Bed Bath & Beyond soars 20% as activists prepare for fight to oust entire board

Bed Bath & Beyond rocketed about 20 percent higher Tuesday as three different activist investors prepare to replace its entire 12-person board.

Legion Partners Asset Management, Macellum Advisors and Ancora Advisors will try to leverage their collective 5 percent stake to prepare to launch a proxy fight at the big-box retailer, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The coalition believes the company has fallen behind as more customers pivot to online shopping and allowed its costs to drifted higher in recent years, the person added. It also hopes to oust Chief Executive Steven Temares, who has led Bed Bath & Beyond since 2003.

The stock was poised for its best day since April 2009; nearly 33 percent of the equity is sold short. Bed Bath & Beyond did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

The activist trio isn't pushing for a sale of the entire company, another person familiar with the situation told CNBC. Instead, they'd like to see Bed Bath & Beyond consider sales of underperforming assets such as Buy Buy Baby and decor retail chain Cost Plus World Market.

Raymond James upgraded the stock in light of the news, with analyst Bobby Griffin writing that "within the foreseeable future, Bed Bath & Beyond may either no longer be a public company or on a journey to go private."

"The arguments that have caused investor antipathy to Bed Bath & Beyond are real and center on the tired nature of its nearly 1,000 North American Bed Bath & Beyond stores," Griffin added. "Irrespective of the elevated capital investment of the past several years, management has been slow to invest in its stores."

"Meanwhile, too many of the stores we have visited in a wide variety of states over the last few months are cluttered and dirty. This will likely add credibility to any activist style campaign," Griffin told clients.

D-Street Buzz: Nifty Pharma in green led by Sun Pharma; IT stocks drag

The Indian stock market turned flat in the afternoon session on March 14 with Nifty down 5 points, trading at 11,336, and Sensex added 12 points, trading at 37,764.

Nifty IT was down over half a percent dragged by HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Oracle Financial Services, Tata Elxsi, TCS and Birla Soft.

FMCG stocks were also down led by Godrej Consumer that shed 2 percent followed by ITC, Proctor & Gamble, United Spirits, GSK Consumer, Dabur India and United Breweries.

From the auto space, the top losers were Hero MotoCorp, Motherson Sumi, TVS Motor, Bosch, Apollo Tyres and Ashok Leyland.

related news Reliance Infrastructure falls nearly 4% post entire stake sale in subsidiary BSE rises 4% as co says board to consider buyback on May 7 Bajaj Consumer Care rises 2% after company hires global management consultant

IndusInd Bank along with YES Bank, Axis Bank and RBL bank kept the Bank Nifty index in the green.

Nifty Realty was the outperforming sector, up over 1 percent led by Indiabulls Real Estate, DLF, Phoenix Mills, Prestige Estates, Sunteck Realty and Oberoi Realty.

From the BSE midcap space, the top gainers were NBCC, Motilal Oswal, DHFL, GRUH Finance, IIFL Holdings and NLC India while the top losers were Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, Reliance Infra, Indian Hotels, Container Corporation and Voltas.

From the smallcap space, the top gainers were Deep Industries that spiked 11 percent followed by RPP Infra, Indocount Industries and Emkay while the top losers were Shemaroo Entertainment, KDDL, Manpasand Beverages and GTL Infra among others.

The top Nifty gainers included YES Bank, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Sun Pharma and Coal India while the top losers included UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Grasim Industries and Hero MotoCorp.

The most active stocks were Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Just Dial, YES Bank and HDFC.

HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Godfrey Phillips, Karnataka Bank, Muthoot Finance and UPL have hit 52-week high on NSE while Reliance Communications and Alkem Laboratories hit new 52-week low in the afternoon trade.

The breadth of the market favoured the declines with 712 stocks advancing and 979 declining while 387 remained unchanged. On the BSE, 1,013 stocks advanced, 1,424 declined and 151 remained unchanged.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. First Published on Mar 14, 2019 01:09 pm

The Good News About Dividends That Will Surprise You

I run across a lot of charts and graphs daily -- it comes with the territory. Only a few of them really grab my attention. But I just found one that I had to share, particularly since it gets to the heart of our very purpose over at The Daily Paycheck.

I'll show you what I'm talking about in a moment, but I won't bury the lead...

If you're not taking advantage of dividend payers, you're missing out -- not only on the income, but serious long-term gains as well.

