Altimmune Reports Positive NasoVax Data And Is Looking For Partners

Altimmune (ALT) recently announced additional positive data from their NasoVAX Phase II extension study that claimed that 100% of the reported subjects remained seroprotected over a year after vaccination. In addition, their seroconversion rate was unaffected beyond one year after vaccination. The new data came from subjects that were administered the highest NasoVAX dose. Out of fifteen subjects, eight returned to the study with an average of 13.5 months after vaccination. These subjects exhibited an impressive median hemagglutination inhibition "HAI" titer in excess of 3x higher than conventional seroprotective levels. What is more, they continued to present impressive mucosal antibody and T-cell measurements of immunoprotection revealed in earlier studies. The company believes that "NasoVAX is well positioned to compete with other influenza vaccines currently under development."

Company Overview

Altimmune is an immunotherapeutic biotech company employing two innovative therapeutic delivery platforms, RespirVec and Densigen. Altimmune has the capacity to design and cultivate products projected to target a broad range of disease indications comprising of acute respiratory infections, chronic viral infections, and cancer. In the end, Altimmune plans to generate products that have distinctive benefits over contemporary products.

Pipeline

NasoVAX is the flagship of the company's pipeline and the flagbearer of the RespirVec platform. NasoVAX is an intranasally administered influenza vaccine that contains an adenovector to enhance the influenza antigen inside a cell, as a result, boosting the systemic and rapid immune response matched against the current influenza vaccines.

HepTcell is an immunotherapy product candidate being developed for patients who are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus "HBV". HepTcell's aim is to offer a "functional cure" for HPV, which would require eradication of hepatitis B surface antigen "HBsAg" in a patient's blood.

SparVax-L is being developed as a two-dose anthrax vaccine that is being supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Although this anthrax candidate doesn't get the publicity as NasoShield, it is still in the clinic and has the potential for government contracts if approved.

Furthermore, the company has been developing a different Anthrax vaccine named NasoShield, intended to be a first-in-class product that can deliver rapid and stable protection after only one intranasal administration.

The company's pre-clinical program, Oncosyn, is an immunotherapeutic product candidate that is being designed to be used in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors for superior antitumor properties. This is the company's latest addition to the pipeline and first attempt to enter the oncology arena.

Figure 1: Altimmune Pipeline (Source ALT)

Altimmune's latest addition is ALT-702, a TLR7/8 agonist conjugate adjuvant that the company expects to safely produce or increase immune responses in an assortment of therapeutic settings. Adjuvants can be a useful tool to have for a company looking to modulate the immune system. Having ALT-702 allows the company to have multiple options in formulating a vaccine without needing to license another company's adjuvant.

Why Is This New Data Important?

The recent data is a noteworthy update for investors due to NasoVAX continuing to display superb results in clinical trials. Out of all of Altimmune's potential product candidates, I that believe that NasoVAX has the greatest potential to make it through the regulatory process and disrupt the flu vaccine market. In my previous Altimmune articles, I have stressed the importance of NasoVAX to remain unblemished through all clinical trials in order to find a seat at the table of elite flu vaccines. Historically, this is not an easy goal to accomplish for most therapeutics. In fact, it is common for therapeutics to demonstrate amazing results in their pre-clinical development and initial clinical trials; but they often lose that perfection as they progress through the regulatory process and are tested in larger trials. NasoVAX has yet to display any disintegration in their clinical trial numbers and this latest data is another tally in the win column.

Looking for a Partner

Another vital piece of information in the press releases was CEO Vipin Garg's declaration that the company intends to find a partner for NasoVAX's development and commercialization. This news should be welcomed by investors because of the potential for compensation, as well as the benefits of being partnered with an experienced commercial-staged company.

The next concern is the details of the potential partnership and how the market will react to the news. I will find the greatest value in who the partner is over any other detail. The flu vaccine market is dominated by a small group of juggernaut big pharmaceutical companies, which include Sanofi (SNY), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and CSL. Any mention of these companies being a potential partner would be a monumental catalyst for the stock. Having a big pharma would validate the legitimacy of Altimmune and NasoVAX, which bolster investor sentiment as long as NasoVAX progress through regulatory actions with a name brand company holding its hand. On the other hand, if the partner is not a highly recognized vaccine company, we can expect a weaker response from the market and the need for finer details.

Other major details to be analyzed would be the payment size and structure. Altimmune can benefit from a substantial upfront payment, as well as milestone payments to reinforce the bank account. Another detail to look for would be if the partnership is just a U.S. partnership or a possible global partnership. The flu is a global public health concern and is continually mutating as it spreads from one population to the next; so, I wouldn't be surprised if NasoVAX's partnership is for global rights. Not only would this entail a larger payment/s but could also require the partner to pay for the regulatory process in other regulatory jurisdictions.

How is NasoVAX Doing It?

NasoVAX is an intranasally administered rAd influenza vaccine that generates the expression of the influenza antigen in the body. This goal of this action is to stimulate a comprehensive and prompt immune response compared to traditional influenza vaccines.

Source

This combination of serum antibody, mucosal antibody, and T-cell responses improves the body's capability to thwart infection and advocates that NasoVAX could have a superior impact on flu symptoms and purging of the flu virus than currently approved influenza vaccines.

This recent data was acquired from subjects that returned for analysis exhibited adequate seroprotective levels for at least 13 months. It is not typical for an influenza vaccine to have durable responses over one year and advocates that immune response prompted by NasoVAX could be defensive beyond the present influenza vaccines.

However, this latest data is confirming NasoVAX is still demonstrating similar measurements from previous readouts. I have inserted company graphs that display these previous data points in comparison with Fluzone.

Figure 2: Antibodies Measured Over Time (Source ALT)

Looking at figure 2, we can see that NasoVAX (Dark Blue Line) outperforms Fluzone (Green Line) in terms of the number of antibodies beyond 91 days. This is important due to the flu season lasting over 5 months.

Figure 3: T-Cell Response (Source ALT)

Figure 3, shows how the higher dose NasoVAX stimulates a stronger T-Cell response compared to Fluzone by day 8. According to Altimmune, having a robust T-Cell response helps defend against genetic drift and shift that can occur in the influenza virus.

Figure 4: Seroprotection Rates (Source ALT)

Figure 4, shows how the NasoVAX outperforms Fluzone in seroprotection rates, which indicates a NasoVAX vaccinated subject's antibody response is greater than a Fluzone vaccinated subject's antibody response.

NasoVAX outperforms Fluzone in all these measurements, which points toward an improved influenza vaccine. As long as NasoVAX continues to outperform Fluzone through the regulatory process, investors should expect NasoVAX to accrue a market interest as a potential flu vaccine disruptor.

