Friday, November 11, 2011

Stocks To Watch This Friday

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Among the stocks that could see active trading in Friday’s session are E-Trade Financial Corp., Nordstrom Inc. and Walt Disney Co.

It’s a decidedly slow day for earnings for a change, with D.R. Horton Inc. (XNYS:DHI - News) likely to get the most scrutiny. Atlantic Power Corp. (XNYS:AT - News) and Box Ships Inc.(XNYS:TEU - News) also are on Friday’s calendar.

E-Trade Financial (XNAS:ETFC - News) culminated a months-long process of evaluating strategic options for the online broker, saying it wouldn’t put itself up for sale despite the urging of hedge fund Citadel LLC, the New York-based company’s largest shareholder. In a statement late Thursday, E-Trade gave no reason why its board “unanimously determined that the continued execution of the company’s business plan is currently the best alternative for increasing stockholder value.” Goldman Sachs & Co., the company’s financial advisor, made the recommendation to the E-Trade board. Said Steven Freiberg, chief executive and interim chairman: “We will remain focused on delivering the best investing experience to our customers, strengthening our brokerage business, continuing to improve the performance of our loan portfolio and enhancing our franchise.”

Along with reporting results for the third quarter ended October 29, high-end retailer Nordstrom (XNYS:JWN - News) narrowed its full-year earnings outlook to a range of $3.05 to $3.10 a share, as opposed to $2.95 to $3.10 a share previously, with growth in same-store sales pegged at about 6%. The consensus of analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had been for the Seattle-based company to earn $3.14 a share for the year ending in January, however.

Confirming earlier media reports, Caterpillar Inc. (XNYS:CAT - News) made a pre-conditional voluntary offer to acquire ERA Mining Machinery Ltd. (XHKG:8043.HK - News), a manufacturer of equipment used to mine coal underground in China. Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar and ERA Mining jointly announced the acquisition bid in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. It reportedly carries a value of about $887 million. Caterpillar’s management is on record as having identified doing more in the mining industry as a key business objective for the Dow Jones Industrial Average component.

Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (XNYS:CHKR) priced an initial public offering of 20 million common units at a price of $19 each, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (XNYS:CHK - News) said late Thursday. Completion of the IPO is anticipated on Nov. 16, with underwriters having the option to buy up to 3 million additional units of Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust if investor demand warrants. Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy will own a beneficial interest in the trust of about 57% it there is no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units.

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. (XNYS:KW - News) priced a public offering of 6 million common shares at $11 each, yielding the real estate investment and services company net proceeds of about $62.3 million. The Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company said it expects to use the proceeds to repay borrowings under its revolving credit facility and for working capital and general corporate purposes, including future acquisitions and investments. Terms of the offering, expected to close Nov. 16, including granting underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 900,000 additional shares if demand warrants.

Amerigroup Corp. (XNYS:AGP - News) priced $400 million of senior notes due 2019 and said it expects to realize net proceeds of about $394 million. The company plans to apply the proceeds toward repaying the outstanding aggregate principal amount of its 2% convertible senior notes due May 15, 2012, with the remainder going for general corporate purposes. The 2019 notes will pay interest twice a year at a rate of 7.5% annually effective May 15, 2012. The offering is expected to close on or about Nov. 16, the Virginia Beach, Va.-based company said.

Thursday earnings recap

Burbank, Calif.-based Dow component Disney (XNYS:DIS - News) reported a profit of $1.09 billion, or 58 cents a share, for the fourth quarter ended Oct. 1, up from $835 million, or 45 cents, earned in the final three months of fiscal 2010. Quarterly revenue reached nearly $10.43 billion from $9.74 billion. Excluding one-time items, the company would have earned 59 cents a share in the latest quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had, on average, been expecting a profit of 54 cents a share on revenue of $10.36 billion. Read more on Walt Disney Co.’s results.

Nvidia Corp. (XNAS:NVDA - News) reported third-quarter earnings of 35 cents a share on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $1.07 billion. The results came in ahead of the average estimates of analysts who follow the chip maker — 27 cents a share and $1.06 billion, respectively. Net earnings generated by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia were $178.3 million, or 29 cents a share, up from $84.9 million or 15 cents, earned in the 2010 third quarter. For the current quarter, Nvidia said it expects revenue to be “relatively flat, plus or minus 2% from the third quarter,” which would imply a range of roughly $1.05 billion to $1.09 billion; the FactSet-compiled analyst consensus stand at $1.06 billion.

Third-quarter results showed Molycorp Inc. (XNYS:MCP - News) swinging to a third-quarter profit of $48.4 million, or 52 cents a share, from a loss of $10.1 million or 15 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding items, the miner of rare-earth minerals would have earned 67 cents, as quarterly revenue rose to $138.1 million from $8.5 million. On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had been looking for an adjusted profit of 70 cents a share on revenue of $162 million. The Greenwood village, Colo.-based company also said modernization and expansion at its Mountain Pass, Calif., facility has been accelerated, with a Phase 1 production run rate of 19,050 metric tons per year now projected for Sept. 30, 2012, three months earlier than previously foreseen.

*published by AP yahoo finance

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

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