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After the Fall: Value and Upside in Conglomerate Stocks (GE, MMM, UTX, HON, TYC)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:49:41 +0000

Searching for a value play in conglomerate stocks may resemble looking for a needle in a haystack. The companies are so large and diversified that anything short of a major shake-up barely moves the share price needle. Well, not counting a bad miss on quarterly estimates.

We’ve looked at five conglomerates that offer some upside: General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), and Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC).

With one exception, implied upside for these companies wanders in the mid- to high-teens. The exception is United Technologies. The second-lowest of the five is Tyco, the de-conglomerated conglomerate.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded at $19.06 and has a market value of $203 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $22.57 and the 52-week range is $14.02 to $21.00. GE has a dividend yield of 3.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 18%, but we would note that the target is above the 52-week high.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) traded at $83.38 and has a market value of around $58 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $95.47 and the 52-week range is $68.63 to $98.19. 3M has a dividend yield of 2.8%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 14.5%, but we would note that the target is also above the 52-week high.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) traded at $73.37 and has a market value of around $67 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $94.60 and the 52-week range is $66.87 to $91.83. UTX has a dividend yield of 2.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 29%, but we would note that the target is also above the 52-week high.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) traded at $56.72 and has a market value of around $44 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $67.56 and the 52-week range is $41.22 to $62.00. Honeywell has a dividend yield of 2.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 19%, but we would note that the target is also above the 52-week high.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) traded at $53.59 and has a market value of around $24 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $62.20 and the 52-week range is $37.39 to $57.75. Tyco has a dividend yield of 1.9%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 16%, but we would note that the target is also above the 52-week high.

Based on these numbers, United Technologies offers the most potential upside, but the thing to keep in mind that its acquisition of Goodrich Corp. (NYSE: GR), which is set to close by mid-year, will leave the company with a large debt and not the brightest prospects for profit growth for another year or so.

Tyco, with the lowest implied gain at 16%, is splitting itself into three pieces. The company expects to complete the spin-off of its home security division into The ADT Corp. later this year as well as the spin-off of the fire and security division and the spin-off and merger of the flow control business with Pentair Inc. (NYSE: PNR). All these moves pushed the stock to a year-to-date gain of 20% in late March, which has since been ratcheted back to 15%. And over the past 12 months, only Tyco has shown an increase in share value, up more than 11%.

GE, with its 3.6% dividend yield, and implied upside of 18% is a safe choice here. 3M, with the lowest upside potential, and Honeywell are about equal otherwise. United Technologies has the most potential upside, but it may take a while to materialize. Overall, Tyco, which has withstood the fall in prices better than any of the others, may offer the best reward sooner than any of the others.

Gold & Silver Miners with the Most Upside Value

Major Oil Companies with the Most Upside Value

Industrials with the Most Upside Value

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Conglomerates, Dividend, Economy, Value Investing Tagged: GE, HON, MMM, TYC, UTX

MEMC Loses CFO, Stock Hammered

Paul Ausick — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:38:47 +0000

Given the company’s horrible showing for the first quarter, the last thing MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) needed was to have a management shake-up. But that’s what the solar wafer maker got last night, when the company announced that its CFO was leaving MEMC to return to his previous firm, Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) as President of Praxair’s Surface Technology division.

MEMC named Brian Wuebbels as its new CFO. Wuebbels has been with MEMC in various roles since 2007. His previous experience came at Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).

Investors are treating the switch as yet another signal that MEMC is a sinking ship. Shares are off more than -18%, at $1.74 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.67 earlier. The previous range was $2.07-$10.64. After the announcement last night shares only fell by a penny. That situation changed fast this morning.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Management Change Tagged: GE, HON, PX, WFR

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIR, ALL, EPD, FDX, FSLR, HON, JDSU, LNKD, BIN, RHT, SKS, SFY, SPRD, SPWR, TRLG, VCLK, WFM)

Administrator — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:24:05 +0000

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

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

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Enterprise Products Partners. LP (NYSE: EPD) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Raised to Strong Buy at Raymond James.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) maintain HOLD with $20 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Argus.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) target raised to $140 at Susquehanna.

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (NYSE: BIN) Cut to Neutral with $23 target at Credit Suisse.

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Started as Outperform at BMO.

Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) Reiterated Buy and $14 target at Argus.

Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $21 at Canaccord Genuity.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) Raised to Hold at ThinkEquity.

Swift Energy Company (NYSE: SFY) Reiterated Buy but cut target to $40 at Canaccord Genuity.

True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) Raised to Buy at S&P Capital IQ (late-Thursday call).

Whole Foods Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) 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.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIR, ALL, BIN, EPD, FDX, FSLR, HON, JDSU, LNKD, RHT, SFY, SKS, SPRD, SPWR, TRLG, VCLK, WFM

Conglomerates Bracing For GE & Honeywell Earnings… Higher Expectations (GE, HON, MMM, UTX, TYC)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:50:32 +0000

Conglomerates are soft so far on Wednesday but they have turned up ahead of the wave of earnings this week. A screen at Finviz showed that the conglomerate sector is leading the pack of sectors with a 5.1% gain just in the last week ahead of the gains industrial goods, services, and the financial sectors. Does this aim to imply that both General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) as the king of utilities and then Honeywell International Inc (NYSE: HON) will be turning in solid earnings reports this Friday morning?

What investors seem to be banking on is that General Electric is going to not just meet and guide in-line, and they may be hoping for the same from Honeywell. It is too soon to expect more dividend hikes from either company, so it may be a puzzle as to what investors really think they are going to hear this Friday.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) closed out last Friday at $18.88 but Tuesday’s 2.3% to $19.34 gain seems to have created some new excitement. What investors are hoping for in specifics is a focus not on Europe and a continued improvement at GE Capital. The year high is $21.00 and the consensus is $22.29, implying upside of 15%. That is more expected upside than in most analyst targets to most DJIA components. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.33 EPS and $34.66 billion in revenue. Shares are indicated softer on Wednesday and everyone should be paying very close attention that 50-day moving average which is at $19.34 today.

Honeywell International Inc (NYSE: HON) is trading at $58.93 and is also close to its 50-day moving average up at $59.55. Suddenly the charts matter here. The Thomson Reuters consensus targets are $0.99 EPS and $9.16 billlion in revenue. Te $58.93 compares to a 52-week range of $41.22 to $62.28 and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is $67.95.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) are both set to turn in their respective conglomerate earnings reports next week on April 24. For 3M the pre-GE and pre-Honeywell report is $1.49 EPS from Thomson Reuters. The price this morning of $87.45 compares to a consensus price target of $95.17 and it is worth noting that 3M is trading under its 52-week high of $98.19.

United Tech is expected to report earnings of $1.20 EPS on sales of $12.76 billion. Its $81.00 share price compares to a 52-week high of $91.83 and compares to the Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $94.70. As it stands, this actually implies almost 17% upside expected in shares of United Tech and that makes it the most anticipated earnings report of the large-cap conglomerate stocks.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) also reports next week on April 26. This is turning into more of a “deglomerate” and because of the restructuring and break-up with the ADT spin-off we are not sure how to rank this one other than what the ticker-tape has told you. At $54.57, the 52-week range is $37.39 to $56.66 and Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $60.00. Because of the restructuring here we are just going

If GE and Honeywell both manage to please Wall Street on Friday, investors are likely going to ratchet their expectations a tad higher for 3M and United Tech ahead of earnings next week.

Stay tuned.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Earnings Tagged: GE, HON, MMM, TYC, UTX

Major Media Disagree On Highest Paid CEOs

247wallst — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:16:44 +0000

Major media cannot agree on something as simple and critical as what the highest paid CEOs in America made last year. Most of the data come from proxies filed with the SEC. Much of the difference in the calculations is based on the value of stock operations and other equity related grants and pension/retirement funds.

Even if the differences are reasonable due to a wide variety of interpretations of proxy data, the gulf between two of the top sets of analysts are huge.

Take the spread between Forbes and CNBC. Many CEOs appear on only one list. In the case where chief executives appear on both, there is a disagreement about compensation:

Forbes:

The top earner in our report is McKesson‘s John H. Hammergren, with $131 million in total pay. Hammergren drew $6.3 million in salary and bonus, but also realized $112 million from the exercise of vested stock options. The next four top-paid chief executives, also earning most of their pay from exercised stock options or vested stock awards: Ralph Lauren of Ralph Lauren ($67 million); Michael D. Fascitelli of Vornado Realty ($64 million); Richard Kinder of Kinder Morgan ($61 million) and David M. Cote of Honeywell International ($56 million).

