Intel shares jump after Morgan Stanley upgrades the stock and predicts big rally

Investors should buy Intel shares as they could get a boost from CEO Bob Swan's leadership, a Morgan Stanley analyst said Friday.

Analyst Joseph Moore upgraded Intel to overweight from equal weight and hiked his price target on the stock to $64 per share from $55. Moore's new price target implies a 24 percent upside from Thursday's close of $51.41 per share. Intel traded 3.1 percent higher in the premarket Friday.

"We think that Intel can rerate higher around a more financially oriented CEO," Moore said in a note to clients. "While some investors wanted someone with more of a technology background, we think that one of Intel's biggest challenges in recent years has been its tendency to become enamored with technology over economics."

Swan was Intel's interim CEO for seven months after Brian Krzanich was ousted from the role last year for having a "consensual relationship" with an employee. Prior to that, Swan had been Intel's CFO since 2016.

Intel shares are up 9.55 percent this year through Thursday's close. They are lagging competitors like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, however. Nvidia's stock is up more than 16 percent in 2019 while AMD has surged nearly 30 percent.

"With a better portfolio optimization process, framing those technology issues around business risk/reward, a mindset of optimizing free cash flow more than earnings, and a higher standard of M&A accretion, we see the multiple expanding from 12x to 14x in our base case," Moore said. "While we are cautious on semiconductors, and Intel is not immune, these idiosyncratic opportunities set them apart."

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SM Energy Co (SM) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

SM Energy Co (NYSE:SM) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. SM Energy Company is an energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in onshore North America. SM Energy Co has a market cap of $1.91 billion; its shares were traded at around $17.02 with a P/E ratio of 11.18 and P/S ratio of 1.20. The dividend yield of SM Energy Co stocks is 0.58%.

For the last quarter SM Energy Co reported a revenue of $392.9 million, compared with the revenue of $340.0 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $1.6 billion, an increase of 30.1% from last year. For the last five years SM Energy Co had an average revenue decline of 10.7% a year.

The reported diluted earnings per share was $4.48 for the year, compared with the loss per share of $9.79 in the previous year. The SM Energy Co had a decent operating margin of 18.14%, compared with the operating margin of 0.4% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of SM Energy Co is 15.91%. The profitability rank of the company is 5 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, SM Energy Co has the cash and cash equivalents of $78.0 million, compared with $313.9 million in the previous year. The long term debt was $2.6 billion, compared with $2.9 billion in the previous year. The interest coverage to the debt is 1.8, which is not a favorable level. SM Energy Co has a financial strength rank of 4 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $17.02, SM Energy Co is traded at 44.6% discount to its historical median P/S valuation band of $30.74. The P/S ratio of the stock is 1.20, while the historical median P/S ratio is 2.18. The stock lost 19.62% during the past 12 months.

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

No One Knows Why This Ratio Works, But It Does...

A number sequence known as the Fibonacci series was proposed as an answer to the question, "If we start with one pair of rabbits, how many pairs of rabbits will there be one year later if we assume that every month each pair reproduces and adds a new pair to the group?" 

This number series has been written about since the 13th century, when it was identified by mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci, and is widely used by traders in the 21st century.

The answer to the original question is that the number of rabbits in any given month is equal to the sum of the number of rabbits in the two previous months. If we start with one pair, in the second month, there is still one pair as they have not yet delivered any baby rabbits. In the third month, there are two pairs, in the fourth month, there are three pairs, and in the fifth month, there are five pairs of rabbits. In the twelfth month, there would be 144 pairs of rabbits. 

The Fibonacci series is: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, etc…

Three ratios are commonly associated with this series:

1. The ratio of a number to the next higher number in the series is about 0.618 for numbers above 5. For example, 34/55 is equal to 0.6182.

2. The ratio of a number to the next lower number in the series is about 1.618, the inverse of 0.618. For example, 55/34 equals 1.6182.

3. The ratio of numbers that are separated by one additional number (such as 5 and 13) is about 2.618, or its inverse 0.382. For example, 89/233 equals 0.382 and 233/89 equals 2.618.

How Traders Use It
Traders believe that these ratios are often found in price data. Fibonacci ratios are applied to individual stocks and futures contracts, as well as indices, and can be used in any time frame. 

As an example of how the Fibonacci ratios are applied, after a significant price decline, traders generally look for at least a short rebound in price, and many traders will expect the price rise to stop, at least temporarily, at a Fibonacci ratio related to the decline. The Fibonacci ratio may also prove to be a long-term resistance level. This is shown in the chart of the Nasdaq 100 index below.

After the Nasdaq 100 crashed in 2000, the 38.2% Fibonacci ratio served as resistance and held back further advances for 12 years. Once the 38.2% level was decisively broken in the spring of 2012, traders looked at the 61.8% retracement as the next resistance level. The market moved easily through that level in 2013, and it should now be expected to serve as support. 

Fibonacci ratios are also used to define upside price targets and support levels, and can help identify times when a stock or index is likely to turn.

Why It Matters To Traders
No one knows why, but Fibonacci ratios seem to work in many markets. Traders are often aware of them on long-term and short-term charts and become cautious as prices approach a Fibonacci ratio that is likely to be resistance. 

Once the resistance level is broken, traders may become more bullish, and quick gains are often seen when prices break above a significant ratio. Traders will sometimes become more aggressive at a Fibonacci support level since they are expecting prices to bounce higher from that price.

(This article originally appeared on ProfitableTrading.com.)

Buckeye Partners, L.P. (BPL) Holdings Cut by Dividend Assets Capital LLC

Dividend Assets Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL) by 77.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,678 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 25,764 shares during the period. Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings in Buckeye Partners were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BPL. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Buckeye Partners by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 142,214 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,999,000 after acquiring an additional 22,643 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in shares of Buckeye Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $143,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Buckeye Partners by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 38,288 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after acquiring an additional 4,323 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Buckeye Partners by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,355 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 17,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Buckeye Partners by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 396,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,160,000 after acquiring an additional 64,082 shares in the last quarter. 68.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Buckeye Partners alerts:

Shares of BPL stock opened at $32.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Buckeye Partners, L.P. has a 12 month low of $25.71 and a 12 month high of $50.05.

Buckeye Partners (NYSE:BPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $958.86 million. Buckeye Partners had a negative net margin of 1.44% and a positive return on equity of 9.41%. Buckeye Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts forecast that Buckeye Partners, L.P. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.33%. Buckeye Partners’s payout ratio is 167.60%.

A number of analysts have commented on BPL shares. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Buckeye Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 24th. SunTrust Banks upgraded shares of Buckeye Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Buckeye Partners in a research note on Sunday, November 4th. Guggenheim restated a “hold” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Buckeye Partners in a research note on Monday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Buckeye Partners from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Buckeye Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.53.

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Buckeye Partners Company Profile

Buckeye Partners, L.P. owns and operates liquid petroleum products pipelines in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Domestic Pipelines & Terminals, Global Marine Terminals, and Merchant Services. The Domestic Pipelines & Terminals segment transports liquid petroleum products, including gasoline, jet fuel, and various distillates; refined petroleum products; and crude oil.

Further Reading: Back-End Load

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL).