Don't believe me? Here's the proof...

As you can see from the chart below, share price appreciation would have turned a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 in 1960 into $460,095 by 2017. That's a handsome 45-fold return. But add reinvested dividends to the picture, and the same investment would have blossomed to $2.57 million, more than five times as much.

 

Source: Hartford Funds Management Group

In other words, reinvested dividends have accounted for 82% of the market's total returns over the past half-century. That remarkable statistic doesn't need any embellishment -- it speaks for itself. 

I'll say it again: If you're not investing in dividend stocks, then you're missing out on the market's strongest wealth-creating opportunities.

Dividends Are Great Again
The relative contribution of dividends has varied dramatically over the years. Back in the stagnant 1970s, quarterly distributions accounted for a hefty 73% of the market's return. But in the high-growth 1990s, they represented a much smaller 16%.

I remember that period well. I was a financial advisor at the time, and dividend stocks (and funds) were a tough sell. Many of my clients considered them a quaint relic in the dawn of a new Millennium. Why get excited about a modest 3% to 4% annual income stream? Tech stocks could do that in a single day.

Instead, I got orders to buy highfliers like JDS Uniphase, which rocketed past $1,200 per share in 1999. You may know the rest of the story. Like most others, it collapsed in the dot-com crash a year later and lost 99.9% of its value before rebranding. That was a painful lesson for many investors.

But we are once again in an era where dividends account for a meaningful chunk of the market's performance. And if there's one thing better than a steady paycheck every 90 days -- it's a growing one.

Dividend Raisers Crush The Market
Obviously, dividend hikes put more cash in our pockets almost immediately. We can see and measure the impact. Take for example one of our own holdings at The Daily Paycheck, Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), whose quarterly payout just rose to $0.33 per share from $0.29. With a stake of 212 shares, that hike boosts our annual income by 14% to $280. 

But that might not even be the strongest argument for investing in these stocks.

As I've said before, a distribution increase sends a bullish message. After all, businesses don't lift their commitments if they're expecting earnings to falter. Higher dividends typically reflect an upbeat cash flow outlook, which often precedes a rising share price. So dividend raises not only boost our income, but they can also foreshadow potent capital gains.

How potent?

Well, we also have some good data on this subject courtesy of Ned Davis Research. Between 1972 and 2017, dividend-paying stocks outpaced non-payers with average annual returns of 9.25% vs. 2.61% for the non-payers. But a deeper look beneath the surface reveals a fascinating dichotomy.

The study separated all dividend payers into distinct groups: those raising payouts over the previous twelve months, those cutting or eliminating payouts, and those maintaining payouts with no change.
No surprise, dividend-cutters performed worst, and dividend-maintainers did better. But dividend-growers delivered market-crushing gains of 10.07% annually. That's about 230 basis points ahead of the S&P 500 -- with less volatility. 

To put a real-world example on this, we're up by about 73% on Cisco in less than two years. That's partially thanks to our dividend reinvestment, a crucial part of our strategy at The Daily Paycheck. But even without reinvesting dividends, the stock has returned 63% during that time, while the S&P 500 has gained just under 14%.

Closing Thoughts
I'm probably not telling you anything you didn't already know. Dividend hikes are good for investors; that isn't exactly an Earth-shattering revelation. Still, it's reassuring to attach cold-hard numbers to long-held beliefs.

By the way, like Cisco, my most recent Daily Paycheck recommendation has also been on the move, rallying more than 50% off its 2015 lows. Yet, the yield is still well above average at nearly 3%. And with an impressive streak of 62 straight annual dividend hikes under its belt, I expect this all-weather performer to shell out even more in the year ahead. If you'd like to join us and get the name of this pick, go here to get started.

(This article originally appeared on StreetAuthority.com.)

Torchmark Co. (TMK) EVP Sells $980,040.00 in Stock

Torchmark Co. (NYSE:TMK) EVP Robert Brian Mitchell sold 12,000 shares of Torchmark stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.67, for a total value of $980,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,231,159.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Shares of TMK opened at $82.32 on Wednesday. Torchmark Co. has a 52-week low of $69.68 and a 52-week high of $89.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01.

