Top buy and sell ideas by Ashwani Gujral, Sudarshan Sukhani, Mitessh Thakkar for short term

Geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan spooked Dalal Street on February 27 as benchmark indices gave up early gains and fell over 200 points in afternoon trade on widespread selling.

The Sensex shed 465 points from day's high to slip below 36,000 levels, down 68.28 points to settle at 35,905.43.

The Nifty50 erased 133 points from day's high to close marginally lower amid volatility ahead of expiry of February derivative contracts due on February 28. It was down 28.60 points to 10,806.70 at close and formed bearish candle on the daily charts.

The Nifty Midcap index was up 0.4 percent and Smallcap index gained 0.2 percent while major sectors like banks, FMCG and IT were lower.

related news 7 key takeaways from Warren Buffet's letter to shareholders 3 Point Analysis | Concerns over acquisition of Adani Agri Logistics

According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,725.37, followed by 10,644.03. If the index starts moving upward, key resistance levels to watch out are 10,913.87 and then 11,021.03.

The Nifty Bank index closed at 26,799.30, down 153.65 points on February 27. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 26,616.0, followed by 26,432.7. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 27,086, followed by 27,372.7.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, top market experts recommend which stocks to bet on for good returns:

Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com

Buy ICICI Prudential Life Insurance with a stop loss of Rs 315, target of Rs 332

Buy BEML with a stop loss of Rs 830, target of Rs 855

Buy TCS with a stop loss of Rs 2045, target of Rs 2090

Buy Godrej Industries with a stop loss of Rs 490, target of Rs 515

Buy Aurobindo Pharma with a stop loss of Rs 710, target of Rs 735

Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com

Buy Bharat Forge with stop loss at Rs 500 and target of Rs 520

Buy Colgate Palmolive with stop loss at Rs 1240 and target of Rs 1280

Buy Piramal Enterprises with stop loss at Rs 2280 and target of Rs 2360

Sell Indiabulls Housing Finance with stop loss at Rs 675 and target of Rs 640

Sell Kaveri Seed Company with stop loss at Rs 420 and target of Rs 395

Mitessh Thakkar of mitesshthakkar.com

Buy Allahabad Bank with a stop loss below Rs 45.95 for target of Rs 51

Sell HDFC Bank below Rs 2082 with stop loss of Rs 2096 and target of Rs 2055

Sell Hindustan Unilever below Rs 1730 with stop loss of Rs 1742 for target of Rs 1705

Buy ICICI Prudential with a stop loss of Rs 315 and target of Rs 333

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com/CNBC-TV18 are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.​ First Published on Feb 28, 2019 08:12 am

Richard S. Mahoney Sells 2,041 Shares of ANSYS, Inc. (ANSS) Stock

ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) VP Richard S. Mahoney sold 2,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.15, for a total value of $355,440.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Richard S. Mahoney also recently made the following trade(s):

Get ANSYS alerts: On Thursday, January 3rd, Richard S. Mahoney sold 8,347 shares of ANSYS stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.44, for a total value of $1,172,252.68.

ANSS traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $173.94. 30,591 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 336,617. The stock has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.18 and a beta of 1.34. ANSYS, Inc. has a one year low of $136.80 and a one year high of $190.45.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded ANSYS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $177.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 18th. ValuEngine raised ANSYS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 2nd. BidaskClub raised ANSYS from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on ANSYS in a report on Tuesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $162.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Benchmark raised ANSYS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $187.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.58.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc grew its holdings in ANSYS by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 8,770,380 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,637,254,000 after acquiring an additional 34,911 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of ANSYS by 4.5% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,292,501 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,361,363,000 after purchasing an additional 313,395 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in ANSYS by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,953,093 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $422,116,000 after acquiring an additional 206,347 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in ANSYS by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,049,950 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $293,020,000 after buying an additional 186,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in ANSYS by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,561,040 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $271,901,000 after buying an additional 60,785 shares in the last quarter. 92.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: This report was originally posted by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this report on another domain, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of US & international copyright & trademark law. The correct version of this report can be accessed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4168553/richard-s-mahoney-sells-2041-shares-of-ansys-inc-anss-stock.html.

ANSYS Company Profile

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services worldwide. The company offers ANSYS Workbench, a framework upon which the company's engineering simulation technologies are built; ANSYS multiphysics software to simulate the interactions between structures, heat transfer, fluids, and electronics in a unified engineering simulation environment; and structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization.

Featured Story: Should you buy a closed-end mutual fund?

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019

tags:NFLX,EXP,BPT,CBRL,ARGO,CGW,

Lantronix (NASDAQ:LTRX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at ValuEngine from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Lantronix in a report on Thursday.

Get Lantronix alerts:

Shares of Lantronix stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.05. 1,067,700 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,833. Lantronix has a 1-year low of $1.78 and a 1-year high of $5.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.45 million, a P/E ratio of 68.00 and a beta of -0.03.

Lantronix (NASDAQ:LTRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 22nd. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. Lantronix had a positive return on equity of 4.78% and a negative net margin of 0.28%. The company had revenue of $12.04 million during the quarter.

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019: Netflix, Inc.(NFLX)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jack Delaney]

  On Monday (July 17), Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) posted weaker-than-expected numbers for Q2, and the stock price is now down 13% at the opening bell.

• [By Money Morning Staff Reports]

  Buying shares of these stocks could be like picking up Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) stock before it soared to today's record highs. A $1,000 investment in NFLX when it had a VQScore of 4-plus would be worth more than $16,000 today.

• [By ]

  In a market with so many sectors struggling, it's remarkable that FANG continues to soar, Jim Cramer announced to his Mad Money viewers Tuesday. Cramer said that the FANG stocks -- his acronym for Facebook (FB) , Amazon.com (AMZN) , Netflix (NFLX) and Alphabet (GOOGL) , formerly Google, are about a lot more than just four terrific companies, however. This cohort casts a wide net.

