24/7 Wall St. » MO

Marlboro Country Getting Smaller (MO)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:11:52 +0000

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), makers of Marlboro cigarettes and many other branded tobacco products, reported fourth quarter earnings this morning. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.50, a penny better than estimates. Revenue totaled $4.34 billion, also above the consensus estimate of $4.23 billion.

Net income for the quarter was down by -9% year-over-year at $836 million compared with $919 million in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings were boosted by the company’s cost cutting, which met a $1.5 billion reduction goal in the third quarter of 2011. The company is looking for an additional $400 million cuts by the end of 2013.

The company’s market share fell -0.7% to 41.6% of the total US market.

Altria announced the retirement of the company’s chairman and CEO, effective in May. The new chairman and CEO will be Martin Barrington, a 19-year veteran of the company.

The company’s 2012 guidance calls for full-year EPS of $2.14-$2.20, not including a $0.03/share adjustment. Analysts had a consensus estimate of $2.19. EPS for 2011 totaled $2.05 on an adjusted basis, slightly higher than the consensus estimate of $2.03.

Altria repurchased $1.3 billion in stock in 2011, out of $2 billion authorized in two repurchase programs. The company expects to complete the authorized repurchase program by the end of this year. Altria pays an annual dividend of $1.64/share, for a dividend yield of 5.7%.

Shares are trading higher by about 1.2% in the pre-market this morning, at $29.00 in a 52-week range of $23.20-$30.40.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Earnings, Tobacco Tagged: MO

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades of the Week (MO, ANGI, AAPL, CIT, GS, GMCR, HUN, KKD, LULU, NOK, SHLD, URBN, VZ, WSM, HOGS)

Administrator — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:35:49 +0000

This was the first week after the holidays and many analyst calls were made this week with updated outlooks for 2012. 24/7 Wall St. saw many influential analyst calls this week with either long term ramifications or which caused big moves in the underlying stocks.

We have covered this in more detailed summaries below, but the following included the top stock upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in this last week: Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO); Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI); Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT); Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN); Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD); Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU); Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK); Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD); Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN); Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ); Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM); and Zhongpin, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS).

We have given a summary and notes on each below.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) could be in for a 15% drop now that shares became overvalued per the Barron’s cover story to kick off 2012 and Davenport downgraded the stock also.

Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) had a rough week after its quiet period ended from its late 2011 IPO. The stock closed out 2011 at $16.10 and ended the week down at $13.23 for a loss of about 18%. Analyst initiation summary as follows:

Neutral with $18 target at BofA/ML;
Sector Perform with $17 target at RBC;
Perform with $16 target at Oppenheimer;
Buy with $22 target at ThinkEquity;
Buy with $21 target at Stifel Nicolaus;
Buy with $19 target at Janney Capital Markets.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may have just been a reiterated call, but this was the $560 price target call from Canaccord Genuity. Apple’s price target was also lowered to $513 from $530 at Morgan Keegan.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was noted as a “if, then” possible takeover candidate in a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey call this week that is frankly hard to agree with.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was among the banking sector downgrades this week, although shares still managed to close on a positive note if you just compare the price to the prior Friday. Meredith Whitney, Wells Fargo, and Credit Suisse all gave negative calls with downgrades or lower sales and earnings.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Research, The Week, Trading Alert Tagged: AAPL, ANGI, CIT, GMCR, GS, HOGS, HUN, KKD, LULU, MO, NOK, SHLD, URBN, VZ, WSM

The 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio (AEP, AWK, T, GE, GOV, KMB, SNH, WMT, JNK, AMJ, AMLP, PGF, MO, DLR, EPD, KMP)

Administrator — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:41:33 +0000

It seems that most investors have started adding income or dividend reinvestment plans to their portfolios by using dividend stocks. With the yields of the 10-Year Treasury close to 2% and the 30-Year Treasury close to 3%, investors are looking elsewhere for investment income. 24/7 Wall St. has compiled its own 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio. It has some new names and some deletions from prior dividend lists due to price appreciation or fundamental changes.

It turns out that many stocks with high dividend yields are now more attractive than sovereign debt in the U.S. and abroad. Part of the allure, besides income or reinvestment, is that dividend stocks often hold up better than other investments during jittery markets. It is hard to imagine, but the high-yield utility sector was one of the top performers of the S&P in 2011. In some cases, half of an investor’s total return through time may come from dividends. Warren Buffett generally picks dividend-paying companies for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) after following some of the principles of Benjamin Graham.

