Saturday, February 23, 2019

XPO's Growth Engine Sputters

Onetime highflier XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO) has had a difficult run of late, as a third-quarter miss followed by a blistering criticism from short-seller Spruce Point Capital caused XPO shares to lose more than half of their value since Oct. 1.

The company's fourth-quarter results added to those woes, with XPO managing to find new ways to underperform separate from the issues that plagued it earlier in the year.

Given the run of poor results, it's fair to ask whether the best is over for this stock, which despite the recent declines has still doubled over the past three years and is up more than 1,000% since 2011. To try to determine what current, and potential, XPO investors should do today, here's a look at the recent results and what management has to say about the future.

XPO Chart

XPO and S&P 500 data by YCharts.

A big customer departs

XPO posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.72 per share on revenue of $4.39 billion, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.84 per share in earnings on revenue of $4.55 billion. Organic revenue was up 9.3% from a year prior, which was down 120 basis points from third-quarter results but still quite healthy for a transport company.

Management blamed the shortfall on challenges in France and the United Kingdom, and on a significant drawdown by its largest customer. That large customer, who was not named but is believed to be Amazon.com, has apparently decided to move much of the business it was doing with XPO in-house.

XPO management said that it would likely take the next few quarters to redeploy the significant capacity and resources that were previously devoted to that customer.

XPO truck in the city

Image source: XPO Logistics.

XPO also said that it expects to generate $1.65 billion to $1.725 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in 2019, which would be an increase of between 6% and 10% from 2018, but that revised guidance was down from previous expectations for 12% to 15% EBITDA growth. It also said it expects $525 million to $625 million in free cash flow for the year, down from previous guidance of $650 million.

Notably, this longtime mergers and acquisitions machine has seemingly reassessed its strategy. XPO in December, following the release of the Spruce Point report, announced a $1 billion stock buyback. In the fourth-quarter earnings release, XPO said that buyback program has already been completed, announcing a new $1.5 billion authorization to be funded with cash and debt.

CEO Brad Jacobs on a call with investors following the earnings release said buybacks are the priority for now:

We love M&A [mergers and acquisitions]. We have a very good track record of creating significant shareholder value through M&A. But today, even though we spent a lot of time, we're getting very close to concluding a long search for a good M&A candidate, the best M&A target is acquiring our own stock. And that's where we're going to deploy our resources for the foreseeable future, not on external M&A.

The logistics provider for everyone else

Given the damage done by one large customer, XPO spent a lot of time on a call discussing customer concentration. In 2018, the company's top five customers contributed about 11% of total revenue, with that one large customer accounting for nearly 5% of the total. With that customer now cutting about two-thirds of its business with XPO, management expects its top five customers to account for about 8% of revenue in 2019.

"Customer concentration will be less. But when you lose your -- when you lose the majority of your top customer's business, that hurts," CEO Brad Jacobs said on the call. "Nothing you can do -- there's nothing positive. It's only negative."

XPO is one of the most diverse companies in the transport sector in terms of its exposure to different businesses, but the concentration of large customers was an unwelcome surprise. Investors can take some solace in seeing that number trend downward and knowing that few if any e-commerce retailers have the desire and the resources to follow Amazon's lead and take logistics in-house.

XPO sorting facility conveyor belt.

Image source: XPO Logistics.

In fact, to my thinking, Amazon is a key part of the bull argument for XPO. As the e-commerce giant moves its logistics operation in-house, it's forcing its online and brick-and-mortar retailers to become more efficient operators.

XPO offers a one-stop-shop for a wide range of shipping, logistics, warehousing, and last-mile services at a scale that few retailers other than Amazon can offer on their own. The company is well-positioned to be the logistics Amazon-alternative for a wide range of retailers looking to streamline operations and bring down prices so they can be an Amazon-alternative to customers.

Patience required

It's worth noting that while Spruce Point did include worries about growth and the health of the European economy in its list of concerns, the fund's primary issues were centered around alleged financial irregularities and what it described as dubious accounting. So far, those concerns have proven unfounded.

XPO has certainly hit a speed bump, but there is nothing to suggest the underlying business is on shaky ground. Despite the loss of a major customer and its exposure to Europe the company still expects upwards of $600 million in free cash flow in 2019. And while its projected revenue growth of 3% to 5% is well below the double-figures organic revenue growth in 2018, the business is still expected to grow its top and bottom line in 2019.

Last summer, before the trouble hit, XPO was trading at more than 30 times earnings, a valuation that can only be justified by sustainable blockbuster growth. That premium has evaporated, and XPO now trades at a more reasonable 18.7 times earnings, in line with logistics rival C.H. Robinson Worldwide's valuation of 19.3 times earnings and United Parcel Service's multiple of 20.

XPO PE Ratio (TTM) Chart

XPO, UPS, CHRW PE Ratio (TTM) data by YCharts.

As painful as that reset has been for shareholders, the market has arguably done its job and adjusted XPO's valuation based on the company's stumbles and management's shift away from M&A. Management in the quarters to come needs to show that the company can regain its footing and avoid any additional unwelcome surprises. With that in mind, 2019 appears likely to be at best a forgettable year, but if things go well, it should lay the groundwork for XPO to again focus on growth in 2020.

As an existing XPO shareholder who believes in Jacobs and the management team, I'm holding on. But even after the share-price drop, I wouldn't urge new investors to rush in. XPO has made it clear the reset will take time. It's understandable that a potential investor might want to wait another quarter or two to see how the recovery is going.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Hot Clean Energy Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:LPL,COOL,GNL,

Shares of Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) were down 15.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $3.05 and last traded at $3.13. Approximately 5,742,302 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 232% from the average daily volume of 1,731,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.71.

Several analysts have recently commented on CLNE shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Clean Energy Fuels from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $3.25 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 15th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Clean Energy Fuels from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 23rd. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Clean Energy Fuels from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Clean Energy Fuels from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks To Own For 2019: LG Display Co., Ltd.(LPL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ashraf Eassa]

    According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Apple wanted to tap LG Display (NYSE:LPL) as a second source for OLED displays for the company's next-generation smartphones, but LG Display seems to be running into issues. 

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on LG Display (LPL)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Ashraf Eassa]

    That's set to change this year, with LG Display (NYSE:LPL) reportedly set to manufacture a portion of the OLED screens that Apple will use in this year's iPhone lineup. And now, a third player may be set to join the fray.

  • [By Nicholas Rossolillo]

    That's a pretty horrific downgrade, but there's more to the story. Universal Display cited what is shaping up to be a soft half-year for new OLED TV and smartphone development. End manufacturers like LG Display (NYSE:LPL) are busy ramping up for the next product lineup, which means lower demand for suppliers like Universal. Demand is supposed to resume later in 2018 and return to "significant growth" in 2019, but in the meantime the outlook is unimpressive.

  • [By Ashraf Eassa]

    While there have been reports that Apple will also rely on LG Display (NYSE:LPL) to supply some of the OLED screens for its latest iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max devices, it's probably safe to say that Samsung remains a key supplier of OLED screens for those devices, too.

  • [By Anders Bylund]

    Korean screen builder LG Display (NYSE:LPL) is having a rough year. Share prices have plunged 34% lower in 2018 and LG Display missed Wall Street's earnings targets in each of its last four financial reports.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks To Own For 2019: Majesco Entertainment Company(COOL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Maxx Chatsko]

    Shares of PolarityTE (NASDAQ:COOL) couldn't get a lift today after the company announced it had been added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 Indexes. That's because notorious short-seller Citron Research released a report calling the company a fraud and asked for the SEC to "halt this stock immediately."