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019: Eagle Materials Inc(EXP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  What's most compelling about Cemex is the fact that it's hands down the cheapest stock in the group. While Martin Marietta (NYSE: MLM), Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP) and Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) trade at 34, 24 and 45 times earnings, CX trades at just 13.44, with a forward PEG ratio of just 0.55...

• [By Max Byerly]

  Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) EVP James H. Graass sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $1,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,788,650. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials, Inc. (NYSE:EXP) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,949 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  Retail stocks are in focus after the U.S. Census Bureau released monthly sales figures before the bell Tuesday. The bureau said that retail sales increased by 0.3% in April, a figure that matched trade expectations. Markets had expected consumer spending to increase, however home improvement sales were not the major factor that most expected. This was evident from The Home Depot's earnings report. Markets are increasingly optimistic over U.S. trade negotiations with China. Chinese President Xi Jinping's No. 1 economic advisor will visit the United States this week to continue the nation's dialogue with America. In addition, roughly 100 companies and trade associations will be sounding off to the Trump administration about the potential impact of tariffs in the Chinese markets. Stocks to Watch Today: TSLA, AMZN, GS Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) is in focus thanks to tax policy in Seattle. On Monday, the Seattle's City Council passed a bill that will tax Amazon and 131 other companies $275 per employee each year in order to create a fund to address homelessness in the Seattle. The tax is half what was originally proposed and remains a contentious issue for Amazon, which is the city's biggest employer. Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) is sounding the alarm about the state of the markets. The company warned that the U.S. budget deficit is increasing while America's unemployment rate is falling. This hasn't occurred since the World War II. The bank believes that the combination of the two could cause the Fed to spike interest rates in the near future. This comes at a time when the Fed has already lost control of interest rates. Look for additional earnings reports from Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP), Bitauto Holding Ltd. (Nasdaq: BITA), Virtusa Corp. (Nasdaq: VRTU), Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: ENT), and Kamada Ltd. (Nasdaq: KMDA).

  Follow Money Morning on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019: BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust(BPT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Blockport (CURRENCY:BPT) traded up 1.6% against the dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 9:00 AM Eastern on September 17th. One Blockport token can now be purchased for approximately $0.0832 or 0.00001291 BTC on major exchanges including Kucoin and IDEX. Over the last week, Blockport has traded 5.8% higher against the dollar. Blockport has a market capitalization of $4.40 million and $23,852.00 worth of Blockport was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Blockport (CURRENCY:BPT) traded 9.9% higher against the U.S. dollar during the one day period ending at 13:00 PM Eastern on February 16th. One Blockport token can currently be bought for approximately $0.12 or 0.00003224 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including Kucoin and IDEX. Blockport has a market cap of $6.19 million and approximately $329,352.00 worth of Blockport was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. In the last seven days, Blockport has traded up 8.2% against the U.S. dollar.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Sometimes, though, you can have too much of a good thing. Dividend stocks with top dividend yields come with special risks, and although that doesn't guarantee that you'll get burned, the chances of a setback are greater. Below, I'll look at BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT), CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL), and Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) to explain why their yields are so high and what dangers could lurk beneath the surface.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Blockport (CURRENCY:BPT) traded 3.2% higher against the U.S. dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 20:00 PM Eastern on October 5th. Over the last week, Blockport has traded 21.8% higher against the U.S. dollar. Blockport has a total market capitalization of $5.67 million and $62,493.00 worth of Blockport was traded on exchanges in the last day. One Blockport token can currently be purchased for approximately $0.11 or 0.00001620 BTC on major exchanges including Kucoin and IDEX.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Blockport (CURRENCY:BPT) traded down 0.3% against the U.S. dollar during the 1-day period ending at 23:00 PM ET on September 14th. One Blockport token can now be bought for $0.0819 or 0.00001261 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including Kucoin and IDEX. Over the last week, Blockport has traded down 2.3% against the U.S. dollar. Blockport has a total market cap of $4.33 million and $60,265.00 worth of Blockport was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

• [By Sean Williams]

  As a case in point, consider BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT), which is currently paying out an extrapolated $5.10 a year, based on the $1.275 per share it divvied out in April. This is good enough for a better than 17% annual yield, albeit it should be noted that the Trust's payout differs each quarter depending on its royalty revenue and cash earnings. 

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc.(CBRL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL)

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

• [By Max Byerly]

  COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Cracker Barrel (CBRL) Stake Decreased by TIAA CREF Investment Management LLC” was reported by Ticker Report and is the property of of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this story on another website, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of US & international copyright & trademark laws. The legal version of this story can be accessed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/3353524/cracker-barrel-cbrl-stake-decreased-by-tiaa-cref-investment-management-llc.html.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Money Morning Special Situation Strategist Tim Melvin provides his latest list of stocks that will help you get rich… and stay rich. Check them out right here.

  Stocks to Watch Today: V, MA, AAPL, GOOGL Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) are under the microscope this morning. Both payment processing giants have signed a settlement agreement over a merchant lawsuit filed back in 2005, but originally settled in 2012 over merchant swiping fees. Visa will pay an additional $600 million to the original settlement. Mastercard will pay an additional $108 million. Although President Trump plans to hit China with new tariffs, at least one company won't face the full cost: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). According to reports, the Apple Watch is among a list of consumer tech gadgets that will receive exemptions from the latest round of tariffs on imports. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) announced it will install its Android operating system into automobiles manufactured by Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Renault. The operating system – set for distribution in 2021 – will include Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play. The three manufacturers combined sold 10.6 million vehicles in 2017. Look for earnings reports from AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS), Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL), and Apogee Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq: APOG).

