Buy Tata Metaliks; target of Rs 360: Centrum Research

Centrum Research's research report on Tata Metaliks

Tata Metaliks (TML) delivered steady performance in Q1 despite few unscheduled shutdowns and EBITDA stood at ~Rs660mn, up 33% YoY but lower than our expectations by ~8% with the miss being completely driven by shutdown impact (~Rs70mn). We continue to maintain our positive view on TML as its DI pipe business boasts of an industry leading cost structure, solid demand drivers and strong entry barriers. With expected recovery in spreads in FY19E and commissioning of PCI project by Q4FY19E coupled with several other productivity improvement initiatives,

Outlook

TML is expected to continue delivering steady earnings growth over FY19-20E. We see valuations attractive with reasonable scope for a re-rating and maintain Buy with a TP of Rs1050.

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 Aug 3, 2018 03:45 pm

FGL (FG) and AEGON (AEG) Critical Analysis

FGL (NYSE: FG) and AEGON (NYSE:AEG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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68.3% of FGL shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.1% of AEGON shares are held by institutional investors. 21.5% of FGL shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for FGL and AEGON, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FGL	0	2	3	0	2.60
AEGON	2	2	1	0	1.80

FGL presently has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.22%. AEGON has a consensus target price of $4.60, suggesting a potential downside of 29.56%. Given FGL’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe FGL is more favorable than AEGON.

Profitability

This table compares FGL and AEGON’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FGL	N/A	9.54%	0.56%
AEGON	7.24%	6.59%	0.40%

Dividends

AEGON pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. FGL does not pay a dividend. AEGON pays out 33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AEGON has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares FGL and AEGON’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FGL	$1.72 billion	1.12	$41.00 million	N/A	N/A
AEGON	$37.24 billion	0.36	$2.79 billion	$0.84	7.77

AEGON has higher revenue and earnings than FGL.

Summary

FGL beats AEGON on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

FGL Company Profile

FGL Holdings, through its subsidiaries, sells individual life insurance products and annuities in the United States. The company offers deferred annuities, including fixed indexed annuity contracts and fixed rate annuity contracts; immediate annuities; and life insurance products. It also provides life and annuity reinsurance services, such as reinsurance on asset intensive, long duration life, and annuity liabilities. The company sells its products through independent agents, managing general agents, and specialty brokerage firms, as well as various institutional markets. FGL Holdings is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

AEGON Company Profile

Aegon N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management services. It offers life and protection products, such as traditional and universal life insurance products, as well as employer, endowment, term, and whole life insurance products; and supplemental health, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, critical illness, cancer treatment, credit/disability, income protection, travel, and long-term care insurance products. The company also provides variable and fixed annuities, retirement plans, mutual funds, and stable value solutions; individual and group pensions sponsored by or obtained through an employer; and mortgages, as well as banking products, including saving deposits. In addition, it offers general insurance products consisting of automotive, liability, disability, household insurance, and fire protection, as well as financing and reinsurance services. The company markets its products through brokerage, partner, institutional/worksite, and wholesale distribution channels. It has operations in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern Europe, Spain, Portugal, and Asia. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) Director Sells $33,259.50 in Stock

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) Director Linda Johnson Rice sold 475 shares of Omnicom Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $33,259.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $557,779.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

OMC stock opened at $68.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Omnicom Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.32 and a 52 week high of $83.34.

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Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 17th. The business services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 40.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. equities analysts anticipate that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 20th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Omnicom Group’s payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

A number of research firms have weighed in on OMC. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Omnicom Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Co reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Tuesday, July 17th. ValuEngine raised shares of Omnicom Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.08.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OMC. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in Omnicom Group by 6,646.4% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,862,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834,872 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Omnicom Group during the first quarter worth about $80,364,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Omnicom Group by 30.2% during the first quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,252,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,371,000 after acquiring an additional 753,845 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in Omnicom Group during the first quarter worth about $41,971,000. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP boosted its position in Omnicom Group by 38.6% during the first quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 1,860,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,118,000 after acquiring an additional 517,700 shares during the last quarter.

About Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. The company offers a range of services in the areas of advertising, customer relationship management, public relations, and healthcare. Its services comprises advertising, branding, content marketing, corporate social responsibility consulting, crisis communication, custom publishing, data analytics, database management, digital/direct marketing, digital transformation, financial/corporate business-to-business advertising, graphic arts/digital imaging, healthcare marketing and communications, and instore design services.

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Heritage Commerce (HTBK) Now Covered by Raymond James

Raymond James started coverage on shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $19.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Brean Capital reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research report on Monday, April 16th. BidaskClub lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, May 14th. ValuEngine lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 18th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Heritage Commerce from $17.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $18.63.

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Heritage Commerce traded up $0.02, reaching $16.96, during trading on Wednesday, according to MarketBeat Ratings. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 164,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 233,634. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Heritage Commerce has a 1 year low of $12.76 and a 1 year high of $18.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $680.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.62.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $28.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.45 million. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 12.22%. equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Commerce will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 23,000 shares of Heritage Commerce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.98, for a total value of $390,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,567.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Eugene Benito sold 6,000 shares of Heritage Commerce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $102,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,500 shares of company stock worth $552,110. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. John W. Rosenthal Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. John W. Rosenthal Capital Management Inc. now owns 229,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 386,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,785 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 98,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 6,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.11% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

Heritage Commerce Corp operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank of Commerce that provides various commercial and personal banking services to residents and the business/professional community in California. It offers a range of deposit products for business banking and retail markets, including interest and non-interest bearing demand, savings accounts, certificate of deposit, money market accounts, and time deposits.

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How to Keep 2nd-Place Candidates Interested in Your Company

Every once in a lucky while, you'll reach the end of the interview process with two candidates who would both make a great addition to your company. While you might have a hard time deciding between them, ultimately something will tip the scales in one candidate's favor -- perhaps one has more experience under their belt, or possesses hard-to-find skills. It can be tough to let that other candidate know that you've chosen someone else for the job -- but the good news is, you don't need to let them go entirely.

It's always beneficial to nurture relationships with second-place candidates, says Gene Brady, Director at SCN �� Search Consulting Network. "'Second-place' candidates have many times been the one to receive the offer, for a wide variety of reasons -- the first-place candidate withdraws [...] or the first-place candidate doesn't pass the drug or background check. Also, the next assignment that comes in may fit the second-place candidate so nicely they become the first-place candidate for the role!

Image source: Getty Images.

But how exactly can you keep a second-place candidate interested if you don't have an opportunity for them at the moment? Here are a few of the top tips.