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    First Allied Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Polarityte Inc (NASDAQ:COOL) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 18,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Polarityte Inc (NASDAQ:COOL) dropped 27.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $24.20 and last traded at $28.14. Approximately 6,863,479 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1,545% from the average daily volume of 417,135 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.73.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Majesco Entertainment (COOL)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Cantor Fitzgerald set a $70.00 price target on Majesco Entertainment (NASDAQ:COOL) in a report published on Wednesday. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks To Own For 2019: Global Net Lease, Inc.(GNL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Thursday was a great day on Wall Street, as major benchmarks responded favorably to news that the U.S. and China would meet again to try to negotiate their differences on the trade front. The manufacturing-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average fared the best out of the most-followed indexes, reflecting the key role that global trade plays in those companies' opportunities for revenue growth and profit. Broader-based measures did well but weren't able to keep up with the Dow in percentage terms. Still, some individual companies suffered from bad news that sent their shares lower. Dillard's (NYSE:DDS), MiMedx Group (NASDAQ:MDXG), and Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Global Net Lease Inc (NYSE:GNL) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, July 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.1775 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, September 17th. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 12th.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04), Bloomberg Earnings reports. Global Net Lease had a return on equity of 1.72% and a net margin of 9.09%. The business had revenue of $68.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.87 million.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Top Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:HXL,ACH,NTEC,CVEO,

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has worked hard to distinguish itself from other oil companies over the past few years by shifting its focus from growing production to increasing shareholder value. That led it on a path to shed high-cost assets so that it could slim down to a company that could thrive at lower oil prices.

This strategy has worked remarkably well. That's why shares are up more than 50% over the past year compared to about a 15% gain for the average oil stock as measured by the Vanguard Energy ETF. However, despite that dramatic outperformance, CFO Don Wallette stated on the company's most recent quarterly conference call that "we think our stock is well undervalued and has a lot of upside to it." He gave two reasons why the company thinks its stock is a buy. 

Image source: Getty Images.

Cheap cash flow

One of the factors ConocoPhillips' CFO looks at when valuing the company's stock is its ability to expand its cash flow margins in an environment like the one it's in today. In the CFO's view, cash flow can expand rapidly at current oil prices. However, the market isn't giving the company any credit for this growth potential:

Top Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now: Hexcel Corporation(HXL)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lee Samaha]

    It's well known that both Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Airbus (NASDAQOTH:EADSY) are ramping up their production of aircraft in response to multi-year backlogs and ongoing strength in orders. Each is a highly investable companies in its own right -- Boeing, in particular, looks well positioned to grow cash flow and earnings. But what about investing in one of their suppliers, like advanced composite technology company Hexcel (NYSE:HXL)? Let's take a look at the factors that could make that company attractive for investors.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,590 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB lifted its position in shares of Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL) by 51.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,174 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB’s holdings in Hexcel were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

  • [By Lee Samaha]

    Advanced materials are loosely defined as those designed with enhanced properties that improve on traditionally used materials. A broader definition includes materials seeing increased demand due to advanced technologies. For example, if you want to reduce the weight of aircraft (while also increasing strength) then Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL) advanced composites are going to come in handy. Similarly, if you believe in the future of electric vehicles then the lithium produced by Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) (used in batteries) will surely come into high demand in the future. Moreover, if you want to invest in companies that provide technology to materials processors then high-performance laser manufacturer IPG Photonics Corp. (NASDAQ: IPGP) is well worth a look. Here's the investment case for all three. 

Top Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now: Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd(ACH)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Max Byerly]

    Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (NYSE:ACH) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (NYSE:ACH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Shares of Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (NYSE:ACH) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $10.70 and last traded at $10.71, with a volume of 2367 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.00.

Top Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now: Intec Pharma Ltd.(NTEC)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Media stories about Intec Pharma (NASDAQ:NTEC) have been trending somewhat positive on Wednesday, according to Accern Sentiment. The research group ranks the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Intec Pharma earned a coverage optimism score of 0.18 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news stories about the biotechnology company an impact score of 45.6707447165993 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Intec Pharma (NTEC)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Intec Pharma (NTEC)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now: Civeo Corporation(CVEO)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Civeo (NYSE:CVEO) was downgraded by research analysts at ValuEngine from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Civeo Corp (NYSE:CVEO)’s share price was up 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.53 and last traded at $3.48. Approximately 766,001 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 754,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.29.

  • [By Steve Symington]

    Still, several individual companies easily outran the broader market. Read on to learn why shares of ManTech International (NASDAQ:MANT), Civeo (NYSE:CVEO), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) each climbed higher today.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Movers & Shakers: Volumes of Punj Lloyd, PVR, Prestige Estates, Tejas Networks move the most


The Indian stock market continues to trade in the green with the Nifty50 extending gains, up 70 points, trading at 10711 while the Sensex added up 227 points and was trading at 35,725 mark.

The breadth of the market favoured the advances on the BSE with 1463 stocks advancing and 946 declining while 123 remained unchanged.

S&P BSE Metals along with S&P BSE Realty were the outperforming sectors which gained over 2 percent while S&P BSE IT was the underperforming sector which was down over 1 percent in this afternoon session. The top gainers were Emami, Welspun Corp, Strelite Tech, DLF, Bank of India, Prestige Estates and GMR Infra.

On the other hand, the top losers were Kaveri Seed Company, Kwality, Navkar Corp, HEG, Graphite India, Aarti Industries, Equitas Holdings, TCS and NTPC.

related news Time Technoplast gains 3% on order win worth Rs 115 cr Kotak includes 3 new stocks to its model portfolio, trims weightage of 6 largecaps D-Street Buzz: PSU banks gain led by Bank of India; ICICI Bank jumps 2%, IT drags

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The stocks which moved the most with respect to volumes were Punj Lloyd which was trading with volumes of 16,093,154 shares, compared to its five day average of 1,181,538 shares, an increase of 1,262.05 percent. The stock witnessed spurt in volume by more than 10.11 times.

Punj Lloyd


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Prestige Estates was trading with volumes of 49,067 shares, compared to its five day average of 4,167 shares, an increase of 1,077.46 percent. The stock saw spurt in volume by more than 14.07 times.

Prestige Estates


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Tejas Networks was trading with volumes of 49,387 shares, compared to its five day average of 8,775 shares, an increase of 462.81 percent. It traded on new 52-week low value of Rs 115.25 and saw spurt in volume by more than 6.47 times.

On the other  hand, PVR was trading with volumes of 33,889 shares, compared to its five day average of 8,745 shares, an increase of 287.54 percent. The stock witnessed spurt in volume by more than 3.23 times.

PVR


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Kolte-Patil Developers was trading with volumes of 13,097 shares, compared to its five day average of 3,408 shares, an increase of 284.35 percent. The stock witnessed spurt in volume by more than 3.45 times.

Ambuja Cements was trading with volumes of 347,365 shares, compared to its five day average of 146,214 shares, an increase of 137.57 percent. It saw spurt in volume by more than 3.36 times while Divis Labs was trading with volumes of 81,820 shares, compared to its five day average of 34,813 shares, an increase of 135.03 percent. Divis witnessed spurt in volume by more than 2.66 times. First Published on Feb 19, 2019 02:15 pm

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Tech Wreck: Billionaire Money Managers Dumped These Tech Stocks in the Fourth Quarter

It's that time of the year again, folks. And no, I'm not talking about the post-Valentine's Day period when you receive your credit cards bills and decide you need to work 70 hours a week to pay off what you've purchased for your significant other. Rather, this past week was the deadline for large money-management firms to submit their 13F filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Think of a 13F filing as a detailed look under the hood for top investment funds. Investment firms with more than $100 million in assets under management are required to file a 13F with the SEC 45 days after the end of the previous quarter. Although there are obvious limitations -- i.e., looking at data that's around 45 days old -- it nevertheless gives Wall Street and investors an intricate look at what the brightest and most successful money managers have been up to over the previous quarter (Oct. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2018).

What made 13F filings particularly interesting this go-around is that the fourth quarter featured the steepest correction in the stock market (just barely touching bear market status on an intraday basis) since the Great Recession a decade ago. Would we see billionaire money managers derisking their portfolios in the wake of the stock market sell-off, or would the 13F filings show that they aggressively bought what appeared to be deeply discounted companies?

We now have that answer, and it isn't pretty.

A businessman in a suit pressing the sell button on a digital screen.

Image source: Getty Images.

