24/7 Wall St. » PHG

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BLL, CAT, CHK, DANG, ESL, GEOI, INFY, IVZ, JBLU, PHG, PAA, UIL, VNO, WDR)

Administrator — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:18:30 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

GeoResources, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOI) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.

Invesco, Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) Reiterated Hold at Argus.

Philips Electronics N.V. (NYSE: PHG) Named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Plains All American Pipeline. L.P. (NYSE: PAA) Reinstated as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

UIL Holdings Corp. (NYSE: UIL) Reiterated Hold at Argus.

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) Raised to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. (NYSE: WDR) Raised to Neutral at Citigroup.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BLL, CAT, CHK, DANG, ESL, GEOI, INFY, IVZ, JBLU, PAA, PHG, UIL, VNO, WDR

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKS, ALU, AWK, APA, AF, AZK, DRI, HBAN, PHG, LTD, PIR, Rl, RL, UL, URBN, VIP, WBMD, WCC)

Administrator — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:07:18 +0000

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

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Outperform with $12 target at Credit Suisse.
Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) Raised to Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Astoria Financial Corporation (NYSE: AF) Cut to UNderweight at JPMorgan.
Aurizon Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AZK) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LTD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Started as Hold at Argus.
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) Raised to 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, IPOs, M&A, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AF, AKS, ALU, APA, AWK, AZK, DRI, HBAN, LTD, PHG, PIR, RL, UL, URBN, VIP, WBMD, WCC

European ADRs Surging on Global Central Bank Action (ALU, MT, BHP, STD, IRE, CS, UBS, DB, FTE, PHG, ERIC, NOK, NBG, SI, TI)

Administrator — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:03:50 +0000

The action out of China’s virtual easing by lowering reserve requirements was already a boost to global markets, but the coordinated central bank efforts of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Switzerland, and the U.K. to preserve global liquidity is creating a boom for stocks today at the expense of the U.S. dollar.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is up only 1.25% at $1.60 and shares are flat in local trading in Paris. Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is up 10% at $18.26 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is up 6.5% at $74.21.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is up 5.6% at $7.56 and the stock is up 4% in local trading in Madrid. The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is now up 8.6% at $4.92 and shares are up 7% in local trading in Dublin. National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is up 4.9% at $2.55 in New York but shares are up almost 3% in local trading in Athens.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is up 7% at $24.03 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is up 6.1% at $12.18. Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is up 7.9% at $38.36 and shares are up 6.6% in local trading in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is up 4.3% at $17.01 and shares are up 3.4% in local trading in Paris. Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is up 4.6% at $20.00 in New York trading. LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is up 5.5% at $10.37; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is up 4.2% at $5.73. Funny, Nokia’s problems are not really tied to “liquidity” issues or other uncertainties. Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is up 5.9% at $101.54 in New York and shares are up 4.1% in local trading in Frankfurt.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is up 5.6% at $11.32 in New York and shares are up 4% in local trading in Milan.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, International Markets, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, BHP, CS, DB, ERIC, FTE, IRE, MT, NBG, NOK, PHG, SI, STD, TI, UBS

Most Valuable Stadiums in America

Mike Sauter — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:36:12 +0000

Corporations can spend hundreds of million dollars just so they can put their name on a major league sports stadiums. 24/7 Wall St. looked that the 13 largest stadium-naming rights deals and found several unrelated reasons for these extraordinary investments.

Most major league sports stadiums get substantial public exposure. Fans see the name while attending the games. In many cities, the arenas are a major landmark. They can be spotted, along with their emblazoned names, for miles around from the ground or the air. Then there are the nationally and internationally televised games when millions of people around the country — and sometimes the world — see and hear the sponsor company’s name as announcers refer to the venue. Over the 20-year lifespan of a naming rights deal, tens of millions of people see and hear the sponsor’s name over and over.

Read: The Most Valuable Stadiums in America

Some of the stadium sponsors on the 24/7 Wall St. list are headquartered in the same city as the sports venue. This is the case with American Airlines in Dallas. The airline gets local exposure in its home city. And because the airline is international, the fact that the stadium’s name appears on television and in sports promotions further extends awareness of the airline’s brand. American has spent $195 million on a 30-year naming rights deal to the basketball and hockey arena in Dallas. It is impossible to say whether that amount is too high or too low. But that is also true of most advertising and branding the carrier does.

Some of the stadium names are actually more for local or regional exposure than national or international branding. This is the case with Reliant Stadium in Houston, which is named for the local electrical and energy service company. While Reliant’s parent company, NRG (NYSE: NRG), is a Fortune 500 corporation and has no need for local branding, it must believe there is a value to Reliant’s brand promotion. It has 1.5 million customers in the Texas.

The final reason for purchasing naming rights is personal. Lucas Oil purchased naming rights to the football stadium in Indianapolis mostly because founder Forrest Lucas was born there. The company actually provides oil and performance car products, and it also sponsors a number of sports cars. It is easier to see why a car oil company would do auto branding rather than have its name on a stadium. But Lucas has the wealth to put his name on almost anything he pleases, as long as the branding rights are available.

