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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AEM, AVL, BRCD, CSTR, EV, ERTS, FINL, GILD, GOOG, GDOT, MRH, RIMM, SLXP, WEN, WYNN)

Administrator — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:21:05 +0000

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

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Eaton Vance Corporation (NYSE: EV) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
The Finish Line, Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) Started as Outperform at KBW.
Montpelier Re Holdings (NYSE: MRH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLXP) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
The Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AEM, AVL, BRCD, CSTR, ERTS, EV, FINL, GDOT, GILD, GOOG, MRH, RIMM, SLXP, WEN, WYNN

Daily Dividend: Value & Yield in Asset Managers (BLK, FII, BEN, LM, TROW, IVZ, EV)

Administrator — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:01:57 +0000

It’s the Daily Dividend at 11:00 AM. We often look for value, growth, and dividends in financial stocks. Banks have been elusive on the dividend front until just the last couple of days, although we did give a list of banks which did not kill their dividends and already had a payout to shareholders ahead of time. After looking through a “value” report from Zacks Investment Research this morning, we could not help but notice how BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) stood out against its money management peers.

While the report highlighted the relative value of BlackRock, the boosted dividend payment of late, and a relatively cheap P/E ratio for forward estimates (14.8), what stood out the most was that it seems very likely to 24/7 Wall St. that the competing asset management firms will begin offering higher payouts via dividend hikes. Not all will catch up to BlackRock in yield with its 2.9% payout, but it still looks as though the rise in assets under management and the recovery of the stock market in the last two years will cause its rivals to follow suit.

Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) also stood out in the pack of asset management firms. Its dividend is close to 3.7%. At $26.32, it trades at about 14.5-times the forward Thomson Reuters estimate of $1.81 EPS for fiscal Dec-2011. With the exception of a higher payout in quarter a year ago, the dividend has been static at $0.24 per quarter back to 2008.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) has a 0.8% dividend yield. At $118.25, it trades at 14.2-times Thomson’s Reuters estimates of $8.32 EPS for fiscal 2011. This one hiked its dividend back in December’s payout to $0.25 from $0.22 per quarter.

Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) has a 0.7% dividend yield. At $34.64, it trades at about 16.7-times the Thomson Reuters estimate of $2.07 for its March-2012 fiscal year-end. It raised its dividend two quarters ago to $0.06 from $0.04 per quarter.

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) has a 1.9% dividend yield. At $63.15 it trades at 19.5-times the Dec-2011 fiscal estimate from Thomson Reuters. The new 1.9% yield is also reflective of a dividend hike last quarter that went to $0.31 from $0.27 per quarter.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) has a 1.7% dividend yield. At $25.51, it trades at about 14-times the Thomson Reuters estimate of $1.81 EPS for fiscal Dec-2011. Invesco’s dividend has been static at $0.11 per quarter for a year now.

Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) has a 2.4% dividend yield. At $31.25, it trades at about 17.8-times the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.75 EPS for fiscal October-2011. Eaton Vance raised its dividend to $0.18 from $0.16 just two quarters ago.

There were also higher payouts elsewhere that were irregular and we stuck with companies that have predictable yields rather than fluctuating dividend yields.

If the current landscape remains relatively close today, it seems obvious that higher dividend payments are coming down the road from more asset management firms. Most of these firms do not need massive growth capital and many have low dividend payout ratios and therefore high dividend coverage ratios.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Financial Stocks, Shareholder Issues Tagged: BEN, BLK, EV, FII, IVZ, LM, TROW

Top Analyst Downgrades (BLKB, CTXS, DSCO, EV, FII, LUV)

247wallst — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:05:20 +0000

These are some of the analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen early this Tuesday morning on Wall Street:

Blackbaud (BLKB) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Citrix Systems (CTXS) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Discovery Labs (DSCO) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Eaton Vance (EV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Federated Investors (FII) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Southwest Air (LUV) Cut to Sell at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BLKB, CTXS, DSCO, EV, FII, LUV

Top Analyst Downgrades (CTXS, DSCO, EV, FII, FPL, RAX)

247wallst — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:31:17 +0000

These are this Monday’s top pre-market analyst downgrades and cautious research calls from Wall Street with more than two hours until the market opens:

Citrix Systems (CTXS) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Discovery Labs (DSCO) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Eaton Vance (EV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Federated Investors (FII) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
FPL Group (FPL) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Rackspace (RAX) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CTXS, DSCO, EV, FII, FPL, RAX

California Muni Bond Funds Defy Hangman (AB, BLK, EV, MS, AKP, BCK, RAA, BFZ, BCL, BJZ, MUC, CEV, EVM, CCA, IIC, IQC, ICS, NUC, NVX, NAC, NZH, NXC, PZC, PCK)