The 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio includes the following stocks: American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE: AEP); American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK); AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV); Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB); Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH); and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

While exchange-traded products have been avoided in the past, recent trends merit a look at the open-end or closed-end mutual funds and ETF products as follows: SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond (NYSE: JNK); JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSE: AMJ); ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: AMLP); and PowerShares Financial Preferred (NYSE: PGF).

Lastly, there have been some exits due to upside price performance: Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO); Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR); Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD); and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP).

We have described the features and outlook for each component of our Model Dividend Portfolio.

Filed under: Bonds, Compensation, Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Editor's Picks, ETF, Mutual Funds, Oil & Gas, Shareholder Issues, Special Report, Stock Buybacks, Tax, Tobacco, Utilities, Value Investing Tagged: AEP, AMJ, AMLP, AWK, BAC, BRK-A, DLR, EPD, GE, GOV, HBC, INTC, JNK, JPM, KMB, KMP, MET, MO, PGF, SNH, T, VZ, WFC, WMT

Investors Quit Smoking As 2012 New Year Resolution (MO, LO, RAI, PM)

Administrator — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:59:00 +0000

It was not that long ago that Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was removed from our 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio. Our take was that the metrics of the domestic tobacco industry were changing to where the only way that earnings can grow is if cigarette companies start raising prices at a faster pace than the case volumes are falling. This is the only way that Altria and other can grow that dividend. We may be early by a year, but the reality is that we would not become excited about Altria unless shares were to come back down to $27 or even $26 before giving it a visitation again.

We did not substitute Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) nor Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO) for Altria in the dividend portfolio because of the industry woes being present. As far as Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM), it has other issues like currencies to deal with, as well as having a lower dividend rate and even some nations increasing their legal actions against tobacco.

apparently Barron’s feels the same in the concerns. We expected the cover story this last weekend to be about all of the outlooks for a better 2012 or something more broad. Instead, the cover story was “Up In Smoke” with the note that Altria’s prospects are low with the cigarette sector outlook being bad and with Marlboro losing market share as cheaper brands are winning out.

Barron’s take… Altria could fall 15%, and with shares having been around $30.00 that could take the stock back under $26.00.

Altria shares are trading down 3.3% at $28.67 after a $29.65 close on Friday. Apparently investors are giving up on smoking for a new year resolution as well.

If you want to gain access to the 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio, simply sign up in the box below for our morning email list to hear about analyst upgrades and downgrades, moves from Warren Buffett and other top gurus, and other key features from the 24/7 Wall St. staff.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Consumer Goods, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Tobacco Tagged: LO, MO, PM, RAI

Investors Risk Chasing Yield Too Much In Tobacco Dividends (MO, T, RAI, LO, PM)

Administrator — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:01:48 +0000

The continued rise in tobacco stocks is certainly cheered by tobacco stock investors who own the stocks for the high dividends. The problem is that there seems to be a phantom premium now being built into tobacco stocks for new investors buying now. It is starting to look and feel a lot like investors are in a classic “chasing yield” strategy right now.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) has now hit a new adjusted high and shares have even crossed above the $30.00 threshold. When we recently questioned how safe these tobacco dividends were earlier in December, Altria shares were around $28.65. When we eliminated the tobacco sector from our 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio, the admission was that it might be a tad soon but that the share price was getting ahead of the underlying fundamentals.

Our take is that Altria would become very attractive again if it was to get closer to $25.00. Admittedly, that might be closer to $26.50 now that investors have proven willing to invest in Altria above $30.00. Altria’s 5.6% yield now compares to a dividend yield north of 6% for telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).

The tobacco sector is still a safe haven to hide in during market sell-offs, but the longer-term risk/reward is reaching above our parameters for investors with a 5-year or longer horizon.

We have not added Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) nor Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) as replacement stocks for Altria in the Model Dividend Portfolio. Again, if the share prices come back down then our interest may increase. The good news is that Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) still has a safe dividend and it has plenty of income coverage to hike in the future. The international tobacco play has “only” a 4.1% dividend yield and it has extreme currency risks. The last hike was a large one from $0.64 to $0.77, and even if the company made the sale nominal jump to $0.90 per quarter it would be paying out less than 70% of its expected income per share.

Our belief is that the domestic tobacco market has too many headwinds in the future, but none of the threats are legal cases. The biggest fear is that Joe Public has finally made a healthier move and more smokers are dropping out of the population. Some die, but some quit.

Over the last month we have read about price hikes being passed down to distributors. After all, it isn’t really as if the stores can substitute out Joe Camel for the Marlborough man or vice versa. Lorillard was shown to be passing on a $0.06 per pack hike, while a nickel hike was coming from Altria and Reynolds. What if the government or distributors argue that there is price collusion happening? Too many price hikes may eventually at some point drive away more smokers. States, cities, and counties keep turning to tobacco sales for higher taxes as well.

Investors should be at least concerned that the only way to grow earnings is by price hikes to keep juicing up the dividends. Case volumes keep shrinking and operating costs and tobacco crop prices ultimately can only be cut so much. There are only so many ways to diversify for growth as well. Smokeless tobacco has been one push, and the non-tobacco “e-cigs” are another…

We still maintain that the endless tobacco dividend hike game is yet entirely over. At the current pace, we could easily see one more annual dividend hike or maybe even two. Altria’s quarterly dividend went from $0.38 to $0.41, Reynolds went from $0.53 to $0.56, and Lorillard has now had four quarters of a $1.30 payout. These dividends are now all under 6% because the share prices have risen enough.

When we eliminated tobacco from the 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio, we noted, “Our admission is a simple and humble one: we may be too early on this call. You have been hearing about the death of the tobacco industry for years.” Tobacco is here today and will still be here tomorrow.

The biggest fear for investors is that some time in the next year or two it could be the time that one of the tobacco giants says “We cannot afford to hike our dividend this year, but we hope to next year.” If investors ever fear that to be the case, then that will mark the end of the tobacco run.

Except for Lorillard, the stocks are above the consensus analyst price targets: Altria’s target is $29.00 with a share price above $30.00 and Reynolds American’s share price is $41.71 versus a target price of $40.75.

If you want to receive the full 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio you can sign up in the email submission below. Each morning we send our free email list subscribers a snapshot of the key feature stories, the top daily analyst upgrades and downgrades, previews for key events, and many other aspects governing your finances.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Tobacco Tagged: LO, MO, PM, RAI, T

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GE, YHOO, YUM, MO, AVP, GRPN, JOY, SYNO, ADBE, DFS, FDX, FSLR, AVP, EONC, SGI, SPWR, RVSN)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:09:02 +0000

Equity markets started the day down and stayed there all day. Traders were mirroring the action on European and Asian markets, which all settled down before the US markets opened this morning. Falling crude oil prices led most commodities down, but had a favorable impact on airlines stocks that may not have to pay so much for fuel next month. A record low yield on 30-year Treasury bonds pushed stock prices up slightly in the afternoon, but the effect was short lived. WTI crude oil is down more than -5% at $94.93/barrel, and Brent crude oil is also down nearly -4.7% at 104.81/barrel. Gold is down more than -5% at $1,576.40, and looks to settle at its lowest point since mid-July.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 132 points to 11,823.48 (-1.1%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 40 points (-1.55%) to 2,539.31, and the S&P 500 fell -1.13% or nearly 14 points to 1,211.82. So far this week, the indexes have closed lower every day.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Electric (NYSE: GE) reiterated as ‘outperform’ with the target price raised to $22 at Credit Suisse. Other ratings actions today include Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) restarted as ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $60 at Argus; Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; and Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) raised to ‘outperform’ at BMO Capital. Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) received ratings from a slew of analysts this morning, and the results are in our full ratings coverage.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY) is down nearly -11% at $75.54 and Synovis Life Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNO) is up 0.2% at $27.83. Synovis received a buyout offer yesterday at $28/share from Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX). Tomorrow’s big earnings releases come from Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), and Fedex Corp. (NYSE: FDX).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is down more than -21% at $33.46, after posting a new 52-week low of $33.08 earlier today. The solar PV maker lowered guidance this morning. See our coverage here.

Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is up almost 5.5% at $17.02. The cosmetics company is replacing CEO Andrea Jung. We have more on the story here.

eOn Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: EONC) is up about 108% at $2.12. The online marketing company reported good earnings yesterday, but not that good. Investors must be anticipating a buyout offer.

Silicon Graphics International Corp. (NASDAQ: SGI) is down nearly -17.5% at . The computer maker’s president/CEO has resigned, effective January 1st, to take a position as president and CEO at another company.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) is down more than -15% at $5.35, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.34. The solar maker is caught in the general sell-off of solar stocks following the lowered guidance from First Solar.

RADVision Ltd. (NASDAQ: RVSN) is down nearly -12% at $8.57. The communications equipment maker’s shares jumped more than 14% yesterday on talk of a buyout by Avaya. The falling share price is very likely discounting yesterday’s rumor.

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

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment claims report
8:30 a.m. – Producer price index report
8:30 a.m. – Empire State Manufacturing survey
9:15 a.m. – Industrial production report
9:45 a.m. – Bloomberg consumer comfort index
10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas report
1:00 p.m. – 5-year TIPS auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADBE, AVP, DFS, EONC, FDX, FSLR, GE, GRPN, JOY, MO, RVSN, SGI, SPWR, SYNO, YHOO, YUM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MO, AVP, CE, LFC, EL, FITB, GE, MIND, VRTX, YHOO, YUM, GRPN)

Administrator — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:05:27 +0000

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

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) maintained as Underperform but named the Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) Added to Strong Buy List at Zacks Investment Research.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Outperform and raised estimates at Credit Suisse.
Mitcham Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIND) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Outperform but cut the price target to $37 from $39 by Credit Suisse.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) resumed with a “Sell” rating at Goldman Sachs.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $66.00 by Argus.

The big move in the land of stock research and analyst calls is the expiration of the Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) quiet period. The online social couponing site was initiated in coverage as follows by some of the syndicate firms:

Overweight and $27.00 price target at Barclays;
Buy with $28.00 price target by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch;
Neutral and $24.00 price target at Citigroup;
Neutral with a $25.00 price target at Credit Suisse;
Buy with a $29.00 price target by Goldman Sachs;
Neutral and $24.00 price target at JPMorgan;
Sector Perform with $25.00 price target at RBC Capital Markets.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AVP, CE, EL, FITB, GE, GRPN, LFC, MIND, MO, VRTX, YHOO, YUM

Are Tobacco Dividends Still Safe Beyond 2012 and 2013? (MO, RAI, LO, PM)

Administrator — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:21:58 +0000

24/7 Wall St. has just released its 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio for investors. While we have many names we have featured as buys in our income and defensive stock sectors, this is the first time in quite some time that we have eliminated tobacco stocks from the mix. They are still safe sectors to hide in during market sell-offs, but the risk/reward is reaching above our parameters for the investors with a 5-year or longer horizon.

The move takes of Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) from the mix, and frankly we are not even adding Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) nor Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) currently. The moves would easily be remedied if these share prices correct, but our belief is that the domestic tobacco market has too many headwinds in the future. The good news is that none of them are legal. It is a healthier move as more smokers are dropping out of the population, either by death or by the more preferable method of realizing that continuing to smoke will cause death.

Dow Jones gave some figures that show pricing power this morning, but some could perhaps argue that this is the industry banding together. Lorillard was shown to be passing on a $0.06 per pack hike, while a nickel hike was coming from Altria and Reynolds. Frankly, this price hike in our belief is only going to drive away that many more smokers even if it is just a marginal hike. That hike, and then some, will be passed on to Joe Public. States, cities, and counties keep turning to tobacco sales for higher taxes as well.

Price hikes are now the only way that tobacco companies can grow earnings and cash flow enough to allow for higher dividends and continued share buybacks. Case volumes keep shrinking and costs ultimately can only be cut so much. We also still wonder about the risks of the nasty labels, even if that now appears to not be as large of an issue ahead right now.

So, our take is not that the dividend game is yet entirely over. At the current pace, we could see one more dividend hike. Maybe two. Altria’s quarterly dividend went from $0.38 to $0.41, Reynolds went from $0.53 to $0.56, and Lorillard has now had four quarters of a $1.30 payout. These dividends are now all under 6%.

