24/7 Wall St. » WINN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (TEVA, AKS, AU, MTN, GGP, SHLO, EBF, RHT, WINN, SHIP, ZNGA, JAKK, BAC)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:08:34 +0000

US equity markets opened a bit higher this morning, after futures trading pared early morning gains. Early optimism, however, was not to pan out, following some rather downbeat remarks from the president of the European Central Bank. Then investors started pounding on financial stocks absorbing finally the Federal Reserve’s intention to accept the Basel III raise to bank capital requirements. Crude oil has risen slightly in trading today, with WTI crude at $93.78/barrel and Brent crude at $103.58. Gold has finished slightly down, at $1,592.90.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 99 points to 11,766.79 (-0.84%), the NASDAQ fell more than 32 points (-1.28%) to 2,523.14, and the S&P 500 fell -1.18X% or more than 14 points to 1,205.32.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $52 price target at Canaccord Genuity. Other ratings actions today include AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) raised from ‘market perform’ to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) cut from ‘neutral’ to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Shiloh Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLO) is up 0.35% at $8.52; and Ennis, Inc. (NYSE: EBF) is down more than -4% at $12.89. After markets close today, Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is scheduled to report third-quarter EPS of $0.26 on revenue of $289.6 million.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) is up nearly 71% at $9.27. The regional grocery chain has agreed to a buyout offer worth about $560 million from Bi-Lo, another regional chain in the southeastern US. The offer of $9.50/share represents a premium of about 75% to Winn-Dixie’s Friday closing price.

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP) is up more than 17% at $2.60, after posting a new 52-week low earlier today. The dry bulk shipper has received a time charter for one of its four Capesize vessels for a period of 11-13 months.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ) is down more than -5% at $9.00. The social game maker held its IPO last Friday, but shares have not been able to hold the $10/share offering price. More coverage here.

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) is down more than -19% at $14.00, after posting a new 52-week low of $13.45 earlier today. The toy and consumer products maker lowered full-year earnings and sales guidance this morning.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is down nearly -4.5% at $4.97, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.93 earlier today. The bank has been hit with concerns over new capital reserve requirements and the effect that will have on profits.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Here are other noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – November housing starts report
1:00 p.m. – Five-year Treasury note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AKS, AU, BAC, EBF, GGP, JAKK, MTN, RHT, SHIP, SHLO, TEVA, WINN, ZNGA

Expected Price Gains for Grocery Store Stocks (SWY, KR, WINN, WFM, SVU, TFM, RDK, WMK, WMT)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:05:57 +0000

Grocery stores and supermarkets get whipsawed by rising prices on food commodities, rising prices from food processing companies, and rising fuel prices on one hand and higher unemployment and stagnant wages on the other. If people didn’t need to eat, they probably wouldn’t.

About the only weapons the grocers have is selectively lowering prices and pushing their privately-labeled goods, which have a higher profit margin for the stores than the nationally-advertised brands. Stores have been unable, yet, to come up with a significant boost to their revenues and profits available from technology developments. The costs of implementing high-tech grocery shopping more than offsets any possible gains. It’s another problem grocers will have to find an answer to, along with rising costs, if they are going to grow.

We’ve looked today at a number of grocery store and supermarket stocks to try to determine where some hidden value may lie. The stores we’ve reviewed are Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN), Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM), Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU), The Fresh Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM), Ruddick Corp. (NYSE: RDK), Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE: WMK), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). We’ve included Walmart because it gets more than half its $100+ billion in revenues from grocery sales, making it the largest grocery seller among this group.

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and current prices were gathered at about noon today.

Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) has a median target price of $19.00 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $19.28, about 1.5% above the target price. Safeway’s forward P/E is 10.37 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $15.93-$25.43, and at today’s price that’s about 21% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 24% below the 52-week high. Safeway saw its average food basket price rise by 2.3% year-over-year in September, the same rate as Kroger and Supervalu. Sales of private label foods and gasoline gave the company a boost in the third quarter, but gross margins fell — never a good sign for a grocery. Look for a hike to the target price soon, now that Safeway has managed to bust through $19.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) has a median target price of $26.00 from 15 brokers. Shares are trading today at $22.83, for an implied gain of $3.17, or 14%. Kroger’s forward P/E is 10.57 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $20.53-$25.85, and at today’s price that’s about 11% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 12% below the 52-week high. Kroger is Walmart’s leading competitor in grocery sales, with about $82 billion in 2010. The company has made a conscious effort to keep prices low, and that has affected margins negatively. If the company can figure a way to get those margins up, the stock price has room to grow.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) has a median target price of $10.50 from 5 brokers. Shares are trading today at $6.57, for an implied gain of $3.93, or 60%. Winn-Dixie’s forward P/E is negative and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $5.10-$10.08, and at today’s price that’s about 29% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 35% below the 52-week high. Winn-Dixie didn’t quite meet its expected EPS loss estimate of -$0.42 when it reported earnings yesterday, but its same-store sales rose 3.3% and its revenues grew 3.1%. The company has a lot of headroom before it hits its price target or its 52-week high, and its big plus is a debt-free balance sheet.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) has a median target price of $75.00 from 15 brokers. Shares are trading today at $70.64, for an implied gain of $4.36, or 6%. Whole Foods’ forward P/E is 31.04 and the company pays a dividend yield of 0.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $39.95-$74.45, and at today’s price that’s about 77% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 5% below the 52-week high. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.41 on revenues of $2.36 billion after markets close today. Full-year EPS for the year ended in September is expected to be $1.93. Whole Foods has performed very well in a tight environment this year, and the company’s stock price reflects that. Expectations, as indicated by the high forward earnings multiple, might be somewhat optimistic but there’s still a 6% gain available when the company hits its target price.

Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) has a median target price of $8.38 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $7.77, for an implied gain of $0.61, or 8%. Supervalu’s forward P/E is 6.03 and the company pays a dividend yield of 4.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $6.26-$11.77, and at today’s price that’s about 24% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 34% below the 52-week high. Like Safeway and Kroger, the average food basket price rose 2.3% at Supervalu in September. The company reported EPS of $0.28 two weeks ago, beating estimates. At the same time, the company lowered its full-year estimates on both earnings and revenues.

The Fresh Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) has a median target price of $43.50 from 8 brokers. Shares are trading today at $40.27, for an implied gain of $3.23, or 8%. Fresh Market’s forward P/E is 30.48 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $30.86-$46.85, and at today’s price that’s about 30% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 14% below the 52-week high. Fresh Market shares started the month of September with a bang, but unfortunately the company only succeeded in generating short interest near 20% of outstanding shares. Stock price increases have stalled, and remain about where they were two months ago.

Ruddick Corp. (NYSE: RDK) has a median target price of $49.00 from 3 brokers. Shares are trading today at $43.75, for an implied gain of $5.25, or 12%. Ruddick’s forward P/E is 15.46 and the company pays a dividend yield of 1.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $33.44-$46.00, and at today’s price that’s about 31% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 5% below the 52-week high. Ruddick sold its thread-making and textile business to a private equity buyer last week for $180 million, leaving it with just its grocery operations. Shares got a short-lived boost on the sale, but shares continue to drift away from the 52-week high and the target price.

Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE: WMK) has a median target price of $31.00 from just one broker. Shares are trading today at $39.45, about 21% above the target price. Weis’s forward P/E is unreported and the company pays a dividend yield of 3%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $36.52-$42.20, and at today’s price that’s about 8% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 7% below the 52-week high. Just looking at Weis’s hi/low it is pretty clear that the company needed to do something to try to break its share price out of that tight range. Last week it boosted its annual dividend from $1.16 to $1.20, and declared a special dividend of $1/share. The bounce to the share price lasted just one day.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has a median target price of $60.00 from 19 brokers. Shares are trading today at $57.06, for an implied gain of $2.94, or 5%. Walmart’s forward P/E is 11.62 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $48.31-$57.96, and at today’s price that’s about 18% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 2% below the 52-week high. Walmart stock is trading near enough to its 52-week high that another good quarterly report could push the shares through that barrier. Walmart’s average food basket price rose 0.9% year-over-year in September, less than half as much than prices at Safeway, Kroger, and Supervalu stores.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Food, General Tagged: KR, RDK, SVU, SWY, TFM, WFM, WINN, WMK, WMT

Nine Great American Companies That Aren’t Recovering (BGP, BSX, RSH, RAD, SHLD, S, WEN, WINN, YRCW)

Administrator — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:31:09 +0000

We examined nine companies whose plans to revive their fortunes have not succeeded and found several common themes. Managements often fail to appreciate the size of the challenges they face. Competition is fiercer than expected and markets change. Further complicating matters are investors who often want results more quickly than companies can deliver. Of course, the line between success and failure is a thin one.