  Follow Money Morning on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL)

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

• [By Shane Hupp]

  PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,548 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store were worth $711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in Cracker Barrel (NASDAQ:CBRL) by 94.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,675 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 45,017 shares during the quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Cracker Barrel were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019: Argo Pantes Tbk PT (ARGO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Argo Group (NASDAQ:ARGO) – Investment analysts at William Blair issued their Q1 2019 earnings estimates for shares of Argo Group in a research report issued on Tuesday, February 12th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.04 for the quarter. William Blair also issued estimates for Argo Group’s Q2 2019 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.97 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $0.98 EPS, Q1 2020 earnings at $1.24 EPS and Q4 2020 earnings at $1.06 EPS.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern Sentiment’s scoring:

  Get Argo Group alerts: Labour Day game against Tiger-Cats pivotal for Argonauts’ playoff chances (torontosun.com) Argo Group (ARGO) Director John R. Power, Jr. Sells 5,355 Shares (americanbankingnews.com) Keeping supermarket risks in check is a slippery business (insurancebusinessmag.com) Video: 'Sea Change' Highlights Female Sailors (bernews.com) Argo names new US specialty programmes leader (intelligentinsurer.com)

  ARGO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Argo Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 10th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Argo Group from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Argo Group to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 7th.

• [By Max Byerly]

  These are some of the news stories that may have impacted Accern’s rankings:

  Get Argo Group alerts: Cosgrave Property Group is close to selling its Liberty Shopping Centre in London (thetimes.co.uk) Form 4 Argo Group International For: Sep 05 Filed by: Bullock Jay Stanley (streetinsider.com) Insider Selling: Argo Group (ARGO) CFO Sells 12,323 Shares of Stock (americanbankingnews.com) Argo Blockchain touts promise of cryptos despite falling prices (stockmarketwire.com) Argo Blockchain shrugs off crypto slide and looks long term (proactiveinvestors.co.uk)

  Shares of ARGO traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.95. The stock had a trading volume of 47,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,574. Argo Group has a fifty-two week low of $49.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.90.

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2019: Guggenheim S&P Global Water ETF (CGW)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (NYSEARCA:CGW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 209,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,019,000.

$236.20 Million in Sales Expected for Strategic Education Inc (STRA) This Quarter

Equities research analysts expect Strategic Education Inc (NASDAQ:STRA) to post sales of $236.20 million for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Two analysts have made estimates for Strategic Education’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $230.00 million to $242.40 million. Strategic Education reported sales of $118.71 million during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year over year growth rate of 99%. The firm is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings report before the market opens on Friday, March 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Strategic Education will report full year sales of $654.50 million for the current year, with estimates ranging from $648.30 million to $660.70 million. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the firm will report sales of $969.15 million, with estimates ranging from $960.00 million to $978.30 million. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of analysts that cover Strategic Education.

Get Strategic Education alerts:

Several brokerages have weighed in on STRA. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of Strategic Education to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Strategic Education to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 12th. BidaskClub cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 17th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 13th. Finally, ValuEngine cut shares of Strategic Education from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Strategic Education currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.60.

Shares of Strategic Education stock opened at $119.11 on Tuesday. Strategic Education has a twelve month low of $80.75 and a twelve month high of $154.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.12.

In other Strategic Education news, Director Todd A. Milano acquired 280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $122.53 per share, for a total transaction of $34,308.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,585.29. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider J Kevin Gilligan sold 3,343 shares of Strategic Education stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.19, for a total transaction of $441,911.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 61,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,194,986.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,226,093 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $365,903,000 after buying an additional 71,469 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 100.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 2,184,052 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $299,280,000 after buying an additional 1,094,853 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 100.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,184,052 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $299,280,000 after buying an additional 1,094,853 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,068,970 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $146,481,000 after buying an additional 198,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Strategic Education by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 946,321 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $129,674,000 after buying an additional 821,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

About Strategic Education

Strategic Education, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of post-secondary education and other academic programs in the United States. The company operates Strayer University and Capella University that provide undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, accounting, information technology, education, health services administration, nursing, public administration, and criminal justice to working adult students through its 74 physical campuses primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions, as well as through online.

Featured Article: What is systematic risk?

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Strategic Education (STRA)

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

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (PB) Shares Sold by Ramsey Quantitative Systems

Ramsey Quantitative Systems trimmed its stake in Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,691 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems’ holdings in Prosperity Bancshares were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Mercantile Trust Co. increased its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 570 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 86,023 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,359,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Prosperity Bancshares by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 84.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Prosperity Bancshares alerts:

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stephens set a $70.00 price target on Prosperity Bancshares and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 24th. SunTrust Banks lowered their price target on Prosperity Bancshares to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 25th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 25th. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded Prosperity Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Prosperity Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.29.

Shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock opened at $74.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.37. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.01 and a 1 year high of $79.20.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $186.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.17 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a net margin of 38.17% and a return on equity of 8.12%. Prosperity Bancshares’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Prosperity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 35.57%.

In related news, Vice Chairman H E. Timanus, Jr. acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.65 per share, for a total transaction of $288,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 147,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,500,319.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (PB) Shares Sold by Ramsey Quantitative Systems” was originally published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this story on another domain, it was stolen and reposted in violation of US and international trademark & copyright laws. The original version of this story can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4163408/prosperity-bancshares-inc-pb-shares-sold-by-ramsey-quantitative-systems.html.

About Prosperity Bancshares

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc operates as bank holding company for the Prosperity Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, money market, and time accounts. The company also offers 1-4 family residential mortgage, commercial mortgage and multifamily residential, commercial and industrial, agricultural real estate, and non-real estate agricultural loans, as well as construction, land development, and other land loans; consumer loans, including automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, home improvement, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans; and consumer durables and home equity loans.

