Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE: BBVA) Cut to Sell at Societe Generale.

Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Jetblue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.

Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) Raised to Outperform at Baird.

Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Cut to Sell at Soc-Gen.

Repblic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush Morgan.

Splunk, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) Started as Buy at BofA/ML; Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Neutral at UBS; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Tumi Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TUMI) Started as Buy at Jefferies; Started as Outperform at William Blair; Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

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.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

JON C. OGG

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) Cut to Buy from Strong Buy at S&P Capital IQ.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD) Reiterated Buy and target set at $61 by Argus.
Leap Wireless International (NASDAQ: LEAP) Cut to Neutral at Collins Stewart.
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, Cut to Equalweight at Barclays.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) Raised to Buy with $202 target at Argus.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Reiterated Outperform with $145 target at Credit Suisse.
Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) named as Aggressive Growth stock of the day at Zacks.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

If you look at the outstanding shares, it comes close to $4.55 per share.  Just this week it has also tendered for some $2.8 billion in notes due in 6 years and 7 years.

If you want to know what a good refinancing effort is, try this: noteholder modification that allows for more shareholder payments, and at a lower interest rate that will significantly add to the net earnings.  In short, the company’s capital structure is moving away from the old bondholders to the stockholders.

Shares are trading up over 10% at $30.20 on more than 7.5 million shares (about 150% of normal trading volume).  The current market cap is $17.2 billion and the share price compares to a 52-week trading range of $22.90 to $48.12.  This is the first day shares have been back above $30.00 since September 27 and the stock has not closed above $30.00 since September 20.  This was a $40 stock as recently as August 2.

The August 15, 2011 dividend was listed as $0.20 per share and that would generate a dividend yield of about 2.65% today.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is also down considerably from a year high of $42.23 to $27.30.  Its market cap is almost double that of LyondellBasell at over $32 billion and Dow also offers a 3.8% current dividend yield.

Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) is up 3% at $37.27, its 52-week high is $55.36, its market cap is $5.2 billion, and its implied dividend yield is about 2.9%.

JON C. OGG

Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $17 at Gleacher & Co.
Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) Raised to Buy with $49 target at Argus.
Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Reiterated Outperform with $28 target on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday call).
Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) Maintained Buy as Value stock at Zacks.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI) Called as Bear of the Day with $1.75 target at Zacks.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Time Warner. Inc (NYSE: TWX) Reiterated Outperform with $40 target on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ: TRMB) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ: DECK) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
E.I. duPont de Nemours (NYSE: DD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) Started as Buy at Wunderlich.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Started as Hold at Wunderlich.
Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: NUS) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
National Grid plc (NYSE: NGG) Cut to Neutral at Nomura.
Regency Centers Corp. (NYSE: REG) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) Reiterated Neutral but target raised to $100 at Credit Suisse.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Started as Hold at Wunderlich.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

MELA Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: MELA) is up over 100% after an FDA panel vote.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

The big buybacks we tracker were as follows, mostly from more recent to earlier in the week:  Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: APEI), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN), Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS), WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD), Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML), General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE: PCL), AutoChina International Ltd. (NASDAQ: AUTC), Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA), Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ: FMCN), CommVault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT), W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB), WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE: WMS), and VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN).

There are some of these that were new plans.  Some were in addition to existing plans.  Some appear to have been voted on earlier and were included in earnings announcements.  We have a few of the standout plan announcements listed out below, and then we have a table showing the big plans and the total amount.

American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI) got crushed after earnings and the amount thrown forward into a buyback may seem insignificant to a market cap north of $550 million.  It announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a program to repurchase up to $20 million worth of shares of common stock.

Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL): “The program permits the Company to repurchase $250 million of its shares of Class A Common Stock, subject to market conditions. This amount is in addition to the $319 million available at the end of the first quarter of Fiscal 2011 as part of previously authorized stock repurchase programs, bringing the Company’s total current authorizations to $569 million.”

VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) was included in the earnings report and the company said the Board approved it last week: “the Board of Directors approved an additional authorization for share repurchases of approximately $1.1 billion, which brings the total amount authorized and remaining under the plan to $1.5 billion.”

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) repurchased $1.72 Billion of company stock in the second quarter and its Board approved an additional $2.0 Billion stock repurchase program.

Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) said its board of directors has approved a stock repurchase program and is authorized to purchase up to $1 billion of its common stock.

General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) authorized management to repurchase up to 10 million shares of the issued and outstanding common stock on the open market, which comes to roughly $635 million in today’s price.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

The remediation players include large companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG); medium-cap companies like Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH), Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE:EMN), Nalco Holding Co. (NYSE:NLC), and Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH); and small-caps Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR) and Arch Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:ARJ). There’s even a OTC stock, MOP Environmental (OTC:MOPN) that is likely to benefit from the clean-up.

Procter & Gamble makes Dawn dishwashing detergent, which is the cleaner of choice for wildlife covered with oil. The company has already delivered 2,000 bottles of the detergent to the Gulf coast, and more will likely be needed. The impact on P&G’s bottom line should only be minimal, but this will give the Dawn brand a nice boost and it would be unlike P&G to miss a chance like this to build its image.

Ashland, Eastman, Nalco, and Arch make specialty chemicals that are being used to disperse the oil slick formed by the leaking well. Nalco has already supplied more than 300,000 gallons of its dispersant to BP and the others might be shipping the stuff as well.  Ashland provides hazardous waste removal services as well as chemicals. Eastman and Arch make specialty chemicals and solvents that can be used to clean up oil slicks.

Clean Harbors offers ships and crews to the Gulf coast and has been contracted by government agencies to provide logistics and support services. The company today released an update to its expected revenues as a result of its work on the spill. Clean Harbors now forecasts an increase of second quarter revenues of 15%-20% above the First Call estimates of $352 million.

There are more than 650 vessels now in the Gulf to work on containing and cleaning up the oil. Over 1.25 million feet of containment boom is already in place (that’s more than 235 miles worth) and some 440,000 feet of absorbent boom has also been deployed. About 285,000 feet of containment boom and 900,000 feet of absorbent boom is still available for deployment. Almost double the amount of deployed containment boom is already on order from various suppliers, mostly small privately held companies along the Gulf coast.

One company that makes absorbent booms is MOP Environmental Solutions, Inc. MOP booms can absorb the floating oil and the oil can then be extracted from the boom material. The boom itself is recyclable. The company announced in a press release that it has lowered the price on its boom in response to the Gulf spill.

While all these companies are likely to see a revenue boost as a result of their abilities to aid in the clean up of the Gulf, the longer term prospects might be even brighter. It’s almost certain that new federal regulations will be adopted not only to make deepwater drilling safer, but that companies involved in drilling will be required to be better prepared for an a spill. That requirement will provide an opportunity for these companies to do even more business both with the federal government and with the oil companies that will surely be picking up the tab.

With the exception of Clean Harbors, all these companies are trading nearly flat or down today, probably due to the news that BP is having some success with its efforts to contain the spill.

Paul Ausick

Interestingly enough, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority are investing in the deal.  Rohm & Haas is more diversified than mere chemicals but a 74% premium deal has interest likely falling into other key chemical players and ones to watch would be Air Products (NYSE: APD), Celanese (NYSE: CE), Eastman Chemicals (NYSE: EMN), Ashland (NYSE: ASH) and in particular Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN).

The deal is subject to shareholder approval, but this is likely a done deal so long as no anti-trust issues crop up.  The 52-week trading range is $44.13 to $62.68 and shares have never traded that high, so it seems no  one will fight this.   

There are more than 30% of the shares owned or controlled by Haas family trusts and they have indicated their support of the merger.  Rounding up the other votes should be easy at this point.

Jon C. Ogg
July 10, 2008

Jon C. Ogg
Januar 28, 2008