Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Republic Services (RSG) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $34 from $32. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded MeadWestvaco (MWV) to buy from hold due to valuation and keeps a $29 price target for shares.
• UBS upgraded Symantec (SYMC) to buy from neutral.
• Lloyds Banking (LYG) upgraded to add from neutral at WestLB.
• Ternium (TX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: GLW, KSU, LYG, MFE, MWV, RIMM, RSG, RY, SRCL, SYMC ...

Analyst Calls: GLW, KSU, LYG, MFE, MWV, RIMM, RSG, RY, SRCL, SYMC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"The health care business is immune to an ill economy, as people still need vaccinations, sutures and blood screens regardless of business cycles," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he suggests, "When it comes to medical waste disposal, demand is constant and barriers to entry are high." To play this specialty sector, he looks to Stericycle (SRCL).

"Stericycle is the dominant player in this field. The firm safely empties all those bins, and also removes discarded waste from research facilities, laboratories, hospitals, surgical centers, pharmacies, veterinary clinics and even dentists' offices.

Continue reading Stericycle (SRCL): Clean up in medical waste

Stericycle (SRCL): Clean up in medical waste originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch rolls on this coming week, with quarterly reports expected from Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Kellogg (NYSE: K), MasterCard (NYSE: MA), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), Travelers (NYSE: TRV), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), U.S. Steel (NYSE: X), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), and many others.

Below are some reporting companies for which analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have high hopes. What does that mean? Well, all of them are expected to report double-digit earnings grown in the most recent quarter. They have tended to offer positive surprises in recent quarters. They have long-term EPS growth forecasts of greater than 10%, and they have earnings multiples that are higher than their industry or sector averages, or higher than at least one top competitor. And they all have First Call consensus recommendations to buy.

Continue reading The week in preview: Some expected earnings winners

The week in preview: Some expected earnings winners originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Stericycle (NASDAQ SRCL) is a near-monopoly in an essential but unglamorous area, making its an excellent investment in an uncertain economy," says growth stock expert Dave Dyer.

In his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, he states, "If you have something that is dangerous, contaminated, or nasty, and you want it to go away safely, you can rely on SRCL, the leader in medical waste."

"I first recommended the stock almost a year ago, but there is so much good news that I thought this would be a good time to recommend it again.

"And while the stock's 12.4% gain since last August is not spectacular, the S&P 500 is down 14.1% over the same time period -- so SRCL has outperformed the market by a wide margin.

"SRCL is North America's largest provider of medical waste services. In fact, if a major customer wants to contract with a single customer for nationwide services, SRCL is the only choice. Even if the market has not really bottomed out, this is an excellent stock to consider because its business is almost entirely immune to economic cycles.

Continue reading Stericycle (SRCL): Medical waste firm attracts insider buying

Stericycle (SRCL): Medical waste firm attracts insider buying originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) is an almost perfect business -- an absolutely essential service, but nobody wants to do it," says Dave Dyer in his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, referring to his more conservative favorite for 2008.

"It is about as close to being a monopoly as you are likely to find, especially in a critical national industry. Stericycle is the acknowledged leader in the unglamorous but necessary task of medical waste disposal.

"It is 12 times bigger than its nearest rival and SRCL is the only vendor able to provide services on a nationwide basis, which means that the large, nationwide customers have only one good option unless they want to deal with multiple vendors.

"The highly regulated nature of its business acts as a convenient barrier to entry by potential competitors. And even if someone does manage to start a competing company, there is a good chance that SRCL will buy them.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Stericycle (SRCL) turns medical waste into profits

Best Stocks for 2008: Stericycle (SRCL) turns medical waste into profits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe the stock is trading as if the Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) deal is off. Jefferies thinks the Sprint/Clearwire deal is still in the best interest of both companies.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Buy from Hold, as they believe the contribution from XenSource beginning in Q4 could be better than expected.
  
• UBS upgraded shares of Altria Group (NYSE: MO) citing stronger Q3 International results and potential share repurchases. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Piper Jaffray raised shares of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) to Market Perform from Underperform, as they are incrementally more positive on shares following the company's Q3 upside. They believe the company has turned the corner on profitability.
  
• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) to Outperform from Peer Perform on valuation and expectations for improved performance in 2008.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Friedman Billings raised its rating on IMS Health (NYSE: RX) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) to Hold from Sell.
  
• RadiSys Corporation (NASDAQ: RSYS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Cantor.

Analyst upgrades: CLWR, CTXS, MO, OSTK and IPG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Oppenheimer started shares of Shutterfly Inc (NASDAQ: SFLY) with a Buy rating and $42 target. The firm believes secular growth in digital photography and increasing adoption of user generated print publishing will drive EBITDA growth of 30%-40% over the next 2-3 years.
  
• Oppenheimer also initiated Drugstore.com Inc (NASDAQ: DSCM) with a Buy rating and $5 target, as they expect growth in the company's higher margin beauty segment could drive EBITDA above consensus estimates.
  
• Baird is positive on S.Y. Bancorp Inc's (NASDAQ: SYBT) valuation, capital-rich balance sheet, and top-tier profitability and resumed coverage with an Outperform rating.
  
• The firm also started shares of Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ: SRCL) with a Neutral rating, noting it would be more aggressive on shares in the mid-$40s or if earnings catch up with the passing of time.

• UBS initiated Praxair Inc (NYSE: PX) with a Buy rating and $94 target and added shares to its Strategic Stock Selection List.
  
• Lehman initiated Infosys Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: INFY) with an Equal Weight rating and Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) with an Underweight rating.
  
• William Blair reinstated coverage of the commercial real estate services sector, starting FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSRV) with an Outperform rating, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) with a Market Perform rating and CB Richard Ellis Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) with a Market Perform rating.

Analyst initiations: SFLY, DSCM, SYBT and SRCL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer likes toxic waste originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.