Top Bank Stocks To Buy For 2019

tags:AP,CM,FCF,WFC,HSBA,

South Africa’s government bonds rallied, sending the yield below 8 percent for the first time in three years, and the rand and stocks gained as the budget convinced most investors the country is doing enough to stave off another credit-rating downgrade.

With Moody’s Investors Service poised to lower the country’s local-currency credit rating to junk, investors were looking for evidence the government is willing and able to curb debt and trim the budget deficit under the leadership of newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa.

They got it: debt is projected to stabilize sooner and at a lower level than previously forecast, while the fiscal shortfall is seen narrowing over the next three years, the National Treasury said in its budget review.

Read More: Ramaphosa Takes Tax Gamble as South Africa Targets Debt

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“The market feels that the budget will be good enough to stave off a downgrade by Moody’s,” said Gordon Kerr, a fixed-income analyst at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg.

Top Bank Stocks To Buy For 2019: Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation(AP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Wellington, New Zealand (AP) -- New Zealand plans to slaughter about 150,000 cows as it tries to eradicate a strain of disease-causing bacteria from the national herd.

• [By ]

  The 2018 Infiniti Q50, a luxury sedan that has a significant discount going into Memorial Day weekend. Though it's not as polished as some rivals, the Q50 is stylish and desirable all the same. (Photo: AP)

• [By ]

  New York (AP) -- Tom Petty died last year because of an accidental drug overdose that his family said occurred on the same day he found out his hip was broken after performing dozens of shows with a less serious injury.

Top Bank Stocks To Buy For 2019: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce(CM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  We're about to reveal a little wealth secret that could unlock the trade of a lifetime. Money Morning Special Situation Strategist Tim Melvin takes you inside what could easily be a 10-bagger for investors in the weeks ahead. Read more right here.

  The Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday The Euro has plunged to its lowest point against the U.S. dollar in 2018 thanks to political problems in Europe. The breakdown of power in Italy has raised new concerns about the nation's ability to repay its debts, as the spread between German and Italian bonds has widened. Market instability has also spread to Spain where the nation's parliament is preparing to vote on whether to oust Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his party. Oil prices slid one news that OPEC and Russia will consider hikes in production during a meeting in Vienna, Austria on June 22nd. The news accompanied reports that U.S. production is expected to rise throughout the summer. The price of WTI oil sat at $67.20 per barrel. The Brent crude oil price recovered this morning, adding 1% to hit $76.12. Canadian banks are under pressure this morning over a major breach by cyber criminals. The Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM) – the two largest banking institutions in the country – announced that roughly 90,000 customers' data may have been stolen. This would be the first major cybersecurity event to happen in Canada involving financial firms. Three Stocks to Watch Today: CRM, SBUX, MOMO com (NYSE: CRM) will lead a busy day of earnings reports on Wall Street. The cloud computing giant is set to report fiscal first quarter 2019 numbers after the bell on Tuesday. The average analyst projection calls for a 46% jump in EPS of $0.46 on top of a 23% gain in revenue to $2.94 billion. Starbucks' Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX) will temporarily close about 8,000 locations on Tuesday to train roughly 175,000 employees on racial bias. The training sessions were
• [By Logan Wallace]

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM) (NYSE:CM) – Analysts at Desjardins reduced their Q2 2018 earnings per share estimates for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, May 2nd. Desjardins analyst D. Young now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $2.85 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.86.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM)Q2 2018 Earnings Conference CallMay 23, 2018, 8:00 a.m. ET

  Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM)

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• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM) (TSE:CM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 23rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of 1.036 per share by the bank on Friday, July 27th. This represents a $4.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 27th.

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.38 per share on revenue of $16.50 billion. Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.83 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion. Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.25 per share on revenue of $17.63 billion. Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.83 per share on revenue of $957.49 million. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $2.23 per share on revenue of $3.40 billion. Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.9 per share on revenue of $210.70 million. Qiwi plc (NASDAQ: QIWI) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.25 per share on revenue of $60.19 million. iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (NASDAQ: ICLK) is projected to report quarterly loss at $0.06 per share on revenue of $34.87 million.

   

Top Bank Stocks To Buy For 2019: First Commonwealth Financial Corporation(FCF)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) was upgraded by investment analysts at ValuEngine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on First Commonwealth Financial (FCF)

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

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on First Commonwealth Financial (FCF)

  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 First Commonwealth Financial (FCF)

  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 First Commonwealth Financial (FCF)

  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 First Commonwealth Financial (FCF)

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

Top Bank Stocks To Buy For 2019: Wells Fargo & Company(WFC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew Frankel, CFP]

  Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) experienced massive system failures beginning midday on Thursday, which left many of its customers unable to access their bank accounts. The bank's data centers and other internal systems were out as well, according to reports by bank employees. The cause wasn't a data breach -- rather, the outages were a result of a shutdown at one of the bank's facilities.

• [By Matthew Frankel, CFP]

  Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) has been rocked by a series of scandals and penalties in recent years, and its recent results have been disappointing, to say the least. In the second quarter, for example, the bank revealed that its deposit base and loan portfolio both contracted, while most other banks experienced impressive growth.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Buffett also stuck by his long-term commitment to Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) which now amounts to about 10% of the bank’s outstanding stock. He almost seemed to excuse the fake account scandal with a comment that what happened at Wells Fargo could have happened to any bank. The scandal was the result of heavy corporate pressure on branch managers to increase sales. As a result, said Buffett, “Wells Fargo is a company that proved the efficacy of incentives and it’s just that they had the wrong incentives.”

• [By ]

  Buffett's investment in banking is even more interesting that the overall over-weighting appears. Berkshire cut its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) to come in under 10% ownership last quarter but still holds $24.7 billion in shares, it's second-largest holding. At the industry-level, Berkshire added to its banking position with 3.7 million shares of US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and 1.4 million shares of Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK).

• [By Matthew Frankel]

  It's been an eventful week in the financial markets. Wells Fargo's (NYSE:WFC) scandals are in the headlines (again), the two largest investment banks reported excellent earnings, and there's another data breach consumers should know about.

• [By Matthew Frankel, Neha Chamaria, and Matthew DiLallo]

  Despite the excellent results, Bank of America still trades at a relatively low valuation of just 1.25 times book value. For comparison, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) trades for more than 1.6 times book and even scandal-plagued Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)trades for a multiple of more than 1.5. In short, Bank of America has evolved into one of the best-in-breed banks, but still trades like a work in progress. 

Top Bank Stocks To Buy For 2019: HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  HSBC Holdings plc (LON:HSBA) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 768.33 ($9.80).

• [By Max Byerly]

  Credit Suisse Group set a GBX 720 ($9.32) price target on HSBC (LON:HSBA) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

• [By Max Byerly]

  HSBC (LON:HSBA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Credit Suisse Group to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The firm presently has a GBX 720 ($9.38) target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of GBX 680 ($8.86). Credit Suisse Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.82% from the company’s previous close.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Morgan Stanley set a GBX 855 ($10.91) price target on HSBC (LON:HSBA) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  HSBC (LON:HSBA) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Shore Capital from GBX 721 ($9.60) to GBX 625 ($8.32) in a report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Shore Capital’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 14.71% from the company’s previous close.

