24/7 Wall St. » WCG

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKS, AU, FTE, GGP, HON, LAZ, PNW, GOLD, TEF, TEVA, TMK, UNFI, URI, MTN, WCG)

Administrator — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:23:47 +0000

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

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) Cut to Sell from Neutral by Goldman Sachs.

France Telecom S.A. (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Telefonica, S.A. (NYSE: TEF) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) Reiterated Buy with $52 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) Raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI) Raised to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) Raised to Top Pick at RBC.
Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AKS, AU, FTE, GGP, gold, HON, LAZ, MTN, PNW, TEF, TEVA, TMK, UNFI, URI, WCG

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACTV, AUO, BBBB, CNK, CLWR, CLF, DFS, EK, FSL, GIS, MAS, RGC, SNDK, SBUX, UA, WCG, YNDX)

Administrator — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:01:10 +0000

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

The Active Network, Inc. (NYSE: ACTV) Started as Buy at BofA/ML; Started as Buy at Citigroup.
AU Optronics Corp. (NYSE: AUO) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) dropped from Underperform at BofA/ML; Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) Raised to Outperform with $6 target at Credit Suisse.
Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) Reinstated Buy with $118 target at BofA/ML.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL) Started as Buy at Citigroup; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) Cut to Sell at Janney Capital.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Buy but raised target to $45 at Argus.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Called out as “Overvalued” in the weekend Barron’s.
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) called top Value at Zacks.
Yandex N. V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACTV, AUO, BBBB, CLF, CLWR, CNK, DFS, EK, FSL, GIS, MAS, RGC, SBUX, SNDK, UA, WCG, YNDX

Health-Care Reform Boosts Health-Care Providers (WLP, UNH, AET, CI, CNC, AGP, WCG, MOH)

Administrator — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:22:10 +0000

While the courts and the Congress continue to fight over the health-care reform law, known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA, insurers are looking forward to as many as 16 million new customers as a result of the ACA’s provision that allows states to contract with providers to run managed-care Medicaid programs. The opportunity for insurers could total $40 billion in new business, as we have already noted.

Large insurers like Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP), UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), and Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) are in hot pursuit of opportunities to offer management services to state-run Medicaid programs, in the belief that a slew of new customers will more than offset any losses attributable to the ACA. Politicians continue to squabble over ideology, with the conservatives seeking to kill the ACA and liberals wanting to maintain it.

The insurance companies know what they want. Wellpoint posted EPS of $6.94 in 2010 and has reiterated its guidance for EPS of “at least” $6.30 in 2011. The company has also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25, beginning with the current quarter, and has announced that it will buy back some $1.6 billion in shares by the end of 2011.

Wellpoint is the largest provider in the managed-Medicaid market, and by virtue of its size will be a formidable competitor to the other leading managed-Medicaid providers. Other leading managed-Medicaid providers include Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC), Amerigroup Corp. (NYSE: AGP), WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG), and Molina Heathcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH). None of these has a market cap of more than about $2.5 billion, about a tenth the size of Wellpoint.

Of the large providers, Aetna has forecast 2011 operating profit of $3.70-$3.80/share, compared with $3.68 in 2010. The company, like Wellpoint, UnitedHealth, and Cigna, experienced lower health care use in 2010. That is surely the result of higher premiums, higher deductibles, and fewer visits to the doctor from those insured.

Six states already have a requirement that Medicaid patients enroll in managed care plans, and another ten have similar programs under consideration. Under the managed care plans, Medicaid payments will go to the plan administrators, not directly to doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes as is currently the case in most states. In a managed care system, the states pay a fixed amount to the insurer for each Medicaid patient. Then its up to the insurer to manage costs.

The argument against the managed care plans is that because the goal is to keep costs down, patients have difficulty getting the care they need.

The vast new market open to insurers by way of managed Medicaid plans is likely to be the driver of insurers’ profits through 2014. Higher premiums, higher deductibles, and lower health care use will also contribute to insurers growth, at least for the next year or two. But if the ACA is not repealed or starved financially, premiums should start to moderate, deductibles should get smaller, and patients should begin consulting their doctors again, without driving government costs through the roof.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Earnings, Healthcare Tagged: AET, AGP, CI, CNC, MOH, UNH, WCG, WLP

Top Day Trader Alerts (ELRN, EXEL, LIFE, THQI, KG, BPSG, WCG, VPHM)

247wallst — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:09:02 +0000

The following are some of the top stocks to watch for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity. There are links through to more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:

Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: ELRN) is among the top Nasdsaq gainers on strong volume, after one of its key product received a formal FDA clearance.