Changing Focus?

The new pipeline candidate Oncosyn and proposed acquisitions appear to be moving away from vaccines and more towards other therapeutics. Remember, Garg stated in the recent press release,

"We are currently engaged in a rigorous acquisition review process focused on novel immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer, including immunostimulants and oncolytic viruses, and innovative product candidates for liver diseases. The proceeds from our recent successful financing efforts have put us in a strong position to execute our acquisition plans."

Moving away from the prophylactic infectious disease vaccines does trigger some red flags for me. The company has been progressing their flu and anthrax vaccines through the regulatory processes…now the company wants to add oncology and hepatology to the mix?

I agree that immunoncology and NASH are hot topics in the biotech arena. But, why should a small-cap biotech decide to start down a road that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to get those products to the market? Although I do like to see the R&D department working at full-bore; I also like to see at least one product candidate cross the FDA finish line before the company starts dividing its attention to other Performing some pre-clinical work is acceptable but I always become apprehensive when a company decides roll-out a whole new arm of the pipeline before fully establishing their flagship products. The amount of time and expenses that will be needed to initiate clinical trials could be used to fund operations.

What would I like to see? I would like to see the company nail down a source of revenue and work with the platforms they have. In my first Altimmune article, I had a section that outlined my wish list for Altimmune's expanded use of the RespirVec platform.

"I do see ALT to be a long-term hold if management is able to close some deals and collaborations. I am very intrigued to see what other vaccines can be generated with the RespirVec platform. Studies have shown that other diseases can be vaccinated with a rAd nasal vaccine. Some of these include:

Tetanus Ebola Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Botulism HIV Malaria

I still believe the company should push forward with RespirVec and possible address these notorious illnesses listed above. Alternatively, the company could find other infectious viruses to address such as hand, foot, and mouth disease, or rotavirus; both of which carry a high degree of morbidity and mortality to young children worldwide.

If the company can prove that NasoVAX works and that the same platform technology works with other vaccines…don't you expect big pharma to start finding ways to collaborate/partner with Altimmune?

My general view of this is…prove to me that you can get your flagship product to the market before trying to tackle what other multi-billion companies are attempting to accomplish.

Financials

The company has been focusing a lot of its efforts on securing funding to feed the expanding pipeline and have enough ammo to complete its expected pipeline acquisitions.

Back On March 8th, the company revealed they had roughly $34.4M in cash, cash equivalents at the end of 2018. With the recent offering pulling in $12.7M, the company has a significant amount of cash, which Garg intends to utilize some of these funds to acquire new product candidates. This is where my concern about expanding the pipeline comes into play. How much is the company going to be allocated to acquiring candidates? How much is going to be used in the direction of current pipeline candidates? What are the operating expenses going to be after these acquisitions?

Without these details, it is hard to estimate where the company will be at the end of 2019. That hefty bank account could be cut down in a short period of time with a few purchases and an increased cash burn rate to progress the new pipeline.

What is Next?

The company has announced it will be releasing its Q4/2018 earnings report and hosting a conference call on April 2nd. Not only will investors get see the better-quality financial details of the company, but I also expect analysts to inquire about the proposed NasoVAX partnership and the expected acquisitions.

Another event to note is the upcoming International Liver Congress on April 12, where the company will present HepTcell Phase I clinical trial data. Hopefully, this presentation will contain updated data for HepTcell that should provide a clearer picture of HepTcell's efficacy. Previously, the company had trouble comprehending the data due to the results of the treated subjects were not prominently different than placebo controls. This required the company to evaluate the two-dose levels of HepTcell and need for the TLR-9 agonist adjuvant. Both of these doses displayed tolerability and was able to hit the primary endpoint of safety. In addition, Altimmune announced elevated baseline-adjusted immune response levels and responder rate in the two adjuvanted HepTcell dose groups in comparison to the placebo group.

Altimmune believes that the analysis of the data delivered enough evidence to move HepTcell into Phase II trials. Perhaps this upcoming presentation will provide investors with more encouraging data and we can see a resurgence in the share price due to Altimmune potentially having a functional cure for HBV.

Conclusion

NasoVAX continues to impress and the company is now looking for potential partners to get it through the rest of the FDA process and onto the market. If Garg can secure a brand name partner for NasoVAX, the company would be granted instant credibility and would be a transformative development for NasoVAX as it moves forward with proper support. In addition, investors should expect a metamorphic change in the stock as the biotech sector begins to discover ALT as a legitimate stock to invest in. At the moment, ALT's market cap is around $20M which I believe is drastically undervalued considering the company has roughly $47M in funds. In addition, the company's current cash per share is about 3.5, which we can expect Garg to deploy in order to acquire new pipeline candidates.

This is where Garg can make or break 2019…if Garg can secure a strong U.S or global partner for NasoVAX with a beneficial payment structure, we could see the company's current cash position sustain the company long enough to get NasoVAX through the regulatory process and to launch. This would provide the company with a sustained source of revenue and hopefully prevent heavy shareholder dilution in the coming years. On the other hand, Garg could start writing checks and acquiring pipeline candidates before having a NasoVAX partner deal signed. I would find this extremely disappointing because this would mean NasoVAX would most likely have to wait for a partnership deal to move forward into Phase III, or Altimmune would have to fully-fund the Phase III. If the company does have to move into phase III without a development partner, we can expect another offering at some point in the future. Of course, other possible scenarios can transpire but the two above are more definitive and should create some volatility in the stock.

Personally, I have gained some confidence in Garg and hope to see if he can get the NasoVAX partnership finalized before they begin Phase III and before the bank account requires another offering. If Garg can secure a brand name partner before the end of Q2, I will look to add to my evolving position. However, if Garg fails to secure a partner in that time, I will refrain from adding until there is a clear strategy for NasoVAX and the cash runway can be estimated with detailed information.

2019 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for my ALT investment as the company's lead product moves closer to FDA approval, yet, the company is starting looking to take their pipeline in another direction. I believe Altimmune already has an impressive pipeline that needs to be pushed to the limit before looking elsewhere. Unless the company has identified some great opportunities, I would rather see the current pipeline products have the support needed to get to the finishing line before the company takes a gamble unproven products or platforms. Despite the potential for a promising NasoVAX partnership, I have to be critical of Garg's choices for acquisitions and weigh my options. I invested in ALT because of NasoVAX and their current pipeline...if Garg decides to turn Altimmune into a money pit "cancer vaccine" company, I will liquidate my position upon the news release.

Disclosure: I am/we are long ALT. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Editor's Note: This article covers one or more microcap stocks. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

Cramer Remix: The biggest mistake investors can make with taxes

CNBC's Jim Cramer knows that he constantly repeats the same old investing rules, but it's because rules mean discipline, and discipline always trumps conviction.

