Month: May 2015

MeadWestvaco Corporation MWV and Rock-Tenn Company RKT have announced a date for special meetings of their respective shareholders to approve their previously announced merger, which is likely to be completed by Jul 1, 2015. Shares of MeadWestvaco gained 1.15% on the news. Following the merger, MeadWestvaco and RockTenn will become subsidiaries of WestRock Company, the new company that will be formed from their combination, as named by the former two earlier this month. […]

Of late, leading enterprise application software company SAP SE ’s SAP ‘SuccessFactors’ seems to be the magic answer to the prayers of large multinational companies’ human resource management ("HRM") problems. SuccessFactors, a SAP company specialized in providing cloud-based human capital management (“HCM”) solution, has been gaining an increasing number of clients in the U.S. market […]

On May 22, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. ENH by a notch to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). […]

Barrick Gold Corporation ABX has entered into a deal to sell the Cowal mine in New South Wales, Australia to Evolution Mining for $550 million in cash on closing. The transaction is expected to conclude in the third quarter of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions. The sale is in sync with Barrick’s strategy of creating long-term value for shareholders as it would contribute considerably to the company’s debt reduction target and allow it to focus on expanding the geographic footprint of its portfolio. […]

Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) suggest that average airfares in the U.S. for the month of April declined 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. […]

SunEdison Inc. SUNE , the world’s leading renewable energy developing company, is benefitting from the rising global demand for cheap and clean energy. Recently, the company announced that it has been awarded a contract to build 33 megawatts (MW) of rooftop arrays in Southern California by Southern California Edison – a subsidiary of Edison International EIX . […]

We updated our research report on Facebook, Inc. FB on May 25, 2015. […]

After the resolution of foreign exchange (“FX”) market rigging probe , major banks are now bracing themselves for penalties from the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”), as a result of investigations over manipulation of automated FX trading. The news was first reported by The Financial Times. […]

Lincoln National Corporation ’s LNC board of directors recently sanctioned an increase in its share repurchase program to $1.0 billion. The board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per share. The company’s share price, however, has been trending downward post announcement and has shown a 1.04% fall in the last two trading sessions, finally closing at $58.61 per share on May 22. […]

In the last trading session, shares of Frontier Communications Corporation FTR fell 3.4%, touching a 52-week low of $5.14. However, the company’s shares ended a trifle higher at $5.16. […]

On May 21, we issued an updated research report on Vulcan Materials Company VMC . Vulcan Materials’ first-quarter 2015 (results announced on May 5) adjusted loss of 16 cents per share was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as the year-ago loss on the back of solid aggregates volume, increasing pricing momentum and lower diesel costs. Revenues in the key aggregates segment grew 17.4% driven by continued strong demand growth and increasing pricing momentum in the segment. […]

With an aim to expand its portfolio in the booming market of Naples, FL, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust PEB announced the acquisition of LaPlaya Beach Resort and LaPlaya Beach Club for $185.5 million. However, per the agreement, Noble House Hotels & Resorts will continue to manage the LaPlaya portfolio. The acquisition is expected to be accretive for the Bethesda, MD-based real estate equity trust (“REIT”), going forward. […]

Upstream energy firm Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC VNR has added yet another company to its acquisition tally. On May 21, Vanguard announced that it has entered into a merger agreement with smaller oil and gas company Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.P. EROC […]

Shares of CF Industries CF touched a new 52-week high of $322.39 on May 22, exceeding the previous high of $320.57. The stock pulled back to close the day at $320.92. The fertilizer maker, which has a market cap of around $15.1 billion, has seen its shares rise roughly 34% over the past year. […]

ArcelorMittal MT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with India’s leading steel company – the Steel Authority of India (“SAIL”) – for setting up an automotive steel producing unit in the country, under a joint venture arrangement. The MoU was jointly signed by Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, and C.S. Verma, Chairman of SAIL, in the presence of Rakesh Singh, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Steel, and Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal CFO and CEO ArcelorMittal Europe […]

Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB began fiscal 2016 on a disappointing note as this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company posted lower-than-expected top and bottom-line results for the first quarter. Hibbett’s quarterly earnings of $1.09 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.14, but remained flat year over year […]

Chico's FAS Inc. CHS , one of the leading women’s specialty retailers, is slated to report its first-quarter fiscal 2015 results on May 27, 2015. […]

Amgen AMGN is a step closer to gaining EU approval for its cholesterol management candidate, Repatha (evolocumab) with the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommending the approval of the experimental treatment in certain patients with high cholesterol. The positive opinion covers the use of Repatha for the treatment of adults with primary hypercholesterolemia (heterozygous familial and non-familial [HeFH]) or mixed dyslipidemia, as an adjunct to diet in combination with a statin or a statin with other lipid-lowering therapies in patients unable to reach LDL-C (bad cholesterol) goals with the maximum tolerated dose of a statin, or alone or in combination with other lipid-lowering therapies in patients who are statin-intolerant, or for whom a statin is contraindicated. Repatha also received a positive opinion for use in the treatment of adults and adolescents (12 years and above) with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) in combination with other lipid-lowering therapies […]

On Apr 22, 2015, we issued an updated research report on Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY . The company is currently repositioning itself through asset monetization and divestments to create a low-risk portfolio that will provide steady production growth. […]