Analyst Upgrades

• Interpublic Group (IPG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Radware (RDWR) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Fluor (FLR) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) to buy from hold, as well as AllianceBernstein (AB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• MetroCorp (MCBI) and American Capital (AGNC) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• International Flavors (IFF) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BioCryst (BCRX) and Southern Company (SO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bunge (BG) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AB, BG, CMG, CSCO, DF, EXPE, JLL, MU, NLSN, S, SO ...

Analyst Calls: AB, BG, CMG, CSCO, DF, EXPE, JLL, MU, NLSN, S, SO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• BP (BP) to buy from hold at RBS.
• Symantec (SYMC) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• GenOn Energy (GEN) and Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Logitech (LOGI) and Patriot Coal (PCX) to neutral from sell, as well as ARM Holdings (ARMH) to buy from neutral, at Goldman.
• Silvercorp Metals (SVM) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Cinemark (CNK) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Smith & Nephew (SNN) to market perform from underperform at Bernstein.
• Molex (MOLX) to overweight from underweight at JPMorgan.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AB, ARMH, BP, DANG, JNS, LOGI, PCX, SYMC, YHOO, YOKU ...

Analyst Calls: AB, ARMH, BP, DANG, JNS, LOGI, PCX, SYMC, YHOO, YOKU ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Dependable Dividends: AllianceBernstein Global High Income (AWF)

Dependable Dividends: AllianceBernstein Global High Income (AWF) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The editor of The Dividend Detective explains, "However, we continue to advise caution. Invest only money that you can commit for at least six-months to give you time to ride out unexpected market dips. Meanwhile, we have added four income issues to our various portfolios.

Continue reading Dividend Detective's Favorite Income Ideas

Dividend Detective's Favorite Income Ideas originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"A few stocks have really grabbed my attention; they have core assets that generate lots of cash, and serve their investors a good cut of the profits with regular streams of big dividends," says income specialist Neil George.

In his Stocks That Pay You, the advisor reviews three income issues that he calls, "fabulous finds."

He explains, "I'll start with a company, Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI), that as its name implies -- holds stuff. Specifically, it holds ownership in small set of operating companies in varied but basically solid businesses.

Continue reading Income trio: Neil George's 'fabulous finds'

Income trio: Neil George's 'fabulous finds' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Our latest high-dividend stock pick is AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB), a leading global money manager," says Mark Skousen.

In his premium service, High-Income Alert, he explains, "The company offers mutual funds, structured products, and managed accounts to corporations, endowments, institutions, and government agencies.

"Of course, asset managers collect fees based on the quantity of assets under management. As asset values decline, so do net fees. And, needless to say, with the haircut that world bond and equity markets have taken during the past two years, sales and earnings at AllianceBerstein have fallen.

Continue reading Income from AllianceBerstein (AB)

Income from AllianceBerstein (AB) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading PennyMac launches lifeless IPO

PennyMac launches lifeless IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB) to Outperform from Market Perform as they find AB's risk/reward attractive given its attractive long-term business model. Wachovia upgraded Watson Pharma (NYSE: WPI) and Teva Pharma (NASDAQ: TEVA) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuations and positive drivers for generics that include patent expirations and market share expansion.
• UBS raised Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) to Neutral from Sell on expected pricing power following the HBOS (OTC: HBOOY) acquisition.
• Otter Tail (NASDAQ: OTTR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
• GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) was upgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Sell.
• Merrill upgraded Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) to Neutral from Underperform.

• JP Morgan downgraded shares of Lloyds TSB Group to Underweight from Neutral on capital concerns and believes the HBOS acquisition is not in the best interest of shareholders.
• Stephens downgraded Universal Truckload (NASDAQ: UACL) to Equal Weight from Overweight on valuation and concerns about a slowdown in the flatbed sector. The firm's target remains $28.

Continue reading Analyst calls: AB, WPI, TEVA, LYG, UACL, NTAP, SIMO, BRCM ...

Analyst calls: AB, WPI, TEVA, LYG, UACL, NTAP, SIMO, BRCM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I am not sure that Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) will make it through the month as public companies. Barron's quoted an anonymous senior official -- who sounds an awful lot like Hank Paulson to me -- that unless Fannie and Freddie could raise at least $10 billion each, the government would bail them out while wiping out common shareholders and eliminating the preferred dividend. Since then, investors have been dumping shares of Fannie and Freddie like there's no tomorrow.

Who wins and who loses if Fannie and Freddie's shareholders are wiped out? As I said on CNBC's Power Lunch this afternoon, the winners are investors who shorted Fannie and Freddie years ago and are now reaping enormous profits. I also think that some Wall Street investment banks will win big as they get the job of selling off Fannie and Freddie's pieces. The losers are their biggest common and preferred shareholders -- including some well known mutual funds.

The winners are:

• Jim Rogers, Rogers Holdings - Rogers originally shorted Freddie and Fannie in March 2006 and appeared on Bloomberg on November 20, 2007 to discuss why he did it and where he thought their stocks would go.
• Doug Noland, Prudent Bear - As I posted, since the late 1990s, Noland's research has concluded that Freddie and Fannie would "shudder" when the US credit bubble eventually burst. Noland has profited from the short bets he made -- but he says it is emotionally painful to watch them fail.

Continue reading Fannie/Freddie Flameout: Winners and Losers

Fannie/Freddie Flameout: Winners and Losers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Genesis Energy (AMEX: GEL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $40 target at Stanford, as the firm believes the company's affiliation with Denbury Resources and pending acquisition of petroleum products, terminals, and transportation businesses from the Davison family will drive rapid growth.

• EnerNoc Inc (NASDAQ: ENOC) was initiated with a Hold rating and $42 target at Jefferies, due to valuation. EnerNoc was also initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and $40 target.

• Stifel expects Comcast (OTC: CMCSA) to benefit from higher penetration levels of DVR and HDTV set-top boxes over the next several years and initiated shares with a Buy rating and $34 target.

• Select asset managers were initiated at Credit Suisse:

• AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB), Affiliated Managers (NYSE: AMG), Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG), Invesco (NYSE: IVZ), Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) and T Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) were initiated with Outperform ratings.

• Blackrock (NYSE: BLK), Calamos Asset Mgmt (NADAQ: CLMS), Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE: EV), Federated Investors (NYSE: FII), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), Legg Mason Inc (NYSE: LM) and Waddell & Reed (NYSE: WDR) were initiated with Neutral ratings.

• Deutsche Bank initiated Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) with a Buy rating and $52 target, as well as Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) and Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE: MTH) with Hold ratings and a $23 target and $29 target, respectively.

Analyst initiations 6-27-07: BEN, BLK, CMCSA, PHM and RYL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.