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Torchmark (NYSE:TMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.56. Torchmark had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Torchmark Co. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Several brokerages have weighed in on TMK. Zacks Investment Research raised Torchmark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company in a report on Saturday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Torchmark from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Torchmark from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 2nd. Finally, ValuEngine cut Torchmark from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Torchmark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.60.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Torchmark in the 4th quarter valued at $642,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Torchmark by 55.1% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 59,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,404,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Torchmark by 2,043.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 64,819 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Torchmark in the 4th quarter valued at $1,143,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in shares of Torchmark by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

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Torchmark Company Profile

Torchmark Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various life and health insurance products, and annuities in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. It operates through four segments: Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Annuity, and Investment. The company offers traditional and interest-sensitive whole life insurance, as well as term life insurance.

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That college scholarship may actually be subject to income tax

If your child is deciding between two schools based on a financial aid package, be sure to weigh the taxes that may accompany the offer.

Families depend on scholarships, assistantships and grants to help them afford higher education.

Indeed, the annual cost of tuition, fees, room and board at a public four-year college hit $19,080 for the 2018-2019 school year, according to the College Board. And it was $46,680 for private schools.

The upside of scholarships and other "free money" opportunities is that you don't have to pay them back, unlike loans. However, there is a catch: Scholarships and assistantships may be subject to income tax.

In general, scholarships that cover tuition and fees are tax-free, while money that pays for room and board is not.

Telling the difference between the two is harder than it seems.

"The problem you run into is when the school says, 'We're giving you $10,000 and calling it a scholarship,'" said Tim Steffen, CPA and director of advanced planning at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. "Just because the school says it's tax-free, doesn't mean it is."

Tax-free conditions Blend Images - Terry Vine | Brand X Pictures | Getty Images

Two conditions must apply in order for a scholarship or fellowship to be tax-free, according to the IRS.

1. You're a degree-candidate at an educational institution that maintains a regular faculty and curriculum. The school must have a regularly enrolled body of students in attendance.

2. The money you receive is used to pay for tuition and fees necessary for enrollment or for books, fees, supplies and equipment needed for courses.

Scholarships that cover incidental expenses, including room, board and travel are taxable.

You are also on the hook for taxes on any money you get as payment for teaching, research and other services as a condition of receiving the cash.

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You might also owe taxes on the portion of a scholarship that exceeds the total tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment — even if the funds are earmarked for those costs, said Mark Kantrowitz, student loan expert and VP of research at Savingforcollege.com.

Students who get money for services required by the National Health Services Corps Scholarship Program or the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and Financial Assistance Program don't need to pay taxes on the amounts received.

Tuition waivers and stipends show chapters Saving for college    1:03 PM ET Tue, 6 Nov 2018 | 01:04

Fellowships and research assistantships are a little more complicated. These programs may combine a tax-free tuition waiver and a taxable living stipend.

The stated purpose of the funds and how you use the money will matter.

"Let's say that you get a partial tuition waiver and a living stipend, and you use the stipend to pay the tuition," said Kantrowitz.

"It will still be treated as taxable because it was designated for living expenses, as opposed to tuition," he said.

Reporting to the IRS Nora Carol Photography | Getty Images

If a school offers a student money that's considered taxable income — perhaps as part of a teaching assistantship or fellowship — then it must provide the student with a Form W-2, reporting taxes withheld.

Prior to tax time, your school will also report qualified tuition expenses on Form 1098-T, along with the details on the amount of scholarships, fellowships and grants received.

Hold onto your receipts for textbooks, supplies and equipment, Kantrowitz said. Form 1098-T won't have that information.

Who's ultimately responsible for reporting the tax load? For dependent students, Mom and Dad would report the scholarships on their return.

In this case, a taxable scholarship is considered "unearned income," subjecting it to the kiddie tax if the child is under 19 or is a full-time student under age 24, Steffen said.

Under the old tax code, this would've meant that unearned income exceeding $2,100 is subject to the parents' rates, and families would use Form 8615 to calculate the liability.

Under the new tax law, however, the "unearned income" will instead be subject to trust income tax rates — meaning that taxable income exceeding $12,500 will be taxed at the top rate of 37 percent.

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3 Top Biotech Stocks to Buy in March

Biotech investors are having a great start to 2019. Shares of the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF are up 19% since Jan. 1, which is a heck of a run in such a short time.

But which biotech stocks are worth a closer look during this recent rally? We asked three Motley Fool contributors to weigh in, and they picked Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG), Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), and Zealand Pharma (NASDAQ:ZEAL).

