Posts for Ticker ‘TITN’

IPC The Hospitalist Takes 2008 Post-IPO Pole Position (IPCM, V, TITN)

Ipcm_logo_2The new top dog among the IPO universe we follow for 2008 is now IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPCM).  Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) had been in that position with the highest gain from its IPO pricing, although today’s drop took care of that.  That is also misleading in that the Visa IPO priced at $44.00 and actually opened up around $60.00 and the lows have only been $55.00.  IPC The Hospitalist is now up roughly 68% from the $16.00 IPO inJanuary.  If you consider that it has actually traded at $16.25 after asubstantial premium give-back in March when shares fell from north of$20.00.   

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Posted on: September 3, 2008 – 1:43 pm in Uncategorized, , ,

50%-Plus IPO Gainers of 2008 (ATAI, IPI, TITN, V)

IPO’s have been much lower in numbers of late because of current market conditions.  But companies that came public have still managed to see their share of winners with the likes of ATA Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAI), Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI), Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) all fitting into the IPO-winners category with gains of 50% or more.

ATA Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAI) has seen a 51% gain since its January 28 IPO after its near 1% gain today.  This one is thin volume and has had a post-IPO range of $8.02 to $17.45.  ATA’s IPO priced at $9.50.  At least no one confused this one with the former ATA Airlines.

Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) has been a real winner and by the name you’d put this one in the "Land of Duh!" category.  This one is up over 80% since the April 21, 2008 IPO at $58.00.  Its IPO priced at $32.00 and its post-IPO trading range is $43.36 to $61.37.

Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) is technically a 2007 IPO as it came public on December 5, 2007.  But it is the single best post-IPO performer with a gain of more than 200%.  That is even after a 4% drop today to $26.17 late in the day.  Its IPO priced at $8.50, but its post-IPO trading range over the last seven months is $11.50 to $27.79.  Take a guess why… ag-equipment.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) has been a beast since its March 19, 2008 IPO, even though it is already more than $10.00 off of its highs.  Shares are up some 80% from its $44.00 IPO pricing, although its post-IPO trading range is $55.00 to $89.84.  Even if you just count the post-IPO lows that you could have bought it at, it’s still up close to 45%.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other developments in IPO’s, secondary financings, spin-offs, mergers, and other special situations.

Jon C. Ogg
June 12, 2008

Posted on: June 12, 2008 – 3:01 pm in IPOs, , , ,

A Deere, a Cat & a Titan All Stuck in the Headlights (DE, CAT, TITN)

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) shares are going to be a drag today.  The giant manufacturer of farm and construction machinery posted $1.74 EPS on a 19% revenue fain to $7.47 Billion.  First Call had estimates at $1.75 EPS and $$7.61 Billion in revenues.

The company said that equipment sales are projected to increase about 20% for Q3 and up about 20% for Fiscal 2008.  Included in the forecast is about 5% of currency translation impact for the year.  Its previous guidance of +17%. 

The company has noted that rising material costs and the availability of various parts and components will pressure results for the rest of 2008. 

This can’t be a shock to anyone, except maybe that it wasn’t even worse, but Deere is looking for a 3% drop in equipment tied to housing and forestry.

If agriculture infrastructure companies can’t out-pace materials costs in the current Ag-trade environment, then what does this tell you about investing in that sector from here with new money after this sector has seen huge gains????

Deere shares are down almost 6% at $84.92 after closing at $90.19 yesterday; its 52-week trading range is $56.50 to $94.89.

This is also pulling shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) down by about 1.25% at $83.00 in pre-market trading; its 52-week trading range is $59.60 to $87.00.

But the real impact from this is going to be in Titan Machinery Inc. after its hugely successful post-IPO trading. Titan owns and operates full service agriculture and construction equipment stores. Its shares are down over 3% at $20.25 pre-market; and its post-IPO range is $11.50 to $24.50.

Jon C. Ogg
May 14, 2008

Posted on: May 14, 2008 – 8:24 am in Agriculture, Earnings, Infrastructure, , ,

After Huge IPO, Titan Goes Acquiring (TITN)

Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) has been one of the best IPO’s since the end of 2007, and its ties to agriculture machinery are to thank.  Recently, shares saw some pressure after it disclosed a secondary offering around the end of the lock-up period, but now the company has another announcement entirely.

The company has announced today that an agreement to acquire Mid-Land Equipment Company, L.C. has been signed. Mid-Land owns six dealerships in Iowa and Nebraska and earned $48.3 million in revenues in fiscal Dec-2007. The Fargo-based full-service agricultural and construction equipment store operator will own 48 stores after the completion of the transaction, which is expected to close May 30, 2008 pending customary closing conditions

Shares of Titan are up 2% to $20.57 in late morning trading. The post-IPO trading range is $11.50 to $24.50.

You can also sign up for our open email distribution list to see about other secondary offerings, IPO’s, break-ups, spin-offs, and more.

Rachel Lopez
May 12, 2008

Posted on: May 12, 2008 – 10:39 am in Agriculture,

Secondary Takes Air From Titan’s Sails (TITN)

Titan Machinery (NASDAQ: TITN) had been one of the best performing IPO’s since the end of 2007.  The owner and operator of full service agricultural and construction equipment stores in North America.  As you can imagine, the ties to agriculture have made this one a winner.

Monday, the company reported fourth quarter and fiscal results. Revenue increased by 61% from $84.0 million a year ago to $135 million this quarter. They posted a net income of $270,000, or $0.02 EPS, meeting guidance. The company recently signed an agreement to acquire Quad Country Implement, a single store in Iowa. Titan raised its 2009 outlook for revenues and earnings per share. Excluding the stock offering filed today, the company would have 13.8 million shares outstanding, for guidance estimates of $0.87 to $0.92 EPS in 2009.

The company now plans to issue 3 million shares of common stock and selling stock holders are planning to sell an additional 500,000 shares. They intend to use the proceeds from the offering to fund potential acquisitions of CNH agricultural and construction equipment dealerships or for general corporate purposes. Additionally, they may invest the proceeds in short to medium term interest bearing securities. The interest will be used for the above purposes.

The company began trading publicly December 6, 2007 at $8.50 per share. The share price has risen to the lower twenties.

The underwriters for the offering are listed as Craig-Hallum Capital Group and Robert W. Baird and Co. They have been given the option to purchase 525,000 shares for over-allotments.

Shares for Titan are down almost 13% after 90-minutes of trading to $19.38 on heavy trading volume. The post-IPO range is $11.50 to $24.50.

Rachel Lopez
April 29, 2008

Posted on: April 29, 2008 – 10:13 am in Agriculture, Secondary Offering,

Agriculture ETF Wars: Commodity ETF Beats Stock ETF (MOO, DBA, TITN)

Investors seem to not be able to get enough when it comes to investing in agriculture now.  This used to be a dead boring sector but it’s now the top performer with earnings visibility and with raised earnings expectations soaring.  Last year we saw an agriculture ETF get launched via the Market Vectors Global Agribusiness ETF (AMEX: MOO).  This has seen a monster gain with the ETF being up almost 50% at one point since coming public last September.

What is interesting is that ETF’s often get duplicated or see similar ETF launches.  As it turns out, the "MOO" ETF was the "other" ETF.  The PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (AMEX: DBA) has actually been around longer, although it is a commodity ETF rather than ETF full of stocks that stand to benefit from agriculture trends.  The "DBA" has also outperformed the "MOO" by quite a margin. It’s even more actively traded.  The DBA" tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index- Optimum Yield Agriculture Excess Return, which is composed of futures contracts on some of the most liquid and widely traded agricultural commodities like corn, wheat, soy beans and sugar.

The "MOO" is up from its $41.30 first trade to $55.10 on today’s close, which is up more than 33%.   The "DBA" is up from its $26.72 open the same day to $41.99, which is a 57.1% gain.  That’s about the same gain as a year ago too. 

Jim Cramer recently gave his big picks to benefit from rising commodity prices.  This is always a bit of a stump when one ETF in the same group does so much better than its rival.  After all, these are deemed the new mutual funds.  But the gains in many of the commodities have been what has helped the actual stocks inside the "MOO."

When you look over the best IPO’s of recent months, the best or second best so far is Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) with roughly a 100% gain from its $8.50 IPO price from early in December.  There was a recent hot-sounding IPO filed and there was also spin-off IPO that is coming down the pipe in the agriculture sector, and that may create more buzz around a sector that has been hotter than most would have guessed. 

Trends can continue beyond what the doubters would ever guess.  Just always remember that after a huge run up like this, nothing lasts forever.  Caveat Emptor.

Jon C. Ogg
March 12, 2008

Posted on: March 12, 2008 – 4:50 pm in Agriculture, ETF, , ,

Best Recent IPO: Titan Machinery (TITN)

If you have been following our IPO index over the last few weeks you have probably noticed that many IPO’s are being withdrawn "due to market conditions" or that SPAC IPO’s are coming out more than ever.  But there are actually some bright spots out there in IPO’s.  Titan Machinery, Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) is a post-IPO stock that has been on fire.

Titan owns and operates a network of full service agricultural and construction equipment stores, it might not come as that much of a surprise.  Three years ago or more no one cared about any of these agriculture plays, but now with ethanol, China, India, Africa, Latin America, biodiesel, switchgrass, a hearty appetite to stuff our bellies, commodity traders, and every other issue chewing up everything we can grow, this is one of the hottest sectors in an otherwise crummy market.  It’s almost as though every farmer in Africa, Asia, and Latin America can suddenly buy up the world’s food supply and spend unlimited amounts on machinery and ag services.

This one came public in early December so it’s only about 60-days old.  Craig Hallum and Robert W. Baird were the only underwriters, so it is likely that this won’t get the largest or strongest analyst following.  But traders don’t mind, and in fact you might think they prefer it.  Baird started this with an Outperform rating in mid-January at the peak of the market sell-offs when everyone was negative daily.  But out of the end of 2007 IPO’s, this one appears to be the leader in percentage gains.  This priced at $8.50, and has traded in a range of $11.50 to $18.50.  Today shares are up almost 4% at $16.85.

As of last look this had only 205,272 shares in the short interest, which is close to 1.0 days to cover.  The market cap as of last look is $225 million.  Traders who love agriculture obviously love this one.  Investors who got shares at the IPO are up nearly 100%, and any investor who bought on the heels of its IPO are up close to 50%.  Not bad for this market.

Jon C. Ogg
February 12, 2008

Posted on: February 12, 2008 – 3:00 pm in Agriculture, IPOs, ,