"One thing I've learned in my investing career: no matter how much you might believe in something, you violate the rules of the road at your own peril," the "Mad Money" host said.

Investing rules aren't easy to spot. They're not like the laws of physics, which can be deduced by observing the way the world works. The market is a beast of its own, and rules come from experience.

Cramer's nearly 40 years in the business have taught him some important lessons, lessons that he's made into rules for all the homegamers interested in buying stocks.

One of his most important rules? Don't avoid the tax man.

"Look, no one has ever liked paying taxes," Cramer acknowledged. "But, like death, taxes are inevitable and unavoidable."

So many investors are loath to pay taxes on their winnings, but Cramer has seen some market players incur serious losses by waiting too long to write a check to Uncle Sam.

The fact is, some gains are unsustainable and should be booked quickly, no matter the cost, Cramer said. Taking some profits won't set you back dramatically; it'll keep your portfolio safe.

Buying strategy Ralph Orlowski | Bloomberg | Getty Images Statues of a bull and a bear outside the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

At the end of the day, Cramer knows investors are only human.

That's why the "Mad Money" host has come up with a set of investing rules to help guide them through the emotion and the fallibility that can come with being involved in stocks.

Another one of Cramer's most important rules has to do with buying stocks.

"This is a real important one: never buy a stock all at once," Cramer said. "I can't stress it enough: do not, under any circumstances, buy all at once."

Plenty of Wall Street brokers and advisors prefer not to deal with partial orders or buying a stock gradually over time. They like to go in big and make a statement with their purchases.

"From where I stand, that's all wrong — 100 percent wrong," the "Mad Money" host said. "What I want you to do is stage your buys. Stage your sells. The term we use on Wall Street is 'Work your orders.' Try to get the best price over time, and not necessarily in one day. Maybe multiple days."

Navigating panic Getty Images A trader reacts to the Flash Crash on May 6, 2010.

In many ways, individual investors are often their own worst enemies, as Cramer has learned over the years.

"If you want to invest wisely, you constantly need to be fighting off your own worst impulses," he said. "We're not robots, we have emotions, and those emotions can really throw you off your game."

That's why Cramer is always drilling down on another cardinal rule: "Nobody ever made a dime panicking."

Yet no matter how much he repeats it, Cramer constantly sees sellers come out of the woodwork anytime an individual stock or the overall market takes a hit.

Now, if you were an ancient hunter-gatherer and came across a grizzly bear, the instinct to panic and flee would come in handy, the "Mad Money" host said.

"But it's not a useful emotion when it comes to analyzing the stock market, where you're running away when maybe you should be running toward" stocks, he said.

Less is more? ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images

Every morning at his old hedge fund, Cramer would spend a few hours going over the mistakes he made the day before.

"I would analyze every losing trade — you don't need to analyze the winners, they take care of themselves — [and] I'd try to figure out how I could've made more money or, much more importantly, lost less money," the "Mad Money" host said.

After a few years of this routine, something finally dawned on him.

"I realized that good performance could be linked directly to having fewer positions," Cramer said. "When we owned fewer stocks, we tended to make more money."

Ever since, Cramer hasn't bought a stock without taking a different one off the table. But not owning too many stocks comes with a price, too.

The value of homework Getty Images

If you want to be serious about investing, you have to be rigorous. And nothing says rigorous like doing your homework, Cramer said.

The problem is that so many investors act like Cramer's kids when it comes to the homework: they hate it, feel like it's punishment and don't understand why it's useful.

In Cramer's world, that's wrong. To him, discovering everything there is to know about a company is the definition of responsible investing.

"Before you buy a stock, you should listen to the conference calls," he said. "That's the minimum. You can go to the company's website. You can read the research. Read some news stories. Google the darned thing. Everything's available on the web. Everything. You have so much more available now, so much more knowledge, that there really is no excuse."

Doing the homework helps investors stay diversified, another one of Cramer's most significant lessons. Sector risk — or the tendency for stocks in the same sector to trade together — can hit at extreme moments and destroy entire portfolios if investors don't know what they own.

"Whether you're an amateur or a professional, you always need to do your homework and keep your portfolio diversified," Cramer said. "It may not be exciting, it may not be sexy, but this is the kind of routine maintenance stuff that protects you from monster losses down the line."

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

Aon PLC (AON) Shares Bought by Polar Capital LLP

Polar Capital LLP lifted its position in Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 369,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Polar Capital LLP’s holdings in AON were worth $53,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Berman Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC purchased a new position in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AON by 65.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 86.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get AON alerts:

In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 1,250 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $214,575.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,188 shares in the company, valued at $890,572.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter M. Lieb sold 15,068 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.77, for a total value of $2,603,298.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 17,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,107,268.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,470 shares of company stock worth $13,468,000 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

NYSE:AON opened at $167.30 on Wednesday. Aon PLC has a 52 week low of $134.82 and a 52 week high of $173.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.03. AON had a return on equity of 43.49% and a net margin of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Aon PLC will post 9.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 1st were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 31st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.61%.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AON shares. Wells Fargo & Co lifted their price objective on AON from $165.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AON from $152.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded AON from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 13th. ValuEngine downgraded AON from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 26th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded AON from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.10.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “Aon PLC (AON) Shares Bought by Polar Capital LLP” was reported by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this piece on another domain, it was copied illegally and republished in violation of United States & international copyright & trademark law. The correct version of this piece can be accessed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4218889/aon-plc-aon-shares-bought-by-polar-capital-llp.html.

AON Profile

Aon plc provides risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resource consulting and outsourcing services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Risk Solutions and HR Solutions. The Risk Solutions segment offers retail brokerage services, including affinity products, managing general underwriting, placement, captive management services, and data and analytics; risk management solutions for property liability, general liability, professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, transaction liability, cyber liability, workers' compensation, and various healthcare products; and health and benefits consulting services comprising structuring, funding, and administering employee benefit programs.

See Also: Analyst Ratings Trading

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

British pound surges the most in nearly two years

Sterling rose on Wednesday after U.K. lawmakers rejected leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement.

The pound was up 2 percent against the dollar at $1.3339 as investors become more optimistic that a hard Brexit would be ruled out. That's the biggest move since April 2017.

"Our base view — and the currency is telling you this — is we will get some form of resolution," said KKR's global head of macro and asset allocation Henry McVey on CNBC's Closing Bell. "Clearly, there's been slowing related to Brexit. The way we're approaching it is this is going to be a slow-growing economy [with] low inflation."

