D茅j vu.
Shares of Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) tumbled in midday trading Monday after reports that their widely rumored merger talks may be ending. It would mark yet another high-profile failure to combine the two carriers.
SoftBank (SFTBF), a Japanese conglomerate with a majority stake in Sprint, is said to be calling off the negotiations due to concerns about the ownership structure of the combined business, according to reports from Nikkei and The Wall Street Journal.
Reps for T-Mobile, Sprint and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sprint’s stock fell as much as 11% in trading after the report. T-Mobile was down about 5%.
Sprint and T-Mobile previously gave up an attempt to merge in 2014 due to concerns about regulatory challenges from the Obama administration.
But the companies expected to have a better shot at the merger this year under the Trump administration.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said in May that the Obama administration was “quite tough on business,” and added “the door is open” for potential mergers with the new administration.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Allied Healthcare Products Inc.(AHPI)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jim Robertson]
Yesterday, our Under the Radar Moversnewsletter suggested shortingsmall cap respiratory equipmentstockAllied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ: AHPI):
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Brady Corporation(BRC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shauna O’Brien]
Robert Baird announced on Friday that it has cut its rating on Brady Corp (BRC).
The firm has downgraded BRC from “Outperform” to “Neutral,” and has given the company a $33 price target. This price target suggests a 8% upside from the stock’s current price of $30.52.
Analysts see the company’s WPS segment growing faster than expected.
Brady shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Friday. The stock is down 9% YTD.
- [By Mike Deane]
For the 28th year in a row, Brady Corp (BRC) has increased its dividend payout to investors.
The Milwaukee, WI-based company increased its quarterly dividend to 19.5 cents from 19 cents, an increase of 2.6%. The annual dividend now stands at 78 cents. The quarterly dividend will be paid on October 31st, 2013 to all shareholders of record on October 10, 2013.
BRC shares were down 40 cents, or 1.23%, by market close on Wednesday. YTD, the company’s stock is down over 4%.
- [By Michael Flannelly]
Before the opening bell on Thursday, identification solutions provider Brady Corp (BRC) posted a loss in the fourth quarter, despite a rise in revenues, as it was negatively impacted by a number of charges. However, excluding these charges, the company was able to top Wall Street analysts’ earnings and sales estimates. Nonetheless, BRC shares are plummeting in Thursday’s trading.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company posted a loss from continuing operations of $176.2 million, or $3.41 per share, in the fourth quarter, versus last year’s fourth quarter earnings from continuing operations of $20.9 million, or 40 cents per share. Furthermore, Brady posted a net loss of $177.2 million, or $3.43 per share, compared to net earnings of $11.6 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The fourth quarter loss includes non-cash impairment charges of $204.4 million, $15.6 million in restructuring charges, and $4 million in acquisition-related charges. Excluding these charges, Brady Corp said earnings would have been 53 cents per share in the quarter. According to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, the company was expected to earn an adjusted 51 cents per share in the fourth quarter.
The company’s fourth quarter sales came in at $309.1 million, up 15% from $269.1 million in sales posted last year. On average, analysts were expecting the company to see $307.13 million in revenues for the quarter.
Looking ahead, Brady Corp. sees fiscal 2014 earnings coming in between $1.80 and $2.00 per share, below the analysts’ view of $2.30 per share.
Brady Corp shares were down $1.71, or 5.25%, during early morning trading on Thursday. The stock is up 7.93% year-to-date.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: S&P Smallcap 600(PH)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Charles Mizrahi, President and CEO, Hampton Investors, Inc.]
Parker Hannifin (PH) generates strong revenue from its aerospace division, while its primary industrial segment is lagging.
Overall, we like the company’s balanced portfolio. PH had solid order rates this past year with backlog of $3.6 billion between its industrial and aerospace segments.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: TripAdvisor, Inc.(TRIP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
Online travel stock Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP) reportedQ1 2017 earnings after the market closed on Tuesday with shares up in afterhours /premarket trading. Q1 revenue rose 6% (or 7% on a constant currency basis) to $372 million as hotel revenue grew 4% to $314 million and non-hotel revenue rose 18% to $58 million.Net income was $13 million versus $29 million. Key business metrics cited in the earnings report included:
- [By Casey Wilson]
This next company comes as a surprise, as it is one that has served over 300 million people around the world…
Failing Company No. 3: TripAdvisor Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP)
The website that changed the way user-generated content is used for travel is feeling the pressure from competition.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
TripAdvisor (TRIP) tumbled to the bottom of the S&P 500 today after reporting earnings that came in well below the Street consensus.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
TripAdvisordropped 11% to $46.92 today, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% to2,347.22.
