Posts for Ticker ‘CEG’

The Smart Grid Surge Hitting Home (ITRI, COMV, ELON, ED, CEG, DUK, FPL, NVE, POM, SO)

Power Lines ImageWe are seeing at least some significant moves from the company’s who have announced that they are grant recipients under part of the $3.4 billion Smart Grid pledge from the Obama administration day.  We are seeing the big moves in the companies which traders and investors believe will receive the direct orders from the utilities, and are even seeing gains down in the utilities and power companies who are getting direct grants.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), for smart metering systems, was up 3% at $59.56 with a $2.38 billion market cap.  Comverge, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV), for peaking and base load capacity solutions to electric utilities, operators, and electric markets, is up 10% at $12.95 with a $286 million market cap.  Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is up 7% at $14.70 with a $598 million market cap.
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Posted on: October 27, 2009 – 3:37 pm in Green Biz, Politics, Utilities, , , , , , , , , ,

The Twenty Companies That Wall St. Can Trust The Least

Wall St. likes financial statements that give it deep insights into a company’s operations, especially its liabilities. It likes boards that make sure shareholders get as complete a picture as possible of a firm’s balance sheet and details of its P&L, cash-flow, and other critical financial measurements.

bear24/7 Wall St. asked Audit Integrity to put together a list of companies traded on US exchanges with market caps of more than $3 billion that do particularly poorly in the areas  of corporate governance, detailed disclosure of high-risk events including M&A and restructurings, revenue and expense recognition, and asset and liability valuation.

Based on the Audit Integrity model, 24/7 created a list of the twenty companies that Wall St. can trust the least.  Among the companies that the analysis flagged are Altria (NYSE:MO), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), GE (NYSE:GE), Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT),  Wells Fargo (NYSE:WMT), and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW)

The list:

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Posted on: October 27, 2009 – 5:31 am in Corporate Governance, Research, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q2-2009 Holdings A to F (BRK-A, AXP, BAC, BDX, BNI, KMX, KO, CMCSA, CDCO, COP, COST, ETN, CEG)

Buffett ImageBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has shown its Q2-2009  holdings as of June 30, 2009.  There are some portfolio changes that have been seen here from the end of Q1 and we have broken these down into 3 groups of ‘A to F’ and  ‘G to O’ and ‘P to Z’ so these are easier to see on one page.  Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘A ot F.’

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) over 151.6 million shares, same as  before.
  • Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 5 million shares; same as last quarter.
  • Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE: BDX) appears to b a new holding over last quarter according to our records.  Berkshire holds 1.2 million shares (listed in SEC filing as Beckton Dickson).
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) 76.77 million shares; same as Q1 after the Q1 position was raised from Q4.
  • Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 9 million shares is lower than the 12 million in Q1 and marks three straight quarters of declines.
  • Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) right at 200 million shares, still has stayed the same as before.
  • Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares, same as before.
  • Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) roughly 1.5 million shares, same as before.
  • ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was listed as 62.485 million, which is officially lower than the Q1 period but we had already been told of cuts after that date so mostly the same.
  • Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares, same as before.
  • Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) 3.2 million shares; looks like new holding but may have been missed before.
  • Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) appears to be completely sold off now.,but this was already being cut.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS G o O

BUFFETT HOLDINGS P to Z

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JON C. OGG
AUGUST 14, 2009

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 4:45 pm in Buffett, Buffett Holdings, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More Stocks For Buffett To Unload (BRK-A, MCO, COP, CEG, GCI, WPO, MTB, WBC)

Buffett ImageHow frequently has Warren Buffett  been bashed by the media over Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s  (NYSE: BRK-A) lackluster performance ?  What was interesting to see is his stake being lowered in Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO).  The only thing that was surprising to us was that it took the Oracle of Omaha this long to begin selling these shares.  Because Buffett is such a large stakeholder, we do expect that he’ll always hold some shares.  Conversely, we think he’ll continue to lighten up his stake in Moody’s.  Along those lines, we reviewed Buffett’s holdings and found several more stocks that he might want to consider selling some or all of his stake.

Some of these positions could include ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG), Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) and WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC).  There are others, such as his stakes in drug and health care sectors that could have been mentioned, but those big directional bets may have to wait until after health care reform is enacted.   As you will see, we listed the reasons that Buffett should or could cut the stakes.
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Posted on: July 27, 2009 – 11:48 am in Activist Investor, Buffett, Insider Activity, Value Investing, , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q1-2009 Holdings A to F (BRK-A, AXP, BAC, BNI, KMX, KO, CMCSA, CDCO, COP, CEG, COST, ETN)

Buffett ImageWe have just gotten the Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) holdings for the end of Q1-2009.  The cut off date here was March 31, 2009 and there are some changes that have been seen here from the e3nd of Q4.  We have broken these down into 3 groups of ‘A to F’ and  ‘G to O’ and ‘P to Z’ so these fit on one page easier.  Here is the list ‘A ot F.’