The rejection of a no-deal Brexit, passed with 312 votes to 278, set up another vote Thursday on whether its official departure date should be extended. The result was widely expected as most members of Parliament want to avoid the economic uncertainty and trade disruptions that it could cause.

"Parliament has made it clear that unless there is a deal, they are not ready to leave the EU. Sterling traders are in love with this concept and this pushed the price of Sterling higher against the dollar," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets UK, said in a note.

Sterling extended its rally this year, posting its biggest gain since April 18, 2017 when the sterling gained 2.19 percent against the dollar.

Infamously known as a "cliff-edge" Brexit, a no-deal exit would mean the U.K. abruptly ceases to be a member of the EU overnight on March 29. It would mean there would be no 21-month transition period in place to gently prepare for life outside the bloc it has belonged to for 46 years. It would also have to rely on WTO trading rules.

The vote was seen as part of some concessions given to Parliament by Prime Minister Theresa May a few weeks ago and was only confirmed Tuesday when MPs resoundingly rejected her Brexit withdrawal agreement for a second time.

MPs will now vote again Thursday evening on whether to seek an extension to Article 50 (which oversees the departure process) thus extending the departure date beyond March 29. The EU would have to agree to this and the U.K. would have to give a good reason for requesting the delay.

— With reporting from CNBC's Holly Ellyatt and Fred Imbert

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:PHM,GLBS,EURN,

November 15, 2017: Here are four stocks trading with heavy volume among 179 equities making new 52-week lows in Wednesday’s session. On the NYSE decliners led advancers by about 3 to 2 and on the Nasdaq, decliners led advancers by roughly the same ratio.

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP) dropped more than 17% again Wednesday to post a new 52-week low of $1.68 after closing at $2.03 on Tuesday. The 52-week high is $7.15. Volume was around 23 million, nearly four times the daily average of around 6 million. The company had no specific news.

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) dropped about 3.4% Wednesday to post a new 52-week low of $4.00 after closing at $4.14 on Tuesday. The 52-week high is $11.39. Volume was reached nearly 18 million, about 15% above the daily average of around 16 million. The company had no specific news.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) dropped about 2.5% Wednesday to post a new 52-week low of $17.00 after closing at $17.43 on Tuesday. The 52-week high is $23.01. Volume was around 14 million, about 40% above the daily average of about 10 million. The company’s Canadian subsidiary has filed a petition with the federal energy regulator asking for a process to resolve potential disagreements with local and tribal governments over the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: PulteGroup, Inc.(PHM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Higher rates can hurt stocks of companies like homebuilders, which rely on affordable mortgage rates for their customers. "Nobody trusts the homebuilders past the day they report because the litany is always: 'This is the last good quarter when it comes to Lennar (LEN) , Toll Brothers (TOL) , D.R. Horton (DHI) , Taylor Morrison (TMHC) and PulteGroup (PHM) .'"

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  To say that PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) did well this past quarter seems like a bit of an understatement. The company blew past Wall Street expectations with earnings per share of $0.59, compared to consensus estimates of $0.44. On top of the impressive gains in revenue and net income, the company's operating results and sales data suggest that there is still more room for Pulte to grow from here despite rising interest rates.

• [By Max Byerly]

  PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) was downgraded by ValuEngine from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

• [By JJ Kinahan]

  Next week is big for housing numbers. March existing home sales figures are scheduled for  Monday and new home sales for March along with the February S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index on Tuesday. As for homebuilders, Pulte Group, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) is scheduled to report  Q1 results Tuesday, and D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE: DHI) is scheduled to report fiscal Q2 numbers on Thursday. The industry already has seen strong Q1 results from Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN), and housing starts and building permits in March rose more than expected. These results, as well as those and the economic data from next week could provide clues for the industry going forward. After NVR, Inc. (NYSE: NVR) reports results this morning, Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH) releases its Q1 results April 25. We’ll have to wait until next month for some of the other homebuilders, as well as from home improvement companies Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) and Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE: LOW), before we get a more complete snapshot of the housing market.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 18.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,041,292 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,618 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $29,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Rich Smith]

  No fewer than eight separate analysts raised their price targets on shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) today, and two of them upgraded the stock, according to StreetInsider.com (subscription required). What's got Wall Street so excited about Pulte this morning? Let's find out.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Globus Maritime Limited(GLBS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Media coverage about Globus Maritime (NASDAQ:GLBS) has trended somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment reports. The research group identifies positive and negative press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Globus Maritime earned a news impact score of 0.09 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news articles about the shipping company an impact score of 45.6853785900783 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next few days.

• [By Money Morning Staff Reports]

  After looking at last week's top performing penny stocks, we'll show you a penny stock that's on the verge of crushing Cherokee's returns…

  Penny Stock Current Share Price Last Week's Gain Cherokee Inc. (Nasdaq: CHKE) $0.82 91.11 % Checkpoint Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CKPT) $3.54 51.62% TMRS Holding Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: TMSR) $4.43 50.00% EKSO Bionics Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: EKSO) $2.58 46.93% Jones Energy Inc. (NYSE: JONE) $0.47 46.76% TransAtlantic Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: TAT) $1.39 44.29% Inseego Corp. (Nasdaq: INSG) $2.70 42.27% Globus Maritime Ltd. (Nasdaq: GLBS) $0.44 37.85% iFresh Inc. (Nasdaq: IFMK) $2.81 33.64% Technical Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: TCCO) $4.88 29.87%

  While all of last week's 10 top penny stocks generated great returns, it's unlikely that they will be able to deliver these kinds of profits again anytime soon.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Euronav NV(EURN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ: SHIP) and Euronav (NYSE:EURN) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Euronav (NYSE:EURN) and TOP SHIPS (NASDAQ:TOPS) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

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

Hot Cheap Stocks To Watch Right Now

tags:EMR,XPO,IBM,RCII, Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes was once lauded as the youngest self-made female billionaire. But her net worth was revised down to nothing after a journalist started digging into the technology behind her blood testing startup.

In a new book out Monday, that journalist -- Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Carreyrou -- sheds light on what went on behind the scenes of the disgraced company.

The book, "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup," focuses on understanding the culture at Theranos and the tyrannic leadership that steered the startup to its one-time valuation of $9 billion.