Susquehanna’s Shyam Patil and team write that TripAdvisor’s “challenges persist.” They explain why:
4Q highlights another challenging quarter. Total revenue was $316m (up 2% y/y), 1% below our estimate of $320m and 3% below consensus of $327m. EBITDA of $58m (18.4% margins) was ~25% below our and the consensus estimate of $77m, caused by the revenue miss and higher opex (specifically S&M and G&A) vs. our model…
While we like TRIPs leading audience reach (on both mobile and desktop) and breadth of travel content, we believe the traffic mix shift to mobile combined with the transition to instant book (IB) will continue to weigh on monetization and cause near-term volatility in the numbers. TRIP is prioritizing revenue growth over profits this year, and management expects to drive double-digit revenue growth but at the expense of significant margin deleverage and absolute EBITDA declines. Additionally, EBITDA could decline further, if TRIP decides to do TV advertising, which is currently not in our estimates or managements outlook. Given these issues, forecasting remains challenging and we continue to have little confidence in estimates.
TripAdvisor’s market capitalization fell to $6.8 billion today from $7.6 billion yesterday.
- [By Paul Ausick]
TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) dropped about 1.9% Monday, to post a new 52-week low of $41.81 after closing at $42.62 on Friday. The stock’s 52-week high is $71.69. Volume was about 50% above the daily average of around 2.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Varex Imaging Corporation (VREX)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jim Robertson]
Small cap homeland security and screening stocks like FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR), OSI Systems (NASDAQ: OSIS),Varex Imaging Corp (NASDAQ: VREX) and Patriot One Technologies (OTCQB: PTOTF) stand to benefit fromTrumps focus on border andinternal security in general. Heres what you need to know about all four:
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Varex Imaging (VREX), a stock that wasn’t even in the index yesterday, soared to the top of the S&P 500 today after being spun out of Varian Medical Systems (VAR).
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Varex Imaging gained 7.3% to $27.27 today, while the S&P 500 declined 0.6% to2,280.90. Varian Medical Systems fell 1.2% to $77.68.
Varian Medical Systems reported net income of $402 million on sales of $3.2 billion in 2016.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Brookline Bancorp Inc.(BRKL)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Dividends4Life]
Memberships and Peers: PBCT is a member of the S&P 500 and a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers Index. The company’s peer group includes: Bank of America Corporation (BAC) with a 0.3% yield, Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (BRKL) with a 3.7% yield and Westfield Financial Inc. (WFD) with a 3.5% yield.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Gener8 Maritime, Inc.(GNRT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shanthi Rexaline]
Frontline might be evaluating a new tanker company target such as Gener8 Maritime Inc (NYSE: GNRT), away from DHT Holdings Inc (NYSE: DHT), Lewis said. This was substantiated by the fact that Frontline sold 1.7 million shares of DHT in March, followed by 2.4 million shares in April and May. Though Frontline holds about 6.8 million shares of DHT, the Credit Suisse analyst said a deal is unlikely.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Navistar International Corporation(NAV)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lee Jackson]
Icahn also was a buyer last week of Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV). He acquireda total of 423.404 shares of the truck and engine maker at prices that ranged from $25.37 to $25.92. The total for the buy was listed at $11 million. The stock closed Friday at $27.49, so it looks like another well-timed buy. The 52-week range for the shares is $10.30 to $33.46, and the consensus price target is $26.79.
- [By Lee Jackson]
Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) was started with a Buy rating and a $36 price objective at Aegis Capital. That compares with a consensus target of $24.08. The 52-week range is $5.78 to $32.84. The stock closed yesterday at $30.93.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Nuveen Select Tax Free Income Portfolio(NXP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Eric Volkman]
Income investors might be wary of Qualcomm, as the company loves to spend its money — at times, its dividend payouts and share buybacks have exceeded free cash flow. Compounding that matter, the company should soon close the door on its acquisition of European peer NXP Semiconductor (NYSE:NXP), a deal with an estimated enterprise value of $47 billion.
Top 10 Bank Stocks To Own Right Now: Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.(WASH)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Monica Gerson]
The list of below stocks is notable as the shares have traded on sequentially increasing volume spanning the trading days from September 16 to September 20:
