Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019

tags:UFPT,ADM,ATAX,BAMM,SMSI,CNR, You're not imaging things. Stuff is a little bit cheaper at Costco, Target, Walmart and Kroger this year.

All four companies have said in recent months that they lowered prices.

Costco: "Price is at the top of our list," Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti told investors on Friday. "When prices are going down...we want to be the first to go down."

Costco (COST) is using its tax cuts savings to invest in higher wages for workers and lower prices for food, clothing and home essentials.

Walmart: "Price still matters. There are a lot of Americans that are counting every penny and every dime," CEO Doug McMillon said at Walmart's shareholder meeting last week.

Walmart's prices fell close to 4% from February through April, led by cheaper Cheerios, Heinz Ketchup and Old Spice body wash, according to a recent Raymond James survey. Cheerios fell by more than 40%. Walmart's prices for nationally-branded food were actually lower than both Dollar General and Family Dollar's.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019: UFP Technologies Inc.(UFPT)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Logan Wallace]

    China XD Plastics (NASDAQ: CXDC) and UFP Technologies (NASDAQ:UFPT) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Media coverage about UFP Technologies (NASDAQ:UFPT) has trended somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research group identifies positive and negative press coverage by reviewing more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. UFP Technologies earned a daily sentiment score of 0.03 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned headlines about the industrial products company an impact score of 47.0533500754779 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near future.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    UFP Technologies (NASDAQ: UFPT) and China XD Plastics (NASDAQ:CXDC) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and earnings.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019: Archer-Daniels-Midland Company(ADM)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Cambridge Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE:ADM) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,463 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Archer Daniels Midland comprises about 3.3% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Archer Daniels Midland were worth $6,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel. ADM shares closed down 1.1% at $41.40 on Thursday and were indicated up 0.8% at $41.70 on Friday. The consensus target price is $53.40.

  • [By Garrett Baldwin]

    Click here to learn more…

    Stocks to Watch Today: DIS, TMUS, BP, S Shares of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) will lead a busy day of earnings reports. Wall Street is expecting a small decline in revenue for the first quarter. Disney is still in the process of absorbing most of Fox's assets from a deal last June. In addition, Disney will be launching its streaming service, Disney+, and investors will be looking for updates on the project. In deal news, T-Mobile U.S. Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) is looking to sweeten an offer to regulators to ensure a merger with rival Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). The telecom giant told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that it would freeze the prices of many plans if it receives approval for a deal. T-Mobile has offered $26 billion to buy Sprint. Shares of BP Plc. (NYSE: BP) rallied more than 3.7% after the global energy giant topped 2018 earnings expectations. The firm's big bets on shale developments have paid off. Profitability more than doubled over the previous year, while production topped out at 3.7 million barrels per day. Look for earnings reports from Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Becton, Dickenson & Co. (NYSE: BDX), BP Plc. (NYSE: BP), Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB), Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR), Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR), Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (NYSE: EL), Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ), Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), Plains All American Pipeline LP (NYSE: PAA), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), and Tableau Software Inc. (NASDAQ: DATA).

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  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE:ADM) by 32.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 264,276 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,246 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Archer Daniels Midland were worth $11,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019: America First Tax Exempt Investors L.P.(ATAX)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

    America First Multifamily Investors LP (NASDAQ:ATAX)Q2 2018 Earnings Conference CallAug. 13, 2018, 4:30 p.m. ET

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

    Operator

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on America First Multifamily Investors (ATAX)

    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 America First Multifamily Investors (ATAX)

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

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Shares of America First Tax Exempt Investors, L.P. (NASDAQ:ATAX) hit a new 52-week high and low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $6.47 and last traded at $6.43, with a volume of 54800 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.43.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    BidaskClub upgraded shares of America First Multifamily Investors (NASDAQ:ATAX) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019: Books-A-Million Inc.(BAMM)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    News articles about Books-A-Million (NASDAQ:BAMM) have trended positive recently, according to Accern. The research group rates the sentiment of news coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Books-A-Million earned a coverage optimism score of 0.27 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news articles about the specialty retailer an impact score of 44.3915244007427 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019: Smith Micro Software Inc.(SMSI)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Connecture (OTCMKTS: CNXR) and Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ:SMSI) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    These are some of the news stories that may have impacted Accern’s scoring:

    Get Smith Micro Software alerts: Short Interest in Smith Micro Software (SMSI) Increases By 51.9% (americanbankingnews.com) Smith Micro Software’s (SMSI) CEO Bill Smith on Q1 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com) Smith Micro Software (SMSI) Reports Q1 Loss of $0.10 (streetinsider.com) Smith Micro Reports First Quarter 2018 Financial Results (finance.yahoo.com) Smith Micro announces above market USD 7.0m private placement offering (financial-news.co.uk)

    Separately, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Smith Micro Software from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA) and Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ:SMSI) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation and profitability.

