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Walgreen: Overreaction Creates Opportunity

Walgreen (WAG)"Walgreen (WAG) a holding on our recommended buy list, reported a 10% increase in its fiscal second-quarter profit," notes Geoffrey Seiler.

The editor of BullMarket.com explains, "Although investors hammered the stock, we think the company delivered solid sales growth. We continue to believe the best is yet to come for Walgreen, with several notable catalysts in the wings.

Continue reading Walgreen: Overreaction Creates Opportunity

Walgreens Strikes a $429 Million Deal for Drugstore.com

drugstore.com logoWith a name like Drugstore.com (DSCM), there is little doubt what the company does. Unfortunately, the stock price has been miserable since the dot-com bust. All in all, it has remained in the low single digits. Then again, the company has had to deal with tough rivals, like Amazon.com (AMZN).

But Thursday, investors got a nice surprise. Walgreen (WAG) has agreed to buy Drugstore.com for $429 million. In early trading, DSCM was up a whopping 112% to $3.79.

Continue reading Walgreens Strikes a $429 Million Deal for Drugstore.com

Trade the Positive Retail News

Walgreen (WAG), Dollar General (DG) and Express (EXPR) all reported higher quarterly profits Tuesday morning, with Dollar General and Express both beating Wall Street consensus earnings estimates. With news like this, it may be beneficial for an investor to take a closer look at the retail sector.

Granted, Walgreen did not impress Wall Street, and shares fell more than 7%. Express and Dollar General, however, are reaping the benefits with Express trading up over 5% and Dollar General enjoying a 3% upswing. Both companies opened trading up in the markets Tuesday.

Continue reading Trade the Positive Retail News

U.S. Futures Up as Investors Await Earnings Reports

U.S. stock futures are higher Tuesday morning as investors await earnings reports. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24 points to 11,987, while futures for the S&P 500 index climbed 2 points to 1,295.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4.75 points to 2,259.25.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1.50% to 12,037, the S&P 500 index rising 1.5% to 1,298 and the Nasdaq 100 index climbing 1.83% to 2,692.

Continue reading U.S. Futures Up as Investors Await Earnings Reports

Is Walgreen Headed to $50 and Beyond?

Walgreen Company (WAG), first written about here on February 17, 2009 at a price of $25.46, has pulled-back slightly, to about $41 after testing $44 in the winter, and if you haven't already, now would be a good time to consider taking some profits, if you're in at/near $25.50.

Others who can tolerate the risk can maintain their full position in WAG, as the uptrend is likely to resume after this respite.

Look for drug store chain giant Walgreen's revenue to rise about 4-6% in FY2011, boosted by the addition of about 250 net new store openings. The front-store traffic trend in this more than 8,300-store chain should receive a modest tailwind from store remodelings, and back-store (pharmacy) margins should be adequate, aided higher-margin generic drugs.

Continue reading Is Walgreen Headed to $50 and Beyond?

Dividend Aristrocrats: Four Income Favorites

"A good source for finding stocks that consistently boost their dividends is S&P's High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index," suggests Chuck Carlson.

The editor of The DRIP Investor explains, "Four stocks in that index -- ExxonMobil (XOM), PepsiCo (PEP), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Walgreen (WAG) -- are also long-time residents of our Editor's Portfolio.

"It's estimated that approximately one-third of the S&P 500 Index's total return since 1926 is due to dividends. Thus, dividends matter, especially if that dividend stream rises over time.

Continue reading Dividend Aristrocrats: Four Income Favorites

CVS Stocks More Food That Could Add More Beef to Our Upside

If we told you that the largest pharmacies chains in the U.S., CVS Caremark (CVS) and Walgreens (WAG), planned to sell more groceries and produce, would you believe us? If so, you would be right. CVS Caremark plans to double the size of its food section and revamp about 20% of its 7,000 stores to better cater to groceries and quick check outs, and Walgreens started to satiate its appetite for the nation's trillion-dollar food budget by announcing last year that it would add up to 500 food items including salads, sandwiches, frozen meats, soups, juices, yogurts and even sushi to its offering.

How Do Consumers Benefit?

Continue reading CVS Stocks More Food That Could Add More Beef to Our Upside

CVS Caremark: Buy After Latest Report?

CVS Caremark (CVS), a drugstore chain that competes with Rite Aid (RAD) and Walgreen (WAG), reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Thursday. The market wasn't taken by them. Looking at the extreme right side of the chart, it can be seen that the stock came under some pressure after the release. This afternoon, the shares are under further pressure: at the time of this writing, they were off by 1.1% to $32.55, with heavy volume backing the trade.