Theranos aimed to create cheaper, more efficient alternatives to traditional blood tests using its proprietary technology. But after Carreyrou, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, called into question its technology and testing methods in 2015, the company voided two years of blood tests. In May 2018, the SEC charged Theranos with "massive fraud" involving more than $700 million.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Emerson Electric Company(EMR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 574,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,640 shares during the period. Emerson Electric makes up about 0.8% of D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $39,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,534 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $5,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• [By Lee Samaha]

  In PMT, Honeywell's process-solutions rival Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) continues to report strong results. But whereas Emerson's CEO David Farr is expecting to benefit from relatively stronger LNG (liquefied natural gas) spending in the current cycle, Honeywell's LNG revenue accounts for just 5% of its PMT sales, and it's more heavily exposed to petrochemical and refining spending.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Express-1 Expedited Solutions Inc.(XPO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Highland Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,249 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 27,400 shares during the period. XPO Logistics makes up about 1.2% of Highland Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Highland Capital Management LP’s holdings in XPO Logistics were worth $22,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO) by 72.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 65,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,426 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned approximately 0.05% of XPO Logistics worth $6,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  GATX (NYSE: XPO) and XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  At one level, there's nothing simpler than the business XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO) is engaged in: just get things from one place to another as quickly and efficiently as possible. Yet there's a huge amount of competition in the logistics industry, and XPO has had to stay on its toes in order to find ways to remain among the biggest players in the space while continuing to challenge its larger rivals.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Watch Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  In Pirates of Silicon Valley, an old made-for-TV movie about the PC industry's early days, the Bill Gates character quips (in reference to IBM's (IBM) willingness to let Microsoft (MSFT)  supply the OS for its PCs) that success is a menace, since it fools smart people into thinking that they can't lose. Bezos's remarks, as well as those made at times by other Amazon execs, suggest Amazon puts a lot of effort into making sure the company doesn't lose its edge on account of its success.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Big Blue, as IBM (NYSE:IBM) is best known, is certainly not a stock in Wall Street's good graces at the moment. Even buy-and-hold specialist Warren Buffett caved in and sold his entire stake in the tech giant during the first quarter after IBM struggled to turn its business around. 

• [By Timothy Green]

  One of the cornerstones of International Business Machines' (NYSE:IBM) ongoing transformation is cognitive computing, which encompasses artificial intelligence and other related technologies. IBM is a business that serves other businesses, and its approach to AI stays true to its purpose. IBM Watson, the company's well-known AI system, is being used in industries like healthcare and financial services to augment the skills of professionals in those fields. The long-term potential of the technology is immense.

• [By Chris Neiger]

  Meanwhile, IBM (NYSE:IBM) has been working on transitioning away from its legacy hardware products over the past few years, and it's in the middle of reinventing itself for a tech world that's increasingly focused on services revenue. The company's stock has fallen out of favor for some, but its commitment to its dividend has helped keep it on income investors' radar.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  This is the industrial giant’s 23rd consecutive week as the Dow’s worst performer. The company maintains a big lead over the second worst stock, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), down about 8.1% for the year, and third-worst, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), down about 7%. Only five of the 30 Dow stocks are trading down so far this year.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) by 52.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,200 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp owned about 0.14% of Rent-A-Center worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Rent-A-Center (RCII)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Rent-A-Center (RCII)

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

FireEye News: Why FEYE Stock Is on Fire Today

Some recent FireEye news about an upgrade for the company has FEYE stock heading higher on Monday.

The upgrade to FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE) comes from JPMorgan Chase analyst Sterling Auty. This upgrade has the analyst moving FEYE stock from a “Neutral” rating to a new rating of “Overweight.”

To go along with the upgrade from the JPMorgan Chase analyst is a price target of $20. This represents a roughly 24% premium over FEYE stock’s closing price of $16.10 on Friday. The price target is based on a 4.75 time multiple over FireEye’s revere outlook of $959 million for 2020.

“FireEye has re-established itself as a leading cybersecurity company, but by combining the market leading incident response service with an expanding product portfolio,” Auty said in a research note obtained by TheStreet.com. “We believe the transition is complete and now FEYE is in position to see billings growth in the high single digits and the potential to over deliver and see double digit growth.”

According to Sterling Auty, FireEye has already shown its strong potential to investors with results from its December quarter. This saw the company’s billings for the period increase by 10%. The JPMorgan Chase analyst believes that investors are likely to see more results like this in the future, which is the reason behind the recent upgrade to FEYE stock.

FEYE stock was up 5% as of Monday afternoon.

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

Compare Brokers

Zacks: Brokerages Anticipate WesBanco Inc (WSBC) Will Post Quarterly Sales of $128.15 Million

Analysts expect that WesBanco Inc (NASDAQ:WSBC) will announce sales of $128.15 million for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Four analysts have provided estimates for WesBanco’s earnings. The highest sales estimate is $130.46 million and the lowest is $126.11 million. WesBanco posted sales of $97.27 million in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 31.7%. The business is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, April 16th.

On average, analysts expect that WesBanco will report full year sales of $517.14 million for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $515.29 million to $521.30 million. For the next financial year, analysts anticipate that the firm will post sales of $529.29 million, with estimates ranging from $521.66 million to $539.20 million. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow WesBanco.

Get WesBanco alerts:

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $128.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.42 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 27.77%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WSBC shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Sunday, January 6th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. WesBanco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.67.

NASDAQ WSBC traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $40.43. 66,400 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,696. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. WesBanco has a 1-year low of $34.14 and a 1-year high of $51.12.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.14%.

In other news, Director Denise H. Knouse-Snyder purchased 675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $42.36 per share, for a total transaction of $28,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,720. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.14% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSBC. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 496.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantamental Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc operates as the holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, and mortgage banking and insurance services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services.

Featured Article: What is the Dividend Aristocrat Index?

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on WesBanco (WSBC)

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

Top Value Stocks To Buy For 2019

tags:OIS,GMLP,VGM,

By applying different what-if scenarios to Walt Disney (DIS), I arrived at a conclusion that a fair value would be more likely in the $85 range. This provides almost a 15% downside.

Before we can apply any valuation metrics to Walt Disney, we need three inputs to start with. These are normalized return on equity (RoE), free cash flow (FCF) and long-term revenue growth. As market expectations are usually way too optimistic (see this for example), I place little relevance on them. The same thing can be said about what management is targeting in the long term. This is why I place more weight on how the company has managed to perform in recent years.

In figures 1-3 below, you can see what kind of FCF-to-sales ratio, RoE and revenue growth Walt Disney has achieved in recent years. The FCF-to-sales ratio has been gradually increasing from 10% level to 15% level during the last decade. However, to be on the safe side, I will be using a 12.0% FCF ratio to sales as a normalized one. This translates into roughly normalized FCF per share of $4.17 ($55632.0 million * 12.0% / 1600.0 million). Assessing a sustainable RoE level is a bit more difficult due to the current low interest rate environment. I will be using the 2016 value of $43265.0 million as the base value for equity. This translates into equity per share value of roughly $27.0 ($43265.0 million / 1600.0 million). This means a 15.4% RoE ($4.17 / $27.0). The growth has been surprisingly stable for more than a decade. For the last 10 years, the growth has been in the 5.0% level so in the analysis we will be using an annual growth of 4.0% and 6.0%.