Billionaire money managers ran from tech stocks in Q4

If there was one theme for the fourth quarter, it would be "tech wreck." That's because a quick glance at the actions of top money managers revealed plenty of selling of Wall Street darlings and brand-name companies in the technology space. Here's a brief -- but not all-encompassing -- summary of some of the notable selling activity during the fourth quarter.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway modestly reduced its stake by about 2.9 million shares (just over 1%); Jana Partners dumped 173,000 shares (63% of its stake); and both Soros Fund Management and David Tepper's Appaloosa Management sold their entire stakes in Apple of 89,300 shares and 100,000 shares, respectively. Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA): Appaloosa Management disposed of its entire 1.5 million-share stake in Alibaba, with activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point selling more than 4 million shares. Ken Griffin's Citadel Advisors also sold 964,600 shares, leaving the fund with only 65,700 shares. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB): Appaloosa, an active seller in Q4, sold more than half of its stake in Facebook (1.875 million shares), with Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors completely exiting its position of around 88,000 shares of the social media giant. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): Third Point sold its entire stake in Microsoft (4.1 million shares), which had represented 3.3% of its portfolio in the previous quarter. Jim Simons' Renaissance Technologies followed suit by liquidating its 1.65-million-share stake. Finally, Citadel Advisors parted ways with more than half of its position in Microsoft (1.95 million shares). Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX): Loeb's Third Point and Griffin's Citadel were also active sellers of streaming service Netflix, with Citadel dumping close to 1.4 million shares and Third Point shedding 1.25 million (its entire position). Tiger Global Management also sold more than 680,000 shares during the quarter. A rising line with an arrow made out of one-dollar bills representing an uptrend in interest rates.

Image source: Getty Images.

Four reasons for the fourth-quarter "tech-xodus"

Why such heavy selling of tech stocks during the fourth quarter? One logical reason was simply the cycling out of what's considered to be a higher-growth and more volatile industry. When the stock market heads higher, tech is often a leader. But when corrections occur, tech stocks have a tendency to overextend to the downside. Once the 10% correction level was hit on the Nasdaq Composite, money managers may have hit that panic button and run for the exit.

Another possible reason for the "tech-xodus" is the Federal Reserve. Even though Fed Chair Jerome Powell has made amends with investors following commentary in the early part of 2019, the nation's central bank wound up hiking its federal funds target rate for a fourth time late in 2018. Powell and the Fed also maintained a hawkish stance on inflation and interest rates during the fourth quarter. Since the high-growth tech sector tends to be reliant on debt financing for expansion, billionaire money managers might have thought that, with financing costs on the rise, tech growth would slow.

Speaking of slowing growth, a third reason billionaires might have lightened their load on tech stocks has to do with economic growth prospects. Last year, the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act arguably put a little extra pep in the U.S. economy's step, as well as provided a modest boost to an already downtrending unemployment rate. More importantly, it permanently cut peak corporate income tax rates, which coerced a number of companies to buy back stock and up their dividends. These are all very temporary positive catalysts, and money managers might foresee weaker growth for the overall economy in 2019.

Lastly, the China-U.S. trade war can be blamed. China is arguably more important to the tech industry than to any other for its manufacturing of inexpensive electronic components and assembly work. If uncertainties over tariffs weren't enough to scare away billionaire money managers, China's slowing GDP growth might be the straw that broke the camel's back (and sent billionaires fleeing from China-focused e-commerce giant Alibaba).

A smirking businessman in a suit who is holding the financial section of the newspaper.

Image source: Getty Images.

Trying to time the market may cost money managers big-time

Although hindsight is 20/20, and we know the stock market has been on fire over the first seven weeks of 2019, the writing was on the wall for billionaire money managers to hang onto a number of brand-name tech stocks last quarter.

For instance, Facebook has certainly dealt with its fair share of privacy concerns, as well as higher expensing as it rolls out new initiatives. But at the end of the day, there simply isn't a social media platform that gives advertisers a means to reach 2.32 billion monthly active users. In addition to Facebook, the Messenger platform, WhatsApp, and Instagram represent four of the top seven most-visited social websites. In other words, Facebook is a social media juggernaut, and a short-term correction or some near-term higher expenses aren't likely to change that. 

To build even further on this point, Facebook has traded at an average price-to-cash flow of 30.6 over the past five years. But according to Wall Street's consensus figures, Facebook is valued at just a 13 multiple of its projected 2020 cash flow per share of $12.38. In other words, Facebook looks to be historically cheaper than it's ever been.

As for Apple, it's been valued at roughly 11 times its cash flow per share and 13.4 times forward earnings, on average, over the past five years. But looking ahead to 2020, Apple is currently valued at closer to 10 times cash flow and is trading right on the nose at its five-year average forward P/E ratio of 13.4. Even with slowing sales growth, Apple is a cash cow that still looks to be an intriguing value.

If, however, there were one tech stock about which I'm in agreement with this billionaire "tech-xodus," it's Netflix. While it's impossible to argue against Netflix's subscriber growth in the U.S. or abroad, the company continues to bleed cash. Of the tech stocks sold heavily in Q4, it looks to be the most likely to take it on the chin due to its cash burn and ultra-premium valuation, especially if we undergo a further correction.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:ISNS,PBSK,PAI,BBW,SAIC, Related KOL Coal Companies Lobby For Clean Energy Subsidies Silver Shines Among 2016's Best ETFs

The VanEck Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL) was one of last year's best-performing non-leveraged exchange-traded funds for a simple reason: Of the two nominees for the U.S. presidency, one was vocal in her disdain for the coal industry while one vowed to restore the industry's lost jobs.

President Donald Trump, obviously, was the candidate that promised to restore coal country's lost glory and KOL responded. The ETF is doing so again this year with a year-to-date gain of almost 18 percent. That means KOL has nearly doubled in value over the past year. Still, there are ample indications that Trump's promises to coal miners will be hard to keep.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2019: Image Sensing Systems, Inc.(ISNS)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Image Sensing Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISNS) shares dropped 26 percent to $3.5001 after reporting earnings were down year over year. First quarter earnings came in flat, down from 4 cents per share in the same quarter of last year. Sales came in at $3.01 million.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Abaxis (NASDAQ: ABAX) and Image Sensing Systems (NASDAQ:ISNS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

     

    Losers Netshoes (Cayman) Limited (NASDAQ: NETS) shares dipped 43.73 percent to close at $2.87 on Tuesday as the company posted downbeat Q1 results. Cesca Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KOOL) shares dropped 29.01 percent to close at $0.80 after reporting Q1 results. SenesTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNES) shares fell 22.2 percent to close at $0.340 after reporting Q1 miss. Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE: VIPS) fell 19.95 percent to close at $12.08 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Monday. Image Sensing Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISNS) fell 19.68 percent to close at $3.775 after reporting earnings were down year over year. First quarter earnings came in flat, down from 4 cents per share in the same quarter of last year. Sales came in at $3.01 million. Boxlight Corporation (NASDAQ: BOXL) dropped 18.47 percent to close at $9.62 on Tuesday after surging 77.44 percent on Monday. ENDRA Life Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NDRA) declined 16.21 percent to close at $2.43. ENDRA Life Sciences is expected to release quarterly earnings today. ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALJJ) shares fell 16.13 percent to close at $1.79. Switch Inc (NYSE: SWCH) shares dropped 14.93 percent to close at $13.16 following a first-quarter earnings miss. Restoration Robotics Inc (NASDAQ: HAIR) fell 14.42 percent to close at $3.68 after reporting a first-quarter earnings miss. iCAD, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICAD) declined 13.01 percent to close at $3.41 following Q1 results. Intersections Inc. (NASDAQ: INTX) fell 12.44 percent to close at $1.97. Histogenics Corporation (NASDAQ: HSGX) declined 12.24 percent to close at $2.15. AZZ Inc. (NYSE: AZZ) fell 12.1 percent to close at $39.60 following Q3 earnings. Hallador Energy Company (NASDAQ: HNRG) fell 11.1 percent to close at $6.49. Integrated Media Technology Limited (NASDAQ: IMTE) dropped 10.66 percent to close at $16.93 on Tuesday. Myomo, Inc. (NYSE: MYO) slipp
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