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) over 151.6 million shares, same as  before.
  • Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 5 million shares; same as last quarter.
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) 76.77 million shares; HIGHER than 70.089 million shares of last quarter.
  • Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 12 million shares; LOWER than the 17.63 million and that is two straight quarters of declines.
  • Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) right at 200 million shares, still same as before.
  • Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares, same as before.
  • Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) roughly 1.5 million shares, same as before.
  • ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is really lower than the 71.228 million reported as this has been used for cutting taxes, and we already know that the number is lower than what the filing says.
  • Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) was just updated this week so the number is actually about 12.4 million rather than what the filing shows as being 14.828 million shares.
  • Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares, same as before.
  • Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) 3.2 million shares; looks like new holding but may have been missed before.

Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “G to O”

Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “P to Z”

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2009

Posted on: May 15, 2009 – 4:06 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Keep Unloading Constellation Energy (CEG, BRK-A, BRK-B)

Buffett ImageWarren Buffett isn’t hanging on to his relatively new shares of Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG).  Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B), via MidAmerican Energy, had been a seller of shares before after receiving about 20 million shares in the break-up or deal termination fee after Constellation decided to go with a better deal (or a different deal) from EDF from France in a joint venture rather than a merger.
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Posted on: May 14, 2009 – 11:37 am in Buffett, Insider Activity, Mergers and Buy Outs, Utilities, , ,

Less Power from the Generators (DUK, CEG)

windmill_2_lgDuke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) reported first quarter 2009 diluted EPS of $0.27, down from $0.37 in the year-ago period. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at $0.28, compared with $0.35 a year ago. Analysts had been expecting $0.32 adjusted EPS, and revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter. First quarter revenue came in at $3.312 billion. Read More »

Posted on: May 5, 2009 – 8:45 am in Earnings, ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Disclose Holdings A to G (BRK-A, AXP, BAC, BNI, KMX, KO, CMCSA, CDCO, COP, CEG, COST, GCI, GE, GSK)

buffett_image3It’s that time again.  Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) have filed with the SEC showing what the Oracle of Omaha owns in public stocks as of the quarter or as of December 31, 2008 in this case:  These are broken out alphabetically by company from A to G, along with some color on each stock compared to prior report:

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) over 151.6 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 5,000,000 shares; same as last quarter but lower than the 9.1 million shares reported in June.
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) 70.089 million shares, higher than the 63,785,418 shares reported previously but we already knew this one was higher from prior transactions.
  • Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 17.63 million, down from 18.444 million last quarter.
  • Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) right at 200,000,000 shares, same as before.
  • Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares, same as before.
  • Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) just over 1.5 million shares, same as before.
  • ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) 79.896 million, above the 59.688 million in one unit, but was previously about 83.9 million total.  Hard to know if this is a real change or just more reporting or more/less units….
  • Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) 19.897 million shares, but this may have already ended after the last merger.
  • Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares, same as before.
  • Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) 3.447 million shares, same as before.
  • General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) 7.777 million shares, same as before but that does not include the 10% interest bought last year.
  • GlaxoSmithkline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, same as before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “H to R”

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “S to Z”

Jon C. Ogg
February 17, 2009

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 5:54 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, Mutual Funds, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Constellation Energy Exits North American Gas Trading Business (CEG, GS)

In its seemingly never-ending quest to raise cash, Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:CEG) has sold its downstream natural gas trading business to the North American trading arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group. Financial details of the sale were not disclosed. Last month, the company sold its international commodities trading operations to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS).

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Posted on: February 6, 2009 – 11:19 am in Oil & Gas, ,

Constellation Still Raising Cash (CEG, GS)

Money_stack_pic_2Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE:CEG) continues to shed assets. This time it’s the company’s London-based international commodities trading operations, which Constellation will sell to a division of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS). The company did not disclose the terms of the sale.

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Posted on: January 20, 2009 – 10:54 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Utilities, ,

More Nukes in the Pipeline (CEG, PPL, EXC)

Nuclear_power_picUniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between Electricite de France (EDF) and Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE:CEG), and PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL), a UniStar partner, have passed the first regulatory review on the road to building four new nuclear power plants. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission just added the fourth, a plant near Berwick, Pennsylvania, to its docket of combined license applications for new nukes.

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Posted on: January 9, 2009 – 2:15 pm in Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

The French Will Be Allowed to Invade Britain (BRK-A, CEG)

Platts is reporting this morning that the European Commission released its decision this morning regarding the buyout offer from Electricite de France (EDF) for British Energy Group plc, the UK’s largest nuclear generator of electricity. The offer, worth $23 billion when it was first announced in September, has been approved by the Commission provided that EDF meet certain conditions.