Further Reading: Stop Order Uses For Individual Investors

Opinion | In the Yes Bank drama, RBI has shot itself in the foot

Ravi Krishnan

There is this irrational joy mingled with relief that taxpayers feel on getting a tax refund, never mind that it was their money in the first place. Yes Bank investors too experienced that emotion last week when the lender revealed that RBI found its bad loan disclosures to be in apple-pie order, never mind that such compliance is basic hygiene and not an achievement to be tom-tommed.

Late Friday, RBI punctured that bubble by asking Yes Bank to issue another stock exchange notice saying that it violated regulations by revealing part of the findings of  the central bank audit. Further, the audit is said to have found other "lapses and regulatory breaches" in Yes Bank's functioning and the selective disclosure was "a deliberate attempt to mislead the public."

In the last two years, this "divergence" data (the difference between a bank's and RBI's assessment of bad loans) has been key to bank stock valuations and much sought after. It is material data. Several banks have revealed this data through press releases, notes to quarterly accounts, in analyst conference calls and so on, as bank analyst Hemindra Hazari points out here.

related news D-Street Buzz: Realty stocks gain led by Prestige Estates; Bharti Infratel jumps 3%, YES Bank most active D-Street Buzz: IT stocks in red dragged by TCS; Dr Reddy's Labs jumps 2%, Yes Bank falls

If that's the case, why has RBI picked on Yes Bank? The central bank has not upbraided any other lender, at least publicly.

Perhaps the problem is with the other lapses and regulatory breaches that RBI found. Both RBI and the Yes Bank communique are silent about these. If these are material, why haven't these been disclosed? If they are non-material, does it matter?

In any case, RBI has been the role model of regulatory opaqueness. In the last two years, the central bank's enforcement department has issued 128 penalties against financial institutions and collected around Rs 147.3 crore, says this report from BloombergQuint.

The public doesn't know what these lapses are beyond broad categories such as "fraud classification and reporting" and "know your customer norms." The puny fines (in relation to the size of bank balance sheets/revenues, profits being mostly non-existent in the past two years) don't act as much of a deterrent.

The time has come for the central bank to be more transparent. Why can't its risk assessment report be made public and placed on its web site?

We all know the counter argument: Too much information, especially when it is incorrectly interpreted, can cause a run on banks and spark contagion. But the RBI itself is guilty of charges it has levied on Yes Bank – that of selective disclosure. Rumours can equally be fuelled with too little information. Trying to mask a breach of regulations under a category such as "fraud classification and reporting" can cut both ways.

In this episode, the RBI presumably felt hard pressed to defend Rana Kapoor's expulsion as CEO by pulling up Yes Bank and making it say that there were other lapses. But in the process – and in the absence of disclosures – it has shot itself in the foot.

More transparency, with better explanations for regulatory actions, is the only way forward.

  First Published on Feb 18, 2019 11:57 am

Hot China Stocks For 2019

tags:ESES,GLAD,CUR,

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in China Lodging Group, Ltd (NASDAQ:HTHT) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 346,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,683 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in China Lodging Group were worth $45,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HTHT. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in China Lodging Group by 203.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 30,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,451,000 after acquiring an additional 20,654 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new position in China Lodging Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $560,000. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in China Lodging Group by 86.3% in the fourth quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in China Lodging Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parametrica Management Ltd bought a new position in China Lodging Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,281,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.41% of the company’s stock.

Hot China Stocks For 2019: Eco-Stim Energy Solutions, Inc.(ESES)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Hurricane Energy (OTCMKTS: HRCXF) and Eco-Stim Energy Solutions (NASDAQ:ESES) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Press coverage about Eco-Stim Energy Solutions (NASDAQ:ESES) has trended somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research firm scores the sentiment of press coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Eco-Stim Energy Solutions earned a daily sentiment score of 0.12 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media coverage about the oil and gas company an impact score of 47.1001025646776 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near term.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Eco-Stim Energy Solutions (ESES)

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

Hot China Stocks For 2019: Gladstone Capital Corporation(GLAD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gladstone Capital (GLAD)

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

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gladstone Capital (GLAD)

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

• [By Taylor Cox]

  Investor Events

  Gladstone Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GLAD) and Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ: GAIN) each holding an analyst/investor day Micron Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: MU) holding analyst/investor day Baxter International Inc (NYSE: BAX) investor conference

  Tuesday
  Notable Earnings

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Gladstone Capital Co. (NASDAQ:GLAD) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 5,304 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.73% of Gladstone Capital worth $1,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gladstone Capital (GLAD)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  BidaskClub lowered shares of Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ:GLAD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

  A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GLAD. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Gladstone Capital from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 2nd. National Securities reiterated a neutral rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Gladstone Capital in a research report on Monday, August 6th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Gladstone Capital from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Gladstone Capital from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Gladstone Capital has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $9.47.

Hot China Stocks For 2019: Neuralstem, Inc.(CUR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Pluristem Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CUR) and Neuralstem (NASDAQ:CUR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Shares of Neuralstem, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUR) were down 16% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $1.24 and last traded at $1.37. Approximately 595,500 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 205% from the average daily volume of 195,111 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.63.

Zacks Investment Research Lowers Haverty Furniture Companies (HVT) to Sell

Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

According to Zacks, “Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (Havertys) is a full-service home furnishings retailer in the Southern and Midwestern regions providing its customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle to upper-middle price ranges. Havertys is a true retailing institution. “

Get Haverty Furniture Companies alerts:

Several other analysts have also recently commented on HVT. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 20th. TheStreet cut shares of Haverty Furniture Companies from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, December 20th.