Image source: Getty Images.

Big news is on deck for this clinical-stage biotech

Todd Campbell: (Galapagos): This foreign-based biotech might not be on your radar. If it isn't, it should be. The company expects data on its lead drug candidate soon, and if the data is positive, it could represent a multibillion-dollar opportunity for the company and its collaboration partner Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD).

The two companies have already reported that their rheumatoid arthritis drug filgotinib effectively improved symptoms on a common scoring method in one trial last fall. Results from two additional phase 3 trials that could support filings for approval in the U.S. and Europe are expected before the end of March. If the trials read out similarly to the first trial, then an application for approval could get filed in both markets before the end of this year, clearing the way for commercial sales sometime in 2020.

There are about 1.5 million people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in the U.S. alone, and existing treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars annually. As a result, this indication has spawned a slate of megablockbuster medications, including Humira, the world's best-selling drug with over $19 billion in sales per year. Galapagos and Gilead Sciences think filgotinib could be a more effective and safer option than existing treatments. If they're right, then filgotinib's commercial opportunity may be massive.

Success would benefit Gilead Sciences most, but it will move the needle more for Galapagos. If it is eventually approved, it will be Galapagos' first commercial drug. A win could net Galapagos up to $1.35 billion in milestones from Gilead Sciences, plus Galapagos can pocket royalties on U.S. sales ranging between 20% and 30%. In Europe, the companies will split profits equally.

Given that Galapagos' market cap is only $5 billion, positive trial results could cause its shares to rally sharply higher. However, there's no guarantee of success, so only risk-tolerant investors should consider buying it before the data is unveiled.

Heads I win, tails I win

Brian Feroldi (Celgene): Shares of Celgene skyrocketed in early January after news broke that it was being bought out by pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) for about $74 billion. The deal valued Celgene at about $102.50 per share plus the potential to earn an extra $9 if certain conditions were met. Given these figures, why are shares trading for under $86 today?

The primary reason appears to be that Wall Street doesn't think that the deal will ever happen. Between the potential pushback from regulators and a few large shareholders that have come out against the deal, there isn't a lot of faith out there that this acquisition will ever close.

That uncertainty is providing investors with an interesting opportunity right now. If the deal does go through as planned in the third quarter of this year, then shareholders who buy today would earn a double-digit return on their money in just a few months. If the deal doesn't work out, then Celgene's shares will probably drop a bit, but buyers are still getting a terrific value. 

Celgene just reported 16% revenue growth and 20% adjusted profit growth in the fourth quarter. Management guided for adjusted profits to grow another 21% in 2019 to a range of $10.60 to $10.80 per share. With shares currently trading around $85, this means that they can currently be purchased for slightly more than 8 times earnings. That's a highly attractive valuation for a stock that is still posting double-digit earnings growth.

Investors are absolutely assuming some risk by buying shares today, but I think that Celgene's stock is a great value no matter the outcome.

A potential treatment for the opposite of diabetes

Chuck Saletta (Zealand Pharma): Diabetes is an awful disease that affects over 400 million people around the world. It is frequently lifelong, with life-threatening consequences if left untreated or unmanaged. Yet despite the consequences of diabetes, there are some people for whom it beats the alternative diagnosis: a disease called congenital hyperinsulinism.

While it's a fairly rare disease, affecting around 1 in 50,000 newborns, congenital hyperinsulinism can cause permanent brain damage. As a result, many with the disease have part or all of their pancreas removed, which can ultimately lead to diabetes.

Zealand Pharma has a potential treatment for congenital hyperinsulinism, dasiglucagon, that just entered phase 3 clinical trials. If it is successful, it could prevent the need for patients to have their pancreas removed -- allowing them to live far more normal lives without developing diabetes as a "less awful" alternative. The same compound is in trials to treat other forms of hypoglycemia -- including hypoglycemia that results from mis-dosed insulin in diabetics.

That ability to treat multiple forms of hypoglycemia makes dasiglucagon a compound with a billion-dollar-a-year market potential if it passes its phase 3 trials. Zealand Pharma's current market capitalization is around half that amount, which makes it an intriguing candidate for consideration as a potential investment.