Analysts Anticipate Summit Midstream Partners LP (SMLP) Will Post Earnings of $0.24 Per Share

Analysts expect Summit Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:SMLP) to post earnings per share (EPS) of $0.24 for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Two analysts have made estimates for Summit Midstream Partners’ earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $0.13 and the highest is $0.37. Summit Midstream Partners posted earnings of $0.25 per share during the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 4%. The business is expected to issue its next earnings report before the market opens on Tuesday, February 26th.

On average, analysts expect that Summit Midstream Partners will report full year earnings of ($0.20) per share for the current financial year. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the firm will post earnings of $1.05 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.55 to $1.55. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that follow Summit Midstream Partners.

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A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Investment Research raised Summit Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 25th. ValuEngine raised Summit Midstream Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 23rd. Citigroup set a $17.00 price target on Summit Midstream Partners and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 12th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $15.00 price target on Summit Midstream Partners and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Summit Midstream Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.10.

Shares of NYSE SMLP opened at $13.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $969.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Summit Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $10.04 and a 1 year high of $20.30.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 6th. Summit Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 140.24%.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Summit Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Summit Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Summit Midstream Partners by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,273 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC increased its position in Summit Midstream Partners by 102.5% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC now owns 14,414 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 7,297 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Summit Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.15% of the company’s stock.

About Summit Midstream Partners

Summit Midstream Partners, LP focuses on owning, developing, and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets primarily shale formations in the continental United States. The company provides natural gas gathering, treating, and processing services, as well as crude oil and produced water gathering services.

Read More: Trading Ex-Dividend

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Booming rally in small cap stocks reaches historic proportions

Small caps' snapback is flashing an ominous signal.

The Russell 2000 has rallied 16.5 percent in 2019, the third best start to a new year since the index's inception. However, small caps' future is bound to be bleaker if history is any guide. According to Jefferies, in their previous five best starts to the new year, small caps suffered weaker-than-average performance in the following three months and only squeezed out a 1.2 percent gain for the rest of the year.

"Can't draw up a better start to new year than this, however we need a pullback," Steven DeSanctis, a Jefferies strategist, said in a note on Sunday. "We'd like the market to take a breather."

He added that earnings have shown strong double-digit growth, but they still trail large company earnings, and the outlook for first and second quarter is "in the red."

Small-cap stocks dipped into bear market territory when recession fears triggered a massive sell-off in December. Now the group is up 24 percent since Christmas Eve, but the strong comeback might be overlooking the poor earnings outlook. Wall Street is now foreseeing a 2.9 percent decline in small-cap earnings in the first quarter, according to FactSet. In addition, the China trade uncertainty is also clouding the road ahead.

"If the U.S. does not get a trade deal done with China over the next few weeks, a recovery in earnings growth is unlikely, as companies put off capex until 2020," DeSanctis said. "This is one of the biggest risks for the market and explains why we have not raised our Russell 2000 year-end target of 1550." The index is currently trading at around 1,569.

Growth stocks are seen beating value stocks in the small-cap world given the earnings growth, DeSanctis pointed out.

"The next two quarters should be weak and even down year-over-year for Small and Large caps. We think this supports our Growth over Value theme. [Growth stocks] do look better with the price to book and price to sales ratios double digits below average," he said.

The strong rally coupled with downward earnings revisions have also made small caps expensive again in a short period of time. The Russell 2000 is trading at 19.8 times forward earnings.

Top 5 Value Stocks For 2019

tags:PSTI,GILD,HWCC,BF-A,ECL,

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Horizon Global (NYSE:HZN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

According to Zacks, “Horizon Global Corporation is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of towing, trailering, cargo management and accessory products for original equipment, aftermarket and retail customers. Horizon Global Corporation is based in Bloomfield Hills, United States. “

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Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Capital raised Horizon Global from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $6.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 8th. ValuEngine raised Horizon Global from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 3rd. B. Riley reduced their target price on Horizon Global from $12.50 to $10.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Horizon Global from a buy rating to an underperform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $10.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Friday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.58.

Top 5 Value Stocks For 2019: Pluristem Therapeutics Inc.(PSTI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Pluristem Therapeutics (PSTI)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the news headlines that may have impacted Accern’s rankings:

  Get Pluristem Therapeutics alerts: Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts (americanbankingnews.com) Head-To-Head Analysis: Pluristem Therapeutics (PSTI) & Amgen (AMGN) (americanbankingnews.com) Pre-Eclampsia Treatment Market Outlook 2025, Global Opportunity & Growth Analysis, Key Players – Alnylam … (menafn.com) Flickering Three Stocks: Golden Star Resources Ltd. (NYSE:GSS), Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI … (thestreetpoint.com) Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) moves -0.72% higher to SMA-50 (nasdaqplace.com)

  Pluristem Therapeutics stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,217. The firm has a market cap of $150.78 million, a PE ratio of -4.28 and a beta of 0.32. Pluristem Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.12 and a 52 week high of $2.12.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Pluristem Therapeutics (PSTI)

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

• [By Max Byerly]

  Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA) and Pluristem Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PSTI) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Shares of Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.13.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.00.

Top 5 Value Stocks For 2019: Gilead Sciences, Inc.(GILD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights, Chuck Saletta, and Brian Feroldi]

  We asked three Motley Fool contributors to weigh in on which biotech stocks they like. Here's why they chose Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL), and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) as their top picks to buy right now.

• [By George Budwell]

  Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), a blue chip biotech stock, meets both of these critical criteria. Even so, this top biotech is rarely considered purely for its prospects as a dividend growth stock. The reason? Gilead only started doling out a dividend approximately three years ago this month. As a result, the company has yet to shed its well-earned image as a top growth stock within the broader investing community. 

• [By Chris Lange]

  Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) saw its short interest decrease to 17.44 million shares from 18.22 million in the previous period. Shares were trading at $72.72, in a 52-week range of $63.76 to $89.54.

Top 5 Value Stocks For 2019: Houston Wire & Cable Company(HWCC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Houston Wire & Cable (NASDAQ:HWCC) hit a new 52-week high and low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $8.40 and last traded at $8.35, with a volume of 604 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.90.

Top 5 Value Stocks For 2019: Brown-Forman Corporation (BF-A)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market did exceptionally well on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing more than 300 points and certain other major benchmarks reaching record heights. In general, investors remained upbeat about the prospects for the U.S. economy overcoming any trade-related tensions and continuing to grow, riding the wave of lower corporate tax rates to boost profits. Yet even with a favorable mood in the market overall, some companies had bad news that sent their shares sharply lower. Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA), YY (NASDAQ:YY), and Brown-Forman (NYSE:BF-A) (NYSE:BF-B) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

Top 5 Value Stocks For 2019: Ecolab Inc.(ECL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  3. Ecolab (NYSE: ECL)
  This water, hygiene, and energy services company is being heavily bought by Bill Gates. Mr. Gates has purchased around a million shares across several transactions in the last 30 days. His purchase price was between $134.00 and $137.00 per share.

• [By ]

  In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Goldman Sachs (GS) , Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) , Ecolab (ECL) , PTC (PTC) , Arista Networks (ANET) , U.S. Concrete (USCR) and Masco (MAS) .

