24/7 Wall St. » CIM

QE3 May Pose At Least Some Dividend Risks To High-Yield Mortgage REITS (NLY, AGNC, CIM, MFA, STWD, IVR, HTS, CYS, ANH, MORT)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:21:43 +0000

Ben Bernanke and the FOMC delivered today on the promise of quantitative easing to start buying mortgage-backed securities to the tune of $40 billion per month. The measure would allow for $23 billion or so this month and the Federal Reserve will continue reinvesting its principal and interest receipts. By targeting mortgage-backed securities we wanted to see how this impacts the high-yielding mortgage REIT sector which still offers investors yields of 10% and higher in many cases.

The good news is that the mortgage REIT sector is not tanking on the news that the Federal Reserve is targeting mortgage-backed securities. The bad news is that we are not seeing unilateral waves of new buying now that the FOMC formally extended its “exceptionally low rates” out to at least mid-2015 from a previous ongoing timeframe of “at least through late in 2014.” The excerpt we took from the FOMC statement is here:

….the Committee agreed today to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month. The Committee also will continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in June, and it is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities. These actions, which together will increase the Committee’s holdings of longer-term securities by about $85 billion each month through the end of the year, should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative.

Here is how some of the key active issues are reacting in the space (with most recent dividend yields according to Yahoo! Finance):

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) down 0.6% at $17.65; 12.5% yield.

American Capital Agency Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) up 0.6% at $36.15; 14% yield.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) up 2.7% at $2.79; 13.4% yield.

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE: MFA) down $0.01 at $8.35; 11% yield.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: STWD) up[ 1.4% at $24.34; 7.4% yield.

Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) up 0.4% at $21.05; 12.3% yield. Hatteras Financial Corporation (NYSE: HTS) up 0.4% at $29.42; 12.2% yield.

Cypress Sharpridge Investment (NYSE: CYS) up 2 cents at $14.63; 13.7% yield.

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NYSE: ANH) is up 1 cent at $6.94; 10.4% yield.

As far as the key ETF, the Market Vectors Mortgage REIT ETF (NYSEMKT: MORT) is up by 0.5% at $28.06 and we would note that this was a 52-week high above the prior high of $27.93.

If the FOMC is going to target new-issue MBS you might think that it would support the values inside the holdings of each of these. That may be the case, but perhaps it also means that these mortgage-REITs now have to compete more and more with the Treasury as far as what the cost of buying new mortgages will be in the months ahead.

Does that mean that income distribution and interest payments will be lower ahead? If so, again IF, then that could pressure these dividend payments maybe starting in 2013. So far these have managed to hold up much better than the critics have expected and some have seen strong recoveries from the pre-summer lows this year.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Banking & Finance, Dividend, REIT Tagged: AGNC, ANH, CIM, CYS, featured, HTS, IVR, MFA, MORT, NLY, STWD

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CELG, CIM, GLW, DFS, EA, FB, JEF, KMB, LAZ, MSI, ONXX, PBY, RL, RGR, SXCI, TROW, MRK, ILMN, PG)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:26:23 +0000

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

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Maintained Buy with target of $73.00 at Cantor Fitzgerald; Maintained Neutral with $75 target at Credit Suisse.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named Bull of the Day at Zacks; Reiterated Buy at Argus.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Started as Buy at Nomura.

Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) Raised to Buy with $92 target at Argus.

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) at Neutral with $24.50 target at Goldman Sachs.

Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) Reiterated Buy with $60 target at Argus.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) Raised to Equalweight at Morgan Stanley.

Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack Inc. (NYSE: PBY) Raised to Buy with $12 target at Argus.

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.

SXC Health Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: SXCI) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) Started as Buy with $72 target at Argus.

CREDIT SUISSE FOCUS LIST CHANGES: Added Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) and Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN); Removed Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG).

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: CELG, CIM, DFS, EA, FB, GLW, ILMN, JEF, KMB, LAZ, MRK, MSI, ONXX, PBY, PG, RGR, RL, SXCI, TROW

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 21, 2012 (CIM, FB, TJX, UA, WFM, BBBY, MU, RHT, KMX, CAG, DRI, CCL, CHK, ONXX, PCX)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 20:06:25 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened mixed this morning as markets reacted to weak PMI reports from both Germany and China (more coverage here). A flash reading on US PMI was also at its lowest level in 11 months (more coverage here). New US jobless claims fell, but were a bit higher than analysts expected (more coverage here). But markets reacted most strongly to yesterday’s lack of announcement from Fed chairman Bernanke on a third round of quantitative easing and the central bank’s weaker forecast for US economic growth. Commodities took the (lack of) news especially badly. The manufacturing survey from the Philly Fed also fell sharply (more coverage here).

