24/7 Wall St. » FNF

Eight Outrageous CEO Perks

Douglas A. — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:46:59 +0000

The outcry about overpaid CEOs has gone on for years as the financial press combs SEC statements for outlandish pay packages that sometime run into the tens of millions of dollars. Often lost among the large sums paid out as salary, bonuses, and stock options are special compensations for valuable services that very few people can afford — what is most commonly known as perks. Many public companies provide services, at no charge, to their CEOs, ranging from the use of private corporate airplanes to accounting services and security details. The value of these perks can add well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for some chief executives.

Click here to see the eight outrageous CEO perks

24/7 looked through a large number of proxy statements, including those for the 50 companies that paid their CEOs the most last year, to find special benefits for which shareholders paid extraordinary amounts. The chief executive officers who received these perks almost all have one or two things in common. Most are wildly rich, or work for wildly rich people. This includes moguls such as Barry Diller. Many of the executives on this list are also the founders of their companies, such as Ralph Lauren and Martha Stewart. And many, like Las Vegas Sands casino boss Sheldon Adelson, have effective voting control over the public corporation they run.

It would be tempting to say, although it cannot be proven, that the most powerful CEOs and chairmen based on wealth, ownership, and founder’s privileges get the best perks. They are certainly in a position to control their compensation packages better than most public company leaders.

So, from among the most generous CEO perks, 24/7 Wall St. has picked several of the most extravagant ones.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Compensation, Special Report Tagged: CBS, CHK, featured, FNF, IACI, JCP, LVS, MSO, RL

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AMZN, BNNY, ADSK, BBY, BMRN, BRCD, LLY, FNF, GTIV, THS)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:19:21 +0000

These are the top analyst calls of upgrades, downgrades and initiations we have seen from Wall St. research calls this Monday morning.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) reiterated Buy with $264 target at BofA/ML.

Annie’s Inc. (NYSE: BNNY) reinstated as Outperform with $48 target at Credit Suisse.

Autodesk Corp. (NASDAQ: ADSK) cut to Hold at Argus.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) maintained Buy with $7 target at BofA/ML.

Eli Lilly Co. (NYSE: LLY) raised to Outperform with $53 target at Credit Suisse.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) named Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.

Gentiva Health Services Inc. (NASDAQ: GTIV) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Treehouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

As you can see, there are fewer calls than on most trading days. With this being the week ahead of Labor Day, we would expect that trend to remain in place between now and next Tuesday.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ADSK, AMZN, BBY, BMRN, BNNY, BRCD, FNF, GTIV, LLY, THS

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 25, 2012: Markets Crushed Nearly 2%

Paul Ausick — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:04:27 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened lower this morning as markets have begun to reach the conclusion that this week’s Eurozone summit is not likely to resolve the continent’s financial crisis. Spain has formally requested €100 billion to recapitalize the nation’s banks (more coverage here). US new home sales continue to rise, but the better news did not offer a lot of encouragement to investors (our coverage here). Cyprus has also formally requested a bailout from its Eurozone partners, and while the amount is small, the potential ramifications are anything but (our coverage here).

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.29% at 82.494. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.8% at 563.72, with commodities prices mostly higher today. WTI crude oil closed down -0.7% at $79.21/barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.03% at $91.01/barrel. Natural gas rose about 2.6% today to $2.694/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled up 1.4%, at $1,588.40/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 138 points to 12,503.19 (-1.09%), the NASDAQ fell more than 56 points (-1.95%) to 2,836.16, and the S&P 500 fell -1.60% or more than 21 points to 1,313.71.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including AutoNation (NYSE: AN) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank; Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised to ‘neutral’ at Janney; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) reiterated ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $45 at Credit Suisse; Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; and Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley (more coverage here).

There have been no earnings reports of note since last Friday, but we’re scheduled to get earnings from Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX), among others after markets close today. Earnings are due tomorrow from H and R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), and Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ), among others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

J. Alexander’s Corp. (NASDAQ: JAX) is up 16.2% at $11.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.76 earlier today. The restaurant firm is being acquired by Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) in a cash and stock deal worth $72 million.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) is up 13% at $21.88. The beer and alcoholic beverage maker is expected to benefit from the rumored acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev AB (NYSE: BUD) of the remaining shares it doesn’t own in Mexico’s Grupo Modelo. More coverage here.

Sonic Automotive Inc. (NYSE: SAH) is down -14.3% at $11.97. The automobile retailer has announced a private offering of up to $200 million of senior subordinated notes.

