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BSX Settles DOJ Investigation - Analyst Blog
Monday, December 28, 2009 - 4:34pm | 469Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) recently settled the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation pertaining to certain post-market surveys conducted by Guidant Corporation before being acquired by Boston Scientific in 2006. Per the terms of the settlement, Boston Scientific has agreed to pay $22...
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ProLogis Closes Japanese Financing - Analyst Blog
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 - 2:15pm | 285ProLogis (PLD), one of the leading global providers of distribution facilities, recently completed a $113 million (10 billion yen) financing to repay its debt. The financing was obtained through a "tokutei mokuteki kaisha" (TMK), a tax-favored, special-purpose vehicle created in Japan for...
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STT Shares Jump On Acquisition of Intesa Sanpaolo
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 4:25pm | 98Shares of State Street Corp (NYSE: STT) jumped in the morning, reflecting investor appreciation of the company’s decision to buy Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo for $1.9 billion. STT’s move up on the stock market drove financial stocks higher in the day. STT’s shares added 3.62%, placing the company next...
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StanCorp (SFG) Faces Pressure On Top-Line Growth From Weak Economy
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 3:32pm | 101Wells Fargo initiated coverage of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: SFG) with a market perform rating. Its EPS estimates for 2009 and 2010 are $4.90 and $4.92 respectively. The stock is valued at $40-$44 based on 1x multiple of its projected 2010 book value. Risks to achieving this valuation...
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Unum (UNM) Is Well Positioned In The Current Market
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 2:11pm | 84Wells Fargo initiated coverage for Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) with an Outperform rating. Unum is a specialty disability insurer focusing on providing benefits to small to medium employer groups. Wells Fargo believes Unum is best positioned in the current market after a long period of recovery from a...
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China Moves To Slow Property Market
Friday, December 18, 2009 - 2:45pm | 140China has tightened land-sale regulations for developers in its latest attempt to take some of the steam out of the potentially overheating property market. The new rules include the first nationwide minimum down payment on land purchases from the government, and follow a vow from Beijing earlier...
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Here Are Some Setups To The Long Side
Friday, December 18, 2009 - 12:36am | 159Let's take a look at four different setups - I like these a lot, but need to see them come down a little more in price before I start pulling the trigger on them. Even so, these are definitely worth keeping an eye on. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW) China-Biotics (CHBT) Metlife (MET) SkyWest...
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Morgan Stanley Expects 35% Upside For Lincoln (LNC)
Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 12:30pm | 70Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE: LNC)(FREE stock trend analysis) to Overweight and gave a price target of $31, implying a 35% potential upside. The price target was attributed to the strengthening of fundamentals, a very low valuation following recent underperformance...
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Benzinga’s Top Upgrades (PTV, MHK, CA, UNM, ME, THO)
Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 10:28am | 347Pactiv Corporation (NYSE: PTV)(FREE stock trend analysis) was today upgraded by KeyBanc Capital Markets from Hold to Buy with a price target of $30. Pactiv Corporation is now trading at $24.13, 0.92% up in the pre-market session. So far in 2009, PTV declined by 3%. Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:...
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Top 5 Small-Cap Stocks with Highest Free Cash Flows (UAUA, MBI, PL, SPF, MDC)
Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 10:08am | 242Below are the top 5 small-cap stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of highest free cash flow. UAL Corporation (NASDAQ: UAUA)(FREE stock trend analysis) has free cash flows of $1.48 billion. UAUA’s market capitalization is $1.88 billion. Jesup & Lamont upgraded UAUA from “hold” to “buy.”...
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$1.5 Billion Gain Expected From Minority Stake Sale In Wachovia Securities, (PRU, TSV, WFC)
Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 7:56am | 102Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) is expected to make an after-tax gain of $1.5 billion from the sale of its minority stake in Wachovia Securities (AMEX: TSV) to Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC). Wells Fargo & Company said earlier this week that it would pay about $4.5 billion in cash...
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Prudential (PRU) Surges On Expected Gains From Divesture In JV
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 3:25pm | 69The shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) increased 5.11% to $51.16, after it announced that it expects a $1.5 billion after-tax gain on selling its minority stake of a brokerage joint venture with Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC). The gain will be reflected in net income, but not...
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Prudential To Sell Stake In Retail Brokerage Unit To Wells Fargo (WFC, PRU)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 10:41am | 137After announcing the repayment of $25 billion in government bail-out money, Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC)(FREE stock trend analysis) said it would buy out Prudential Financial Inc.'s (NYSE: PRU)(FREE stock trend analysis) stake for a $4.5 billion in cash in its retail brokerage joint venture....
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Barclays Retained Its Rating For Wells Fargo (WFC)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - 4:11pm | 86Barclays retained its Overweight rating and price target of $34 for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC)(FREE stock trend analysis). Wells Fargo has announced that it will redeem its $25 billion of TARP and will pay cash to purchase the stake of Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU)(FREE stock trend...
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Banking On Emerging Markets Financials
Sunday, December 13, 2009 - 2:54am | 209Banks and financial services firms in the developed world have seen their fair share of hardship over the past two years, but that doesn't mean emerging markets don't offer potential for investors looking to get some exposure to financials. In fact, countries like Brazil and China are home to banks...