    Losers Restoration Robotics Inc (NASDAQ: HAIR) fell 19.8 percent to $3.45 in pre-market trading after reporting a first-quarter earnings miss. Image Sensing Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISNS) fell 19.2 percent to $3.80 in pre-market trading after reporting earnings were down year over year. First quarter earnings came in flat, down from 4 cents per share in the same quarter of last year. Sales came in at $3.01 million. Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE: VIPS) fell 15.9 percent to $12.70 in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Monday. Aptose Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: APTO) shares fell 11 percent to $2.98 in pre-market trading after climbing 2.45 percent on Monday. Sibanye Gold Limited (NYSE: SBGL) shares fell 8 percent to $2.91 in pre-market trading after surging 6.40 percent on Monday. Switch Inc (NYSE: SWCH) shares fell 7.2 percent to $14.36 in pre-market trading following a first-quarter earnings miss. Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) fell 7.1 percent to $64.31 in pre-market trading following mixed Q2 results. Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNDM) fell 5.8 percent to $10.50 in pre-market trading after rising 25.22 percent on Monday. Carbon Black, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLK) shares fell 5.1 percent to $22.46 in pre-market trading. Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) fell 2.4 percent to $186.65 in pre-market trading. Home Depot reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2019: Poage Bankshares, Inc.(PBSK)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Poage Bankshares (NASDAQ:PBSK) announced its earnings results on Monday. The savings and loans company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Bloomberg Earnings reports. The company had revenue of $5.39 million for the quarter. Poage Bankshares had a negative return on equity of 4.84% and a negative net margin of 14.32%.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    News coverage about Poage Bankshares (NASDAQ:PBSK) has been trending somewhat negative on Thursday, according to Accern. The research firm identifies positive and negative media coverage by reviewing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Poage Bankshares earned a daily sentiment score of -0.06 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned headlines about the savings and loans company an impact score of 47.5091086029881 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2019: Pacific American Income Shares, Inc.(PAI)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    PCHAIN (CURRENCY:PAI) traded down 1.2% against the dollar during the 1 day period ending at 0:00 AM E.T. on August 19th. PCHAIN has a market cap of $12.30 million and approximately $1.53 million worth of PCHAIN was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. Over the last week, PCHAIN has traded 9.6% lower against the dollar. One PCHAIN token can now be bought for about $0.0281 or 0.00000432 BTC on major exchanges including Bilaxy, Hotbit, DDEX and DEx.top.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    PCHAIN (CURRENCY:PAI) traded up 0.3% against the dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 0:00 AM E.T. on June 23rd. One PCHAIN token can now be bought for about $0.0807 or 0.00001322 BTC on exchanges including Bibox, IDEX and Hotbit. PCHAIN has a total market capitalization of $0.00 and $2.46 million worth of PCHAIN was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last week, PCHAIN has traded 18.4% lower against the dollar.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Project Pai (CURRENCY:PAI) traded down 6.5% against the US dollar during the 1 day period ending at 22:00 PM ET on July 11th. In the last week, Project Pai has traded flat against the US dollar. One Project Pai coin can currently be purchased for approximately $1.05 or 0.00016577 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including LBank, Bitfinex and Huobi. Project Pai has a total market capitalization of $0.00 and $86.99 million worth of Project Pai was traded on exchanges in the last day.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2019: Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.(BBW)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

      

    Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSD) shares declined 32.19 percent to close at $9.86 on Thursday. Clearside Biomedical disclosed that its Phase 2 trial of CLS-TA met primary and secondary endpoints met in 6-month trial. scPharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SCPH) shares dipped 30.1 percent to close at $9.94 on Thursday after the FDA identified deficiencies in the company’s New Drug Application for FUROSCIX. However, the FDA letter did not specify deficiencies identified and notification does not reflect final decision on information under review. Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) fell 24.08 percent to close at $1.86. Euroseas announced completion of the spin-off of its drybulk fleet into EuroDry Ltd. Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ: GLNG) fell 25.09 percent to close at $25.98 following Q1 results. Oragenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGEN) shares dropped 25 percent to close at $1.50 on Thursday. Guess', Inc. (NYSE: GES) dropped 19.44 percent to close at $19.60 following Q1 results. Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE: CMD) dropped 15.94 percent to close at $109.09 on Thursday following FQ3 results. Fusion Connect, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSNN) shares fell 15.55 percent to close at $3.91. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW) dropped 14.44 percent to close at $8.00 after reporting Q1 results. Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) shares declined 14.28 percent to close at $82.59 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and lowered its FY2018 earnings guidance. Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) dropped 13.94 percent to close at $18.09 after reporting Q1 results. Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) declined 13.17 percent to close at $2.90 after declining 5.65 percent on Wednesday. Concordia International Corp. (NASDAQ: CXRX) fell 12.89 percent to close at $0.2440 after the company announced that it would be delisted from the Nasdaq. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) slipped 12.46 percent
  • [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.23 per share on revenue of $5.56 billion. Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) is projected to report quarterly loss at $0.02 per share on revenue of $466.25 million. Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.4 per share on revenue of $6.20 billion. Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.46 per share on revenue of $8.13 billion. Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE: BURL) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.09 per share on revenue of $1.49 billion. Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.3 per share on revenue of $726.56 million. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.22 per share on revenue of $806.17 million. Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) is estimated to report quarterly loss at $0.08 per share on revenue of $276.27 bmillion. Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.52 per share on revenue of $682.68 million. Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.21 per share on revenue of $92.08 million. Perry Ellis International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PERY) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.67 per share on revenue of $232.30 million. Kirkland's, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) is estimated to report quarterly loss at $0.09 per share on revenue of $140.83 million. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.18 per share on revenue of $90.20 million. J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE: JILL) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.19 per share on revenue of $160.50 million. Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE: CBK) is expected to report quarterly loss at $0.08 per share on revenue of $89.35 million.
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    News coverage about Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) has been trending somewhat negative on Thursday, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern identifies positive and negative press coverage by analyzing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Build-A-Bear Workshop earned a media sentiment score of -0.07 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media stories about the specialty retailer an impact score of 43.9525750448852 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the next few days.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2019: SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION(SAIC)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lou Whiteman]

    The Marine Corps has selected BAE Systems (NASDAQOTH:BAESY) to manufacture its next-generation amphibious combat vehicle, dealing a major setback to the diversification plans of Science Applications International (NYSE:SAIC).

  • [By Rich Smith]

    On Monday, SAIC (NYSE:SAIC), which collected $4.4 billion in revenue last year providing engineering and IT services to various branches of the U.S. government, announced a "definitive agreement" to acquire fellow government IT contractor Engility (NYSE:EGL) and its $1.9 billion revenue stream for $1.6 billion, plus $900 million in assumed debt. (And let's give credit where it's due -- Reuters predicted this acquisition, and Vertical Research upgraded Engility because of it, two months ago).

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Investors in Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE:SAIC) had a bad week last week: Its stock plunged 8% in a single day after it reported earnings -- and ended the week even lower. SAIC shares are clawing back some losses this week -- but do they deserve to?

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    These are some of the news stories that may have effected Accern’s scoring:

    Get Science Applications International alerts: Science Applications International (SAIC) To Buy Engility Holdings in $2.5B Deal – Slideshow (seekingalpha.com) Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) CEO Anthony Moraco on Q2 2019 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com) Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE:SAIC) (finance.yahoo.com) Company News For Sep 11, 2018 (finance.yahoo.com) SAIC CEO offers a window into the consolidation wave taking over the government market (finance.yahoo.com)

    A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Vertical Research downgraded Science Applications International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Science Applications International in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Science Applications International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Science Applications International in a report on Friday, May 25th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded Science Applications International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.29.

  • [By Motley Fool Staff]

    Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE:SAIC)Q1 2019 Earnings Conference CallJune 12, 2018, 5:00 p.m. ET

    Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

    Operator

  • [By Garrett Baldwin]

    Today, Bill offers our readers a few of his favorites as Trump meets with Kim Jong Un. Here's how to cash in regardless of how this summit turns out in the long run.

    The Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday Last night, President Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. This was the first meeting between a sitting American president and a North Korean leader. Following the agreement, analysts noted that the document signed by both parties included no concrete details for achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Trump responded to criticism by saying he is fully confident that the Korean dictatorship will follow through. A U.S. district court will rule on whether to approve an $85 billion merger between AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX). The decision comes after about six weeks of debate in a courtroom. The ruling will likely have a significant impact on the proposed bid by The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) for media giant Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NYSE: FOXA). The Fed Open Market Committee kicks off its June meeting today. The U.S. central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the second time in 2018. On Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will likely announce a hike of 0.25% to the benchmark rate to 2%. This would also mark the seventh hike since December 2015. Markets will be looking for clues during Powell's conference to determine how many additional times the Fed plans to raise interest rates during the final six months of the year. Three Stocks to Watch Today: RH, TSLA, GE Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH) stock popped more than 20% in pre-market hours after the company reported very strong profits for the quarter. The retailer reported earnings per share of $1.33, well above the $1.02 anticipated by analysts. The company also reported a strong second-quarter outlook, news that reduced concerns about it falling short of revenue expectations. Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TS

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Best Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:DVN,DNR,NOV,E,

Earlier this year, many top investors expected volatility to increase and stock market growth to slow, and while the market did tumble in late January, for the most part U.S. equities have been on another tear. The S&P 500 is up 7.45 percent year-to-date, and it's increased 12.43 percent since Feb. 8, when the market hit its low for the year.