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:WFC,CS,MMM,PAA,CNR,STN,TRP,ECA,ST,III,

There are a number of great companies in the market today. The ModernGraham valuation model selected some of the most undervalued Canadian companies. Each company has been determined to be suitable for the Defensive Investor or the Enterprising Investor according to the ModernGraham approach.

Defensive Investors are defined as investors who are not able or willing to do substantial research into individual investments, and therefore need to select only the companies that present the least amount of risk. Enterprising Investors, on the other hand, are able to do substantial research and can select companies that present a moderate (though still low) amount of risk. Each company suitable for the Defensive Investor is also suitable for Enterprising Investors.

Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS)

Celestica is suitable for the Enterprising Investor but not the more conservative Defensive Investor. The Defensive Investor is concerned with the small size, low current ratio, insufficient earnings stability or growth over the last 10 years and the poor dividend history. The Enterprising Investor is only concerned with the lack of dividends. As a result, all Enterprising Investors should feel comfortable proceeding with the analysis.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Wells Fargo & Company(WFC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Maxfield]

  Maxfield: I think we mixed up some numbers. Their revenue as a percent of assets is 4.92%, which is the highest in its peer group, and its peer group are the really large, too-big-to-fail banks, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), plus other large regional banks. So that's the largest with one exception, and that is Capital One (NYSE: COF). The reason that Capital One's revenue is so high as a percentage of assets is because a very large portion of its loan portfolio consists of credit card loans, and those yield, as everybody knows, a lot more than, say, a home mortgage does. So its revenue as a percent of assets is the top in its peer group. But then, if you translate that over into profitability, that's where that 1.1% return on assets is. When you're talking about profitability for banks, there's two measures that you want to look at: your return on assets and your return on equity. Return on assets is basically your unlevered profitability. Your return on equity is your levered profitability. Here's the interesting thing about PNC, and this is one of the reasons that it doesn't pop up a lot when investors are looking for the top-performing banks -- it's because their return on common equity last year was 8.58%. When you're looking for a 10% return on equity, you think, that's actually meaningfully below that standard industry benchmark that you want to see. But the reason that it's below, as we see with its good return on assets, is just because it's not very levered, which means it's a very safe bank that's still earning a lot of money if you look at it on a levered basis.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) by 143.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,107,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,242,117 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Co accounts for 0.8% of Alps Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Co were worth $116,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By ]

  2. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)
  I never liked this company. I remember back pre-crisis when Wells Fargo was pushing 120% loan-to-value automobile refinancing. It struck me as a very irresponsible path at the time, and that mindset appears to have continued.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) short interest decreased to 35.71 million shares from the previous reading of 36.20 million. Shares were trading at $56.55, within a 52-week range of $49.27 to $66.31.

• [By Matthew Frankel]

  As far as positive surprises go, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) was probably the biggest positive surprise. I probably don't have to tell most listeners, Wells Fargo hasn't had the best couple of years, when it comes to their fake accounts scandal, the fallout from that, the other mini scandals along the way, and just recently, their punishment by the same Federal Reserve that says they're not allowed to grow until they improve. They actually got the approval to buy back more than twice the amount of stock that they did last year. One, that says a lot about how well-capitalized they are. Two, it also says a lot that their management's willing to do that, that they think that their stock is at such a compelling bargain right now that they're willing to spend over $25 billion on buybacks alone.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Credit Suisse Group(CS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Credits (CS) is a distributed proof-of-stake (dPOS) token that uses the DPoS hashing algorithm. It was first traded on February 28th, 2015. Credits’ total supply is 249,471,071 tokens and its circulating supply is 137,958,656 tokens. Credits’ official message board is medium.com/@credits. The official website for Credits is credits.com/en. Credits’ official Twitter account is @creditscom and its Facebook page is accessible here. The Reddit community for Credits is /r/CreditsOfficial and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here.

• [By Max Byerly]

  AXA (EPA:CS) has been given a €27.50 ($32.74) target price by research analysts at Kepler Capital Markets in a report released on Thursday. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 20.61% from the company’s current price.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Merrill Lynch is very positive on this European bank. Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) is a Swiss-based investment and private bank that offers private banking and wealth management solutions, including advisory, investment, financial planning, succession planning and trust services, as well as financing and lending, and multishore platform solutions.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: 3M Company(MMM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  3M Co. (MMM) beat analysts' expectations on the top line and met them on the bottom line for the first quarter, reporting earnings Tuesday, April 24, of $2.50 per share on revenue of $8.3 billion, but the news was not taken well by investors. 

• [By Paul Ausick]

  After a two-week absence, 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) dropped once again into the Dow Jones industrials cellar. The industrial giant’s stock lost about 2.2% last week and is now trading down 11.7% for the year to date.

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK), and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) have all rewarded investors with half a century (or more) worth of consecutive dividend hikes. Here's why they should be on your buy list, or wish list, today.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The second-worst Dow stock so far this year is General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), which is down 17.6%. That is followed by 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), down 16.68%, Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), down 11.6%, and DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP), down 9.69%.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Plains All American Pipeline L.P.(PAA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  The most important energy play in the mix will be the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeast New Mexico, which, if the area were a stand-alone country, would be among the top 10 global petroleum liquids producers. However, exploiting its full potential will require nearly doubling pipeline capacity in the region by the end of 2023. Few companies are tapping into that opportunity quite like Plains All American Pipeline LP (NYSE:PAA). Impressive near- and long-term growth strategies, a healthy 5% dividend yield, and a new joint venture with ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) make it my top stock to buy this July. 

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.94.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Plains All American Pipeline (PAA)

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

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  There's just one problem with all that production: It needs to get out of the basin, which is a problem right now since there aren't enough pipelines. Because of that, some of the best ways to play the Permian production boom are pipeline companies. Three perfectly positioned to profit from the Permian boom are Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA), Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP), and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI).

• [By Brian Feroldi, Keith Speights, and Maxx Chatsko]

  Want proof? We asked a team of our Motley Fool investors to each highlight a little-known income stock that they are quite fond of. Here's why they called out Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW), Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA), and LaMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT). 

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Cormark raised their Q3 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Canadian National Railway in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 10th. Cormark analyst D. Tyerman now expects that the transportation company will post earnings per share of $1.15 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.14.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  State of Tennessee Treasury Department lessened its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 842,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 13,507 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department owned about 0.11% of Canadian National Railway worth $61,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.71.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Brokerages expect Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) to announce earnings of $1.03 per share for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Eight analysts have issued estimates for Canadian National Railway’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $1.10 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.97. Canadian National Railway reported earnings of $1.00 per share in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 3%. The business is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, July 24th.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) had its target price upped by investment analysts at CIBC from C$116.00 to C$120.00 in a research report issued on Friday. CIBC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.54% from the stock’s current price.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Stantec Inc(STN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Steneum Coin (CURRENCY:STN) traded down 13% against the US dollar during the one day period ending at 21:00 PM Eastern on September 16th. During the last week, Steneum Coin has traded 36.4% lower against the US dollar. Steneum Coin has a market cap of $60,064.00 and $2,445.00 worth of Steneum Coin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Steneum Coin coin can currently be purchased for approximately $0.0205 or 0.00000315 BTC on exchanges including Cryptopia, BTC-Alpha and CoinExchange.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Stantec (NYSE: STN) and VSE (NASDAQ:VSEC) are both business services 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 Shane Hupp]