Hot Penny Stocks To Invest In 2019: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.33.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Cormark raised their Q3 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Canadian National Railway in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 10th. Cormark analyst D. Tyerman now expects that the transportation company will post earnings per share of $1.15 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.14.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.71.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 134,917 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $11,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

  • [By Max Byerly]

    Press coverage about Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) has been trending somewhat positive on Thursday, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. Accern identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Canadian National Railway earned a coverage optimism score of 0.15 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media coverage about the transportation company an impact score of 47.5112066080017 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Wall Street analysts expect that Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) will announce $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Seven analysts have provided estimates for Canadian National Railway’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $1.06 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.97. Canadian National Railway reported earnings per share of $1.00 in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 2%. The company is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 24th.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:TRCB,ASTC,OMX,MHH,REC, &l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-508336438&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/508336438/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;637&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; An aerial view of the solar mirrors at the Noor 1 Concentrated Solar Power plant in Morocco. The North African country has approved a new $2.4bn 800MW scheme. (FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

Emerging markets dominated investment in clean energy in the first quarter of 2018, with more than 40% of funding going to projects in China, while there were notable developments in Mexico, Morocco, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Total investment for the first three months of the year was $61.1 billion, 10% lower than the same period in 2017, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Using slightly different criteria, Clean Energy Pipeline said that the figure was $62.1 billion.

One reason for the fall in investment was a 19% drop in solar funding, partly as a result of a 7% fall in the price of photovoltaic equipment over the past year, and partly because of weaker activity in some markets.

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Two River Bancorp(TRCB)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Max Byerly]

    Media stories about Two Rivers Bancorp (NASDAQ:TRCB) have trended somewhat positive recently, according to Accern. Accern rates the sentiment of news coverage by analyzing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Two Rivers Bancorp earned a media sentiment score of 0.11 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave press coverage about the financial services provider an impact score of 47.3815117771449 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Two Rivers Bancorp (TRCB)

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

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Astrotech Corporation(ASTC)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Money Morning Staff Reports]

    After looking at last week's top performing penny stocks, we'll show you a small-cap stock with real growth potential that just popped up on our radar…

    Penny Stock Current Share Price Last Week's Gain New Age Beverage Corp. (NADAQ: NBEV) $3.94 286.79% India Globalization Capital Inc. (NYSE: IGC) $2.18 181.55% Ascent Capital Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCMA) $2.16 103.85% Netlist Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) $0.73 80.56% Oragenics Inc. (NYSE: OGEN) $0.92 71.63% Astrotech Corp. (NASDAQ: ASTC) $3.44 68.37% Command Security Corp. (NYSE: MOC) $2.77 51.09% Oasmia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OASM) $3.57 50.66% NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: NBY) $2.10 48.15% Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: NAVB) $0.25 45.72%

    While the gains these stocks made are exciting, they also highlight the danger of investing in penny stocks.

  • [By Alexander Bird]

    We're talking 471% potential gains…

    Penny Stock Current Share Price Last Week's Gain Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) $2.50 158.64% Astrotech Corp. (Nasdaq: ASTC) $4.17 132.80% Xenetic Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: XBIO) $5.58 71.95% Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) $2.73 38.43% United States Antimony Corp. (NYSE: UAMY) $0.49 36.47% Soeno Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SLNO) $2.65 33.05% Fibrocell Science Inc. (Nasdaq: FCSC) $3.16 31.36% Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) $1.30 29.70% Neovasc Inc. (Nasdaq: NVCN) $0.04 27.30% Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCMKTS: ATNM) $0.24 25.98%

    While the gains of last week's top penny stocks are exciting, investors who know where to look can unlock even bigger gains…

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Officemax Incorporated(OMX)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Shivom (CURRENCY:OMX) traded 3.2% higher against the US dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 23:00 PM E.T. on September 13th. One Shivom token can currently be purchased for about $0.0069 or 0.00000105 BTC on popular exchanges including Kucoin, CoinBene, Coinsuper and DDEX. During the last week, Shivom has traded 3.3% lower against the US dollar. Shivom has a total market capitalization of $3.93 million and $74,531.00 worth of Shivom was traded on exchanges in the last day.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Shivom (CURRENCY:OMX) traded down 12.7% against the U.S. dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 13:00 PM E.T. on September 26th. Shivom has a market cap of $3.56 million and approximately $42,709.00 worth of Shivom was traded on exchanges in the last day. In the last seven days, Shivom has traded down 8.3% against the U.S. dollar. One Shivom token can now be purchased for $0.0062 or 0.00000095 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including CoinBene, Kucoin, Coinsuper and IDEX.

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Mastech Holdings, Inc(MHH)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    Mastech Digital Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:MHH) CFO John J. Cronin sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.74, for a total value of $128,880.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: REC Silicon ASA (REC)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Regalcoin (REC) is a PoW/PoS coin that uses the
    X11 hashing algorithm. Its launch date was September 28th, 2017. Regalcoin’s total supply is 16,491,413 coins and its circulating supply is 12,799,009 coins. The Reddit community for Regalcoin is /r/RegalCoin and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here. Regalcoin’s official Twitter account is @regalcoinx and its Facebook page is accessible here. The official website for Regalcoin is regalcoin.co.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Regalcoin (CURRENCY:REC) traded up 5.2% against the U.S. dollar during the 1 day period ending at 19:00 PM E.T. on May 27th. Regalcoin has a total market cap of $496,466.00 and $1,256.00 worth of Regalcoin was traded on exchanges in the last day. During the last week, Regalcoin has traded 1.9% higher against the U.S. dollar. One Regalcoin coin can currently be purchased for about $0.0388 or 0.00000529 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including BTC-Alpha, CoinExchange and YoBit.