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.81% at 82.241. The GSCI commodity index is down -1.9% at 575.29, with commodities prices almost uniformly lower today on the stronger dollar and the weak news on the economy. WTI crude oil closed down -4% at $78.20/barrel, its first close below $80 since October. Brent crude trades down -3.23% at $89.67/barrel. Natural gas rose about 2.6% today to $2.583/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled down -3.1%, at $1,565.50/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 251 points to 12,573.04 (-1.96%), the NASDAQ fell more than 71 points (-2.44%) to 2,859.09, and the S&P 500 fell -2.23% or more than 30 points to 1,325.50.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chimera Investment Corp. (NYSE: CIM) cut to ‘underperform at BofA/ML and cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) started as ‘hold’ with a target price of $38 at Argus; TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Under Armour (NYSE: UA) cut to ‘neutral’ at UBS; and Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) started as ‘buy’ at SunTrust.

Also take a look at today’s six unusual analyst upgrades/downgrades.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have been scarce, but here are some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today: Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) is down -16.9% at $61.23; Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) is down -8.3% at $5.61; Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is down -6% at $53.09; Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) is down -7.1% at $25.92; and ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) is up 3% at $25.36 (more coverage here).

Tomorrow we’re scheduled to get earnings from Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) and Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is down -4.8% at $18.12. The natural gas producer has new board members (our coverage here) and is reportedly working on an asset sale to China’s Sinopec (NYSE: SNP). More coverage here.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) is up 42% at $63.41 after posting a new 52-week high of $64.68 earlier today. The drug maker got a favorable vote from the US FDA on one of its cancer drugs. More coverage here.

Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) is down -14.4% at $1.36. The coal miner had no news today, but the generally poor news on the economy hit all the coal stocks today. Patriot just took the biggest beating.

There are no events on the schedule for Friday, but we can likely count on some more uncertainty from the Eurozone.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: BBBY, CAG, CCL, CHK, CIM, DRI, FB, KMX, MU, ONXX, PCX, RHT, TJX, UA, WFM

Six Unusual Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:34:58 +0000

Each and every morning 24/7 Wall St. reviews the top analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street analysts. Some of these move stocks in a serious way while others sometimes miss the mark. After reviewing the top calls and those which stood out, these become the unusual analyst calls of the day. We have tracked the move and added color on each.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) did not get a drop from this and the overall end price target of $780 sure sounds positive. Stern Agee’s Shaw Wu actually talked down estimates of iPhone sales for the next two quarters.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) is one of the high-yield mortgage REITs that investors chase around. It rarely sees upgrades and downgrades, but Chimera saw two analysts downgrade the stock simultaneously this morning as it was cut to Underperform at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse. Shares were down almost 8% at $2.52 late in the day.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is up on a really bad day. Argus initiated coverage with a HOLD rating but it gave a $38 price target. That is still more than 20% upside, so maybe “Hold is the new Buy.”

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) would have been up either way after getting a positive ruling from an FDA panel recommending a drug approval. We saw an unusual move as at least three analysts upgraded the stock: Brean Murray, Cowen, and R.W. Baird. On a bad day shares are up almost 45% at $64.60. The analysts may try to claim the closing prioce of $44.58 on their ‘buy-in’ price but their calls were after the pop.

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) has recently launched a new shoe, but one firm doesn’t think it can grow more value for the stock. UBS cut the rating to Neutral from Buy and this was down 6% at $98.91 late in the trading day.

Credit Suisse may have given the hatchet to the MLP sector today as it cut three MLP price targets over natural gas concerns that could impact margin and potentially impact dividends and distributions. All were down more than the market after the initial reaction.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Calendar, The Day Tagged: AAPL, CIM, DCP, FB, NGLS, ONXX, TRGP, UA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARIA, CNP, CIM, FB, HEI, IVZ, L, ONXX, OIS, DGX, SJR, SMBL, TJX, UA, WFM, WWD)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:43:37 +0000

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

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) Maintained Hold at Argus.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML; Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Started as Hold with $38 target at Argus.

Heico Corporation (NYSE: HEI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) Started as Buy with $28 target at Argus.

Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX) Raised to Outperform at R.W. Baird; Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE: OIS) named Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) Started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Shaw Communications (NYSE: SJR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Smart Balance, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMBL) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $10 at Canaccord Genuity.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Under Armour (NYSE: UA) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) Started as Buy at SunTrust.

