With shares of Corning (NYSE:GLW) trading around $17, is GLW an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework.
T = Trends for a Stock’s MovementCorning produces and sells specialty glasses, ceramics, and related materials worldwide. It operates in five segments: Display Technologies, Telecommunications, Environmental Technologies, Specialty Materials, and Life Sciences. Corning has launched Corning Lotus Glass, an environmentally friendly display glass for organic LED and LCD displays that are used in portable devices such as smartphones, tablets, and notebook computers. Smart phones, tablets, notebook computers, and their related materials are seeing explosive growth in developed and developing countries around the world.
Corning on Tuesday announced its results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2013.�Core earnings per share were 29 cents, an increase of 4 percent over last year�� fourth quarter and better than expected. GAAP earnings per share were 30 cents.�Core sales were $2 billion, a 2 percent decline from the comparable period last year.��013 was a very successful year for Corning,��Wendell P. Weeks, chairman, chief executive officer, and president, said in the earnings report. ��e achieved the company�� primary performance goal of restoring earnings growth. This was accomplished by regaining positive momentum in our LCD business and growing the earnings in our other segments. We also delivered on our commitment to enhance shareholder value by increasing the cash dividend and executing more than $1.5 billion in share repurchases. The company�� performance was recognized by a 41% improvement in the year�� share price, a result with which we are delighted.��/p>
Best Computer Hardware Companies To Watch For 2015: Ashland Inc. (ASH)
Ashland Inc. operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States and internationally. Its Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients segment produces cellulose ethers; and specialty additives and functional ingredients. Its products offer functionality, such as thickening and rheology control; water retention; adhesive strength; binding power; film formation; protective colloid, suspending, and emulsifying action; foam control; and pH stability. The company?s Ashland Hercules Water Technologies segment manufactures papermaking chemicals and supplies specialty chemicals. It offers sizing agents, wet/dry strength additives, and crepe and release additives for tissue manufacturing; and deposit control agents, defoamers, biocides, and other process additives. This segment also provides specialized chemicals and consulting services for the utility water treatment; and performance-based feed and control systems; and monitoring devices and remote system surveillance. Its A shland Performance Materials segment manufactures and supplies specialty chemicals and customized services to the building and construction, transportation, metal casting, packaging and converting, and marine markets. It also offers unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins, and gelcoats; adhesives and specialty resins; and metal casting consumables and design services. The company?s Ashland Consumer Markets segment produces and markets packaged automotive lubricants, chemicals, appearance products, antifreeze, and filters to the private passenger car, light truck, and heavy duty markets. It also operates a quick-lube franchise under the name of Valvoline Instant Oil Change. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Covington, Kentucky.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Victor Selva] ow such a promising comeback, and the drop in revenue during 2012 was anticipated by investor Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio), who sold out his 3.9 million share position by the third quarter of that year.
Another industry giant, Huntsman Corporation (HUN) did show more promising results, and less volatile revenues during these last years. This, of course, has led to a high price to earnings ratio discouraging investors as we see later.
Geographically Diversified
On 2012, almost 50% of Eastman sales were generated in North America, while more than 25% were in Asia and 20% in Europe, Middle East and Africa. This diversification is to be taken into account since it guarantees long-term revenue, even if cigarette consumption decreases in some specific region (for instance, American sales declined �in recent years), which would stabilize acetate tow demands worldwide.
Industrial Background and Gurus��Preference
Eastman�� earnings per share growth was significantly higher than industry median (46.9% vs. 5.2%) but so was Huntsman��, at 46.5%. The critical difference between these two industry giants stands out by looking at their price to earnings: Eastman�� is below median (16.4 vs. 19.1) while Huntsman rose up to 130.1, thus entailing a significant price premium relative to industry peers��average.
Although Ashland does have an inferior price to earnings ratio than Eastman�� (11.5), there�� a significant difference in their earnings per share growth: 27%, probably caused by a decline in revenue.
