24/7 Wall St. » RGLD

After The Fall, Huge Upside & Value In Gold/Silver Miners (GDX, SIL, ABX, GG, NEM, AU, KGC, AEM, GFI, AUY, IAG, HMY, EGO, RGLD, SLW, PAAS)

Administrator — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:44:10 +0000

Gold and silver have finally indicated that the free fall we saw over the last month may have at least stabilized. The markets are mixed today in the commodities and the miners and we admit that no one truly knows what is the bottom-dollar that these can hit and no one knows the real top-dollar that investors will pay in a rally. What we do know is that the sell-off has literally gutted many of the key players in gold and silver and there is huge upside and value here if the consensus analyst price targets for one year from now are anywhere near correct.

At issue may be a stock market stabilization, or perhaps it is a stabilization aimed solely at the commodities and those companies which profit from either the rise of commodity prices or the rise of the demand for those commodities. It was just yesterday evening that Dennis Gartman of the Gartman Letter was talking up gold miners as his method of choice to play the current bounce in gold.

To show just how much implied upside there is we found some large cap gold stocks that have upside of about 100% and many of the big players have implied upside of well over 50%. The key ETFs for these miners show just how widespread the damage was during the last sell-off. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) trades at $43.35 against a 52-week trading range of $39.08 to $66.98 and that is down about 35% as a group from the highs. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (AMEX: SIL) trades at $18.00 against a 52-week range of $16.54 to $29.05 and that is down almost 38% from its high in the last year.

We included the implied dividend yields but due to foreign issues and ADRs causing currency translations and due to some payouts not being quarter like U.S. companies do, we would urge you to only consider the dividend as a footnote and something you should be verifying on your own. Besides that, who buys gold (and silver) miners because of their dividend yields only?

We have evaluated the following large-cap gold stocks: Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX); Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG); Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM); AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU); Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC); Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM); Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI); Yamana Gold, Inc. (NYSE: AUY); IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG); Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY); Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO); and Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD). We have covered also two of the larger silver players of Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) and Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS).

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) traded at $37.60 and has a market value of $37.6 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $59.10 and the 52-week range is $34.82 to $55.95. Barrick has a dividend yield of 2.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target: 57% but we would note that the target is above the 52-week high.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) traded at $34.90 with a market value of $28.2 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $60.42 and the 52-week trading range is $32.16 to $56.31. Goldcorp’s most recent yield was listed as 1.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 73% but we would note that the consensus target is still above the 52-week high.

Filed under: ADR, Commodities, Corporate Governance, ETF, Metals, Trading Alert, Value Investing Tagged: ABX, AEM, AU, AUY, EGO, GDX, GFI, GG, HMY, IAG, KGC, NEM, PAAS, RGLD, SIL, SLW

When Gold, Silver, and Copper All Tank… Are They All Devil’s Metals? (GLD, RGLD, SLV, HL, JJC, SCCO, FCX)

Administrator — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:12:17 +0000

What happens when you have an appreciating dollar? Commodity prices tend to fall, all other things being equal. But what about when you have a scenario where risk-on investors are not buying these for growth and a time when defensive and inflation-wary investors are on the sidelines too? It is a perfect storm for no buyers and it means that investors are going to have to turn to the charts more than ever to see when and where the pivot levels on these are.

SPDR Gold Shares (AMEX: GLD) is down 1.6% at $156.50 and challenging the absolute lows not seen since April 4, 2012. Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) has not held up since earnings and its shares are down almost 4% at $57.84 on the day against a 52-week range of $55.00 to $83.87. Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE: EGO) is performing the worst of our tracked gold names with a drop of 5.3% at $12.14, and be advised that is a new 52-week low as the prior range was $12.44 to $22.12 over the last 52-weeks.

iShares Silver Trust (AMEX: SLV), the ETF tracking the true’ Devil’s Metal of silver, is down 2.2% at $28.56. Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW) can always be counted on for volatility and its shares are down almost 3% at $26.65 against a 52-week range of $25.84 to $42.50. Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) remains very troubled and very challenged and shares are down again after earnings as revenue and earnings fell hard, despite it maintaining its normal dividend and announcing up to 20 million shares for a buyback plan with proceeds over the next 24 months. Hecla shares are at a new 52-week low of $3.82 against a prior 52-week range of $3.87 to $8.82.

iPath DJ-UBS Copper Total Return Sub-Index ETN (AMEX: JJC) is down with copper as the anti-growth trade seems to still be winning. Shares are down 2.1% at $47.00 against a 52-week range of $38.99 to $59.06. Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) is down 2.2% at $31.50. This is a drop due to the slowing growth of the emerging world on top of a slower Europe.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) remains challenged and its shares are down 2.5% at $35.48 against a 52-week range of $28.85 to $56.78.

With the S&P 500 Index down 0.6% at $1360.00, the go-to assets for risk-on and for hiding out are not working. With stocks lower it looks like investors are flocking to the safe haven of bonds for the “Sell in May and go away!” theme. The 30-Year Treasury yield of 3.03% looks to be the lowest long bond yield since February 28, 2012. The 10-Year Treasury is now yielding just under 1.85% and that appears to be the lows not seen since the start of this last February.

The stock chart from stockcharts.com below on the “GLD” should show you just how bad the gold charts are looking. If those old lows do not hold, some technicians are going to be calling for a firmer end in the gold trade while other chartists will be telling you a major bounce is coming.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Bonds, Commodities, Currency, International Markets, Luxury, Metals Tagged: FCX, GLD, HL, JJC, RGLD, SCCO, SLV

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CHK, LVLT, QCOM, CRM, DSX, COCO, APA, WNR, YRCW, SHOO, SRE, SLE, RGLD, OWW, GM, MGM, AES, LNG, DUK, EL, PGR, WPO, GMCR, KNSY, HLF)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:08:03 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened mostly flat this morning following a softer-than-expected report from the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing growth (our coverage here). The report on new unemployment benefits claims came in better than expected, but not enough to overcome the ISM numbers (more coverage here). Retail sales reports were also weak, with growth of just 0.8% compared with an estimate of 1.5% (more coverage here). The energy sector has been particularly hard hit today on reports that supply is keeping up with demand, some weak earnings reports, and a comment from OPEC that it would like to see Brent crude at $100/barrel, not $120 or more (our coverage here).

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.11% at 79.221. The GSCI commodity index is down about -1.3% at 678.65, with commodities mixed on the small gains in the dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -2.6% at $102.54/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -1.84% at $116.02/barrel. Gold settled down -1.2% today, at $1,634.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 62 points to 13,206.59 (-0.47%), the NASDAQ fell more than 35 points (-01.16%) to 3,024.30, and the S&P 500 fell -0.77% or nearly 11 points to 1,391.57.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) maintained as ‘buy’ but target price cut to $31 at BofA/ML and raised to ‘outperform’ at Bernstein; Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) reiterated ‘buy’ at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and cut to ‘neutral’ at Piper Jaffary; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ at BofA/ML; and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) raised to ‘outperform’ with a $185 target price at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX) is down -4.4% at $7.63; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is down -21.6% at $3.05; Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is down -3.7% at $91.99; Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) is down -2.6% at $18.42; YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is down -8% at $6.79; Steve Madden Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) is down -1.7% at $43.54; Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) is up 0.6% at $64.29 after posting a new 52-week high of $65.37 earlier today; Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) is down -1% at $22.10; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is down -2.6% at $59.43 (more coverage here); Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 4.9% at $4.09; General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is down -2.3% at $22.42 (more coverage here); and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is down -4.4% at $12.95.

Tomorrow we get earnings from AES Corp. (NYSE: AES), Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG), Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL), Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR), and The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is down -47.3% at $26.11. The company reported earnings last night, and lowered guidance. More coverage here and here.

Kensey Nash Corp. (NASDAQ: KNSY) is up 32.2% at $38.35. The company is being acquired by a Dutch firm for $360 million. More coverage here.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is down -12.7% at $46.02. The nutrition products company flubbed some questions at last night’s conference call. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payrolls
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AES, APA, CHK, COCO, CRM, DSX, DUK, EL, GM, GMCR, HLF, KNSY, LNG, LVLT, MGM, OWW, PGR, QCOM, RGLD, SHOO, SLE, SRE, WNR, WPO, YRCW

Royal Gold’s Reserves Grow Even as Results Lag (RGLD, ABX, KGC, NEM, GG, PAAS, GLD)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:00:30 +0000

For those who believe that the price of gold is going to rise, Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) may be worth another look. Shares are essentially flat over the past 12 months, but the company’s results have been outstanding even though they slightly missed estimates for the company’s third fiscal quarter.

The company owns shares of production in mines operated by Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), and Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) among many others. The company gets a portion of production without the impact of rising costs on production, costs which have bedeviled the miners for some time now.

For the company’s third quarter EPS came in at $0.44 versus a consensus estimate of $0.45. Revenues rose to $69.6 million, compared with an estimate of $69 million. Royal Gold also reported an increase in its gold reserves this morning, from a previous total of 83.9 million ounces of gold and 12.4 billion ounces of silver to 84.5 million ounces of gold and 1.2 billion ounces of silver.

After applying the company’s royalty participation formula, Royal Gold claims its precious metals reserves increased 19% on a gold equivalent basis from December 2010 to December 2011.

The consensus estimate for 2012 EPS is $1.83, growing to $2.32 in 2013. The company’s dividend yield is just 1%, and an increase to the annual $0.15/share dividend would probably help the stock more than another gold strike.

Compared with the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (AMEX: GLD), Royal Gold comes up a little short, with five-year share-price growth of 101% compared with growth of 138% for the ETF.

Royal Gold’s shares hit an all-time high last September near $84 and it’s trading today at $59.65, down about -2.3% from last night’s close. The 52-week range is $55.00-$83.87. Year-to-date shares are down -11.6%, even after a jump above $75/share following a January at-the-market purchase of 4 million shares by Goldman Sachs. Shares could be available at a bargain price real soon now.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Earnings, Metals Tagged: ABX, GG, GLD, KGC, NEM, PAAS, RGLD

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (HD, LNKD, MU, RGLD, BX, ORCL, GIS, KKD, SAI, DQ, FRED, BHI, LOOK, SEED, GMCR, YGE)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:07:01 +0000

Markets opened slightly higher this morning, expecting good news from today’s report on existing home sales. Alas, the number came in lower than expectations and sent the DJIA to a daily low that it still hasn’t recovered from. The report itself wasn’t bad (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose fractionally today, now up 0.08% at 79.656. With some major exceptions, commodities fell on the dollar strength. The US EIA weekly petroleum report showed a drawdown of 1.2 million barrels in US inventories, sending crude prices higher (our coverage here). WTI crude oil closed up 0.9% at $106.96/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.06% at $124.19/barrel. Gold settled up 0.2% today, at $1,650.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 46 points to 13,124.62 (-0.35%), the NASDAQ rose more than 1 point (XXX%) to 3,075.32, and the S&P 500 fell -0.19% or nearly 3 points to 1,402.90.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reiterated ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $55 at Credit Suisse; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) started as ‘outperform’ at RBC; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) raised to ‘outperform’ at National Bank; and Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BX) cut to ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) is down -2.2% at $29.45 (more coverage here and here); General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) is down -0.4% at $38.59; Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is down -7.2% at $7.88 (more coverage here); SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI) is up 3.8% at $13.65; Daquo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) is down -7.5% at $2.58; and Fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) is up 2.4% at $14.38.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is down 5.9% at $45.02. The oil field services firm cut its profit estimates for the current quarter. More coverage here.

LookSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: LOOK) is down -15% at $1.19 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.10 earlier today. The search network posted awful results today. More coverage here.

Origin Agritech Inc. (NASDAQ: SEED) is up more than 26% at $3.18. The modified seed maker jumped on a report that its GMO corn seed would be approved for use in China. More coverage here.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 11% at $56.05. The coffee roaster signed a new deal with Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX). More coverage here.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is down -10.3% at $3.83. The solar panel maker did not fare well in the anti-dumping suit brought against Chinese solar makers. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New unemployment benefits claims
10:00 a.m. – Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPs) auction
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BHI, BX, DQ, FRED, GIS, GMCR, HD, KKD, LNKD, LOOK, MU, ORCL, RGLD, SAI, SEED, YGE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACN, MDRX, BLK, FMCN, FRO, HD, NRGY, JAH, KMI, LNKD, L, MU, OPEN, ORCL, RGLD, USB)

Administrator — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:20:54 +0000

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

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) Raised to Hold at Soc-Gen.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ: MDRX) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ: FMCN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) Cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $55 at Credit Suisse.

Inergy L.P. (NYSE: NRGY) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Kinder Morgan. Inc. (NYSE: KMI) Raised target price to $36 from $32 at Credit Suisse.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) Started as Outperform at RBC.

OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Buy at Benchmark.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised estimates and maintained on Focus List at Credit Suisse.

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Raised to Outperform at National Bank.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ACN, BLK, FMCN, FRO, HD, JAH, KMI, L, LNKD, MDRX, MU, NRGY, OPEN, ORCL, RGLD, USB

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GRPN, BIG, DAL, RGLD, SD, SPWRA, TSL, SBUX, LNKD, ANLY, OXGN, RST, MTZ, ALJ, DRWI, LEDS, CHK, IPSU, SGEN)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:09:35 +0000

Markets opened lower this morning, and a modest gain of 80,000 non-farm jobs and a slight improvement of the US unemployment rate to 9.0% didn’t lift investors’ spirits before the opening. Today’s confidence vote in Greece kept financial stocks down as investors try to figure out what it will mean if the Greek prime minister is booted out and the country doesn’t accept the latest batch of austerity tied to the country’s $180 billion bail-out package. The IPO of Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) went off at $20, with shares rising to $31.44 before pulling back to $26.11 in the last half hour of trading. Crude oil is basically flat and gold has pulled back less than -0.5%. The dollar is slightly stronger against both the euro and the yen, putting weight on commodities.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 61 points to 11,983.32 (-0.51%), the NASDAQ fell more than 11 points (-0.44%) to 2,686.15, and the S&P 500 fell -0.63% or more than 7 points to 1,253.23.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wedbush. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) was raised to ‘outperform’ at Zack’s and was named the firm’s Bull of the Day; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was cut to ‘sector perform’ at National Bank; SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) was cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) was cut to ‘underperform’ at Macquarie; and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) was cut to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie. We noted a change in the solar sector earlier today.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is up about 6.4%, at $44.04, after posting a new 52-week high earlier in the day; LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD) is down more than -6%, at $82.09; Analysts International Corp. (NASDAQ: ANLY) is up nearly 28%, at $4.67; Oxigene, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is down -33%, at $1.22; Rosetta Stone, Inc. (NYSE: RST) is down more than -23%, at $7.77, after posting a new low earlier today; and MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) is down -20%, at $17.52.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALJ) is up nearly 46%, at $11.40. The Israeli-based oil refiner has struck a deal to receive 25,000 barrels/day of WTI crude at its Louisiana refinery, which will give its margins a sharp boost.

DragonWave, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRWI) is up 36%, at $4.91. The company has agreed to buy the microwave business from the joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks.

SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is up nearly 37%, to $4.04. The company got a huge boost from the Chinese government’s announcement that it will ban incandescent light bulbs beginning next year.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is down more than -6%, at $27.24. The company reported better-than-expected earnings this morning, but asset sales to generate cash are causing concerns among investors.

Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU) is down more than -12%, at $6.01, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.75 earlier today. The company is suspending its quarterly dividend.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) is down about -18%, at $18.02. The shares posted an all-time high earlier this week, but the stock price run-up may have exaggerated the company’s growth prospects.

Stay tuned for Monday. Boston Federal Reserve president Eric Rosengren is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

11:00 a.m. – Four-week Treasury bill announcement
11:30 a.m. – Three- and six-month Treasury bill auction
3:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve consumer credit report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALJ, ANLY, BIG, CHK, DAL, DRWI, GRPN, IPSU, LEDS, LNKD, MTZ, OXGN, RGLD, RST, SBUX, SD, SGEN, SPWRA, TSL

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BIG, CHS, DAL, ERII, PPG, PLXS, GOLD, RGLD, SD, SWK, SPWRA, RIG, TSL, VICL, VVUS, YRCW)

Administrator — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:25:18 +0000

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

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) Raised to Outperform at Wedbush.
Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Energy Recovery Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG) named as Value stock of the Day at Zacks.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Cut to Sector Perform at National Bank.
SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) Raised to Buy at Argus.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) Started as Outperform with $7 target at Credit Suisse.
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Started as Outperform with $15 target at Credit Suisse.
YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) Raised to Hold fro Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BIG, CHS, DAL, ERII, gold, PLXS, PPG, RGLD, RIG, SD, SPWRA, SWK, TSL, VICL, VVUS, YRCW

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (AVP, BBBY, FSLR, KND, NFLX, POT, RSH, RGLD, SIRI, S, TLAB, WFM, CSCO, BIDU)

Administrator — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:01:56 +0000

Each morning 24/7 Wall St. issues its list of some of the key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms. We review these calls and other calls made throughout the week to see which stand out the most. Some are great calls that were greatly insightful. Other calls may be relevant well into the future, and some calls turn out to be total duds that were very painful for the analysts who made them (and the traders that listened). After reviewing and filtering all of these research reports, we end up with the top analyst calls of the week.

This weeks top analyst calls were in the following stocks: Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP); Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT); RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH); Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD); Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI); Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S); Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB); and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM).

We have a runner up call in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and we also have a highlight on Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) despite some valuation concerns.

We have compiled the ratings news and relevant data around the reaction to each or around the implications on each. Color has also been provided if relevant on the name.

Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) had an awful post-earnings week due to a drop and due to an SEC investigation. On Friday came news that Citigroup was reiterating a “Buy” rating as the worst is likely price in. The problem is that Citi highlighted more negative than positive and it cut the target to $22 from $29 in the call. Around $19.00, that is not really enough upside even if the stock is now getting “cheap.” Avon was cut to “Neutral” by UBS on Friday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) rarely pulls back very much, Shares were down over 3% on Friday because Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with a quite boring “Underweight” rating. Interesting considering that its client base never spends like there is a recession. On Wednesday Bed Bath & Beyond was reiterated at “Buy” and the target was raised to $70 at Argus.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) may have taken more downgrades after its CEO firing/resignation SNAFU, but at least one analyst is defending the position. Argus came out and lowered the price target to $90.00 but the firm is maintaining its “BUy” rating. This one has gotten so ugly that perhaps there is some value. We just hate trying to think about former high-flying stocks as “value” because it means things went really bad. Interestingly enough, shares bounced more than 20% from the lows of the week.

Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) may have been beaten up too much during the malaise around healthcare reimbursement rates. We would caution that earnings are due this coming Thursday (NOV 3). In July this was above $20.00 then the reimbursement rate woes came on at the time as a bad sell-off. Zacks has finally said enough is enough and named it the Value Stock of the Day this last Thursday as the research shop sees this trading well under ten-times next year’s earnings estimates.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Research, The Week Tagged: AVP, BBBY, BIDU, CSCO, FSLR, KND, NFLX, P, POT, RGLD, RSH, S, SIRI, TLAB, WFM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (T, BK, CELL, FDO, FRX, HWAY, JASO, LVLT, LOW, NFLX, RGLD, VECO)

Administrator — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:26:08 +0000

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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
The Bank of New York-Mellon (NYSE: BK) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Brightpoint, Inc. (NASDAQ: CELL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE: FDO) named Growth & Income stock of the day at Zacks.
Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: FRX) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) downgraded at William Blair, Barclays, and Piper Jaffray.
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) Raised to Neutral at Citigroup.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) Raised to Buy at Janney.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) downgraded by Reed Hastings and everyone left who was still positive.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) Cut to Neutral at Sterne Agee; Reiterated Sell ar Canaccord Genuity.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BK, CELL, FDO, FRX, HWAY, JASO, LOW, LVLT, NFLX, RGLD, T, VECO