Let them down gently

An interested candidate never wants to hear that they didn't get the job, but if you message it correctly, you can leave them feeling good about themselves and open to future opportunities. It shouldn't feel artificially cheery or phony, though -- make sure you're authentic in your response.

"If we think the person is a good fit, we make that known," says Marc Prosser, co-founder of FitSmallBusiness.com. "Often, we, or our recruiter, will have a phone conversation with them that goes like this: 'We had lots of great candidates who applied for the position. We think you would be a great addition to our company, however, [we] have chosen to offer the position to another candidate. Would you be open to hearing from us in the future?'"

You may even want to share specific feedback on why they weren't selected for the role, says Paul Freed, co-founder of Herd Freed Hartz.

"Explain the decision to go with another candidate[...] Offer any interview feedback if needed, but also say it was a tough decision on the team and [we] would love to hire both but just don't have the budget right now and that you'd [like] to stay close for future opportunities," Freed says.

If you know a timeline of when that budget might come in, or when a role fitting their experience and skills may open, make sure to share that with them.

Establish ongoing communication

HR experts agree that the best way to keep a strong candidate interested in your company is to proactively engage with them.

"Emails where you check in are great for nurturing candidates. You can also call or text, asking how everything is going -- maybe asking something about what you discussed during interviews (pursuit of a degree, certification, or other topics)," says hiring and onboarding consultant Jen Teague. "Everyone wants to be memorable for the right reasons, and these modes of contact are a great way to do that. You don't have to become a buddy, just a reference or point of contact for the company. That way, you are fresh in the candidate's mind and he or she will be more likely to apply again the future."

Make sure that this outreach isn't just a one-time thing, though, cautions HR consultant and author Joshua M. Evans.

"Follow up with them every few weeks. This is often overlooked because it is cumbersome, but following up with a potential candidate every few weeks can not only keep [them] interested, it can also build their appreciation for your organization," Evans says.

Other creative ideas for staying in touch with a candidate include sending a monthly update, inviting them to a company open house or even sending them a small gift, Freed says. If you have the budget for it, you may even want to "consider adding this person for an advisory role or consultant for a special project."

And of course, keep candidates in the loop regarding new opportunities.

Message, "email or call the candidates periodically when new jobs are available, and encourage them to apply for jobs on a short-list if they meet qualifications. When there's news about an upcoming hiring phase, notify them and recommend applying if they are interested," says Tes Akhtar, recruiting and HR development consultant for Potent Pages.

Be honest on timing

It's understandable to want to keep a candidate on deck, but if you're interacting with them for months on end and have no idea when a relevant position will open, you need to let them know.

"One important caveat is to NOT lead [candidates] on. Do not give them false hope as your backup plan," Evans says. "Remember that if they were a good fit for your organization then they would probably be a good fit for someone else's. Don't hold them back from progressing their careers because you want them waiting in the wings."

For example, "if a position isn't going to be open for three months, we tell the person up front and let them know we will periodically check in with them," Freed says.

That being said, as long as you're open about what the candidate can expect, there's nothing wrong with engaging them as long as they're still interested.

"There are always future opportunities," Freed adds. "We value relationships, and look to maintain the good ones. Many times we've presented people with multiple opportunities through the years, and then bam -- one lines up well for them, they receive an offer, and it was our sustained relationship that kept the door wide open."

So the next time you have to choose between two stellar candidates, don't lament having to let one of them go -- see it as a valuable opportunity to grow your talent pool.

This article originally appeared on Glassdoor.com.

Zacks: Analysts Anticipate FMC Corp (FMC) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $1.19 Billion

Brokerages forecast that FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC) will report $1.19 billion in sales for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Three analysts have provided estimates for FMC’s earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $1.25 billion and the lowest estimate coming in at $1.09 billion. FMC reported sales of $656.80 million during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 81.2%. The firm is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings report after the market closes on Wednesday, August 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that FMC will report full year sales of $4.63 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $4.58 billion to $4.66 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will post sales of $4.92 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $4.80 billion to $5.02 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of analysts that cover FMC.

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FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. FMC had a net margin of 26.54% and a return on equity of 22.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 103.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS.

FMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of FMC from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 4th. Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of FMC from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $98.70 to $98.00 in a report on Monday, May 14th. Bank of America set a $100.00 target price on shares of FMC and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 4th. Nomura lifted their target price on shares of FMC from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 11th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of FMC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. FMC presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $100.33.

Shares of FMC stock traded up $1.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $87.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,693,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,337. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.63. FMC has a fifty-two week low of $72.73 and a fifty-two week high of $98.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, June 29th will be given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 28th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.35%.

In related news, CEO Pierre R. Brondeau sold 72,992 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Monday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $6,364,172.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 407,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,528,791.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul W. Graves sold 3,615 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $319,782.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,612 shares in the company, valued at $7,927,077.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FMC by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 61,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,825,000 after purchasing an additional 9,616 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FMC by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth $3,932,000. AMP Capital Investors Ltd boosted its position in shares of FMC by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. AMP Capital Investors Ltd now owns 46,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth $313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

FMC Company Profile

FMC Corporation, a diversified chemical company, provides solutions, applications, and products for the agricultural, consumer, and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, FMC Agricultural Solutions and FMC Lithium. The FMC Agricultural Solutions segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals, including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides that are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control.

Featured Article: Book Value Per Share �� BVPS

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

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Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:XPLR,BWEN,CZR,DGI,ABM,KRNY,IID,LTEA,KTEC,ADTN,

Readers sometimes ask where I find ideas for new stock recommendations.

The answer is everywhere. I read a lot of business news, both in hard copy and on-line. I watch some financial shows on TV. I talk to people. I do a lot of research. And sometimes the ideas flow from a casual dinner table conversation.

That happened last week. Through a mutual friend, I had the opportunity to sit down with Vitaliy Katsenelson, Chief Investment Officer of Investment Management Associates of Denver and the author of The Little Book of Sideways Markets (John Wiley and Sons, 2011).