When things go well, as they did in the cases of Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), they can go spectacularly well. These happy endings, however, are rare. Turning around failing companies is one of the hardest things for any executive to do.

Here is our list of 9 corporate turnarounds that have yet to turn around:

1. Borders Group

Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) may have a financial white knight, or it may not. Reports were out late last week that GE’s finance arm held talks about providing a financial lifeline. Then came word that Borders hired restructuring lawyers. It recently began delaying payments to vendors to conserve cash. Let’s pretend that Borders does get a last-ditch financing pact and that it gets its debt refinanced. What really changes? Borders has faced eroding sales and the last sales gain for a year was in calendar 2006 (fiscal year ending Feb. 3, 2007). The new figure was down roughly 30% by even a year ago since then. Borders just trimmed 45 jobs at the corporate headquarters in Michigan and that is on the heels of a fresh plan to close a Tennessee distribution center to cut 310 more jobs.

Borders is now a penny stock and its market cap is a mere $64 million. With shares back under the $1.00 mark, a delisting notice is a risk and more problems may be coming its way. For some reason, the Fahrenheit 451 analogy keeps coming to mind.

[24/7 Wall St.'s Free eLetter - analyst upgrades, downgrades, day trader alerts, dividend trends, IPOs, M&A, and Buffet watch.]

2. Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) is one that we (and many others) keep thinking will make a comeback. The medical device maker has been riddled with device issues and recalls. Its prior 3-year run of roughly $8 billion in revenues is expected to fall to $7.79 billion in 2010 and $7.91 billion in 2011, according to Thomson Reuters. The only saving grace is that the earnings estimates of $0.39 EPS for 2010 and $0.43 EPS for 2011. We see little risk to an implosion here, but the company is lost in space.

Competition from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) is fierce, and its acquisition of Guidant for almost $27 billion has never really paid off despite Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) participating in that merger. At $7.33, shares are less than half and then some since its Guidant deal was completed.

Filed under: Bankruptcy, Consumer Goods, Corporate Governance, Economy, Editor's Picks, Labor & Unions, Management Change, Mergers and Buy Outs, Shareholder Issues, Turnarounds, Value Investing Tagged: AMZN, BBY, BGP, BKS, BSX, CLWR, CVS, JNJ, MCD, MDT, RAD, RSH, S, SHLD, STJ, SVU, T, TGT, VZ, WAG, WEN, WINN, WMT, YRCW, YUM

New 52-Week Lows Keep Surprising (APOL, BAC, CSCO, DF, STP, WINN, SVU)

Administrator — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:29:38 +0000

The market is entering a shaky period, but it is still way up for the year. As you usually see, many stocks are actually at new 52-week lows. Imagine how these would be doing in a really bad stock market! We have thrown in some color on Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) and Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU).

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) shares have slid and slid, and convincing any investors that a value proposition is there is not possible at the moment. Shares closed down 0.87% at $34.00 after a $33.75 low on the day; the new 52-week range is $33.75 to $66.69.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) closed down 3% at $10.97, but it hit a new 52-week low of $10.91 today versus a high of $19.86.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is getting cheaper and cheaper for our “stocks to hold for the next decade” after John Chambers gave a much more stark outlook with earnings guidance in recent weeks. The weakness here has yet to end. Shares closed down 1.4% at $19.16; its new 52-week low is $19.13 versus a high of $27.74.

Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) needs pasteurization or something new soon. Shares closed down 1.25 at $7.26. That is at least ten cents above its new low but the new 52-week trading range is $7.16 to $18.79.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) can’t find any love. Shares closed down 1.8% at $7.14 and the new 52-week range is $7.05 to $18.78.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) and Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) are both on the wall of shame. Winn Dixie shares closed down 4.7% at $6.08, but shares hit a low of $5.95 and the new 52-week range is $5.95 to $13.90. Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) hit a new low today, but buyers bid it up after after this one has fallen and fallen. Shares closed up 2.7% at $9.04 but the new 52-week is $8.62 to $17.89.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: HI/LOW Tagged: APOL, BAC, CSCO, DF, STP, SVU, WINN

Top Day Trader Alerts (CIT, ONXX, HGSI, WINN, OFG, AAPL, AMD, YHOO, SBUX, AMLN, GILD)

247wallst — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:53:50 +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:

CIT Group Inc. shares (NYSE: CIT) are down on strong premarket volumes after Moody’s put some of its receivables-backed notes on review for a downgrade.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) is up strongly on high volume after it and Bayer announced that a Phase 2 trial in advanced metastatic breast cancer met the primary endpoint.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) are rising on a government order for its Abthrax product.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: WINN) shares are up strongly in the early going on its EBITDA guidance.