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

9:00 a.m. – S&P Case-Shiller housing price index
10:00 a.m. – Conference board consumer confidence index
10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing survey
10:00 a.m. – State Street investor confidence survey
11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week bill auctions
1:00 p.m. – 2-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Active Trader, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AN, APOL, BA, BUD, featured, FNF, HRB, JAX, LDK, MRK, NFLX, RIMM, SAH, SNX, STZ, ZZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AA, BHI, BRCM, CFN, CHTR, C, FNF, FSLR, GS, HAL, LULU, M, PGR, QCOM, UNH, URBN, VMW, WHR)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:22:06 +0000

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

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Buy at Societe Generale.
CareFusion Corporation (NYSE: CFN) Started as Market Perform at BMO.
Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) Started as Outperform with $60 target at Credit Suisse.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) cut estimates and cut target to $45 from $50 at Credit Suisse’ Maintained Sell at Argus.
Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Monday call).
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) Started as Buy at Stern Agee; Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Lulelemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Started as Neutral at Macquarie.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) Started as Hold at Societe Generale.
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Underperform at Macquarie; Started as Outperform at FBR.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AA, BHI, BRCM, C, CFN, CHTR, FNF, FSLR, GS, HAL, LULU, M, PGR, QCOM, UNH, URBN, VMW, WHR

The 21 Companies That Exclude Women From Leadership

Douglas A. McIntyre — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:26:03 +0000

More than half of the American workforce is comprised of women. It is well-known that they are paid less than their male counterparts. Several studies show that female workers make about 77% of the compensation paid to their male peers. The numbers are worse for women of color. This inequality hurts women at every level of the job market.

Women, who make up about 40% of the students at elite business schools, have an especially difficult time moving into the ranks of senior management at America’s largest public companies. New data from the research from the nonprofit Catalyst shows that 60 of the Fortune 500 corporations have no female directors. Out of the same group, 136 companies have no women among their top five executives. Moreover, there are 26 Fortune 500 firms which have neither a female board member nor a woman in executive management. The data came from proxy statements filed as of June 30, 2010. 24/7 Wall St. research found that four companies have added a female director since then: Philip Morris, Blockbuster, Virgin Media, and Synnex.

After we reviewed the Catalyst data, the companies were categorized by industry, and 24/7 Wall St. examined their corporate websites to see whether they had any women in top management at all. When we did find someone, they were usually in human resources, public relations, investor relations, or accounting.

The figures are outrageous and point to lingering misogyny in the board rooms and executive suites of a number of America’s largest companies. It is incomprehensible how public companies in the 21st Century can manage to exclude women from such critical roles.

1) Autoliv (ALV)
Autoliv makes and distributes automotive safety products, such as airbags and seat belts.
-Company lists no women on management team.

2) Cameron International (CAM)
Cameron International is a global provider of flow equipment products, systems, and services to oil, gas, and process industries.
-Rozlin Larkey – Vice President of Human Resources
-Grace B. Holmes – Corporate Secretary

3.) CC Media Holdings (CCMO.PK)
CC Media Holdings, the parent company of Clear Channel Communications, is a media company that works in radio and advertising.
-Company lists no women on management team.

4.) CHS (CHSCP)
CHS, which occupies the 91st position on the Fortune 500, is a diversified energy, grains, and food company.
-Company lists no women on management team.

5.) Emcor Group (EME)
Emcor group designs and constructs electrical and mechanical systems, including transformers, generators, and power cables.
-Mava K. Heffler – Vice President of Marketing and Communications

6.) Energy Transfer Equity (ETE)
Energy Transfer Equity, which owns the general partner of Energy Transfer Partners, transports natural gas throughout the United States.
-Company lists no women on management team.

7.) EOG Resources (EOG)
EOG Resources is one of the largest independent natural gas and oil companies in the United States. As of the end of 2009, it employed approximately 2,100 people.
-Maire Baldwin – Vice President of Investor Relations
-Patricia Edwards – Vice President of Human Resources
-Ann Janssen – Vice President of Accounting

Filed under: Compensation, Corporate Governance, General, Management Change Tagged: ALV, BCG, CAM, CCMO.PK, CHSCP, EME, EOG, ETE, FNF, GLP, IAAC, IEP, INT, LLL, LVS, NOV, PPC, RSG, SAH, SHAW, TSO

The Unusual Suspects for the Week Ahead (ATVI, TTWO, AMZN, GMCR, FNF, FAF, GERN, GYMB, JPM, MON, NBG, NFLX, SDTH, SIRI, TSLA, UAL, UTX, WDR)

