24/7 Wall St. » LEA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (DELL, EW, AKS, STLD, BRCM, GMCR, EDMC, NDAQ, QCOM, BZH, BSX, BCO, DO, LEA, MRK, TTWO, VIAB, ZNGA, MNOV, RGDX, BIOS, URG)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:08:53 +0000

All three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning, and spent the rest of the day bouncing around the neutral line. The reports from retailers on same-store sales in January were mixed, but overall sales failed to meet expectations. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke testified in Congress today, but did not really give the market much of a push one way or the other. The IPO filing from Facebook after markets closed last night pushed some social media stocks up on a halo effect. WTI crude oil is down 1% at $96.63/barrel and Brent crude is up 0.78% at $112.43/barrel. Gold closed up 0.67% at $1,761.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 11 points to 12,705.41 (-0.09%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.4%) to 2,859.68, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 1.5 points to 1,325.54.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) started as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 24% at $66.30; Education Management Corp. (NASDAQ: EDMC) is down -17% at $21.19; Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is down -0.6% at $24.62; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is up 2.2% at $60.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.93 earlier today; Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is up 3.2% at $3.27; Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) is down -3.9% at $5.85; Brinks Co. (NYSE: BCO) is down -17.5% at $24.43; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) is up 0.35% at $63.29; Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) is down -1.2% at $42.48; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.3% at $38.51; Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is down -0.3% at $15.71; and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is down -0.9% at $46.53.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up nearly 18% at $12.49 after posting a new post-IPO high of $12.91 earlier today. The social games company got a big boost from Facebook’s IPO filing. Our coverage is here.

MediciNova Inc. (NASDAQ: MNOV) is up nearly 31% at $2.47. The company received a favorable patent notice for a multiple sclerosis treatment device.

Response Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: RGDX) is up more than 27% at $1.50. The drug maker announced the private placement of about 5.3 million shares at $1.50/share, about 28% higher than last night’s closing price.

BioScrip Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOS) is up more than 15% at $6.73. The pharmacy services provider has sold a portion of its assets to Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) for $225 million.

Ur-Energy Inc. (AMEX: URG) is down more than -13% at $1.22. The uranium miner has issued 1.5 million shares of new stock to agents who will attempt to sell at CDN$1.00.

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

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report
10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing (services) index

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AKS, BCO, BIOS, BRCM, BSX, BZH, DELL, DO, EDMC, EW, GMCR, LEA, MNOV, MRK, NDAQ, QCOM, RGDX, STLD, TTWO, URG, VIA-B, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADBE, ARG, AGN, AEO, AN, COG, FITB, F, GM, HUM, JBL, JNS, LEA, LINE, MRX, RSH, AMTD)

Administrator — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:23:13 +0000

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

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday call).
Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna.
AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Thursday call).
Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Linn Energy, LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (NYSE: MRX) Started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) Reiterated Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADBE, AEO, AGN, AMTD, AN, ARG, COG, F, FITB, GM, HUM, JBL, JNS, LEA, LINE, MRX, RSH

Top Stocks To Watch in the Week Ahead (BAC, BIG, CVX, CBLI, FSIN, HPQ, EWJ, KV-A, LWSN, LEA, EGPT, SNDK, CIGX, TAYD, TRAD, YHOO)

Administrator — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:22:22 +0000

This next week is going to be a very light one for earnings but will be a very active week for other news. The Japanese quake aftermath and many other more company-specific events are either coming up or surfaced going into the weekend that will still deserve attention from traders and investors. We are tracking events and reactions in the following issues: Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG); Chevron Corporation (NASDAQ: CVX); Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLI); Fushi Copperweld, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSIN); Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ); iShares MSCI Japan Index (NYSE: EWJ); KV Pharmaceutical Co. (NYSE: KV-A); Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA); SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK); Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: CIGX); Taylor Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: TAYD); TradeStation Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TRAD); and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).