Mr. Katsenelson is a value investor and, as such, he is finding it increasingly difficult to uncover reasonably priced stocks in this overheated market. Value managers traditionally look to downtrodden sectors of the market to find sensibly priced securities, but there aren't many of those around right now.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Xplore Technologies Corp(XPLR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Xplore Technologies (NASDAQ: XPLR) and Echelon (NASDAQ:ELON) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  A10 Networks (NYSE: ATEN) and Xplore Technologies (NASDAQ:XPLR) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Xplore Technologies (NASDAQ: XPLR) is one of 25 publicly-traded companies in the “Computer & office equipment” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Xplore Technologies to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Xplore Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: XPLR) shares spiked on Thursday after it was announced that the company would be acquired by Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA). The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Broadwind Energy Inc.(BWEN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Matthews International (NASDAQ: MATW) and Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings and dividends.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Matthews International (NASDAQ: MATW) and Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Caesars Entertainment Corporation(CZR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  The press began hawking any public company that could have any ties to the newly legalized pastime. CNBC and other mainstream sites have been pumping the same 20 different companies from gaming-software firm Scientific Games Corp. (Nasdaq: SGMS) to the recently bankrupt Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: CZR).

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Casinos and gaming suppliers are tripping over themselves to show how excited they are about the Supreme Court overturning a law that banned sports betting in every state in the U.S. except Nevada. Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR), MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM), and Scientific Games (NASDAQ:SGMS) all released statements in support of the potential of expanded sports betting with Scientific Games saying it could be the "greatest wave of gaming expansion in the United States in the past 20 years."�

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Others
  Rounding out the top 10 were Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR), Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT), Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP), and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU). The standout stock here was Micron, with a drop of nearly 8% in the number of its shares short. Short interest moves in the others were modest.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Monday was a mixed day on Wall Street, as gains for major benchmarks contrasted with a decline in indexes tracking smaller companies. Many market participants focused on the White House's support of Chinese mobile device maker ZTE, which lifted several of the biggest stocks of Chinese technology giants that trade on U.S. exchanges. In general, investors seem to be pleased with the health of the global economy, and absent reasons to the contrary, the path of least resistance appears to be a bounce from the recent correction. Some individual companies received especially good news that lifted shares today. Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR), NXP Semiconductor (NASDAQ:NXPI), and Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Caesars Entertainment Co. Common Stock (CZR)

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

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: DigitalGlobe, Inc(DGI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: “DigitalGlobe (DGI) Earning Somewhat Positive Press Coverage, Report Shows” was published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this piece on another domain, it was stolen and republished in violation of US & international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this piece can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/3360325/digitalglobe-dgi-earning-somewhat-positive-press-coverage-report-shows.html.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: ABM Industries Incorporated(ABM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Shares of�ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM) jumped as much as 13.4% in trading Thursday after the�facility solutions provider reported fiscal second-quarter results that topped analyst expectations. The stock cooled off slightly at midday but was still up 11.3% at 11:05 a.m. EDT.�

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Kearny Financial(KRNY)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Kearny Financial (NASDAQ: KRNY) and Northrim BanCorp (NASDAQ:NRIM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

• [By Max Byerly]

  HSBC (NYSE: HSBC) and Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.04 per share by the savings and loans company on Wednesday, June 20th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 5th. This is an increase from Kearny Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Voya International High Dividend Equity Income Fund(IID)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  ING International High (NYSE:IID) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, May 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 4th will be given a dividend of 0.052 per share on Friday, June 15th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 1st.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Long Island Iced Tea Corp. (LTEA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  William may be right about a sell-off in stocks… in the cryptocurrency space. Over the last week, companies that have billed themselves as blockchain-focused saw their stocks surge. One firm – Long Island Iced Tea changed its name to Long Island Blockchain and watched its stock surge more than triple digits. But today, firms with this exposure are cratering. MGT Capital Investments Inc. (OTCMKTS: MGTI), Long Island Iced Tea Corp. (Nasdaq: LTEA), Riot Blockchain Inc. (Nasdaq: RIOT), and Siebert Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: SIEB) all fell by more than 12% Friday.

• [By ]

  Long Island Ice Tea changed its name to Long Blockchain (Nasdaq: LTEA), sending shares 200% higher. It remains to be seen how a beverage maker will create shareholder value from blockchain technology -- not that its investors care.�

• [By ]

  5. Blockchain-Related Stocks
  Shorting blockchain-related stocks is an ideal way to not only short bitcoin but also short the entire cryptocurrency craze. Many such stocks exist, such as Riot Blockchain (Nasdaq: RIOT), Long Blockchain (Nasdaq: LTEA), and Longfin (Nasdaq: LFIN). Choose the one that you think is most overhyped and short away!

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Key Technology Inc.(KTEC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Press coverage about Key Technology (NASDAQ:KTEC) has been trending somewhat positive on Monday, according to Accern Sentiment. The research firm identifies positive and negative media coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Key Technology earned a coverage optimism score of 0.11 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the industrial products company an impact score of 47.5851902672258 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: ADTRAN Inc.(ADTN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ADTRAN (NASDAQ: ADTN) and One Horizon Group (NASDAQ:OHGI) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

• [By Max Byerly]

  ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.38.

Kimco Realty Corp (KIM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.10.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Boenning Scattergood reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Kimco Realty in a research note on Friday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Kimco Realty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Kimco Realty in a research report on Thursday, April 26th. ValuEngine raised shares of Kimco Realty from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Kimco Realty from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 15th.

Get Kimco Realty alerts:

NYSE:KIM traded down $0.29 on Wednesday, hitting $16.43. The stock had a trading volume of 3,176,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,931,382. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.50. Kimco Realty has a 1 year low of $13.16 and a 1 year high of $21.24.

Kimco Realty (NYSE:KIM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $304.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.97 million. Kimco Realty had a net margin of 40.74% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. sell-side analysts forecast that Kimco Realty will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 2nd. Kimco Realty’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.26%.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimco Realty by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 219,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,736,000 after buying an additional 18,850 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Kimco Realty by 51.1% in the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,507 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 9,640 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimco Realty by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 670,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,655,000 after buying an additional 27,134 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in Kimco Realty by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 22,468 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 7,196 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Kimco Realty by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 214,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,084,000 after buying an additional 12,018 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Kimco Realty

Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in New Hyde Park, N.Y., that is one of North America's largest publicly traded owners and operators of open-air shopping centers. As of December 31, 2017, the company owned interests in 492 U.S. shopping centers comprising 83 million square feet of leasable space primarily concentrated in the top major metropolitan markets.

Royce Funds Comments on Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) was up about 16% through the end of May. It is one of the world’s largest producers of reagents (which are specialized proteins) used in drug research and development and clinical diagnostics. It’s a strong free cash flow business given the high incremental margin and annuity-like nature of the sales of these consumable products.

Equally important, the CEO has transformed the company in the five years since he came on board, taking a steady cash cow and turning it into a compounding growth machine by reinvesting in previously untapped opportunities such as faster and broader new product development, geographic expansion, salesforce growth, and acquisitions that supplemented its core business or enhanced its presence in the analytical instruments market.