Jon C. Ogg — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 14:25:49 +0000

This weekend’s edition of The Unusual Suspects is different. While some earnings focus is made, there are several key events coming up that investors and traders alike will want to watch. Don’t forget about Friday’s unemployment figure because that will potentially be the tide that raises or sinks all ships. The cast of characters in this weekend’s Unusual Suspects is rather large and includes Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF), First American Financial Corp. (NYSE: FAF), Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN), Gymboree Corp. (NASDAQ: GYMB), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Shengdatech, Inc. (NASDAQ: SDTH), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX), and Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. (NYSE: WDR).

We have compiled the news or events on each company here and we have offered color and handicapping figures on each if applicable for the week ahead or for longer-term developments in each.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) has been stuck in a dead video game sector but it may have a new catalyst. Rumors abound that its new World of Warcraft “Cataclysm” edition will be out in early December in time for the holidays. Whether this will happen is unknown, but that might add a nice boost to end of year sales if it occurs. For its part, the company is keeping quiet. Speaking of video games, Barron’s called Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) a ‘bargain in the sagging video game sector’ and at $10.25 its 52-week range is $7.00 to $12.57.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) could see additional pressure as earnings season gets closer because even after a 2.1% drop to $153.71 Friday, shares are almost 30% since before its last earnings. A pair of analysts voiced concerns on high valuations and a 25% run in the last month. As a reminder, Amazon.com has signaled in its prior quarter that margin issues are present and the competition for the eReader space is tight. The 52-week trading range is $88.27 to $161.78.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is about to enter its second week after disclosing its accounting issues and SEC inquiry, and the damage could have more room to come as the class action suits are starting to come up. Shares closed down again on Friday with a 5.2% drop to $29.57. The stock was just under $30.00 as recently as late-July and the stock was at an adjusted $23+ handle when its 3 for 1 split went into effect in May. With a $19.87 to $37.97 range over the last year, there could still be more weakness as a bear raid continues to gain strength. Jim Cramer also added it to the SELL BLOCK this last week.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) and First American Financial Corp. (NYSE: FAF) could face continued pressure as reports of bank foreclosure document errors could throw millions of property titles into question. It will increase these firms’ operating costs to review each mortgage title and will bring down more scrutiny on their operations ahead. FNF closed down over 4% Friday at $15.04 versus a 52-week range of $12.60 to $17.00 and FAF closed down 3.1% at $14.48 versus a 52-week range of $11.90 to $19.57. Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE: STC), owner of Stewart Title, was only down 1.24% at $11.18.

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Filed under: Active Trader, Banking, Banking & Finance, Business Services, Calendar, Conglomerates, Cult Stock, Earnings, Economy, Editor's Picks, Industrials, Media, Rumors, Services Tagged: AMZN, ATVI, FAF, FNF, GERN, GMCR, GYMB, JPM, MON, NBG, NFLX, SDTH, SIRI, TSLA, TTWO, UAL, UTX, WDR

Fidelity National Financial Ups The Offering Ante (FNF)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:24:26 +0000

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF) has priced its secondary offering this morning, and the result is that it ended up selling more stock than what it had originally planned. The title insurance, specialty insurance, claims management services and information services provider sold some 15.8 million shares of its common stock at $19.00 per share.

J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are the joint book-running managers. Co-Managers are listed as Barclays, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Piper Jaffray, and Stephens Inc. The underwriters have an overallotment option to sell 2.37 million additional shares at the offering price.

The company has said that the net proceeds are for general corporate purposes, including the potential repayment of indebtedness under its existing $1.1 billion credit agreement.

Shares closed down over $3.00 at $19.30 yesterday, and shares are trading at $18.80 in pre-market trading. The 52-week trading range is $6.66 to $22.85.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Banking, Banking & Finance, Financial Stocks, IPOs & Secondaries, Secondary Offering Tagged: FNF

Top Analyst Upgrades (BKC, CS, FNF, HES, IFX, NUE, OSG)

Douglas A. McIntyre — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:32:43 +0000

These are the top analyst upgrades we have seen this Monday morning ahead of the opening bell:

Burger King (BKC) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Credit Suisse (CS) Raised to Buy at Merrill Lynch.
Fidelity National (FNF) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Hess (HES) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Infineon (IFX) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Nucor (NUE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Overseas Shipholding (OSG) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
December 22, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BKC, CS, FNF, HES, IFX, NUE, OSG