Top Value Stocks To Buy For 2019: Oil States International Inc.(OIS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Shares of Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.38.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Oil States International (NYSE: OIS) and Newpark Resources (NYSE:NR) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and risk.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Oil States International (OIS)

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

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Oil States International (NYSE: OIS) is one of 14 public companies in the “Oil & gas field machinery” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Oil States International to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

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

  Get Oil States International alerts: Oil States Names New Board Chairman To Replace Mark Papa (epmag.com) Oil States chairman Papa resigns, joins Schlumberger’s board (seekingalpha.com) Oil States International chairman resigns, joins Schlumberger's board of directors (finance.yahoo.com) Oil States' Board Names Robert L. Potter as its New Chairman (finance.yahoo.com) Oil States International, Inc. (OIS) Expected to Announce Quarterly Sales of $284.87 Million (americanbankingnews.com)

  Several equities analysts have commented on OIS shares. ValuEngine cut shares of Oil States International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Co cut shares of Oil States International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 30th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Oil States International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 25th. SunTrust Banks set a $32.00 target price on shares of Oil States International and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Oil States International from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.08.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Oil States International (OIS)

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

Top Value Stocks To Buy For 2019: Golar LNG Partners LP(GMLP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Shares of Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) are plunging today, down more than 17% as of 10:45 a.m. EDT, after the company reported lackluster first-quarter results. The company's master limited partnership, Golar LNG Partners (NASDAQ:GMLP), also dropped, falling nearly 10% by midmorning.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) and Golar LNG Partners (NASDAQ:GMLP) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Golar LNG Partners LP (NASDAQ:GMLP) by 126.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 154,800 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,400 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Golar LNG Partners were worth $2,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Shares of oil producers Laredo Petroleum (NYSE:LPI) and SM Energy (NYSE:SM), as well as units of Golar LNG Partners LP (NASDAQ:GMLP), an MLP that owns liquified natural gas carriers and floating storage and regasification units, all declined by double digits by Friday afternoon. Lower oil prices weighed on the first two, while an analyst downgrade was the culprit in the latter.

Top Value Stocks To Buy For 2019: Invesco Trust for Investment Grade Municipals(VGM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Media headlines about Invesco Van Kmpn Trst Fr Invst Grd Mncpl (NYSE:VGM) have been trending somewhat positive recently, Accern reports. The research group scores the sentiment of press coverage by reviewing more than 20 million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Invesco Van Kmpn Trst Fr Invst Grd Mncpl earned a news impact score of 0.19 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave headlines about the investment management company an impact score of 46.4657191418091 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the immediate future.

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:TK,MMSI,HCOM,WEA,SNDE,

The analysis provided in this article has found a substantial upside potential in TransCanada Corp's (NYSE:TRP) shares in the near future. The company's stock can be considered a good opportunity for investors seeking stable dividend income. The growth rate of dividend per share has been increasing for 17 th consecutive quarters. Our DCF analysis shows that the stock is undervalued in the base scenario, which is built on quite an optimistic rate of revenue growth in the forecast period. The aggressive scenario sets an upside opportunity of up to 40% from the current market price of the stock.

We start by analyzing TransCanada Corp' segments and financial results. The increase in revenue is mostly explained by improved market conditions (driven by the OPEC's agreement). You can see that the top line has achieved a level of $2.5B in the last quarter, up 40% year-over-year:

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2019: Teekay Corporation(TK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Shares of Teekay Corporation (NYSE: TK) are down 9.2% as of 11:40 a.m EDT after the maritime oil operations holding company -- parent of Teekay LNG Partners, Teekay Tankers, and Teekay Offshore -- reported a big loss for its fiscal first quarter 2018. At one point today, Teekay stock had fallen as much as 15.7%.

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  Although Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH) and Teekay Corporation (NYSE:TK) are both focused on the shipping industry, they go about it in vastly different ways. Both companies were hit hard by industry downturns, but Textainer started to see a notable improvement in its container business in 2017. Teekay's collection of ship-owning businesses in the energy sector, on the other hand, continued to struggle overall -- but signs seem to point to an upturn this year. Which one is the better buy today?

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Teekay (NYSE: TK) and Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.13 per share on revenue of $120.51 billion. J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is expected to report quarterly loss at $0.2 per share on revenue of $2.63 billion. Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE: DDS) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $2.77 per share on revenue of $1.46 billion. The Children's Place, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.21 per share on revenue of $444.14 million. Manchester United plc (NYSE: MANU) is expected to report quarterly loss at $1.35 per share on revenue of $193.67 million. Teekay Corporation (NYSE: TK) is estimated to report quarterly loss at $0.08 per share on revenue of $296.76 million. KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $306.72 million. Vascular Biogenics Ltd. (NASDAQ: VBLT) is estimated to report a quarterly loss at $0.21 per share. Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (NYSE: TOO) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.04 per share on revenue of $272.04 million. Albireo Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALBO) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.77 per share on revenue of $31.32 million.

   

• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  Crude oil prices continue to remain in focus after Brent crude hit $80.00 per barrel. The benchmark crude touched $80.00, as markets are concerned about the impact renewed Iranian sanctions will have on global supply. French oil giant Total announced Wednesday that it was abandoning a gas project in Iran after failing to obtain a waiver from the Trump administration to do business in Iran. The sanctions are expected to decline global output at a time that OPEC is already working diligently to push oil prices higher by containing excessive global production. Four Stocks to Watch Today: JCP, BABA, F, KR Shares of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) are ticking higher after its earnings report before the bell. Yesterday, retail companies were stunned by the 11% jump for its rival Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) stock thanks to a strong first-quarter report. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) is generating a lot of buzz as investors monitor trade relations between the United States and China. BABA stock had slumped by 18% thanks to trade restrictions on Chinese companies. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) announced it will restart production of its popular F-150 pickup truck at its Dearborn, Mich., facility. The company recently suspended operations after a fire damaged supplies needed for manufacturing. The F-150 is the most popular consumer vehicle in the United States. In an effort to beat back the growth of Wal-Mart and Amazon, grocery giant Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) announced a deal to purchase a 5% stake in British online supermarket Ocado. The deal will allow Kroger to utilize the UK firm's warehouse automation technology in the United States and improve its supply chain costs. Look for additional earnings reports from Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), The Children's Place Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCE), Teekay Corp. (NYSE: TK), and Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM).