If the phase 3 tests for dasiglucagon prove successful, Zealand Pharma expects to file a new drug application by the end of this year. That gives investors a limited window to buy before a decision is made that could result in a major move in the company's stock. Note that Zealand Pharma is not currently profitable, driven by its heavy research and development budget, which means that it is a high-risk investment despite the potential reward if it's successful.

A P MOLLER-MAER/ADR (AMKBY) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Investment Research

A P MOLLER-MAER/ADR (OTCMKTS:AMKBY) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

According to Zacks, “A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S operates as a shipping company. It operates container vessels, tankers, supply ships, special vessels, APM terminials and oil drilling rigs. A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. “

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Separately, Barclays cut shares of A P MOLLER-MAER/ADR from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 7th.

OTCMKTS:AMKBY opened at $6.67 on Monday. A P MOLLER-MAER/ADR has a 12 month low of $5.92 and a 12 month high of $8.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market cap of $13.42 billion, a PE ratio of 133.40 and a beta of 0.86.

A P MOLLER-MAER/ADR Company Profile

A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S operates as an integrated transport and logistics company worldwide. The company's Ocean segment engages in container shipping activities, including demurrage and detention, terminal handling, documentation services, container services, and container storage, as well as transhipment services under Maersk Line, Safmarine, Sealand ? A Maersk Company, Hamburg Süd, and APM Terminal brands.

Further Reading: How to Profit and Limit Losses With Stop Orders

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For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:EVV,BOH,EFT,UHS,OTEX,SWZ, Investment Thesis

Open Text (NASDAQ:OTEX) is a well-established company with a strong brand name and a large list of reliable partners and clients that has continued to grow over the last couple of years. Open Text has been successful in growing their company year-over-year and has distinct plans to continue this growth moving forward. The company creates value through their strategic acquisition process - by acquiring businesses and implementing their successful business model to improve operations and increase margins. Many investors find this growth strategy unappealing because of the lack of confidence in the ability to continue to grow through this strategy. Due to this uncertainty by investors, the price has remained relatively constant and I believe this represents an opportunity for investors willing to look deeper into the company. Open Text supplements this inorganic growth with organic growth that comes in each one of their segments that are continuously expanding. The company will continue to create value through management's strategic capital allocation strategy and strong organic growth initiatives and this will continue to drive the stock price.

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund(EVV)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Eaton Vance Ltd Duration Income Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EVV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 14th, there was short interest totalling 61,700 shares, an increase of 154.4% from the August 31st total of 24,249 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 199,358 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bank of Hawaii Corporation(BOH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH) was upgraded by analysts at ValuEngine from a sell rating to a hold rating.

  ChemoCentryx (NASDAQ:CCXI) was upgraded by analysts at ValuEngine from a hold rating to a buy rating.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE:BOH) by 17.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,691 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,021 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Hawaii were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE:BOH) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 706,037 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,908 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Hawaii were worth $58,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Eaton Vance Floating Rate Income Trust(EFT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Relative Value Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Income Trust (NYSE:EFT) by 11.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 799,864 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,578 shares during the period. Relative Value Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Income Trust were worth $11,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Universal Health Services, Inc.(UHS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) had its price objective increased by Deutsche Bank from $140.00 to $160.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the health services provider’s stock.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Quorum Health (NYSE: QHC) and Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and risk.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. Class B (NYSE:UHS) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,800 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Universal Health Services, Inc. Class B were worth $3,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,694 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Open Text Corporation(OTEX)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the details of CDAM (UK) Ltd's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=CDAM+%28UK%29+Ltd

  These are the top 5 holdings of CDAM (UK) LtdAlphabet Inc (GOOGL) - 57,687 shares, 13.61% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 22.65%Open Text Corp (OTEX) - 1,703,053 shares, 12.52% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 57.24%EchoStar Corp (SATS) - 1,291,355 shares, 11.98% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 32.53%Athene Holding Ltd (ATH) - 1,339,253 shares, 11.64% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 22.45%Hilltop Holdings Inc (HTH) - 2,345,728
• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Open Text (OTEX)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Open Text (OTEX)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Hot Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc. (SWZ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc. Common Stock (NYSE:SWZ) declared a Semi-Annual dividend on Tuesday, June 12th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.203 per share by the closed-end fund on Friday, June 29th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 21st.

3 Things to Consider Before Buying Apple Stock

Unless you’re the New England Patriots, staying on top is a massive challenge. The owners of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock, who spent most of the last 15 years smiling, learned this lesson the hard way. Between October of last year through early January, Apple stock tumbled badly and uncharacteristically. As a result, its latest surge has created both optimism and trepidation.

Source: Shutterstock

For over a decade, Apple’s iPhone dominated the smartphone space, naturally causing AAPL stock price to spike. At the time, no one cared that the iPhone represented the lion’s share of the company’s global revenue. As long as customers kept buying iPhones – and they did – this unbalanced allocation was an asset.

But with “peak smartphone” negatively impacting the entire industry, AAPL needed fresh ideas. However, I argued that it hasn’t been able to keep pace with its competitors. The company badly lost out in the smart-speaker battle to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL). Even “second-thought” Sony (NYSE:SNE) has started to flex its consumer-tech muscles.

That said, the year is still young, giving management the opportunity to right the ship. Since the year began, Apple stock has gained over 13%. Is this the time to buy AAPL stock or should burned investors remain cautious?

Geopolitical Tailwind for Apple Stock

I’m still very much concerned about the impact of Apple’s fundamentals on Apple stock price. Although AAPL is trying to tap other growth opportunities, its bread-and-butter remains the iPhone. Since smartphones have become commoditized, Apple needs to find a new game-changer for AAPL stock price to move decisively higher.

Nevertheless, I believe that Apple stock provides viable, nearer-term opportunity for speculative buyers and swing-traders. Early this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook essentially blamed the Trump administration for poor iPhone sales in China. Cook stated, “It’s clear that the economy began to slow there in the second half and I believe the trade tensions between the United States and China put additional pressure on their economy.””

However, that headwind will likely fade into the background. A recent thawing in U.S.-China relations may indeed result in a permanent resolution. The generally positive recent action of the U.S. stock market suggests that Wall Street is optimistic about a U.S.-China deal. Speculators can buy Apple stock ahead of a likely deal, and potentially profit handsomely from the transaction.

One of the silver linings of the Trump administration’s high-profile failure to securing a North Korean denuclearization agreement is that it’s extra-motivated to get something, anything going.

One of the most prominent, likely prizes for the administration is ceasing the painful U.S.-China trade war. Such an agreement could boost  Apple stock by a hefty amount.

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AAPL Stock Needs Another Catalyst Besides China

Earlier, I mentioned the New England Patriots as an example of sustained excellence. However, they’ve also suffered their share of blunders, both on the field and apparently off it.

Just as some of the Pats’ blunders could not have been predicted, there are often major surprises in geopolitics. So President Trump wants to negotiate after the North Korea debacle and the U.S. and China are reportedly close to a deal, which are positive developments. But despite these developments, a deal may still not get done.

Either way, Apple and Apple stock face severe challenges. Since the first quarter of 2012, China has unquestionably been the king of Apple’s growth. On a year-over-year basis, Apple’s “Greater China” sales have risen by an average of 17.4%. No region besides Japan experienced double-digit growth over that period.

Unfortunately, recent metrics indicate a complete reversal of fortune. Since the first quarter of 2017, Apple’s China revenues have increased by an annual average of less than 2%.

Moreover, data indicates that Apple’s growth in other regions is sustainable. The company’s revenue in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan has ticked up meaningfully relative to their respective long-term averages. And in Japan’s case, the dip in sales growth is minor.

That’s not the case in China. Therefore, even if the trade war is resolved, Apple stock still has an uphill battle ahead.

Technical Considerations

As I mentioned near the beginning of the column, the AAPL stock price is off to a solid start this year. More importantly, the momentum of Apple stock is building.

However, the longer-term picture is ambiguous. For starters, Apple stock is currently sandwiched between its 50 and 200 day moving averages. This suggests reluctance among traders to push shares one way or the other.

Also note that the current price point represents a horizontal resistance line. In May of last year, Apple stock famously broke through this resistance on its way to a trillion-dollar market capitalization. But we all know that rally didn’t last too long.

So is AAPL stock about to challenge those highs again, or will it crumble back down? I see a case for being bullish on Apple stock in the nearer-term based on a potential resolution of the trade war. At the same time, I wouldn’t hold onto Apple stock longer than necessary. As I demonstrated earlier, the company has to overcome underappreciated troubles.