Exelixis Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) is rallying in the premarket on no news, perhaps hops of a deal coming its way.

Life Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: LIFE) is rising in the premarket following a large EPS beat.

THQ Inc. (Nasdaq: THQI) is down in active trade following weak revenue guidance.

King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: KG) is lower in active premarket trading after the FDA is requiring more study of its Corvue candidate.

Broadpoint Gleacher Securities Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPSG) shares are trading lower following a stock offering.

Wellcare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE: WCG) is seeing a large percentage move higher following earnings.

ViroPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: VHPH) shares are up following an earnings beat.

ARM Holdings plc (Nasdaq: ARMH) shares are trading lower on active volume on a revenue shortfall.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Posted in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: BPSG, ELRN, EXEL, KG, LIFE, THQI, VPHM, WCG

The 52-Week Low Club (C)(CROX)(MSFT)(INTC)(WCG)(GE)

247wallst — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:00:33 +0000

GE (GE) Concerns about dividend and financial services arm. Drops to $14.58 from 52-week high of $39.95.

Citigroup (C) Huge consumer lending portfolio becomes more of a time bomb. Drops to $8.27 from 52-week high of $37.50.

Crocs (CROX) Tremendously bad earnings. Falls to $.79 from 52-week high of $46.80.

Microsoft (MSFT) Signs of tech slowdown are everywhere. Drops to $18.74 from 52-week high of $36.72.

Intel (INTC) Cuts profit forecast. Sells off to $12.87 from 52-week high of $27.99.

Wellcare Health (WCG) Higher than expected medical costs. Down from $6.12 from 52-week high of $58.73.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in HI/LOW Tagged: C, CROX, GE, INTC, MSFT, WCG

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AAUK, ACI, BBT, CETV, FCL, JKHY, MEE, WCG)

247wallst — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:36:00 +0000

These are some of the top upgrades or positive calls we are seeing from analysts this Thursday morning:

Anglo American (AAUK) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P (late Weds. call).
Arch Coal (ACI) Raised to Buy at UBS.
BB&T Corp. (BBT) Raised to Buy at S&P.
Central European Media (CETV) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Foundation Coal (FCL) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Jack Henry (JKHY) Cut to Hold at Needham; Cut to Neutral at D.A. Davidson.
Massee Energy (MEE) Raised to Buy at UBS.
WellCare Group (WCG) Started as Buy at B of A.

Jon C. Ogg
August 21, 2008

NYSE Delisting Candidates, Headed To The Pink Sheets?

247wallst — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:10:02 +0000

With the sudden delisting of the Journal Register, it is interesting to look at who else is on the NYSE list of companies who could get delisted. The NYSE is generally very good about this and lets the companies have time to get into compliance. Below are the lists. They are grouped based on why the NYSE has problems with them.

Issuers that are noncompliant with its quantitative and corporate governance listing standards:

Fremont General Corporation (FMT)

Fremont General Financing I (FMTPR)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMH)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRB)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRC)

Journal Register Co. (JRC)

Luminent Mortgage Capital, Inc. (LUM)

Medifast, Inc. (MED)

Milacron Inc. (MZ)

NIS GROUP CO., LTD. (NIS)

Scottish Re Group Limited (SCT)

Scottish Re Group Limited (SCTPRB)

Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. (SVN)

Zarlink Semiconductor, Inc. (ZL)

Companies as delayed in filing both Annual and Interim Reports:

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (BZH)
Diebold, Incorporated (DBD)
International Rectifier Corporation (IRF)
Penn Treat American Corporation. (PTA)

Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (SRZ)
Symmetry Medical Inc. (SMA)
VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (PAY)
W Holding Company, Inc. (WHI)
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WCG)

Companies as delayed in filing an Annual Report:

China Yuchai International Limited (CYD)
Fremont General Corporation. (FMT)
Fremont General Financing I (FMTPR)
Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMH)
Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRB)
Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. (IMHPRC)
Mesa Royalty Trust (MTR)
Schawk, Inc. (SGK)

Some firms make it on to more than one list, and some, like JRC and FMT, have already left for the "pink sheets"

Douglas A. McIntyre

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (November 5, 2007)

