Posts for Ticker ‘BUD’

52-Week High Club

Conseco Inc (NYSE: CNO) rallied 30% to a yearly high of $6.50 on news that Paulson & Co. had taken a large stake in the company as well as on news that the company had entered into an agreement to sell roughly $293 million in convertible notes.  

J P Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) rose to a yearly high of $47.47 reporting strong earnings results.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) rose over 4% to a yearly high of $49.91 on news that the company had successfully sold $5.5 billion in debt.

Siemans AG (NYSE: SI) rose over 5% to a yearly high of $103.08 after the company announced outsourcing contracts with University of Pennsylvania Health System, Ernst Klett AG, and Ziggo in the Netherlands.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: October 14, 2009 – 4:23 pm in Banking, Earnings, Financial Stocks, Food, Telecom, , , ,

52-Week High Club

American Eagle Outfiters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) hit a yearly high of $18.08 after the clothing vendor announced that it had raised its 3Q09 EPS estimate to $0.24-$0.26 from $0.22-$0.25.  

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) hit a yearly high of $48.19 after yesterday’s announcement that the company would be setting its theme park business to private equity firm Blackstone Group for $2.7 billion.

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) hit a yearly high of $79.03 after the company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per common share, payable on the 13th of November to all those in possession of the shares as of October 26th.

3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS) hit s yearly high of %5.54 after yesterday’s annoumcement that the company had entered into contracts with the Republic of Korea Army and Republic of Korea Air Force to upgrade their local area networks.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: October 8, 2009 – 4:37 pm in ADR, Dividend, Food, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity, Retail, Technology, , , ,

Budweiser Returns For US Investors (BUD, TAP, SAM, HOOK)

Bud Image Budweiser is back for US investors.  It has been some time that US investors have been able to invest in an large beer company since  Anheuser-Busch was acquired by InBev.  But it is coming back to a US-stock-listing. Anheuser-Busch InBev has announced that starting Wednesday, September 16, its ADR will list on the NYSE under the old “BUD” ticker.  The NYSE listing upgrades the company´s existing Level I ADR program, which was launched on July 1, 2009.

It has been hard for US investors to invest in the beer market.  Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP) was the largest, and despite its Denver HQ many are under the impression that they are investing in the Canadian Molson beer company since Coors and Molson merged.  Besides that for US-beer plays, investors have only had Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) with a small $550 million market cap and the micro-cap stock Craft Brewers Alliance Inc.   (NASDAQ: HOOK) to invest in with its $57 million market cap.

Following the Peter Lynch mantra, investors can once again invest in the company of a brand they regularly use.

JON C. OGG
September 11, 2009

Posted on: September 11, 2009 – 12:42 pm in ADR, Buffett, Calendar, Consumer Goods, Editor's Picks, Exchange News, Food, Mergers and Buy Outs, Product Review, Retail, , , ,

And Like That, Budweiser Goes European (BUD)

Anheuser_b_logoAnheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (NYSE: BUD) is no more.  Any doubts over whether  this merger was going to properly close are now history.  InBev has now completed its acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. This merger will create the global leader in beer and one of the world’s top five consumer products companies.  All shareholders of Anheuser-Busch common stock receive $70.00 per share in cash as part of this $52 billion merger.

The surviving post-merger company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev.  All regulatory approvals have been secured and all shareholders have approved this deal.  Consider this one history.

Jon C. Ogg
November 18, 2008

Posted on: November 18, 2008 – 9:24 am in Food, Mergers and Buy Outs,

New Warren Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Stocks A-H (AXP, BUD, BAC, BNI, KMX, KO, CMCSA, COP, CDCO, COST, GCI, GE, GSK, HD)

Buffett_imageThese are some of the changes we have seen in the holdings of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A).  We have consolidated these into groups and this group is alphabetical from A to H for the quarter ended on September 30, 2008:

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) 151,610,700 shares
  • Anheuser Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD) taken to 13,845,000 shares, from under under 15 million last quarter and from over 35 million in March
  • Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 5,000,000 shares; DOWN from 9.1 million shares in June      
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) 63,785,418 shares (although higher now)
  • Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 18,444,100; DOWN from 21.3 million shares in June
  • Coca Cola (NYSE: KO)  200,000,000 shares (same)
  • Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares (same)
  • Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) over 1.5 million shares
  • ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) 59,688,000 in one unit, but about 83.9 million total; position was known about generally last quarter, but the size had been kept confidential.
  • Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares (same)
  • Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) 3.447 million shares (same)
  • General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) 7.777 million shares (same Sept., but now more)
  • GlaxoSmithkline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares (same)
  • Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) 3.7 Million shares; Down from 4,181,000 in June

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) was also listed as a new position for Berkshire, with more than 2.9 million shares being listed as the new position.

BUFFETT’S HOLDINGS "I to S"
BUFFETT’s HOLDINGS "T to Z"

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Jon C. Ogg
November 14, 2008

Posted on: November 14, 2008 – 5:30 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 11/13/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, Japan will supply money to the IMF.

Reuters reports that Citigroup (C) is looking at buying Chevy Chase Bank.

Reuters reports that the US may need to insure wholesale deposits.

Reuters reports that foreclosures rose 25% in October.

Read More »

Posted on: November 13, 2008 – 3:57 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 10/24/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

TelevisionAccording to Reuters, Greenspan said he was shocked by the credit meltdown.

Reuters reports that the value of Bear Stearns $30 billion mortgage portfolio fell 9%.

Reuters writes that Asia and Europe are turning to China for economic fixes.

Reuters writes that Microsoft’s earnings forecast was better than expected.

Read More »

Posted on: October 24, 2008 – 2:54 am in Press Digest, , , , , , ,

All Clear in InBev-Bud Merger Financing? (BUD)

Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (NYSE: BUD) has been seeing its stock whip around as though the company was not a being bought out.  Its stock hit $64.00 early last Thursday, and by Friday it spent almost the entire trading day below $60.00.  Yesterday’s rally took care of fears and the stock gapped up higher this morning.  But since late morning there has been more selling pressure and the stock is now trading down over 2% at $62.50.  The problem is that in mid-September the stock was above $67.00.  It appears that there have been some building concerns over whether InBev will be able to line up the financing.  And today we have an update.

Read More »

Posted on: October 14, 2008 – 12:31 pm in Food, Mergers and Buy Outs,

Warren Buffett Talks Financials, Markets, Economy & Politics (BRK-A, WFC, AXP, JPM, FNM, FRE, BUD, CNQ, BNI, BRK-B)

Buffett_cnbc_2This morning there was a rather long CNBC interview where Becky Quick got to interview Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-A) Warren Buffett live in Omaha.  He noted specifically that the economic weakness was going to go out into 2009 with a further slowing down in housing, retail, and credit.  Buffett talked about many issues from economics to specific stocks to politics.  The good news for equity traders is that Buffett said equities are a better value now. We covered the equities angle first and then went over some of his other comments after.  These are paraphrased comments for the most part, but the specific stocks he covered with opinions below were Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) andAmerican Express (NYSE: AXP), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), and he commented on Canadian oil sands after his visit to Canadian Natural Resources Limited(NYSE: CNQ) and railroad Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI).

Read More »

Posted on: August 22, 2008 – 8:16 am in Buffett, Conglomerates, Interview, , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings A-G (AXP, BUD, BAC, BNI, KMX, KO, CMCSA, CDCO, COST, GCI, GE, GSK)

Buffett_image_2So far there are some changes seen in the holdings of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A).  We have consolidated these into groups and this group is from A to G, and this is for the quarter ended on June 30, 2008:

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) over 151.6 million shares.       
  • Anheuser Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD) taken to under 15 million shares from over 35 million shares on last report
  • Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 9.1 million shares         
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe  (NYSE: BNI) 63,785,418 shares
  • Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 21.3 million shares
  • Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) roughly 200 million shares
  • Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares
  • Comdisco Holdings (CDCO) over 1.5 million shares
  • Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares
  • Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) 3.447 million shares
  • General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) 7.777 million shares
  • GlaxoSmithkline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares

We have also broken the other Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway holdings in two groups:

Jon C. Ogg
August 14, 2008

Posted on: August 14, 2008 – 9:34 pm in Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Earnings Watch (BRK.A, BRK.B, KFT, BUD)

Buffett_imageAfter the close of trading on Friday, we’ll get to see earnings out of Wall Street’s favorite idol as Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) reports earnings.   