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  If the answer is no, then understand that you are not alone – and you need to click here now…

  Stocks to Watch Today: HSBC, NAVI, LUV Shares of HSBC Holdings Plc. (NYSE: HSBC) fell more than 2% in pre-market hours. The slide came after the bank announced that it anticipated "a weaker global economic outlook." The bank also issued a warning about the upcoming Brexit and said that many of its customers in the United Kingdom are "understandably cautious about the immediate future." The firm also issued a weaker earnings report than expected. The company to watch today is Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI), which is the largest student loan servicer in the country. Sallie Mae spun off the company in 2013. It has 12 million customers and services about $300 billion in loans. While no one likes student loans, a few key metrics show this stock is a raging buy right now. Here's what you need to know to get your trading week started. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is under scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration. According to reports, a probe is underway on whether the company has failed to calculate checked baggage loads on flights correctly. The Wall Street Journal reports that several planes carried 1,000 pounds of cargo more than what was listed on flight paperwork. Look for earnings reports from Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP), Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL), La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE: LZB), LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC), and Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH).

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• [By Max Byerly]

  In other news, Chairman Douglas M. Baker, Jr. sold 40,025 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.20, for a total transaction of $6,412,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 558,017 shares in the company, valued at $89,394,323.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leslie S. Biller sold 2,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.40, for a total transaction of $450,884.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 57,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,856.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

  ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “Ecolab (ECL) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance” was originally posted by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this story on another website, it was stolen and reposted in violation of United States & international copyright & trademark legislation. The correct version of this story can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4125845/ecolab-ecl-updates-q4-earnings-guidance.html.

  About Ecolab

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) – Jefferies Financial Group dropped their Q4 2018 EPS estimates for Ecolab in a report released on Tuesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group analyst L. Alexander now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $1.73 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.74.

• [By Scott Levine]

  Here are three starkly different opportunities -- Aqua America (NYSE:WTR), Franco-Nevada Corp. (NYSE:FNV), and Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) -- that could help investors avoid tossing and turning all night.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Decreases Holdings in Procter & Gamble Co (PG)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,321,859 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,513 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.1% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $110,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI now owns 34,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. First Midwest Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the third quarter. First Midwest Bank Trust Division now owns 62,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,196,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.1% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 5,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ELM Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.3% in the third quarter. ELM Advisors LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.36% of the company’s stock.

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Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $98.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.78. Procter & Gamble Co has a 12-month low of $70.73 and a 12-month high of $99.70. The firm has a market cap of $248.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.04. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Co will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 18th were paid a dividend of $0.7172 per share. This represents a $2.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 17th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.01%.

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Carolyn M. Tastad sold 19,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.71, for a total transaction of $1,834,823.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,615,908.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Carolyn M. Tastad sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.30, for a total transaction of $65,310.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,215,236 shares of company stock worth $219,240,703. Company insiders own 1.84% of the company’s stock.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Wednesday, January 30th. Barclays reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $94.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, January 25th. SunTrust Banks upped their price target on Procter & Gamble to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 24th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Berenberg Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $86.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Wednesday, January 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

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Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods to consumers in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Greater China, Latin America, India, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates in five segments: Beauty; Grooming; health Care; fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.

Featured Article: What is Liquidity?

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG).

Canopy Growth's Sizzling Third Quarter Results: 5 Things You'll Really Want to Know

If there was any question what company is the dominant player in the Canadian marijuana industry, it should now be settled. Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) reported its third-quarter results Thursday evening and the big marijuana grower is clearly the leader. 

This was a tremendously important quarter for Canopy, as it was the first time the company reported sales from the recently opened Canadian recreational marijuana market. Canopy's headline revenue number was great, but digging into its results revealed even more good news. Here are five things you'll really want to know from Canopy's sizzling Q3.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Ginormous revenue growth

Everyone expected Canopy Growth would report tremendous revenue growth in Q3. And that's exactly what the company did.

Canopy posted Q3 net revenue of 83 million in Canadian dollars, which is roughly $62 million in U.S. dollars. This reflected a ginormous year-over-year increase of 283%. The comparison to the previous quarter was nearly as impressive, with Canopy's net revenue soaring 256% over the second quarter.

Analysts had been optimistic about Canopy's performance, but reality proved to be even better than they anticipated. The consensus revenue estimate for Q3 was CA$81.1 million according to analysts surveyed by FactSet, nearly CA$2 million below Canopy's actual result.

2. A commanding recreational market share in Canada

Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) beat Canopy to the punch earlier this week in reporting its results for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2018. Aurora announced that it captured a market share of around 20% in the Canadian recreational pot market. Sounds good, right? Just wait.

Canopy Growth didn't include any market share information in its regulatory filings for Q3. However, we can get a pretty good idea of the company's market share by comparing its recreational sales to Aurora's.

Aurora reported recreational pot sales of CA$21.6 million. Canopy blew that number out of the water with recreational sales of CA$57.7 million. A little number crunching reveals that Canopy had a commanding market share of more than 50%. 

3. Impressive international sales growth

In its second quarter, Canopy's international sales growth was lackluster -- European medical cannabis sales grew only 1.8% over the previous quarter. Canopy Growth co-CEO Bruce Linton said in the company's Q2 conference call that there were "a couple of hiccups of getting the normal run rate to Germany."

There were no hiccups in the third quarter. Canopy reported international sales of CA$2.7 million (around US$2 million), up 173% year over year. In Q2, international sales accounted for roughly 10% of total revenue, which at the time consisted almost entirely of medical cannabis sales. Canopy said that international sales generated 16% of its total medical cannabis sales in the third quarter, up from 5% from the year-ago period. 

Most of Canopy's international revenue comes from its Spektrum Cannabis subsidiary in Germany. The company reported that 204 kilograms of medical cannabis were sold in Q3 in Germany at an average price of CA$13.28 per gram. In the second quarter, 164 kilograms of medical cannabis were sold in Germany at an average price of CA$13.58 per gram. 

4. A surprising profit -- with an asterisk

After posting its biggest loss ever in Q2, Canopy Growth roared back in Q3 with a surprising profit of CA$74.9 million (US$56 million), or CA$0.22 per share (US$0.17 per share). But just as the Q2 loss came with an asterisk, so did Canopy's Q3 profit.

The only reason the company was able to report positive earnings was because of fair value changes on its financial liabilities. In particular, the fair value of Canopy's senior convertible notes decreased significantly. Without the impact of this accounting requirement, the company would have had a net loss of CA$121 million (US$91 million), or CA$0.32 per share (US$0.24 per share).

5. The biggest cash stockpile in the industry

No company in the Canadian marijuana industry can touch Canopy Growth when it comes to cash. The company announced that it had cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling CA$4.9 million (around US$3.7 milion) as of Dec. 31, 2018.

It's not hard to guess where that money came from. Constellation Brands' (NYSE:STZ) US$4 billion investment in Canopy last year provided the grower with a huge trove of cash to use for funding operations and expansion. Canopy has already started putting that money to use, recently announcing plans to build a large-scale hemp production facility in New York state.

What's next

Canopy's performance in future quarters should only get better. Remember, the company didn't have a full quarter of recreational pot sales in Q3. Add to that the realization that Canopy only started to ship its high-profit softgel capsules at the end of the quarter. Gross margins are likely to improve as Canopy's cultivation facilities reach their full utilization.

There's also a big new market on the way in Canada as the country is expected to allow sales of cannabis-infused edibles and beverages later this year. The U.S. holds new potential as well now that hemp is legal.