Woodward Inc. (NASDAQ: WWD) Started as Outperform with $48 target at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ARIA, CIM, CNP, DGX, FB, HEI, IVZ, L, OIS, ONXX, SJR, SMBL, TJX, UA, WFM, WWD

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 7, 2012 (HAL, ORCL, VZ, CIM, CHTR, CMVT, SJM, LULU, TITN, XIDE, PNY, JVA, TA, RDS-A, MDR, MOH)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:08:00 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning following the announcement of an interest rate cut in China (our coverage here). Spain sold more than €2 billion in bonds at slightly more than 6%, a better-than-expected showing (our coverage here). Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress today and let some air out of the notion that another quantitative easing program was coming (our coverage here). Going into the last hour of trading the DJIA is up nearly 1%, the Nasdaq is up about 0.25%, and the S&P 500 is up about 0.65%. By day’s end, only the DJIA would show a slight gain.

The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.31% at 82.068. The GSCI commodity index is up about 1.3% at 593.06, with commodities prices generally higher again today on the weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -0.2%% at $84.82/barrel. Brent crude trades down -0.85% at $99.78/barrel. Natural gas fell about -6% today to $2.276/thousand cubic feet on the weekly EIA storage report (our coverage here). Gold settled down -2.8% today, at $1,588.00/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 46 points to 12,460.96 (0.37%), the NASDAQ rose fell nearly 14 points (-0.48%) to 2,831.02, and the S&P 500 fell 0.01% or less than 1 point to 1,314.99.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie; Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) maintained as ‘hold’ with a price target of $30 at Canaccord Genuity; Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised from $44 to $47 at Argus; Chimera Investment Corp. (NYSE: CIM) started as ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; and Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) started as ‘outperform’ at Sanford Bernstein.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have been scarce, but here are some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today: Comverse Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: CMVT) is down -7.6% at $5.61 after posting a new 52-week low of $5.40 earlier today; J.M. Smucker Co. (NYSE: SJM) is up 0.2% at $76.19; Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is down -8.5% at $64.06 (more coverage here); and Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) is down -20.7% at $26.43.

On Friday, we are scheduled to get earnings reports from Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE), Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. (NYSE: PNY), and Coffee Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: JVA).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) is up 16.6% at $5.56. The Interstate Highway system travel center operator has signed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) to offer natural gas fueling at a minimum of 100 of TravelCenters’ 238 locations.

McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) is up 9.6% at $10.70. The construction firm has experienced some serious insider buying. More coverage here.

Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) is down -30% at $17.81. The supplier of Medicaid solutions withdrew its 2012 guidance complaining of margin pressure in Texas, where costs are higher than premium revenues.

Stay tuned for Friday. Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – International trade
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Active Trader, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: CHTR, CIM, CMVT, HAL, JVA, LULU, MDR, MOH, ORCL, PNY, RDS-A, SJM, TA, TITN, VZ, XIDE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BHI, CHTR, CIM, EW, HAL, JNPR, ORCL, RF, SINA, TPX, UNFI, VZ)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:34:16 +0000

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

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) Started as Outperform at Sanford Bernstein.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) Reiterated Buy but raised target to $103 at Canaccord Genuity.

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) maintained Hold with $30 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Tempur-Pedic International (NYSE: TPX) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush Morgan.

United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $58 at Canaccord Genuity; Maintained Hold at Argus.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Reiterated Buy but raised target to $47 from $44 at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BHI, CHTR, CIM, EW, HAL, JNPR, ORCL, RF, SINA, TPX, UNFI, VZ

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 1, 2012 (FB, HPQ, JWN, S, BX, MY, OVTI, RLD, VRA, AMSC, CIM, DG, GAME, CONN, GRPN, XRA, SPLK)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:06:30 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened sharply lower this morning on weak PMI reports from Europe and even weaker news on US employment (our coverage here). The US ISM manufacturing index fell more than expected and US construction spending rose less than expected (more coverage here). The SPX Volatility Index hit a 2012 high of 26.67 in mid-afternoon. Shares look set to close today down more than -2%.