Shares of NYSE HVT opened at $21.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Haverty Furniture Companies has a 12 month low of $17.70 and a 12 month high of $22.90. The company has a market cap of $434.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.77.

Haverty Furniture Companies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 16th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 93.1% during the 3rd quarter. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 75,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 36,500 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,303,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,812,000 after purchasing an additional 34,900 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 176,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,896,000 after purchasing an additional 14,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Haverty Furniture Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,932,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.44% of the company’s stock.

Haverty Furniture Companies Company Profile

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc operates as a specialty retailer of residential furniture and accessories in the United States. The company offers furniture merchandise under the Havertys brand name. It also provides custom upholstery products, as well as mattress product lines under the Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Stearns & Foster, and Beautyrest Black names.

Featured Story: Google Finance

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Haverty Furniture Companies (HVT)

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

Why Coca-Cola Stock Was Sliding Today

What happened

Shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) were falling today after the beverage maker offered an underwhelming outlook for 2019 in its fourth-quarter report, saying a stronger dollar would weigh on results. The stock was down 7.7% as of 11:21 a.m. EST.

So what

Coca-Cola's underlying business showed solid growth in the fourth quarter as organic revenue, which strips out the effects of divestitures, acquisitions, and currency exchange, increased 5%. However, reported revenue fell 6% to $7.06 billion in the quarter due to the company's bottler refranchising initiatives and currency headwinds, but that figure still topped Coca-Cola's consensus analyst estimate of $7.03 billion. The increase in organic sales was mostly driven by higher prices and a positive change in sales mix as concentrate sales were up 1% and unit case volume was flat.  

Image source: Coca-Cola.

Adjusted operating margin ticked up 13 basis points, and the company continued to gain market share in the soft drink industry. On the bottom line, adjusted earnings per share increased 9% to $0.43, or 19% adjusting for currency headwinds, which matched estimates.

CEO James Quincey said: "I am pleased with our strong organic revenue and earnings growth in 2018. Our results demonstrate progress in our transformation as a consumer-centric, total beverage company and the power of a more strategically aligned system."

Now what 

Despite the solid round of results, management sounded cautious about the current year, forecasting 4% organic revenue growth, but said that currency headwinds would subtract 3% to 4% from revenue growth. In other words, reported revenue growth would be essentially flat. It also said it expected adjusted EPS to be flat for the year. Both forecasts were significantly lower than analyst expectations of 4.4% revenue growth and for earnings per share to increase from $2.09 to $2.22.  

Given Coca-Cola's solid fundamental growth, the sell-off seems misguided, but investors are clearly disappointed from having to digest a no-growth year, at least based on the headline numbers.

Avon Products Earnings: AVP Stock Tumbles Lower on Q4 Miss

Avon Products earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018 have AVP stock heading lower on Thursday.

Source: Shutterstock

Avon Products (NYSE:AVP) starts off its earnings report for the fourth quarter of the year with earnings per share of 7 cents. This is down from its earnings per share of 12 cents from the same period of the year prior. However, it does manage to match Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate of 7 cents for the quarter, but was unable to keep AVP stock from falling today.

Avon Products earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018 also include a net loss of $77.50 million. This is a drop from the company’s net income of $90.40 million reported in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Operating loss from the Avon Products earnings report for the fourth quarter of the year comes in at $49.60 million. The direct seller of beauty products reported operating income of $131.50 million during the same time last year.

The most recent Avon Products earnings release also has it reporting revenue of $1.40 billion. This is a decrease from the company’s revenue of $1.57 billion reported in the fourth quarter of 2017. It was also a blow to AVP stock by coming in below analysts’ revenue estimate of $1.43 billion for the period.

“We are in the initial stages of our turn-around plan with fourth-quarter results showing sequential improvement in revenue trends in 4 of our top 5 markets, as well as some early signs of progress against our core strategies,” Avon Products CEO Jan Zijderveld said in a statement.

AVP stock was down 7% as of Thursday morning.

As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Compare Brokers

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Has $3.90 Million Stake in Corning Incorporated (GLW)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 129,203 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,340 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $3,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 7.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,189,684 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $465,596,000 after purchasing an additional 941,964 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.8% during the third quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 12,224,502 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $160,385,000 after purchasing an additional 450,939 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 2.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,227,051 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $290,419,000 after purchasing an additional 214,078 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 10.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,084,855 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $214,795,000 after purchasing an additional 573,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA CREF Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 61.5% during the third quarter. TIAA CREF Investment Management LLC now owns 4,100,427 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $144,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,192 shares during the last quarter. 71.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Corning alerts:

In other news, SVP Lewis A. Steverson sold 12,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.47, for a total transaction of $395,798.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Deborah Rieman sold 4,430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total transaction of $143,089.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,009 shares of company stock valued at $3,330,247 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Several brokerages have issued reports on GLW. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Corning in a report on Tuesday, October 23rd. Zacks Investment Research lowered Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 6th. ValuEngine lowered Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Corning from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Shares of GLW opened at $33.36 on Tuesday. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $26.11 and a fifty-two week high of $36.56. The stock has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Corning had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Corning’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is 40.45%.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: This report was originally reported by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this report on another website, it was copied illegally and republished in violation of United States & international trademark & copyright legislation. The original version of this report can be viewed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4146538/st-germain-d-j-co-inc-has-3-90-million-stake-in-corning-incorporated-glw.html.

Corning Profile

Corning Incorporated manufactures and sells specialty glasses, ceramics, and related materials in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Display Technologies, Optical Communications, Environmental Technologies, Specialty Materials, and Life Sciences.

Featured Story: Outstanding Shares, Buying and Selling Stocks

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GLW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW).

These sectors perform best after 'buyback blackout' periods

We are about three quarters of the way through Q4 earnings season.

