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Technical Trade Alerts on Recent Analyst Upgrade Notables: KG, RNOW, ALL, CPO, HRS, VMI for Oct. 10
10/13/08
ticker(s):
KG,
RNOW,
ALL,
CPO,
HRS,
sector(s):
Friday October 10 2008
Today’s Trade Alerts include: King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: KG: Summary, Messages, Articles), RightNow Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: RNOW: Summary, Messages, Articles), Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL: Summary, Messages, Articles), Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO: Summary, Messages, Articles), Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS: Summary, Messages, Articles) and Valmont Industries Inc. (NYSE: VMI: Summary, Messages, Articles).
King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – KG Receives Analyst Upgrade after Touching a Nine-year Low
King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares slipped 1.75% to $7.85 Friday morning, despite news a Natixis Bleichroeder analyst upgraded the stock, citing its "astounding" low levels. King Pharmaceuticals provides branded prescription pharmaceutical products worldwide.
Natixis Bleichroeder recently upgraded King Pharmaceuticals from Sell to Buy with a price target of $12. This new rating expects the stock to outperform its peer group over the next 12 months due to superior fundamentals, low valuation and/or positive catalysts.
After the stock touched a nine-year low in Wednesday trading, Natixis Bleichroeder analyst Corey Davis lifted his rating to Buy from Sell, raising his target price to $12 per share. He further said shares of the company now offer little risk.
The analyst said strength of King Pharmaceuticals’ stock depends on whether the company keeps patent protection on its muscle relaxant Skelaxin through 2009, or if regulators appear to support the company's application for its painkiller candidate Remoxy, or if King Pharmaceuticals completes its buyout of Alpharma Inc.
King Pharmaceuticals primarily offers branded prescription products for primary care physicians, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, hospitals, internal medicine physicians, allergists, pediatricians and pain specialists. These products include neuroscience products, such as Skelaxin, Avinza, and Sonata; hospital products, such as Thrombin-JMI and Synercid; acute care products that comprise Bicillin and Intal; and legacy products consisting of Altace, Levoxyl, and Cytomel.
The company also develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products that are administered with an auto-injector to both commercial and government markets.
Its auto-injector products include EpiPen, an auto-injector filled with epinephrine for the treatment of anaphylaxis resulting from severe or allergic reactions to insect stings or bites, foods, drugs and other allergens, as well as idiopathic or exercise-induced anaphylaxis; the nerve agent antidotes, including AtroPen and ComboPen; and the Antidote Treatment Nerve Agent Auto-injector.
King Pharmaceuticals also licenses rights to third-party pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and market adenosine-based products, Adenoscan and Adenocard. Adenoscan is a sterile, intravenous solution of adenosine administered intravenously as an adjunct to imaging agents used in cardiac stress testing of patients who are unable to exercise adequately. Adenocard is a sterile solution of adenosine administered intravenously in emergency situations to convert certain irregular heart rhythms to normal sinus rhythms.
The company also provides contract manufacturing services, such as pharmaceutical manufacturing services to third-party pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It distributes its branded pharmaceutical products through wholesale pharmaceutical distributors and a sales force.
In today's daily chart, KG's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
RightNow Technologies Inc. (RNOW: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – Citigroup Upgrades RNOW but Lowers Price Target
RightNow Technologies Inc. (RNOW: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares climbed 4.52% Friday mid-morning, trading at $6.48. RightNow Technologies provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and services in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Citigroup upgrades RightNow Technologies from Hold to Buy with price target lowered from $17 to $13. According to a Citigroup analyst, RNOW is the third-cheapest name in the on-demand comp group of 14 companies which has a median EV/S multiple of 2.6x. The analyst observed it now trades at NTM EV/S multiple of 1.1x Citigoup's newly reduced estimates and 1.2x consensus estimates.