The US dollar index slipped today, now down -0.25% at 82.833. The GSCI commodity index is down about -1.2% at 596.20, with commodities prices generally lower on the weak economic news. WTI crude oil closed down -1.5% at $83.23/barrel, ending the week down -8%. Brent crude trades down -3.1% at $98.70/barrel (more coverage here). Natural gas fell -3.9% today to $2.33/thousand cubic feet. Gold was today’s big winner, settling up 3.7% today, at $1,622.10/ounce, for the yellow metal’s biggest single-day jump since last August.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 276 points to 12,117.05 (-2.23%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 80 points (-2.82%) to 2,747.48, and the S&P 500 fell -2.47% or more than 32 points to 1,278.03.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) started as ‘outperform’ at R.W. Baird, Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) raised to ‘buy’ at Nomura and started as ‘outperform’ at RBC; Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; and The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) raised to the ‘Conviction Buy’ list at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have been scarce, but here are some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today: China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd. (NYSE: MY) is down -6.2% at $1.36; OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) is down -19.1% at $13.09; RealD Inc. (NYSE: RLD) is down -5.5% at $11.31; and Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) is down -8.9% at $19.93 after posting a new 52-week low of $19.52 earlier today.

On Monday, we are scheduled to get earnings reports from American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC), Chimera Investment Corp. (NYSE: CIM), Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG), Shanda Games Ltd. (NASDAQ: GAME), and Conn’s Inc. (NASDAQ: CONN).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is down -9.3% at $9.65, after posting a new post-IPO low of $9.53 earlier today. The Internet coupon site’s insider lock-up period ended today. More coverage here.

Exeter Resource Corp. (AMEX: XRA) is up 10.4% at $2.01. The junior miner is one of many gold and silver mining stocks that posted big gains today. More coverage here.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) is down -15.3% at $27.58 after posting a new post-IPO low of $27.31 earlier today. The data analytics company posted its first report as a public company, and beat estimates on revenues and the size of the EPS loss. Even the forecast for the current quarter and the full year beat estimates. Some days you just can’t win.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Active Trader, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMSC, BX, CIM, CONN, DG, FB, GAME, GRPN, HPQ, JWN, MY, OVTI, RLD, S, SPLK, VRA, XRA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARNA, AONE, CIM, DTV, FSL, HTS, IACI, KMI, NVDA, PGR, CRM, VZ, WTW)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:21:13 +0000

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

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

DirecTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV) Raised to Buy at Citigroup; Reiterated as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Freescale Semiconductor Holdings (NYSE: FSL) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Hatteras Financial Corporation (NYSE: HTS) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

NVIDIA Corporation (NYSE: NVDA) Raised to Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Reiterated as Buy and raised target to $180 at Canaccord Genuity.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AONE, ARNA, CIM, CRM, DTV, FSL, HTS, IACI, KMI, NVDA, PGR, VZ, WTW

Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (CRL, CIM, NAT, RAX, AVP, GT, MET, OMC, ZNGA, A, NVDA, PCG, DVN, DE, NTAP, CMCSA, APA, DTV, WM, JWN, AMAT, DUK, HNZ, CPB)

Jon C. Ogg — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:22:53 +0000

Earnings season is starting to slow down a bit but we will still have some sector-moving earnings reports from major companies. 24/7 Wall St. has prepared earnings previews for the following companies:

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL); Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM); Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT); Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX); Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT); MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET); Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC); Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA); Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A); NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA); PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG); Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN); Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE); NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP); Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA); DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV); Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT); Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK); H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ); and Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB).

Earnings estimates are from Thomson Reuters and the dates may change by the companies. More detailed previews will be available each day this coming week with much more color and trading information.

MONDAY, FEB 13

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) $0.56 EPS

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) $0.11 EPS

Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) -$0.29 EPS… with losses expected this year, we will be watching for any dividend news after the company sold 5.5 million shares last month.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) $0.15 on $281 million in sales; this one still trades at close to 60-times 2012 expected earnings of $0.81 EPS.

TUESDAY, FEB 14

Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) $0.51 EPS on $3.11 billion; a serial disappointment in shares, but turnaround investors have hopes that the bar is set extremely low. Earnings will prove if there is a value story here or just more of a value trap.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) $0.20 EPS on $5.88 billion in sales; this is still a long-term turnaround story valued at less than 7-times expected earnings.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) $1.24 EPS on $16.81 billion in revenues; shares are mid-way between the 52-week high and 52-week low.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) $0.95 EPS on $3.8 billion in sales.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) estimates are not yet available for its first quarterly earnings report. Shares are now back over $13.00 due to the Facebook-effect on anything tied to social media.

Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day….

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: A, AMAT, APA, AVP, CIM, CMCSA, CPB, CRL, DE, DTV, DUK, DVN, GT, HNZ, JWN, MET, NAT, NTAP, NVDA, OMC, PCG, RAX, WM, ZNGA