Posts for Ticker ‘CTAS’

The Twenty Companies Wall St. Can Trust The Most

uncle sam24/7 Wall St. asked Audit Integrity to screen  companies with market caps of more than $3 billion to create a list of the firms that use the most transparent and conservative accounting programs and have ”best of class” corporate governance and management. This data is based on the The Audit Integrity Accounting and Governance Risk rating which is a forensic measure of the clarity and statistical reliability of a corporation’s financial reporting and governance practices. To create this data Audit Integrity applies over 100 accounting and governance metrics to a company’s publicly filed information.

After reviewing this data, 24/7 created a list of The Twenty Companies Wall St. Can Trust The Most. The firms are ranked based on their Accounting and Governance Risk scores.

The list represents companies that have practices which should be emulated by every public company that wishes to serve the needs of its shareholders by presenting accurate financial data and providing conservative management of shareholder’s investments.

The Twenty Companies Wall St. Can Trust The Most:

 

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Top Analyst Downgrades (ALU, CTAS, CCL, CMC, CTV, JNPR, PRU, STI, TLAB)

These are the early analyst downgrades and cautious research calls seen from Wall Street firms this Wednesday morning:

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.
Cintas (CTAS) downgraded to Underperform at RW Baird.
Carnival (CCL) downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Commercial Metals (CMC) downgraded to Neutral at UBS.
CommScope (CTV) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.
Juniper (JNPR) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.
Prudential (PRU) downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
SunTrust (STI) Started as Underperform at Wells Fargo
Tellabs (TLAB) downgraded to Neutral at RW Baird.

JON C. OGG

Top Day Trader Alerts (MOS, POT, CIT, NOK, JPM, CTAS, XLNX, PLCM, SLT)

These are some of the top stocks to watch this morning for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity. There are links through to each with more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) shares are up roughly 12 percent in premarket trade to $50 on takeover speculation, with rivals including Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) also seeing some early bids.

CIT Group (CIT) shares are likely to see a volume spike Thursday after newspaper reports suggest that a government bailout might not be cards, and talks reportedly broke down.

Stocks moving on earnings this morning include Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Others could move include Cintas Corp. (Nasdaq: CTAS), Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) and Polycom Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM).

Sterlite Industries (NYSE: SLT) may see a volume spike lower after a stock offering that priced at a 6 percent discount.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Top Analyst Downgrades (CTAS, LEAP, SLE, TI)

There were only a few top analyst downgrades and cautious research calls from Wall Street firms this Monday morning.

Cintas (CTAS) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Leap Wireles (LEAP) Cut to Sell at Auriga.
Sara Lee (SLE) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Telecom Italia (TI) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Uniform Indicators Show No Employment Recovery (CTAS)

burning-money-picMany investors use companies such as Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) as a bogey of the economy, particularly for the employment sector.  There is a simple reason here: it provides corporate uniforms and related business services.  It is a direct tell on what is going on in the employment sector at major services and manufacturing companies where employees wear uniforms.  The earnings warning that Cintas gave this morning is not indicative of anything like a recovery coming yet in employment trends.
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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACM, AXYS, CTAS, CVD, GILD, PPDI, VISN, EPG, VTIV)

Money_stack_picIt is getting pretty thin in major analyst coverage as firms are encouraged to go easy on major year-end calls barring anything unexpected.  These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and new coverage calls we have seen this Tuesday morning:

  • AECOM (ACM) Started as Outperform at Baird.
  • Axsys Technologies (AXYS) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
  • Cintas (CTAS) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Covance (CVD) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Gilead (GILD) Started as Buy at Stanford Group.
  • PPD Inc. (PPDI) STarted as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • VisionChina Media (VISN) Strated as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Environmental Power Corp. (EPG) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • inVentiv Health (VTIV) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
December 23, 2008

Top 10 Early Bird Analyst Calls (AIG, CTAS, KBW, NTES, NKE, SAY, SHW, SWK, TEVA, WFMI)

These are only some of the early bird analyst calls that we have seen in early Monday pre-market trading, but these are some of the more active stock names:

  • American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Buy at Banc of America.
  • Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) Raised to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • KBW (NYSE: KBW) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Nike (NYSE: NKE) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
  • Satyam Computer Services (NYSE: SAY) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley; Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Sherwin Williams (NYSE: SHW) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Teva Pharmaceutical Ind. (NASDAQ: TEVA) Raised to Buy at Deutsche bank.
  • Whole Foods Markets (NASDAQ: WFMI) Raised to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
July 21, 2008

52-Week Low Club (AIR, AVR, LNG, CLX, CTAS, DELL, XXIA, LNET, MNST, PNCL, SSCC)

These are far from all of the lows, but these are many highlighted stocks that traders will care about.  The prices for today are based on the last hour of trading and prior ranges rather than the closing prices for this Friday.

AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) hit a new low today on no direct news from a 52-week range of $22.06 to $39.42.  Shares were down over 7% late in the day at $20.91.  Hmm.. products, services, and maintenance to the airlines.  Go figure.

Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AVR) down to a new low despite an upgrade by Broadpoint Capital. Ethanol stocks have dipped this month after a report that corn-supplies will be tight this year. Hit a new low of $4.22 late in the day from a 52-week range of $4.39 to $20.85.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG) down today on a downgrade by Lehman Brothers yesterday, despite announcements that its LNG terminal in Louisiana will begin to receive shipments on August 12. Shares down over $2.00 to new low of $16.17 off a 52-week range of $18.40 to $43.50.  This huge drop almost seems counterintuitive with sub-projects coming online and with energy prices in the stratosphere, but that downgrade from Lehman yesterday is ruling the roost.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) down to lowest points since 2004. Thursday, a Bernstein analyst estimated that third-quarter earnings could be lower than previously expected. Shares hit as low as $55.16 earlier today on a 52-week range of $55.37 to $69.36.  Maybe the public realized how bad bleach is for the water supply.

Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) dropped to a new low after a downgrade by Lehman Brothers. Shares hit a new low of $27.35 before recovering late in the day on a 52-week range of $27.41 to $41.04.  Uniform sales… what gets cut as employees get fired and as businesses trim expenses? Oh yeah, uniforms.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) fell along with the market today with the other computer companies. They just happened to hit a new low. They dropped to $18.44 on a 52-week range of $18.53 to $ 30.77.  The good news is that late in the day shares were back above the prior low.  The bad news is that nothing is going its direction.

Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA) taking a hit from downgrades by JMP Securities and Ferris Baker Watts. They also cut their own guidance for first quarter estimates. It hit a new low of $6.30 off a 52-week range of $6.51 to $10.70.

LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET) down to a new low of $5.70 today. Apparently good hospitality isn’t enough keep the shareholders comfortable. The 52-week range is $5.90 to $38.11.  As people cut back, maybe those in-hotel movies are easier to cut spending on.

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST) hit a new low today with a 52-week range of $23.00 to $50.28. It shouldn’t be out of a job anytime soon but if it is, it will know where to look.  Shares down almost 4% at $22.20 late in the day.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) taking a hit in the wake of Frontier Airlines bankruptcy scare. Hit a new low of $8.22 on a 52-week range of $8.43 to $20.34.  Stock edged back above that $8.50 level in last 20 minutes today.

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (NASDAQ: SSCC) dipped to a new low off a 52-week range of $6.65 to $14.08.  Shares were at $6.35 in the last 20 minutes today, down almost 8%.  paperboard and packaging… what gets cut when stuff stops selling stores?  Oh yeah, the packaging.

Jon C. Ogg
April 11, 2008