247wallst — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:00:13 +0000

It seems that even the Governator is having a hard time saving California, and many are blaming him for the state’s ballooning budget deficit. The company is facing billions in deficits and the headlines around the web put the state only weeks away from a financial meltdown. The state entered another moratorium for foreclosures, yet ask anyone from outside of the state if they think property has yet to get dirt cheap there. There are probably 20 or so single-state closed-end municipal bond funds that investors own. These come from AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB), BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Nuveen, and PIMCO. Interestingly enough, most of these municipal bond funds are up on the day. This is also not the full list in the entirety of the California single-state muni funds and does not include the open-ended funds:

Alliance California Municipal Income Fund Inc. (AKP)
+0.15% at $11,34; 52-week trading range is $6.56 to $14.23

BlackRock California Insured Municipal Income Trust (BCK)
+0.27% at $11.19; 52-week trading range is $7.15 – 13.45

BlackRock California Investment Quality Municipal Trust (RAA)
+0.47% at $10.59; 52-week trading range is $6.80 to $12.52

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (BFZ)
+0.26% at $11.65; 52-week trading range is $7.35 to $14.54

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust II (BCL)
+2.3% at $11.45; 52-week trading range is $6.85 to $14.00

BlackRock California Municipal 2018 Term Trust (BJZ)
-1.3% at $13.60; 52-week trading range is $9.02 to $15.49

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Insured Fund, Inc. (MUC)
+0.55% at $10.84; 52-week trading range is $5.50 to $12.57

Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust (CEV)
+1% at $9.99; 52-week trading range is $5.26 to $13.90

Eaton Vance Insured California Municipal Bond Fund (EVM)
+0.4% at $10.42; 52-week trading range is $6.22 to $13.70

MFS California Insured Municipal Fund (CCA)
+1.8% at $9.38; 52-week trading range is $6.09 to $11.92

Morgan Stanley California Insured Municipal Income Trust (IIC)
+0.27% at $11.23; 52-week trading range is Z$7.24 to $13.56

Morgan Stanley California Quality Municipal Securities (IQC)
+0.9% at $10.52; 52-week trading range is $6.75 to $13.77

Morgan Stanley Insured California Municipal Securities (ICS)
FLAT at $12.25; 52-week trading range is $9.95 to $15.00

Nuveen California Quality Income Municipal Fund (NUC)
+0.9% at $11.80; 52-week trading range is $7.44 to $13.65

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund 2 (NVX)
+1.6% at $11.45; 52-week trading range is $7.25 to $13.21

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NAC)
+0.3% at $10.83; 52-week trading range is $7.24 to $13.74

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund 3 (NZH)
+0.65% at $10.55; 52-week trading range is $6.94 to $13.34

Nuveen California Select Tax Free Portfolio (NXC)
+0.4% at $12.21; 52-week trading range is $9.15 to $14.50

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III (PZC)
+3.8% at $7.97; 52-week trading range is $4.28 to $13.93

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund II (PCK)
+4.9% at $7.89; 52-week trading range is $4.25 to $14.17

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (PCQ)
+2% at $10.52; 52-week trading range is $6.85 to $16.20

There is a very simple reason we did not include the dividend yields in these. Many have seen very sporadic dividend yields and these change often from month to month. In certain extreme cases, the dividends can also be skipped.

It used to be that you could buy the insured municipal funds with no perceived risk. But in today’s world, the questions loom about how much strength the insurer for the single muni issuers has. Too many got hung up in mortgage insurance woes.

Jon C. Ogg
June 16, 2009

Posted in Bonds, Dividend, Mutual Funds, Politics Tagged: AB, AKP, BCK, BCL, BFZ, BJZ, BLK, CCA, CEV, EV, EVM, ICS, IIC, IQC, MS, MUC, NAC, NUC, NVX, NXC, NZH, PCK, PZC, RAA

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (BNI, CERN, DECK, EV, HWAY, IPAR, NSC, RF)

247wallst — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:38:33 +0000

There were other upgrades but these are the ones we are seeing having an impact on shares this morning:

Burlington Northern (BNI) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Cerner (CERN) Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Deckers Outdoor (DECK) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Eaton Vance (EV) Raised to Buy Goldman Sachs.
Healthways (HWAY) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Inter Parfums (IPAR) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Regions Financial (RF) Raised to Outperform at KBW.

Jon C. Ogg
September 10, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ABB, CAH, EV, FAST, GE, MMC, PETM, SPW, V)

247wallst — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:11:35 +0000

These are not the only analyst calls being seen this Monday in pre-market hours, but these are the top calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on so far this morning:

ABB (NYSE: ABB) cut to Equalweight From Overweight at Lehman.
Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Eaton Vance (NYSE: EV) Raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer; cut to Peer Perform from outperform at Bear Stearns.
Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
PETsMART (NASDAQ: PETM) raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America.
SPX Corp (NYSE: SPW) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Visa (NYSE: V) started as Outperform at KBW.

Jon C. Ogg
April 14, 2008