Wynn shares hit a new multi-year high on Wednesday after its solid earnings and after doubling its dividend.  The payout went to $0.50 from $0.25.  Estimates for 2011 are $3.24 EPS from Thomson Reuters.  If that higher payout can be sustained, something which may be economically sensitive, that comes to $2.00 per year or about 1.3% in dividend yields.

The higher dividend appears to be supported by its growth in Macau and a normalization of the Las Vegas operations.  The yield of 0.65% today and the new yield of about 1.3% ahead is above most casino operations.  In the $1 billion casino-class of hotel-casino adult theme park stocks, only Ameristar Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) has a higher dividend yield.  Its $0.105 payout per quarter generates close to a 2.2% dividend yield.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) has not paid a dividend and it would seem like a real payout might be a ways off from today when you consider that it nearly imploded during the recession.  Sheldon Adelson may want to continue to bolster the books before deciding to go with anything close to what Wynn or Ameristar pays to holders.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) has not had any real payouts and it too was close to being deemed “at-risk” during the peak selling in early 2009 during the recession.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) is probably the least likely of all for some time to have a consistently high payout.  Its operations are still too new and 2011 is the first real year of earnings expected.

Getting excited about a 1.3% dividend yield from Wynn probably doesn’t sound like too much. This is still the highest payout of its class and most competitors do not pay out anything to their holders.

JON C. OGG

We did not cover any earnings previews this week on The Unusual Suspects.  We gave a detailed preview on the major earnings reports on deck this week.  Those include tickers LOW, HD, WMT, TGT, SHLD, DLTR, HPQ, and DELL.  We also tracked much of the usual options volume from Friday in individual names in case it was a prelude to something large.  We saw unusual options trading in the tickers NLY, COCO, HPQ, PCS, NTAP, NFLX, PHM, and SUN.  Here are the eight best IPOs of 2010.  Also listed were three of our top defensive stock picks which can still grow if we enter into a new bear market.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may not get clipped too hard on this because of the cult-like love from the public.  The reports from the weekend show an Apple manager getting a grand jury indictment over kickbacks from suppliers.  Couple this with the labor problems of contract companies and the handling the Steve Jobs health disclosures of 2009 and the recent iPhone issues, its “clean transparency” could become a real issue if any more lapses of judgment come to light.  The problem is that Apple is now 10% off of recent highs, so the bargain hunters may have more of an argument than the naysayers.  Food for thought.

Ameristar Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) confirmed late last week that it is considering strategic alternatives which could include a sale of the company.  TheStreet.com ran a poll showing that Boyd Gaming was the likely buyer, but we’d throw out there that Ameristar’s $1 billion market cal after a 1.76% gain on Friday leaves it in an easy category that would allow private equity or traditional casinos to bid.  At $17.36, the 52-week range is $13.44 to $20.69.

Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) was listed in Barron’s as a stock which could rise from $44 to $60 over the next year and perhaps to $80 by 2013. In a market neutral scenario this could be up 3% on Monday morning.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) was given the cover story for this weekend in Barron’s called “Totally In Control.” Mike Santoli said it is greening investors’ wallets and  is a promising play on an auto revival and a cleaner world.  With this being the cover story, in a market neutral scenario it could be up 2% to 3%.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was listed as the #1 pole position chart in IBD this weekend. A 12% gain this last week despite a drop of -0.6% Friday to $132.26 was hard to ignore when you consider how poor the markets were last week.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) is getting close to a 52-week low as the market pulls back.  We covered this one twice on Friday and have more in-depth analysis coming this week.  This alone may not be a catalyst and admittedly weak stocks tend to stay weak until a critical point is reached.  For long-term investors, Teva looks like one that should be one of the safer defensive stocks that still offers growth during a bear market.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) is the apparent beneficiary of a new emergency contraceptive approved by the FDA.  HRA Pharma won approval and Watson will manufacture the drug.  With Watson’s market cap only at $5.2 billion, this is potentially going to be close to free new business for Watson.

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JON C. OGG

• Accenture (ACN) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.
• Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• CarMax (KMX) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Dendreon (DNDN) Raised to Hold from Sell at McAdams Wright Ragen.
• Frontline Ltd. (FRO) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
• Methanex (MEOH) Cut to Outperform at Raymond James.
• Progressive (PGR) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• VeriSign (VRSN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• Waters (WAT) Raised to Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
June 22, 2009

Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Bank of America (BAC) Started as Underperform at Wachovia.
Boyd Gaming (BYD) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Linear Tech (LLTC) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
Sanderson Farms (SAFM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Barrick Gold (ABX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Blackstone (BX) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Janus Capital (JNS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Kinross Gold (KGC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Repsol SA (REP) Raised to Buy at UBS.
SAP (SAP) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Tyco (TYC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Wendy’s/Arby’s (WEN) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

• Accenture (ACN) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Aeropostale (ARO) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Cognizant Tech Solutions (CTSH) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Gibraltar Industries (ROCK) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
• Infosys (INFY) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Isle of Capri (ISLE) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Microsemi (MSCC) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• Stantec (STN) Cut to Outperform at Raymond James.
• Thomson-Reuters (TRIN) Cut To Sell at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
September 19, 2008