That means the so-called "buyback blackout" window will end soon.

A "buyback blackout" is a period of several weeks around announcement of quarterly results when companies and their executives refrain from issuing any new share repurchases.

What happens in the month after the end of these periods?

Over the past 5 years, the Financials, Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare sectors have been top performers, according to a CNBC analysis using Kensho.

Each of those sectors have traded higher 100 percent of the time. They average around a 5 percent gain in just a month.

Alarming Trends on E-Cigarette Use Among High School and Middle School Students

It is supposed to be undeniable that smoking and using any forms of tobacco is bad for your health. And the rate of smoking cigarettes has been on the decline for years and years now. That said, a new report is showing some very troubling trends about tobacco use, and e-cigarettes in particular, among middle school and high school kids.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now released additional data from the joint 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey compiled along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, the data confirm findings from last fall indicating that America’s youth of e-cigarette products is rapidly rising.

According to the updated data, approximately 4.9 million middle and high school students have used some type of tobacco product in 2018 over the trailing 30 days. There is a reason that the CDC calls this “rampant and alarming” in the press release. Only about 3.6 million were considered to be users of some form of tobacco in 2017.

The rise is pointing to e-cigarette use. The CDC showed that over 3.6 million middle school and high school students were current e-cigarette users in 2018. That is up by more than 1.5 million students in just a single year. Equally troubling with the number of users is that e-cigarettes are also being used more frequently and that the use of flavored products more often. Many youth tobacco product users are also using multiple products. The report said:

Among current tobacco users, about 2 in 5 (1.68 million) high school students and 1 in 3 (270,000) middle school students used two or more tobacco products in 2018. The most commonly used tobacco product combination was e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes among both middle and high school students.

Monday’s report from the CDC also pointed to data from the National Institutes of Health’s Monitoring the Future study showed comparable trends. Its data suggested that e-cigarette use rose from 6.6% to 10.4% among 8th grade students. Those figures rose from 13.1% to 21.7% among 10th grade students, and they rose from 16.6% to 26.7% among 12th grade students.

ALSO READ: $13.8 Billion Invested in Cannabis in 2018 Alone

Specific data from the FDA’s 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey points to flavored e-cigarette use being the major contributor. The observation of 2018 versus 2017 said:

Use of any flavored e-cigarette went up among current users from 60.9 percent to 67.8 percent, and menthol use increased from 42.3 percent to 51.2 percent among all current e-cigarette users—including those using multiple products—and from 21.4 percent to 38.1 percent among exclusive e-cigarette users.

Flavors in tobacco products are problematic, as they can be very appealing to youth, and are frequently listed as one of the top three reasons this population uses e-cigarettes. Additionally, kids whose first tobacco product was flavored are more likely to become current tobacco users than those whose first product was tobacco-flavored.

There was also a 48% rise among middle school kids using e-cigarettes in 2018 versus 2017. This was 570,000 kids, a total of 4.9% of all middle school students, who are now are current e-cigarette users.

On top of recent enforcement actions being taken against certain Walgreens and Circle K retail locations from repeatedly selling tobacco products to minors, the CDC release also pointed out that letters have been sent to Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) and JUUL Labs to meet with their leaders over concerns that they do not “seem fully committed to their written promises about the steps they’d take to stop youth use of their products.”

Altria has been investing billions into vaping and cannabis of late, and in some views that has been harmful to the company’s health as well.  JUUL was named three times in the CDC release, versus Altria being called out by name just twice.

There is really no way to sugarcoat these numbers. The statistics are startling.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:NC,ACFC,GLAD,CBOE,NRIM,GOOD,HOME,AIG,SHBI,BCS,

Sun Life Financial INC purchased a new position in Tech Data Corp (NASDAQ:TECD) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Adviser Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tech Data during the 1st quarter worth approximately $106,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Tech Data by 407.4% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tech Data during the 1st quarter worth approximately $131,000. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Tech Data during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Quantitative Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tech Data during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Institutional investors own 96.32% of the company’s stock.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: New Century Bancorp Inc.(NC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) and NACCO Industries (NYSE:NC) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Atlantic Coast Federal Corporation(ACFC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Atlantic Coast Financial (NASDAQ: ACFC) and People’s United Financial (NASDAQ:PBCT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and dividends.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Gladstone Capital Corporation(GLAD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Taylor Cox]

  Investor Events

  Gladstone Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: GLAD) and Gladstone Investment Corporation (NASDAQ: GAIN) each holding an analyst/investor day Micron Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: MU) holding analyst/investor day Baxter International Inc (NYSE: BAX) investor conference

  Tuesday
  Notable Earnings

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gladstone Capital (GLAD)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  BidaskClub lowered shares of Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ:GLAD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

  A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GLAD. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Gladstone Capital from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 2nd. National Securities reiterated a neutral rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Gladstone Capital in a research report on Monday, August 6th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Gladstone Capital from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Gladstone Capital from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Gladstone Capital has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $9.47.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Gladstone Capital Co. (NASDAQ:GLAD) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,100 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 5,304 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.73% of Gladstone Capital worth $1,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Gladstone Capital (GLAD)

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

• [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

  Gladstone Capital Corp  (NASDAQ:GLAD)Q1 2019 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 07, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET

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

  Operator

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: CBOE Holdings Inc.(CBOE)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Last December, two major futures exchanges started offering futures contracts on bitcoin. CBOE Global Markets (NASDAQ:CBOE) was the first to market with its futures offering, and CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) didn't waste any time coming out with its own version of a bitcoin contract.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Cboe Global Markets (NASDAQ:CBOE) Q1 2018 Earnings Conference CallMay. 4, 2018 8:30 a.m. ET

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

  Operator

• [By Asit Sharma]

  Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBOE) reported expansive earnings growth in its first-quarter 2018 report, issued on May 3. In addition to revenue tacked on from its acquisition of Bats Global Markets in March 2017, Cboe enjoyed increased volume in trading of the company's proprietary VIX (Cboe Volatility Index) futures and options.

