24/7 Wall St. » MGI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (A, CRM, AAP, LOW, ALIM, WMT, BZH, COV, DKS, TJX, SKS, MGI, PEIX, NLST, FFN, MTOR)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:04:55 +0000

Stocks opened lower this morning and stayed lower for nearly the entire first half of the day, with buyers most likely waiting to see what would happen with Italian bond rates. The bonds ended the day at a yield slightly above 7%, which was probably not as bad as expected. A solid, if modest, gain took hold in the early afternoon as the October retail sales report turned in a better-than-expected rise. Producer prices were lower, though core inflation was flat, and the Empire State manufacturing index was higher. Crude oil is up nearly 1.5%, at $99.50/barrel, and the euro has given up an early gain against the dollar.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 17 points to 12,096.39 (0.14%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 29 points (1.09%) to 2,686.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.48% or more than 6 points to 1,257.80.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML. Other action included Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) reiterated at ‘neutral’ by Argus; Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) target raised from $25 to $28 at Argus; Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) cut to ‘neutral’ with a $2 target at Credit Suisse.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is down about -2.25%, at $57.57; Beazer USA Homes Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down about -0.5%, at $2.21; Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up nearly 2.5%, at $48.44; Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is up nearly 5.5%, at $41.73; TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) is up about 1% at $61.16; and Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) is up 2.5%, at $10.46. For a more detailed look at today’s retail earnings, see our earlier story.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Moneygram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI) is up about 616%, at $18.68. The company announced a 1-for-8 reverse stock split this morning, shrinking the number of outstanding shares from 1.3 billion to 162.5 million. The stock closed yesterday at $2.61, and posted a new 52-week high this morning of $19.61.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up nearly 30%, at $1.31. There is no direct news from the company, but the price jump is very likely related to an announcement yesterday from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) that it was building a new plant in Canada that would double its annual production of ethanol.

Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is up more than 24%, at $2.92. The company has signed deals with both IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) under which Netlist’s cloud memory product undergo qualification testing for use with the two companies’ servers.

FriendFinder Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is down more than -20%, at $1.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.42. The company has been notified of a class-action lawsuit charging that it made false statements related the number of shares of stock subject to the 180-day lock-up period following the company’s IPO last May.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down more than -17%, at $6.58. The company reported solid earnings today, but cut next year’s revenue guidance by about 10%.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker and Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren are giving speeches tomorrow. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve industrial production index
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: A, AAP, ALIM, BZH, COV, CRM, DKS, FFN, LOW, MGI, MTOR, NLST, PEIX, SKS, TJX, WMT

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ARG, AGNC, BRCM, CIM, CME, FSLR, HBAN, ICE, MNKD, MCD, MFA, MGI, NFLX, NTAP, ORCL, SNCR, VRTX)

Administrator — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:18:34 +0000

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

Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
American Capital Agency Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) reiterated Buy and $50 target at Argus.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy at Argus.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Reinstated as Buy at BofA/ML.
MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE: MFA) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Moneygram International Inc. (NYSE: MGI) Started as Buy and $3.40 target at BofA/ML.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $39 at Argus.
Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNCR) Started as Outperform and $34 target at Credit Suisse.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) Reiterated Buy and $43 target at BofA/ML.

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: AGNC, ARG, BRCM, CIM, CME, FSLR, HBAN, ICE, MCD, MFA, MGI, MNKD, NFLX, NTAP, ORCL, SNCR, VRTX

Ten CEOs with the Largest Stock Option Grants: $230 Million In Compensation

247wallst — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:09:32 +0000

The following are the ten CEOs who received the largest stock option grants in 2009. Together, they enjoyed gains which totaled $230 million based on their value at the end of May. The data, tracked by The Corporate Library, has deemed them “mega-grants,” defined as any single grant that exceeds 500,000 options.

The appreciation of the options is an impressive amount. Some of the CEOs deserve the rewards more than others. Each compensation number is the difference between the value of the grant when it was received and its value at the end of May 2010.

The CEOs who received these grants, along with their dollar value as of May 24, 2010 are:

Mel Karmazin of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), whose 120 million options were worth $69.6 million;

Allan Mulally of Ford Motor (NYSE: F), whose 5 million options were worth $45.2 million;

Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), whose 7 million options were worth $10.9 million;

Howard Schultz, founder and CEO of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), whose grant of 2.7 million options was worth $44.6 million;

Anthony Ryan of MoneyGram International (NYSE: MGI), whose 8 million options were worth $7.4 million;

Trevor Fetter of Tenet Heathcare (NYSE: THC), whose 5.5 million options were worth $24.2 million;

Kenneth Campbell the head of Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF), who made $1.7 from 3 million options;

Eugene Isenberg of Nabor Industries (NYSE: NBR), who received 3 million options that were worth $21.6 million,

Stephen Berkowitz of Move, Inc (NASDAQ: MOVE), whose 3 million options were worth $1.1 million,

and Dan Hesse of Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S), who made $3.5 million from 3 million options.