  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Regalcoin (CURRENCY:REC) traded up 10.1% against the US dollar during the 1 day period ending at 22:00 PM E.T. on February 7th. One Regalcoin coin can now be purchased for about $0.0047 or 0.00000139 BTC on popular exchanges including YoBit, CoinExchange and BTC-Alpha. Regalcoin has a total market capitalization of $60,267.00 and $9.00 worth of Regalcoin was traded on exchanges in the last day. During the last week, Regalcoin has traded down 2.2% against the US dollar.

Analysts Anticipate Dean Foods Co (DF) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $1.90 Billion

Wall Street analysts expect Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF) to report $1.90 billion in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Five analysts have made estimates for Dean Foods’ earnings. The highest sales estimate is $1.94 billion and the lowest is $1.85 billion. Dean Foods reported sales of $1.94 billion in the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 2.1%. The firm is scheduled to report its next earnings report before the market opens on Wednesday, February 27th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Dean Foods will report full-year sales of $7.73 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $7.67 billion to $7.77 billion. For the next financial year, analysts anticipate that the business will report sales of $7.64 billion, with estimates ranging from $7.41 billion to $8.06 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that that provide coverage for Dean Foods.

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Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DF shares. ValuEngine lowered shares of Dean Foods from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 7th. TheStreet lowered shares of Dean Foods from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Dean Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $13.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 8th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of Dean Foods from $7.00 to $4.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $5.00 price target on shares of Dean Foods and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Dean Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.56.

Shares of DF stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.66. 1,078,552 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,456,439. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Dean Foods has a 52-week low of $3.61 and a 52-week high of $11.14. The firm has a market cap of $436.89 million, a P/E ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.43.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DF. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Dean Foods by 100.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591,078 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Dean Foods by 1,077.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 629,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,470,000 after acquiring an additional 576,112 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Dean Foods by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,277,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,396,000 after acquiring an additional 511,064 shares during the last quarter. BlueMountain Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Dean Foods by 731.3% in the 3rd quarter. BlueMountain Capital Management LLC now owns 500,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,557,000 after acquiring an additional 440,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Dean Foods by 311.4% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 443,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 335,723 shares during the last quarter. 84.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Dean Foods

Dean Foods Company, a food and beverage company, processes and distributes milk, and other dairy and dairy case products in the United States. The company manufactures, markets, and distributes various branded and private label dairy, and diary case products, such as fluid milk, ice creams, cultured dairy products, creamers, ice cream mixes, and other dairy products; and juices, teas, bottled water, and other products.

See Also: How do buyers and sellers choose a strike price?

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Dean Foods (DF)

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

Earnings History and Estimates for Dean Foods (NYSE:DF)

Friday, February 22, 2019

Carrols Restaurant Group (TAST) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,098,763 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 344% from the previous session’s volume of 247,631 shares.The stock last traded at $10.68 and had previously closed at $9.35.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TAST shares. ValuEngine cut shares of Carrols Restaurant Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 7th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Carrols Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 8th. BidaskClub lowered shares of Carrols Restaurant Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 8th. Citigroup set a $14.00 price target on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 12th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group from $16.50 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.88.

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The firm has a market capitalization of $341.65 million, a P/E ratio of 53.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.62.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Carrols Restaurant Group by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,279,129 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,876,000 after acquiring an additional 378,788 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Carrols Restaurant Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,368,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,585,000 after acquiring an additional 11,130 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Carrols Restaurant Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,202,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,676,000 after acquiring an additional 13,176 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc increased its holdings in Carrols Restaurant Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 1,607,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,473,000 after acquiring an additional 38,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Carrols Restaurant Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,607,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,473,000 after acquiring an additional 38,160 shares in the last quarter. 87.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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About Carrols Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:TAST)

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates franchisee restaurants of Burger King in the United States. As of July 1, 2018, it owned and operated 807 BURGER KING restaurants. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Syracuse, New York.

See Also: Do You Need a Fiduciary?

Thursday, February 21, 2019

HB Fuller Co (FUL) VP Robert J. Martsching Sells 3,215 Shares of Stock

HB Fuller Co (NYSE:FUL) VP Robert J. Martsching sold 3,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $157,084.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Shares of NYSE FUL opened at $50.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.34. HB Fuller Co has a twelve month low of $39.61 and a twelve month high of $59.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.44.

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HB Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.09). HB Fuller had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The firm had revenue of $768.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.99 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HB Fuller Co will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 7th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 6th. HB Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.67%.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank cut HB Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 5th. Zacks Investment Research cut HB Fuller from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 30th. ValuEngine upgraded HB Fuller from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on HB Fuller in a research note on Monday, December 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. HB Fuller presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in HB Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in HB Fuller by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,497 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in HB Fuller by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HB Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Finally, Riverhead Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of HB Fuller by 39.1% in the third quarter. Riverhead Capital Management LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.09% of the company’s stock.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “HB Fuller Co (FUL) VP Robert J. Martsching Sells 3,215 Shares of Stock” was originally published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this piece of content on another publication, it was stolen and republished in violation of US and international copyright and trademark laws. The correct version of this piece of content can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4165448/hb-fuller-co-ful-vp-robert-j-martsching-sells-3215-shares-of-stock.html.

About HB Fuller

H.B. Fuller Company, together with its subsidiaries, formulates, manufactures, and markets adhesives, sealants, coatings, polymers, tapes, encapsulants, and other specialty chemical products worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Americas Adhesives, EIMEA, Asia Pacific, Construction Adhesives, and Engineering Adhesives.