Linton stated that "sales from the first wave of products and retail environments launched in the third quarter demonstrate that we are capturing consumers' attention." He's right. And as Canopy continues to fire on all cylinders moving forward, it's likely to capture even more attention from investors, too.

8 Metrics Behind Shopify's Soaring Stock Price

On Tuesday, e-commerce platform Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) closed the books on a big year. Merchant and subscription solutions revenue on its platform soared as sellers flocked to Shopify. This led to a nice jump in revenue and gross profit during the year. Unsurprisingly, the stock rose sharply, too: Shares gained nearly 30% over the past 12 months, handily outperforming the S&P 500's 3% gain over the same time period.

If the stock's outperformance over the past 12 months has caught your attention and you're looking for more insight into what's driving the company's stellar results, look no further. Here are the eight most important metrics behind Shopify's staggering growth recently.

Shopify platform. Image source: Shopify.

1. Gross merchandise volume jumped 56%

Shopify's gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2018 rose an impressive 56% year over year, to $16.6 billion. While this is a deceleration from Shopify's 71% year-over-year growth in 2017 GMV, it's still impressively steep.

2. Revenue surged 59%

Revenue in 2018 jumped 59% year over year making Shopify the quickest software-as-a-service company ever to hit $1 billion in revenue. Total revenue during the year was $1.073 billion, crushing management's full-year outlook this time last year for 2018 revenue to be between $970 million and $990 million.

3. Subscription solutions revenue jumped 50%

Shopify's important subscription solutions revenue rose 50% year over year, to $465 million.

4. Merchant solutions revenue soared 67%

Shopify's merchant solutions revenue, which accounts for a larger portion of total revenue than subscription solutions, grew particularly fast. Merchant solutions revenue increased 67% year over year, to $608 million.

5. Gross profit soared 57%

Providing further validation of the company's business model, gross profit dollars grew sharply, too. Shopify's gross profit increased 57% year over year, to $596 million.

6. Merchants saw their GMV increase an average of 24%

One key measure Shopify investors should keep an eye is the success of the company's merchants. Strong performance from the merchants on Shopify's platform vouches for the value the company is providing.

Shopify merchants selling on the platform for at least 12 months saw their gross merchandise volume increase at an average rate of 24% year over year, the company said. In addition, "The number of merchants on the Shopify platform achieving over $1 million in GMV grew by 58% in 2018," Shopify said in its fourth-quarter and full-year update.

7. Twenty-four percent of merchants were based outside of core geographies

Shopify's platform is increasingly resonating with a global audience. The company said 24% of its merchants are now based in markets outside of its core geographies (North America, U.K., and Australia). This compares with 21% of merchants in 2017.

8. Shopify expects 2019 revenue to rise about 37%

Management provided a robust outlook for 2019, saying it expects revenue to rise about 37% year over year to between $1.46 billion and $1.48 billion. In addition, the midpoint of management's guidance range for 2019 adjusted operating income of $10 million to $20 million implies a $3.2 million year-over-year increase in the key metric.

Sears likely to close and shrink more stores

Eddie Lampert, the former CEO of Sears who succeeded in buying the bankrupted retailer, says that the new company will continue to shrink in both the number of stores it operates, and the size of those locations.  

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Lampert said that while the new business will start out with 223 Sears and 202 Kmart locations, "it would be very difficult to keep all 425 stores open.''

Some have not made money, and some locations may be sold, he said, though the retailer might then lease some of the space back. "We would like to maintain a presence in at least the stores that we're in,'' he said. " That may be in a different location in the mall, if we were to sell the store, or sell and lease back part of the store."

With Sears teetering on the brink of liquidation, Lampert's hedge fund ESL Investments made a $5.2 billion offer for the company that was approved last week by a federal bankruptcy judge.

The one time retail giant had already become a vastly smaller company in recent years, closing more than 3,500 stores, and cutting about 250,000 jobs as it struggled to compete against Amazon, Walmart and more specialized retailers like Best Buy.

Now, in addition to operating an even smaller number of stores, Lampert says he's interested in some  locations adopting a smaller format.

"Our goal is to continue to shrink the size of our stores," Lampert said, adding that he also wants to focus more on the tools and appliances that became a signature of Sears through its popular Diehard and Craftsman brands.

Lampert's leadership of Sears had been controversial, with critics saying that the complicated financial transactions he executed to keep the company afloat enriched him at the chain's expense.

But Lampert offered a vision for the retailer's future success that included suppliers being placated by the elimination of billions of dollars in debt, and shoppers taking advantage of its Shop Your Way loyalty program.

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For now, the newly private company will not have to deal with the scrutiny of shareholders. But while "being private has certain advantages of being able to do things that public investors wouldn't endorse," Lampert said, "if I am a betting person, which I am, I would say at some point we would be public again."

Chicken and Waffles cereal is a thing: Cookies for breakfast? No, but maple bacon doughnut and chicken and waffles cereals, yes?

Google is hiring: Google plans to add tens of thousands of new jobs as it expands in 14 states

It's not too late to plan for your valentine: How to score last-minute deals on Valentine's Day flowers at Whole Foods, Target and more

 

Top Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:BWX,FCPT,OHI,IDTI,CHMA,

There are very few figures in the financial markets that are universally loved and respected. Warren Buffett is one such luminary. His carefully crafted persona of humble wisdom resonates deeply within the American psyche.

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His down-home style and otherworldly investment skills have earned him the respect of everyone from Joe Six Pack to the world's wealthiest people. In this ultra-greedy age of tabloid sensationalism and ever-changing financial markets, it is incredibly impressive that his reputation and stock picking skills have remained solidly intact.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: SPDR Blmbg Barclays Intl Trs Bd ETF (BWX)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Natixis boosted its stake in shares of Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf (BMV:BWX) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,615 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Natixis owned approximately 0.07% of Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf (BMV:BWX) declared a monthly dividend on Monday, October 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.0272 per share on Friday, October 5th. This represents a $0.33 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 1st. This is an increase from Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf’s previous monthly dividend of $0.02.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Tradewinds Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf (BMV:BWX) by 82.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 55,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267,704 shares during the quarter. Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf accounts for 0.6% of Tradewinds Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf (BMV:BWX) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 13,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Blue Whale Token (CURRENCY:BWX) traded 10.6% lower against the U.S. dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 15:00 PM Eastern on September 6th. Blue Whale Token has a total market capitalization of $0.00 and $9,138.00 worth of Blue Whale Token was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. Over the last week, Blue Whale Token has traded 26.2% lower against the U.S. dollar. One Blue Whale Token token can now be bought for approximately $0.0004 or 0.00000007 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinsuper, IDEX and BitForex.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Spdr Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond Etf (BMV:BWX) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 98,671 shares, a decline of 86.0% from the April 13th total of 706,330 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 636,403 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Four Corners Property Trust, Inc.(FCPT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern Sentiment Analysis’s scoring:

  Get Four Corners Property Trust alerts: FCPT Closes 46 Chili's Restaurant Properties for $149.8 million as part of Previously Announced Brinker Sale-Leaseback Transaction (finance.yahoo.com) FCPT Announces Acquisition of a Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurant Property for $1.7 million (finance.yahoo.com) Four Corners Property Trust (FCPT) vs. Sutherland Asset Management (SLD) Head to Head Analysis (americanbankingnews.com) FCPT Announces Acquisition of an Arby's Restaurant Property for $1.6 million (finance.yahoo.com) Four Corners Property Trust Inc (FCPT) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $35.62 Million (americanbankingnews.com)