Can these good gains continue into the fourth quarter? According to some experts, rising interest rates, geopolitics and slower earnings growth, among other things, could cause equity market growth to slow and even end America's almost 10-year bull run.

"We're in an uncomfortable bull market," said Sebastian Page, a Baltimore-based fund manager who oversees $300 billion of investments as T. Rowe Price's head of global multi-asset allocation.

Stocks have done well so far because of strong corporate earnings, due in part to tax reform and a recovery in energy prices, but that earnings growth, which has been in the 20 percent range, could decline dramatically in the latter part of the year, he said. He wouldn't be surprised to see earnings growth in the high single digits.

Best Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Devon Energy Corporation(DVN)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), in the meantime, is on pace to expand quarterly cash flow by 35% over the course of the year due to its growing oil production, assuming WTI averages $65 per barrel. However, Devon's cash flow would rise at an even faster pace this year if WTI moves higher due to the outage at Syncrude. That would give Devon even more money to buy back its dirt-cheap stock. 

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Last fall, Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) unveiled its 2020 vision, which is a strategy to transform the shale driller into a value-creating machine for investors. One phase of that plan is to sell non-core assets to strengthen its balance sheet and bolster its ability to create more value as the company looks to unload more than $5 billion in assets over the next few years.

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    As things stand right now, analysts anticipate that at least some Iranian oil will come off the market as a result of the sanctions. That lost output would further tighten an oil market that suddenly has little margin for error thanks to red-hot demand and tame supply growth. That's the recipe for higher oil prices and could make top-tier U.S. oil stocks Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC), Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) big winners in the coming years.

Best Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Denbury Resources Inc.(DNR)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    That bullish inventory number, along with the potential for even higher oil prices, sent oil stocks soaring, with several smaller producers spiking more than 10% today. Among that group was EP Energy (NYSE:EPE), Sanchez Energy (NYSE:SN), Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR), HighPoint Resources (NYSE:HPR), and Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ:CRZO).

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Denarius (CURRENCY:DNR) traded 8.2% lower against the U.S. dollar during the 1 day period ending at 22:00 PM Eastern on September 19th. During the last seven days, Denarius has traded 64.3% higher against the U.S. dollar. Denarius has a total market cap of $820,243.00 and approximately $1,713.00 worth of Denarius was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Denarius coin can now be bought for about $0.22 or 0.00003447 BTC on exchanges including Cryptohub, SouthXchange, CoinExchange and Stocks.Exchange.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    The stock market surged higher on Monday, with the biggest gains coming for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed above the 25,000 level. Investors were generally upbeat about signs that suggested the potential for a more favorable resolution of trade disputes between the U.S. and China, and positive moves in other financial markets continued to contribute to the stock market's success as well. Several individual companies in key industries saw major gains. Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR), MB Financial (NASDAQ:MBFI), and World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Denarius (DNR) is a PoW/PoS coin that uses the NIST5 hashing algorithm. It was first traded on February 14th, 2017. Denarius’ total supply is 3,850,532 coins. Denarius’ official Twitter account is @denariuscoin. The official website for Denarius is denarius.io. The Reddit community for Denarius is /r/denariuscoin and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here.

Best Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: National Oilwell Varco, Inc.(NOV)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Gabelli reiterated their buy rating on shares of National-Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) in a research note published on Monday morning. Gabelli also issued estimates for National-Oilwell Varco’s FY2019 earnings at $0.40 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $3.25 EPS.

  • [By Jason Hall, Tyler Crowe, and John Bromels]

    According to three Motley Fool contributors, there are still ample opportunities to profit in the oil and gas segment as some left-behind subsectors start to catch up to the higher price trend. Three in particular that are well-positioned going forward are Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG), National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV), and Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN).  

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) and DistributionNOW (NYSE:DNOW) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    National-Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) was upgraded by analysts at Johnson Rice from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Oil States International (NYSE: OIS) and National-Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Best Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: ENI S.p.A.(E)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    ENI (NYSE:E) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a hold rating to a sell rating. According to Zacks, “With recovering oil prices, Eni’s operating profits from its Refining & Marketing business has gone down in the first half of 2018 against the comparable period of 2017. Also, operating profit from its Chemical business fell 79% during this period due to rising costs of oil-based feedstock. Moreover, Eni has sold 50% of its stake in the Zohr field, a high yielding project, which can impact its revenues. Fall in demand for products like gasoil and gasoline, in Italy, is also a concern for the company. If this consumption trend persists, the company’s profit levels will get affected. Given these headwinds, Eni seems like a risky bet that ordinary investors should exit.”

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Eni SpA (NYSE:E) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.24.

  • [By Zacks]

    Following the reform, Mexico drew multi-billion dollars' investment. It could lead up to an output of 3 MMBbl/d by the end of the planned period, as predicted by the supporters of the reform. The reform could also bring down electricity rates in the country. So far, Mexico has awarded around 90 contracts, both onshore and offshore. The country raised about $100 billion from the auctions by the end of January. With nine oil and gas blocks, Shell has emerged as the leading player in the auctions held so far. Other winners in the bidding processes include Eni S.p.A. (NYSE: E)of Italy, Inpex of Japan, France's TOTAL S.A. (NYSE: TOT), Chevron and more.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Enterprise Group Inc (TSE:E) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$0.37 and last traded at C$0.37, with a volume of 24200 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$0.40.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Essendant Inc (ESND) Short Interest Down 32.0% in January

Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 366,198 shares, a decline of 32.0% from the January 15th total of 538,742 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 224,613 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

A number of analysts have issued reports on ESND shares. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Essendant from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 4th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Essendant from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Friday, January 25th.

Get Essendant alerts:

NASDAQ ESND opened at $12.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,280.00 and a beta of 0.80. Essendant has a 12-month low of $7.20 and a 12-month high of $17.08.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harvest Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essendant by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Management LLC now owns 14,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Essendant by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,642,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,060,000 after acquiring an additional 582,069 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essendant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,000. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Essendant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $665,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essendant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. 81.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Essendant Company Profile

Essendant Inc operates as a distributor of workplace items in the United States and internationally. It offers janitorial and sanitation supplies, breakroom items, foodservice consumables, safety and security items, and paper and packaging supplies. The company also provides technology products, such as computer accessories, imaging supplies, and data storage products; and computer hardware, including printers and other peripherals.

Featured Story: How to read a candlestick chart

Friday, February 15, 2019

Here's My Top Stock to Buy in February

Though Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock has declined about 6% over the past 12 months, its business has gone in a significantly different direction. The electric-car company has swung from reporting significant losses to becoming meaningfully profitable. In addition, Tesla's vehicle sales and total revenue have soared. As a result, this strong momentum has distanced the company from competition and strengthened its position as a leader in the electric-vehicle market.

While Tesla stock may not look like an attractive investment on the surface, a closer look at the company's recent execution and an understanding of its key catalysts suggest Wall Street may be underestimating the value of Tesla's early lead in this fast-growing market.

Five gold stars in a row on a concrete floor.

Image source: Getty Images.

Manufacturing execution

There have been times when Tesla's ability to ramp up production of its vehicles has looked like the automaker's biggest weakness. Indeed, as recently as the fourth quarter of 2017, it was running six months behind critical production targets for its newest and most important vehicle yet: the Model 3. The company had initially aimed to wrap up 2017 producing 5,000 Model 3 units per week. Instead, it produced just 2,425 Model 3 units during the entire fourth quarter of 2017.

But when you zoom out and look at Tesla's production ramp over a larger time horizon, its progress is extraordinary. In the fourth quarter of 2013, it produced about 6,000 vehicles. By the fourth quarter of 2018, the automaker was making over 6,000 vehicles a week, or 86,555 vehicles during the quarter.

Tesla's growing production is just as staggering when viewed over the last two years. In 2018, soaring Model 3 production helped Tesla deliver over 245,000 vehicles -- up from about 103,000 deliveries in 2017.

A bar chart showing Tesla's quarterly vehicle deliveries by model.

Data source: Tesla quarterly shareholder letters. Chart by author.

Tesla's "production hell" during the beginning of its Model 3's production ramp-up made plenty of headlines. But production hell is over -- and Tesla's ability grow production so steeply and exit production hell completely is evidence of its manufacturing prowess.

Tesla is profitable

The automotive business is extremely capital intensive. It's not surprising, therefore, that Tesla has been mostly unprofitable since it went public in 2010. What is surprising, however, is that the automaker has now reported two quarters in a row of meaningful profits.

In Tesla's third quarter of 2018, the company reported net income of $312 million and free cash flow (cash from operations less capital expenditures) of $881 million. Fourth-quarter net income and free cash flow was $139 million ($193 million when adding back in a $54 million non-cash charge during the quarter) and $910 million,  respectively.

Importantly, Tesla anticipates to remain profitable, with the exception of the possibility of a small loss in its first quarter of 2019. For the following three quarters of the year, management expects the company to be profitable.

Notably, Tesla now trades at just 14.5 times an annualized run rate of free cash flow based on the automaker's free cash flow in its last two quarters. This is an attractive valuation for a company poised to grow deliveries by about 55% this year thanks to higher Model 3 production rates achieved at the end of last year.

Big catalysts

What's more, Tesla has some major growth opportunities ahead of it.

First, there's the upside in Model 3 deliveries that can come from a global expansion. Model 3 deliveries in 2018 were limited to North America. The vehicle's recent expansion to Europe and China could help its quarterly unit sales rise even more throughout 2019, extending the Model 3's leadership position beyond the United States. If the Model 3's ability to become the best-selling luxury car (including SUVs) in the U.S. in 2018 is any indication of how well the vehicle will resonate with customers in Europe and China, the vehicle will be a hot seller in these markets, too.

Second, Tesla can grow sales by introducing a lower-priced variant of its Model 3. For now, the Model 3 starts at $42,900. But Tesla is planning to bring to market a $35,000 version of the vehicle later this year. Of course, Tesla will need to benefit from manufacturing improvements and greater economies of scale over the next four to six months in order to pull this off. But these meaningful price reductions recently suggest it's making quick progress toward this goal.

Looking beyond the Model 3, there's also room for Tesla to grow sales significantly by introducing new models. The company has yet to introduce a more affordable SUV. Its current SUV, Model X, starts at a pricey $88,000. Unsurprisingly, Tesla has a vehicle in the works to tap into a large market for more affordable SUVs. It plans to begin producing its Model Y early next year, with higher-volume volume production by the end of 2020.

A teaser photo of Tesla's Model Y

A Model Y teaser image. Image source: Tesla.

Of course, the cream of the crop would undoubtedly be a fully electric pickup truck. Ford F-series truck sales in the U.S. alone amount to nearly 1 million units per year. Tesla has its eyes on this market, too. Indeed, the company has said it may even show off the vehicle this summer. Production of the truck, however, isn't likely to begin any earlier than 2021.

Big risks

Buying shares of a company in a capital-intensive, highly competitive market that is seeing rapid change comes with some significant risks.

Chief among these risks is demand. Current sales trends paint a rosy picture for the potential demand for Tesla's vehicles. The Model S and X continue to outsell all comparably priced vehicles in most key markets, and the Model 3's ability to quickly become the best-selling luxury car in the U.S. vouches for its strong potential globally. But if demand fails to live up to Tesla's growing production, the company could catch itself between a rock and a hard place -- not a good place to be in a capital-intensive industry.

Rising competition is also a concern. No electric vehicle yet has put pressure on Tesla's sales. In addition, most high-volume fully electric vehicle programs from other automakers are a few years out. But it's always possible that new vehicles from competitors could eventually steal market share from Tesla. On the other hand, of course, the market for compelling fully electric vehicles could grow fast enough that it becomes a rising tide that lifts all boats.

Considering these risks, investors may want to limit the size of a position in Tesla stock to a small portion of their portfolio. Even a small position, however, could be rewarding over the long haul if Tesla continues to execute and keeps building vehicles customers love. Better yet, if the electric-vehicle market as a whole takes off, Tesla is positioned better than any automaker in the world to benefit.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:ALLT,CLF,JNP,LXK,HTS, &l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image shutterstock size-large wp-image-1026303118&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/1026303118/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g;&l;em&g;Credit: Shutterstock&l;/em&g;

Between a third and a half of people age 45 to 59 and a quarter of those 60+ went without needed health care in the last year due to its cost, according to a troubling new &l;a href=&q;http://www.westhealth.org/press-release/survey2018/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;survey&l;/a&g; from the West Health Institute&a;nbsp;and NORC at the University of Chicago.

&a;ldquo;We were surprised by the magnitude of the findings,&a;rdquo; said Dr. Zia Agha, chief medical officer at the West Health Institute, a nonprofit applied medical research organization based in San Diego. &a;ldquo;And 80% of the people we surveyed had health insurance, so just having insurance does not make you immune to health care costs.&a;rdquo;

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Own For 2019: Allot Communications Ltd.(ALLT)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Allot Communications (NASDAQ:ALLT) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Shares of Allot Communications Ltd (NASDAQ:ALLT) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.68.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Allot Communications (NASDAQ:ALLT) will be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, May 8th. Analysts expect Allot Communications to post earnings of ($0.10) per share for the quarter.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Allot Communications (NASDAQ:ALLT) and NEC (OTCMKTS:NIPNF) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Allot Communications (NASDAQ: ALLT) and Extreme Networks (NASDAQ:EXTR) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Own For 2019: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.(CLF)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tyler Crowe]

    At the beginning of 2018, Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) looked like a company that was finally putting its troubled past behind it. This past quarter and heading into 2019, the iron ore producer thinks it is poised for a great year. Management has been confident enough in its outlook for the year that it has initiated both a dividend and a share repurchase program in the past six months. What's more, the iron ore industry could be headed for a bit of a supply crunch that could significantly boost the prices for Cleveland-Cliffs higher-quality iron ore pellets. 

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    An issue of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF) bonds fell 1.1% as a percentage of their face value during trading on Wednesday. The high-yield issue of debt has a 5.75% coupon and will mature on March 1, 2025. The debt is now trading at $95.44 and was trading at $97.00 one week ago. Price changes in a company’s bonds in credit markets often anticipate parallel changes in its stock price.

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Has there ever been a more surprising turnaround story than Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF)?

    Once a bifurcated coal and iron miner known as Cliffs Natural Resources, folks began writing Cleveland-Cliffs' obituary in 2012 after President Obama was elected to his second term -- an apparent death knell to anyone involved in the coal industry. Three years later, the predictions seemed to be coming true, and analysts opined about whether Cleveland-Cliffs could even survive to the end of Obama's term. Within only a few short months, the stock would bottom out. But fast-forward a few years years, and what do we see today?

  • [By Money Morning News Team]

    Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) is a mining company that specializes in the mining and refinement of iron ore.

    In the United States, the company operates five iron ore mines in Michigan and Minnesota. Located near the Great Lakes, these mines produce 32.9 million gross tons of iron ore annually.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Own For 2019: Juniper Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(JNP)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chris Lange]

    Juniper Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: JNP) shares rallied early on Tuesday after the company announced that it would be acquired by Catalent. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Own For 2019: Lexmark International, Inc.(LXK)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Headlines about Lexmark International (NYSE:LXK) have trended somewhat positive on Sunday, Accern Sentiment reports. The research group scores the sentiment of media coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Lexmark International earned a media sentiment score of 0.06 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media coverage about the technology company an impact score of 42.803224128124 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Press coverage about Lexmark International (NYSE:LXK) has been trending somewhat negative on Saturday, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. Accern identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Lexmark International earned a coverage optimism score of -0.10 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media coverage about the technology company an impact score of 42.9230217304115 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the immediate future.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Own For 2019: Hatteras Financial Corp(HTS)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Media headlines about Hatteras Financial (NYSE:HTS) have trended positive on Wednesday, according to Accern Sentiment. Accern rates the sentiment of news coverage by reviewing more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Hatteras Financial earned a news sentiment score of 0.26 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave headlines about the real estate investment trust an impact score of 45.8883073191268 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    News articles about Hatteras Financial (NYSE:HTS) have trended positive on Sunday, Accern reports. The research firm identifies positive and negative media coverage by reviewing more than twenty million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Hatteras Financial earned a media sentiment score of 0.31 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news headlines about the real estate investment trust an impact score of 46.6332645118122 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Why Hudson Stock Tumbled 25% Last Month

What happened

Shares of Hudson Ltd. (NYSE:HUD) took a dive last month after the operator of travel-based convenience stores said its CEO suddenly departed, though he was immediately replaced by the chief operating officer. The company also reported preliminary earnings results, though the surprise of the CEO change was the main reason the stock gave up 25% in January, as measured by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As you can see from the chart below, the stock plunged on Jan. 9 on the news, and continued to slide from there:

HUD Chart

HUD data by YCharts.