This might have been one of the reasons that motivated investors David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) to significantly reduce their stake in Huntsman (both of them by more than 80% margin). In contrast, Leon Cooperman (Trades, Portfolio) and Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio), reinforced their positions in Eastman. Most notably, Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio)
- [By Shauna O'Brien]
Jefferies reported on Thursday that it has cut its rating on chemical company Ashland Inc. (ASH).
The firm has downgraded ASH from “Buy” to “Hold,” and has lowered the company’s price target from $104 to $97. This price target suggests a 9% upside from the stock’s current price of $88.47.
Analyst Laurence Alexander commented: “Investor confidence in the asset shuffling thesis may not withstand 2-3 more rounds of downward revisions to EPS and FCF forecasts for 2014E-2016E.”
“Pension headwinds, incentive comp, Valvoline marketing expenses, sluggish end markets: in our view, it all adds up, and makes further multiple expansion more difficult.”
Looking ahead, the firm has reduced estimates for the fourth quarter from $1.70 to $1.59 per share. For FY2013, earnings estimates have been lowered from $6.25 to $6.15 per share. FY2014 estimates have been cut from $7.45 to $6.75 per share.
Ashland shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Thursday. The stock is up 10% YTD
- [By Seth Jayson]
Margins matter. The more Ashland (NYSE: ASH ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Ashland's competitive position could be.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Ashland (NYSE: ASH ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2014: IRSA Inversiones Y Representaciones S.A. (IRS)
IRSA Investments and Representations Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in a range of diversified real estate investment and related activities in Argentina. The company is involved in the acquisition, development, and operation of shopping centers, offices, and other non-shopping center properties primarily for rental purposes; development and sale of residential properties; acquisition and operation of luxury hotels; and acquisition of undeveloped land reserves for future development purpose. It also engages in consumer financing activities, including credit card products to its consumers at shopping centers, hypermarkets, and street stores. IRSA Investments and Representations, Inc. was founded in 1943 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
In trading on Wednesday, financial shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.24 percent. Top losers in the sector included IRSA Investments and Representations (NYSE: IRS), down 3.2 percent, and OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ: OCFC), off 2.5 percent.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2014: Huntsman Corporation(HUN)
Huntsman Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of differentiated organic and inorganic chemical products worldwide. The company offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, propylene oxide, polyols, propylene glycol, thermoplastic polyurethane, aniline, and methyl tertiary-butyl ether products, which are used to produce rigid and flexible foams, as well as coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers; and performance products, such as amines, carbonates, surfactants, linear alkyl benzene, maleic anhydride, performance chemicals, ethylene glycol, olefins, and technology licenses. It also provides advanced materials comprising epoxy resin compounds and formulations; cross-linking, matting agents, and curing agents; and epoxy, acrylic and polyurethane-based adhesives, and tooling resin formulations. In addition, Huntsman Corporation offers textile chemicals, dyes, and titanium dioxide. The company?s products are used in various applicatio ns, including adhesives, aerospace, automotive, construction products, durable and non-durable consumer products, electronics, medical, packaging, paints and coatings, power generation, refining, synthetic fiber, textile chemicals, and dye industries. Huntsman Corporation was founded in 1970 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Another source of potential problems is the titanium dioxide market. DuPont has made substantial investments in boosting TiO2 production based on the extremely high demand seen a couple of years ago, but buyers stockpiled substantial amounts of the chemical in order to avoid paying ever-higher prices. DuPont joined competitors Huntsman (NYSE: HUN ) and Tronox (NYSE: TROX ) in implementing TiO2 price increases, with DuPont's effective July 1, but the question remains whether the paint makers that need the chemical will keep buying or continue to seek cheaper substitutes.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2014: PC-Tel Inc.(PCTI)
PCTEL, Inc. provides propagation and optimization solutions for the wireless industry. It designs and develops software-based radios (scanning receivers) for wireless network optimization; and develops and distributes antenna solutions. The company?s scanning receivers, receiver-based products, and interference management solutions are used to measure, monitor, and optimize cellular networks. It offers various antenna products for worldwide interoperability for microwave access antennas, land mobile radio antennas, and precision global positioning systems antennas that serve applications in telemetry, radio frequency identification, WiFi, fleet management, and mesh networks. The company?s antenna solutions address public safety, military, and government applications; supervisory control and data acquisition, health care, energy, smart grid, and agricultural applications; and indoor wireless, wireless backhaul, and cellular applications. PCTEL, Inc. supplies its products to public and private carriers, wireless infrastructure providers, wireless equipment distributors, value added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers through distributors and direct sales force. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Bloomingdale, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]