Oriental Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: OFG) shares are up strongly on earnings and investment portfolio gains.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is up strongly on an earnings beat, and slightly better-than-expected iPhone sales.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) shares are down sharply, and among the most actives, following a wider-than-expected loss, and disappointing gross margins.

Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) shares are down in the early going on disappointing guidance and less-than-expected search revenue.

Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX) shares are up strongly following better-than-expected fiscal Q3 results and fiscal 2009 guidance.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: AMLN) shares are down on disappointing earnings.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) shares are down, possibly after the company said U.S. wholesalers may decrease inventory levels of its HIV drugs.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Posted in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: AAPL, AMD, AMLN, CIT, GILD, HGSI, OFG, ONXX, SBUX, WINN, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades (CBS, LH, LXK, MS, ODP, PII, DGX, TLAB, WINN)

247wallst — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:35:00 +0000

These are the few top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research notes from Wall Street firms early this Friday morning with about two hours until the market opens:

CBS (CBS) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Laboratory Corp. (LH) Started as Outperform at RBC.
Lexmark (LXK) Raised to EqualWeight at Barclays.
Morgan Stanley (MS) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Office Depot (ODP) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Polaris (PII) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Started as Outperform at RBC.
Tellabs (TLAB) Started as Buy at Auriga.
Winn-Dixie (WINN) Raised to Outperform at FBR.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CBS, DGX, LH, LXK, MS, ODP, PII, TLAB, WINN

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ADM, CPX, DLTR, NOC, OKE, SQNM, STI, WINN, WYNN)

247wallst — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:57:16 +0000

These are some of the top analyst downgrades and negative calls we are seeing from Wall Street this Wednesday morning:

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Complete Production (CPX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Dollar Tree (DLTR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Northrup Grumman (NOC) Cut to Hold at Societe Generale.
ONEOK (OKE) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
Sequenom (SQNM) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
SunTrust (STI) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Winn-Dixie Stores (WINN) Started as Underperform at Jefferies.
Wynn Resorts (WYNN) Cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.

Jon C. Ogg
February 4, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ADM, CPX, DLTR, NOC, OKE, SQNM, STI, WINN, WYNN

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ALD, T, BA, NDAQ, NNI, PBT, RL, RGC, TIBX, WINN)

247wallst — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:11:36 +0000

These are not all of the calls we are seeing in pre-market coverage, but these are ten of the calls impacting shares this Wednesday morning:

Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) Started as Underweight at JPMorgan.
AT&T (NYSE: T) raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NASDAQ OMX (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Nelnet (NYSE: NNI) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) Raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Morgan Keegan.
Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital.
Tibco Software (NASDAQ: TIBX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Winn-Dixie (NASDAQ: WINN) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
June 25, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AIG, ANDE, BHI, PNM, SLB, SII, TWX, UL, WFT, WINN)

247wallst — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:27:30 +0000

These are the top ten analyst calls that 247WallSt.com is focusing on in pre-market trading this Tuesday morning:

AIG (NYSE: AIG) downgraded to Equal Weight at Lehman.
Andersons (NASDAQ: ANDE) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) downgraded to Equal Weight at Lehman and also downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
Smith International (NYSE: SII) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
Unilever (NYSE: UL) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
Winn Dixie (NASDAQ: WINN) downgraded to Market Perform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
February 12, 2008

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (June 26, 2007)

247wallst — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:29:08 +0000

AYE raised to Buy at Jefferies.
BIIB cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
CELG raised to Overweight at Lehman.
CKNN started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
CMG started as Equal-Weight at Lehman.
DLB raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
DLIA started as Neutral at First Albany.
EAS raised to Hold at Jefferies.
EIX raised to Buy at Jefferies.
GENZ raised to Overweight at Lehman.
HGSI cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
MLNM cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
RATE started as Neutral at Oppenheimer.
SMSI started as overweight at JPMorgan.
TLVT cut to Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
TRBN started as Mkt Perform at FBR.
WINN raised to Outperform at FBR.
YSI raised to Market Perform at Wachovia.
ZOLL started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.

Jon C. Ogg
June 26, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.