On each we have summarized what you will want to watch for, what move came into the event or what move is expected if applicable. None of these key events are earnings based, but we did prepare a separate earnings calendar with the few top earnings we are monitoring for this week ahead.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was given a boost this weekend by Barron’s after the financial publication said that shares could rise 40% from a $14.38 close on Friday. That would take shares to roughly $20.13. For whatever it is worth, its 52-week range is $10.91 to $19.86 and the consensus one-year price target from Thomson Reuters is $18.39.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is one of the discount retailers in the trade-down economy retailers and the company is up for sale. While volume was not astronomical, there was elevated trading in the April11 $45 CALLS on Friday and shares were up 2.6% at $43.05 on Friday. Another issue worth noting was over 2,800 of the July11 $50 CALLS with an open interest of only 237 contracts before. “Unusual options trading on Fridays” leads to the rumor mill picking back up.

Chevron Corporation (NASDAQ: CVX) hosts an analyst call on Monday. At $99.93, its 52-week trading range is $66.83 to $104.99.

Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLI) is another Japan-related play to watch as the nuclear reactor continues to be under watch for fallout in Japan. Its shares rose 3.6% Friday on triple-volume as the company makes anti-radiation pills and its CLBL502 is under an FDA Fast-Track designation.

Fushi Copperweld, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSIN) won the Mr. Dumas Accounting Award as the company delayed its 10-K filing to review non-cash accounting issues. Shares fell 10% to $8.435 in the after-hours on Friday and its 52-week range is $6.70 to $12.94. Keep in mind that the company’s co-CEO made an offer to take it private at $11.50 per share before this move.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is set to hold its first investor meeting on Monday with new CEO Leo Apotheker.

Filed under: Calendar, International Markets, Mergers and Buy Outs, Shareholder Issues, The Week Tagged: BAC, BIG, CBLI, CIGX, CVX, EGPT, EWJ, FSIN, HPQ, KV-A, LEA, LWSN, SNDK, TAYD, TRAD, YHOO

Over $40 Billion in Share Buyback Announcements in February (KSS, DOX, DDS, TJX, WLP, WAT, LEA, PLXS, ARG, CVC, KLAC, VAR, COP, MMM, CHKP, ISRG, ALL, CMI, GME, GD, ROST, MHS, ERTS, PFE, TUP)

Administrator — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:51:54 +0000

Many shareholders argue that share repurchase and stock buyback plans are generally a waste of shareholder capital aimed solely as a short-term share price targeting mechanism. Many would prefer to see dividends. Still, share buyback plans remain a top method of ‘returning capital to shareholders’ and the share buybacks in February have come at a feverish pace.

The feverish buyback pace we are showing does not even include the many buyback plans of under $200 million. The companies leading the buyback charge with new announcements so far in February are as follows: Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS); Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX); Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS); The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX); Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP); Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT); Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA); Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS); Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG); Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC); KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC); Varian Medical System Inc. (NYSE: VAR); ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP); 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM); Check Point Software Tecnologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP); Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL); Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI); Gamestop Corporation (NYSE: GME); General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD); Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST); Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS); Pfizer, inc. (NYSE: PFE); and Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP).

The tally here in just these plans comes to about $41 billion in new buyback announcements so far just in February, and that is after a whopping $34 billion identified in January. We did not break these out by date and these are most recent to farthest back in February.

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) increased its share repurchase authorization under its existing share repurchase program by $2.6 billion to $3.5 billion. That added 2.6 billion compares to a market cap of $15.7 billion today.

Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) declared $1 billion over 2 years against a market cap of $5.5 billion.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) added some $250 million to its prior buyback plan and its market cap is $2.6 billion .

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) allocated some $1.2 billion this year and that compares to a market cap of $19.5 billion.

Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) expanded its prior plan by $1.6 billion and that is against a market cap of close to $25 billion.