Further Reading: How to calculate the annual rate of depreciation

Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for HB Fuller (NYSE:FUL)

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:NRG,CMG,CS,SWY,THO,

Big Canadian marijuana stocks are hot. But are they too hot? Not according to Wall Street.

The biggest of them all, Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), has enjoyed a great ride so far in 2018, with shares soaring nearly 80%. Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) have been neck-and-neck for the No. 2 spot in terms of market cap. Aurora is up close to 40% year to date, while Tilray's share price is up around 10%.

But analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal think all three of these top marijuana stocks can deliver even greater gains over the next 12 months. In fact, analysts project that Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth, and Tilray will rise by at least 40%. 

Why is Wall Street so optimistic about these big pot stocks? Three reasons especially stand out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now: NRG Energy Inc.(NRG)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) and NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

  • [By Stephan Byrd]

    Energi (CURRENCY:NRG) traded up 0.2% against the U.S. dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 19:00 PM Eastern on September 15th. Over the last seven days, Energi has traded 14.2% higher against the U.S. dollar. Energi has a market capitalization of $1.61 million and $2,597.00 worth of Energi was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Energi coin can now be purchased for $0.32 or 0.00004969 BTC on exchanges including CoinExchange, Cryptopia and CryptoBridge.

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Shares of NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) rose 10.9% in August, buoyed by its second-quarter results and an analyst upgrade.

    So what

    "Our business performed exceptionally well during the second quarter," stated CEO Mauricio Gutierrez in the company's earnings press release. Driving that view is that income from continuing operations rose from $99 million in the year-ago period to $121 million in this year's second quarter. Powering the company's improvement was its retail segment, where adjusted EBITDA came in at $298 million, which was $94 million higher than the second quarter of last year. The company's generation business also delivered stronger results as adjusted EBITDA rose $45 million to $197 million. Those dual fuels enabled the company to reaffirm its full-year outlook for adjusted EBITDA between $2.8 billion to $3 billion.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    ValuEngine upgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

    A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on NRG. Citigroup downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 30th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 26th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $37.00.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.(CMG)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Max Byerly]

    The analysts wrote, “We maintain our Hold rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), though raise our price target to $500, from $430, to reflect the shift in our base valuation year to 2020.””

  • [By Jeremy Bowman]

    Chipotle Mexican Grill's (NYSE:CMG) E. coli disaster will likely become a case study in crisis mismanagement if it hasn't already.

    The burrito chain had a bulletproof brand back in 2015, with average unit volumes around $2.5 million and a market value of as much as $23 billion. It was a model for the restaurant industry after having essentially disrupted fast food and pioneered the fast casual model with its fresh-food, assembly-line format.

  • [By Chris Hill]

    Hill: Shares of Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) up 4% this week after a solid second quarter report. Chipotle's same-store sales were up due to higher average tickets. David, foot traffic down a little bit, but it looks like Chipotle is exercising a little bit of pricing power.

  • [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

    Former highflier Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) has had an impressive rally this year. Investors are happy to see both sales and profits headed in the right direction after a brutal multiyear stretch of declines that was brought on by food safety issues in 2015. In the fiscal first quarter, revenue rose 2.2% as higher menu prices offset slight traffic declines. Profit margin jumped to 20% of sales from 18% a year ago. Investors betting on the stock today have to hope that new CEO Brian Niccol can extend those modestly positive results through a risky turnaround plan that includes new menu items and a revamped loyalty program.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now: Credit Suisse Group(CS)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Logan Wallace]

    News stories about Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) have been trending positive on Monday, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. The research group identifies negative and positive media coverage by monitoring 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 closest to one being the most favorable. Credit Suisse Group earned a daily sentiment score of 0.45 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news stories about the financial services provider an impact score of 45.3414119516367 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Joseph Griffin]

    UBS Group set a €21.50 ($24.43) price target on AXA (EPA:CS) in a research note published on Monday morning, www.boersen-zeitung.de reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

  • [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Vicor Corporation (NASDAQ: VICR) rose 19.7 percent to $35 in pre-market trading. Vicor posted Q1 earnings of $0.10 per share on sales of $65.2 million. Check-Cap Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHEK) shares rose 13.5 percent to $16.88 in pre-market trading after climbing 104.82 percent on Tuesday. Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) shares rose 11.3 percent to $43.81 in pre-market trading as the company reported upbeat results for its third quarter on Tuesday. The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) rose 9.6 percent to $125.98 in pre-market trading. Aduro BioTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADRO) rose 5.8 percent to $7.25 in pre-market trading after falling 1.44 percent on Tuesday. STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE: STM) rose 5.2 percent to $22.42 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) rose 5.2 percent to $32.05 in pre-market trading as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Wednesday. Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) rose 5 percent to $17.11 in pre-market trading following strong Q1 results. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE: HMY) shares rose 4.4 percent to $2.02 in pre-market trading. 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE: XXII) rose 4.9 percent to $2.15 in pre-market trading after dropping 8.07 percent on Tuesday. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN) rose 4.1 percent to $102.40 in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday. iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) rose 3.3 percent to $61 in pre-market trading following upbeat quarterly earnings.

    Find out what's going on in today's market and bring any questions you have to Benzinga's PreMarket Prep.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now: Safeway Inc.(SWY)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Logan Wallace]

    Stornoway Diamond (TSE:SWY) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, August 14th.