According to RightNow Technologies' third annual Customer Experience Impact Report, consumer demand for positive customer experiences continues to rise despite a tight U.S. economy. From the survey, 87% of consumers have stopped doing business with an organization after a bad customer experience, up from 80% in 2007 and 68% in 2006. Results also show 51% of consumers want the option of a live Web chat session when interacting with organizations online, a similar rate as in 2007.
RightNow Technologies' CRM software suite includes RightNow Service, RightNow Marketing, RightNow Sales, RightNow Feedback, RightNow Voice, and RightNow Analytics. The RightNow Service suite provides an integrated multi-channel customer service that captures customer interactions across traditional and online channels.
RightNow Marketing solution delivers the functionality needed to manage multi-channel, multi-stage campaigns and automates standard campaign activities, while RightNow Sales solution simplifies the sales process and helps the sales organizations in managing accounts, tracking leads, organizing contacts and creating selling opportunities.
RightNow Feedback enables organizations to capture and measure customer feedback across touch-points in real time and take action on that feedback. RightNow Voice provides voice automation options for interacting with customers and prospects.
RightNow Analytics offers visibility into customer behavior across service, sales, marketing and feedback touch points, enabling organizations to capture, synthesize, distribute and manage customer intelligence.
The company's solutions integrate with traditional enterprise and/or back office applications, and are available in 33 languages and dialects.
RightNow Technologies also offers professional services, which include project management with technical and business-focused consulting services to its clients.
The company serves clients in various industries, including telecommunications, technology, government agencies and educational institutions, consumer products, financial and insurance, travel and hospitality, and manufacturing.
In today's daily chart, RNOW's Bollinger Bands indicate above normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Allstate Corp. (ALL: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – Sandler O'Neil Upgrades ALL on Attractive Price Level
Allstate Corp. (ALL: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares dropped 13% to $23.85 Friday mid-morning. Allstate, through its subsidiaries, engages in the personal property and casualty insurance business, as well as in the life insurance, retirement and investment products business in the United States and Canada.
Sandler O'Neill recently upgraded Allstate from Hold to Buy. This new rating suggests the stock is materially undervalued and represents an attractive investment candidate; it is expected to appreciate more than 10% within the next 12 months.
Analyst Paul Newsome of Sandler O'Neill upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, finding the current share price as good entry point. However, primarily due to reduced fixed income and equity investment values on the company's balance sheet, Newsome slashed his target share price on Allstate to $35 from $48.
Allstate also recently announced it has promoted Joseph J. Richardson Jr. to senior vice president of Protection Distribution. With this new role, Richardson is responsible for Allstate's multi-access distribution platform of exclusive agencies, independent agencies and direct sales. He will help drive Allstate’s strategic vision to reinvent protection and retirement through a focus on delivering innovative products in ways that best reflect the needs of the consumers.
Allstate operates in two segments: Allstate Protection and Allstate Financial. Allstate Protection segment sells private passenger auto and homeowner's insurance under 'Encompass' and 'Deerbrook' brand names primarily through agencies. This segment also sells various personal property and casualty insurance products, including landlords, personal umbrella, renters, condominium, residential fire, manufactured housing, boat owners, loan protection, and selected commercial property and casualty products; and provides emergency road services.
Allstate Financial segment provides life insurance, retirement and investment products, and supplemental accident and health insurance products to individual and institutional customers. Its principal individual products comprise deferred and immediate fixed annuities, interest-sensitive, traditional and variable life insurance, and supplemental accident and health insurance. This segment markets its products through multiple intermediary distribution channels, including agencies, independent agents, banks, broker-dealers, and specialized structured settlement brokers.
The Allstate Financial segment also offers various banking products and services consisting of certificates of deposit, money market accounts, savings accounts, checking accounts, first mortgage loans, home equity loans and agency loans.
