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Dividend Cut at Exelon a Sign of Things to Come? (EXC, DUK, D, AEP, SO)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:45:06 +0000

After reporting pretty much awful results this morning, Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) let investors know that it would also cut its quarterly dividend by a whopping 41%, from $0.525 to $0.31. The merchant power generator and owner of Illinois power company Commonwealth Edison said it needs to lower its dividend in order “maintain our investment grade rating, return a stable dividend and provide capacity to invest in growth.”

If the only — or at least the main — reason to own stock in utilities is to earn a steady flow of dividend income, Exelon’s cut is a bad sign for dividend investors. The problems, of course, are warmer or more severe weather (over which the company has no control), lower demand for electricity (over which the company has no control), tighter regulation of emissions (over which the company has very little control), higher operating expenses (mainly due to storm damage) and higher depreciation and amortization expenses due to added capital spending. That last item is the one that could cause other utilities to take the same path as Exelon.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) said yesterday that it would close a nuclear power plant in Florida rather than pay to upgrade and recommission the plant. Last year Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) shut down a nuclear plant in Wisconsin, and another four nukes could follow this year. It is more cost effective to build a new natural gas-fired plant than it is to keep a nuke running or certainly to build a new one. Exelon, with its acquisition last year of Constellation Energy, produces 55% of its electricity from nuclear-powered plants.

Coal is not faring too well either. A survey by Bloomberg shows that the all-in cost of coal-fired generation is about $50 per megawatt-hour higher than the cost of natural gas-fired generation. That is all down to fuel costs and right now there is nothing cheaper than natural gas. How long that will last is debatable, but Duke is banking on it. The company plans to replace the Florida nuke and two coal-fired plants with natural gas generation over the next few years.

American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) and Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) still depend heavily on coal-fired generation although AEP is building natural gas plants and Southern is working on a coal-gasification plant, and even planning on a new nuclear plant in Georgia. Neither company chooses to rely on continuing low natural gas prices and face a 2015 deadline for either bringing coal plants into compliance with new regulations or closing them.

The impact on dividends follows both from energy consumption and the changes in fuel. Before today, Exelon’s dividend yield was 6.8%. That will fall to about 4.1% next quarter, which is lower than Duke’s 4.4%, AEP’s 4.2% and Southern’s 4.5%, and equal to Dominion’s 4.1%. These are still pretty lofty yields, but the combination of forces that led Exelon to drop its dividend exerts a similar power over the other power generation companies.

Exelon’s share price is up 2% this morning, at $31.60 in a 52-week range of $28.40 to $40.31.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Dividend, Utilities Tagged: AEP, D, DUK, EXC, SO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — October 31, 2012: Markets Open Higher Only to Flatten Out (RVBD, S, UBS, D, VLO, BUD, MT, CAM, CNH, COCO, CMI, ETN, H, MA, PSX, CLX, WM, ALL, CZR, HTZ, MUR, APA, CVC, EXC, XOM, HCA, RGLD, F, WRC, PVH, WU)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:42:39 +0000

U.S. equity markets re-opened for business in New York this morning after a two-day shutdown forced by Hurricane Sandy. Markets opened higher, but lost their energy by mid-morning. Asian markets were higher on some decent earnings reports out of China and other mixed data reports. In Europe, consumer confidence hit a six-month low in the U.K. and Europe’s unemployment ticked back up to 11.6% (more coverage here). Eurozone members continue to wrestle with the Greek debacle following worse-than-expected estimates on that country’s debt forecast. In the U.S., mortgage applications fell and interest rates ticked back up (more coverage here) and the quarterly report on U.S. employment costs was largely inline with expectations and mostly ignored (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index fell today, now down 0.04% at 79.901. The GSCI commodity index is down less than 0.1% at 635.79, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil is up about xx% in electronic trading today, at $86.24 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 0.5% at $108.55 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.2% today at about $3.70 per thousand cubic feet. Gold closed at $1,719.10 an ounce, up about 0.4% for the day, but down 3% for the month of October.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 10 points to 13,096.85 (-0.08%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 11 points (-0.36%) to 2,977.23, and the S&P 500 rose 0.01% or less than 1 point to 1,412.15.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) cut to ‘neutral’ at Baird; Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $7.50 at Argus; UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) was added to the ‘Conviction Buy List’ at Goldman Sachs; Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $39 at BofA/ML.

Earnings reports since last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Anheuser Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) is down 1.7% at $83.79; ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) is down 4.2% at $14.80; Cameron International Corp. (NYSE: CAM) is down 2.6% at $49.92; CNH Global NV (NYSE: CNH) is up 4.5% at $44.79; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is up 8.6% at $2.65; Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) is down 0.3% at $93.56; Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) is up 4.4% at $47.12; Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) is down 4.1% at $36.49; MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is up 2.1% at $462.65 (more coverage here); Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is down 0.6% at $47.23 (more coverage here); The Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) is up 0.3% at $72.30; and Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) is up 0.9% at $32.83.

Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to hear from Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR), Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC), Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA), and Royal Gold Inc. (NYSE: RGLD).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is up 7.9% at $11.13. The U.S. carmaker hammered third-quarter estimates this morning. More coverage here.

The Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is down 28.7% at $12.79 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.48 earlier today. The money and payment services company lowered its fiscal year outlook and investors hit the firm’s stock hard.

The Warnaco Group Inc. (NYSE: WRC) is up 38.5% at $70.48, after posting a new 52-week high of $71.41 earlier today. The apparel maker has agreed to a $2.9 billion acquisition by PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH). More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart are scheduled to give speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs
8:58 a.m. – PMI manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Conference Board consumer confidence
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply.

Happy Halloween!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALL, APA, BUD, CAM, CLX, CMI, CNH, COCO, CVC, CZR, D, ETN, EXC, F, H, HCA, HTZ, MA, MT, MUR, PSX, PVH, RGLD, RVBD, S, UBS, VLO, WM, WRC, WU, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ALU, CTRP, D, FLTX, IDTI, NANO, ODFL, RVBD, S, UBS, VLO, DIS, WU, AAPL, ACI, OFC, ARR, ISRG, LOCK, PCS, WIT, LAD, ALL, URI, MPC)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:45:45 +0000

The top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall St. research calls will be playing catch-up on Wednesday as the markets did not get a chance to react to the analyst calls on Monday and Tuesday while the stock markets were closed due to the hurricane. These are the key research calls for Wednesday, and we have grouped in some of the reports from Monday and Tuesday as well.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) reiterated Underperform with 0.66 euro price target (versus 0.80 local price, not ADR) at BofA/ML.

Ctrip.com International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) raised to Buy at Argus.

Fleetmatics Group Limited (NYSE: FLTX) started as Buy at BofA/ML and started as Overweight at Barclays.

Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI) cut to Neutral at Wedbush.

Nanometrics Inc. (NASDAQ: NANO) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) started as Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) cut to Neutral at Baird.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reiterated Buy with $7.50 target at Argus.

UBS A.G. (NYSE: UBS) added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated Buy with $39 target at BofA/ML.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reiterated Outperform with $58 target by Credit Suisse due to Lucasfilm/Star Wars buyout.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Here were some of the top analyst calls made while the markets were closed Monday and Tuesday:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was covered by Stern Agee and by Credit Suisse after Tim Cook reshuffled management in firings. FULL DETAILS

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) cut to Sell at CRT Capital.

Armour Residential REIT (NYSE: ARR) started as Outperform with $7.50 target at Credit Suisse.

Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) was added to the US 1 Focus List at BofA/ML.

LifeLock Inc. (NYSE: LOCK) started as Buy at Needham, started as Buy at Deutsche Bank, started as Buy at Goldman Sachs and started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE: LAD) was named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks on Tuesday, and United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was named value stock of the day at Zacks on Monday.

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) was named Bull of the Day at Zacks on Monday, while Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was named as Bull of the Day at Zacks on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse showed which insurance companies had the most and least exposure to hurricane damages against their fourth-quarter earnings from this storm.

Also, here were the changes for November in the Argus Model Portfolio.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ACI, ALL, ALU, ARR, CTRP, D, DIS, FLTX, IDTI, ISRG, LAD, LOCK, MPC, NANO, ODFL, OFC, PCS, RVBD, S, UBS, URI, VLO, WIT, WU

Dominion to Shut Down Wisconsin Nuke Plant

Paul Ausick — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:19:57 +0000

The lack of interest in nuclear power generation in the United States continues to grow. Today, Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) announced that it will stop producing power at its 556-megawatt Kewaunee nuclear generating plant in Carlton, Wisc., in the second quarter of 2013 and begin closing down the facility. The company will take a one-time, after-tax charge of $281 million related to the closure in its third quarter, which ended in September.

Dominion has sought a buyer for the plant for the past 18 months or so. The company will meet its contractual obligations to two customers of the plant by buying power on the open market until the contracts expire in December 2013.

The Kewaunee plant began operating in 1974 and Dominion acquired it in 2005. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed the plant’s license in 2011 for an additional 20 years, out to 2033. That should have given the plant a new lease on life, but with few exceptions, there simply are no buyers for nuclear generation since last year’s disaster in Japan.