To start, CEOs who made almost nothing from their grants should not be criticized. Neither should their board be for granting them options. These CEOs include the heads of Standard Pacific and Move, Inc.

Dan Hesse of Sprint-Nextel made only $3.5 million in appreciation on his grant. Sprint is in poor shape, and if its new 4G Wimax initiative does not work the company’s future is in doubt. Hesse may have caused some of the company’s problems, but he also inherited a number of them.

There should be a debate over whether extremely wealthy founders like Howard Schultz of Starbucks or Larry Ellison of Oracle should be given grants at all. Their huge ownership of stock in their companies is performance incentive enough. Nevertheless, each made very significant amounts on the value of the grants they received last year. In the case of Schultz, he has done a great deal to improve the coffee company’s prospects.

Mel Karmazin of XM Sirius also deserves his award, considering his company was at death’ s door when he joined. Karmazin arranged financing that salvaged the firm’s prospects. The stock has a 52-week low of $.40 and now trades at $.96, but was below $.10 when it appeared that bankruptcy was imminent.

Tenet Healthcare also did relatively well, but Fetter’s $24 million benefit might be excessive. The stock has outperformed the market, though, up 28% over a period when the DJIA is up only 12%.

It would be very hard for anyone on Wall Street to argue against the award received by Alan Mulally. Ford was in deep trouble when he joined, due in part to mismanagement and in part because of the economy. He kept the firm out of Chapter 11 while its rivals GM and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy. Ford’s financial results have been unusually strong over the last year.

Isenberg of Nabor is the one CEO who does not deserve his significant options profit. The company’s stock is up only 8% in the last year and has underperformed the DJIA.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Compensation Tagged: F, MGI, MOVE, NBR, ORCL, S, SBUX, SIRI, SPF, THC

Haiti Donations, Company-by-Company (MS, JPM, BAC, GS, JEF, WFC, WMT, TGT, RAD, MCD, YUM, KO, PEP, K, GIS, GOOG, DIS, CA, T, VZ, WU, MGI, UTX, UPS, ABT, AMGN, HUM)

247wallst — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:23:35 +0000

We have compiled from press releases and from company announcements a company-by-company donation and effort pledge to help in the relief efforts after the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. These are partial explanations of the efforts, and some lack how the funds are being donated and may lack the exact sources inside. There are many other companies which have probably made announcements that were not seen, but here is a partial list we have compiled in groups of related companies:

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) are each contributing $1 million to relief efforts. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) said today it is contributing $100,000.00.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has pledged $600,000.00… $500,000 in cash and and $100,000 in pre-packaged food. Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is donating $500,000.00 and more than 1 million meals. Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) said that The Rite Aid Foundation is making a $50,000 donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) will donate $1 million to support the American Red Cross International Response Fund.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is donating of $500,000.00 to be matched with donations from Arcos Dorados, the company that operates nearly 1,700 McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America, and combined are estimated to total at least $1 million. Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) is directing $500,000.00. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) committed $1 million each. Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) and General Mills (NYSE: GIS) are each giving $250,000.00.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is committing $1,000,000.00 and The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) pledged $100,000.00. CA Inc. (NASDAQ: CA) donating up to $200,000 via $50,000 grant and up to $150,000 in employee matches.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) pledged $50,000 donation to Telecoms Sans Frontieres to support relief work in providing telecom to victims in Haiti; while AT&T wireless customers can send donations to the Red Cross through a text message to be added to the customer bill. Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) said its Verizon Foundation awarded $100,000 in grants to World Vision and Food for the Poor and it will match 1-to-1 every dollar donated by Verizon employees to the two approved non-profit organizations of up to $1,000 per employee.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is ponying up $250,000.00 and waving outbound fees to Haiti for seven days. MoneyGram International Inc. (NYSE: MGI) is cutting its transfer charge to $1 for payments sent to Haiti and awarded a $10,000 grant to the Pan American Development Foundation.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) pledged up to $250,000 to match employee contributions to Red Cross disaster relief efforts; this is up to $250 per employee. United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is contributing more than $1 million in cash and in-kind support through its UPS Foundation, including $500,000.00 in cash and services for shipment of supplies and working with charities.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) pledged $1 million via cash and medicine or nutrition. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is donating $2 million and will match staff donations dollar per dollar. Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) from the Humana Foundation is contributing $100,000.00, which could be up to $150,000.00 total via employee matching.