  ATKINS WS GBP0.005 (OTCMKTS: WATKF) and Stantec (NYSE:STN) are both mid-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and risk.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Stantec (STN)

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

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Transcananda Pipelines Ltd.(TRP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  TC PIPELINES LP Common Stock (NYSE: TRP) and Rice Midstream Partners (NYSE:RMP) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Meanwhile, TransCanada (NYSE:TRP) has been working to revive its Keystone XL pipeline. After years of delay, TransCanada could start full construction next year, which would put the line into service by 2021. However, the hotly contested pipeline could face new delays or even another rejection.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Enbridge just bought its stake in the German offshore wind farm projects last year, initially agreeing to invest about $1.25 billion for a 50% stake. However, with concerns growing about its balance sheet and ability to finance growth projects, the company has chosen to monetize part of this asset. It's also monetizing its onshore renewable facilities in Canada and two in the U.S. to bring in some much-needed cash. This decision to cash in on a portion of its renewable portfolio follows a similar plan by fellow Canadian pipeline giant TransCanada (NYSE:TRP), which sold its solar assets in Ontario last year. The driving factor in that decision was TransCanada's desire to improve its financial flexibility so that it could "continue to build on our vision of being North America's leading energy infrastructure company," said CEO Russ Girling. What's clear from these deals is that neither TransCanada nor Enbridge sees renewables playing a key role in building the companies they envision themselves being.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Media stories about TC PIPELINES LP Common Stock (NYSE:TRP) (TSE:TRP) have been trending somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment. Accern scores the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. TC PIPELINES LP Common Stock earned a media sentiment score of 0.06 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media stories about the pipeline company an impact score of 47.0472930935725 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next few days.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  TransCanada's (NYSE:TRP) expansion efforts continued paying dividends during the first quarter as earnings and cash flow kept growing. As a result, the Canadian pipeline giant remains on track to achieve its dividend growth targets. CEO Russ Girling affirmed that view on the quarterly conference call, where he detailed the company's progress on its strategic plan.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Encana Corporation(ECA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Encana Corp (NYSE:ECA) (TSE:ECA) – National Bank Financial issued their FY2019 EPS estimates for shares of Encana in a report released on Tuesday, February 12th. National Bank Financial analyst T. Wood expects that the oil and gas company will post earnings of $0.61 per share for the year. National Bank Financial has a “Outperform” rating and a $18.50 price objective on the stock.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Electra (CURRENCY:ECA) traded 8% higher against the U.S. dollar during the 1-day period ending at 22:00 PM ET on June 20th. In the last week, Electra has traded 12.6% higher against the U.S. dollar. Electra has a market capitalization of $34.87 million and $128,874.00 worth of Electra was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Electra coin can now be purchased for $0.0014 or 0.00000020 BTC on exchanges including Fatbtc, Novaexchange, CoinFalcon and CryptoBridge.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Electra (CURRENCY:ECA) traded down 22.1% against the dollar during the 1 day period ending at 11:00 AM Eastern on August 14th. One Electra coin can currently be purchased for approximately $0.0004 or 0.00000007 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including Cryptohub, CryptoBridge, Cryptopia and Novaexchange. In the last seven days, Electra has traded 36.7% lower against the dollar. Electra has a total market capitalization of $11.78 million and approximately $119,848.00 worth of Electra was traded on exchanges in the last day.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

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

  Get Encana alerts: Should You Listen to This Stock? Encana Corporation (ECA) moves 51.44% away from One Year Low (nasdaqchronicle.com) Hot Mover of the Day – Encana Corporation (NYSE:ECA) (thestockgem.com) Enrapturing Stocks: Encana Corporation, (NYSE: ECA), AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., (NASDAQ: AFSI) (globalexportlines.com) Analysts, Options Traders Love This Lesser-Known Energy Stock (schaeffersresearch.com) Encana Corp (ECA) Expected to Announce Quarterly Sales of $1.12 Billion (americanbankingnews.com)

  ECA traded up $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $12.47. 9,071,326 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,380,907. Encana has a 12 month low of $8.01 and a 12 month high of $14.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.00.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Shares of Encana Corp (NYSE:ECA) (TSE:ECA) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the twenty-four analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.17.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Sensata Technologies Holding N.V.(ST)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.51 per share on revenue of $14.62 billion. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $7.31 billion. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $2.07 per share on revenue of $11.93 billion. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.11 per share on revenue of $31.22 billion. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $3.42 per share on revenue of $11.28 billion. The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $3.15 per share on revenue of $3.94 billion. Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $5.92 per share on revenue of $3.15 billion. 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.52 per share on revenue of $8.26 billion. JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.2 per share on revenue of $1.75 billion. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.13 per share on revenue of $5.49 billion. Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.88 per share on revenue of $1.25 billion. Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.3 per share on revenue of $2.50 billion. Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.88 per share on revenue of $13.28 billion. The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.77 per share on revenue of $6.75 billion. Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.07 per share on revenue of $2.16 billion. PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ: PCAR) is projected to
• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Canaccord Genuity assumed coverage on shares of Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) in a note issued to investors on Friday, The Fly reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Sensata Technologies (ST)

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

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Own For 2019: Information Services Group Inc.(III)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  3i Group (LON:III) had its price target upped by Societe Generale from GBX 1,020 ($13.58) to GBX 1,130 ($15.04) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) and Information Services Group (NASDAQ:III) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in Information Services Group, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:III) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 110,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  RMR Group (NASDAQ: RMR) and Information Services Group (NASDAQ:III) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 316,953 Shares of Ambarella Inc (AMBA)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA) by 4,210.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 324,481 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 316,953 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Ambarella were worth $12,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Ambarella by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 137,854 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,322,000 after buying an additional 26,663 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Ambarella by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 28,397 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,000 after buying an additional 3,097 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ambarella by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 125,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,827,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ambarella by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 335,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,949,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ambarella by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 74,489 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,881,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.65% of the company’s stock.

Get Ambarella alerts:

In other news, CEO Feng-Ming Wang sold 7,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $289,826.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,631 shares in the company, valued at $15,451,978. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Leslie Kohn sold 4,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $189,620.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 916,646 shares in the company, valued at $34,832,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,541 shares of company stock worth $636,581. Insiders own 5.84% of the company’s stock.

AMBA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. ValuEngine downgraded shares of Ambarella from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 2nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Ambarella from a “c-” rating to a “d” rating in a report on Friday, November 30th. Zacks Investment Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Ambarella in a report on Monday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Ambarella in a report on Friday, November 30th. Finally, Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Ambarella to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Ambarella currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.75.

NASDAQ AMBA opened at $39.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.65 and a beta of 1.03. Ambarella Inc has a 52 week low of $30.00 and a 52 week high of $55.50.

Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 29th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $57.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.12 million. Ambarella had a negative net margin of 9.97% and a negative return on equity of 5.35%. Ambarella’s revenue for the quarter was down 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ambarella Inc will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

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Ambarella Profile

Ambarella, Inc develops semiconductor processing solutions for video that enable high-definition (HD), video capture, analysis, sharing, and display worldwide. The company's system-on-a-chip designs integrated HD video processing, image processing, computer vision functionality, audio processing, and system functions onto a single chip for delivering video and image quality, differentiated functionality, and low power consumption.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMBA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA).

