Posts for Ticker ‘JNS’

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BCE, GOOG, IACI, SYMC, VCLK, CSL, CEO, JNS, MFE, SOLF)

These are the top pre-market upgrades and downgrades we have seen from Wall Street this Thursday morning:

BCE (BCE) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Google (GOOG) Raised to Buy at Canaccord.
IAC/Interactive (IACI) Raised to Buy at Canaccord.
Symantec (SYMC) Started as Buy at Auriga.
ValueClick (VCLK) Raised to Buy from Sell at Canaccord.
Carlisle Companies (CSL) Cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.
CNOOC (CEO) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Janus (JNS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
McAfee (MFE) STarted as Sell at Auriga.
SolarFun (SOLF) Cut to Sell at Collins Stewart, but was also raised to Hold from Sell at Canaccord.

Jon C. Ogg
March 26, 2009

Posted on: March 26, 2009 – 7:26 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Early Bird Analyst Upgrades (ASCA, ABX, BX, JNS, JPM, KGC, REP, SAP, TYC, WEN)

money-stack-imageThese are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades from Wall Street this Monday morning with well over two hours until the open:

Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Barrick Gold (ABX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Blackstone (BX) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Janus Capital (JNS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Kinross Gold (KGC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Repsol SA (REP) Raised to Buy at UBS.
SAP (SAP) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Tyco (TYC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Wendy’s/Arby’s (WEN) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: March 2, 2009 – 7:15 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Merging The Mutual Fund Companies: Janus (JNS) And Alliance Bernstein (AB) Will Be Sold

Empire_2Being in the mutual fund and institutional money management business is almost as bad as being in commercial banking. Several companies in the industry have lost half of their assets between redemptions and the falling value of portfolios which have dropped with the market.

If the market continues to fall some of the public companies in the fund business will begin to lose large amounts of money. Their portfolio management, back office, marketing, trading, and administration costs can only be chopped by so much.

Based on their share prices, two fund companies are doing much worse than their peers. Shares in Alliance Bernstein (AB) and Janus (JNS) are trading off almost 70% over the last year.

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Posted on: January 14, 2009 – 3:02 pm in Financial Stocks, , , , ,

Downgrading Hedgies, Private Equity & Financials (BX, FIG, GLG, IVZ, JNS, OZM, STD, TROW)

Burning_money_picThere is an interesting trend where Barclays has essentially cut its rankings on hedge fund and private equity operators. Here are the calls, plus a call elsewhere on a bank:

  • Blackstone (NYSE: BX) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
  • Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
  • GLG Partners (NYSE: GLG) Cut to Equal Weight at    Barclays.
  • INVESCO (NYSE: IVZ) Started as Equal Weight at Barclays.
  • Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) Started as Underweight at Barclays.
  • Och-Ziff Capital (NYSE: OZM) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
  • Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) Cut to Sell from Neutral at UBS.
  • T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) Started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

Jon C. Ogg
January 14, 2009

Posted on: January 14, 2009 – 7:50 am in Analyst Calls, Banking, Financial Stocks, Private Equity, , , , , , , ,

Market Gives New AllianceBernstein (AB) CEO The Back Of Its Hand

R218533_855025_3The board of AllianceBernstein (AB), controlled by majority shareholder AXA, dumped longtime CEO Lew Sanders. The stock has been way down recently. Over the last year it is off over 70%, but so are peers Legg Mason (LM) and Janus (JNS).

It is understandable that someone had to take the fall, but the man AB brought in does not appear to have a single important qualification for the job.

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Posted on: December 22, 2008 – 3:25 pm in Mutual Funds, , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (FSLR, JNS, LM, NLC, NBIX, NEM, SPLS)

These are some of the top analyst upgrades we are seeing from Wall Street this Thursday morning with about two hours to the open:

  • First Solar (FSLR) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
  • Janus Capital (JNS) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Legg Mason (LM) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Nalco (NLC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Neurocrine Bio (NBIX) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Newmont Mining (NEM) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Staples (SPLS) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
October 30, 2008

Posted on: October 30, 2008 – 6:44 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ATI, BIDU, DISCA, FHN, JNS, NOV, PTEC, RSH, SIGM, VRGY)

Down_arrow_red_2These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades we are seeing this Friday-crash morning:

  • Allegheny Tech (ATI) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Baidu.com (BIDU) Target Cut to $260 from $350 at Goldman Sachs.
  • Discovery Communications (DISCA) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • First Horizon National (FHN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Janus Capital (JNS) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
  • National Oilwell Varco (NOV) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Phoenix Tech (PTEC) Cut to Buy from Strong Buy at Needham.
  • Radio Shack (RSH) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Sigma Designs (SIGM) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Verigy (VRGY) Cut to Underperform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
October 24, 2008

Posted on: October 24, 2008 – 7:03 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (BBY, BBBY, CC, DELL, HPQ, JNS, LIZ, LSI, PIR, RACK, RSH, SFD)

These are some of the top Downgrades or negative calls we are seeing early this Tuesday morning.  Neutral and Hold ratings are not technically negative, but they aren’t ringing endorsements either.

  • Best Buy (BBY) Started as Hold at KeyBanc.
  • Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) Started as Hold at KeyBanc.