And CNBC picked Rupert Murdoch (News Corp) (NYSE:NWS)–$33 million, Robert Iger (Disney–33.4 million) (NYSE: DIS), David Cote (Honeywell)–$35.8 million, Philippe Dauman (Viacom) (NYSE: VIA)–$43.1 million, John Hammergren (McKesson)–$46.1 million, David Zaslav (Discovery Communications)–$52.4 million, Ronald B. Johnson (JC Penney) (NYSE: JCP) $53.2 million, Larry Ellison (Oracle) (NASDAQ: ORCL)–$77.5 million, David Simon (Simon Property Group)–$137.17 million, Timothy Cook (Apple) (NASDAQ: AAPL)–$377.99 million

The difference also raise the issue of whether some boards overpay CEOs or not. That is hard to determine if there is disagreement on the fundamentals of pay packages

Filed under: Compensation Tagged: AAPL, DIS, HON, NWS, ORCL, VIA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (BAH, CVC, URBN, WPI, HON, ADES, BAMM, EBIX, LDL, RAVN, XRIT, ASTM, IDT, BBX, OMER, FFFD, CCIX, COOL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:04:41 +0000

Markets opened higher this morning following a solid report on US retail sales. Reports on both consumer and small business confidence both showed improvement in February (more coverage here and here). In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve left the fed funds rate unchanged and did not indicate any other changes to monetary policy (more coverage here). The Fed’s announcement pushed markets even higher to their best levels in nearly four years. The Treasury’s auction of 10-year notes boosted yields by three basis points. Crude oil moved higher today as well, with WTI crude closing up 0.4% at $106.71/barrel and Brent crude up 0.77% at $126.31/barrel. Gold settled at $1,694.20, down -0.3%

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 218 points to 13,177.83 (1.68%), the NASDAQ rose more than 56 points (1.88%) to 3,039.88, and the S&P 500 rose 1.81% or nearly 25 points to 1,395.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) maintained as ‘neutral’ but estimates lowered at Credit Suisse (more coverage here); Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $70 target price at Argus; and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $70 target price at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: ADA-ES Inc. (NASDAQ: ADES) is up 2.4% at $25.87 after posting a new 52-week high of $27.00; Books-a-Million Inc. (NASDAQ: BAMM) is up 6.9% at $3.10; Ebix Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX) is up 5.2% at $23.86; Lydall Inc. (NYSE: LDL) is up 6.3% at $9.75; Raven Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: RAVN) is up 3.8% at $63.77; X-Rite Inc. (NASDAQ: XRIT) is up 1.3% at $4.47; Aastrom Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM) is up 1.5% at $2.07; and IDT Corp. (NYSE: IDT) is up 16.3% at $9.77.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: BBX) is up nearly 87% at $3.60. The bank holding company received a sweetened deal this morning on its pending acquisition by BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT).

Omeros Corp. (NASDAQ: OMER) is up about 32% at $10.10 after posting a new 52-week high of $10.88 earlier. The biopharmaceutical company’s reported a successful phase III drug trial this morning.

North Central Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: FFFD) is up more than 36% at $30.03 after posting a new 52-week high of $30.10 earlier. The bank holding company is merging with Great Western Bancorporation Inc..

Coleman Cable Inc. (NASDAQ: CCIX) is down more than -20% at $10.35. The electrical equipment maker reported weak quarterly earnings and offered a weak forecast this morning.

Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL) is down more than -13% at $2.57. The video game maker reported weak earnings last night. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year Treasury bond auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ADES, ASTM, BAH, BAMM, BBX, CCIX, COOL, CVC, EBIX, FFFD, HON, IDT, LDL, OMER, RAVN, URBN, WPI, XRIT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACE, AIV, BAH, CVC, HON, IPCM, M, MYL, UPL, URBN, WPI)

Administrator — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:05:50 +0000

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

ACE Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Apartment Investment & Management (NYSE: AIV) Raised to Outperform at RBC.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

IPC The Hospitalist Company, In (NASDAQ: IPCM) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) maintained Buy and raised target to $27 at Argus.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) maintained Neutral but cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) Reiterated Buy with $70 target at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ACE, AIV, BAH, CVC, HON, IPCM, M, MYL, UPL, URBN, WPI