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Is Generating Underlying Growth After Its La Quinta Purchase

Global hotel franchisor Wyndham Hotels and Resorts (NYSE:WH) attempted a dramatic transformation last year when it completed both the acquisition of La Quinta Holdings and a spinoff from parent Wyndham Destinations on successive days (May 31 and June 1, respectively).

So far, the transformation appears to be a success, as La Quinta's roughly 900 franchised mid-scale hotels have helped lift Wyndham's average daily rates (ADR), while Wyndham continues to increase the scale and revenue potential of its original franchised brands.

Below, we'll review fourth-quarter 2018 results, released on Wednesday, for perspective on Wyndham's first few months as a significantly altered organization. (Note that in the discussion that follows, all comparable numbers refer to the prior-year quarter, the fourth quarter of 2017.)

Wyndham: The raw numbers Metric Q4 2018 Q4 2017 Growth (YOY)

Revenue	$527 million	$312 million	68.9%
Net income	$43 million	$92 million	(53.2%)
Diluted earnings per share	$0.43	$0.92	(53.2%)

Data source: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. YOY = year over year.  

What happened this quarter?

Image source: Getty Images.

Removing $198 million in incremental revenue from the La Quinta acquisition and the impact of its May 2018 divestiture of its Knights Inn brand, Wyndham achieved underlying (organic) revenue growth of 6% in the fourth quarter, which management attributed to higher license and other fees. Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, increased 8% to $37.54. Removing the La Quinta and Knights Inn transactions, RevPAR increased 2% -- in line with recent industry trends. The company's average royalty rate charged to franchisees of its brands rose 10 basis points to 4.59%. Systemwide room count grew by 11% to 809,900, and by 2% when removing the effects of the La Quinta and Knights Inn transactions. The company increased new construction signings by 28% in the U.S. market -- its highest level of development activity in five years. Wyndham announced that it has reacquired exclusive master franchising rights for its Days Inn brand in China. The Days Inn system in China currently consists of 50 hotels. Wyndham concluded the year with $2.1 billion in debt, the majority of which was incurred to finance the La Quinta acquisition. Total debt is roughly four times 2018 adjusted EBITDA of $507 million, which can be considered a moderate to slightly high amount of leverage. For the full year, Wyndham generated $158 million in free cash flow. The company repurchased $60 million worth of its shares in the fourth quarter. Management pointed out that since the company's spinoff from Wyndham Destinations on June 1, it's repurchased $119 million of its shares, or 2% of its outstanding share count. Wyndham increased its quarterly dividend payment by 16% from $0.25 to $0.29, effective with the first dividend payment of 2019. The significant slump in earnings against the prior-year period seen in the table above is due to a large, one-time tax benefit of $85 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017, as a result of U.S. tax legislation. What management had to say

In Wyndham's earnings conference call, CEO Geoff Ballotti discussed, among other topics, the company's aim to expand in the economy and mid-tier segments of the hotel industry. As it successfully integrates La Quinta, management sees other opportunities to lift its systemwide ADR and build supply in these active areas of the broader hotel market:

Another significant objective of ours is to continue elevating the economy and mid-scale experience, including new prototypes for many of our brands. For our largest U.S. economy brand, we are working with our franchise advisory council to initiate a refresh of Days Inn by Wyndham, requiring our franchisees to invest in the quality of the sleep experience in the overall standards of the economy brand, which focuses on the little things that surprise and delight, and a brand that has moved up to third place from sixth place in the J.D. Power economy guest satisfaction rankings over the past three years. We know from our experience with Super 8's new Innovate brand standard that a thoughtful, cost-effective refresh program could have a very meaningful impact on guest experience, while driving favorable market share and operating margin improvements.

Looking forward

Wyndham provided its outlook for 2019 alongside earnings. Management expects RevPAR growth of 1% to 3%, and room growth of 2% to 4% in 2019. Revenue is expected to land between $2.11 billion and $2.16 billion, which at the midpoint will represent an increase of 14.3%, benefiting comparatively from the La Quinta acquisition. 

Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to improve by 19% to 22%, from $605 million to $620 million. Finally, adjusted diluted earnings per share are pegged at a band of between $3.05 and $3.17, versus $2.71 in 2018. Again, for the most part, these increases will come courtesy of La Quinta's contribution, yet Wyndham is managing to increase the value of its core business alongside this acquired growth.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:BAP,EGI,ATRS,NFG,DGLY,KLAC,

In a junior sector that has become quite a stock-picker's market over the past nine months, I find some of the safest and lowest risk opportunities come when a company is undergoing a major change. Atlantic Gold (OTCPK:SPVEF) was one such idea I highlighted last year, as the company was set to transform itself into Canada's newest junior gold producer. The stock has since moved from US$0.60 to US$1.40 and the re-rating I expect has nearly come to fruition. A company with a similar profile that I've had my eye on was Harte Gold (OTCPK:HRTFF), but the stock got well ahead of itself earlier this year and I exited my position. Since that time the stock has spent the last six months consolidating and finally looks it may be ready to resume the new uptrend it began earlier this year.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Credicorp Ltd.(BAP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  News headlines about Credicorp (NYSE:BAP) have trended somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment. The research group rates the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Credicorp earned a media sentiment score of 0.16 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the bank an impact score of 46.1243031785915 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next few days.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Credicorp (NYSE: BAP) and Opus Bank (NASDAQ:OPB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Credicorp (NYSE: BAP) and National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  ANZ (NYSE: BAP) and Credicorp (NYSE:BAP) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,192 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Credicorp were worth $493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Entree Gold Inc(EGI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Entree Resources (EGI)

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

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Antares Pharma, Inc.(ATRS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Monday was a generally down day on Wall Street, with major benchmarks giving up early-morning gains to finish modestly lower. Most market participants focused the bulk of their attention on deteriorating financial conditions in Turkey, with signs that the plunge in the value of the nation's currency could have impacts across the globe. For instance, Argentina had to boost a key interest rate by 5 percentage points to 45% in order to defend its own currency, and in the U.S., financial stocks were generally under some pressure as investors tried to assess possible exposure if the Turkish crisis extends outward. Even with those difficulties, some companies had good news that sent their shares higher. Nielsen Holdings (NYSE:NLSN), Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD), and Antares Pharma (NASDAQ:ATRS) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  News articles about Antares Pharma (NASDAQ:ATRS) have trended somewhat positive on Sunday, according to Accern Sentiment. The research group scores the sentiment of media coverage by analyzing 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. Antares Pharma earned a news impact score of 0.18 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the specialty pharmaceutical company an impact score of 45.2112654396991 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next few days.

