NRG Energy (NRG) soared to the top of the S&P 500 after the utility beat earnings forecasts and raised its 2016 guidance.
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Shares of NRG Energy gained 9% to $11.04 today, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% to 2,085.18.
NRG Energy reported a profit of $1.27 a share, easily topping forecasts for 93 cents a share. And while revenue of $3.95 billion fell short of the $4.20 consensus, it raised its 2016 EBITDA guidance to a range of $3.25 billion to $3.35 billion from a range of $3 billion to $3.2 billion. While that might not seem like the kind of report to warrant a 9% gain, NRG had dropped 28% during the past three months of trading.
NRG Energy’s market capitalization rose to $3.5 billion today from $3.2 billion yesterday.
Barron’s Lawrence Strauss highlighted NRG Energy in a column about the best utility-sector yield plays in April.
dividend stocks: Denbury Resources Inc.(DNR)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
On Friday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Denbury Resources Inc. (NYSE: DNR) and California Resources Corp (NYSE: CRC).
- [By Matthew DiLallo]
That sell-off in the oil market weighed on financially challenged oil stocks, which will struggle if crude continues dropping. Among the biggest losers were Abraxas Petroleum (NASDAQ:AXAS), Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL), Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR), California Resources (NYSE:CRC), and Cobalt International Energy (NYSE:CIE).
- [By John Stevens]
Denbury Resources (DNR) stock started sinking on Wednesday. They continued to go down on Thursday and Friday as well. Overall, they went down by over 15% since they opened on Wednesday, alongside oil prices as traders booked profits after three sessions of gains.
Denbury Resources Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company. The Company’s operations are focused on two operating areas: the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. Its properties with proved and producing reserves in the Gulf Coast region are situated in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, and in the Rocky Mountain region are situated in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. It has estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves of over 288.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE). Its primary Gulf Coast carbon dioxide source is Jackson Dome, which is located near Jackson, Mississippi..
Shares of Denbury Resources slumped by 6.31% to $4.24 during trading on Thursday the 9th as oil prices declined. On Friday, the again went down by another 8.83% to close at $3.31.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Denbury Resources Inc. (NYSE: DNR) dropped about 10.7% Monday to register a new 52-week low of $0.91 after closing at $1.03 on Friday. The 52-week high is $4.29. Volume was around 7.3million, about 1 million more than the daily average. The company also announced operational issues related to tropical storm Harvey.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Yet even though the overall market held up relatively well, some stocks took substantial hits. Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ), Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR), and Pandora Media (NYSE:P) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
dividend stocks: Cross Timbers Royalty Trust(CRT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jim Robertson]
On Wednesday, our Under the Radar Moversnewsletter suggested shorting small cap trust stock Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE: CRT):
On the close-up detailed chart of Cross Timber Royalty we can see how well-developed the downtrend is, but what’s so eye-catching is the way the selling volume is starting to build on the way down. The recent bearish crosses of all the key moving average lines were indeed telling of trouble.
dividend stocks: Gulfport Energy Corporation(GPOR)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Paul Ausick]
Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) dropped about 2.3% on Thursday to record a new 52-week low of $18.24. The stock closed at $18.66 on Wednesday. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 3.9 million shares. The company had no specific news Thursday.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) dropped about 1.2% Tuesday to post a new 52-week low of $12.47 after closing at $12.62 on Monday. The stock’s 52-week high is $30.47. Volume of about 4.5 million was about 15% above the daily average. The company issued a downbeat second-quarter production and pricing report yesterday.
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.95 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cenovus Energy Inc (USA) (NYSE: CVE), down 6 percent, and Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: GPOR), down 5 percent.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) dropped about 6.5% on Tuesday to post a new 52-week low of $20.24 after closing at $21.64 on Friday. The stock’s 52-week high is $34.67. Volume was about 50% higher than the daily average of around 3.3 million shares. The company had no specific news Tuesday.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) dropped about 2.7% Thursday, to post a new 52-week low of $15.67 after closing at $16.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 52-week high is $34.67. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 3.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) dropped about 32% on Tuesday to record a new 52-week low of $4.22. The stock closed at $6.22 on Friday. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 3.9 million shares. The company had no specific news Tuesday.
dividend stocks: VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (VTGN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Money Morning News Team]
For instance, VistaGen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: VTGN) shot up from $0.92 to $2.55 on Dec. 6. Since then, the stock pulled back to $1.02. Investors who bought at $2.55 are sitting on a 60% loss today (Dec. 18).
- [By SEEKINGALPHA.COM]
Four ideas turned up in this screen that might be of interest (prices as of February 9th close):
Heron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HRTX) by ONeil Trader – published February 3rd, 2017, $525M Market cap, down ~2% since publication, author’s price target offers 130% upside. HRTX isn’t a generic drug provider, but its CINV franchise vs. the growth of a new drug gives it a similar sort of profile, and arguably a favorable risk/reward; commenters were mostly positive on the thesis. VistaGen Therapeutics (OTC:VTGN) by Logical Assessment – published July 29, 2016, $24M market cap, down 16% since publication, author’s price target offers 100%+ upside. This is obviously deeper into the speculative pile, but if the author’s thesis holds about VistaGen’s unique angle in the antidepressant drug space, comparable deals suggest good upside. (Of course, it’s always dangerous to rely solely on comparables). Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE:RDY) by Buddy Lyons – published July 5, 2016, $7.6B market cap, down ~13% since publication, author’s price target offers just shy of 100% upside. Dr. Reddy’s is a more obvious comparable to TEVA, with a generics business but also a manufacturing business and a proprietary products branch. The company bought a divestiture package of drugs from TEVA as part of the Allergan/Actavis deal. A big overhang was an FDA warning letter; the FDA is due to reinspect facilities this month or next, which could resolve that one way or another. Lannett (NYSEMKT:LCI) by Lateral Capital Management – published May 27, 2016, $750M market cap, down ~9% since publication, author’s price target offers 75% upside. LCI’s trading had been 90% correlated with Valeant, but Lateral Capital Management argues that the correlation is unjustified. The article does a deep dive into the company’s valuation and credit risk, and was well received at the time, even if the market hasn’t agreed…yet.
I also checked to see if there are any ideas starting to play out on the short si
- [By William Romov]
VistaGen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: VTGN) is among the top penny stocks to watch this week after climbing 135% in just three trading sessions last week.
dividend stocks: Allstate Corporation (The)(ALL)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shauna O’Brien]
Credit Suisse reported on Thursday that it has raised its estimates on insurance company The Allstate Corporation (ALL).
The firm has raised its price target on ALL to $62. This price target suggests a 16% upside from the stock’s current price of $52.23. Analysts currently have an “Outperform” rating on ALL.
Credit Suisse has also boosted estimates on ALL as its management is increasing returns.
Allstate shares were up 32 cents, or 0.62%, during Thursday morning trading. The stock is up 30% YTD.
- [By Anders Bylund, Chuck Saletta, and Brian Feroldi]
Read on to see why they pickedAllstate(NYSE:ALL),EPAM Systems(NYSE:EPAM), andUniversal Display(NASDAQ:OLED).
Image source: Getty Images.
- [By Michael Flannelly]
Wells Fargo analysts see a number of upside catalysts for The Allstate Corporation (ALL), plus a positive trend for automobile insurers as a whole. As such, the analysts upgraded the insurance provider on Thursday.
The analysts upgraded ALL from “Market Perform” to “Outperform” and boosted its valuation range from $48-$52 to $58-$62. This new valuation range suggests a 16% to 24% upside to the stock’s Wednesday closing price of $50.11.
“We are upgrading the shares of Allstate to Outperform from Market Perform on the basis of several fundamental reasons unique to the company as well as several positive, emerging structural trends for auto insurers in general,” Wells Fargo analyst John Hall stated. “We do not believe that the market has yet paid for potential unit growth within Allstate’s branded standard book of auto insurance, something we envision occurring over the next 6-12 months.”
As for some of the positive personal auto insurance sector trends, Hall noted, “These would include shifting demographics toward a safer driving population mix (more old drivers and fewer young drivers), changing driving habits particularly among millennials, a safer U.S. personal auto fleet, rising car sales pointing to positive symbol shift as well as industry conditions encouraging market share consolidation.”
Wells Fargo boosted Allstate’s 2013 EPS estimates from $4.62 to $4.85 and 2014 EPS estimates from $4.85 to $5.20.
Allstate shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading on Thursday. The stock is up 24.74% year-to-date.
dividend stocks: Sun Life Financial Inc.(SLF)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lee Jackson]
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. The 52-week trading range is $25.31 to $39.87. The consensus price target is $39.48. The shares closed at $38.65, so this could be a valuation call.