It is impossible for a company to determine the return on investment it makes when it attaches its name to a stadium for an amount that is often more than $100 million with a term of several decades. The sponsor has no way of telling whether the teams that use the stadiums will do well, or whether attendances will remain high. But like many forms of branding, it is part of a larger strategy to keep the name of a product, or a company, in the consumers’ minds. One way to accomplish that is to put it in front of the millions of people who see the stadium in person or in the media.

Filed under: Accounting, Research, Special Report Tagged: AMR, BAC, BCS, C, ERIC, FDX, MET, NRG, PHG, TD

European ADRs Dragging Down U.S. Trading (ALU, MT, BHP, STD, IRE, CS, UBS, DB, FTE, PHG, ERIC, NOK, NBG, SI, TI)

Administrator — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:44:11 +0000

The Eurozone growth rate of 0.2% in the third quarter may have met expectations but this is just one more example that growth is so low already that getting out of the debt hole is going to be no easy task. As a result, we have another day of Euro-led selling and almost every major European name that has a New York ADR tied to its is trading lower.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is down another 2.5% at $1.92 and shares are down 2.6% in local trading in Paris.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is down 3.3% at $18.36 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is down 1.5% at $74.85.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down almost 2% at $7.47 and the stock is down 2% in local trading in Madrid.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is down 2.1% at $4.70 and shares are down 2.3% in local trading in Dublin.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is down 3.6% at $23.32 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is down over 2.5% at $11.60.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down 2.2% at $37.68 and shares are down 2.6% in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) has not traded in New York but shares are indicated under $17.00 after a $17.10 close on Monday; shares are down 1% in Paris.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is down 3.1% at $18.86 in New York trading.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is down 1.8% at $9.99; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is indicated down almost 2% at $6.42.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is down 5.5% at $0.52 in New York but shares are down 8.5% in local trading in Athens.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is down 1.2% in New York and shares are down 1.7% in local trading in Frankfurt.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is down almost 3% at $11.55 in New York and shares are down almost 3.1% in local trading in Milan.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, International Markets, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, BHP, CS, DB, ERIC, FTE, IRE, MT, NBG, NOK, PHG, SI, STD, TI, UBS

European ADRs Follow Italy Much Lower, Wrecking U.S. Market Gains (E, LUX, TI, ALU, MT, BHP, STD, IRE, CS, UBS, DB, FTE, PHG, ERIC, NOK, NBG, SI, EWI)

Administrator — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:32:30 +0000

Well, it used to be Greece taking us down daily, but now it is the much larger concern of Italy. The markets were supposed to be cheering that Silvio Berlusconi was going to step down but then suddenly the fears of who would or could replace him and the uncertainty have set in. Now Italy’s ten-year yield is not just above 5% and 6%, but above 7%. Unlike Greece just being a flea on a dog, Italy is even larger than a dog’s tail and it is frankly too big to just get a bailout.

Eni SpA (NYSE: E) is down over 4% around $42.30 and shares are down 3% in Milan. Luxottica Group SpA (NYSE: LUX) has not traded and we do not yet have Ney Work indications, but shares were down 3.1% in Milan. Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is indicated down around 7% in New York at $11.30 but shares are down 4.5% in local trading in Milan.

Elsewhere in Europe….

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is down around $1.98 (ouch, 52-week low) after a $2.16 close in New York, and shares are down almost 4% in local trading in Paris.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is down over 8% at $19.03 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is down 4.5% at $76.47 in New York trading in the early pre-markets.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down 7% at $7.50 in active early New York trading but the stock is down more than 3% in local trading in Madrid.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is down 1.4% at $5.17 in New York and shares are down 2.2% in local trading in Dublin.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is down 7.1% at $24.77 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is down 6.1% at $11.97 in early New York pre-market trading.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down over 9% at $36.80 in New York and shares are down about 5% in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) has not traded in New York yet but its shares are down 2% in local trading in Paris.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is indicated down around $19.65 after a $20.86 close in New York for a loss of close to 6%.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is indicated down 5% around $10.15; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is down 4.7% at $6.50.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is indicated flat to down a couple cents after a $0.59 close in New York but shares are down 4.1% in local trading in Athens.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is down 4.5% at $98.56 in New York trading and shares are down 1.6% in local trading in Frankfurt.

iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE: EWI) is trading down 5.2% at $12.87.

Another rough day is being brought on by the woes of the nanny and endless welfare nations in Europe. S&P futures are down over 2% with well over two hours until the market opens.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, Economy, International Markets, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, BHP, CS, DB, E, ERIC, EWI, FTE, IRE, LUX, MT, NBG, NOK, PHG, SI, STD, TI, UBS

European ADRs Leading The Charge Higher (ALU, MT, BHP, STD, IRE, CS, UBS, DB, FTE, PHG, ERIC, NOK, NBG, SI, TI, EWI, EWQ, EWG)

Administrator — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:01:02 +0000

Greece and the rest of the PIIGS were hurting us for so long that it seems hard to believe that the Europeans are setting a 50% haircut for the Greek sovereign debt and that they have agreed to a $1.4 trillion (1 trillion Euro) Euro-zone rescue package. The news is causing a major rally in the stock markets with the German DAX up over 4% and the French CAC up 5%. The FTSE in England is up 2.6% and the Greek stock market (there actually is one) is up over 6.5%. European ADRs are leading the markets higher this Thursday… Much higher.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is up over 2.5% at $2.80 and shares are up 5.1% in local trading in Paris.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is up almost 7% at $20.95 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is up 5.1% at $82.07.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is up 5.6% at $8.87 and the stock was up 6.1% in local trading in Madrid.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is up 6.2% at $6.17 and shares are up 7% in local trading in Dublin.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is flying with shares up 9.6% at $30.67 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is up 7.8% at $13.65.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is up a whopping 14% at $46.00 and shares are up 15% in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is up 1.5% at $18.58 in New York and shares are up 1.5% in Paris as well.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is up about 6% at $22.23.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is up 5.6% at $10.83; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is up 5.3% at $7.13.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is up 15.6% at $0.545 in New York but shares are up 12.2% in local trading in Athens.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is up 3.1% at $108.58 in New York and shares are up 3% in local trading in Frankfurt.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) has not yet traded in New York but shares have a pre-trade indication of $13.20 versus a $12.73 close in New York; shares are up 4% in local trading in Milan.

iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE: EWI) is up 1.8% at $14.05. iShares MSCI France Index (NYSE: EWQ) is up 4.4% at $22.45 and iShares MSCI Germany Index (NYSE: EWG) is up 4.4% at $22.12.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, International Markets, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, BHP, CS, DB, ERIC, EWG, EWI, EWQ, FTE, IRE, MT, NBG, NOK, PHG, SI, STD, TI, UBS

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ATVI, AMR, AMD, AWK, CAH, DISCA, GME, HRBN, IVZ, JBLU, PHG, LM, MA, OXY, RCL, V, DIS, WWW, WYNN)

Administrator — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:26:17 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Started as Outperform at Baird.
AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
American Water Works Co. (NYSE: AWK) Started as Neutral with $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Harbin Electric, Inc. (NASDAQ: HRBN) Cut to Neutral at Roth Capital.
Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) Cut to Underperform at Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) Maintained Buy but cut estimates and target at Argus.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) named Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMD, AMR, ATVI, AWK, CAH, DIS, DISCA, GME, HRBN, IVZ, JBLU, LM, MA, OXY, PHG, RCL, V, WWW, WYNN

European ADRs Leading U.S. Stocks Lower (ALU, MT, BHP, STD, CS, DB, FTE, PHG, NOK, SI, TI, UBS)

Administrator — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:02:54 +0000

It feels like Groundhog day in Europe. Greece fears are escalating and European markets are sharply lower. The Europeans are just unwilling or are unable to deal with their woes in a timely manner. DJIA futures are down about 100 points again. These are the ADRs of mostly European companies which have traded this morning and leading the markets lower with the FTSE down 3.1%, the DAX down 3.7% and the CAC down 3.2% are as follows:

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is indicated down 4% at $2.32 but shares are down about 7% in local trading in Paris.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is down “only” 1.1% at $15.33 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is down 2% at $63.10 this morning.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down almost 1% at $7.61, but shares are down 3% in local trading in Madrid.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is down 2% at $23.73.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down 3.4% at $31.70; shares are down about 6% in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is down only $0.02 at $15.78 in New York; shares are down almost 1.3% in local trading in Paris.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) has not yet traded, but shares are indicated down around $16.70 versus a $17.26 close.

Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is down 3.3% at $5.26.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is down 1.5% at $85.60, but shares are down 2.9% in local trading in Frankfurt.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is actually indicated higher this morning but there has been no New York pre-market trading with about two hours until the open. Shares are up 0.9% in local trading in Milan.

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is up almost 2.5% at $10.83, but shares are down 0.8% in local markets.

It is going to be another bad day for emerging markets and all we can say there is that we noted the details of the chart deaths taking place in BRIC and emerging markets.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, International Markets, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, BHP, CS, DB, FTE, MT, NOK, PHG, SI, STD, TI, UBS

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ALTR, DOW, DNKN, HBC, ITRI, PHG, SHOO, WNR)

Administrator — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:43:10 +0000

It is a bit thin in analyst coverage this morning. These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations from Wall Street.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Dunkin Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) Started as Hold at Argus.
HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HBC) target cut at Macquarie.
Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) named as Bear of the day at Zacks.
Steven Madden Limited (NASDAQ: SHOO) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Western Refining, Inc (NYSE: WNR) named Aggressive Growth stock of the day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, DNKN, DOW, HBC, ITRI, PHG, SHOO, WNR