  Shares of Four Corners Property Trust traded down $0.16, hitting $26.01, during trading hours on Friday, according to MarketBeat Ratings. The stock had a trading volume of 360,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,703. The company has a current ratio of 6.59, a quick ratio of 6.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of -0.04. Four Corners Property Trust has a 12-month low of $21.28 and a 12-month high of $26.96.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Four Corners Property Trust (FCPT)

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

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Four Corners Property (FCPT)

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

Top Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc.(OHI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Leo Sun, Chuck Saletta, and Jordan Wathen]

  Rising interest rates can throttle demand for dividend stocks, but it's foolish for investors to sell all of their dividend stocks on these cyclical dips. Today, three Motley Fool investors will discuss a trio of rock-solid stocks with yields exceeding 5%: AT&T (NYSE:T), Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI), and Oaktree Capital Group (NYSE:OAK).

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  HCP (NYSE:HCP) and Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE:DOC) both advanced roughly 13%, while Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI) jumped a little over 14%. Ventas (NYSE:VTR) and Welltower (NYSE:WELL) joined the party, too, up 10% and 11%, respectively.

• [By ]

  Along with index ETFs, consider redeploying the capital into solid dividend producing names like Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Omega Health Care (NYSE: OHI) for their expected future stability and consistent dividend payouts.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (NYSE:OHI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 37,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

• [By Chuck Saletta]

  Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI) is a real estate investment trust that focuses on skilled nursing facilities. As America's population continues to age over the next several decades, it is very likely that the demand for those facilities will continue to strengthen. As a REIT, Omega Healthcare Investors has to pay out at least 90% of its income as a dividend, assuring that its investors will directly share in the profits the company sees.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  MML Investors Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (NYSE:OHI) by 33.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 25,862 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Omega Healthcare Investors were worth $1,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Integrated Device Technology, Inc.(IDTI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Integrated Device Technology (NASDAQ:IDTI) CEO Gregory L. Waters sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.66, for a total transaction of $504,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 796,129 shares in the company, valued at $26,797,702.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Integrated Device Technology (IDTI)

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

• [By Ezra Schwarzbaum]

  Several other optics stocks stand to gain. In a Monday note, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya also highlighlited the semiconductor space as one that could benefit from the news. Other stocks to watch include:

  Lumentum Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: LITE) Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHR) II-VI, Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI) Inphi Corporation (NYSE: IPHI) Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: SWKS) Integrated Device Technology Inc (NASDAQ: IDTI) Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ: QRVO) Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO)

  Related Links:

• [By Daniel Sparks]

  Shares of semiconductor company Integrated Device Technology (NASDAQ:IDTI), or IDT, jumped on Tuesday, rising as much as 11.5%. The stock is up 10.7% as of 2:07 p.m. EDT.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  BidaskClub upgraded shares of Integrated Device Technology (NASDAQ:IDTI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Chesapeake Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Integrated Device Technology (NASDAQ:IDTI) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,493 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Chiasma, Inc.(CHMA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Chiasma Inc (NASDAQ:CHMA) Director Scott Minick acquired 25,000 shares of Chiasma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.08 per share, with a total value of $77,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 62,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $192,595.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Chiasma Inc (NASDAQ:CHMA) Director Scott Minick purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.07 per share, for a total transaction of $12,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 62,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,970.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:INOD,CWH,ESCA,NCLH,LOAN,HMNY, Every night in 1995, I would deposit money overnight in a different currency...   Sounds strange, I realize.   But back then, as the vice president of a global mutual fund, one of my jobs was to execute our fund's trades.   Once our U.S. trading day was done, we wanted our money to work for us overnight as well. We might put our money into French francs, German marks, or somewhere else – just for the night.   We would find the safest country that was paying the highest interest rate. And we would put our money there overnight. No kidding.   As I'll explain today, what we were doing wasn't anything special...   Big companies like German automaker Volkswagen and Japanese automaker Honda (and thousands of other companies) have cash-management departments that do basically the same thing – on a much larger scale.

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Innodata Inc.(INOD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Innodata (NASDAQ:INOD) will be releasing its Q1 2018 earnings data before the market opens on Tuesday, May 8th.

  Innodata (NASDAQ:INOD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 8th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $15.66 million for the quarter. Innodata had a negative return on equity of 10.94% and a negative net margin of 8.30%.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Luzich Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Innodata Inc (NASDAQ:INOD) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,316,550 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,944 shares during the period. Innodata accounts for approximately 1.5% of Luzich Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Luzich Partners LLC owned about 5.09% of Innodata worth $1,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Media coverage about Innodata (NASDAQ:INOD) has trended somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. The research firm scores the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Innodata earned a media sentiment score of 0.10 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news articles about the technology company an impact score of 47.3485759085159 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near future.

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Camping World Holdings, Inc. (CWH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Not only has Wall Street given Camping World Holdings (NYSE:CWH) a beatdown this year, causing its stock to plunge by 57% since Jan. 1, but they also think it has a lot further to fall. Even though industry peers Winnebago Industries (NYSE:WGO) and Thor Industries have also seen their shares decline, by 34% and 37%, respectively, these two don't have nearly the amount of people betting against the stock

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Camping World (NYSE:CWH) had its price target reduced by KeyCorp from $52.00 to $38.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Camping World’s Q2 2018 earnings at $0.96 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $0.94 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at $0.53 EPS and Q3 2019 earnings at $1.01 EPS.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Also, the trio discusses earnings from Camping World (NYSE:CWH) and Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH), as well as another chapter in the tragidrama that is Papa John's (NASDAQ:PZZA), a company that's having some real trouble extricating itself from its founder and ex-CEO. Tune in to find out more.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Camping World (NYSE:CWH) was downgraded by research analysts at TheStreet from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

• [By Jim Crumly]

  As for individual stocks, Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) (NASDAQ:ZG) fell slightly after the company reported earnings, while Camping World Holdings (NYSE:CWH) plunged on first-quarter results.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Shares of Camping World Holdings Inc (NYSE:CWH) fell 6.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.83 and last traded at $20.00. 2,823,597 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 72% from the average session volume of 1,639,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.32.

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Escalade, Incorporated(ESCA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Escalade (NASDAQ: ESCA) and Sports Direct Intl (OTCMKTS:SDISY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

• [By Max Byerly]

  ZPR Investment Management purchased a new stake in Escalade, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESCA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,000.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Escalade (ESCA)

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

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.(NCLH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer said Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) is a bargain for millennials.

  Cramer interviewed CEO Frank Del Rio on Thursday's edition of CNBC's Mad Money. 

• [By ]

  TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer weighs in on Friday's trending market topics, including tariffs, jobs report, Fluor (FLR) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) .