I'm perfectly happy recycling past investment ideas, and PCTEL (PCTI) treated me quite well indeed when I owned the stock about a decade ago. Since that time, though, the company has gone through a significant transformation and is really only the same in name only. Different isn't always better, but I do believe that PCTEL now operates a collection of businesses with interesting growth and margin potential. PCTEL does not appear to be tremendously undervalued today on a cash flow basis, but with almost $3 per share in cash on the balance sheet further acquisitions could improve its growth prospects further.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
PCTEL (PCTI) designs and develops software-based radios for wireless network optimization and develops and distributes innovative antenna solutions. This stock closed up 1.1% to $9.83 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $9.70-$9.85
52-Week Range: $5.65-$10.00
Thursday's Volume: 77,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 80,200From a technical perspective, PCTI bounced modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $9.50 with decent upside volume. This stock has been trending sideways in a consolidation pattern for the last month, with shares moving between $9.08 on the downside and $10 on the upside. Shares of PCTI are now quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if PCTI manages to take out its 52-week high at $10 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PCTI as long as it's trending above near-term support at $9.50 or above $9.08 and then once it sustains a move or close above $10 with volume that hits near or above 80,200 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then PCTI will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $12 to $13.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2014: MGIC Investment Corp (MTG)
MGIC Investment Corporation (MGIC), incorporated June 21, 1984, is a holding company and through wholly owned subsidiaries is a private mortgage insurer in the United States. As of December 31, 2012, its principal mortgage insurance subsidiaries, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) and MGIC Indemnity Corporation (MIC), were each licensed in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. During the year ending December 31, 2012, the Company wrote new insurance in each of those jurisdictions in MGIC and/or MIC. The Company capitalized MIC to write new insurance in certain jurisdictions where MGIC no longer meets, and is unable to obtain a waiver of, those jurisdictions��minimum capital requirements. Private mortgage insurance covers losses from homeowner defaults on residential mortgage loans, reducing and, in some instances, eliminating the loss to the insured institution if the homeowner defaults.
Mortgage Insurance
Primary insurance provides mortgage default protection on individual loans and covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest and certain expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure. Primary insurance is written on first mortgage loans secured by owner occupied single-family homes, which are one-to-four family homes and condominiums. Primary insurance is also written on first liens secured by non-owner occupied single-family homes, which are referred to in the home mortgage lending industry as investor loans, and on vacation or second homes. Primary coverage can be used on any type of residential mortgage loan instrument approved by the mortgage insurer.
When a borrower refinances a mortgage loan insured by the Company by paying it off in full with the proceeds of a new mortgage that is also insured by it, the insurance on that existing mortgage is cancelled, and insurance on the new mortgage is considered to be new primary insurance written. Therefore, continuation of its coverage fr! om a refinanced loan to a new loan results in both a cancellation of insurance and new insurance written. When a lender and borrower modify a loan rather than replace it with a new one, or enter into a new loan pursuant to a loan modification program, its insurance continues without being cancelled assuming that the Company consent to the modification or new loan.
The borrower�� mortgage loan instrument requires the borrower to pay the mortgage insurance premium. There are several payment plans available to the borrower, or lender, as the case may be. Under the monthly premium plan, the borrower or lender pays it a monthly premium payment to provide only one month of coverage. Under the annual premium plan, an annual premium is paid to it in advance, and it earns and recognizes the premium over the next 12 months of coverage, with annual renewal premiums paid in advance thereafter and earned over the subsequent 12 months of coverage. Under the single premium plan, the borrower or lender pays it a single payment covering a specified term exceeding twelve months.