As of this writing, Josh En

Boeing Up 37% This Year, Outpacing All Dow Stocks

As the fortunes of rival Airbus are shaken by the end of the most ambitious airplane program in its history, Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has made an unprecedented run at the record books of its own. Boeing shares are up 36% in two months, pacing well ahead of the other components of the Dow Jones industrial average, which is up just 11.6%.

Airbus believed it could build and successfully market a new generation of what the Boeing 747 was — a jumbo jet at the center of the long-haul commercial air fleet for five decades. Cancellation of the A380 by Airbus killed the future of a plane that held as many as 500 seats. Airlines found that smaller more fuel-efficient planes made them more money. Boeing has its competition at the jumbo end of the market.

Boeing had to do more than fight its way through the competition to post a strong rally. Investors have worried that a trade war with China would cut Boeing sales there. China is well along the path to becoming the world's largest commercial airplane market. The Chinese have not attacked the American airplane industry as a pawn in the trade game, so Boeing may be safe.

Boeing continues to top Airbus in deliveries. According to earlier 24/7 Wall St. reporting, “Boeing delivered 906 commercial aircraft in 2018. Airbus delivered 763. Just as important, Boeing's net orders were 894 commercial aircraft to Airbus's 747.” The future may be even better. 24/7 Wall St. reported, “The company's widely followed 20-year forecast of global commercial airplanes shows that 42,730 new jets will be needed over the period. The value of these will be $6.3 trillion.”

Boeing's strength in the defense industry puts another leg on its business stool to balance commercial aviation. 24/7 Wall St. recently wrote: “Boeing's other large business, which builds jets, helicopters and missiles, has thrived due to the increase in defense spending both in the United States and overseas. Boeing's Defence, Space and Security revenue rose 13% to $5.7 billion in the third quarter of 2018 over the same period a year ago.”

Finally, there is the strength of Boeing's numbers. According to 24/7 Wall St., Boeing's entire revenue for the period was $25.1 billion, up 4%. Boeing also bumped guidance higher: “The company's revenue guidance increased $1.0 billion to between $98.0 and $100.0 billion, driven by defense volume and services growth, inclusive of the KLX acquisition.”
24/7 Wall St.
SunTrust Has 5 Buy-Rated Energy Stocks Trading Under $10 With Huge Upside Potential

Best Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019

tags:SSBI,TI,DCM,JJSF,

On today’s episode of Free Lunch, Associate Stock Strategist Ryan McQueeney discusses Pepsi’s earnings results, Amazon’s minimum wage bump, and analyst reports for Square and Dropbox. Later, he is joined by Dave Bartosiak to discuss the news and to highlight key things to know about Stitch Fix and Nafta 2.0.

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U.S. stocks shook off an early dip and trudged into the green in early afternoon trading Tuesday, but Wall Street was generally apathetic as investors wait patiently for fresh jobs data due later this week.

Shares of PepsiCo (PEP ) pulled back slightly after the beverage behemoth reported earnings before the bell. Pepsi extended its streak of outperforming earnings estimates, and revenue for the most recent quarter was also better-than-expected. However, the company warned of a stronger U.S. dollar cutting into international profits and reduced its full-year guidance by five cents.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: Summit State Bank(SSBI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of Summit State Bank (NASDAQ:SSBI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

  Separately, TheStreet raised Summit State Bank from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: Telecom Italia S.P.A.(TI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Telecom Italia (NYSE:TI) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a buy rating to a hold rating. According to Zacks, “The Telecom Italia Group is engaged principally in the communication sector that operates mainly in Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and South America. This includes telephone and data services on fixed lines (for final retail customers and wholesale providers), the development of fiber optic networks for wholesale customers, BroadBand services, Internet services, domestic and international mobile telecommunications (especially in Brazil), and the television sector using both analog and digital terrestrial technology. The Group also operates businesses in the office products sector. “