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) is a global cruise company. The Company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. The Company had 25 ships with approximately 50,400 Berths, as of May 1, 2017. The Company’s brands offer itineraries to various destinations around the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, Canada, Bermuda, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii. The Company’s brands offer various features, amenities, and activities, including various accommodations, multiple dining venues, bars and lounges, spa, casino and retail shopping areas and various entertainment choices. All the brands offer a selection of shore excursions at each port of call, as well as hotel packages for stays before or after a voyage. As of December 31, 2016, its Norwegian offered 14 ships that were purpose-built to deliver the Freestyle Cruising product, which offered freedom, flexibility and choice to its guests.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) is a global cruise company. The Company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. The Company had 25 ships with approximately 50,400 Berths, as of May 1, 2017. The Company’s brands offer itineraries to various destinations around the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, Canada, Bermuda, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) is a global cruise company. The Company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. The Company had 25 ships with approximately 50,400 Berths, as of May 1, 2017. The Company’s brands offer itineraries to various destinations around the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, Canada, Bermuda, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) is a global cruise company. The Company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. The Company had 25 ships with approximately 50,400 Berths, as of May 1, 2017. The Company’s brands offer itineraries to various destinations around the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, Canada, Bermuda, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii.

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Manhattan Bridge Capital, Inc(LOAN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Manhattan Bridge Capital (LOAN)

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

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

  Losers Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) fell 13.2 percent to $10.95 in pre-market trading after dropping 1.33 percent on Friday. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) shares fell 8.7 percent to $5.33 in pre-market trading after declining 2.83 percent on Friday. Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) fell 8 percent to $32.75 in the pre-market trading session. AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) shares fell 7.4 percent to $51.17 in pre-market trading. Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) fell 7.4 percent to $4.54 in pre-market trading. Tailored Brands, Inc. (NYSE: TLRD) fell 7 percent to $31.83 in pre-market trading. California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) shares fell 6.5 percent to $30.29 in pre-market trading after dropping 10.60 percent on Friday. Manhattan Bridge Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOAN) fell 6.2 percent to $6.85 in pre-market trading. RedHill Biopharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: RDHL) fell 6 percent to $6.67 in pre-market trading. QEP Resources, Inc. (NYSE: QEP) shares fell 5.8 percent to $11.45 in pre-market trading after dropping 6.75 percent on Friday. Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH) fell 5.5 percent to $61.53 in pre-market trading. CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI) shares fell 5.2 percent to $11.70 in pre-market trading
• [By Logan Wallace]

  American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) and Manhattan Bridge Capital (NASDAQ:LOAN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  CyrusOne (NASDAQ:CONE) and Manhattan Bridge Capital (NASDAQ:LOAN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Hot Safest Stocks To Own Right Now: Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc(HMNY)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  After falling steadily for most of the week -- a fall finally broken by yesterday's $0.02 hopscotch higher -- shares of MoviePass owner Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ:HMNY) surged definitively higher on Friday, closing up 34.7% and completing a round trip back to the price it fetched precisely one week ago.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ:HMNY) stock dropped again on Monday -- this time down 27.6% as of 1:30 PM EDT -- on news that the majority owner of movie subscription service MoviePass is planning another reverse stock split.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  It's becoming clear with the success that AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) is having with AMC Stubs A-List that MoviePass parent Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ:HMNY) was simply ahead of its time -- and its pocketbook. AMC announced that its movie subscription service is now up to 380,000 subscribers after just three months of availability. The multiplex operator's service that allows the viewing of at least a dozen films a month has grown its rolls by 120,000 -- up 46% -- in just the past six weeks.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  In this segment, host Vincent Shen and Fool.com contributor Asit Sharma discuss MoviePass, the once-unlimited movie subscription service owned by analytics firm Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ:HMNY). The pair break down MoviePass' woes by analyzing the numbers -- and discussing their own experiences.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Amazon.com's (NASDAQ:AMZN) ongoing foray into the physical world shows no signs of slowing down. The Whole Foods acquisition was clearly the biggest move thus far, but the e-commerce behemoth is now reportedly considering getting into the movie theater business. That age-old business does seem ripe for disruption in some ways, and companies like Helios and Matheson Analytics' (NASDAQ:HMNY) majority-owned MoviePass are trying their darnedest to shake things up. But MoviePass is failing spectacularly, hemorrhaging cash and losing approximately $35 on each of its 3 million members in the second quarter.

Is Century Link Stock’s Monster Dividend a Curse?

Wall Street investors drool over high-dividend stocks. But sometimes they are traps, especially when the dividend percentage is double digits. Then it becomes a situation where management has to back it up with good news.

Century Link (NYSE:CTL) is one of those situations where the stock pays a magnificent dividend rate, yet the stock chart is in shambles. It is down 5% this year so far.

Every spike immediately reverses, so the trend is down and has been so for years. The only reason to own the stock is the dividend. This is too much of a risk for me to own the shares outright. But before you send me hate mail, keep in mind that this is nothing against the company; it just doesn’t fit my personal requirements to own it. There is logic to this decision, so read on.

The problem is that the more the stock falls, the more of a magnet the dividend becomes. Collecting 15% in yield just for owning a stock is too enticing for too many people. Yet this alone cannot stop the stock slide. It’s a loop from which CTL has not been able to break.

CTL stock reports earnings this week, so management will have the chance to deliver some good news. However, even then I would not be a buyer here because my method requires me to see a clear base develop in Century Link stock before I go long.

In this case, Centurylink has higher lows developing off last week’s $13.88 bottom. This is an encouraging short-term trend. But we also have a lower-highs trend from the Feb. 1 high of $15.57. The end result is a very tight descending wedge. Those tend to break out in force, and therein lies the opportunity.

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If it manages to spike on earnings, then I look for the same ledges from which it fell to be potential resistance zones. For example $14.50 would be one place where bears might put up a fight. $15 per share is the next one above that. $15.50 is the biggest one thereafter.

But Can We Count on CTL Stock?

Unfortunately, the direction of the breakout can be in either up or down. Just look at almost exactly a similar technical setup on Jan. 23. The end result was a drop from $15.22 to $14.25. So it’s not guaranteed that the move will be up. Onus is on management to give the market reason to buy it.

So in summary, owning CTL for the dividends is a risky proposition. Usually situations where the payout percentage is this high don’t last. Either the company will cut them or the stock has to rally a lot.

What will happen here is an unknown that is too scary for me to own. I don’t have an edge, so I don’t buy. It is better played using options, where one can risk a few bucks buying calls or spreads and hope for the best. There the loss would be a finite amount with no long-term commitment.

Click here for a bonus video that I recently shared discussing FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE) that could help with the concepts discussed here.

Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him as @racernic on Twitter and 

Buy Suven Life Science; target of Rs 315: Dolat Capital

Dolat Capital's research report on Suven Life Science

The quarterly results were adversely affected by a lower commercial contribution (` 200mn in Q3 and ` 380mn in 9M). Both CRAMS and specialty chemicals declined 27% YoY each. The company, however, is confident of a better performance from Q4FY19 onwards. The management expects commercial revenue to be in the range of ` 1.2-1.5bn in FY20, including deferred income from the year.

Outlook

We rollover to the FY21E EPS of `13,leading to TP of `315(15x FY21E EPS and up front payments and NCE driven revenue).

For all recommendations report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More First Published on Feb 8, 2019 03:28 pm

A Game-Changing Marijuana Banking Reform Bill Is Finally in the Works

Over the last couple of years, the momentum in the marijuana industry has been virtually unstoppable. To our north, Canada has become the first industrialized country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, opening the door to billions of dollars in added annual sales and, more importantly, providing validation to an industry that's been often touted as taboo by the business world.