In today's daily chart, ALL's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading near its lower Bollinger Band, the stock reflects a low price relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Corn Products International Inc. (CPO: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – Davenport Upgrades CPO to Buy on Strong Fundamentals
Corn Products International Inc. (CPO: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares dropped 6.82% Friday mid-morning, trading at $19.81. Corn Products, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food ingredients and industrial products derived from wet milling and processing of corn and other starch-based materials in North and South America, Asia and Africa.
Davenport recently upgraded Corn Products from Neutral to Buy with a target price of $36. This new rating suggests shares offer attractive long-term appreciation potential from current prices and would expect shares to outperform the market over a longer-term horizon and long-term investors can buy at current prices.
Davenport analyst says, "We remain confident in Corn Products' ability to drive sequentially improving margins and earnings momentum through lowering costs, expanding into value-added businesses, balancing capacity and adding services for customers worldwide. We believe the pending acquisition of Corn Products by Bunge is becoming increasingly less likely to happen either at current terms or at all. Given the significant decline in Bunge stock since the deal was announced and the corresponding fall in CPO valuation, we believe CPO shareholders and its board should question the current deal.”
According to Davenport, it is convinced that either the deal will be reworked or the Corn Products shareholders will not approve the deal and that Corn Products would continue to succeed as a stand alone company given its strong fundamentals.
Corn Products also recently announced it will release its 2008 third-quarter financial results for the period ended September 30, 2008, before the markets open Friday, October 24, 2008. It will also conduct a conference call at 8:30 a.m. E.T. (7:30 a.m. C.T.) on the same day to be hosted by Sam Scott, chairman, president and chief executive officer, and Cheryl Beebe, vice president and chief financial officer.
The company also said its board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of 14 cents, payable October 24 to shareholders of record as of October 2.
Corn Products provides sweetener products, such as fructose corn syrup, glucose corn syrups, maltose corn syrups, caramel color, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins, and glucose and corn syrup solids; and starch-based products comprising industrial and food-grade starches.
It serves a range of customers in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, paper products, corrugated, laminated paper, textile and brewing industries, as well as the animal feed and corn oil markets.
The company also offers refined corn oil, salad dressings, shortening, mayonnaise, corn gluten feed and meal, and steep water. It markets its products directly to manufacturers and distributors.
In today's daily chart, CPO's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price action. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Harris Corp. (HRS: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – HRS Obtains Analyst Upgrade, Receives $140 Million Order from NGA
Harris Corp. (HRS: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares fell 6.26% to trade at $33.37 Friday mid-morning. Harris Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a communications and information technology company that serves government and commercial markets worldwide.
J.P. Morgan Securities recently upgraded Harris Corp. from Underweight to Neutral. This new rating expects the stock to perform in line with the average total return of stocks in analyst's or analyst's team's coverage universe over the next six to 12 months.
J.P. Morgan upgraded Harris Corp. to Neutral, saying the company's "pronounced underperformance" had led to discounted valuation. According to the analyst firm, the stock had underperformed considerably and now traded at a discounted valuation that more accurately reflected its concerns about a slowdown in the high-margin radio frequency (RF) business.
The company also recently announced it has received a $140 million order from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to provide systems integration and information technology (IT) services.
NGA is a major intelligence and combat support agency of the Department of Defense. It is acquiring the services of Harris under a new multi-vendor five-year, IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity) contract, which will be performed by Harris through its National Intelligence Programs business.
Pursuant to the contract, Harris will assist NGA in implementing a modern Infrastructure Service Provider (ISP) and Application Service Provider (ASP) model, which will enable them to provide managed services and applications to their customers much more effectively and efficiently.
Harris operates in four segments: Defense Communications and Electronics, Government Communications Systems, Broadcast Communications, and Harris Stratex Networks. The Defense Communications and Electronics segment supplies radio communications products and systems for defense and government operations; designs, develops, and supplies communications and information networks and equipment; and conducts advanced research studies for customers in government, defense, and aerospace companies, as well as federal and state agencies and peacekeeping organizations.
