Continue reading SandRidge Energy Acquires Arena Resources

SandRidge Energy Acquires Arena Resources originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Before the Bell: Futures Higher Following Jobs Report

Before the Bell: Futures Higher Following Jobs Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Walmart (WMT) to buy from neutral, citing compelling valuation, margin expansion and expense control. The firm has a $60 target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Urban Outfitters (URBN) to outperform from market perform on valuation and its belief that sustainable positive comp trends will return in 2010. The firm maintains a $35 price target on shares.
• JPMorgan upgraded Manpower (MAN) to overweight from neutral. The firm cites valuation and improving temp fundamentals in the U.S. and France for the upgrade and has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Arena Resources (ARD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.
• C.R. Bard (BCR) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at Piper Jaffray.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: BKC, CAH, DGX, FII, MAN, URBN, WMT ...

Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: BKC, CAH, DGX, FII, MAN, URBN, WMT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Hold from Sell as it believes the company's second half of 2009 is tracking better than expected due to retailer restocking. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $33 from $15 but thinks Garmin's long-term trends remain unfavorable.
• Goldman upgraded Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) to Buy from Neutral citing potential EPS improvement driven by the Home division. Fortune Brands price target to $49 from $45. Note that the firm downgraded General Mills to Neutral from Buy.
• Oppenheimer upgraded FPIC Insurance (NASDAQ: FPIC) to Outperform from Perform to reflect the company's acquisition of Advocate MD and management's commitment to share repurchases. The firm set a $49 price target on the stock.
• PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) and Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) were upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• Synovus (NYSE: SNV) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ADBE, GIS, MAR, S, TTWO, VZ ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ADBE, GIS, MAR, S, TTWO, VZ ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded CNOOC Ltd (NYSE: CEO) to Equal Weight from Underweight to reflect higher crude oil price estimates.
  
• Goldman upgraded VMware (NYSE: VMW) to Conviction Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $29 from $27 following positive checks that indicate strong business actively. The analyst expects VMW's revenue growth to be up 9% in 2009 vs. expectations for overall IT spending to be down.
  
• UBS upgraded ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $5 from $3.80 based on positive Asia checks that indicate an improving demand outlook and that the company could beat near-term expectations.
• Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Ashland (NYSE: ASH) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VMW, VOD, BP, BHP, RTN, FDX ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VMW, VOD, BP, BHP, RTN, FDX ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: P.F. Chang's, ViroPharma and CSX Corp were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of P.F. Chang's (NASDAQ: PFCB) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's capital preservation focus, which they believe will drive a best-in-class free cash flow yield in 2009. Despite upgrading shares, Jefferies lowered their target price to $28 from $31.
  
• Thomas Weisel raised ViroPharma (NASDAQ: VPHM) to Overweight from Market Weight on valuation as they believe the sell-off on the Lev Pharmaceuticals (LEVP) acquisition is unwarranted. The firm raised their target price to $15 from $10.
  
• Merrill upgraded CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation and improved results.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  
• Credit Suiise raised Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• SunTrust upgraded Arena Resources (NYSE: ARD), Bill Barrett (NYSE: BBG) and Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: PFCB, VPHM and CSX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading America Recycles: A farm-fresh lifestyle in a box; Truth about cage-free eggs

America Recycles: A farm-fresh lifestyle in a box; Truth about cage-free eggs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Oklahoma turns 100 years old this year, and I wrote a bit about its business climate in my recent Investing in Oklahoma post. That post featured some growth companies based in Oklahoma: Arena Resources Inc. (NYSE: ARD), Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP), Unit Corp. (NYSE: UNT), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), and the Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB).

Earlier this year, the Motley Fool also took at look at Oklahoma companies, and focused on some of the same energy sector companies that I did. Its search also included two non-energy companies as well: drive-in burger chain Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) for its growth potential, and Tulsa-based Dollar Thrifty Automotive (NYSE: DTG).

Sonic recently announced 21 consecutive years of positive same-store sales performance, and reaffirmed its 33 cents earnings per share earnings expectations for the fourth quarter. For fiscal 2008, Sonic expects earnings growth of 15% to 17%. The consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial is that Sonic is a buy. The share price was $23.40 at the close on Friday, up from a 52-week low of $20.02 in late July, not yet quite back to its 52-week high of $25.09 in May, but still up from its stumble at the end of August after an analyst's downgrade based on labor and dairy costs. That was before the announcement and reaffirmed expectations mentioned above. Also, Sonic made the Forbes list of 100 best mid cap stocks in America.

Continue reading Investing in Oklahoma: Sonic (SONC), Dollar Thrifty (DTG), OGE Energy (OGE)

Investing in Oklahoma: Sonic (SONC), Dollar Thrifty (DTG), OGE Energy (OGE) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Oklahoma celebrates its centennial in November -- Happy Birthday, Oklahoma!

Today, Oklahoma is known as one of the most business-friendly states, due in part to low tax rates. Oklahoma's economy is based largely on the energy, aviation, and food processing sectors. From 2000 to 2006, Oklahoma's gross domestic product increased 50 percent. The GDP per capita grew almost 10 percent between 2005 and 2006, one of the highest rates in the nation.

Fortune magazine's 2007 list of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. included six from Oklahoma. At number three on the list was Tulsa-based Arena Resources Inc. (NYSE: ARD), a seven-year old oil and gas firm with a three-year annual growth rate of 165 percent. Back in August, Arena announced strong second quarter 2007 financial and operating results. Arena is also a major holding in the Bruce Fund, which recently made the 2007 Forbes Honor Roll.

Tulsa-based oil and gas driller Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) had a three-year annual growth rate of 37 percent, which beat the S&P 500. In August, H&P announced strong second quarter 2007 results, as well as two new contracts. The Motley Fool sees expansion in other sectors as good news for drillers such as H&P.

Continue reading Investing in Oklahoma: Arena Resources (ARD), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), ONEOK (OKE) and others

Investing in Oklahoma: Arena Resources (ARD), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), ONEOK (OKE) and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Powerful numbers on Matrix Service Company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.