The first thing we ant to advise readers about is that there are very few estimates on Wall Street out of analysts, so the actual numbers are generally thought of as a hint or a nod rather than a formal bar.  Guidance is also not formally given so traders have to listen to the inferences made for internal projections.

Read More »

Posted on: August 7, 2008 – 1:52 pm in Buffett, Conglomerates, Earnings, , , ,

Anheuser-Busch Short Selling Cash? (BUD)

Anheuser_b_logoAnheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (NYSE: BUD) reported earnings today, and no one is paying attention because of the InBev merger at $70.00 making this earnings report essentially a non-event.  But there are two issues coming down the pipe, one which will matter as a consumer and another which will matter for a very short period of time for shareholders.

Read More »

Posted on: July 23, 2008 – 10:41 am in Dividend, Food, Mergers and Buy Outs,

BUD Board Does The Right Thing, Yahoo! (YHOO) Doesn’t

The board at Anheuser-Busch (BUD) did the right thing. It got a offer well above market to sell the company. It fought for more money. When it got the better price. It sold.

BUD stock has been stuck in the mid-$50s for some time. The beer business is OK, but it is hardly a growth industry. With a global recession underway, it is hard to see why InBev wants to buy Bud at such a high price, but, to seal the deal, it upped its offer to $70 a share. Anheuser-Busch was not likely to see its stock at that level for a long, long time. It simply did not have a way to enhance the attractiveness of its business.

Yahoo!’s situation is not dissimilar. Much of its growth is behind it. The company’s last few quarters have been disappointing. It is now a distant No.2 in the search engine market. Much of its revenue comes from the display advertising sector. That market is a modest performer, and it is not one which will take Yahoo!’s earnings up sharply.

Yahoo!’s stock has been trading in the $20 to $30 range for over two years. With quarterly results weakening, the stock is not likely to break $25 very often. Microsoft (MSFT) offered $33 for Yahoo!. The portal company’s board rejected that. Microsoft and activist investor Carl Icahn has come back several times. There has to be a deal over $30 in there somewhere.

Yahoo! is almost certainly not a $30 stock. When it broke off talks with Microsoft, its shares moved down from $33 to under $20.

The Yahoo! board should do what BUD did. Get out with a good price while it still can.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 14, 2008 – 4:37 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, , ,

Media Digest 7/14/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, the govenment will bail-out Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) through a combination of stock purchases and loans.

Reuters reports that InBev will buy Anheuser-Busch (BUD) for $52 billion.

Reuters reports that Yahoo! (YHOO) rejected a proposal from Microsoft (MSFT) and Icahn to break up the company.

Reuters reports that analysts expect more banks to fail on the heels of the government taking over IndyBac.

Reuters reports the SEC and other agencies will crack down on the use of rumors by short sellers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that bond ratings agencies are likley to have new regulations not unlike those put on stock exchanges.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Nvidia (NVDA) is trying to fend off problems its new product is having with PC makers.

The New York Times writes that at least 150 banks could fail over the next year.

The FT writes that KPMG’s Global M&A Predictor sees a sharp downturn in buy-out activity by corporations.

Bloomberg with that Petrobas oil workers went on strike which could cut Brazil’s oil output by half.

Bloomberg reports that the Sony (SNE) PS3 is gaining on Microsoft (MSFT) with Blu-ray and new games.