So what

Hudson, which operates about 1,000 stores in airports, bus and train terminals, and other such locations, said that CEO Joseph DiDomizio was stepping down to pursue other interests and was being replaced by Roger Fordyce.

A scene inside an airport terminal

Image source: Getty Images.

Sometimes when a CEO leaves a company suddenly, it can signal accounting problems, ethics concerns, or some other kind of red flag. There's no other indication of such a problem with Hudson, but DiDomizio spearheaded the company's initial public offering last year, and guided the company as revenue nearly tripled from 2008 (when he became CEO). Fordyce brings plenty of experience to the table, as he's been with Hudson for 30 years, serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Still, investors were rattled by the announcement and the stock fell 12% on the news.

Following that, Hudson gave preliminary fourth-quarter guidance, saying that comparable sales increased 1.7% in the quarter, or 2.5% in constant currency, though that was slower than the rest of the year. The stock fell modestly on that report.

Now what

Hudson stock is now down nearly 50% from its peak last fall, and off nearly 30% from its IPO price of $19 a share. Assuming there's no scandal involving DiDomizio's departure, the stock looks like a good buy after last month's sell-off. Hudson has something of a monopoly in retail, as its contracts allow it to operate essentially without competition in airports and other travel hubs, and it's been able to deliver steady comparable-sales growth as the nature of its business protects it from e-commerce.

Hudson will soon present its full fourth-quarter earnings report, expected later this month. Analysts see earnings per share at $0.15, and revenue increasing 4.1%, which compares to the 4.5% growth in the preliminary report.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Why Shares of Qualcomm Fell 13% Last Month

What happened

Shares of the mobile tech company Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) tumbled 13% in January, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after investors learned that Qualcomm decided against letting its modems be used in Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) latest iPhones. It was previously believed that Apple was the one that decided not to use the tech.

So what

Shares of Qualcomm were flat for the first half of January before they fell off a cliff thanks to testimony from Apple COO Jeff Williams. Williams said in a Federal Trade Commission trial that the iPhone maker was planning on ordering modems from both Intel and Qualcomm for its latest iPhone lineup, but that Qualcomm wouldn't allow Apple to buy the modems.

Chart with a paper airplane falling.

Image source: Getty Images.

Qualcomm and Apple have been embattled in a long-standing legal dispute over licensing fees that Qualcomm charged Apple, and the lawsuit evidently boiled over into the modem deal between to the two companies. "We were working toward doing that with Qualcomm, but in the end, they would not support us or sell us chips ... We would have loved to continue to have access to Qualcomm's tech," Williams said during the trial.

Qualcomm investors were understandably upset about this news and immediately pushed the company's share price down.

Now what

Qualcomm's stock has rebounded a bit this month and is up about 4% so far. The share price bump follows the company's most recent quarterly earnings results, which were released on Jan. 30. But despite the share price uptick, there's a lot of uncertainty about Qualcomm's licensing fee business and questions about its overall business model.

Monday, February 11, 2019

Long-Term Investors: The S&P 500 Is Not Your Friend. Here's Why.

&l;img class=&q;size-full wp-image-1349&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/robisbitts2/files/2019/02/AdobeStock_242623496.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;534&q; data-width=&q;1000&q;&g;

Let&a;rsquo;s play a quick game.&a;nbsp; Here are the 10-year cumulative returns of some investments I chose.&a;nbsp; In other words, this is the return across the full 10 years, not the per-year (annualized) return.

&a;nbsp;

Investment 1&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; -7.5%

Investment 2&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; +159.0%

Investment 3&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; +342.6%

Investment 4&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; -26.5%

Investment 5&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; +177.5%

&a;nbsp;

There they are.&a;nbsp; Now, which one would you choose to invest in, or would you allocate among more than one of them?&a;nbsp; And, what determined your decision?

OK, I won&a;rsquo;t keep you in suspense.&a;nbsp; These investments are all the same thing.&a;nbsp; They are 10-year returns of the S&a;amp;P 500.&a;nbsp; However, they are each from completely different periods (i.e. the time frames don&a;rsquo;t overlap).&a;nbsp; Specifically:

&a;nbsp;

Investment 1&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; -7.5%&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; (12/31/1968 &a;ndash; 12/31/1978)

Investment 2&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; +159.0%&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; (12/31/1978 &a;ndash; 12/31/1988)

Investment 3&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; +342.6%&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; (12/31/1988 &a;ndash; 12/31/1998)

Investment 4&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; -26.5%&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; (12/31/1998 &a;ndash; 12/31/2008)

Investment 5&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; +177.5%&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp;&a;nbsp; (12/31/2008 &a;ndash; 12/31/2018)

&a;nbsp;

You see, in investing, it is easy to fool ourselves with cherry-picked statistics.&a;nbsp; You might have automatically assumed that one of the 3 big up decades was the &a;ldquo;best&a;rdquo; investment.&a;nbsp; But that&a;rsquo;s just assuming that past is prologue.&a;nbsp; And if there was EVER a time when that is a risky assumption, it is now, what with mind-blowing global debt, geopolitical confusion and the U.S. stock market still within spitting distance of a 10-year high&a;hellip;which is evident when you look at the strong return of Investment #5 above.

The other thing that stands out to me about this little exercise is just how cyclical S&a;amp;P 500 returns and equity investment returns in general are.&a;nbsp; That should wake up any investor who plans to retire within the next 10 years.&a;nbsp; After all, if you are counting on more than doubling your retirement savings the next 10 years, there are lots of signs above that you may want to consider something other than &a;ldquo;set it and forget it&a;rdquo; investment approaches.&a;nbsp; After all, 2 of the past 5 decades (when we start with the 1968, 1978, etc. instead of 1970, 1980, etc.) have been negative.

I am a big advocate for having a long-term investment strategy.&a;nbsp; However, where I think investing gets oversimplified these days is where you assume the market will just bail you out.&a;nbsp; As you can see, that&a;rsquo;s a dangerous assumption.

So, what&a;rsquo;s the alternative?

&l;ol&g;&l;li&g;Understand that markets are inherently cyclical&l;/li&g;

&l;li&g;Use equities in your long-term portfolio, but don&a;rsquo;t just do so in a &a;ldquo;skin-deep&a;rdquo; manner. To put it another way, use equities but don&a;rsquo;t abuse them by convincing yourself that over time, the S&a;amp;P 500 Index always appreciates.&l;/li&g;

&l;li&g;Find a comfortable balance between stock market-driven investments and investments that either do not move in sync with the stock market, or move in the opposite direction of stocks, thus hedging your retirement savings risk.&l;/li&g;

&l;li&g;Invest across multiple time frames, regardless of precisely when you expect to use the money. Long-term investing combined with &a;ldquo;tactical&a;rdquo; investing that incorporates a less-patient, more risk-managed approach is a &a;ldquo;higher percentage shot&a;rdquo; for most investors in an era of electronic trading, automation and risky policy by global central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve, which combine to create and deflate bubbles each decade.&l;/li&g;

&l;/ol&g;

Remember that quick game we played today, and think about how you should alter your thinking for the next 10 years that started last month.&a;nbsp; That will help you to avoid a &a;ldquo;game over&a;rdquo; situation with your retirement plan.

&l;span&g;For research and insight on these issues and more, click&l;/span&g;&l;span&g;&a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;http://www.sungardeninvestment.com/welcome&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;nofollow noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;HERE&l;/a&g;&l;span&g;.&l;/span&g;

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Presidio (PSDO) Issues Earnings Results

Presidio (NASDAQ:PSDO) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.05, Bloomberg Earnings reports. Presidio had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 5.63%. The company had revenue of $767.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $682.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Presidio updated its FY 2019 guidance to EPS.

