- Piper Jaffray upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation following the recent sell-off and strong business trends. The firm has a $115 price target for shares.
- Keefe Bruyette upgraded M&T Bank (MTB) to market perform from underperform on valuation after AIB sold its stake in the company. The firm has a $72 price target for shares.
- Jefferies upgraded OGE Energy (OGE) to buy from hold following the announcement that ArcLight will purchase 9.9% of OGE's interest in Enogex for $183M and believes this deal highlights the hidden value associated with Enogex. The firm raised its price target to $51.50 from $43.
- Thomas & Betts (TNB) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
- Bayer (BAYRY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
- Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.
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FeedAnalyst Calls: A, ARST, BAC, C, COST, CRM, DPS, GS, JPM, MS, MTB, VOD ...
Continue reading Analyst Calls: A, ARST, BAC, C, COST, CRM, DPS, GS, JPM, MS, MTB, VOD ...
The Week in Preview: Earnings Season Winds Down
Most of the S&P 500 have reported earnings results this quarter, but on tap this week are Brown-Forman Corp. (BF.B), National Semiconductor Corp. (NSM) and Pall Corp. (PLL), which are expected to post earnings growth, as well as H&R Block Inc. (HRB) and Kroger Co. (KR), which are not.
Most of the high expectations from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are still with retailers this week, though. Here's a look at a few of them.
Continue reading The Week in Preview: Earnings Season Winds Down
The week in preview: Canadian banks in the earnings spotlight
Canadian banks are scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week, with third-quarter reports coming from Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD). While Canadian banks on the whole held up better than their U.S. counterparts during the financial crisis, these five are expected to report that their earnings are still declining in the most recent quarter.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for EPS for these banks to have fallen from 15% to 25% from a year ago. Their long-term EPS growth forecast is for between 10% and 12%, which is in the same range as U.S. rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), but better than Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Earnings multiples for these Canadian banks are 10x to 12x, but none of them have a First Call consensus recommendation is to buy. The Motley Fool, though, considers TD as a value stock and RY a stock poised to pop. All of them are trading much closer to their 52-week highs than lows, and shares of all are up more than 100% since March lows.
Continue reading The week in preview: Canadian banks in the earnings spotlight
The week in preview: Interest rates, manufacturing, earnings gainers
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve's FOMC holds two-day meeting on interest rates and will announce its decision on Wednesday. The Fed's Ben Bernanke will still be out and about this week, discussing the failure of Lehman Brothers later today, and ending up the week speaking at the Independent Community Bankers of America National Convention and Techworld.
Manufacturing will be in focus this week, starting with industrial production numbers for February and the Empire State Manufacturing Survey Diffusion Index for March scheduled to be released Monday morning. Tuesday morning will bring us the Producer Price Index for February, and Thursday morning comes the Philadelphia Fed Outlook Survey -- Diffusion Index Manufacturing for March.
Continue reading The week in preview: Interest rates, manufacturing, earnings gainers
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