24/7 Wall St. » KIM

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

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALL, T, BBY, CELG, CLF, EQY, HIG, JCP, JNPR, KIM, PGR, SD, SYNA, UA, VPRT, ZOLL)

Administrator — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:27:24 +0000

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

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Reinstated as Neutral with $30 price target at Credit Suisse.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) Started as Outperform with $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) Cut to Hold on Valuation at Argus.
Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Equity One Inc. (NYSE: EQY) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray; Maintained as Buy but raised price target to $49 at Argus.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE: KIM) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) Started as Underperform at William Blair.
Sandridge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) Raised to Buy at Needham; Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Reiterated as Buy with $102 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Vistaprint NV (NASDAQ: VPRT) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: ZOLL) maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ALL, BBY, CELG, CLF, EQY, HIG, JCP, JNPR, KIM, PGR, SD, SYNA, T, UA, VPRT, ZOLL

Dividend Analysis: Commercial REITs With Most Upside (GOV, OFC, EPR, DRE, REG, KIM, DLR, VNO, SPG, DDR)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:43:55 +0000

There are a wide variety of REITs involved in non-residential property ownership and management and a few of these are our focus today. These include general office space, technology company office space, buildings leased to government, retail stores, mall buildings, commericial real estate, and movie complexes.

The companies included in today’s report include Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV), Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC), Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR), Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE), Regency Centers Corp. (NYSE: REG), Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG), and DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR).

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and current prices gathered shortly after noon today.

Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV) has a median target price of $23.00 from 6 brokers. Shares are trading today at $21.42, for an implied gain of $1.58, or 7.4%. Government Properties’ forward P/E is 10.71 and the company pays a dividend yield of 7.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.68-$27.80, and at today’s price that’s about 9% above its 52-week low and 23% below the 52-week high.

Although the company’s implied upside is not among the highest in this group, its list-leading dividend yield and the space between its current price and its 52-week high recommend the stock. One possible downside remains the looming federal budget reduction, which could seriously weigh on the stock.

Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) has a median target price of $25.50 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $22.83, for an implied gain of $2.67, or 11.7%. Corporate Office’s forward P/E is 31.3 and the company pays a dividend yield of 7%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.65-$36.90, and at today’s price that’s about 16% above its 52-week low and 38% below the 52-week high.

The high forward P/E ratio and the distance between the current price and the 52-week high should lower the stock’s implied gain of nearly 12%. The substantial dividend yield makes up for a lot of sins though.

Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) has a median target price of $46.00 from 7 brokers. Shares are trading today at $44.11, for an implied gain of $1.89, or 4.3%. Entertainment Properties’ forward P/E is 12.45 and the company pays a dividend yield of 6.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $35.71-$50.44, and at today’s price that’s about 24% above its 52-week low and 13% below the 52-week high.

The company reported an EPS of $0.80 in its third quarter, the first positive report this year. That coupled with earnings growth in the current quarter have pushed the stock near its 52-week high, with the lowest implied gain of any of these companies. The dividend yield is certainly attractive, though.

Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE) has a median target price of $14.00 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $11.50, for an implied gain of $2.50, or 21.7%. Duke’s forward P/E is 10.48 and the company pays a dividend yield of 5.8%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $9.29-$15.63, and at today’s price that’s about 24% above its 52-week low and 26% below the 52-week high.

At today’s price, Duke’s dividend yield and its implied gain are very attractive, particularly when coupled with a moderate forward P/E and a reasonable amount of space to its 52-week high.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Dividend, REIT, Value Investing Tagged: DDR, DLR, DRE, EPR, GOV, KIM, OFC, REG, SPG, VNO

Top Analyst Downgrades (ADM, CTRP, CYN, CVLT, NRGY, KIM, OSK, SPG, UBS)

247wallst — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:31:36 +0000

These are some of the top analyst downgrades and negative research calls we have seen from Wall Street early this Wednesday morning:

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Ctrip.com International (CTRP) Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.
City National (CYN) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Commvault Systems (CVLT) Cut to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Inergy L.P. (NRGY) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
KIMCO Realty (KIM) Cut to Perform at oppenheimer.
Oshkosh (OSK) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Simon Property Group (SPG) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
UBS (UBS) Cut to Sell at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ADM, CTRP, CVLT, CYN, KIM, NRGY, OSK, SPG, UBS

Kimco’s Huge Stock Offering (KIM)

247wallst — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:04:35 +0000

Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE: KIM) has priced its huge secondary offering of common stock. The size was a lofty 91,500,000 shares at a price of $7.10 per share. Shares closed yesterday at $7.49 and the 52-week trading range is $6.33 to $47.80. What is interesting is that the shares of this community and shopping center REIT are not trading at any discount so far. They are trading at a premium.

Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities, and UBS are the joint book-running managers; Citigroup, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital, and Wachovia are listed as the joint lead managers; and the co-managers are listed as Barclays Capital, CIBC World Markets, and Morgan Keegan & Company. Kimco granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 13,725,000 shares to cover over-allotments, and if these pre-maket indications stick then the size of the offering would be north of 105 million shares.

The $623.6 million in approximate net proceeds from the offering (before underwriting fees) will be used for the repayment of debt obligations and for general corporate purposes.

Kimco’s market cap before this offering was $2.03 billion. It had already warned of lower results as well. This will act as a buffer against debt maturities and against credit facility gaps that would have been there otherwise. Stocks usually slide on secondary offerings, but Kimco is up over 5% at $7.92 in pre-market trading on active trading volume.

JON C. OGG
April 3, 2009

Posted in REIT, Secondary Offering Tagged: KIM

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ACAD, ACE, AACC, RATE, GYMB, KIM, MMC, MVL, NCR, WSH)

247wallst — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:29:31 +0000

These aren’t all of the analyst calls out there today, but these are ten of the calls impacting shares early this Tuesday morning:

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) Raised to Neutral at Banc of America.
ACE Limited (ACE) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
Asset Acceptance Capital (AACC) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Bankrate (RATE) Cut to Hold from Buy at Collins Stewart.
Gymboree (GYMB) Cut to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR.
Kimco Realty (KIM) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Marsh & McLennan (MMC) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
Marvel Entertainment (MVL) Started as Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
NCR (NCR) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
Willis Group (WSH) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
July 8, 2008

Stifel Nicolaus Slashes REIT Ratings

247wallst — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:38:51 +0000

The brokerage and research firm Stifel Nicolaus has decided that REITS are either at or are close to their inflection points. REITs have been very strong performers in light of many large mergers, although they have already taken a decent breather in the last two weeks or so as the pace of mergers in the group has quieted down.

Most of the analyst ratings out of Stifel Nicolaus today are a downgrade from “BUY” to “HOLD.” Here is a partial list of the liquid REIT stocks that saw downgrades today:

American Financial Realty Trust (AFR), Boston Properties (BXP), Brookfield Properties (BPO), BRT Realty Trust (BRT), Capital Trust (CT), Cedar Shopping Centers (CDR), Highwoods Properties (HIW), KIMCO Realty (KIM), Kite Realty (KRG), Newcastle Investment Corp. (NCT), Northstar Realty (NRF), ProLogis (PLD), Quadra Realty (QRR), Simon Properties (SPG), SL Green Realty (SLG), Washington REIT (WRE), Weingarten Realty (WRI).

Jon C. Ogg
Jun 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.