Pool insurance is used as an additional credit enhancement for certain secondary market mortgage transactions. Pool insurance covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. Pool insurance is used as an additional credit enhancement for certain secondary market mortgage transactions. Pool insurance covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan, which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. In general, the loans insured by it in Wall Street bulk transactions consisted of loans with reduced underwriting documentation; cash out! refinanc! es, which exceed the standard underwriting requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively GSEs); A- loans; subprime loans, and jumbo loans.
Other Products and Services
The Company has participated in risk sharing arrangements with the GSEs and captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements with subsidiaries of certain mortgage lenders, which reinsure a portion of the risk on loans originated or serviced by the lenders, which have MGIC primary insurance. It provides information regarding captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements to the New York Department of Insurance (known as the New York Department of Financial Services), the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, (HUD). It performs contract underwriting services for lenders, in which it judges whether the data relating to the borrower and the loan contained in the lender�� mortgage loan application file comply with the lender�� loan underwriting guidelines. It also provides an interface to submit data to the automated underwriting systems of the GSEs, which independently judge the data. These services are provided for loans, which require private mortgage insurance, as well as for loans that do not require private mortgage insurance. It provides mortgage services for the mortgage finance industry, such as portfolio retention and secondary marketing of mortgages.
The Company competes with Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Administration, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation, United Guaranty Residential Insurance Company, Radian Guaranty Inc., CMG Mortgage Insurance Company, and Essent Guaranty, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anna Prior]
MGIC Investment Corp.(MTG) and Radian Group Inc.(RDN) criticized proposed standards for private-mortgage insurers seeking to do business with Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), claiming the level of liquid assets insurers would need to hold is excessive. MGIC shares slumped 13% to $8.00 premarket, while Radian shares fell 6.5% to $13.60.
- [By Amanda Alix]
Hot on the heels of a $15 million Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with mortgage insurers Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW ) , MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG ) , Radian Group (NYSE: RDN ) , and United Guaranty, a subsidiary of AIG (NYSE: AIG ) , over kickbacks�paid to banks for mortgage insurance, comes some bad news in the same vein -- this time, for Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) .
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2014: Franklin Universal Trust (FT)
Franklin Universal Trust (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is to provide high current income consistent with preservation of capital. Its secondary objective is growth of income through dividend increases and capital appreciation. The Fund invests primarily in two asset classes: high-yield bonds and utility stocks.
The Fund invests in sectors, such as non-energy minerals, utilities, commercial services, communications, consumer durables, consumer non-durables, electronic technology, industrial services, process industries, technology services and transportation. The Fund may invest in the Franklin Institutional Fiduciary Trust Money Market Portfolio (the Sweep Money Fund), an open-end investment company managed by its investment manager. The Fund may invest in restricted securities. The Fund�� investment manager is Franklin Advisers Inc. Its administrative manager is Franklin Templeton Services, LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Canadian Value]
(FT): A 500-tonne gap in China's gold consumption data is fueling talk that the central bank took advantage of weak prices last year to bulk up its holdings of the precious metal.
- [By Canadian Value]
(FT): Russia's central bank has warned that Russia's consumer lending sector threatens the country's "financial stability", the same day that it revoked the licence of Master Bank, a midsized retail lender.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ocado Group PLC (OCDO)
Ocado Group plc is a United Kingdom-based holding company. The Company�� principal activities are the retailing, logistics and distribution of grocery and consumer goods and the development and monetisation of intellectual property and technology for the online retailing, logistics and distribution of these goods. The Company is an online grocery retailer. The Company�� subsidiaries include Ocado Holdings Limited, Ocado Limited, Ocado Information Technology Limited, Last Mile Developments Limited and Last Mile Developments Limited. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sarah Jones]
Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American Plc (AAL) retreated more than 2.5 percent as copper and lead declined. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) sank 6.8 percent as analysts downgraded the shares. Standard Life Plc slipped 1.2 percent as Chief Financial Officer Jackie Hunt resigned to move to a rival insurer. Ocado Group Plc (OCDO) fell for the first day this week as the online grocer ruled out a takeover by William Morrison Supermarkets Plc.
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