• [By Asit Sharma]

  Exchange holding company Cboe Global Markets (NYSEMKT:CBOE) enjoyed brisk trading across multiple asset classes after two consecutive quarters of sluggish volume. Management also indicated that it expects robust utilization of the company's options and futures instruments during the 2019 trading year.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  State of Tennessee Treasury Department lessened its stake in shares of Cboe Global Markets Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE) by 23.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 110,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,675 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department’s holdings in Cboe Global Markets were worth $12,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Northrim BanCorp Inc(NRIM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Northrim BanCorp (NRIM)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Capitol Federal Financial (NASDAQ: CFFN) and Northrim BanCorp (NASDAQ:NRIM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Kearny Financial (NASDAQ: KRNY) and Northrim BanCorp (NASDAQ:NRIM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Northrim BanCorp (NRIM)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Northrim BanCorp Inc (NASDAQ:NRIM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high and low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $40.05 and last traded at $39.85, with a volume of 561 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.00.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Northrim BanCorp (NASDAQ: NRIM) and Hometrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Gladstone Commercial Corporation(GOOD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Goodomy (GOOD) is a PoW/PoS token that uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm. Its launch date was June 21st, 2017. Goodomy’s total supply is 888,000,000 tokens and its circulating supply is 620,508,777 tokens. Goodomy’s official Twitter account is @GoodKarmaCoin and its Facebook page is accessible here. Goodomy’s official website is goodomy.com.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Goodomy (GOOD) is a PoW/PoS token that uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm. Its genesis date was June 21st, 2017. Goodomy’s total supply is 888,000,000 tokens and its circulating supply is 620,508,777 tokens. Goodomy’s official Twitter account is @GoodKarmaCoin and its Facebook page is accessible here. Goodomy’s official website is goodomy.com.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Gladstone Commercial Co. (NASDAQ:GOOD) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q3 2018 earnings estimates for shares of Gladstone Commercial in a report released on Thursday, August 9th. Wedbush analyst H. Coffey now forecasts that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $0.39 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.40. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Gladstone Commercial’s Q1 2020 earnings at $0.38 EPS and Q2 2020 earnings at $0.38 EPS.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Good Energy Group (LON:GOOD) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported GBX 10.80 ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, Bloomberg Earnings reports. Good Energy Group had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 7.08%.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Goodomy (CURRENCY:GOOD) traded 7.9% lower against the dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 15:00 PM ET on September 25th. Goodomy has a total market cap of $909,583.00 and $32.00 worth of Goodomy was traded on exchanges in the last day. One Goodomy token can now be purchased for $0.0015 or 0.00000023 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges. Over the last seven days, Goodomy has traded down 2.7% against the dollar.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Home Federal Bancorp Inc.(HOME)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jordan Wathen]

  Shares of At Home Group Inc (NYSE:HOME) are plunging, down by nearly 12% as of 3:20 p.m. EDT Wednesday as investors try to handicap the winners and losers in a developing U.S.-China trade war.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  At Home Group (NYSE:HOME) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.32-0.33 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.28. The company issued revenue guidance of $284-287 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $283.98 million.At Home Group also updated its FY19 guidance to $1.25-1.30 EPS.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ValuEngine downgraded shares of At Home Group (NYSE:HOME) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

  Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of At Home Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of At Home Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Co started coverage on shares of At Home Group in a research report on Monday, April 23rd. They set an outperform rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of At Home Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an overweight rating and set a $42.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of At Home Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. At Home Group currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $41.11.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: American International Group Inc.(AIG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 2nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, September 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%.

• [By ]

  Insurance company American International Group Inc. (AIG) stock fell 5.3% as harsh winter weather weighed on profits. But the company's long-term care exposure is relatively minimal.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on American International Group (AIG)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Suntrust Banks Inc. boosted its position in shares of American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the period. Suntrust Banks Inc.’s holdings in American International Group were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in American International Group (NYSE:AIG) by 8.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,147 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American International Group were worth $3,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Shore Bancshares Inc(SHBI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Shore Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SHBI) by 134.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 157,489 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,289 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Shore Bancshares were worth $2,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Press coverage about Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) has been trending somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment. Accern identifies negative and positive news 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 positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Shore Bancshares earned a coverage optimism score of 0.15 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news headlines about the bank an impact score of 46.3784121307224 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Media coverage about Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) has trended somewhat positive on Sunday, Accern reports. The research firm rates the sentiment of news coverage by analyzing more than 20 million news and blog 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. Shore Bancshares earned a media sentiment score of 0.09 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media headlines about the bank an impact score of 47.376414932679 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near term.

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Watch For 2019: Barclays PLC(BCS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Barclays (BCS)

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

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Some of this sentiment has been fueled by optimism that UK investment bank Barclays Plc. (NYSE: BCS) is looking to open a cryptocurrency trading desk in the months ahead.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Earnest Partners LLC decreased its stake in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 25.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,521 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Barclays were worth $195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Investors are becoming increasingly bullish about BTC, as financial institutions like Barclays Plc. (NYSE: BCS) become more interested in entering the cryptocurrency market.

Group 1 Automotive (GPI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.03, Bloomberg Earnings reports. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Group 1 Automotive had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 2.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.11 EPS.

GPI stock opened at $61.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.80. Group 1 Automotive has a twelve month low of $48.69 and a twelve month high of $81.16.