    Stornoway Diamond (TSE:SWY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 15th. The company reported C($0.01) EPS for the quarter. Stornoway Diamond had a negative net margin of 6.15% and a negative return on equity of 1.78%. The business had revenue of C$55.95 million for the quarter.

  • [By Jim Robertson]

    Large and small cap junior miners have long been interested in the region due to Goldcorp's Éléonore mine being located in the heart of the territory along with the Troilus mine (which has produced over 2 million ounces of gold from 1997-2010 and is estimated to have another remaining 2 million ounces of reserves). The Otish Mountains area has also attracted attention following the discovery of diamonds by Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX: SWY) at their Renard diamond mine (projected to produce 1.5-2 millions carats per year).

  • [By Jim Robertson]

    In addition, Goldcorp's (NYSE: GG) Éléonore mine in the heart of the territory along with the Troilus mine (which produced over 2 million ounces of gold from 1997-2010 and is estimated to have another remaining 2 million ounces of reserves) are helping to maintain the interest of junior exploration companies in nearby properties. The same can be said about the Otish Mountains area following the discovery of diamonds by Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX: SWY) at their Renard diamond mine which is projected to produce 1.5-2 millions carats per year.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now: Thor Industries Inc.(THO)

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ethan Ryder]

    Tahoe Resources (TSE:THO) (NASDAQ:TAHO) was downgraded by analysts at Beacon Securities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. They currently have a C$5.75 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of C$10.00. Beacon Securities’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 61.52% from the company’s current price.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    News articles about Tahoe Resources (NYSE:TAHO) (TSE:THO) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern Sentiment reports. The research group scores the sentiment of news coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Tahoe Resources earned a media sentiment score of 0.07 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave headlines about the basic materials company an impact score of 48.1975954881896 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the immediate future.

  • [By Shane Hupp]

    Brokerages expect Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO) (TSE:THO) to announce earnings of $0.02 per share for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Zero analysts have made estimates for Tahoe Resources’ earnings. The highest EPS estimate is $0.04 and the lowest is ($0.01). Tahoe Resources reported earnings per share of $0.11 in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a negative year over year growth rate of 81.8%. The company is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 14th.

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Is Oracle Buying Back Too Much of Its Own Stock?

The capital return policy by major corporations via share buybacks has come under more scrutiny of late than in prior years. While some companies have been great buyers of their own shares over time, others have been when they could be, or should be, investing (or saving) for growth for the next business cycle.

That saying of “sometimes you can have too much of a good thing” may be the case with Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) and its massive share buybacks. After Friday’s closing bell, Oracle made a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that its board of directors, on February 12, 2019, authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $12 billion of common stock.

This most recent buyback authorization was under an existing share repurchase program and it has no expiration date. Oracle left the door wide open as well to purchase as much or as little as it sees fit, noting this:

[T]he pace of repurchase activity will depend on factors such as Oracle's working capital needs, cash requirements for acquisitions and dividend payments, debt repayment obligations or repurchases of Oracle's debt, Oracle's stock price, and economic and market conditions. … The stock repurchase program may be accelerated, suspended, delayed or discontinued at any time.

Oracle also noted in the filing that the stock repurchases may come from open market purchases or under a Rule 10b5-1 plan.

It is important to consider how and why Oracle may be guilty of buying back too much stock. In September of 2018, Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on Oracle down to Negative from Stable and specifically referenced its aggressive share repurchases since the passage of U.S. tax reform. S&P pointed out that Oracle had doubled its repurchases in the first quarter of the year to $10 billion from $5 billion (previous quarter), and that Oracle’s cash position had declined to roughly $2 billion from $14 billion a year earlier.

The S&P’s warning about Oracle's credit rating outlook in September said:

Under our base-case scenario, in which we assume $5 billion of repurchases per quarter coupled with moderate level of acquisitions, Oracle's adjusted leverage could exceed our current downgrade trigger of 1.25X during fiscal (year) 2020 as its cash position declines. The negative outlook reflects uncertainty around Oracle's financial policy and the potential for its credit metrics to weaken over time should it continue reducing cash through shareholder returns. We could lower our issuer credit rating on Oracle if the company's adjusted leverage exceeds 1.25X over the next two years as the company engages in large share repurchases. A debt-funded acquisition that pushes leverage over the same level would also be cause for a downgrade.

Oracle had a $206 billion market cap back in September when we covered the call, with a then-current share price of $51.82. It also had added Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a new investor over the course of the second quarter.

On last look, as of February 19, 2019, Oracle shares had a $186 billion market cap and a $51.81 share price. And it was just a week ago that Berkshire Hathaway had already exited its large Oracle stake, as if it was swing trader all of a sudden. It is not routine for Berkshire Hathaway, even if the trades were made by one of the non-Buffett portfolio managers, to rapidly have a change of heart about a big stock position in just one quarter.

ALSO READ: The 15 Best Dividend Stocks for Retirees to Own

Monday, February 18, 2019

Belden’s (BDC) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Seaport Global Securities

Seaport Global Securities restated their buy rating on shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) in a report released on Friday. Seaport Global Securities also issued estimates for Belden’s Q4 2018 earnings at $1.63 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $6.12 EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at $1.56 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $1.66 EPS and Q4 2019 earnings at $1.80 EPS.