The Government Communications Systems segment develops, designs and supports information systems for image and other data collection, processing, analysis, interpretation, display, storage and retrieval; develops integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions; offers enterprise information technology and communications engineering, operations and support services; and conducts advanced research studies for government agencies, as well as aerospace and defense companies.
The Broadcast Communications segment serves digital and analog media markets, providing infrastructure and networking products and solutions, media and workflow solutions, and television and radio transmission equipment and systems.
The Harris Stratex Networks segment offers wireless transmission network solutions, including microwave radio systems and network management software primarily to mobile and fixed telephone service providers, private network operators, government agencies, transportation and utility companies, public safety agencies, and broadcast system operators.
In today's daily chart, HRS' Bollinger Bands indicate above normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price action. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Valmont Industries Inc. (VMI: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – DA Davidson and Next Generation Upgrade VMI from Neutral to Buy
Valmont Industries Inc. (VMI: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares slipped 2.83% Friday mid-morning, trading at $55.60. Valmont produces fabricated metal products; metal and concrete pole, and tower structures; and mechanized irrigation systems in the United States and internationally.
DA Davidson recently upgraded Valmont from Neutral to Buy. This new rating suggests shares offer attractive long-term appreciation potential from current prices and would expect shares to outperform the market over a longer-term horizon and long-term investors can buy at current prices.
Next Generation also upgraded Valmont from Neutral to Buy with target price lowered from $111 to $88. According to the analyst firm, it has become more comfortable with valuation at current levels and do not see a credit crunch immediately having an impact on Valmont.
The analyst firm further stated that issues in the credit market may not have a material negative impact on Valmont’s booming Irrigation segment, with “farmer balance sheets in better shape than most small businesses given USDA estimates of farm cash receipts being about 10% above 2007 levels and government subsidy assistance over the past few years.”
Next Generation analyst also finds that “to finance the purchase of a pivot, farmers will generally borrow from rural banks which have not yet been materially impacted by the credit crisis.”
The analyst further considered that, “rural banks are supportive of farmers purchasing pivots as the equipment can insure that there will be a crop production, even in a drought."
The board of directors of Valmont has also recently declared a quarterly dividend of 13 cents per share, indicative of an annual rate of 52.0 cents per share. This will be payable October 15, 2008, to shareholders of record as of September 26, 2008.
The company operates through four segments: Engineered Support Structures, Utility Support Structures, Coatings, and Irrigation. The Engineered Support Structures segment manufactures and markets engineered metal structures and components for the lighting and traffic, wireless communication, and international utility industries, as well as for other specialty applications. It offers steel and aluminum poles and structures to which lighting and traffic control fixtures are attached for a range of outdoor lighting applications, such as streets, highways, parking lots, sports stadiums, and commercial and residential developments. This segment also provides various structures, including solid rod, tubular and guyed towers, poles and disguised products serving the wireless communication and highway sign markets.
The Utility Support Structures segment offers tapered steel and pre-stressed concrete poles for electrical transmission, substation, and distribution applications, as well as produces hybrid structures with a concrete base section and steel upper sections.
The Coatings segment provides metal coating services, such as hot-dipped galvanizing, anodizing, powder coating and e-coating, while the Irrigation segment manufactures and distributes mechanical irrigation equipment and related service parts that are used to water crops and deliver chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
In addition, Valmont Industries manufactures tubular products for industrial customers, as well as distributes industrial fasteners.
It serves state and federal governments, contractors, utility and telecommunications companies, manufacturers of commercial lighting fixtures, and large farms, as well as general manufacturing sector.
In today's daily chart, VMI's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
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Today
| Stocks | Searches Today | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| KG | (KING PHARMACEUTIC) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| RNOW | (RIGHTNOW TECHNOLO) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| ALL | (ALLSTATE CP) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| CPO | (CORN PRODUCTS INT) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| HRS | (HARRIS CP) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| VMI | (VALMONT INDS INC) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
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