The payoff from these actions has been evident in Bio-Techne’s robust financial results, and the market has rewarded the stock with valuation multiple expansion.

From Lauren Romeo on 4 Premier Quality Small-Caps.

3 Growth Stocks to Buy and Hold for 25 Years

One of the best ways to profit with stocks is also one of the simplest: Find great companies, buy them, and then hold them for as long as you can. And while simple isn't always easy -- try holding a stock that falls by 40% during the next market downturn -- it has proven to be an excellent way to generate life-changing wealth.�

We challenged three investors to give us some seriously�long-term ideas with a simple question: "What's a stock to buy and hold for 25 years?" They came up with�CareTrust REIT Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE),�Alphabet Inc.�(NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL), and�Visa Inc.�(NYSE:V).�

And when we asked them why, they really gave us something to get excited about. Here's why owning these three growth stocks could make you very happy for the next 25 years -- or even longer.�

Image source: Getty Images.

An unloved industry set for decades of growth

Jason Hall�(CareTrust REIT): Baby boomers are moving into retirement age in full force, with around 3 million turning 65 every year between now and 2029, when the youngest boomers reach Medicare eligibility. By 2030, there will be 80 million American seniors, around half of whom will be 80 or older.�

And even with advances in healthcare, better outpatient and in-home treatment and assistance, a substantial portion will find themselves in need of specialized healthcare and senior housing facilities, either on a temporary or permanent basis. And I think CareTrust, a small (but fast-growing) specialist, in owning those kinds of properties, could be a huge winner for investors.�

CareTrust currently owns just shy of 200 properties, more than double the 94 it had when it went public in 2014. This expansion has not only increased cash flows, but also decreased the concentration of those cash flows from its biggest tenants, lowering its risk profile while simultaneously growing investor returns. CareTrust has increased the payout of its quarterly dividend a remarkable 64% since the first payout in late 2014, and as a REIT -- real estate investment trust -- it is likely to continue increases so long as management continues growing the business and its cash flows.�With the steady growth in the older population set to last multiple decades, I'm counting on CareTrust's management to do just that.�

CTRE Dividend data by YCharts.

With a yield pushing 5% at recent prices and a major long-term trend set to drive steady growth, CareTrust is an ideal multidecade investment.�

Searching for a winning growth stock

Jordan Wathen (Alphabet):�As the telephone book of the modern era, Alphabet's Google business has a long runway for growth that should power earnings growth for decades to come.

Admittedly, I'm not sure what to make of the company's so-called "other bets," which include stakes in companies like Calico Labs, which is trying to find a solution to human aging, or Fiber, which is pushing the envelope for consumer internet speeds at an affordable price. Together, other bets posted an operating loss of $571 million in the most recent quarter, a drain on the $8.4 billion of operating income generated by the core Google advertising business.

But even if Alphabet's science projects turn out to be money losers forever, I believe Alphabet stock can still generate a market-beating return due to just the advertising businesses. Google and YouTube have something of a royalty in online commerce, collecting a fee every time an internet user views or clicks an advertisement served up by Google's network.

Best of all, search and video are two businesses that benefit from network effects. Each search trains Google to be better at delivering relevant content, while content creators on YouTube benefit from the contributions of others, which brings more traffic and video views. If there is one tech stock to buy and ignore for 25 years, Alphabet is it.�

This growth stock could "charge" higher over the next 25 years

Sean Williams (Visa): Set-it-and-forget-it stocks aren't easy to come by, but if you're looking to sock away a solid growth stock for the next 25 years for your own portfolio, or that of your children or grandchildren, I can't think of many better ideas than global payment processing giant Visa.

The beauty of Visa is a combination of its incredible U.S. market share, a high barrier to entry in payment processing, and a massive market opportunity overseas.

Back in 2006, WalletHub noted that Visa held a 42.5% market share in U.S. credit card network purchase volume, which was a little over 13% ahead of its next-closest rival. By 2016, Visa controlled almost 51% of U.S. network purchase volume, which is nearly 28% higher than the next-closest competitor, American Express. This dominant market share makes it the go-to for merchants in what could arguably be described as the most consumption-oriented market in the world.�

Visa and its relatively few competitors also benefit from a relatively high barrier to entry in credit processing. It takes quite a bit of capital to build the infrastructure needed to process and validate transactions, which removes a number of would-be competitors from the equation. Plus, Visa's rapport with merchants is an intangible that none of its peers, or prospective new entrants, can match. Might I add, this includes cryptocurrencies, which are considerably slower than Visa in terms of payment validation and transaction speed per second.

Visa is also intriguing because it's hardly tapped markets in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 85% of the world's transactions are still conducted in cash, leaving plenty of opportunity for Visa to spread its wings.�

Ultimately, we're talking about a company that's practically impervious to recessions given that it's not a lender (unlike AmEx and a few of its peers), and therefore has no risk to credit delinquency. By focusing solely on being a payment-processing middleman, Visa has found a niche where it's been able to grow revenue every year for more than a decade. With a steadily growing dividend, healthy cash flow, and a reasonable expectation of approximately 10% revenue growth each year, Visa is a safe growth stock to sock away for the next 25 years.

UGAIN (GAIN) Price Hits $0.0023 on Top Exchanges

UGAIN (CURRENCY:GAIN) traded flat against the U.S. dollar during the 1 day period ending at 23:00 PM E.T. on June 22nd. One UGAIN coin can now be purchased for about $0.0023 or 0.00000037 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including YoBit and CoinExchange. During the last week, UGAIN has traded up 59.4% against the U.S. dollar. UGAIN has a total market cap of $0.00 and approximately $2.00 worth of UGAIN was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

Here is how other cryptocurrencies have performed during the last 24 hours:

Get UGAIN alerts: XRP (XRP) traded 6.7% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.52 or 0.00008331 BTC. Ripple (XRP) traded down 6.8% against the dollar and now trades at $0.49 or 0.00008034 BTC. Stellar (XLM) traded 9.5% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.20 or 0.00003320 BTC. TRON (TRX) traded 8.2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0437 or 0.00000715 BTC. IOTA (MIOTA) traded down 11.8% against the dollar and now trades at $1.00 or 0.00016334 BTC. Tether (USDT) traded 0.1% higher against the dollar and now trades at $1.00 or 0.00016402 BTC. NEO (NEO) traded 9% lower against the dollar and now trades at $33.59 or 0.00549413 BTC. Binance Coin (BNB) traded 6.6% lower against the dollar and now trades at $15.58 or 0.00254864 BTC. VeChain (VET) traded down 9.5% against the dollar and now trades at $2.83 or 0.00046228 BTC. Ontology (ONT) traded 15% lower against the dollar and now trades at $5.23 or 0.00085468 BTC.