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Posted on: December 22, 2008 – 11:23 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, ,

Constellation, The French, Buffett & A Value Trap (CEG, BRK-A)

The other shoe has dropped. Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE:CEG) has accepted Electricite de France’s (EDF) offer of $4.5 billion for 49.99% of the company’s nuclear assets (rather than the whole company). We detailed the offer two weeks ago when it was announced. The total value of the deal is about $6.5 billion.

Constellation has terminated its merger with MidAmerican Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Holdings (NYSE:BRK-A). MidAmerican’s offer totaled about $4.7 billion for all of Constellation’s assets. MidAmerican collects a breakup fee of $175 million.  What is interesting is that the stock options have never valued Constellation anywhere near what the headlines would have you believe.

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Posted on: December 17, 2008 – 11:44 am in Buffett, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, ,

Reliant Energy Eliminates a Credit Facility (RRI, CEG, BRK.A)

Reliant_logoLate on Friday, Reliant Energy (NYSE:RRI) announced that it had terminated a $300 million retail working capital facility with Merrill Lynch. The company had failed to meet its EBITDA covenant on the agreement in the third quarter, and had received a waiver of the covenant through December 5th.

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Posted on: December 8, 2008 – 9:17 am in Shareholder Issues, Utilities, , ,

Warren Buffett May Have Constellation Regardless (CEG, BRK-A)

Buffett_imageWe have had many inquiries this week over this EDF offer for Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: CEG) now that EDF in France gave a competing bid versus that of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) unit MidAmerica.  There is more than one way this can go, but the data suggests that Warren Buffett and friends are getting the last laugh here.

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Posted on: December 5, 2008 – 5:22 pm in Buffett, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

Fitch Ratings Does Not Like the French Bid for Constellation Energy (CEG)

The recent bid by France’s Electricite de France (EDF) for half of the nuclear business of Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) caused Fitch Ratings to downgrade the company’s Issuer Default Ratings. The long-term IDR is now ‘BBB’, and the short-term rating is ‘F2′.

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Posted on: December 5, 2008 – 10:21 am in Analyst Calls, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, ,

The French Go After Buffett (CEG, BRK-A)

Constellation_logoWhenever something like this comes along, one has to ask, "Are these guys serious?"  Electricite de France (EDF) yesterday offered Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) a premium of about 96% to purchase half of Constellation’s nuclear power business. EDF could be too late to the party.  Constellation has already mailed adefinitive proxy to shareholders supporting the $26.50/share bid fromWarren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) subsidiary Mid-AmericanHoldings.
Buffett_image_2
A shareholder vote on the sale is scheduled for December 23rd.  The total value of the EDF deal could reach $6.5 billion, if EDF buys some non-nuke assets, $4.5 billion just for the nukes. EDF already owns about 10% of Constellation.

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Posted on: December 3, 2008 – 8:46 am in Buffett, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CEG, DENN, ODSY, ARO, D, EXEL, JNJ, VOCS, ZGEN)

These are some of the other non-tech analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street firms this Wednesday morning:

  • Constellation Energy (CEG) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Denny’s (DENN) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • Odyssey Healthcare (ODSY) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Aeropostale (ARO) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Dominion Resources (D) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
  • Exelixis (EXEL) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Vocus (VOCS) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Zymogenetics (ZGEN) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Here are the technology upgrades and downgrades.

Jon C. Ogg
October 29, 2008

Posted on: October 29, 2008 – 7:08 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Getting a Grip on Carbon Emissions (CEG, ED, PEG)

Carbon_emission_pic_2Last week, a consortium of ten states in the northeastern US held its initial auction of allowances to emit CO2. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has set a cap on carbon emissions of 188 million tons in 2009. Each of the more than 230 power plants in the ten states will be required to "pay" for carbon emissions with the carbon allowances at a rate of one allowance (usually called a credit) for each ton of CO2 emitted. Companies doing business in various aspects in these states include Constellation (NYSE:CEG), Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED), and Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG), among others.

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Posted on: September 30, 2008 – 9:30 am in Law, Regulation, Utilities, , ,

Constellation Finds Disappointing Buyout (CEG, BRK-A)

Constellation_logoGood news and bad news…. Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) has found a buyer.  The bad news is that it is a tentative deal that is for a mere $26.50 per share.  MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) empire, has reached a tentative agreement to acquire the company for $4.7 billion.  This translates to $26.50 per share. 

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Posted on: September 18, 2008 – 8:35 am in Buffett, Infrastructure, Mergers and Buy Outs, Utilities, , , , , ,