24/7 Wall St. » BEN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AL, AMAG, ADI, APC, BRCM, COF, EBAY, EDR, BEN, GRMN, GS, MDT, MOS, NVDA, ODFL, ORCL, POT, TASR, TLLP, UFPI, WEC)

Administrator — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:55:17 +0000

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

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) Reiterated Sell at Argus.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Raised to Buy at ThinkEquity.
Education Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: EDR) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) Maintained Underperform at BofA/ML.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Cut to Sell at Argus.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) Reiterated Strong Buy as Aggressive Growth at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised Target to $41 as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Potash Cor. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Tesoro Logistics LP Common Unit (NYSE: TLLP) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse; Started as Buy at BofA/ML.
Universal Forest Products Inc. (NASDAQ: UFPI) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC) Cut to Hold at Argus.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADI, AL, AMAG, APC, BEN, BRCM, COF, EBAY, EDR, GRMN, GS, MDT, MOS, NVDA, ODFL, ORCL, POT, TASR, TLLP, UFPI, WEC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACOR, BP, ED, FICO, BEN, GPS, IRBT, KMP, LDK, LTD, ERIC, MXIM, MRGE, MOS, OVTI, PNK)

Administrator — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:22:30 +0000

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

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Raised to Buy at Soc-Gen.
Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FICO) Raised to Hold at Argus.
Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) Started as Buy at Janney Capital.
LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Reiterated Buy at Argus.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ: MRGE) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) Reiterated Buy with $45 target at Gleacher & Co.
Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACOR, BEN, BP, ED, ERIC, FICO, GPS, IRBT, KMP, LDK, LTD, MOS, MRGE, MXIM, OVTI, PNK

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADI, APA, DAN, DELL, EXM, BEN, GIL, GG, HPQ, INTC, ICE, KBH, QIHU, RIMM, SPG, UA, VOD)

Administrator — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:34:53 +0000

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

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $53 at Gleacher & Co.
Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.
Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE: DAN) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised estimates but Maintained Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE: GIL) Started as Buy at BofA/ML.
Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Hold at Brean Murray.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Reiterated Outperform and Focus List at Credit Suisse; Maintained Buy with $28 target at Gleacher & Co.
IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Reiterated Buy and Raised estimate at Argus.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) Raised to Neutral at UBS.
Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) Started as Buy with $33 target at UBS.
Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $125 at Argus.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADI, APA, BEN, DAN, DELL, EXM, GG, GIL, HPQ, ICE, INTC, KBH, QIHU, RIMM, SPG, UA, VOD

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACN, ALU, ARMH, SID, CPX, BEN, MON, NOK, SIVB, TXN)

Administrator — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:13:31 +0000

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

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) Reiterated Buy with $62 target at Argus.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs; Raised target to $7 at BofA/ML.
ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Started as Neutral at Cowen.
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE: SID) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Complete Production Services, Inc. (NYSE: CPX) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Reiterated Buy at Argus.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB) Raised to Outperform and $61 target at Credit Suisse.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACN, ALU, ARMH, BEN, CPX, MON, NOK, SID, SIVB, TXN

Daily Dividend: Value & Yield in Asset Managers (BLK, FII, BEN, LM, TROW, IVZ, EV)

Administrator — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:01:57 +0000

It’s the Daily Dividend at 11:00 AM. We often look for value, growth, and dividends in financial stocks. Banks have been elusive on the dividend front until just the last couple of days, although we did give a list of banks which did not kill their dividends and already had a payout to shareholders ahead of time. After looking through a “value” report from Zacks Investment Research this morning, we could not help but notice how BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) stood out against its money management peers.

While the report highlighted the relative value of BlackRock, the boosted dividend payment of late, and a relatively cheap P/E ratio for forward estimates (14.8), what stood out the most was that it seems very likely to 24/7 Wall St. that the competing asset management firms will begin offering higher payouts via dividend hikes. Not all will catch up to BlackRock in yield with its 2.9% payout, but it still looks as though the rise in assets under management and the recovery of the stock market in the last two years will cause its rivals to follow suit.

Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) also stood out in the pack of asset management firms. Its dividend is close to 3.7%. At $26.32, it trades at about 14.5-times the forward Thomson Reuters estimate of $1.81 EPS for fiscal Dec-2011. With the exception of a higher payout in quarter a year ago, the dividend has been static at $0.24 per quarter back to 2008.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) has a 0.8% dividend yield. At $118.25, it trades at 14.2-times Thomson’s Reuters estimates of $8.32 EPS for fiscal 2011. This one hiked its dividend back in December’s payout to $0.25 from $0.22 per quarter.

Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) has a 0.7% dividend yield. At $34.64, it trades at about 16.7-times the Thomson Reuters estimate of $2.07 for its March-2012 fiscal year-end. It raised its dividend two quarters ago to $0.06 from $0.04 per quarter.

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) has a 1.9% dividend yield. At $63.15 it trades at 19.5-times the Dec-2011 fiscal estimate from Thomson Reuters. The new 1.9% yield is also reflective of a dividend hike last quarter that went to $0.31 from $0.27 per quarter.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) has a 1.7% dividend yield. At $25.51, it trades at about 14-times the Thomson Reuters estimate of $1.81 EPS for fiscal Dec-2011. Invesco’s dividend has been static at $0.11 per quarter for a year now.

Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) has a 2.4% dividend yield. At $31.25, it trades at about 17.8-times the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.75 EPS for fiscal October-2011. Eaton Vance raised its dividend to $0.18 from $0.16 just two quarters ago.

There were also higher payouts elsewhere that were irregular and we stuck with companies that have predictable yields rather than fluctuating dividend yields.

If the current landscape remains relatively close today, it seems obvious that higher dividend payments are coming down the road from more asset management firms. Most of these firms do not need massive growth capital and many have low dividend payout ratios and therefore high dividend coverage ratios.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Financial Stocks, Shareholder Issues Tagged: BEN, BLK, EV, FII, IVZ, LM, TROW

December’s $30B+ Buybacks Set Stage for 2011 Bonanza (BBBY, PRE, T, BAX, CB, CSC, BEN, HD, BEN, HD, INTC, TEVA, GE, CSCO)

Administrator — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:30:59 +0000

Share repurchase programs, or stock buybacks, have been and may always be a more questionable method of returning capital to shareholders than dividends. Many even disagree with the effect of buybacks. Still, many boards inside corporate America prefer the buyback method. December almost felt like an all-time record for additional share buyback announcements. The tally came to well over $30 billion in updated buyback announcements from a couple dozen companies. The long and short of the matter is that this trend will set the tone for a steady flow of corporate spending to retire outstanding shares.

At the end of December came a $2 billion buyback update from Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) versus a market cap of more than $12 billion. PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE: PRE) announced a 7 million share repurchase plan that comes to more than $550 million at the current prices versus a market cap of about $6 billion. Some other key buybacks announced were as follows:

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) announced that it would repurchase as many as 300 million shares, worth some $8.7 billion at the time. That was about 5% of its shares against a $171 billion market cap at the time.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) in the middle of the month approved a share repurchase authorization of up to $2.5 billion in common stock; it had approximately $600 million remaining under its July-2009 $2.0 billion share repurchase program. Baxter’s market cap was $29 billion at the time.

Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) added an additional 30 million shares for buybacks for nearly $1.8 billion against a market cap of nearly $18 billion at the time.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) had announced a buyback plan of up to $1 billion compared to a market cap of close to $7.5 billion at the time.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) added to its prior plan saying it would buy back up to 10 million shares, over $1 billion if fully allocated, against a market cap of roughly $25 billion.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) targeted some $2.5 billion in share buybacks ahead in 2011 versus a market cap of roughly $56 billion at the time.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) last week added to its prior plan and announced that it would buy back up to 10 million shares. With shares over $100 a piece, that is over $1 billion if fully allocated and that is against a market cap of roughly $25 billion.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) said earlier that the home improvement supply giant is targeting some $2.5 billion in share buybacks ahead in 2011 versus a market cap of roughly $56 billion.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) CEO Paul Otellini announced that it resumed repurchasing common stock after having previously suspended buybacks during the Great Recession. Intel had roughly $5.7 billion remaining under an existing $25 billion buyback plan. Intel’s market cap was more than $120 billion at the time.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) announced in early December that it would spend up to $1 billion to repurchase shares against a market cap of roughly $47 billion.

Two large restarted buyback plans right before December were General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) starting to buy shares again and a promise for more share repurchases in 2011 and another giant plan from Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) adding some $10 billion to its buyback plan.

The full list of December buybacks can be seen here with many more plans being in the hundreds of millions of dollars or even higher.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Buybacks Tagged: BAX, BBBY, BEN, CB, CSC, CSCO, GE, HD, INTC, PRE, T, TEVA

Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades (9/27/2010) (NOK)(STP)(STP)

247wallst — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:56:42 +0000

Moody’s downgraded the senior debt rating of Anglo Irish Bank by three notches to Baa3 from A3.

Hapoalim Securities negative on Trina (NYSE: TSL)–hold– and Solartech Power (NYSE: STP)–sell.

Sanford Bernstein takes Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to “underperform” from “market perform”

Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) dropped to “neutral” from “overweight” by Piper Jaffray.

Morgan Stanley move up controversial DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS) to “equal weight” from “underweight”.

Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) pushed to “outperform” from “market perform” by FBR.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AFFX, BEN, DRYS, NOK, STP, TSL

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BZH, BP, CIEN, GLW, EXPE, FFIV, BEN, JNS, JNPR, PMCS, PCLN, SPWRA, TROW)

Administrator — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:38:10 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street firms:

Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) Raised to Buy at UBS.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Reiterated Buy at Citigroup.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) Started as Underweight at JPMorgan.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Started as Buy at FBR.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
PMC-Sierra Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCS) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) Started as Market Perform at FBR.
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Raised to Hold at Hapoalim.
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) Started as Positive at Susquehanna.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BEN, BP, BZH, CIEN, EXPE, FFIV, GLW, JNPR, JNS, PCLN, PMCS, SPWRA, TROW

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BP, BEN, IVZ, LNCR, KR, PHG, SWY, SWN, TSO, WMB)

Administrator — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:38:53 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research notes:

BP plc (NYSE: BP) target cut at HSBC; Cut to Hold at UniCredit; Moody’s cut the debt rating; BP was also raised to Buy at Societe Generale.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lincare Holdings (NASDAQ: LNCR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Cut to Underperform at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) Cut to Underperform at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) Cut to Neutral from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
Willams Cos. (NYSE: WMB) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BEN, BP, IVZ, KR, LNCR, PHG, SWN, SWY, TSO, WMB

The Oldest Public Company CEOs

247wallst — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:03:47 +0000

The official retirement age for executives at many large U.S. corporations has been 65 for several decades – unless the executive also happens to be the founder.

Forty years ago, 65 was considered old. The average life expectancy for a man born in 1900 was 46 and, by 1950, had only risen to 68 . At one time, it made sense to require CEOs to step down at 65.

Now, many people who are 65 years old are in the prime of their lives. The number of people living well into their 90s has soared. There are rare cases of powerful chairmen and CEOs in their 70s and 80s still leading their companies. Surprisingly, the tradition of CEO’s retiring around the age of 65 has not changed.

Another reason CEOs retire in their mid-60s is that boards of directors want the best and the brightest of the next generation of management to take the CEO’s place. Executives who have waited their entire careers for the chance at the top job expect to be considered while still in their 50s, if not younger.

General Electric’s Jack Welch,viewed by many to be one of the best CEOs of all time, retired at 65. It was not because he wasn’t doing his job. There were, in the view of the GE board, three men at the company who had competed for the top spot and who were “CEO material.” The job went to Jeff Immelt and the two other men left to run other large corporations.

Rules governing retirement are not applied even-handedly. At IBM, the mandatory age of retirement was 60. Thomas Watson Sr. the de facto founder of IBM, ran the company until just before his death in 1956, at the age of 82. Henry Ford held a number of titles at the company that shared his name. Although he may not have remained the CEO, it is generally accepted that he ran the company until he was forced to hand it over to his grandson. Ford was 81 at the time.

The experiences of Ford and Watson are similar to almost every person on our list. Nearly all of them are either the founder of their company or are related to the founder by blood. All are 75 years of age or older and hold the position of president, chairman or chief executive officer.

This raises the questions: why do they continue to hold their jobs, and why have they held them for so long?

Rupert Murdoch, Warren Buffett, J.W. Marriott Jr, and Sumner Redstone would almost certainly not have their jobs at a typical company. Even if they were competent, they would have stepped aside for younger men. Their protracted tenure undermines the idea that American corporations are meritocracies - as far as job promotions go.

Perhaps there is another reason the mandatory retirement age for many companies’ executives is 65. Being the CEO is a hard job. It requires the stamina to manage tens of thousands of employees, develop strategies that require forecasts that look several years into the future and travel hundreds of thousands of miles a year. These are some reasons that boards of directors choose highly trained people at the peak of their careers to lead their companies.

Based on our review of publicly available financial information, 24/7 Wall St. created this list of the oldest CEOs, chairmen and presidents of the Fortune 500 companies. The CEOs and Chairmen on this list are people who have kept the top job long past typical retirement age. They often control their companies and to a large extent the boards as well. Whether this is good for the companies they run is another matter.

The compensation and net worth numbers are based on 2009 data.

Images	CEO/Chairman (Title, Company)	Age	Biography
	Warren Buffett (Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway)	79	Warren Buffett is the most well-known investor in history. In 1947, he graduated from high school. After briefly attending Wharton, he graduated from University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a BA economics. After a brief stint working for legendary investor, Benjamin Graham, Buffett formed Buffet Partnerships, Ltd. He lives in the same home he purchased for $31,500 in 1957. In his spare time, Buffett plays scrabble against his computer. He has been a director of Berkshire Hathaway since 1965 and became Chairman and CEO in 1970. Buffett has a net worth of $47 billion.

Filed under: Buffett, Management Change Tagged: AFG, BEN, BRK-A, CBS, MAR, NWS.B, OXY, SIRI