BDC has been the subject of several other reports. Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Belden from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $55.78 target price for the company. in a research note on Sunday, December 9th. Cross Research cut shares of Belden from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. ValuEngine cut shares of Belden from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. TheStreet cut shares of Belden from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, November 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity cut their target price on shares of Belden from $88.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Belden currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $66.39.

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NYSE:BDC opened at $56.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.59. Belden has a one year low of $37.79 and a one year high of $78.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. Belden’s payout ratio is currently 3.74%.

Belden announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 29th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 13.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Belden in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Belden by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Belden by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 2,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Neuburgh Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Belden by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Neuburgh Advisers LLC now owns 3,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period.

About Belden

Belden Inc designs, manufactures, and markets signal transmission solutions worldwide. It operates through Broadcast Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Network Solutions segments. The Broadcast Solutions segment offers camera solutions, production switchers, server and storage systems for instant replay applications, interfaces and routers, monitoring systems, in-home network systems, playout systems, outside plant connectivity products, and other cable, and connectivity products.

Read More: Market Capitalization and Individual Investors

Analyst Recommendations for Belden (NYSE:BDC)

Sunday, February 17, 2019

$733.10 Million in Sales Expected for Middleby Corp (MIDD) This Quarter

Wall Street brokerages expect that Middleby Corp (NASDAQ:MIDD) will report sales of $733.10 million for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Four analysts have issued estimates for Middleby’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $722.70 million to $740.30 million. Middleby posted sales of $632.86 million in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year-over-year growth rate of 15.8%. The firm is scheduled to report its next quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, February 26th.

On average, analysts expect that Middleby will report full-year sales of $2.70 billion for the current year, with estimates ranging from $2.69 billion to $2.71 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect that the company will post sales of $2.95 billion, with estimates ranging from $2.91 billion to $2.98 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research firms that that provide coverage for Middleby.

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MIDD has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet raised Middleby from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, January 25th. BidaskClub raised Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 13th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $131.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 23rd. Finally, Seaport Global Securities raised shares of Middleby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.50.

Shares of MIDD traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $126.27. 315,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,000. Middleby has a 52-week low of $96.65 and a 52-week high of $137.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Enlightenment Research LLC purchased a new position in Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Middleby by 161.3% in the fourth quarter. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. now owns 499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. ETF Managers Group LLC grew its stake in Middleby by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ffcm LLC grew its stake in Middleby by 205.3% during the 4th quarter. Ffcm LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter.

About Middleby

The Middleby Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, distributes, and services foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment in the United States, Canada, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Its Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group segment offers cooking and warming equipment for quick and full-service restaurants, convenience stores, retail outlets, hotels, and other institutions.

Further Reading: Swap

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

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

Saturday, February 16, 2019

BidaskClub Downgrades Lakeland Financial (LKFN) to Hold

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) was downgraded by stock analysts at BidaskClub from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

LKFN has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 31st. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 26th. Finally, Boenning Scattergood reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

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Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,081. Lakeland Financial has a 52 week low of $37.79 and a 52 week high of $51.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.91.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 33.63% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $49.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.48 million. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 8,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $42.45 per share, for a total transaction of $339,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 136,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,792,217.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan P. Steiner sold 1,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $89,973.29. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,656.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 24,432 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,297 and have sold 10,663 shares valued at $483,795. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,094,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,362,000 after purchasing an additional 23,104 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,158,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,845,000 after purchasing an additional 30,102 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 1,158,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,845,000 after purchasing an additional 30,102 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,049,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,134,000 after purchasing an additional 11,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 964,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in Indiana. The company offers various deposit products, including noninterest bearing deposits; interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposits; and NOW and demand deposits.

Read More: Penny Stocks, What You Need To Know

Friday, February 15, 2019

Here's The Real Reason Why GMOs Are Bad ... And Why They May Save Humanity

&l;p&g;Genetic modification of plants is humanity&a;rsquo;s oldest and best trick. Eurasians had it easy when it came to cultivating wheat &a;ndash; its &l;a href=&q;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat#Origin&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;original form&l;/a&g; was pretty close to its present cultivated one. Mesoamericans, on the other hand, had to work for centuries to cultivate corn (or &l;a href=&q;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize#Pre-Columbian_development&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;maize&l;/a&g;) from its origins as an inch-long bundle of dry seeds into the cobs of succulent kernels we know today.

&l;img class=&q;size-full wp-image-1234&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/erikkobayashisolomon/files/2019/02/Maize-teosinte.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;643&q; data-width=&q;1037&q;&g; Figure 1. Teosinte (top) is the grass that eventually gave rise to maize (bottom). A maize-teosinte hybrid is shown in the middle.

The process has radically improved over the last 12,000 years. The traditional process of spending centuries on observation, cross-breeding, and trial and error iteration has been replaced with the ability to microscopically target specific genes and to &a;ldquo;invent&a;rdquo; and propagate new species of plants almost instantaneously.

The process of genetic engineering that brings about GMO food &l;em&g;does&l;/em&g; seem suspicious.