Dominion’s shares are down 0.9% at $53.01, in a 52-week range of $48.87 to $55.62.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Earnings Warning, Nuclear, Utilities Tagged: D

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ARMH, OFC, DLTR, D, FDX, HR, HD, IMAX, JCI, MTB, OC, QCOM, SAP, SFLY, SKYW, TE, THOR, TYC, VIA, ZNGA, FITB, USB, C, JPM, USB)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:17:26 +0000

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

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) raised to Outperform with $59 target at Credit Suisse.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) reiterated Buy and raised target to $108 at BofA/ML.

Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: HR) cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

IMAX Corp. (NYSE: IMAX) started as Outperform with $28 target at Credit Suisse.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) raised to Outperform with $109 target at Credit Suisse.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas.

SAP A.G. (NYSE: SAP) cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.

Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) raised to Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.

SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

TECO Energy Inc. (NYSE: TE) cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Thoratec Corp. (NASDAQ: THOR) raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA) cut to Underperform at Bernstein.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made several ratings changes on the U.S. banking sector. Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was cut to Neutral from Buy on Tuesday. This morning we see that Bank of America says ahead of earnings season that it is time to increase weightings in money center banks. The bank reinstated coverage as follows: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) with a Buy rating and $45 price objective and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) as Buy with a $48 price objective. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was downgraded to Neutral in the call. Yesterday Bank of America outlined the case for the great rotation into stocks and out of bonds in 2013.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ARMH, C, D, DLTR, FDX, FITB, HD, HR, IMAX, JCI, JPM, MTB, OC, OFC, QCOM, SAP, SFLY, SKYW, TE, THOR, TYC, USB, VIA, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ANR, BSFT, CMS, D, ERIC, KBR, KCG, NWSA, POT, SIRI, SONS, DDD, USB, XEL)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:12:00 +0000

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

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) cut to Hold at Brean Murray Carret.

BroadSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) started as Perform at Oppenheimer.

CMS Energy Corp. (NYSE: CMS) cut to Hold at Argus.

Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) raised to Hold from Sell at Soc-Gen.

KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) maintained as Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: KCG) cut to Market Perform at KBW.

News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONS) started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) cut to Hold at Argus.

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: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ANR, BSFT, CMS, D, DDD, ERIC, KBR, KCG, NWSA, POT, SIRI, SONS, USB, XEL

Nuclear Waste Company Fires CEO, Reduces Guidance (ES, UEC, URRE, CCJ, DNN, D, EXC, DUK, GE)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:56:19 +0000

Shares of nuclear waste disposal company Energy Solutions Inc. (NYSE: ES) are getting pummeled today following the announcement that the company has appointed a new CEO and that the company has lowered 2012 adjusted EBITDA guidance from a previous range of $150-$160 million to $130-$140 million. The company blamed the lowered guidance on a slowdown of shipments to its facilities in the Utah desert about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City, a delay in a new project, and slower progress than expected toward cost reductions.

Nuclear stocks are fighting declines from end to end. Uranium miners Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX: UEC), Uranium Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: URRE), Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ), and Denison Mines Corp. (AMEX: DNN) are all down anywhere from -46% (UEC) to-93% (URRE). The decline is traceable to last year’s disaster in Japan, which has led to a decision in that country to reduce dependence on nuclear energy and a decision in Germany to shut down all existing nuclear generation by 2022.

In the US, power providers like Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D), Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), and Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) have applications pending for more than 25 new generating units. New nukes in the US are at least a decade away, if they ever make it through the regulatory regime at all. Turbine makers like General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Toshiba could also be waiting a long time for new business. Nuclear energy, from mine to clean-up, is a long-term play in what is now a very short-term market.

In addition to replacing the company president, Energy Solutions also replaced the CFO.

Energy Solutions’ stock is down about -55% this morning at $1.61 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.55 earlier. The previous range is $2.76-$5.43.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Active Trader, HI/LOW, Most Actives, Nuclear, Utilities Tagged: CCJ, D, DNN, DUK, ES, EXC, GE, UEC, URRE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:28:07 +0000

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

AAR Corporation (NYSE: AIR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

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

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) Raised to Buy at Argus.

Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE: D) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup; Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

Infoblox Inc. (NYSE: BLOX) Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Overweight at Stephens; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) Started as Outperform at William Blair.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Cut to Neutral at Cowen.

Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. (NYSE: PRX) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE: RBS) Raised to Equalweight at Morgan Stanley.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Total SA (NYSE: TOT) Raised to Buy at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGCO, AIR, AKAM, AMAT, AMZN, BLOX, CL, D, FLEX, GRPN, JBHT, JBL, JNPR, MCD, PRU, PRX, PSX, RBS, SO, TOT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (BBY, SD, ALL, JCP, KIM, AEP, CVX, D, F, HON, PG, SOA, CPHD, INFI, NRGY, RVBD)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:07:13 +0000

All three major US indexes opened lower this morning following the report that US GDP grew by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. A rise of 3% was expected. Combined with the lack of a solution the Greek debt swap and lackluster earnings from several major US companies, the DJIA has remained down all day though the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 have turned positive (barely). There’s still about half an hour to go before the close, so there’s still some hope that all the indexes will finish the week on an uptick, no matter how small. WTI crude oil is down -0.13% at $99.57/barrel and Brent crude is up 0.55% at $111.40/barrel. Gold is higher by 0.50% at $1,738.50.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 74 points to 12,660.61 (-0.58%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.40%) to 2,816.55, and the S&P 500 fell -0.16% or about 2 points to 1,316.33.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) started as ‘outperform’ with a $32 target price at Credit Suisse; Sandridge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) started as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity; The Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) started as ‘outperform’ at William Blair; J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) raised to ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray and maintained as ‘buy’ with target price raised to $49 at Argus; and Kimco Realty Crop. (NYSE: KIM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) is down -2.62% at $40.20; Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is down -2.10% at $104.35; Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) is down -1.91% at $49.88; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is down -3.69% at $12.27; Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) is up 1.31% at $58.59; and Proctor & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is down -0.51% at $64.47.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Solutia Inc. (NYSE: SOA) is up more than 40% at $27.35, after posting a new 52-week high of $27.85 earlier today. The specialty chemicals company has agreed to be acquired by Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) for $3.4 billion in cash and stock.

Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) is up more than 25% at $42.98 after posting new 52-week high of $43.03 earlier today. The medical diagnostics equipment maker has boosted its sales outlook and is enjoying a halo effect from the hostile takeover bid for Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN).

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INFI) is down -40% at $5.97. The drug maker has cancelled further trials of a pancreatic cancer drug that does not perform better than placebo.

Inergy L.P. (NYSE: NRGY) is down nearly -24% at $17.31 after posting a new 52-week low of $17.23 earlier today. The natural gas distribution company is cutting payouts to its unitholders.

Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) is down nearly -19% at $24.38. The networking technology company warned this morning that first-quarter sales growth would not meet previous expectations.

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

8:30 a.m. – Personal income and outlays
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auctions

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Active Trader, Calendar, HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AEP, ALL, BBY, CPHD, CVX, D, F, HON, INFI, JCP, KIM, NRGY, PG, RVBD, SD, SOA

Company Winners & Losers Expected From Hurricane Irene (ALL, TRV, CB, BRK-A, DUK, D, ETR, AWK, VZ, HD, LOW, URI, PPG, BECN, IBI, BGG, GNRC, CRD-B, CLH, NYX, NDAQ)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:24:57 +0000

Will Hurricane Irene cost the United States $10 billion? $15 billion? Or even more? It really depends upon whom you speak with on this front. The expected damage count is growing now that the hurricane path looks far more definite since it is closer and closer to landfall. One thing is almost certain… The damage is expected to be big and it is going to hit areas of the country which usually are not as badly affected by summer weather. This will be one weekend to remember on the Eastern Seaboard. We have pulled some economic data and put together some of the likely winners and losers as far as companies are concerned from this storm and its aftermath.

UBS has issued a brief report that hurricanes tend to have little impact on GDP and on Federal Reserve policy, but one notion that they do influence is employment. The observation is that companies in hurricane areas tend to push out their new hiring decisions by about a month.

We wanted to take a look at just some of the companies in each sector that would win and lose from the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. You can imagine that insurance companies are going to be hit by damage claims, but what about power, water, and telecom? And imagine the construction and rebuilding business. And the building supplies and service providers.

Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) and The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) have exposure in the areas around North Carolina. That is where the landfall is expected first. Perhaps more worrisome is the upper Eastern Seaboard where Hurricane Irene is expected to strafe this weekend. The Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) has exposure in New York and on north throughout southern New England, as does Allstate and Travelers. Chubb noted on its site, “Hurricane Irene Alert: Chubb is helping its customers prepare for the storm.” Allstate also has a claim and preparedness site.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is also likely not immune as Mr. Buffett has joked in the past that he was lucky enough to avoid hurricanes for two straight years.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) spoke on CNBC this morning saying that while they do expect damage that they have their staff ready to go to assist in the region. Power lines and power equipments tend to not do well in floods, 100 mile an hour wind, lightning, and with flying debris. Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) saw a brief outage at a nuclear plant this week due to the earthquake, but it has already said that its Virginia and North Caroline units are preparing for the aftermath. Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) has the often controversial Indian Point nuclear power plant located about 35 miles the middle of Manhattan.

This could have an impact on American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) as well, even though this company is very diversified throughout parts of America. The New Jersey based water utility has operations at risk in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is also diversified all over the United States, particularly on wireless. That being said, it has real land line and phone line exposure throughout much of the projected areas in New York and the Northeast as the former Bell Atlantic.

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