To our south, Mexico legalized medical cannabis in 2017 and, following numerous Supreme Court rulings, is seriously considering moving forward with a recreational weed legalization plan.

In the U.S., two-thirds of all states have given the green light to medical pot in some capacity, with 10 of those states also allowing adult consumption. Further, two out of three Americans now favor legalizing marijuana, up from just a third of all Americans back in 2005, according to Gallup.

Things have been almost perfect for the legal cannabis industry...almost.

Image source: Getty Images.

Marijuana's Schedule I classification is causing a host of problems

In the United States, which would easily be the world's largest market for cannabis on a nominal sales basis, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug at the federal level. In layman's terms, this means it's entirely illegal, prone to abuse, and not recognized as having any medical benefits based on its classification. Sure, the federal government has been relatively accommodative with state-level implementation, but this Schedule I status comes with a number of other negative impacts.

For instance, profitable cannabis-based businesses are subjected to Section 280E of the U.S. tax code. Implemented in 1982 to primarily stick it to cocaine and heroin drug dealers, it disallows businesses that sell a federally illicit substance from taking normal corporate business deductions, save for cost of goods sold. For pot companies, cost of goods sold tends to be a relatively small percentage of revenue, often leading to effective income tax rates that can approach 70% to 90%. In short, in makes hiring for and expanding a cannabis-based business very difficult.

Additionally, pot businesses in the U.S. have little or no access to basic banking services. Even though the Obama administration outlined a loose set of regulations that would allow banks to offer services such as loans and lines of credit to companies in the marijuana industry, the vast majority of banks have kept their distance. In some cases, this leaves cannabis companies entirely reliant on cash and unable to grow quickly due to financing issues.

On occasion, lawmakers have attempted to tackle marijuana banking reform but found an underwhelming reception from their colleagues. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) has repeatedly tried attaching a marijuana banking reform amendment to a federal spending bill or criminal reform bill, only to either pull the amendment due to lack of support or have it outright excluded by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). As a reminder, Republicans tend to have a less favorable view of cannabis than Democrats or Independents.

Image source: Getty Images.

Cannabis banking reform legislation is (supposedly) on its way

However, the long string of failures in passing marijuana banking reform may soon come to an end. As reported by Politico on Monday, Feb. 4, the House Financial Services Committee was planning a hearing on cannabis banking reform that would, reportedly, be scheduled on Feb. 13. Note that Politico cited sources familiar with the matter, suggesting that nothing was officially set in stone as of yet.

Additionally, online publication Marijuana Moment reports that "preparations are now well under way for a full committee markup in the coming months on legislation to clear the way for cannabis businesses to gain access to banking services." 

Should lawmakers pursue cannabis banking reform, it would be game changing for a number of reasons. First, with Democrats retaking the House for the first time in eight years and having much higher favorability for legalizing marijuana than Republicans, it would give their party a real opportunity to advance weed reform measures. It's unclear if a marijuana banking reform measure would have a chance to pass the Senate, with Mitch McConnell unsupportive of cannabis legalization, but it would nevertheless move banking reform legislation further along than ever before.

Secondly, it would be the first time that a cannabis banking reform measure was to be presented as a stand-alone bill rather than an amendment that was attached to a larger bill.

Third and finally, it could open the door to additional sources of revenue generation for U.S. banks while also providing ample nondilutive financing options for public and private cannabis businesses. This would, more than likely, help with order processing, business expansion, industry consolidation, and hiring.

Image source: Getty Images.

This has big implications

We've already witnessed the possible implications of what opening the door to banks can do for this industry by looking north.

Although Canadian banks are still somewhat leery of lending to Canadian pot businesses, we have seen a few major convertible note financings, including a 600-million-Canadian-dollar offering by Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) in June. Understandably, Canopy Growth wound up netting itself an even bigger bounty in November when a $4 billion equity investment in the company from Constellation Brands was completed. But had this equity investment not come about, Canopy Growth's convertible note financing was going to serve as a means to expand internationally, diversify its product line into hemp, and help fund complementary acquisitions.

Something similar can be said of Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), which, last month, completed a CA$345 million senior convertible note offering due in 2024. Though convertible notes can be dilutive if converted, Aurora Cannabis' management team believes that it'll primarily be repaid with cash on hand, presumably from strong operating cash flow in due time. Since Aurora Cannabis still has plenty of work to do on the capacity-expansion front and has been an active acquirer since 2018 began, this injection of capital gives it even more breathing room to execute on its business strategy. 

What happens next in the U.S. remains to be seen. But the pathway appears to be clear for banking reform measures to finally get the time of day from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Match Group falls more than 4% after analyst says Tinder growth to slow 'substantially'

After recommending Match Group for years, Deutsche Bank has finally decided to "swipe left" on the online dating platform, downgrading the stock to a hold rating.

Analyst Kunal Madhukar told clients in a note published Tuesday that he projects a significant slowdown in subscriber growth in Match's dating app Tinder over the next 12 months. While the app is popular across the U.S. and Western Europe — and is still being adopted globally — Deutsche Bank believes "it could take time and a lot of effort to convert the potential addressable universe into subscribers."

Tinder is a location-based social search app that lets users signal their interest in meeting others on the app by swiping left or right on profiles they view on their phones, a rejection and approval, respectively.

"There still is a lot of stigma associated with online dating in many countries outside of North America and Western Europe and the stigma associated with casual relationships could be even higher," Madhukar wrote. Tinder's other challenge is that its user base "is currently skewed disproportionately towards males in a number of countries."

Pricing could also prove problematic for Match, the analyst said, since the majority of the current subscribers (and future ones) live outside of the U.S. If the pricing for Tinder internationally is at a significant discount to the pricing in the U.S., sales growth could lag subscriber growth. Higher prices could also affect one of the key appeals of Tinder, its large and diverse pool of potential partners.

"We think the attractiveness of the platform comes from the selection and liquidity it is able to deliver because of its more mass-market prices," Madhukar added.

The analyst did not adjust his price target of $54, representing 3 percent downside from Tuesday's closing price. Shares of Match Group fell 4.3 percent Wednesday following the Deutsche note.

Any such slowdown could pose an issue for Match and CEO Mandy Ginsberg, who has often characterized Tinder as the company's "growth engine." Shares notched a closing high in September and have rallied nearly 60 percent over the past 12 months in part thanks to a premium subscription option introduced in 2017. Called Tinder Gold, the premium option allows paying members to see who has already "liked" their profiles without swiping.

More than 60 percent of the 4.1 million subscribers on Tinder were Gold subscribers as of the end of the third quarter, helping boost direct revenue on the app nearly 100 percent. Still, management has cautioned that the strong year-over-year performance won't sustain itself indefinitely and that they are exploring how best to exploit the company's pricing.

"As we have discussed previously, the comps do get tougher for us starting in the fourth quarter, since last year's fourth quarter was the first full quarter with Tinder Gold," Ginsberg said in November. "We do still have pricing power at Tinder. We're still very early in dynamic pricing and testing price elasticity. We need to do that more on a country-by-country basis as well, since Tinder's in pretty much every country in the world."

— CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

Disclaimer

GAIL India Q3 net profit jumps 33% to Rs 1,681 crore

GAIL India Ltd, the nation's biggest gas utility, on February 5 reported a 33 percent jump in December quarter net profit as it sold more natural gas and transported higher volumes.

Net profit in October-December 2018 at Rs 1,681.23 crore, or Rs 7.46 a share, was higher than the earning of Rs 1,262.22 crore, or Rs 5.60 per share, in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement here.

The profit was higher "mainly due to better performance by natural gas marketing, natural gas transmission, liquid hydrocarbon (LHC) and LPG transmission segments", it said.

GAIL sold 9 percent more natural gas and transported 11 percent more LPG. Liquid hydrocarbon sales were up 5 percent.

related news Mamata Banerjee dharna LIVE: Didi ends anti-BJP dharna after 3 days, calls it 'victory of democracy' After 'positive judgment' by SC, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee calls off 'Save Constitution' dharna Blue Star posts Q3 net loss of Rs 94 crore, to exit JV in Oman

During the April-December period of the current fiscal year, the company's net profit at Rs 4,903 crore was 36 percent higher than the profit earned in the year-ago period.

GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi said in the third quarter of the current fiscal, the LHC segments performed remarkably due to better margins.

"However the margins in natural gas trading and petrochemical segments were under pressure in the quarter," he said without giving details.

Further, on a nine-month basis, the net profit of the company has already surpassed the yearly net profit of the last fiscal, supported by better physical performance in all the business segments, he added.

Tripathi said GAIL's petrochemical unit at Pata has scripted history by being the first in India to produce the value-added Metallocene film grade.

"Country-wide sales have commenced to quality conscious customers after successful field trials. This move of GAIL would not just provide domestic consumers of a reliable and indigenous supply source but shall help potential forex savings of over USD 100 million annually for India, as per initial estimates," he said.

GAIL, he said, is expected to achieve capital expenditure outlay of around Rs 7,000 crore during 2018-19 which is more than 70 percent increase from last year.

The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 6.25 per equity share (face value of Rs 10 each) for the financial year 2018-19.

GAIL said it has appealed in the Supreme Court against the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) upholding a demand of Rs 830 crore plus penalty and interest sought by the excise department.

Without giving details of the demand raised, it said based on the favourable legal opinions obtained on the matter, the company is confident of a positive outcome.

The tax demand, it said, shall continue to be disclosed as a contingent liability.

GAIL said the first phase of the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project will be completed by the end of this month, taking natural gas to cities in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The 2,655-km long gas pipeline costing Rs 12,940 crore from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal, with branch lines to Bokaro in Jharkhand and Dhamra in Odisha, will for the first time take clean environment-friendly gas to the east to fuel its industrial revolution.

The project will not just supply CNG to automobiles and cooking gas to household kitchens in cities along the route, but also to industries to meet their feedstock or fuel requirement.

Phase-1 of the project involves laying the pipeline to Dobhi, Patna, and Barauni in Bihar. The pipeline will be also extended from Barauni to Guwahati in Assam, orders for which have been placed.

As per the earlier plan, the project was targeted at meeting the energy requirements of 40 districts and 2,600 villages covering five eastern states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal -- by 2020. The project was launched in October 2016 and is also known as Jagdishpur-Haldia/Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline (JHBDPL).

The 750-km pipeline up to Guwahati will cost Rs 3,700-4,000 crore.

The project will usher in industrial development in the eastern part of India by supplying environmentally-clean natural gas to fertiliser and power plants, refineries, steel plants and other industries.

It will also provide clean energy to households and transportation in the cities en route the pipeline. The city gas network activities in Varanasi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have already commenced. First Published on Feb 5, 2019 04:21 pm

GAIL India Q3 net profit jumps 33% to Rs 1,681 crore

GAIL India Ltd, the nation's biggest gas utility, on February 5 reported a 33 percent jump in December quarter net profit as it sold more natural gas and transported higher volumes.

Net profit in October-December 2018 at Rs 1,681.23 crore, or Rs 7.46 a share, was higher than the earning of Rs 1,262.22 crore, or Rs 5.60 per share, in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement here.

The profit was higher "mainly due to better performance by natural gas marketing, natural gas transmission, liquid hydrocarbon (LHC) and LPG transmission segments", it said.

GAIL sold 9 percent more natural gas and transported 11 percent more LPG. Liquid hydrocarbon sales were up 5 percent.

related news Mamata Banerjee dharna LIVE: Didi ends anti-BJP dharna after 3 days, calls it 'victory of democracy' After 'positive judgment' by SC, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee calls off 'Save Constitution' dharna Blue Star posts Q3 net loss of Rs 94 crore, to exit JV in Oman

During the April-December period of the current fiscal year, the company's net profit at Rs 4,903 crore was 36 percent higher than the profit earned in the year-ago period.

GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi said in the third quarter of the current fiscal, the LHC segments performed remarkably due to better margins.

"However the margins in natural gas trading and petrochemical segments were under pressure in the quarter," he said without giving details.

Further, on a nine-month basis, the net profit of the company has already surpassed the yearly net profit of the last fiscal, supported by better physical performance in all the business segments, he added.

Tripathi said GAIL's petrochemical unit at Pata has scripted history by being the first in India to produce the value-added Metallocene film grade.

"Country-wide sales have commenced to quality conscious customers after successful field trials. This move of GAIL would not just provide domestic consumers of a reliable and indigenous supply source but shall help potential forex savings of over USD 100 million annually for India, as per initial estimates," he said.

GAIL, he said, is expected to achieve capital expenditure outlay of around Rs 7,000 crore during 2018-19 which is more than 70 percent increase from last year.

The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 6.25 per equity share (face value of Rs 10 each) for the financial year 2018-19.

GAIL said it has appealed in the Supreme Court against the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) upholding a demand of Rs 830 crore plus penalty and interest sought by the excise department.

Without giving details of the demand raised, it said based on the favourable legal opinions obtained on the matter, the company is confident of a positive outcome.

The tax demand, it said, shall continue to be disclosed as a contingent liability.

GAIL said the first phase of the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project will be completed by the end of this month, taking natural gas to cities in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The 2,655-km long gas pipeline costing Rs 12,940 crore from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal, with branch lines to Bokaro in Jharkhand and Dhamra in Odisha, will for the first time take clean environment-friendly gas to the east to fuel its industrial revolution.

The project will not just supply CNG to automobiles and cooking gas to household kitchens in cities along the route, but also to industries to meet their feedstock or fuel requirement.

Phase-1 of the project involves laying the pipeline to Dobhi, Patna, and Barauni in Bihar. The pipeline will be also extended from Barauni to Guwahati in Assam, orders for which have been placed.

As per the earlier plan, the project was targeted at meeting the energy requirements of 40 districts and 2,600 villages covering five eastern states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal -- by 2020. The project was launched in October 2016 and is also known as Jagdishpur-Haldia/Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline (JHBDPL).

The 750-km pipeline up to Guwahati will cost Rs 3,700-4,000 crore.

The project will usher in industrial development in the eastern part of India by supplying environmentally-clean natural gas to fertiliser and power plants, refineries, steel plants and other industries.

It will also provide clean energy to households and transportation in the cities en route the pipeline. The city gas network activities in Varanasi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have already commenced. First Published on Feb 5, 2019 04:21 pm