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There are multiple economic and financial numbers investors can monitor in 2018 to get a sense of the market environment. David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Funds, offers his own list of the top 10 data points he recommends investors watch this year.
In his inaugural weekly note for 2018, Kelly says the list is his answer to a question he gets asked most often: “whether there is any one number which I track to get a sense of the investment environment … The answer is no — the economy and markets are honestly a little too complicated for that.”
1. GDP growth. Kelly expects real GDP, which is adjusted for inflation and grew 3.1% and 3.2% in the second and third quarters of 2017, will finish 2018 up 3%, comparing Q4 2018 to Q4 2017. (The initial Q4 GDP won’t be released until Jan. 26 and the final number will be out March 28.)
Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: W.R. Berkley Corporation(WRB)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Joseph Griffin]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on W. R. Berkley (WRB)
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- [By Logan Wallace]
W. R. Berkley (NYSE: WRB) and State Auto Financial (NASDAQ:STFC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.
- [By Ethan Ryder]
ValuEngine cut shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.
WRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 14th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Boenning Scattergood restated a hold rating on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, April 25th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday. They set a sell rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $70.78.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on W. R. Berkley (WRB)
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Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]
For the details of Stilwell Value LLC’s stock buys and sells, go to www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Stilwell+Value+LLC
These are the top 5 holdings of Stilwell Value LLCOFG Bancorp (OFG) – 1,614,868 shares, 14.1% of the total portfolio. Kingsway Financial Services Inc (KFS) – 3,780,889 shares, 12.63% of the total portfolio. HopFed Bancorp Inc (HFBC) – 627,128 shares, 7.62% of the total portfolio. Alcentra Capital Corp (ABDC) – 1,251,324 shares, 7.27% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 20.66%Sound Financial Bancorp Inc (SFBC) – 228,600 shares, 7.02% of th
- [By Shane Hupp]
These are some of the news articles that may have impacted Accern’s scoring:
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Principal Financial Group (PFG) Approves New $300M Buyback (streetinsider.com) Principal Financial Group (PFG) Announces Share Repurchase Plan (americanbankingnews.com) Is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now? (finance.yahoo.com) Principal Financial Group is Oversold (nasdaq.com) Principal Names New Chief Human Resources Officer (finance.yahoo.com)
Several equities analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 5th. Wells Fargo reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, March 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Friday, March 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.18.
- [By Logan Wallace]
ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE:PFG) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ethan Ryder]
American Equity Investment Life (NYSE: AEL) and Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and valuation.
- [By Zacks]
Well, given the growing demand for securitized mortgage deals, Barclays plans to package and sell these Irish loans over the next two months. The group of investors that has shown interest in buying residential mortgage backed securities includes M&G Investments, the investment management division of British insurer Prudential Plc (NYSE: PRU) and Pacific Investment Management Co. ("PIMCO").
- [By Joseph Griffin]
These are some of the headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:
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Prudential (PUK) Presents At 2018 Deutsche Bank Annual Global Financial Services Conference – Slideshow (seekingalpha.com) Leston Welsh joins Prudential Group Insurance as head of Disability and Absence Management (finance.yahoo.com) Contrasting Prudential Financial (PRU) & Old Mutual (ODMTY) (americanbankingnews.com) Prudential again accused with unauthorised money deduction (vir.com.vn) An Application for the Trademark MULLINTBG Has Been Filed by Prudential Insurance Company (insurancenewsnet.com)
Prudential Financial traded down $5.05, hitting $94.97, during midday trading on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. 2,919,216 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,103. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $42.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.52. Prudential Financial has a one year low of $94.51 and a one year high of $127.14.
- [By Jason Hall, Chuck Saletta, and Reuben Gregg Brewer]
But that doesn’t mean you need to make risky bets to capture solid returns, either, and buying solid companies at reasonable prices can help create a margin of safety and improve your returns, while also decreasing your risk of permanent losses. Three stocks that meet these criteria are small healthcare real-estate specialistCaretrust REIT Inc(NASDAQ:CTRE), financial services giantPrudential Financial Inc(NYSE:PRU), and energy behemothExxonMobil Corporation(NYSE:XOM).
Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Topdanmark A/S (TOP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Logan Wallace]
TopCoin (CURRENCY:TOP) traded down 15.4% against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 7:00 AM E.T. on June 21st. During the last seven days, TopCoin has traded up 4% against the dollar. TopCoin has a market cap of $0.00 and approximately $123.00 worth of TopCoin was traded on exchanges in the last day. One TopCoin coin can currently be bought for about $0.0010 or 0.00000015 BTC on popular exchanges.
Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: American International Group Inc.(AIG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Losers
Heat Biologics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTBX) shares tumbled 48.59 percent to close at $1.275 on Thursday after the company priced its $18,000,000 public offering.
InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NVIV) fell 38.77 percent to close at $8.26 on Thursday.
Check-Cap Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHEK) shares tumbled 27.43 percent to close at $8.81.
Achaogen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAO) dropped 24.76 percent to close at $11.06 in reaction to a disappointing update from an FDA AdCom panel. The FDA panel voted favorably for the company's Plazcomicin for treatment of adults with complicated urinary tract infections, but also voted against the therapy to be used as a treatment for bloodstream infections.
Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIK) shares declined 24.68 percent to close at $34.80 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results.
LSC Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LKSD) shares fell 24.22 percent to close at $12.64 following wider-than-expected Q1 loss.
Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) fell 21.42 percent to close at $50.80 following downbeat quarterly profit.
Horizon Global Corporation (NYSE: HZN) dropped 20.42 percent to close at $6.00 following downbeat quarterly earnings.
Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE: HOS) slipped 20.11 percent to close at $2.90 following wider-than-expected Q1 loss.
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR) fell 19.28 percent to close at $36.93. Esperion Therapeutics stock lost roughly a third of its value Wednesday after the company reported mixed Phase III results for its leading drug candidate, bempedoic acid. JP Morgan downgraded Esperion Therapeutics from Neutral to Underweight.
Laredo Petroleum, Inc. (NYSE: LPI) declined 17.77 percent to close at $8.98 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings.
The Habit Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: HABT) dipped 16.1 percent to close at $8.60 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.
Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (N - [By Logan Wallace]
Gifford Fong Associates acquired a new position in shares of American International Group (NYSE:AIG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 44,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000.
- [By Max Byerly]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on American International Group (AIG)
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- [By ]
Insurance company American International Group Inc. (AIG) stock fell 5.3% as harsh winter weather weighed on profits. But the company’s long-term care exposure is relatively minimal.
Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Aon Corporation(AON)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shane Hupp]
BB&T Securities LLC raised its holdings in Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. BB&T Securities LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $3,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- [By Logan Wallace]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on AON (AON)
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
- [By Stephan Byrd]
US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Aon (NYSE:AON) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in AON were worth $5,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
- [By Logan Wallace]
CorVel (NASDAQ: CRVL) and AON (NYSE:AON) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
- [By Max Byerly]
State of Wisconsin Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Aon (NYSE:AON) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 384,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,942 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in AON were worth $53,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