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Shares of Antares Pharma (NASDAQ:ATRS) were up 16.7% at 12:12 p.m. EDT on Tuesday after the company gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its testosterone treatment Xyosted.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Antares Pharma (ATRS)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Antares Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRS) Director Jacques Gonella sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.47, for a total value of $741,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,936,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,482,940.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Antares Pharma (NASDAQ:ATRS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at BidaskClub from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: National Fuel Gas Company(NFG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on National Fuel Gas (NFG)

  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 National Fuel Gas (NFG)

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

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Digital Ally Inc.(DGLY)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Press coverage about Digital Ally (NASDAQ:DGLY) has trended somewhat positive on Tuesday, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern ranks the sentiment of news coverage by monitoring more than 20 million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Digital Ally earned a media sentiment score of 0.03 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the scientific and technical instruments company an impact score of 45.1932077082068 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Digital Ally (NASDAQ:DGLY) was upgraded by equities researchers at ValuEngine from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Digital Ally (NASDAQ:DGLY)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Westpark Capital in a research note issued on Wednesday. They currently have a $5.00 target price on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Westpark Capital’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.65% from the company’s current price.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: KLA-Tencor Corporation(KLAC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Shares of KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) were down 3.5% at $109.33, in a 52-week range of $87.93 to $123.96. It also has a consensus price target of $132.31.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on KLA-Tencor (KLAC)

  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 KLA-Tencor (KLAC)

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

• [By Timothy Green]

  Shares of KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) fell on Thursday after the company warned that its second-half results would be weaker than expected. The stock was down about 9.9% at 2:40 p.m. EDT.

Here's Why Flexion Therapeutics Rose 29.8% in January

What happened

Shares of Flexion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FLXN) jumped nearly 30% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. After shares declined by nearly 55% in 2018, the pharma company started off the new year on the right foot thanks to a rosy report of preliminary full-year 2018 operating results and initial guidance for full-year 2019.

Investors are eagerly looking forward to the continued growth of the company's first marketed drug, Zilretta. The treatment for osteoarthritis-related knee pain delivered an estimated $22.5 million in its first full year on the market in 2018. Flexion Therapeutics expects the franchise to reach annual sales of $65 million to $90 million in 2019.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Wall Street analysts have been disappointed and perplexed by the slow pace of sales for Zilretta since it launched. Flexion Therapeutics says the sluggish start has been due to a lack of easy-to-use reimbursement codes for doctors. That makes the drug more difficult to prescribe for patients with Medicare and certain private insurance that doesn't cover treatment otherwise.

Management expects that problem to fade away now that a new reimbursement code went into effect for Zilretta on the first day of this year. However, while Flexion Therapeutics expects a healthy ramp-up in product revenue in 2019, the sharp departures between the drug's actual performance and Wall Street's expectations remain. Analysts were looking for $28 million in full-year 2018 revenue (vs. the $22.5 million actually delivered) and $129 million in full-year 2019 revenue (vs. as much as $90 million in initial guidance), according to FiercePharma.

Now what

It's good to see signs of life from Flexion Therapeutics, but investors will need to remain patient throughout 2019. The large range for Zilretta sales guidance -- $65 million to $90 million -- seems to indicate there's still a good deal of uncertainty internally about the near-term pace of revenue growth. If the drug can only muster sales toward the lower end of the range, then Wall Street might not hesitate to continue punishing the stock.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:SOL,CVRR,BLDP,MGEE,CRZO,

US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Valero Energy Partners (NYSE:VLP) from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VLP. ValuEngine cut shares of Valero Energy Partners from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report on Friday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a $38.75 rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy Partners in a research report on Wednesday, July 18th. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group cut shares of Valero Energy Partners from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy Partners from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 31st. Finally, SunTrust Banks reissued a buy rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy Partners in a research report on Monday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $46.45.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Watch For 2019: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on ReneSola (SOL)

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

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sola Token (CURRENCY:SOL) traded 17.9% lower against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 16:00 PM E.T. on October 11th. One Sola Token token can now be bought for about $0.0054 or 0.00000087 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including Tidex and OpenLedger DEX. Sola Token has a total market cap of $153,306.00 and $1,856.00 worth of Sola Token was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. In the last seven days, Sola Token has traded down 12.2% against the dollar.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sola Token (CURRENCY:SOL) traded up 26.7% against the US dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 22:00 PM E.T. on September 28th. One Sola Token token can currently be bought for $0.0085 or 0.00000131 BTC on popular exchanges including Tidex and OpenLedger DEX. Sola Token has a market capitalization of $0.00 and approximately $3,239.00 worth of Sola Token was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last week, Sola Token has traded flat against the US dollar.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

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

  Get ReneSola alerts: ReneSola Sells North Carolina Solar Project To Greenbacker (solarindustrymag.com) ReneSola (SOL) Rating Increased to Neutral at Roth Capital (americanbankingnews.com) ReneSola (SOL) Q1 Earnings in Line, Revenues Top Estimates (zacks.com) ReneSola’s (SOL) CEO Xianshou Li on Q1 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com) ReneSola (SOL) Releases Earnings Results (americanbankingnews.com)

  Shares of ReneSola traded up $0.08, hitting $2.76, during trading on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The stock had a trading volume of 124,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.11 million, a PE ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ReneSola has a 12 month low of $2.12 and a 12 month high of $3.79.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Watch For 2019: CVR Refining, LP(CVRR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Twin Disc, Incorporated (NASDAQ: TWIN) shares surged 24.34 percent to close at $28.86 following Q3 earnings. Bioblast Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: ORPN) rose 21.89 percent to close at $2.45. Evolus, Inc. (NASDAQ: EOLS) gained 20.19 percent to close at $8.75. Evolus named David Moatazedi as new CEO. VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ: VVPR) rose 18.56 percent to close at $3.13 on Monday after falling 39.86 percent on Friday. CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE: CVM) gained 17.09 percent to close at $2.74. athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) shares jumped 16.39 percent to close at $146.75 on Monday after Elliott Management confirmed a $160 per share cash offer for athenahealth. Gramercy Property Trust (NYSE: GPT) rose 15.45 percent to close at $27.50 after the company agreed to be acquired by Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) for $27.50 per share. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) surged 15.23 percent to close at $6.43 after the company posted upbeat quarterly profit. Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) rose 14.53 percent to close at $7.33 CohBar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CWBR) gained 14.36 percent to close at $6.29. Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTPH) gained 12.69 percent to close at $3.64. Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) gained 12.27 percent to close at $10.89 following Q1 results. CVR Refining, LP (NYSE: CVRR) shares climbed 9.8 percent to close at $19.05. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) rose 4.93 percent to close at $256.89. Barclays upgraded Illumina from Equal-Weight to Overweight. Cloudera, Inc. (NYSE: CLDR) surged 3.92 percent to close at $15.63. Craig-Hallum initiated coverage on Cloudera with a Buy rating.

   

• [By ]

  The Big Boys' Pick
  Of the group, CVRR (NYSE: CVRR) is in the best position. Apparently, Mr. Icahn agrees, which is why he owns 5.7 million shares, a stake worth more than $100 million. Other big institutional owners include the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) shares climbed 23.2 percent to $155.19 after Elliott Management confirmed a $160 per share cash offer for athenahealth. Evolus, Inc. (NASDAQ: EOLS) gained 21.3 percent to $8.83. Evolus named David Moatazedi as new CEO. VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ: VVPR) climbed 18.2 percent to $3.12 after falling 39.86 percent on Friday. Gramercy Property Trust (NYSE: GPT) rose 15.6 percent to $27.53 after the company agreed to be acquired by Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) for $27.50 per share. EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE) rose 13 percent to $2.26. Energy XXI Gulf Coast, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGC) gained 11.9 percent to $7.35. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) surged 11.8 percent to $6.24 after the company posted upbeat quarterly profit. Sanchez Energy Corporation (NYSE: SN) shares gained 11.3 percent to $3.56. CVR Refining, LP (NYSE: CVRR) shares rose 8.8 percent to $18.875. Monaker Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MKGI) rose 8.7 percent to $2.9683. Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) shares rose 7.4 percent to $7.40. Ceragon Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRNT) rose 7 percent to $2.88 after climbing 1.89 percent on Friday. Cloudera, Inc. (NYSE: CLDR) surged 6 percent to $15.93. Craig-Hallum initiated coverage on Cloudera with a Buy rating. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) rose 5.1 percent to $257.35. Barclays upgraded Illumina from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Watch For 2019: Ballard Power Systems, Inc.(BLDP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Scott Levine]