  Follow Money Morning on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2019: Merit Medical Systems Inc.(MMSI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Merit Medical Systems (MMSI)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) issued an update on its FY 2019 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.97-2.08 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.97. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.011-1.03 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.01 billion.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Bank of America cut shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $64.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

• [By Lisa Levin]

    

  Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSD) shares declined 32.19 percent to close at $9.86 on Thursday. Clearside Biomedical disclosed that its Phase 2 trial of CLS-TA met primary and secondary endpoints met in 6-month trial. scPharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SCPH) shares dipped 30.1 percent to close at $9.94 on Thursday after the FDA identified deficiencies in the company’s New Drug Application for FUROSCIX. However, the FDA letter did not specify deficiencies identified and notification does not reflect final decision on information under review. Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) fell 24.08 percent to close at $1.86. Euroseas announced completion of the spin-off of its drybulk fleet into EuroDry Ltd. Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ: GLNG) fell 25.09 percent to close at $25.98 following Q1 results. Oragenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGEN) shares dropped 25 percent to close at $1.50 on Thursday. Guess', Inc. (NYSE: GES) dropped 19.44 percent to close at $19.60 following Q1 results. Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE: CMD) dropped 15.94 percent to close at $109.09 on Thursday following FQ3 results. Fusion Connect, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSNN) shares fell 15.55 percent to close at $3.91. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW) dropped 14.44 percent to close at $8.00 after reporting Q1 results. Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) shares declined 14.28 percent to close at $82.59 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and lowered its FY2018 earnings guidance. Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) dropped 13.94 percent to close at $18.09 after reporting Q1 results. Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) declined 13.17 percent to close at $2.90 after declining 5.65 percent on Wednesday. Concordia International Corp. (NASDAQ: CXRX) fell 12.89 percent to close at $0.2440 after the company announced that it would be delisted from the Nasdaq. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) slipped 12.46 percent
• [By Ethan Ryder]

  BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA lessened its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,272 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 8,717 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Merit Medical Systems (MMSI)

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

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2019: Hawaiian Telcom Holdco, Inc.(HCOM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  News coverage about Hawaiian Telcom HoldCo (NASDAQ:HCOM) has been trending somewhat positive recently, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. The research group identifies positive and negative news coverage by monitoring more than 20 million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Hawaiian Telcom HoldCo earned a news impact score of 0.06 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media coverage about the utilities provider an impact score of 46.776618457707 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near future.

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2019: Western Asset Bond Fund(WEA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Western Asset Premier Bond Fund (NYSE:WEA) hit a new 52-week high and low during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as low as $12.63 and last traded at $12.63, with a volume of 12970 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.63.

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2019: Sundance Energy Australia Limited (SNDE)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on SUNDANCE ENERGY/S (SNDE)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Here are some of the news stories that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

  Get SUNDANCE ENERGY/S alerts: SUNDANCE ENERGY/S (SNDE) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $31.40 Million (americanbankingnews.com) -$0.06 Earnings Per Share Expected for SUNDANCE ENERGY/S (SNDE) This Quarter (americanbankingnews.com) Sundance Energy Australia (NASDAQ: SNDE) – Day Three Breakout Notes (oilandgas360.com) Sundance Energy Australia (SNDE) Presents At EnerCom’s 23rd Annual Oil & Gas Conference – Slideshow (seekingalpha.com)

  SNDE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded SUNDANCE ENERGY/S from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 27th. ValuEngine upgraded SUNDANCE ENERGY/S from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 16th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of SUNDANCE ENERGY/S in a research report on Monday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.30.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  CASIO COMPUTER/ADR (OTCMKTS:CSIOY) and SUNDANCE ENERGY/S (NASDAQ:SNDE) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and earnings.

Waterstone Financial Inc (WSBF) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Waterstone Financial Inc (NASDAQ:WSBF) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Waterstone Financial Inc is a one-bank holding company with two segments: community banking & mortgage banking. The company provides consumer and business banking products and services to customers, and also provides residential mortgage loans. Waterstone Financial Inc has a market cap of $471.920 million; its shares were traded at around $16.58 with a P/E ratio of 14.94 and P/S ratio of 2.62. The dividend yield of Waterstone Financial Inc stocks is 2.90%.

For the last quarter Waterstone Financial Inc reported a revenue of $39.1 million, compared with the revenue of $41.51 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $172.4 million, a decrease of 1.6% from the previous year. For the last five years Waterstone Financial Inc had an average revenue growth rate of 8% a year.

The reported diluted earnings per share was $1.11 for the year, an increase of 19.4% from previous year. Over the last five years Waterstone Financial Inc had an EPS growth rate of 25.4% a year. The profitability rank of the company is 4 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Waterstone Financial Inc has the cash and cash equivalents of $61.0 million, compared with $31.6 million in the previous year. The long term debt was $435.0 million, compared with $340.0 million in the previous year. Waterstone Financial Inc has a financial strength rank of 3 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $16.58, Waterstone Financial Inc is traded at close to its historical median P/S valuation band of $17.13. The P/S ratio of the stock is 2.62, while the historical median P/S ratio is 2.72. The stock gained 0.17% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of WSBF, click here.

Why Tractor Supply Stock Rose 11.7% in February

What happened

Shares in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) surged 11.7% in February, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The move marked yet another volatile month for the company. For example, the company's stock soared 13% in August but also slumped more than 12% in December.

The reason for all the volatility? In a nutshell, Tractor Supply has been reporting better-than-expected results, but its stock has also been subject to fears around tariffs connected with the U.S.-China trade dispute.

The company sources products from China, so higher import tariffs are likely to hurt Tractor Supply's margin. And if U.S. farm income is negatively impacted by China imposing tariffs on crops like soybean, the company's revenue could get hit.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

If the fears over tariffs are significant, they certainly haven't been realized yet. In fact, conditions appear to have improved through the company's 2018. For example, management started the year expecting comparable same-store sales growth of 2% to 3% but actually reported 5.1% growth for the full year. Moreover, the company ended the year on a high note with comparable same-store sales growth of 5.7% in the fourth quarter.

CEO Greg Sandfort noted that it "was our best annual comp store sales growth in six years" during the earnings call. Moreover, the period has been accompanied by growth in transactions and average ticket prices. Sandfort disclosed that both had increased in the fourth quarter and in the full year: The average transaction value was $47.03 compared to $45.67 in the same quarter of 2017.

Now what

Aside from the ongoing threat of some impact from tariffs, investors should also keep an eye on how the 80 new Tractor Supply stores and 18 new Petsense stores opened in 2018 perform in 2019. The store openings have increased the company's overall selling square footage by 5%.

In fact, the new stores are a large part of the reason why management expects reported sales growth of 5% to 7% compared to organic sales growth of 2% to 4%. Given the 5.7% organic sales growth reported in the fourth quarter, management's guidance looks a little conservative, so don't be surprised if there's some more outperformance in 2019.