Posted in Corporate Governance, Economy, Emerging Markets, Entertainment, Politics, Shareholder Issues Tagged: ABT, AMGN, BAC, CA, DIS, GIS, GOOG, GS, HUM, JEF, JPM, K, KO, MCD, MGI, MS, PEP, RAD, T, TGT, UPS, UTX, VZ, WFC, WMT, WU, YUM

MoneyGram Recapitalizes.. What’s Left? (MGI, GS)

247wallst — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:07:05 +0000

MoneyGram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI) has completed its recapitalization that was led by affiliates of Thomas H. Lee Partners and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Here is a breakdown of how the financing pact looked:

EQUITY (convertible): Affiliates of both Thomas H Lee and Goldman Sachs purchased $760 million of Series B and Series B-1 Preferred Stock, which are convertible into 79% of the common equity of the MoneyGram at an initial conversion price of $2.50 per share.

DEBT & CREDIT: Affiliates of Goldman Sachs have placed $500 million into the company as debt financing. Lastly, it secured an additional $250 million in senior debt financing. Following the completion of this transaction, MoneyGram will have $100 million of revolving credit available under a previously existing $350 million credit agreement, which was modified to provide for an extended term.

The company is going to use its relationship and contract extensions with Wal-Mart and ACE Cash Express as part of its basis. It also noted that money transfers are a source of growth and it now claims some 150,000 agent locations in its 180 country network.

We first started reviewing this stock for our Special Situation newsletter at the end of 2007 when there were still some bottom-fishing deals being announced, but we couldn’t see the end of the malaise in sight for this company. After a huge drop in January we again reviewed this one and still couldn’t see this one living without a total bail-out. Now that this deal has closed, we will put this under a closer review for Special Situation to see if there is any value after this afternoon’s rapid rise. You can also join our open email distribution list to see previews for topics involving M&A, reorganizations, break-ups, back door plays into IPO’s, and more.

Shares closed up literally 30% today at $2.33. But its 52-week trading range is $1.55 to $30.67, so it isn’t exactly an "immediate turnaround and make whole" situation. We’ll be keeping our eyes on this one and its related securities.

Jon C. Ogg
March 25, 20008

Jon Ogg produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

The 52-Week Low Club (XRM)(MGI)(BGP)(DVAX)(NUVO)(SHFL)

247wallst — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:56:49 +0000

Xerium Technologies (XRM) delays 10-K and risk of default. Falls to $1.16 from 52-week high of $9.20.

Moneygram (MGI) is taken out of one of the S&P indexes. Down to $1.62 from 52-week high of $30.67.

Borders Group (BGP) Bad time to be in the print business. Down to $6.98 from 52-week high of $24.15.

Dynavax Technologies (DVAX) FDA halts trials of a company drug. Falls to $2.07 from 52-week high of $6.55.

Nuvelo (NUVO) Cuts staff and announces failure of drug trial. Down to $.55 from 52-week high of $6.63.

Shuffle Master (SHFL) Post loss for quarter. Drops to $5.13 from 52-week high of $19.78.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club (FNM)(MYL)(PDLI)

247wallst — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:22:36 +0000

Moneygram (MGI) Deal to buy company falls apart. Drops to $2.45 from 52-week high of $30.67.

Universal American Financial (UAM) Cuts profit view for the year.Drops to $11.47 from 52-week high of $26.50.

Fannie Mae (FNM) Down on debt sales news. Drops to $23.84 from 52-week high of $70.57.

Mylan Labs (MYL) Weak outlook for upcoming period. Sells off to $10.67 from 52-week high of $22.90.

PDL Biopharma (PDLI) Cutting large numbers of jobs and halting M&A. Falls to $10.36 from 52-week high of $27.98.

UCBH Holdings (UCBH) Bank issues revision of loan-loss provisions taken during the fourth quarter. Sells down to $8.82 from 52-week high of $20.22.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:01:23 +0000

Bankatlantic (BBX) Real estate loans lead to loss. Falls to $4.05 from 52-week high of $14.

Moneygram (MGI) Two recent analyst downgrades. Drops to $14.42 from 52-week high of $35.18.

Journal Register (JRC) Newspaper stocks still getting pushed down. Drops to $2.23 from 52-week high of $8.60.

Trident Microsystems (TRID) Bad quarter. Shares down to $6.80 from 52-week high of $23.59.

Micrel (MCRL) Wall St. unhappy about earnings. Falls to $8.61 from 52-week high of $13.98.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:41:31 +0000

Noah Education (NED) New China IPO, gets pulled down by drop in region’s stocks. Drops to $16.50 from recent high of $23.70.

Moneygram (MGI) Fitch cuts rating. Falls to $17.67 from 52-week high of $35.18.

MGIC Investment (MTG) Analyst puts "underweight" rating on mortgage lender. Down to $20.09 from 52-week high of $70.10.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (ANPI) Cuts guidance and get downgrade. Down to $4.18 from 52-week high of $9.67.

Douglas A. McIntyre