Douglas A. McIntyreSNE

Posted on: July 14, 2008 – 2:49 am in Press Digest, , , , , , ,

InBev Raises BUD Offer, Should Win Bid At $70

InBev has raised its offer for Anheuser-Busch (BUD) which should seal its takeover of the US beer company.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Anheuser’s board is likely to accept the offer this weekend."

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 11, 2008 – 6:56 am in Mergers and Buy Outs,

InBev May Own Anheuser-Busch (BUD) In Short Order

Anheuser-Busch (BUD) may finally be admitting that it cannot get its shares up from $50 to the InBev bid of $65, even it its cuts costs and sells assets. BUD shares have sold at the lower price for too long. The beer business is not that good.

Now, it appears that InBev will raise its price. The BUD board can save face and shareholders can get a good deal for once.

According to The New York Times, "Exact terms of the potential deal could not be learned, but one person said that InBev had indicated that it would be willing to pay more than the $65 a share it had originally offered."

Perhaps it is finally dawning on public company boards that offers well in excess of current market value are hard to beat, especially in a bad economy. The Rohm and Hass (ROH) board clearly decided that a bid from Dow Chemical (DOW) was too good to be true. On the other hand, the board at Yahoo! (YHOO) has not learned that lesson. It has cost shareholders about a third of the value of the company’s shares.

BUD’s board looks like it is about to give in.

Good move.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 11, 2008 – 4:12 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, , , ,

The Bud Wars Heating Up (BUD)

The fight between Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BUD) and InBev over the proposed $65.00 merger is one that is about to get more heated rather than one that looks more amicable.  Anheuser-Busch doesn’t want to sell, InBev wants to force a sale.

Anheuser-Busch is apparently suing to block the InBev offer.  InBev is demanding, or certain Anheuser-Busch shareholders are, a record date for the "as of" dates for the offer and other issues.  The plot to this story is likely to thicken before it thins.  InBev is also going after the board of directors to replace them, and it has even taken the case up in a St. Louis newspaper full page advertisement.

If InBev really wants to win the favor of the company’s board and many of the concerned shareholders out there, it is likely going to have to pony up more cash.  The stock isn’t worth $70.00 today to an American, Latin, or Asian buyer, but to Europeans they would be getting the company for a song when you consider the added Euro strength that has gone to the far end of the spectrum and beyond. 

Despite this being a $46+ Billion acquisition, we think that InBev is ultimately going to have to pay up if it really wants to acquire the King of Beers.  There is a premium around Anheuser-Busch shares, but nowhere near the premium in other mergers.  If the board of directors fights off a buyout and gets to go back to a business-as-usual operation without a hostile bidder, we think this will drop to $57.00 on the high side or down to as low as the low-$50 handles.  That is not a shareholder reward at all, but it isn’t representative of a board like a certain #2 Internet search engine giant that seems hellbent on destroying shareholder values.

If you are sitting on long-term gains here as a result of the pop, looking at the SEP08 $60 PUTS at $2.60 per contract might have offer significant protection for your gains here.  We don’t know what the board plans ultimately, but our one cautionary word after studying special situation investing for years and years would be as follows:

  • "Protecting your position is key in special situations.  Management with its back up against the wall often makes decisions that inadvertently put major shareholder value at risk."

Sorry to point this out, but don’t all the Europeans say Budweiser hardly counts as beer?

Jon C. Ogg
July 8, 2008

Posted on: July 8, 2008 – 1:55 pm in Food, Mergers and Buy Outs,

InBev And BUD: Pushing Out Another Board

Perhaps this will be the year when replacing corporate boards hits a record level. Carl Icahn wants to do it at Yahoo! (YHOO). Several large investors have been taking a run at AIG (AIG). Now, InBev, which is trying to buy Anheuser-Busch (BUD) wants to replace the representatives of the shareholders there.

To rub salt into the wounds of BUD’s management, the "alternative board includes Adolphus Busch IV, the great-grandson of the Anheuser-Busch founder and the uncle of the current Anheuser-Busch chief executive, August Busch IV, according to MarketWatch.