About UGAIN

UGAIN’s official Twitter account is @teamugain.

Buying and Selling UGAIN

UGAIN can be purchased on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: YoBit and CoinExchange. It is usually not possible to purchase alternative cryptocurrencies such as UGAIN directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to trade UGAIN should first purchase Ethereum or Bitcoin using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Changelly, Coinbase or GDAX. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Ethereum or Bitcoin to purchase UGAIN using one of the aforementioned exchanges.

Top Gold Stocks For 2018

tags:NSP,NOC,RH,GHDX,MCC,DERM,

After a double-digit run-up in the last quarter of 2017, shares of�Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) dealt a heavy blow to investors when they nosedived in February alongside the broader market. The sell-off was clearly overdone, as the stock soon bounced back to regain all of its losses and more, swiftly closing the gap with peers Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) and Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD). As of this writing, Wheaton's up nearly 16% from its February bottom.

Does that make Wheaton Precious Metals stock a buy at current prices?

The silver lining

Because silver contributes a major chunk to Wheaton's revenues, declining silver production for the better part of 2017 kept investors on tenterhooks and drove the stock lower.�

Note that production here doesn't mean extraction of metals, as is typically the case with gold and silver miners. Wheaton, Royal Gold, and Franco-Nevada are precious metals streaming companies, which means they buy metals from third-party miners at discounted prices under streaming agreements in exchange for funding the miners upfront. In other words, these companies' sales are hit if their mining partners face production hurdles. Last year, for example, lower production from gold miner�Goldcorp's Penasquito mine hit Wheaton and Royal Gold, both of which have streaming agreements with Goldcorp.

Top Gold Stocks For 2018: Insperity, Inc.(NSP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.75.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Insperity (NSP)

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

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Insperity (NSP)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its holdings in shares of Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) by 17.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 176,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 37,265 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.42% of Insperity worth $12,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd (CVE:NSP) insider Sead Hamzagic sold 141,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$0.21, for a total value of C$29,715.00.

Top Gold Stocks For 2018: Northrop Grumman Corporation(NOC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  State of Wisconsin Investment Board boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,723 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board owned 0.09% of Northrop Grumman worth $52,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Orbital plans to begin ground-testing the rocket next year, by which time Orbital ATK will probably have been subsumed into new owner Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC). In anticipation of testing beginning, Orbital gave NGL an official name last month: OmegA.

• [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

  Code Pink takes issue with BlackRock's investments in aerospace and defense companies such as General Dynamics Corp.(NYSE: GD), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC).

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $2.4 per share on revenue of $5.63 billion. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $37.16 billion. Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.11 per share on revenue of $605.26 million. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.59 per share on revenue of $22.75 billion. General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.52 per share on revenue of $7.6 billion. The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $2.58 per share on revenue of $22.24 billion. Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $4.91 per share on revenue of $22.52 billion. Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.79 per share on revenue of $3.04 billion. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $3.61 per share on revenue of $6.61 billion. Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.81 per share on revenue of $1.66 billion. Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.07 per share on revenue of $2.15 billion. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $3.82 billion. Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.97 per share on revenue of $1.62 billion. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.71 per share on revenue of $1.29 billion. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (NYSE: DPS) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.04 per share on revenue of $1.57 billion. Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SI
• [By Max Byerly]

  TT International lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) by 40.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,040 shares during the quarter. TT International’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By ]

  Moreno found similar patterns in Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) , both with pullbacks in February that seem to now be at a crossroads.

Top Gold Stocks For 2018: Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc.(RH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Isaac Pino, CPA]

  While much has been said about upscale furniture retailer RH's (NYSE:RH) soaring stock price recently, less attention has been paid to the story behind the company's radical overhaul.CEO Gary Friedman is making some intriguing contrarian bets for RH, pursuing experiential stores in an industry that's downsizing its bricks-and-mortar footprint. Meanwhile, Friedman's embracing a membership model, physical catalogs, and a premium market at a time when most everyone else is slashing costs, running promotions, and scrambling to move online.In the company's most recent conference call, Friedman shared his thoughts on the company's business model, the retail industry's herd mentality, and the habits and desires of furniture shoppers. Here are the three takeaways I found most interesting:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Aperio Group LLC boosted its holdings in Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc common stock (NYSE:RH) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,532 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the quarter. Aperio Group LLC’s holdings in Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc common stock were worth $813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Today, Bill offers our readers a few of his favorites as Trump meets with Kim Jong Un.�Here's how to cash in regardless of how this summit turns out in the long run.

  The Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday Last night, President Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. This was the first meeting between a sitting American president and a North Korean leader. Following the agreement, analysts noted that the document signed by both parties included no concrete details for achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Trump responded to criticism by saying he is fully confident that the Korean dictatorship will follow through. A U.S. district court will rule on whether to approve an $85 billion merger between AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX). The decision comes after about six weeks of debate in a courtroom. The ruling will likely have a significant impact on the proposed bid by The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) for media giant Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.�(NYSE: FOXA). The Fed Open Market Committee kicks off its June meeting today. The U.S. central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the second time in 2018. On Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will likely announce a hike of 0.25% to the benchmark rate to 2%. This would also mark the seventh hike since December 2015. Markets will be looking for clues during Powell's conference to determine how many additional times the Fed plans to raise interest rates during the final six months of the year. Three Stocks to Watch Today: RH, TSLA, GE Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH) stock popped more than 20% in pre-market hours after the company reported very strong profits for the quarter. The retailer reported earnings per share of $1.33, well above the $1.02 anticipated by analysts. The company also reported a strong second-quarter outlook, news that reduced concerns about it falling short of revenue expectations. Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TS

Top Gold Stocks For 2018: Genomic Health, Inc.(GHDX)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) – Equities researchers at Piper Jaffray issued their Q2 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Genomic Health in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 2nd. Piper Jaffray analyst W. Quirk expects that the medical research company will post earnings of $0.06 per share for the quarter. Piper Jaffray has a “Hold” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Piper Jaffray also issued estimates for Genomic Health’s Q3 2018 earnings at $0.11 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $0.14 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $0.44 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at $0.16 EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at $0.18 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $0.15 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $0.62 EPS.

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Shares of Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) are up 18.6% at 1:23 p.m. EDT after data from the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment (TAILORx) trial was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Cancer-test maker Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) started the year on a high note, posting double-digit revenue growth, and would have turned a profit if not for an $8.5 million�one-time charge for stopping development of the Oncotype SEQ Liquid Select test, which was announced on the last quarterly call.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ELEKTA AB/ADR (OTCMKTS: EKTAY) and Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and earnings.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Genomic Health (NASDAQ: GHDX) and CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GHDX) insider Kimberly J. Popovits sold 10,000 shares of Genomic Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total value of $488,900.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Top Gold Stocks For 2018: Medley Capital Corporation(MCC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Medley Capital (MCC)

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

Top Gold Stocks For 2018: Dermira, Inc.(DERM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Shares of skincare pharmaceutical specialist Dermira (NASDAQ:DERM) dropped nearly 23% today after the company hosted its investor and analyst day for 2018. Investors were none too thrilled with the presentations given -- and were only reminded about the stinging failure of a once-promising acne drug DRM01 in March. Shares slipped over 64% on that news.

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the details of Novo A's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Novo+A

  These are the top 5 holdings of Novo AInogen Inc (INGN) - 3,549,320 shares, 59.83% of the total portfolio. Acceleron Pharma Inc (XLRN) - 1,553,937 shares, 9.34% of the total portfolio. Dermira Inc (DERM) - 1,984,364 shares, 7.81% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc (CRVS) - 3,244,046 shares, 4.76% of the total portfolio. Akebia Therapeutics Inc (AKBA) - 2,225,000 shares, 4
• [By Paul Ausick]

  Dermira Inc. (NASDAQ: DERM) traded down about 64% Monday and posted a new 52-week low of $8.95 after closing Friday at $25.16. The stock’s 52-week high is $38.39. Volume was about 40 times the daily average of around 615,000 shares. The company’s trial of a new acne treatment failed to meet the designated endpoints.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Dermira Inc. (NASDAQ: DERM) watched its shares absolutely collapse early on Monday after the firm reported disappointing results from its late-stage trials in patients with acne vulgaris. Essentially, Dermira��s Phase 3 trials of the investigational treatment olumacostat glasaretil (formerly DRM01) did not meet the co-primary endpoints.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Dermira (NASDAQ:DERM) has been given a $20.00 price target by Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 146.61% from the company’s previous close. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Dermira’s FY2018 earnings at ($4.63) EPS.

Somewhat Favorable News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect Capital Senior Living (CSU) Stock Price

Media stories about Capital Senior Living (NYSE:CSU) have trended somewhat positive on Sunday, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research firm rates the sentiment of press coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Capital Senior Living earned a daily sentiment score of 0.01 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned press coverage about the company an impact score of 46.062391046142 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

Shares of Capital Senior Living stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.74. 116,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,548. Capital Senior Living has a 12 month low of $9.15 and a 12 month high of $16.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.06. The stock has a market cap of $334.27 million, a P/E ratio of -37.03 and a beta of 1.16.

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Capital Senior Living (NYSE:CSU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.01). Capital Senior Living had a negative return on equity of 13.74% and a negative net margin of 6.33%. The firm had revenue of $114.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.59 million. equities analysts anticipate that Capital Senior Living will post -0.63 EPS for the current year.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CSU. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Capital Senior Living from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 15th. ValuEngine raised shares of Capital Senior Living from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Capital Senior Living from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $10.50 in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd.

About Capital Senior Living

Capital Senior Living Corporation owns, operates, develops, and manages senior housing communities in the United States. The company provides senior living services to the elderly, including independent and assisted living, and home care services. Its independent living services comprise daily meals, transportation, social and recreational activities, laundry, housekeeping, and 24-hour staffing; and access to health screenings, periodic special services, and dietary and similar programs, as well as ongoing exercise and fitness classes.

Best Buy Thought It Could Escape Amazon but Couldn't

It has been a day since Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) posted moderately poor results. They raised the specter of Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) relentless cannibalization of Best Buy, which some thought was slowing. They were wrong.

The story of how Amazon has destroyed and will destroy the brick-and-mortar retail industry is ancient now, but it continues to be repeated as retailer after retailer reports poor results. Some may go the way of Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD), parent of Sears and Kmart, toward inevitable bankruptcy. Best Buy is healthier and could hang on for decades. However, its e-commerce business is just too small to make a difference to the overall company.

Best Buy said its most recent quarter was better than expected, which means management had fairly low expectations beforehand. Revenue rose from $8.5 billion to $9.1 billion. However, operating income as a percentage of revenue dropped from 3.5% to 2.9%. The horrible news was this:

Domestic online revenue of $1.14 billion increased 12.0% on a comparable basis primarily due to higher average order values and higher conversion rates. As a percentage of total Domestic revenue, online revenue increased 70 basis points to 13.6% versus 12.9% last year.

Not even a glimmer that online sales will ever approach those in stores, which is what’s needed to keep viability long term.

Best Buy has had some periods during which its stock rallied in recent years. That is over now. Its shares are up less than 3% this year, while Amazon’s are higher by 34%.

There was a time when Best Buy management worried about “showrooming.” People would look at merchandise at Best Buy and then shop for price, often buying the items on Amazon. That process probably never lessened. In the long term, Best Buy will disappear as a pillar of consumer electronics. It is only left to consider how long that might take.

Best Buy’s description of itself:

We at Best Buy work hard every day to enrich the lives of consumers through technology, whether they come to us online, visit our stores or invite us into their homes. We do this by solving technology problems and addressing key human needs across a range of areas, including entertainment, productivity, communication, food, security and health.

ALSO READ: Companies With the Best and Worst Reputations

Vedanta falls 3.5% as Tamil Nadu govt mulls permanent closure of copper smelter at Thoothukudi

Vedanta��s shares fell over 3.5 percent in the morning trade as investors remained cautious of tensions at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, which houses its copper unit.

The stock has touched an intraday high of Rs 249.10 and an intraday low of Rs 241.50.

On Thursday, authorities cut the power to the smelter. The Pollution Control Board of Tamil Nadu said the smelter, which was shut pending renewal of its operating license, was found last week to be preparing to resume production without permission.

In fact, the Tamil Nadu government also said that it was seeking a permanent closure of a big copper smelter run by Vedanta Resources PLC after 13 people died in protests demanding the closure of the plant on environmental grounds.

"The government's position is very clear, it doesn't want the plant to run," said Sandeep Nanduri, the top official of the district where the plant is located, after a meeting with senior state government officials.

Other state officials confirmed the government's position.

In the past one month, the stock has fallen over 18 percent, while its three-day loss stood at 10 percent. At 10:52 hrs, Vedanta was quoting at Rs 243.80, down Rs 6.60, or 2.64 percent, on the BSE.

(With inputs from Reuters)

QIWI Is 42% Overvalued

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We believe that QIWI Plc (QIWI) is overvalued. QIWI is a Russian company that trades on the Nasdaq. We see that many investors have a poor understanding of the company's processes. QIWI is losing out due to the competition of major players. It is highly dependent on one business line, which is has regulatory and competitive risks. Below we will provide our point of view on QIWI.

No core competence to win in a tougher market

In their 20-F SEC filing, QIWI admits that competition will negatively affect the company's market position:

As major commercial and retail banks increase their online and virtual presence and come up with increasingly sophisticated products directly competing with our core competencies, our competitive position could be severely undermined, resulting in reduced demand for our products, both with respect to our payment services business and the other financial services projects that we are pursuing.

Let's look at QIWI's e-commerce segment. In 2017, the e-commerce segment net revenue comprised 51% of company's total net revenue. According to Credit Suisse research on QIWI from April 7, 2017, 85% of QIWI e-commerce payments come from betting, gaming, and social networks. But the number of payment options for a customer continues increasing as new players enter the market.

Here is an example: the online gaming industry. Mail.ru estimates online gaming market in Russia to be ��56.7bn in 2016 ($0.9bn) with a CAGR of 24% over the last five years; according to our estimates, Mail.ru controls about 50% of this market. In 2017, mobile operators Megafon, MTS, Veon, Tele2, and Yota started to fight for players' payments and even canceled commissions. Here is Warface by Mail.ru's payment page, and today players have 11 different options to pay for their purchase: Source: Warface

Below is a screenshot of a payment page from Liga Stavok, which controls 9.3% of the Russian offline sports betting market and is the third most visited betting website in Russia:

Source: Liga Stavok

A player has eight different options to make a no-commission payment, including the following:

By card: 90.6% of all Russian internet users have at least one bank card By Yandex.Money, a Sberbank-controlled company with 59.5% e-wallet market share vs. QIWI's 53.7% By Alfa-Bank online banking, the third largest bank by the number of debit card users By cash in Svyaznoy stores, an electronics retailer, and payment processing company with 2,800 stores in virtually every mall in Russia

By the moment of payment, most consumers will have money in their bank account or in their mobile phone account. Making a payment does not require them to take any extra actions. To pay via QIWI, a consumer has to take extra actions.

Retail banks and mobile operators own an "ecosystem" that their customers use on a daily basis and is where they keep the money. QIWI's main disadvantage with regard to competition is that they are nothing but a payment company. We believe that increasing competition will inevitably result in the payments yield's decline and in QIWI's market share drop.

High dependence on betting and online games

On April 24, 2018, JPMorgan published some research on QIWI. In their research, JPMorgan refers to their Q&A session with QIWI's CEO, CFO, and IR as sources. According to them, 7.5% of all QIWI payments, or 40% of e-commerce payments, currently come from the betting industry. In fact, QIWI is doing a great job in betting: They became one of the two largest Interactive Bets Accounting Centers, set up with the association of bookmakers in Russia.

QIWI believes that their share in this market may exceed 50% in the next two to three years, up from the current 20%. And industry growth of 25% per year is forecast. According to Reiting Bukmekerov research, the current size of Russian sports betting market is ��403bn ($6.5bn), and the potential for this market is ��1'200bn ($19.3bn). Their estimates seem accurate when compared to QIWI's statements. With 25% annual growth, it will take the market five years to reach this level. If this happens, QIWI will increase their net revenue from betting to $289mln in five years - four times what it is now.

By our calculations, based on JPMorgan research and QIWI's 2017 financial statement, betting contributes 16% to company's total net revenue (��2.1bn of ��12.6bn). Betting net revenue compared to IFRS net profit is 67%.

We trust QIWI's estimates and believe that the company has the potential to increase their betting market share. However, we see legal risks, which will be discussed below. In emerging markets, it's usually fine when one of the business lines is at legal risk. But in this case, it is their main business line.

Government risks

QIWI has an advantage that often helps it leave competitors, such as retail banks, behind and requires customers take a few extra actions to pay via QIWI. This advantage is anonymity of payments. QIWI is not a bank and does not have legal obligation to identify its customers. Payments up to ��40,000 per month (higher than the average monthly salary in Russia) can be made after registering with a phone number only, which means anonymously.

From our research, this has three use-cases:

Use-Case 1: Betting, gaming, and online casinos. As per Russian tax code (Part 2, Article 228), a physical person is responsible for tax declaration and payment on winnings up to ��15,000 - 40% of an average Russian's monthly income. QIWI leaves space to let players win and stay anonymous, hence avoid taxes. Use-Case 2: JPMorgan's report says that QIWI is an attractive platform for the self-employed, such as tutors and personal trainers. QIWI identifies such accounts and charges them a fee for P2P transactions. This does not comply with Russian tax code, by which such citizens are subject to tax accounting. In fact, such transactions are often used by criminal entities; QIWI P2P transactions are a cheap way to anonymously buy/sell cryptocurrency in Russia. Use-Case 3: According to Rosstat, 1.543mln migrant workers legally worked in Russia in 2016. According to Federal Migration Service information provided for MIR24 in 2016, about 1.5mln migrant workers work in Russia illegally. Of those, 99.9% come from CIS countries, where QIWI operates a chain of payment terminals. Legal and illegal migrant workers use QIWI wallets to transfer money to their home countries, and they need anonymity to avoid taxation.

Proposals to completely prohibit anonymous e-wallets are being raised by government officials in Russia. In January 2018, it was reported that the CBR, Rosfinmonitoring and the Ministry of Finance are actively discussing newly proposed legislation that would ban the use of anonymous e-wallets completely, or at least prohibit the reloading of such e-wallets other than from a bank account. Russian lawmakers normally demonstrate scrutiny in matters of anonymous use of the internet. A very recent example is the ban of Telegram, which was executed within a matter of days.

QIWI is a company that exploits legal arbitrage opportunities in Russia, and the government is not OK with it. Therefore, we believe that there is a strong legal risk for QIWI's business. Another question is this: If QIWI has to identify all of their clients, how many will choose QIWI to top up their betting account next time?

Currency risks

QIWI's stocks are traded on the Nasdaq and their price is quoted in U.S. dollars, while they process payments in Russian rubles. We expect the ruble to decrease vs. the dollar in 2018, and QIWI is exposed to this rate change.