DNA strands are &l;a href=&q;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering#Gene_isolation_and_cloning&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;cultured in a bacterium&l;/a&g; and &l;a href=&q;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering#Inserting_DNA_into_the_host_genome&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;inserted into the host plant&a;rsquo;s nucleus using a virus&l;/a&g;. &a;ldquo;Bacterium&a;rdquo; and &a;ldquo;virus&a;rdquo; are not the kinds of things people want associated with their food. The knee-jerk reaction to say &a;ldquo;GMOs are bad&a;rdquo; is thus natural and understandable.

Natural and understandable as suspicions about GMOs&a;rsquo; effects on human health may be, it is completely unfounded.

That said, there are two very good reasons to be wary about GMOs: implementation and efficacy.

Regarding implementation, most GMO plants produced and consumed in the US today are those that allow for resistance to a specific herbicide &a;ndash; Monsanto&a;rsquo;s Roundup. &l;a href=&q;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_Ready&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Roundup Ready&l;/a&g; soy, corn, and beets grow from seeds that have been genetically modified to grow even when glyphosate weed killer (Roundup&a;rsquo;s scientific name) is applied to them.

&l;img class=&q;size-full wp-image-1235&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/erikkobayashisolomon/files/2019/02/Glyphosate_USA_2013.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;1140&q; data-width=&q;930&q;&g; Figure 2. Glyphosate usage concentration in the U.S. Source: USGS via Wikipedia

While Roundup has not tested as toxic to humans and other mammals, the longer it has been on the market, the worse its effects on &l;a href=&q;https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/25/gmo-glyphosate-soil-biology.aspx&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;soil health&l;/a&g; and &l;a href=&q;http://responsibletechnology.org/docs/damaging-effects-of-roundup.pdf&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;long-term plant fecundity&l;/a&g; appear. In addition, Roundup Ready plants &l;a href=&q;http://www.growersmineral.com/crops/indepth-articles/glyphosate-and-micronutrients&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;may not allow necessary micronutrients&l;/a&g; to be absorbed by animals consuming them and may also play a part in the recent &l;a href=&q;https://onpasture.com/2018/09/24/is-glyphosate-killing-bees/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;die-off of bees&l;/a&g; (the &l;a href=&q;https://e360.yale.edu/features/declining_bee_populations_pose_a_threat_to_global_agriculture&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;seriousness of which&l;/a&g; cannot be overstated).

Aside from the biological concerns, there are also economic ones about which any farmer is certainly well-acquainted. Monsanto has been known to use its enormous reserves of wealth to &l;a href=&q;https://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/seeding-fear-the-story-of-a-farmer-who-took-on-monsanto/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;hire lawyers to crush small farmers&l;/a&g; with lawsuits and even to hire &l;a href=&q;https://www.intellihub.com/docs-show-how-monsanto-crushes-dissent-with-thousands-of-paid-trolls/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Internet trolls to intimidate end consumers&l;/a&g; who question Roundup&a;rsquo;s health effects.

While these are specific issues related to Monsanto&a;rsquo;s evil empire, more generally, I am concerned about farming methods that fine-tune production to a very narrow set of ecological conditions, especially since climate change is &l;a href=&q;https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-agriculture-and-food-supply_.html&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;very clearly pushing the envelope of historical agricultural conditions&l;/a&g;.

As I mentioned in &l;a href=&q;https://medium.com/@Framework_Erik/investments-that-ignore-climate-change-just-burn-money-ebdcd0ff2e10&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;an earlier article&l;/a&g;, California &a;ndash; &l;a href=&q;https://slate.com/technology/2013/07/california-grows-all-of-our-fruits-and-vegetables-what-would-we-eat-without-the-state.html&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;America&a;rsquo;s vegetable store&l;/a&g; &a;ndash; has recently experienced its most severe drought since at least 1571, and the scientist who published these findings believes that it may take decades for the region to fully recover. Considering that climate change makes future drought events relatively more likely, you can see the potential for a dangerous one-two punch to California&a;rsquo;s agricultural industry.

In my region of the Midwest &a;ndash; America&a;rsquo;s bread basket &a;ndash; &l;a href=&q;https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/08/vanishing-midwest-ogallala-aquifer-drought/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;scientists are warning&l;/a&g; of the rapid depletion of the very slowly recharging &l;a href=&q;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Ogallala Aquifer&l;/a&g;. It is not too early to consider that the amber waves of grain in the Midwest might also be at &l;a href=&q;https://www.usgs.gov/centers/sbsc/science/climate-change-and-drought&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;risk of drought&l;/a&g; (or conversely that the risk of crop-harming &l;a href=&q;https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/heavy-downpours-increasing&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;downpours&l;/a&g; &a;ndash; another manifestation of climate change &a;ndash; will also negatively affect grain yields).

&l;img class=&q;size-full wp-image-1236&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/erikkobayashisolomon/files/2019/02/OgallalaAquifer.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;973&q; data-width=&q;705&q;&g; Figure 3. Groundwater withdrawal rates in 2000. It takes roughly 10,000 years to recharge water taken from the aquifer. Source: National Atlas via Wikipedia

In light of these very sobering conditions, it is clear that agricultural technology should be focusing on increasing the resiliency of our food crops, rather than fine-tuning them to maximize yield in a narrow ecological sweet spot.

This brings me to the second problem with GMO crops &a;ndash; efficacy.