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Posted on: August 5, 2008 – 6:25 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AET, BIDU, F, JNS, IPG, LOW, HD, NEM, NOC, RSH, VM)

These are ten of the top calls we see affecting shares this Friday morning in the early pre-market trading hours:

  • Aetna (NYSE: AET) raised to neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) raised to Buy at Citigroup (up 4% after earnings).
  • Ford Motor (NYSE: F) cut to underperform at Bear Stearns; also cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Ford shares indicated down 3%.
  • Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) raised to market perform at FBR.
  • Interpublic (NYSE: IPG) started as Buy at UBS.
  • Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) & Home Depot (NYSE: HD) both started as Overweight at Lehman Brothers; both shares indicated about 1% higher.
  • Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) raised to Sector Perform at CIBC World Markets.
  • Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) raised to Overweight at JP Morgan.
  • RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) started as Underweight at Lehman Brothers.
  • Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) raised to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.

Jon C. Ogg
April 25, 2008

Posted on: April 25, 2008 – 6:25 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Makes Key Financial Calls (BEN, JNS, NYX, NDAQ, MET, FII, NITE, OZM)

Goldman Sachs has issued a call on its asset manager universe, and says it’s time to go on the offensive.  Its rating on the group is now attractive.  The bulge bracket brokerage leader has also made some key calls in the financial sector this morning.

In the call it has raised the following to Buy from Neutral:

  • Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN), Janus Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: JNS), NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE: NYX), MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET)

There were actually some downgrades as well, with the following downgraded to Neutral from Buy:

  • Federated Investors, INC. (NYSE: FII), Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NITE), Och-Ziff Capital Management (NYSE: OZM).

It has maintained a Neutral rating on NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ), although it raised estimates by $0.10 for both 2008 and 2009. 

Jon C. Ogg
April 8, 2008

Posted on: April 8, 2008 – 8:00 am in Analyst Calls, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , ,

Market So Bad, Even Ex-Spitzer Target Stocks Close Much Lower (NYSE, AIG, JNS, MMC, MER)

By now you have heard news of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s involvement in a prostitution ring.  So much for crime and ethics fighters being immune from temptation.  But what we wanted to see was if this helped some of the old Eliot Spitzer target company, and shockingly this news did not even help these companies close in positive territory or even lend much aid from a bear bite.

Our apologies for not being able to include the full list because it was much more extensive than this.  Below is how these major former target companies closed, and they all closed down with a weak market: 

  • NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) wasn’t a target itself, but Dick Grasso was over the pay package.  Shares closed down some 5% at $57.40, a new 52-week low and under the old $59.40 to $101.00 trading range.
  • American International Group (NYSE: AIG) just probably saw the odds of an increased quasi-return of Hank Greenberg, who has already expressed an interest in getting back in. AIG shares closed down over 2% at $41.95, also under the 52-week trading range of $42.14 to $72.97.
  • Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC) fell under the insurance rebating issues, and it has never really recovered.  Marsh-Mac shares closed down 1.75% at $24.66, although that is not a 52-week low.
  • Janus (NYSE: JNS) was part of the market timing scandal brought on by Spitzer.  Shares closed down 1% at $21.88, also not a 52-week low.
  • Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) was part of the Wall Street research settlement, although that was a much larger group of companies than many other industry complaints.  Merrill Lynch shares closed down 5% at $42.84, under its 52-week trading range of $44.30 to $95.00.

Spitzer was not a great loved brother on Wall Street despite his actions cleaning up many business practices in various industries.  A better market or a decent day may have helped these stocks close higher.  This is just more reminder that we are in a bear market. 
Jon C. Ogg
March 10, 2008

Posted on: March 10, 2008 – 3:22 pm in Financial Stocks, HI/LOW, Law, , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Lowers Financial Estimates (AB, ABLk, BLK, CLMS, CME, BEN, GBL, IVZ, JNS, NITE, LAB, LM, MKTX, NYX, TROW, PZN, NDAQ, TRAD)

Goldman Sachs has lowered estimates on many financial services players this morning:

  • AllianceBernstein (AB) (buy);
  • AMBAC Financial (ABK) (neutral);
  • Blackrock (BLK) (buy);
  • Calamos Asset Mgmt. (CLMS) (neutral);
  • CME Group (CME) (buy);
  • Franklin Resources (BEN) (neutral);
  • Gamco Investors (GBL) (sell);
  • INVESCO plc (IVZ) (neutral);
  • Janus Capital (JNS) (neutral);
  • Knight Trading (NITE) (buy);
  • Labranche (LAB) (sell);
  • Legg Mason (LM) (neutral);
  • Marketaccess Holdings (MKTX) (neutral);
  • NYSE Euronext (NYX) (neutral);
  • T. Rowe Price (TROW) (neutral);
  • Pzena Investment Mgmt. (PZN) (neutral);
  • The NASDAQ Stock Market (NDAQ) (neutral);
  • TradeStation (TRAD) (neutral)

Jon C. Ogg
January 10, 2008

Posted on: January 10, 2008 – 9:22 am in Analyst Calls, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Big List of Private Equity Targets in Financial Services

There is a recent boutique research report from earlier in the week showing a list of potential private equity targets from a specialty brokerage firm that I was very positive on from even before its IPO: Keefe Bruyette & Woods (KBW).  The truth is that this company is probably only behind Goldman Sachs (GS) as far as its knowledge of what is going on in the North American financial services sector, and the argument is that KBW is considered the number one firm as far as independent coverage of the financial services sector.  It is too bad the company did not get this out at the end of last year to include many other names that have been gobbled up, but it really feels as though every firm is ‘cramming for finals’ in the M&A world with the private equity superstars.

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Posted on: May 31, 2007 – 9:32 am in Bait Shop, Banking, Financial Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity, Research, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,