.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Maintained Sell at Argus.
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Started as Buy with $14 price target at Maxim.
Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) maintained as Outperform and named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks.
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) Cut to Underperform at BMO Capital.
UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Weatherford International Inc. (NYSE: WFT) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

Read Also: Jim Cramer touts Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) as a cheap catch-up semiconductor stock. This creates a chart versus fundamental event in price.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAP, ADP,, ADTN, APD, BA, BKU, BRCM, C, CATM, CSH, CVX, HGSI, LAMR, MA, MT, RSH, SMG, UBS, V, VE, WFT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ATVI, APD, CIM, DELL, DKS, GTIV, GERN, PAA, RIMM, SXL, TIBX)

Administrator — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:01:54 +0000

These are some of Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Reiterated Buy with $18 target at Argus.
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Maintained Underperform at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy with $22 target at Argus.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Gentiva Health Services (NASDAQ: GTIV) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Sunoco Logistics, LP (NYSE: SXL) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) Started as Market Perform at BMO Capital; Started as Market Outperform at JMP Securities.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: APD, ATVI, CIM, DELL, DKS, GERN, GTIV, PAA, RIMM, SXL, TIBX