  Shares of Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP), a global leader in fuel cell solutions, climbed 16% in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. In addition to the late-August announcement of a major deal with Weichai Power, a leading automotive manufacturer located in China, shareholders celebrated the news that Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. is increasing its investment in the company. Between the two deals, Ballard will receive an influx of cash totaling more than $180 million.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  That much becomes clear after taking a look at fuel cell stocks Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) and Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP). The companies generated just $235 million in revenue combined last year. While that would seem to indicate that the technology has a ways to go, a closer look shows both companies are on an upward trajectory as they position to exploit decarbonization trends. It also reveals two different growth strategies.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Shares of Ballard Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ:BLDP) jumped as much as 11.9% in trading Tuesday after the company announced the sale of some noncore assets. At 12:40 p.m. EDT, shares were still up 9.1% on the day.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Ballard Power Systems (BLDP)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Ballard Power Systems (BLDP)

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

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Watch For 2019: MGE Energy Inc.(MGEE)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Danielson (NYSE: CVA) and MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  BidaskClub downgraded shares of MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday.

  Separately, ValuEngine cut shares of MGE Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, June 6th.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) by 18.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,210 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in MGE Energy were worth $5,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  Utility stocks are generally considered conservative investments that reward shareholders over the long term with sizable dividends that grow slowly and steadily over time. With the S&P 500 Index's yield hovering around 2%, the bar for yield is set pretty low today. That said, investors should think twice before jumping at utilities like UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI), Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO), and MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE), which offer little if any yield advantage over an S&P 500 Index fund.

• [By Max Byerly]

  MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) was upgraded by analysts at BidaskClub from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating.

  Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) was upgraded by analysts at BidaskClub from a hold rating to a buy rating.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Watch For 2019: Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.(CRZO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Since independent oil and gas producer Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 results Tuesday morning, shares have taken a beating. Just looking at earnings per share (EPS) and revenues, the punishment seems to be worse than the crime.

• [By Benzinga News Desk]

  Carl Icahn fired off a letter to the board of AmTrust Financial Services (NASDAQ: AFSI) Thursday, blasting the firm for pursuing an “opportunistic going-private transaction” that would squeeze out minority shareholders: Link

  ECONOMIC DATA Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 9:15 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak at 9:15 a.m. ET. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET. ANALYST RATINGS Evercore upgraded Marriott (NASDAQ: MAR) from In-Line to Outperform Piper Jaffray upgraded Mellanox Technologies (NASDAQ: MLNX) from Neutral to Overweight Jefferies downgraded Carrizo Oil (NASDAQ: CRZO) from Buy to Hold Imperial downgraded Planet Fitness (NYSE: PLNT) from Outperform to In-Line

  This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ:CRZO) also rallied about 75% last quarter. The shale driller benefited from the uptick in crude prices, strong first-quarter results, and news that an activist investor increased its stake in the company to force changes such as selling assets or finding a merger partner. However, with shares surging in anticipation of a deal, the activist chose to cash in its chips and walk away toward the end of the quarter, after failing to convince the company to shift its strategy.

• [By Max Byerly]

  BidaskClub upgraded shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ:CRZO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

  Several other research firms have also commented on CRZO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a buy rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas in a research report on Thursday, July 12th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas in a report on Wednesday, July 18th. Finally, Williams Capital restated a buy rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas in a report on Monday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $29.58.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc (NASDAQ:CRZO) – Seaport Global Securities boosted their FY2019 earnings estimates for shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas in a report released on Monday, July 9th. Seaport Global Securities analyst M. Kelly now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings per share of $5.12 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $4.57.

Why New Relic's Stock Jumped 25% in January

What happened

Shares of New Relic (NYSE:NEWR), the software-as-a-service company, rose 25.5% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after an analyst upgraded the company's stock and raised its price target.

So what

New Relic's share price was slowly climbing in January, but it received a big boost in the middle of the month after Morgan Stanley analyst Sanjit Singh upgraded the company's stock from Equal Weight to Overweight and increased the stock's price target from $100 to $110.

Image source: Getty Images.

Singh said that New Relic should experience solid sales growth over the next few years, mainly due to the company's app services software. New Relic's software allows companies to track how well their apps are performing, which is a growing market called application performance management that could become a $9 billion market by 2023. The company is a leader in this space right now, and Singh expects New Relic's lead to expand.

Now what

New Relic's share price has slipped about 1.5% this month as of this writing. The company's share price had gained nearly 4% in the month, but the stock fell after New Relic released its third-quarter 2019 results. Sales increased 35% from the year-ago quarter to $124 million, but that wasn't enough to make investors happy. The company's share price has been very volatile over the past year, and investors can likely expect more of the same as the company continues to grow into the burgeoning app performance management market.

Mnuchin says Fed Chief Powell gave Trump an overview of the economy at 'very casual' dinner

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's recent dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House was "very casual," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.

"Chairman Powell gave the president an overview of the economy and what he was seeing, which was quite strong and consistent with his public comments," Mnuchin said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "We talked about everything from the economy to the golf match with Tiger [Woods] and Jack [Nicklaus] to the Super Bowl. We covered a wide range."

Trump and Powell sat down at dinner together on Monday for about an hour and a half, with Mnuchin and Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida also in attendance.

"It was, I think, a terrific meeting for them to get to see each other. They had not met since Jay Powell was put into office," Mnuchin added.

The dinner also came less than a week after Powell's Fed decided to leave interest rates alone and said it will be more "patient" in assessing future rate hikes. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed for raising rates. During the news conference following the Fed's policy meeting last week, Powell said the Fed does not take "political considerations" into account when making its decisions.

"I think the Fed chair was very consistent in what he said to the president with what he's been saying publicly in his press conferences. I think that the Fed chair has been very clear in looking at the economy and the Fed being clear that they have lots of different tools," Mnuchin said. "Again, I thought it was productive meeting. It was a casual meeting."

Mnuchin clarified that "there was not a thank you" from Trump for Powell maintaining interest rates. Rather, Mnuchin said there was only "a thank you for coming for dinner."

When asked how the president and his officials were able to walk the fine line of being apolitical in discussions with the Fed, Mnuchin noted that he meets "with Jay Powell every week."

"I think Jay Powell is very clear that he wasn't going to say anything in private inconsistent with what he said publicly, although, we did have somewhat of a covert operation getting him into the White House so that it didn't create speculation. Jay Powell put out a statement right after the meeting — we weren't trying to hide this," Mnuchin said.

He added that Powell "did not" have a wig and a mustache on to slip into the White House.

Hanesbrands Stock Has Quietly Gained 30%

Shares of Hanesbrands (NYSE:HBI), a manufacturer of basic apparel and activewear, were hit hard by the sell-off in stocks last December. Pessimism had been building for months after an exclusive deal with Target was killed by the retailer. That bad news coupled with panicked markets led to a steep decline for the beaten-down stock.

The recovery has been just as swift as the fall. Since bottoming out on Dec. 24, Hanesbrands stock has gained about 30%. Most of December's losses have been erased, and investors who took advantage of the temporary swoon have enjoyed market-beating returns.

Even after the 30% rally, the stock still has a lot more room to run. Hanesbrands is a very cheap stock, with a valuation that doesn't reflect the quality of the company. There are some challenges, but not enough to justify the market's pessimism.

Image source: Hanesbrands.

Trading for peanuts

Hanesbrands expects to produce adjusted earnings per share between $1.69 and $1.73 in 2018. That guidance is lower than it would be if not for the bankruptcy of Sears Holdings and a strong U.S. dollar. The company reports its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 7, so investors won't have to wait long to see if it can hit that target.

At the current stock price around $15 per share, the price-to-earnings ratio at the midpoint of that guidance range is a bit below nine. And that's after a 30% rally. At its low on Dec. 24, the stock traded for less than seven times earnings.

Hanesbrands is a highly profitable company, albeit one with a few problems. Through the first nine months of 2018, Hanesbrands posted an operating margin of 12.4%. That's down a bit year over year, but still a solid result.

Hanesbrands core underwear business has been declining, but growth in activewear and international sales have been picking up the slack. The company's Champion brand of activewear has been on fire. Champion sales soared 30% year over year in the third quarter, and they grew by 40% excluding the mass channel. The Target deal that Hanesbrands will lose in 2020 is for an exclusive line of Champion products, but the company still expects Champion to reach $2 billion of annual sales by 2022.

On top of trading for a single-digit multiple of earnings, Hanesbrands offers a sustainable 4% dividend that has room to grow. The $0.15 quarterly per-share dividend eats up just 35% of the company's annual adjusted earnings per share, leaving a big margin of safety for dividend investors.

Earnings on tap

Target reported strong sales growth over the holidays, and Walmart is expected to have had a solid holiday quarter as well. Those two retailers are Hanesbrands' largest customers, accounting for more than 30% of total sales in 2017. On the flip side, department stores like J. C. Penney had a miserable holiday season, with comparable sales tumbling. How all of this impacts Hanesbrands results will become clear when the company reports its own fourth-quarter numbers on Thursday.

Analysts aren't expecting much from Hanesbrands in 2019, with the average estimate calling for minimal sales growth and a small boost to per-share earnings. But any earnings growth at all is enough to justify a higher valuation. Decent 2019 guidance may be enough to propel the stock even higher.

Hanesbrands is not an exciting stock or a fast-growing company. But it's a great deal for both value and dividend investors.

Dunkin' Brands Upcoming Earnings: 3 Things to Watch

Investors are looking forward to Dunkin' Brands Group's (NASDAQ:DNKN) earnings announcement on Thursday, Feb. 7. Among their reasons for optimism is the fact that Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) had mostly positive things to say about the industry in its recent report.

Dunkin' Brands came into the period with solid momentum, too, thanks to a revamped snack and drink menu that resonated with customers in the third quarter. The chain sought to press that advantage this past quarter by elbowing into Starbucks' territory and seeking modest wins against McDonald's.

We'll find out later this week whether these initiatives worked in an ultra-competitive industry.

Image source: Getty Images

Snatching market share

The big question will be around market share and sales growth, given that Dunkin' Brands upgraded its stores to provide premium, espresso-based beverages during the quarter. That move puts it into more direct competition with Starbucks, which has dominated the niche for decades.

The coffee titan said in its most recent report that sales growth held steady at 4% in the U.S. market and was powered by healthy demand for its beverages. Starbucks also reported that customer traffic trends improved for the third straight quarter and were flat compared to a minor decline in the prior period.

Expectations aren't quite as high for Dunkin' Brands, but investors are looking for it to post modestly positive sales following last quarter's 1.3% uptick. Ideally, customer traffic trends improved as well.

Finally, the company should see better economic returns if sales tilted toward higher-margin beverage sales, as management hoped they would.

Expanding the store base

Many of the company's recent changes, including bulking up its snack menu and pushing into premium drinks, are targeted at boosting its appeal so that the chain can dramatically expand its sales base. Management aims to more than double the U.S. store count, in fact, to almost 20,000 locations, by pushing westward over the next several years.

That optimistic outlook means investors will be scrutinizing the economic returns from Dunkin' Brands' latest crop of new stores that are predominantly launching outside of the company's geographic base in the northeastern part of the U.S. It should wrap fiscal 2018 up having added about 275 restaurants to its footprint for a small slowdown from last year's 313 launches. CEO David Hoffmann said last quarter's 52 new locations were off to a good start, and the chain hopes to keep that momentum going into early 2019.

A robust outlook?

Starbucks set a positive industry tone by increasing its growth outlook after having lowered its guidance in each of the last two fiscal years. Dunkin' Brands might have similarly optimistic things to say as it looks forward to fiscal 2019. Forecasting a sales growth acceleration from the roughly 1% rate it has achieved lately would be a good start. Investors might also find plenty to cheer if the company projects a more aggressive store growth plan for the new year.

On the other hand, if Hoffmann and his team predict flat or declining sales at existing locations, or take the foot off the gas pedal in their geographic expansion plans, then it's likely Dunkin' Brands' latest growth initiatives failed to achieve management's targets. If that's the case, shareholders will be in for a rough ride next week.

PayPal's Strength Masked By Strong January Market

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-39683656&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/39683656/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Top quant investor, Wayne Himelsein, picks PayPal.

A strong January has lifted many stocks that are just riding the market&s;s coattails. Since there are significant market risks, I have been looking for companies that have such strong fundamentals that they can move up even in a down market. Wayne Himelsein, one of my managers, says PayPal fits the bill.

&l;strong&g;Ken Kam&l;/strong&g;: Would you agree that when the market is advancing, it is tougher to spot the true winners?

&l;strong&g;Wayne Himelsein&l;/strong&g;: That&a;rsquo;s right; when the great majority of stocks looks good, it can be quite a bit more difficult to spot those that are doing so on their own merit.

The market has an amazing way of carrying all its constituents along with it. And for good reason. Good broad economic news trickles through to everyone. If the Fed doesn&a;rsquo;t raise rates, all of corporate America gets cheaper money, so all profits benefit. Makes perfect sense.

But we cannot fall for this trap when stock picking. We still have to find the differentiating drivers, for those are the ones that will often hold up better when the markets pull back, or better yet, advance far past the market as it climbs. That&a;rsquo;s what we all really want.

&l;strong&g;Kam&l;/strong&g;: That is exactly what we all want! And you say PayPal is one of those, I&a;rsquo;m eager to hear why?

&l;strong&g;Himelsein&l;/strong&g;: Perfect, because I&a;rsquo;m eager to share! My champion for today is PayPal, the literal mover of money is about to move our investing money.

PayPal has revealed its strength, from the get-go of its existence back in July 2015. From its launching pad in mid-2015, it accumulated energy through about April of 2017, going almost nowhere upward, but expressing the building of spring tension in the way it traveled.

It squeezed itself as it moved forward, pushing up against mildly rising tops with aggressively rising bottoms. That is, every time it moved toward its high points, it would pull back less and less, getting nowhere near its prior low levels. It&a;rsquo;s like that shrinking perspective room from Alice in Wonderland, where as you walk forward the space shrinks around you, except with Paypal, it was from the bottom pushing up. And then it popped, like wildfire, gaining 100% over the next 8 months, till January of 2018.

&l;strong&g;Kam&l;/strong&g;: That sounds great, but what about now, looking forward?

&l;strong&g;Himelsein&l;/strong&g;: Fair point. It is all history. But what that view does for us, is establish a behavior. It&a;rsquo;s like our kids. The outgoing dynamic child in 2nd grade versus the introverted quiet child in 6th grade, are highly likely to be exactly those personality traits leaping 30 years forward. More so, the dynamic 2nd grader will more likely be a CEO, and the introvert, an author. Not always, but the point stands that character and behavior often project forward, with kids, and with stocks.

And it is with that projective behavioral lens that I refer to PayPal&a;rsquo;s sideways choppy movement from January of 2018 through January of 2019. For that whole year, it has bounced, up and down, down and up, going almost nowhere, on average, albeit in style. And the style is both healthy and tension building.

&l;strong&g;Kam&l;/strong&g;: Interesting. So you are pointing to a repeat of its first build up and explosive run as if we are coming up upon round two?

&l;strong&g;Himelsein&l;/strong&g;: Precisely. That said, in the markets, round two is never quite like round one; it just can&a;rsquo;t be that easy. But there are certainly similarities, as well as nuances that equally shine. For example, the basing in the October-December market correction is, at every low point, higher than the basing in the February market correction. Not so for the market, but yes so for PayPal.

Also, if we slap a close up lens on the camera, and look just at the basing in October-December market correction, we see each and every low point higher than the prior one. Again, not so for the market, and concurrently, quite extraordinary to achieve when all around is falling apart. To be &a;ldquo;building&a;rdquo; when others are &a;ldquo;crumbling&a;rdquo; is a feature I love.

Finally, if we turn that lens up to the highest power, and look at just the recent week, we see an all-time high on January 25th. Obviously, not even close for the broader market which is still far below its all-time highs. But more importantly for Paypal, it may be the first leg of a break out of the year-long tension building in the spring. Pop goes the weasel.

&l;strong&g;Kam&l;/strong&g;: I see those things, and now appreciate the point you are making. It&a;rsquo;s quite a different setup but shares the overall behavior you describe. Is this what you meant by stand-alone strength?

&l;strong&g;Himelsein&l;/strong&g;: Exactly what I meant. While January has been an incredible month in the market in relation to all January&a;rsquo;s in history, and all months in all markets, PayPal is still standing out, both in its most recent achievements and more ironically, in just acting the same way it has in prior years. The fact that we seem to be at the tail end of a long time energy build up, with a pending pop in our midst, is coincidental to a wider blow-out January.

It certainly made it harder to see amongst all the green ticks, but not impossible. Excellence has a way of screaming.

&l;strong&g;My Take&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;Although I am impressed with the market&s;s performance in January, I worry that we will see another bout of market weakness due to another government shutdown, another disappointment in the China trade war or another Brexit scare.

PayPal did well in January&s;s market. Wayne argues that the stock can do well even if the market doesn&s;t. This is exactly the kind of judgment call that is behind Wayne&s;s excellent long-term track record.

Wayne Himelsein&s;s Logica Focus Fund (LFF) has an 18+ year track record that extends through 2 market crashes, numerous corrections, and sector rotations. Over that period, Wayne&s;s model averaged 11.37% a year which compares well to the S&a;amp;P 500&s;s 5.57% return for the same period.

To be notified when Wayne updates his views, &l;a href=&q;https://paths.marketocracy.com/lists/?p=subscribe&a;amp;id=24&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;click here&l;/a&g;. To be notified when I write about specific stocks my top managers cover &l;a href=&q;https://paths.marketocracy.com/lists/?p=subscribe&a;amp;id=1&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;click here&l;/a&g;.&l;/p&g;

Dow Jones Industrial Average Today Opens Lower As Earnings Reports Keep Rolling In

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average will try to hold above the 25,000 level after a 434-point surge Wednesday.

This morning, Dow Futures projected a small decline as investors weighed earnings reports and a breaking development that U.S. and Chinese officials are negotiating a meeting for later this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Here are the numbers from Wednesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Index	Previous Close	Point Change	Percentage Change
Dow Jones	25,014.86	434.90	1.77%
Nasdaq	7,183.08	154.79	2.20%
S&P 500	2,681.05	41.05	1.55%

Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks…

The Top Stories Moving the Dow Jones Industrial Average Today Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) leads a busy day of earnings reports on Thursday. As stocks continue to rally, there are reasons to have some concerns about the e-commerce giant's report after the bell today. Although half of American households are Prime members and its core businesses are growing, the firm has a history of falling short of Wall Street earnings expectations during the holiday quarter. Today, analysts expect the firm will report earnings per share of $5.65, up from $2.16 during the same period last year. Revenue is pegged at $71.88 million, up from $60.45 billion last year.

Can't-Miss Opportunity: Renowned Author of Best-Selling Investment "Bible" Just Released His Newest Pick

On Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced plans to keep interest rates unchanged. Powell appeared to reverse his sentiment on the central bank's plans on monetary policy moving forward, and said it will be "patient" with rate hikes moving forward. The decision to hold pat on rates came while U.S. pending home sales plunged by 9.8% year over year. Higher interest rates and rising housing costs are pushing the "dream" of a new home out of more Americans' reach. The record cold temperatures across the Midwest have paralyzed power companies and halted manufacturing at some of America's largest plants. In Michigan, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU) announced it was halting auto production in 15 facilities due to a lack of natural gas across the state. The thermometer plunged as low as -75 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas on Wednesday, and subzero temperatures are expected to last at least through Thursday. Follow topicMorning Market Alert

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Stocks to Watch Today: GE, FB, TSLA Shares of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) popped 7% in pre-market hours after the company reported stronger-than-expected revenue before the bell. The firm's profit estimates, however, fell $0.05 short of consensus expectations at $0.17 per share. CEO Larry Culp will still need to address three issues that are keeping many potential investors on edge: GE Capital still faces financial challenges, the SEC and Justice Department are still investigating the firm, and its power division has been burning cash at an incredible rate. Shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) popped more than 11% in pre-market hours after the company crushed earnings after the bell Wednesday. The social media giant reported gains in daily active users in every geographic market on the planet. The firm also reported earnings per share of $2.38, topping expectations by $0.19. Its $16.91 billion in quarterly revenue also bested consensus expectations of $16.39 billion. The firm matched daily and monthly active user estimates. In addition, investors largely ignored the latest date scandal rattling sentiment. Shares of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) slumped 4.5% before the bell Thursday. During the company's quarterly conference call, CEO Elon Musk announced that CFO Deepak Ahuja will be retiring. This is the second time that Ahuja has departed the company after returning just two years ago. Despite the departure, the firm's quarterly earnings report was mixed overall. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.93, well below the $2.20 expected by analysts. Revenue, however, beat estimates, and Musk said he expects that his company will be profitable moving forward. Look for other earnings reports from Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA), Celegene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS), Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK), and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO). This Is How You Can Grow Incredibly Rich Buying Straight-Up Stocks

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