Perhaps InBev does not need to go that far if the current board will do the right thing. The InBev bid has taken the BUD stock up to over $62. Over the last five years, the 200-day moving average of the shares has usually been well below $50.

Perhaps it seem simplistic, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. That becomes even more true when the economy gets bad. BUD faces a very significant increase in its transportation costs as the price of gas moves up.

BUD’s earnings have not been outstanding over the last three years. A recession would make that worse, especially if the element of rising inflation is added. Moving up beer prices may be hard to do if the consumer has a dwindling supply of money. He may have to turn to cheap wine of moonshine.

The BUD board has the chance to drop the company’s problems into the lap of someone else. It should sell out to InBev as soon as possible.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 7, 2008 – 5:37 am in Management Change, , ,

Media Digest 7/7/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, NBC Universal and partners will by The Weather Channel for $3.5 billion.

Reuters writes that Toyota (TM) will add solar panels to some of its Prius cars.

Reuters writes that broken buy-out deals have strained trust among corporations, banks, and prvate equity firms.

Reuters reports that Merrill Lynch (MER) is considering selling its stakes in Bloomberg and Blackrock.

The Wall Street Journal reports that GM (GM) is considering thousands of job cuts and the sale or closing of some of its brands.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the rising price of oil is causing more fear that crude will hit $200 by the end of the year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that vacancies are rising in retail centers.

The Wall Street Journal writes that plans to revise the bond rating system may not go far enough.

The Wall Street Journal writes that energy and materials stocks may follow the rest of the market lower.

The Wall Street Journal writes that analysts believe S&P 500 earnings will drop 11.5% in Q2, but that number may underestimate problems.

The Wall Street Journal reports that automakers are pushing back on steel surcharges.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Immelt of GE (GE) will have to continue to defend the conglomerate structure of the company.

The New York Times writes that Google (GOOG) must challenge rules of competition and antitrust as Microsoft (MSFT) has done over the last two decades.

The FT writes that InBev has selected an alternative board for Anheuser-Busch (BUD).

The FT reports that delays in making more Toyota Prius cars are testing customer patience.

Bloomberg reports that the LBO market is getting a push forward with the successful buy-out of BCE.

Bloomberg reports that US profits probably fell in the last quarter lead by Citigroup (C) and Merril Lynch (MER)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 7, 2008 – 2:52 am in Press Digest, , , , , ,

Media Digest 7/1/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, global companies may start to issue profit warnings as business slows overseas.

Reuters reports that InBev is sticking to it offer to buy Anheuser-Bush (BUD).

Reuters reports that Chrysler is shutting minivan plants.

Reuters writes that financial executives are still looking for companies that they can buy cheap and improve.

Reuters reports that Lehman (LEH) rose after Morgan Stanley gave the brokerage a positive rating.

Reuters reports that Florida has sued Countrywide over its mortgage practices.

Reuters reports that Ford (F) was in talks to sell Volvo to Renault.

The Wall Street Journal writes that federal authorities want the names of UBS (UBS) clients who may have used the bank to dodge taxes.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Sirius (SIRI) put out financial forecasts for the firm once it combines with XM Radio (XMSR).

The Wall Street Journal writes that the US corn crop is mostly intact even after Midwest flooding.

The Wall Street Journal reports that UBS is likely to issue another profit warning.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Starbucks (SBUX) new coffee has attracted new customers and some critics.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ford (F) is trying to maintain the vitality of its flagship product, the F-Series pick-up.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Teva (TEVA) has begun to ship a generic version of schizophrenia treatment Risperdal.

The New York Times reports that the Saudi Khurais oil field, one of the largest in the world, may not do as well as many had hoped.

The New York Times writes that business activity in the Midwest remained weak in June.

The FT reports that Warner Music (WMG) has signed up for Nokia’s (NOK) music service.

Bloomberg reports that Eli Broad says the current recession is the worst since WWII and believes the housing market will not recover for years.

Bloomberg writes that Bank of America (BAC) will pay about one-third less for Countrywide (CFC) than it had planned.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 1, 2008 – 3:10 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , ,