24/7 Wall St. » VNO

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 (AEO, AAPL, ANGI, ARMH, CIEN, GLUU, AWAY, HALO, JPM, KR, L, QCOM, SSW, VNO, ZNGA)

Administrator — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:15:49 +0000

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

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $660 from $600; valuation range raised at Wells Fargo as well.

Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

HomeAway Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) Started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) Started as Overweight at Barclays.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) raised estimates by Morgan Stanley.

The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Reiterated Buy with $72 target at Argus.

Seaspan Corporation (NYSE: SSW) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) Started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AEO, ANGI, ARMH, AWAY, CIEN, GLUU, HALO, JPM, KR, L, QCOM, SSW, VNO, ZNGA

America’s 10 Highest Paid CEOs (Which Are Worth It?)

Charles B. Stockdale — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:22:17 +0000

Several lists of the highest paid CEOs in America are published each year mostly by the business media and shareholder groups. All are based on proxy statements. Long before the lists are published, the boards of directors of these companies try to justify the compensation packages for shareholders. Investors often are skeptical of these defenses, and they should be. It is rare, but not impossible, to show that a chief executive deserves $50 million, or even $100 million a year.

Read America’s 10 Highest Paid CEOs

Based on the annual CEO Pay Survey 2011 by GMI, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 highest paid CEOs. We then analyzed company performance of the highest paid CEOs to determine which pay packages were worth the investment.

Such a review about management compensation is by its nature subjective and different from a board’s reasoning. A board may take into account the long-term record of a CEO who has held his or her job for several years. The board might set a pay package based on an extraordinary year. The directors also may pay a CEO well just before he or she retires. 24/7 Wall St. has downplayed each of these factors, but has not eliminated them. Our judgment of “fairness” is based on what shareholders received in the year as the CEO’s compensation year. Our primary measurements are revenue growth, earnings growth and stock price change.

This is the 24/7 Wall St. list of the 10 highest paid CEOs for 2010 and an analysis of whether their compensations were worth the payments in terms of shareholder returns. All compensation considerations used to set pay, which include board of director criteria from each company, come from SEC-filed proxies.

Filed under: General, Special Report Tagged: AET, CVS, GBL, GGP, MCK, OCR, RL, TRW, VNO, VRSK

Ten Highest Paid CEOs of 2010 (MCK, OCR, TRW, VRSK, CVS, GGP, RL, VNO, AET, GBL)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:07:59 +0000

When it comes to executive pay, the amounts paid to today’s highest paid CEOs equals the GDP of a small emerging nation. The ten most highly compensated CEOs according to a recent survey by GMI took home about $770 million, more than the GDP of Vanuatu or Samoa, among others.

The GMI survey measures what the firm calls “total realized compensation,” which is further defined as “compensation that has been received by the CEO, rather than any notional estimates, accounting costs, or other uncertainties.” Here’s the list:

CEO	Company	Ticker	Compensation
John Hammergren	McKesson Corp.	MCK	$145,266,971
Joel Gemunder	Omnicare, Inc.	OCR	$98,283,242
John Plant	TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.	TRW	$76,841,646
Frank Coyne	Verisk Analytics, Inc.	VRSK	$69,416,726
Thomas Ryan	CVS Caremark Corp.	CVS	$68,079,823
Adam Metz	General Growth Properties, Inc.	GGP	$66,707,460
Ralph Lauren	Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.	RL	$66,651,515
Michael Fascitelli	Vornado Realty Trust	VNO	$64,402,468
Ronald Williams	Aetna, Inc.	AET	$57,787,786
Mario Gabelli	GAMCO Investors Inc.	GBL	$56,608,736

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Compensation Tagged: AET, CVS, GBL, GGP, MCK, OCR, RL, TRW, VNO, VRSK

Dividend Analysis: Commercial REITs With Most Upside (GOV, OFC, EPR, DRE, REG, KIM, DLR, VNO, SPG, DDR)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:43:55 +0000

There are a wide variety of REITs involved in non-residential property ownership and management and a few of these are our focus today. These include general office space, technology company office space, buildings leased to government, retail stores, mall buildings, commericial real estate, and movie complexes.

The companies included in today’s report include Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV), Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC), Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR), Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE), Regency Centers Corp. (NYSE: REG), Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG), and DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR).

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and current prices gathered shortly after noon today.

Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV) has a median target price of $23.00 from 6 brokers. Shares are trading today at $21.42, for an implied gain of $1.58, or 7.4%. Government Properties’ forward P/E is 10.71 and the company pays a dividend yield of 7.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.68-$27.80, and at today’s price that’s about 9% above its 52-week low and 23% below the 52-week high.

Although the company’s implied upside is not among the highest in this group, its list-leading dividend yield and the space between its current price and its 52-week high recommend the stock. One possible downside remains the looming federal budget reduction, which could seriously weigh on the stock.

Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) has a median target price of $25.50 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $22.83, for an implied gain of $2.67, or 11.7%. Corporate Office’s forward P/E is 31.3 and the company pays a dividend yield of 7%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.65-$36.90, and at today’s price that’s about 16% above its 52-week low and 38% below the 52-week high.

The high forward P/E ratio and the distance between the current price and the 52-week high should lower the stock’s implied gain of nearly 12%. The substantial dividend yield makes up for a lot of sins though.

Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) has a median target price of $46.00 from 7 brokers. Shares are trading today at $44.11, for an implied gain of $1.89, or 4.3%. Entertainment Properties’ forward P/E is 12.45 and the company pays a dividend yield of 6.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $35.71-$50.44, and at today’s price that’s about 24% above its 52-week low and 13% below the 52-week high.

The company reported an EPS of $0.80 in its third quarter, the first positive report this year. That coupled with earnings growth in the current quarter have pushed the stock near its 52-week high, with the lowest implied gain of any of these companies. The dividend yield is certainly attractive, though.

Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE) has a median target price of $14.00 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $11.50, for an implied gain of $2.50, or 21.7%. Duke’s forward P/E is 10.48 and the company pays a dividend yield of 5.8%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $9.29-$15.63, and at today’s price that’s about 24% above its 52-week low and 26% below the 52-week high.

At today’s price, Duke’s dividend yield and its implied gain are very attractive, particularly when coupled with a moderate forward P/E and a reasonable amount of space to its 52-week high.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Dividend, REIT, Value Investing Tagged: DDR, DLR, DRE, EPR, GOV, KIM, OFC, REG, SPG, VNO

Private Equity IPO Class of 2011: No Love For Rich Old Men (RATE, FSL, HCA, BAC, KKR, KMI, GS, VHS, BX, MTGE, ACAS, AMTG, APO, VNO, DOW)

Administrator — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:29:41 +0000

No money was injured while filming

The 2011 Class of Private Equity-Backed IPOs is really off to a rough start. The market conditions of late have all culminated to create a cautious IPO environment and even a cautious private equity environment. We have reviewed some of the key 2011 private equity-backed IPOs (and some which emulate private equity) for their performance and we have also reviewed some of the top pending deals that are waiting in the halls for the IPO market to get a bit better.

What private equity firms have to fight is two things. First, no one wants to just hand money over to old rich men who buy a company up, leverage the books up after paying handsome dividends, and then who expect to sell it back to the Joe Public later. The second issue is that the IPO climate still mostly demands solid companies that have clean books and clean structures (except for the Web 2.0 winners of late).

Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE) has actually only of late come under selling pressure after its $15.00 per share in the IPO originally fell but then ran up to $1850 and higher before the end of July market tank took the wind out of the sails. Some investors have probably been hoping for more of a bounce and shares are currently at $15.50. This one isn’t broken, but it is pressured.

Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL) may have gotten a boost from the old Motorola ties, but it has still been considered FREEFALL as some former employees called it. The IPO was at $18.00 and shares are now around $13.80 after having hit a low under $10.00.

HCA Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was the largest of the private equity offerings at $30.00 but it has since already warned (like it couldn’t have known elective surgeries were running soft) and now that reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid are either being cut or are feared to be under review. Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR), and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) via BAML Capital Partners, and founder Dr. Thomas First, Jr. were all behind it.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) priced 95.5 million shares at $30.00 and rose initially before selling off. The company is under the great Richard Kinder and seems to just be sorting itself out right now. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is part owner as well. Another issues is that it sold more shares at a higher price than originally scheduled.

Vanguard Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: VHS) sold 28.75 million shares (after the overallotment option) in total at $18.00 per share at the end of June from parent Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX). The market and the woes of Medicaid and Medicare took a big bite and after falling as low as about $12.00 the stock is back up to $14.25. Still a broken deal.

TWO MORTGAGE DEALS…

American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: MTGE) is a start-up mortgage REIT that was launched just on August 3 under parent American Capital, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS). The company priced at $20.00 per share for total gross proceeds of $160 million and American Capital agreed to buy 2 million shares for $40 million at the initial public offering price in a private placement. This one opened weak, but it has responded with the market bounce and shares are back up to $19.50. That is still a busted deal but better than it was.

Filed under: Financial Stocks, IPOs, Private Equity Tagged: ACAS, AMTG, APO, BAC, BX, DOW, GS, KKR, KMI, MTGE, VHS, VNO

TOYS-R-US Closer to $800M IPO After Amended Filing (TOYS, VNO)

Administrator — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:48:25 +0000

TOYS “R” US, Inc. has been a perpetual IPO candidate and remains one of our Top 17 IPOs to Watch in 2011. The company has now filed its fifth amendment to its IPO paperwork with the SEC. Terms are still not set in stone but the filing signals that the company will raise up to a maximum of $800 million. Upon completion of the offering the company intends to list its shares on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “TOYS.”

As of the end of April, the company operated 1,396 stores and licensed an additional 223 stores. These stores are primarily big box stores located in 34 countries. It also operates under the old FAO Schwarz banners. For fiscal 2010, the retailer generated net sales of $13.9 billion and realized net earnings of $168 million.

Toys R Us has already reported in June that its net loss was about $67 million for the quarter after investing $58 million into new store opens. Its revenues did increase slightly in that most recent quarter to $2.636 billion from $2.608 billion a year earlier. What may make or break the future in the all-important fourth quarter (calendar) is the trend of pop-up stores where Toys-R-Us was very active in that trend.

The S-1 filing lists the following concerns as book-running managers: Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo Securities. The filing also lists Needham Company, Mizuho Securities USA, BMO Capital Markets, and SMBC Nikko Capital.

Toys-R-Us was taken private in 2005 and it is effectively owned in near-thirds by affiliates of Bain Capital, KKR, and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO). For whatever this is worth, it was just last week that Vornado signaled how its quarterly loss tied to Toys “R” Us widened due to investing in opening new stores and due to technology upgrades.

The full filing can be found here.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Entertainment, IPOs, Private Equity, Retail Tagged: TOYS, VNO

Simon Says: “General Growth” (SPG, GGWPQ)

247wallst — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:37:31 +0000

It seems that the realm of mergers and acquisitions is not dead when it comes to property deals. Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG) has made a formal offer to acquire General Growth Properties, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: GGWPQ). The fact that the merger is being planned is not the issue here. It is the size… more than $10 billion. This merger was telegraphed ahead of the event, so today’s development may be the first of several resolutions in a bankruptcy process.

The merger consists of about $9 billion in cash. This is listed as “a 100% cash recovery of par value plus accrued interest and dividends…” This applies to all General Growth unsecured creditors, the holders of its trust preferred securities, the lenders under its credit facility, the holders of its Exchangeable Senior Notes and the holders of Rouse bonds, immediately upon the effectiveness of a definitive transaction agreement.

This consideration to creditors totals about $7 billion. General Growth shareholders would receive more than $9.00 per General Growth share. The $9.00 is calculated as $6.00 per share in cash and more than $3.00 via a distribution of General Growth’s ownership interest in the Master Planned Community assets. Simon Property said that it is also prepared to offer Simon common equity instead of the cash consideration, in whole or in part, as payment to those General Growth shareholders or creditors who would prefer to participate in the upside of owning stock in Simon.

The existing secured debt on General Growth’s portfolio of assets would remain in place. Simon expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to its Funds From Operations in the first year after closing.

Simon claims that this offers General Growth creditors and shareholders full, fair and immediate value. Simon also noted that the offer is not subject to a financing condition and would be financed through Simon’s cash on hand and through equity co-investments in the acquisition by strategic institutional investors. The balance will come from Simon’s existing credit facilities. The offer is subject to confirmatory due diligence, which it believes can be completed within 30 days, and customary proceedings in the General Growth bankruptcy process, including bankruptcy court and creditor approvals. The transaction is also subject to negotiation of a definitive transaction agreement between Simon and General Growth which would provide for reasonable certainty of closing.

Of the retail REITs, Simon is already valued at over $20 billion, which is close to double the value of Vornado Realty (NYSE: VNO). Simon’s current dividend for its common REIT holders is 3.3%, and that yield is under many of its smaller peers.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Bankruptcy, Mergers and Buy Outs, REIT, Retail Tagged: GGWPQ, SPG, VNO

Analyst Downgrade Onslaught Continues (ASML, CMG, FORM, GFIG, ICE, KLAC, MSSR, MPEL, MRG, PEET, PRXI, PHM, RGLD, JAVA, TCK, TER, UDR, VNO)

247wallst — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:29:54 +0000

This morning was a shocker on just how many analyst downgrades and very negative calls were out from Wall Street analysts. The sad part is this is only part of the onslaught that we are still seeing.

ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
McCormick & Schmick’s (NASDAQ: MSSR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Melco Crown (NASDAQ: MPEL) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Morton’s Restaurant Group (NYSE: MRG) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea (NASDAQ: PEET) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) Cut to Sector Underperform at CIBC.
Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs (added details).
Teck (NYSE: TCK) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Teradyne (NYSE: TER) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Vornado (NYSE: VNO) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
January 8, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ASML, CMG, FORM, GFIG, ICE, JAVA, KLAC, MPEL, MRG, MSSR, PEET, PHM, PRXI, RGLD, TCK, TER, UDR, VNO

Early Bird Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, EYE, HOC, INCY, PTR, CEG, KSS, VNO, WFMI)

247wallst — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:27:46 +0000

These are some of the early bird analyst calls we are seeing in stocks this Thursday morning which could impact shares:

ADTRAN (ADTN) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Advanced Medical Optics (EYE) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Constellation Energy (CEG) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Holly Corp. (HOC) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Incyte Corp. (INCY) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Kohl’s (KSS) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
PetroChina (PTR) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Whole Foods (WFMI) Started as Underperform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
September 18, 2008