Suspicious CEO share increase

On April 27, 2018, Sergey Solonin (QIWI CEO and main owner) borrowed money from Credit Suisse to buy Kirill Evdakov's (QIWI co-founder) stake. Solonin bought 495,423 Class A shares at the price of $15.72.

There are two types of shares in QIWI Plc:

Class A - gives the holder 10 votes Class B - gives the holder 1 vote

Both A and B class shares receive the same dividends. The shares in free float are Class B shares, and on April 27 their price was $18.11. This means that Solonin bought shares that give 10 times the control of Class B shares at a price 13% lower than the market price of Class B shares.

Kirill Evdakov could have sold his shares to anybody at the market price, but chose to sell them to Sergey Solonin at 13% cheaper than the market and receive $1.2mln less for the deal than he could of gotten. We believe that this is a bearish signal. Evdakov agreed to sell shares cheaper than market only if he believed the market wouldn't buy this many shares. Solonin already had a 59.44% voting interest in QIWI, and this deal cannot be explained by his desire to get more control over the company. Solonin agreed to buy Evdakov's shares because there were no other buyers and he feared that the sale could result in a price drop.

Downside potential calculation

We made a DCF model for this stock, and we believe QIWI is 42% overvalued. Fair price of the company is about $650mln (currently it's $1,123mln), or $10.67 per share. Our valuation does not include regulation and currency risk, which we believe will have a negative impact on the share price.

When we see a downside potential for a company, we usually stay neutral or recommend selling it. But in this case, our recommendation is to go short QIWI.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

$0.61 Earnings Per Share Expected for Syneos Health (SYNH) This Quarter

Equities research analysts expect Syneos Health (NASDAQ:SYNH) to report earnings of $0.61 per share for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Five analysts have provided estimates for Syneos Health’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $0.65 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.59. Syneos Health posted earnings of $0.64 per share during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year-over-year growth rate of 4.7%. The firm is expected to issue its next quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 26th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Syneos Health will report full year earnings of $2.67 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.63 to $2.80. For the next year, analysts forecast that the company will post earnings of $3.09 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $3.00 to $3.20. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that that provide coverage for Syneos Health.

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Syneos Health (NASDAQ:SYNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 9th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $761.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.24 million. Syneos Health had a negative net margin of 5.50% and a positive return on equity of 8.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 201.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Syneos Health in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. SunTrust Banks increased their price target on shares of Syneos Health to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Syneos Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 14th. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group began coverage on shares of Syneos Health in a research report on Friday, April 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, ValuEngine lowered shares of Syneos Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.40.

Shares of SYNH stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $40.40. 574,751 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 847,112. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.79. Syneos Health has a 52-week low of $31.10 and a 52-week high of $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Syneos Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $998,000. CIBC World Markets Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Syneos Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB purchased a new position in shares of Syneos Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new position in shares of Syneos Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $656,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Syneos Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,933,000.

Syneos Health Company Profile

Syneos Health, Inc operates as an integrated biopharmaceutical solutions company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Clinical Solutions and Commercial Solutions. The Clinical Solutions segment offers various clinical development services spanning Phase I to Phase IV, including full-service global studies, as well as unbundled service offerings, such as clinical monitoring, investigator recruitment, patient recruitment, data management, and study startup to assist customers with drug development process.

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The Long-Term Trend That Makes Netflix an Awesome Buy

The traditional cable and satellite business keeps shrinking. Consumers have been cutting the cord in numbers that have steadily gone up since 2013, the first year the industry posted a year-over-year subscriber drop.

That's exceptionally good news for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) which serves as a viable way for cord cutters to drop cable but still have access to high-quality programming. As more customers opt to drop cable or elect to go for cheaper "skinny" bundles with limited channels, the streaming leader should continue to post big gains.

Coupled with cable's subscriber losses is the fact that broadband internet has grown at a pace that's faster than cable cord cutting. That essentially creates a growing group of people for Netflix to target.

Year Pay TV gains/losses Internet gains

2012	170,000	2,000,000
2013	-105,000	2,600,000
2014	-125,000	3,000,000
2015	-385,000	3,100,000
2016	-795,000	2,700,000
2017	-1,495,000	2,100,000

Data source: Leichtman Research Group.

How big is cord cutting?

As you can see from the numbers above, cord-cutting roughly tripled in 2015, then doubled again in each of the past two years. In reality, however, the numbers are worse because the pay-TV counts on the chart above include 2,212,000 people who subscribe to DISH Network's Sling TV and�1,155,000 subscribed to�AT&T's DirecTV Now.

Those services offer stripped-down lineups of channels aimed at allowing cable/satellite to hold onto at least some revenue from cord-cutters. That likely works in some cases, but the existence of cheaper live-streaming options may actually tip some on-the-fence customers to mostly cut the cord, replacing it with a cheaper TV package as well as Netflix.

Basically, the market is creating the perfect storm for Netflix. An increasing amount of consumers have broadband internet and are looking for entertainment options that cost less than cable.

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Netflix total global subscribers at year end	44 million	57.4 million	75 million	93.8 million	117.6 million

Data source: Netflix. Table by Motley Fool contributor Natalie Walters.

Netflix keeps getting better

Cord cutting may level off at some point or it may not as younger consumers more used to consuming content on phones and tablets than televisions set up their own households. In addition to cable losing customers and more people adding broadband, Netflix also keeps growing its library.

While the streaming service has offered a strong selection nearly from the point it committed to adding original content alongside its library of movies and older TV shows, its offering gets better continually. A new member joining now could spend months just catching up on the service's series of Marvel shows or spend a sad week or so watching only Adam Sandler originals.

Netflix keeps getting stronger as it adds more proprietary original content. Image source: Netflix.

Watch out for the Mouse

Netflix's content library of originals has gotten so large that most companies could not compete unless they committed tens of billions of dollars over many years. The only real exception to that is Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) which has an archive of well-loved content as well as intellectual property rights that includes Star Wars, much of the Marvel universe, Pixar, and classic Disney characters.

The Mouse House will launch a Netflix-like streaming service at some point in 2019. It's possible that some potential and existing Netflix customers may opt for the Disney product. It's also likely that the addition of such a strong streaming player will push more people to cut the cord.

Netflix can chill

The streaming leader has built up an impressive library of content and that's a competitive moat. Yes, Disney and to a lesser extent HBO have the content to compete, but even other major media players like Comcast and Sony lack the libraries or intellectual property to be real rivals.

Perhaps mergers or content library deals might create one more viable player, but after that, the pickings would be slim. Netflix has put itself in a perfect position to capitalize on current market trends while owning content assets that will prove valuable should delivery methods change again in the future.