247wallst — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 07:46:03 +0000

ACA cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
ACW raised to Neutral at UBS.
AMSC started as Buy at Jefferies.
ATPG cut to Underperform at RBC.
BSC cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
BSY cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
CNP raised to Buy at Jefferies.
CPT cut to Neutral at B of A.
DRE cut to Neutral at UBS.
FSLR started as Sector Perform at CIBC.
GLF raised to Buy at Jefferies.
GNA raised to Outperform at CIBC.
HD cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
LLY cut to Underweight at HSBC.
LOW cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
MER cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
NLC raised to Neutral at UBS.
PDGI raised to BUy at Jefferies.
PVTB raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
TUES raised to Outperform at Piper Jaffray.
WCG raised to Buy at Jefferies.
WST raised to Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
November 5, 2007

WellCare Class Action Suits & More State Actions Leading Company To The Grave (WCG)

247wallst — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:32:29 +0000

WellCare Health Plans (NYSE:WCG) is falling under class action pressure and more investigations. Unfortunately the company has yet to admit to or to convince Wall Street that it has a full grasp of the situation and the verdict is still out on whether the company has the wherewithal to get out of the grave. In its most recent filing it said it will defend itself against class action suits, although based on how this has gone and based on the shareholder implosions it is a safe assumption that any investor trying to use the company’s balance sheet for guidance is relying on fictional analysis.

On October 26, 2007, a putative class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida against the Company, Todd Farha, the Company’s chairman and chief executive officer ,and Paul Behrens, the Company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, entitled Eastwood Enterprises, L.LC. v. Farha, et al. The complaint alleges that the defendants materially misstated the Company’s reported financial condition by, among other things, purportedly overstating revenue and understating expenses in amounts unspecified in the pleading in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The complaint seeks, among other things, certification as a class action and damages. The Company intends to vigorously defend itself against this claim.

On October 29, 2007, a putative shareholder derivative action supposedly brought on behalf of the Company was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida entitled Rosky v. Farha, et al. The action is asserted against all Company directors except for D. Robert Graham and also names the Company as a nominal defendant. The action primarily contends that the defendants allegedly allowed or caused the Company to misrepresent, in a manner unspecified in the pleading, its reported financial condition and asserts claims seeking damages and equitable relief for, among other things, the defendants’ supposed breach of fiduciary duty, waste and unjust enrichment. The Company intends to contest, among other things, the standing of the plaintiff to prosecute the purported claims in the Company’s name.

OCT. 30: Dreier LLP announced that a class action lawsuit was commenced in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on behalf of investors who purchased the common stock of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. during the period from May 8, 2006 through October 24, 2007.

OCT. 29: Law Offices of Brian M. Felgoise, P.C. announced that a securities class action has been commenced on behalf of shareholders who acquired WellCare Health Plans, Inc. securities between May 8, 2006 and October 24, 2007, inclusive.

Yesterday, Reuters was reporting that New York state regulators were also probing the company. It’s a safe bet that every state WellCare operates in is already looking into the company. That’s how this works because if there is money "to be taken back" then they all have to act fast.

WellCare shares closed down huge at $22.04 yesterday. Earlier this week 24/7 Wall St. noted that an analyst call from Jefferies was either genius or just crazy, and it appears that the analyst there was crazy.

The manner that this company has handled the raids by confirming problems but not fully disclosing what the problems are will be a classic "F" grade for any business school case studies. These guys really dropped the ball, and personal liability (civil and perhaps criminal) is a serious notion at this point. Shares have lost roughly 80% of their value since the raids.

Jon C. Ogg
October 31, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and does not own securities in the companies he covers.

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:50:25 +0000

Wellcare Health Plans (WCG) Regulators keep asking for more info and class action suits are beginning. Shares fall to $21.41 from 52-week high of $128.42.

Qwest Communications (Q) Big telecom company turns in ugly forecast. Shares fall to $6.94 from 52-week high of $10.45.

Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) Still dogged by high costs and low margins on generic drugs. Falls to $3.80 from 52-week high of $6.74.

American Medical Systems (AMMD) Lowers outlook for the year and is hit with downgrade. Drops to $11.89 from 52-week high of $33.18.

Openwave Systems (OPWV) Still slipping after last week’s earnings. Drops to $3.86 from 52-week high of $10.58.

Divx Inc (DIVX) Deal the company has with Google (GOOG) gets unpleasant amendment. Share move down to $12.24 from 52-week high of $31.89.

Douglas A. McIntyre