We do not see a jeopardy of these being in the defensive stock category for traders, but the stock prices have just risen too far for us to recommend these for long-term dividend investors. Our admission is a simple and humble one: we may be too early on this call. You have been hearing about the death of the tobacco industry for years.

Still, what happens the year that one of the tobacco giants says “We cannot afford to hike our dividend this year, but we hope to next year.” That will be the end. These tobacco stocks, except for Lorillard, are just too close to their consensus price targets as well.

The good news is that Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) still has a safe dividend and it has plenty of income coverage to hike in the future.

Lastly, we are not full of panic here. If Altria came back closer to $25.00 or if Reynolds reach back down to $35.00 or so, the we would not hesitate a reconsideration. We have just seen these shares rise and rise and the yield opportunities are better elsewhere.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Regulation, Tax, Tobacco Tagged: LO, MO, PM, RAI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (MO, VZ, TSO, LNKD, GE, CHKR, BTH, PBY, UEC, AZO, DRI, TOL, LQDT, DMND, SAI, VRA, FRO, CTIC, CRK, VG, HL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:11:36 +0000

Equities opened a little weaker this morning, but by 10:00 a.m. markets had turned slightly positive and have remained in positive territory for the rest of the day. The gain has not been huge, but it is a gain. The lack of enthusiasm from either buyers or sellers reflected the mood from European bourses as well. WTI crude oil rose 0.11%, to near $101.10 just before today’s close. Gold was off -0.02%, at $1,730.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 52 points to 12,150.13 (0.43%), the NASDAQ fell more than 6 points (-0.23%) to 2,649.56, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 5 points to 1,258.47.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) started as ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank. Other ratings action include Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $44 price target at Argus; Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ with a $34 price target at Credit Suisse; LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) raised to ‘outperform’ by Berstein.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR) is up 0.7% at $19.94; Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH) is down -0.05% at $66.33; Pep Boys-Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY) is down -5.5% at $11.21; Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX: UEC) is up 0.66% at $3.06; AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) is down -0.12% at $338.56; Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is down -12% at $41.95; Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is up nearly 3% at $21.37; and Liquidity Services Inc. (NASDAQ: LQDT) is up nearly 5.5% at $36.74, after posting a new 52-week high of $37.05 earlier in the day. Earnings releases coming after markets close today include Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI); and Vera Bradley Inc. (NYSE: VRA).

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) is up more than 19%, to $4.23. The oil tanker company has been suffering from low day rates and lack of cargoes, but today’s injection of $500 million from a Norwegian bank controlled by the company’s major shareholder, John Fredriksen, has pumped up interest in the stock.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is up 14%, at $1.31. The drug-maker received notice from the FDA that its new drug application for a treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma is complete.

Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) is up nearly 15%, at $19.39. The oil & gas E&P company has acquired new acreage in the Delaware Basin of west Texas and reported that it had drilled five new producing wells in its Eagle Ford shale acreage.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) is down nearly -5%, at $2.52. The VoIP provider did not report any significant news, but the stock has been quite volatile over the past month.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is up more than 9%, at $6.57. The miner benefited from today’s investors’ interest in gold mining stocks.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. We have noted Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin moderating a panel on grass-roots participation at Baltimore branch of Richmond Fed. Here are other noteworthy events scheduled for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
3:00 p.m. – Report on outstanding consumer credit

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AZO, BTH, CHKR, CRK, CTIC, DMND, DRI, FRO, GE, HL, LNKD, LQDT, MO, PBY, SAI, TOL, TSO, UEC, VG, VRA, VZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MO, AEA, CCK, GE, HIBB, HBC, ITC, LNKD, PCS, SAP, SON, TSO, VZ)

Administrator — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:39:27 +0000

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

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc. (NYSE: AEA) named as value stock of the day at under 10-times earnings by Zacks.
Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) Started as Outperform with $43 target and was added to the Focus List at Credit Suisse.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Raised to Outperform by Bernstein (call was made late Monday afternoon).
Hibbett Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: HIBB) maintained Outperform with $47 target and named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) started as Underperform and named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation by William Blair.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research.
Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) Started as Neutral with $34.00 price target at Credit Suisse.
Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) Cut to Neutral with $34 target from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Reiterated Buy with a $44 price target at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AEA, CCK, GE, HBC, HIBB, ITC, LNKD, MO, PCS, SAP, SON, TSO, VZ