Does it sound like the company missed the estimate attached to it? No, that wasn't the problem. According to the Associated Press, adjusted profit came in at 80 cents per share, one penny ahead of the prediction.

Continue reading CVS Caremark: Buy After Latest Report?

Analyst Calls: APC, DLTR, ENR, ERTS, KKR, NUAN, QSFT, WAG, WWW ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Electronic Arts (ERTS) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Helix Energy (HLX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Quest Software (QSFT) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
  • LTX-Credence (LTXC) to buy from hold at Needham.
  • Anadarko (APC) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
  • Walgreen (WAG) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
  • Pericom (PSEM) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: APC, DLTR, ENR, ERTS, KKR, NUAN, QSFT, WAG, WWW ...

Walgreen: Slightly Overbought, Short-term

Walgreen Company (WAG), first written about here on February 17, 2009 at a price of $25.46, has powered higher, clearing $40 resistance, and if you're in at/near $25, now may be a good time to consider taking some profits.

Drug store chain giant Walgreen's revenue should rise about 3-5% in FY2011, boosted by the addition of about 300 net new store openings. The front-store traffic trend in this more than 8,000-store chain is being hurt by a slower-than-expected U.S. economic recovery, and back-store (pharmacy) margins are not rising as fast as expected, due to a slower roll-out of higher-margin generic drugs.

Even so, Walgreen locates many of its stores in high-traffic spots, which means WAG is well-positioned when the U.S. economy starts to add jobs in a sustained way, and traffic improves.

Continue reading Walgreen: Slightly Overbought, Short-term

Analyst Calls: EBAY, ERIC, MMI, MSI, NKE, QCOM, RL, ROK, SWY, WAG ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
  • Qualcomm (QCOM) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
  • Walgreen (WAG) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
  • Rockwell (ROK) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Carnival (CCL) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • SunTrust (STI) and TD Bank (TD) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
  • Hawaiian Electric (HE) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
  • Essex Property Trust (ESS) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
  • Amgen (AMGN) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: EBAY, ERIC, MMI, MSI, NKE, QCOM, RL, ROK, SWY, WAG ...

Walgreen Near 52-Week High After Q1 Report

Walgreen (WAG) logoWalgreen (WAG) is having a merry Christmas. The stock closed on Thursday at $39.19. The 52-week high for the shares is $40.20. Pretty cool for those who own this name. Something even cooler: the drugstore chain issued a solid fiscal first-quarter report earlier in the week.

The press release begins with three bragging bullet points: the top line gained 6% and came in at $17.3 billion; gross margin expanded by 80 basis points; operating cash flow was $1.2 billion. Nice, but in terms of the latter point, it should be noted that cash from operations was essentially flat compared to last year's number. That's okay, though, it's still respectable.

Continue reading Walgreen Near 52-Week High After Q1 Report

Chasing Value: Pre-Christmas Quick Takes

To paraphrase Mark Twain "The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated". The world economy has been in shambles for a few years now, and our nation has much work ahead of it. 2010 was an improvement over 2009 and I believe 2011 will show further improvement.

There are lots of ideas running through my mind as I consider where the economy might be heading in 2011. What opportunities lay in front of us waiting to be picked up or passed over? Just five trading days left, and market activity will slow down except among fund managers making adjustments for tax purposes or window dressing. You should examine your tax situation, too.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Pre-Christmas Quick Takes

Options Update: Walgreen Volatility Flat into EPS and Gross Margin Outlook

Walgreen (WAG) is expected to report Q1 EPS on December 22. January and February put option implied volatility of 27 is near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Massey Energy's (MEE) board is considering several bids for the company, reports the Wall Street Journal. Overall option implied volatility of 36 is below its 26-week average of 51, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Calls: AMGN, CMCSA, GDP, FAST, FLR, KBR, PGR, RIMM, SLE, WAG ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Amgen (AMGN) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
  • Tutor Perini (TPC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
  • Covidien (COV) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
  • Sara Lee (SLE) and Comcast (CMCSA) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
  • Research In Motion (RIMM) to outperform from sector perform at FBN Securities.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMGN, CMCSA, GDP, FAST, FLR, KBR, PGR, RIMM, SLE, WAG ...

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+6.5112,890.46
NASDAQ+11.372,927.23
S&P 500+1.991,351.95

Last updated: February 10, 2012: 05:51 AM

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