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, HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AEP, ALL, BBY, CPHD, CVX, D, F, HON, INFI, JCP, KIM, NRGY, PG, RVBD, SD, SOA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (F, GS, RIMM, HON, ORCL, NKE, ATU, KMX, KBH, SHAW, WAG, DFG, CMFB, WWAY, AMPE, VMW, CVLT)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:11:35 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning on mixed reaction to the $641 billion borrowing spree from the European Central Bank. Technology stocks were weighed down by poor earnings report and uninspired guidance from one of the industry’s biggest players. The DJIA and the S&P 500 finally reached positive territory about half an hour before closing, but the Nasdaq never touched the line. A very large drawdown on US crude oil inventories helped energy stocks post some gains. One hour before trading closes for the day only a half billion shares have traded hands on the NYSE today. The US dollar is slightly stronger against the euro and the Japanese yen, but down slightly against the British pound. WTI crude oil is up more than 1.5% at $98.79/barrel, and Brent crude is up about 1% at $107.78. Gold was down -0.25% at $1,613.50.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 4 points to 12,107.74 (0.03%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 26 points (-0.99%) to 2,577.97, and the S&P 500 rose 0.19% or more than 2 points to 1,243.72.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) started as ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee. Other ratings actions today include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) started as ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) raised from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ with a $16 target price at ThinkEquity; Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $70 target price at Argus; and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity and maintained as ‘buy’ with a lowered target price of $40 at Credit Suisse.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Oracle Corp. is down nearly -11% at $25.98; Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) is up nearly 3% at $96.40; Actuant Corp. (NYSE: ATU) is up nearly 9% at $22.61; CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) is down nearly -6% at $29.22; KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is down more than -5% at $7.33; Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) is up nearly 17% at $26.45; and Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is down about -0.5% at $33.34. For more on the ripple effects of Oracle’s weak earnings, see our coverage here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Delphi Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: DFG) is up almost 73% at $43.99 after posting a new 52-week high of $44.00. The insurance and financial services company has agreed to be acquired by Japan’s Tokio Marine for $2.66 billion.

Commercefirst Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: CMFB) is up nearly 71% at $13.25 after posting a new 52-week high of $13.99 earlier today. The Maryland bank holding company is being acquired by Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: SASR) for $24.5 million in stock and cash, or about $13.50/share.

Westway Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WWAY) is up nearly 23% at $5.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.60 earlier today. The bulk liquid storage provider has rejected a $6/share unsolicited takeover offer from an unidentified infrastructure investment fund.

Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMPE) is down more than -17% at $4.38. The drug company announced the sale of 2.2 million shares in private sale to investors at $4.25/share.

VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW) is down more than -10% at $76.65. The virtual software company is suffering from Oracle’s weak earnings and guidance.

CommVault Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) is down more than -15% at $39.22. The software company is another of Oracle’s victims.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here are other noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – US Commerce Department GDP report
8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims report
8:30 a.m. – Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index
8:30 a.m. – Bureaus of Economic Analysis corporate profits report
9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index
10:00 a.m. – Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index
10:00 a.m. – Conference Board leading economic indicators
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas inventory report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply reports

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AMPE, ATU, CMFB, CVLT, DFG, F, GS, HON, KBH, KMX, NKE, ORCL, RIMM, SHAW, VMW, WAG, WWAY

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BWA, CTL, CHKR, CTRN, EXXI, F, HON, ITMN, JEF, JPM, ORCL, RIMM, TDC, WPI)

Administrator — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:03:40 +0000

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

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Raised to Outperform as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) maintained long-term Underperform as the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ: EXXI) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Reiterated Buy with $70.00 price target at Argus.
InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) maintained Outperform but cut price target down to $20.00 from $37.00 at Credit Suisse.
Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) Cut to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity; maintained Outperform but cut price target to $40.00 from $42.00 at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised to Buy from Hold but price target is only $16.00 at ThinkEquity.
Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) Cut to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) maintained Buy with a price target objective of $78.00 per share at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BWA, CHKR, CTL, CTRN, EXXI, F, HON, ITMN, JEF, JPM, ORCL, RIMM, TDC, WPI