Shares of PSDO stock traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $15.01. The company had a trading volume of 951,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,524. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.41. Presidio has a 12 month low of $11.97 and a 12 month high of $17.81.

Get Presidio alerts:

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 26th were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 24th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Presidio’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.51%.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PSDO. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Presidio from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. SunTrust Banks began coverage on shares of Presidio in a research report on Tuesday, December 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded shares of Presidio from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Presidio presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.86.

In related news, Director Steven J. Lerner purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.22 per share, with a total value of $132,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,400. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sun Life Financial INC increased its stake in shares of Presidio by 133.1% in the 4th quarter. Sun Life Financial INC now owns 25,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 14,718 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Presidio by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Presidio in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,270,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Presidio by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 17,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Presidio by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,198,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,684,000 after acquiring an additional 53,116 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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About Presidio

Presidio, Inc provides information technology (IT) solutions to the middle market in North America. The company offers digital infrastructure solutions that enable clients to deploy IT infrastructure, as well as focuses on networking, collaboration, enterprise mobility, Internet of Things, and data analytics.

Read More: Market Capitalization, Large-Caps, Mid-Caps, Small-Caps

Earnings History for Presidio (NASDAQ:PSDO)

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:CME,GSS,ORE,NGD,NXG,

Bitcoin Private (CURRENCY:BTCP) traded 4.2% higher against the dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 18:00 PM ET on September 21st. Bitcoin Private has a total market capitalization of $62.73 million and $110,273.00 worth of Bitcoin Private was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last seven days, Bitcoin Private has traded up 6.3% against the dollar. One Bitcoin Private coin can now be purchased for approximately $3.06 or 0.00045492 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including HitBTC, Altcoin Trader, Exrates and TOPBTC.

Here’s how other cryptocurrencies have performed during the last 24 hours:

Get Bitcoin Private alerts: Zcash (ZEC) traded 6.2% higher against the dollar and now trades at $125.80 or 0.01872448 BTC. Bitcoin Gold (BTG) traded up 5.2% against the dollar and now trades at $22.25 or 0.00331110 BTC. ZenCash (ZEN) traded up 1.3% against the dollar and now trades at $19.67 or 0.00305821 BTC. Horizen (ZEN) traded up 5.6% against the dollar and now trades at $16.23 or 0.00241555 BTC. Bitcoin Interest (BCI) traded up 24.2% against the dollar and now trades at $1.46 or 0.00021694 BTC. ZClassic (ZCL) traded 1% higher against the dollar and now trades at $3.43 or 0.00050995 BTC. Hush (HUSH) traded 358.6% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.46 or 0.00006854 BTC. BitcoinZ (BTCZ) traded 5.2% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0006 or 0.00000010 BTC. Zero (ZER) traded 0.5% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.19 or 0.00002761 BTC. VoteCoin (VOT) traded up 88.4% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0048 or 0.00000072 BTC.

Bitcoin Private Profile

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Watch For 2019: CME Group Inc.(CME)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Cashme (CURRENCY:CME) traded down 0.1% against the US dollar during the 1-day period ending at 10:00 AM E.T. on August 27th. Over the last week, Cashme has traded up 55.3% against the US dollar. Cashme has a market cap of $0.00 and $0.00 worth of Cashme was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Cashme coin can currently be bought for approximately $0.0003 or 0.00000003 BTC on exchanges.

  • [By Motley Fool Staff]

    In this segment from Motley Fool Money, host Chris Hill asks Fool senior analysts Andy Cross, Matt Argersinger, and Ron Gross to give us the lowdown on some companies that caught their attention recently. But only two picked were individual equities this time around: CME Group (NASDAQ:CME), operator of the world's largest futures and options exchange; and creative software publisher Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE). The third Fool had his interest piqued by an ETF -- namely, the iShares MSCI China (NASDAQ:MCHI) Index Fund.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 24,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,989,000.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Watch For 2019: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Max Byerly]

    Golden Star Resources Ltd. (NYSEAMERICAN:GSS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,021,831 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the September 14th total of 9,371,344 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,038,207 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.7 days. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Golden Star Resources Ltd. (TSE:GSC) (NYSE:GSS) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$1.48.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Golden Star Resources (GSS)

    For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Watch For 2019: Orezone Gold Corp (ORE)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Galactrum (ORE) is a PoW/PoS coin that uses the
    Lyra2RE hashing algorithm. It launched on November 11th, 2017. Galactrum’s total supply is 2,092,679 coins and its circulating supply is 1,372,679 coins. Galactrum’s official Twitter account is @galactrum. Galactrum’s official website is galactrum.org.

  • [By Jim Robertson]

    Finally, Richard Seville, the CEO of Brisbane-based Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE) which began lithium sales in 2015 from northern Argentina and also experienced difficulty boosting output, commented that an "inability to access traditional funds has delayed the development of the sector" and that "these projects aren't easy -- so the banks just don't want to go there."

  • [By Peter Graham]

    Sandstorm's due diligence is thorough, they don't just invest in any company. They like West Africa because they understand the area and the opportunities that exist there. Sandstorm is a royalty and streaming company, so they make these investments and receive cashflow deals that often kick in much later on. But they have already established a presence in Burkina and have deals in place with larger companies like Orezone Gold (TSXV: ORE) and Endeavour Mining (TSX: EDV). Sandstorm's investment also potentially gives us access to their marketing department through something they call Launch Lab, and it looks like it will really benefit our own marketing efforts and will expose us to more opportunities over the coming year.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Galactrum (ORE) is a PoW/PoS coin that uses the
    Lyra2RE hashing algorithm. It was first traded on December 13th, 2017. Galactrum’s total supply is 2,781,952 coins and its circulating supply is 2,061,952 coins. Galactrum’s official website is galactrum.org. Galactrum’s official Twitter account is @galactrum.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Watch For 2019: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

    Losers Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE: TER) fell 10.8 percent to $37.02 in pre-market trading after the company issued downbeat Q2 guidance. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) fell 9.2 percent to $122.29 in pre-market trading. Edwards Lifesciences reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued weak earnings guidance for the second quarter. New Gold Inc. (NYSE: NGD) fell 8.8 percent to $2.30 in pre-market trading after rising 4.13 percent on Tuesday. Gold Fields Limited (ADR) (NYSE: GFI) fell 8.6 percent to $3.61 in pre-market trading. Natus Medical Incorporated (NASDAQ: BABY) fell 8.2 percent to $32.95 in pre-market trading after the company issued weak forecast for the second quarter. Atossa Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: ATOS) shares fell 7.9 percent to $3.50 in pre-market trading after climbing 27.09 percent on Tuesday. Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited (NYSE: BEDU) shares fell 6.7 percent to $13.58 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Sangamo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SGMO) fell 5.9 percent to $16.75 in pre-market trading following announcement of a $200 million common stock offering. Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: FRSX) shares fell 5.7 percent to $3.29 in pre-market trading after declining 3.32 percent on Tuesday. Euronav NV (NYSE: EURN) fell 4.8 percent to $8.40 in pre-market trading. Limelight Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: LLNW) shares fell 4.3 percent to $4.69 in pre-market trading. Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ: GLPI) shares fell 4.1 percent to $32.92 in pre-market trading after the company issued downbeat quarterly results and reported the retirement of CFO William Clifford
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of New Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:NGD) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Wednesday, The Fly reports.

  • [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

    For the details of Exor Investments (UK) LLP's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Exor+Investments+%28UK%29+LLP

    These are the top 5 holdings of Exor Investments (UK) LLPSibanye-Stillwater (SBGL) - 45,970,311 shares, 32.51% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 8.09%VEON Ltd (VEON) - 37,657,792 shares, 31.02% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.83%Cameco Corp (CCJ) - 5,967,410 shares, 19.32% of the total portfolio. Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd (HMY) - 13,275,728 shares, 6.26% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 6.84%Novagold Resources Inc (NG) - 5,889,905 shares, 6.21% of the total portfolio. Shares
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in shares of New Gold Inc (Pre-Merger) (NYSEAMERICAN:NGD) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,015,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 101,852 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI owned about 0.35% of New Gold Inc (Pre-Merger) worth $4,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Watch For 2019: Northgate Minerals Corporation(NXG)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Shares of NEX Group PLC (LON:NXG) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 696 ($9.21).