Brightpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: CELL) Reiterate as Buy with a $14 price target objective at Canaccord Genuity.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Reiterated as Buy with $24 price target objective at Argus.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ: DECK) Reiterated as Buy with a $122 price target objective at Canaccord Genuity.
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) Started as Sell with a $70 target price objective at Goldman Sachs.
France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underperform and named as Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Hatteras Financial Corporation (NYSE: HTS) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Cut to Neutral at Janney Capital Markets.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Reinitiated as Buy at Stern Agee.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) Cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Nomura.
Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH) named as value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
State Auto Financial (NASDAQ: STFC) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets.
Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) Cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) Raised to Outperform and featured as the Bull of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT) Started as Buy with a $22 price target objective at Goldman Sachs.
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy with $65 fair value target at Janney Capital Markets.

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JON C. OGG

A new look at the problems comes from “Missing Pieces: Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards―2010 Alliance for Board Diversity Census” which was published today by an alliance of Catalyst, The Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP), and The Prout Group, Inc. It would be a temptation to call the data self-interested, but since it comes from each company’s own SEC filings, that is hardly the case. The information shows that “Fortune 500 boards were less diverse than Fortune 100 boards. Men held close to 85 percent of all board seats. White men dominated the board room, holding 77.6 percent of board seats. Minority men held 6.8 percent. White women held 12.7 percent. Minority women held 3.0 percent.”

It should be expected that the firms which have no women or minorities on their boards are run by old white men. And, why not? They have their positions to be preserved along with those of their colleagues and lieutenants. If these men can dominate their boards, why not do so? It is a rare group or person who likes real competition.

HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA), the healthcare services company, is run by Richard M. Bracken. He sits on the Federation of American Hospitals board, which that organization might eventually  find uncomfortable. HCA does not have a single woman or minority on its board, although certainly half of its customers are women. Many of the HCA directors went to Ivy League schools.

L-3 (NYSE: LLL), the defense contractor, is run by Michael T. Strianese. Robert B. Millard is lead director and chairman of the executive committee. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. It’s a wonder that the federal government allows such a large contractor to do business with it given the absence of minorities and women on its board.

Pipeline company Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMP) is run by Richard D. Kinder.  C. Berdon Lawrence, the chairman of Kirby Corp, is Kinder’s lead director.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NYSE: PPC), the poultry firm, is run by Bill Lovette who only joined the firm recently. Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim, 82, has served as a director since 1968. He is also a former chairman of the National Chicken Council.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE: SAH), the car retailer, is run by O. Bruton Smith. He is also a director and the controlling stockholder of Speedway Motorsports. William R. Brooks is another Sonic director. He is also a Vice President of Charlotte Motor Speedway and a Vice President and Director of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Women, who  make up about 40% of the students at elite business schools,  have an especially difficult time moving into the ranks of senior management at America’s largest public companies. New data from the research from the nonprofit Catalyst shows that 60 of the Fortune 500 corporations have no female directors. Out of the same group, 136 companies have no women among their top five executives.  Moreover, there are 26 Fortune 500 firms which have neither a female board member nor a woman in executive management. The data came from proxy statements filed as of June 30, 2010.  24/7 Wall St. research found that four companies have added a female director since then: Philip Morris, Blockbuster, Virgin Media, and Synnex.

After we reviewed the Catalyst data, the companies were categorized by industry, and 24/7 Wall St. examined their corporate websites to see whether they had any women in top management at all. When we did find someone, they were usually in human resources, public relations, investor relations, or accounting.

The figures are outrageous and point to lingering misogyny in the board rooms and executive suites of a number of America’s largest companies. It is incomprehensible how public companies in the 21st Century can manage to exclude women from such critical roles.

1) Autoliv (ALV)
Autoliv makes and distributes automotive safety products, such as airbags and seat belts.
-Company lists no women on management team.

2) Cameron International (CAM)
Cameron International is a global provider of flow equipment products, systems, and services to oil, gas, and process industries.
-Rozlin Larkey – Vice President of Human Resources
-Grace B. Holmes – Corporate Secretary

3.) CC Media Holdings (CCMO.PK)
CC Media Holdings, the parent company of Clear Channel Communications, is a media company that works in radio and advertising.
-Company lists no women on management team.

4.) CHS (CHSCP)
CHS, which occupies the 91st position on the Fortune 500, is a diversified energy, grains, and food company.
-Company lists no women on management team.

5.) Emcor Group (EME)
Emcor group designs and constructs electrical and mechanical systems, including transformers, generators, and power cables.
-Mava K. Heffler – Vice President of Marketing and Communications

6.) Energy Transfer Equity (ETE)
Energy Transfer Equity, which owns the general partner of Energy Transfer Partners, transports natural gas throughout the United States.
-Company lists no women on management team.

7.) EOG Resources (EOG)
EOG Resources is one of the largest independent natural gas and oil companies in the United States.  As of the end of 2009, it employed approximately 2,100 people.
-Maire Baldwin – Vice President of Investor Relations
-Patricia Edwards – Vice President of Human Resources
-Ann Janssen – Vice President of Accounting

Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSE: FSP) is trading down by about 10 after its 8 million share secondary offering priced at $13.00 through Robert W. Baird.  This is after closing at $14.76 yesterday and was increased from a previously announced offering size of 6,000,000 shares. The use of proceeds will be for the repayment of outstanding debt.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) was supposed to sell 78 million shares oif common stock in a public secondary offering, but the size was bumped up.  It sold 95.2 million shares of its common stock at $4.20 per shares  a price to the public of $4.20 per share after closing at $4.51 Thursday.  Goldman Sachs is the book-running manager and Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. is co-manager.

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE: MWA) is trading up after it priced a 32.28 million share secondary offering of common stock at $4.75 through BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.  The original amount of shares was to be 27.5 million shares and gross proceeds is to be used to purchase additional shares and to repay a portion of indebtedness outstanding under its credit agreement.

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM) priced its 2,800,000 common units public offering of limited partnership interests at $12.21 per unit, down from a $13.06 closing price on Thursday. Navios Partners expects to use the proceeds to fund its fleet expansion and for general partnership purposes.  Joint book running managers for this offering are Citi and J.P. Morgan, while co-managers are listed as S. Goldman Advisors LLC, DVB Capital Markets, and Cantor Fitzgerald.  Shares are down 9% at $11.85 and the market cap here is listed as $293 million after the drop and before the effects of this offering.

SmartHeat Inc. (NASDAQ: HEAT) sold 7,246,087 shares of common stock at $9.00 per share after closing at $10.06 yesterday.  The size of the offering was increased from 5,000,000 shares based on strong demand and it granted the underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase 1,086,913 additional shares of common stock.  William Blair is the sole book-running manager and BMO Capital Markets is co-lead manager.  This is an interesting and under-followed company in China’s clean technology, energy savings industry as it makes standard plate heat exchangers, custom plate heat exchanger units and heat meters.  They must like it a lot because shares are up 13% at $11.44 on almost 2 million shares right after the open.  This even hit a 52-week high of $11.59 this morning.

Sonic Automotive Corp. (NYSE: SAH) priced two offerings, one debt and one stock.  It is selling 9 million shares at $10.10 through J.P. Morgan and BofA Merrill Lynch.  It is concurrently selling $150,000,000 aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due October 1, 2029.  The total gross proceeds from the offerings will be approximately $240.9 million and its current market cap before the effect of the offering is listed as $421 million.  Interestingly enough, Sonic Automotive is up almost 3% at $10.45 this morning.

SXC Health Solutions (NASDAQ: SXCI) sold 4,500,000 shares of common stock in a public secondary offering that priced at $41.50 per share.  This deal was sold through J.P. Morgan, Dougherty, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, and Versant, and the offering size was originally supposed to only be 3.5 million shares.  The $176 million in gross proceeds is earmarked for general corporate purposes.  Its market cap before this offering was listed as $1 billion, but shares are up 5% at $43.87 and the 52-week high is $44.67.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is trading up after it priced a 9,000,000 share public secondary offering at $10.50 through J.P. Morgan, and JMP Securities, Lazard Capital Markets, and Merriman Curhan Ford are acting as co-managers.  Based upon the rise seen already, we expect that the 30-day overallotment option to purchase up to  1,350,000 shares will be exercised.  Shares are up 8% at $11.45 and this gives more R&D and launch capital for its obesity drug that is expected to be approved in 2010.

We have also seen a filing out of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR) for a proposed public secondary offering of 12,000,000 shares of common stock being sold by two members of the Laukien family not involved in the company’s business.  Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Deutsche Bank are listed as joint book-running managers.

This is not even the full tally as there are several much smaller deals on the books as well.  Today’s deals that priced came to a total of right at $1.475 billion, and that is before the effects of any over-allotments.

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JON C. OGG
September 18, 2009