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Titan Mining (TSE:TI) received a C$1.80 target price from Scotiabank in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price target suggests a potential upside of 44.00% from the stock’s current price.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Canaccord Genuity reissued their buy rating on shares of Telecom Italia (NYSE:TI) in a research report released on Tuesday morning. The firm currently has a $1.25 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Titan Mining Corp (TSE:TI) Director Richard William Warke purchased 13,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of C$1.40 per share, with a total value of C$19,040.00.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  TIM (NYSE: TI) and ORBCOMM (NASDAQ:ORBC) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Hawaiian Telcom HoldCo (NYSE: TI) and Telecom Italia (NYSE:TI) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: NTT DOCOMO, Inc(DCM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  DATA Communications Management Corp (TSE:DCM) insider Michael Sifton purchased 12,500 shares of DATA Communications Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$1.52 per share, for a total transaction of C$19,000.00.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Bank of Hawaii bought a new position in NTT Docomo Inc (NYSE:DCM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,664 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of NTT Docomo Inc (NYSE:DCM) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy For 2019: J & J Snack Foods Corp.(JJSF)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on J & J Snack Foods (JJSF)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  WARNING: “JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stake in J & J Snack Foods Corp (JJSF)” was first posted by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this piece on another domain, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of US & international copyright and trademark laws. The legal version of this piece can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4163089/jpmorgan-chase-co-trims-stake-in-j-j-snack-foods-corp-jjsf.html.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on J & J Snack Foods (JJSF)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  News articles about J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) have been trending positive recently, according to Accern. The research firm identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. J & J Snack Foods earned a media sentiment score of 0.35 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media headlines about the company an impact score of 46.1459784958457 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near term.

Forget Lowe's, Home Depot Is a Better Retail Stock

The two leading home improvement retailers have been good places to park some money over the years. Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) have benefited from positive homeownership trends and, most recently, rising home prices, which have caused more homeowners to stay where they are and fix up their dwellings instead of moving. 

Over the last five years, both stocks have more than doubled shareholders' money. Home Depot has a slight edge, beating the return on Lowe's stock, 126% to 110%. One reason is that Lowe's has suffered from operational issues that pressured growth in revenue and profits.

Image source: Getty Images.

The numbers reveal two completely different companies

The recent operating performance shows Home Depot is a better-run company. In 2018, Lowe's revenue grew 3.9%, while Home Depot sales climbed 7.2%. In the last quarter of the year, Lowe's reported just 1.7% growth in comparable-store sales, but Home Depot's comps growth was higher at 3.2%. 

Lowe's slower growth was not based on weak traffic but several execution issues throughout the company. Management cited inefficient inventory management, poor customer service, poor merchandise assortment, and other execution issues. 

These problems are evident in the wide disparity between both companies' margins. In 2018, Lowe's reported a gross margin of 32.1% and an operating margin of 5.6% -- with both numbers down from 2017 levels.

Meanwhile, Home Depot's gross margin slightly improved to 34.3% last year, and the operating margin remained firm at 14.3%. Home Depot's higher margins are a sign of much better store execution and more efficient inventory management.

Better execution leads to better stock returns

It's eye-opening to see the discrepancy between these two home improvement stores, especially given that they serve the same market and are benefiting from the same housing trends. The difference in performance goes to show that not all companies are made the same, even ones that compete in the same industry and look identical on the surface. Before you invest in a stock, it pays to look beneath the headline numbers and see what's really going on.

Both companies grew revenue at about the same rate over the last five years. But Lowe's operating-income growth started to lag Home Depot's in 2016. A deceleration in operating-income growth is a sign of bloated operating expenses. This was the early sign that Lowe's had execution issues.

LOW Operating Income (TTM) data by YCharts.

Management at Lowe's announced during the third-quarter conference call in 2018 that it had a plan to fix the execution problems. However, one analyst with Barclays wasn't impressed and downgraded the stock anyway. The analyst said that while Lowe's may eventually narrow the gap with Home Depot, turnaround initiatives that focus on fixing labor execution tend to take awhile. In other words, Lowe's problems will likely take more than a year to fix.

Other analysts seem to have the same opinion, as the consensus analyst estimate calls for Lowe's to grow revenue 1.8% in fiscal 2020 (which ends in January), while analysts expect Home Depot to maintain its faster pace of growth at 3.4% this year. 

This isn't a good time for Lowe's to have to spend resources to fix problems that it shouldn't have at this point. Because Home Depot is humming along, it's focused on spending money in areas that expand its moat, particularly on the digital side of the business. Team Orange delivered a 23% growth rate in online sales during the fourth quarter, versus just 11% for Team Blue. 

Lowe's will eventually fix the problems, but in the meantime, shareholders should stick with the company that has delivered more consistent results, especially given that the two stocks trade for about the same forward P/E multiple of 18 based on analysts' earnings estimates.