The Best Electric Vehicle Stock to Buy Now for 140% Gains

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

As we've been saying for years, green energy isn't just responsible: It's highly profitable.

You can certainly reap those rewards by buying shares in a solar stock or a high-profile electric car company like Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA).

But there's one stock you haven't thought of that's poised to bring in huge, reliable gains from the clean energy revolution.

This is a company that's a leading provider of specialized electric vehicles. It serves a market with 590,000 fleet vehicles, which transport 26 million Americans and Canadians every day.

And those numbers are growing every year.

This company's products are absolutely essential. But because it's not a high-profile company like Tesla, it's managed to slip under the market's radar. In fact, according to at least one metric, it's undervalued by nearly 60%.

That's probably why it's been given a top score by our Money Morning Stock VQScore system.

Breaking: Tom Gentile just recorded all of his most lucrative trading income secrets for you in America's No. 1 Pattern Trader Cash Course. It's packed with his most lucrative secrets to potentially start collecting anywhere from $1,190, $1,313, and even $2,830 in consistent income – each and every week. And today, it can be yours for only $1…

That's a fantastic opportunity for our readers. As we'll see, this is a company that's not only poised for a quick pop. It could also be one of the most stable growth companies you have in your portfolio for years to come.

Why This Company Is Emerging as the Clear Leader in a Must-Have Sector

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Accelerator Network (ACC) Price Up 0.1% Over Last 7 Days

Accelerator Network (CURRENCY:ACC) traded flat against the U.S. dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 23:00 PM Eastern on March 4th. Accelerator Network has a total market capitalization of $11,160.00 and $0.00 worth of Accelerator Network was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last week, Accelerator Network has traded up 0.1% against the U.S. dollar. One Accelerator Network token can currently be bought for about $0.0164 or 0.00000457 BTC on major exchanges including EtherDelta (ForkDelta), IDEX and CoinExchange.

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

Get Accelerator Network alerts: Litecoin (LTC) traded down 2.2% against the dollar and now trades at $46.49 or 0.01238666 BTC. Dogecoin (DOGE) traded down 1.5% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0020 or 0.00000052 BTC. Verge (XVG) traded 6.3% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0061 or 0.00000163 BTC. Bytom (BTM) traded 3.3% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0823 or 0.00002193 BTC. Linkey (LKY) traded 1.3% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.78 or 0.00020721 BTC. Polymath (POLY) traded down 4.8% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0875 or 0.00002331 BTC. Syscoin (SYS) traded 3.2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0495 or 0.00001317 BTC. Matrix AI Network (MAN) traded 2.6% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0828 or 0.00002205 BTC. Einsteinium (EMC2) traded down 0.1% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0517 or 0.00001378 BTC. BridgeCoin (BCO) traded up 4.4% against the dollar and now trades at $0.32 or 0.00008529 BTC.

About Accelerator Network

Accelerator Network (CRYPTO:ACC) is a proof-of-work (PoW) token that uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm. Its genesis date was July 18th, 2017. Accelerator Network’s total supply is 968,786 tokens and its circulating supply is 678,678 tokens. Accelerator Network’s official Twitter account is @Accelerator_Net. The official message board for Accelerator Network is medium.com/accelerator-network. Accelerator Network’s official website is accelerator.network.

Accelerator Network Token Trading

Accelerator Network can be bought or sold on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: CoinExchange, IDEX and EtherDelta (ForkDelta). It is usually not currently possible to buy alternative cryptocurrencies such as Accelerator Network directly using US dollars. Investors seeking to acquire Accelerator Network should first buy Bitcoin or Ethereum using an exchange that deals in US dollars such as Coinbase, GDAX or Gemini. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Bitcoin or Ethereum to buy Accelerator Network using one of the aforementioned exchanges.

new TradingView.widget({ “height”: 400, “width”: 650, “symbol”: “ACCUSD”, “interval”: “D”, “timezone”: “Etc/UTC”, “theme”: “White”, “style”: “1”, “locale”: “en”, “toolbar_bg”: “#f1f3f6”, “enable_publishing”: false, “hideideas”: true, “referral_id”: “2588”});

Guidewire Software Inc (GWRE) CEO Marcus Ryu Sells 14,033 Shares

Guidewire Software Inc (NYSE:GWRE) CEO Marcus Ryu sold 14,033 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.21, for a total transaction of $1,293,982.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,415,792.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Marcus Ryu also recently made the following trade(s):

Get Guidewire Software alerts: On Friday, February 1st, Marcus Ryu sold 20,000 shares of Guidewire Software stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $1,763,600.00. On Wednesday, January 2nd, Marcus Ryu sold 18,934 shares of Guidewire Software stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.39, for a total transaction of $1,484,236.26. On Tuesday, December 18th, Marcus Ryu sold 9,715 shares of Guidewire Software stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $788,566.55. On Monday, December 3rd, Marcus Ryu sold 20,000 shares of Guidewire Software stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.95, for a total transaction of $1,859,000.00.

Shares of Guidewire Software stock traded up $1.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,176,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,537. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,040.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 38.98 and a beta of 1.30. Guidewire Software Inc has a twelve month low of $73.82 and a twelve month high of $107.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 8.40 and a current ratio of 8.40.

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.18. The business had revenue of $179.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.24 million. Guidewire Software had a negative net margin of 0.72% and a positive return on equity of 3.24%. The company’s revenue was up 66.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.06) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Guidewire Software Inc will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Guidewire Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Guidewire Software from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 6th. DA Davidson set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Guidewire Software and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 5th. Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Friday, February 1st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Guidewire Software in a research report on Tuesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.40.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GWRE. Vanguard Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 7,021,764 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $709,268,000 after purchasing an additional 215,874 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 0.6% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 6,528,904 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $659,485,000 after purchasing an additional 40,699 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,747,907 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $140,234,000 after purchasing an additional 528,721 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 4.2% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,317,154 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,046,000 after purchasing an additional 53,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in shares of Guidewire Software by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 940,353 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,445,000 after purchasing an additional 141,496 shares in the last quarter.

WARNING: This news story was originally published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this news story on another publication, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of U.S. & international copyright and trademark law. The original version of this news story can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4190941/guidewire-software-inc-gwre-ceo-marcus-ryu-sells-14033-shares.html.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc provides software products for property and casualty insurers worldwide. The company offers Guidewire InsuranceSuite comprising Guidewire PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, and ClaimCenter applications. It also provides Guidewire InsuranceNow, a cloud-based platform, which offers policy, billing, and claims management functionality to insurers that prefer to subscribe to a cloud-based solution.

Featured Article: Investing strategies using the yield curve