Filed under: Corporate Governance, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Shareholder Issues, Stock Buybacks Tagged: ALL, ARG, CHKP, CMI, COP, CVC, DDS, DOX, ERTS, GD, GME, ISRG, KLAC, KSS, LEA, MHS, MMM, PFE, PLXS, ROST, TJX, TUP, VAR, WAT, WLP

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AMGN, AON, AMAT, ATML, CBS, CMA, CY, GIS, JNPR, LEA, ORCL, RIMM, LUV, VFC, V)

Administrator — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:20:42 +0000

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

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann.
AON Corporation (NYSE: AON) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.
CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) Raised to Buy with $24 target at BofA/ML.
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Reiterated Buy and $42 target at Argus.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) Started as Buy at Needham.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer; Raised estimates and target to $38 at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised estimates and target to $85 at Credit Suisse; target raised to $60 at Canaccord.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Raised to Buy at Soleil.
VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMAT, AMGN, AON, ATML, CBS, CMA, CY, GIS, JNPR, LEA, LUV, ORCL, RIMM, V, VFC

Top Analyst Upgrades And Downgrades (NOK)(F)(NFLX)

247wallst — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:48:05 +0000

Barclays raised Ford (NYSE: F) to “overweight” from “equal weight” with a $16 target.

Credit Suisse upgraded NetFlix (NASDAQ: NFLX) to “neutral” from “underperform”

Morgan Stanley downgraded BT Group from “overweight” to “equal weight”

Oppenheimer cut Savient Pharma (NASDAQ: SVNT) to “perform”

Idex (NYSE: IDEX) upgraded to “outperform” at RW Baird.

Lear (NYSE: LEA) downgraded to “equal weight” by Barclays

Citigroup downgraded Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to “sell” from “hold”

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Research Tagged: F, IDEX, LEA, NFLX, NOK

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades (AWK, BP, BCS, BPX, BWA, COST, HAR, HPQ, INTC, LEA, PCLN, TEN, TWX, WIT)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:20:35 +0000

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

American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) Raised to “A” at Ftich on debt ratng.
Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Boston Properties (NYSE: BPX) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Harman International (NYSE: HAR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) Started as Market Perform at Morgan Keegan (late Tuesday).
Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Hold at Benchmark Capital.
Wipro (NYSE: WIT) Started as Negative at Susquehanna.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AWK, BCS, BP, BPX, BWA, COST, HAR, HPQ, INTC, LEA, PCLN, TEN, TWX, WIT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ATHN, BSFT, COST, ONE, LEA, MOS, OVTI, PCG, SVVS, WMT, ZRAN)

Administrator — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:37:07 +0000

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

athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
BroadSoft (NASDAQ: BSFT) Started as Buy at Needham & Co.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) Raised to Buy at Needham.
Higher One Holdings (NYSE: ONE) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
SAVVIS, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVS) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
ZoranCorp. (NASDAQ: ZRAN) Cut to Hold at Needham & Co.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ATHN, BSFT, COST, LEA, MOS, ONE, OVTI, PCG, SVVS, WMT, ZRAN

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (DVN, XOM, HES, ITW, LEA, NFLX, PALM, PARD, SPWRA, VRTX)

247wallst — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:01:51 +0000

These are this morning’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls:

Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Started as Buy at Collins Stewart.
Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) Raised to Buy at Kaufman.
Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PARD) Cut to Market Perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
Sunpower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray; Cut to Market Perform at FBR Capital Markets.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, mergers and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: DVN, HES, ITW, LEA, NFLX, PALM, PARD, SPWRA, VRTX, XOM

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMG, AG, IRE, CAG, GPN, JASO, LEA, NTGR, ODFL, YHOO)

247wallst — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:43:47 +0000

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiation calls we have seen from Wall Street early this Monday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
AGCO (AG) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Bank of Ireland (IRE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
ConAgra (CAG) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Global Payments (GPN) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
JA Solar (JASO) Cut to Hold at Lazard.
Lear (LEA) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Netgear (NTGR) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Old Dominion Freight (ODFL) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Yahoo! (YHOO) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG
June 15, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AG, AMG, CAG, GPN, IRE, JASO, LEA, NTGR, ODFL, YHOO