Get Group 1 Automotive alerts:

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ClariVest Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 95,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,055,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Equity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Equity Partners LLC now owns 64,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares in the last quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Group 1 Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $605,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 58,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 8,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Group 1 Automotive by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 8,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. 99.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GPI. Zacks Investment Research raised Group 1 Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 13th. TheStreet raised Group 1 Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 31st. ValuEngine raised Group 1 Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Group 1 Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.80.

Group 1 Automotive declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: “Group 1 Automotive (GPI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results” was first posted by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are reading this piece on another domain, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of U.S. and international trademark & copyright law. The original version of this piece can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4127058/group-1-automotive-gpi-announces-quarterly-earnings-results.html.

Group 1 Automotive Company Profile

Group 1 Automotive, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the automotive retail industry. It sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts; arranges vehicle financing; sells service and insurance contracts; and provides automotive maintenance and repair services. The company has operations primarily in the metropolitan areas of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas in the United States; 28 towns in the United Kingdom; and in the metropolitan markets of Sao Paulo, Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Featured Article: How to invest in blue-chip stocks

Harley-Davidson Closes Out Another Disastrous Year

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) posted one of its worst quarterly earnings reports in recent history. While the fourth quarter is typically the bike maker's slowest, not even during the depths of the recession a decade ago did Harley sell so few motorcycles in the U.S.

To make it worse, international sales fell, too, throwing a big wrench into the company's plan to grow foreign sales to half of its total volume. The result was a big miss on earnings, as adjusted profits came in at just $0.17 per share versus analyst expectations of $0.28. What's more, Harley says 2019 isn't shaping up to be too good, either.

Is the sun setting on HOG? Image source: Getty Images.

A broad-based decline

Although the bike maker's stock rallied over the month of January, rising 8% on hopes of a sales turnaround, there never was any reason for the optimism.

Sales were tumbling by double-digit rates for three of the last four quarters, and there was every indication it could get even worse. It's only because international sales rose incrementally for the year that the overall performance wasn't worse. But the U.S. market remains a big problem, and Harley hasn't indicated that it knows what to do to reverse it.

The big reveal this month was the LiveWire electric motorcycle, which CEO Matt Levatich says is Harley's "halo product." He says it is accomplishing its primary purpose of bringing attention to Harley-Davidson and its portfolio of future electric two-wheelers, though driving sales would arguably have been a better marker. But a bike that offers lower performance at twice the price of the competition ensures few LiveWires, if any, will move off dealer lots when they arrive in August.

Shipments on hold

Harley's gas-powered motorcycles aren't selling, either. U.S. sales fell 10.1% for the quarter to just 20,849 bikes, worse than the 21,246 bikes sold in the fourth quarter of 2010, and a bigger decline than in the industry as a whole, which was off 8.7%. International sales also declined on continued weakness in Asia.

Data source: Harley-Davidson SEC filings. 

Although Harley has been managing the cadence of shipments to dealers throughout the year, the fourth quarter was so bad that it ended up shipping fewer motorcycles than it intended to keep a lid on dealer inventory. Where it had expected shipments to fall 2% to 4% for the year from last year's already depressed level, they actually were off almost 8% because the company had to hold off sending them to foreign dealers, too. The first quarter of 2019 is going to be bad as well.

Harley offered a range for shipment estimates for the period that was wide enough to ride a fleet of motorcycles through. It said first-quarter shipments could be down anywhere from 7% to as much as 19% from last year. The primary reason for the wide range is not shipping any Street motorcycles due to a recall of almost 44,000 Street bikes manufactured between May 2015 and December 2018. The recall was caused by faulty brakes. Another recall earlier in the quarter for some of its touring and Softail bikes because of bad clutches affected another 238,000 bikes worldwide.

Cutting back to the bone

Harley also took on additional restructuring in the quarter because the situation is going south so quickly. It has consolidated its two final assembly plants, moving operations from its Kansas City, Missouri, factory to the one in York, Pennsylvania, while also closing a wheel manufacturing plant in Australia.

Although many news media reports said tariffs eliminated all of Harley's GAAP earnings, restructuring costs and the recalls were larger items. Tariff costs rose $13.4 million in the quarter, but the restructuring swiped $19.4 million, the Street recall cost $20 million, and the clutch recall took $35 million. 

Worse, Harley doesn't have the parts to fix the Street bikes, so shipments will be delayed for months. It expects sales to be down by 2,500 in the first quarter just because of those motorcycles.

The key investment takeaway

This was really a terrible quarter for Harley-Davidson, even without the tariffs and recalls, which only made it worse. The coming year isn't looking any better, and whatever hope it has for electric motorcycle sales is years down the road. The motorcycle market will bottom out eventually, but how far Harley skids in the meantime will determine the severity of the road rash it inflicts on investors.

Goldman Sachs Group Analysts Give JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) a $130.00 Price Target

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has been given a $130.00 price target by equities researchers at Goldman Sachs Group in a report released on Friday. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.55% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 17th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $127.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 14th. UBS Group upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $110.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 16th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $123.49.

Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. alerts:

Shares of NYSE JPM opened at $106.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $387.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.17. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 52-week low of $94.96 and a 52-week high of $119.33.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.20 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 22.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 9.17 EPS for the current year.

In other news, CEO Gordon Smith sold 30,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.01, for a total transaction of $3,502,957.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 136,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 28,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,231,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,656,000. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 434,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,995,000 after acquiring an additional 21,730 shares during the period. Finally, Lau Associates LLC increased its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lau Associates LLC now owns 17,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 5,158 shares during the period. 70.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking, Corporate & Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, and Asset & Wealth Management. The Consumer & Community Banking segment offers deposit and investment products and services to consumers; lending, deposit, and cash management and payment solutions to small businesses; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, payment processing services, auto loans and leases.

Further Reading: How Do You Calculate Return on Investment (ROI)?