When I was researching this article, I looked for examples of companies working on developing GMO strains that were drought-resistant or would otherwise allow crops to be grown in soils with less nitrogen (i.e., lower fertilizer levels) and the like. I found Monsanto had marketed a drought-resistant corn product, but that this has not had great commercial uptake and its efficacy was questioned by &l;a href=&q;https://m.stltoday.com/business/local/report-questions-monsanto-s-drought-tolerant-corn/article_f03e2af4-af42-11e1-8572-0019bb30f31a.html&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;a scientific study&l;/a&g;.

Then, I found a tiny ($25 million market cap), California-based company whose CEO is a Monsanto alum, called Arcadia BioSciences &l;a href=&q;https://ycharts.com/companies/RKDA&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;RKDA&l;/a&g;. Arcadia has formed a joint venture with an Argentinian bioengineering firm to produce a drought-resistant soybean seed. As you might be able to tell by the very small market capitalization, it&a;rsquo;s safe to say that Arcadia&a;rsquo;s drought-resistant soybeans have not yet taken the world by storm.

Digging further, I found &l;a href=&q;https://www.nature.com/news/cross-bred-crops-get-fit-faster-1.15940?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20140918&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;a story in the science journal, Nature&l;/a&g;, that talks about the work done by a Mexico City-based organization, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). CIMMYT has built a seed bank and has done the painstaking work (started by their long-distant ancestors) of observing plants and cross-breeding them to create drought-resistant maize varietals.

&l;img class=&q;size-large wp-image-1237&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/erikkobayashisolomon/files/2019/02/CIMMYT-1200x305.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;305&q; data-width=&q;1200&q;&g; Figure 4. CIMMYT facility in El Batan, Mexico. You can see test crops in the background.

Lo and behold, the cross-bred strains generated yields up to 30% higher than commercial seeds under drought conditions. According to the researchers:

&l;/p&g;&l;blockquote&g;Drought tolerance is a complex trait that involves multiple genes. Transgenic techniques , which target one gene at a time, have not been as quick to manipulate it.&l;/blockquote&g;

There is a place for the genetic modification of crops; for instance, altering the times of the day during which plant respiration occurs may be an important field of research and development in the future. However, from my reading, these solutions are likely in what I term the Revolutionary Development stage &a;ndash; 10 years or more from economic commercialization.

The moral of the story is that there is no reason to be frightened of the technology behind GMO crops. Genetically modified foods may someday provide integral assistance to allow humans to successfully adapt to changing climactic conditions and, in so doing, may enrich far-sighted investors.

You should, however, be very worried about the current implementation of GMO due to its effects on cropland, the ecosystem, and human health, and that research into GMOs is taking resources away from potentially much more helpful cross-breeding projects in the short run.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Levi Strauss Gears Up for IPO

Levi Strauss has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). No pricing details were given in the filing, although the offering is valued up to $100 million, but this number is usually just a placeholder. The firm intends to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEVI.

The underwriters for the offering are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Guggenheim Securities, HSBC, Drexel Hamilton, Telsey Advisory Group and Williams Capital Group.

This company designs, markets and sells products that include jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear and related accessories for men, women and children around the world under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss and Denizen brands. With $5.6 billion in net revenues and sales in more than 110 countries in fiscal year 2018, this is one of the world's leading apparel companies, with the Levi's brand having the highest brand awareness in the denim bottoms category globally.

The business is operated through three geographic regions that comprise its reporting segments: 1) the Americas, 2) Europe and 3) Asia, which includes the Middle East and Africa. Levi Strauss services consumers through its global infrastructure, developing, sourcing and marketing products around the world. The Americas, Europe and Asia segments contributed 55%, 29% and 16%, respectively, of net revenues in fiscal year 2018.

Levi Strauss detailed its finances in the report as follows:

Net revenues have grown from $4.8 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2018, representing a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 2.3%. Net income has grown from $135 million in fiscal year 2011 to $285 million in fiscal year 2018, representing a CAGR of 11.3%.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to increase financial flexibility, for working capital and for general corporate purposes.

ALSO READ: The 15 Best Dividend Stocks for Retirees to Own

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

How Phunware Shares Gained Nearly 2,000% in January

What happened

Shares of Phunware (UNKNOWN:UNKNOWN) rose 1,988% higher in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The provider of development tools for mobile apps, including a unique blockchain-based security token known as PhunCoin, started the month as a penny stock with a $310 million market cap. By the end of January, Phunware's stock closed at nearly $300 per share and a total market value of $9 billion.

So what

The surge started with Phunware completing its merger with capital investment firm Stellar Acquisition III. The deal brought Phunware onto the public markets after a decade of operations as a private company, while putting Stellar Acquisition's capital to use after two and a half years of accumulating funds without a clear target.

Share prices continued to soar as Phunware announced a handful of new patents and developer programs, topped off by a launch platform for a public version of PhunCoin and a blockchain partnership with the mighty IBM.

Green charting arrow pointing upward in front of several well-known cryptocurrency names.

Image source: Getty Images.

Now what

The stock has settled down a bit in February and is now trading just 752% higher since the new year. Phunware's surge is proof positive that the market still can get excited about blockchain tools and cryptocurrency stocks, but we don't have any actual business results available for this company yet. Is it an empty air bubble with zero long-term value, or are we in the early days of a future titan in the mobile app development market? Only time will tell, and I'm perfectly happy to stay on the sidelines until we know more about this freshly reformed company's business plans.

Monday, February 11, 2019

News Corp (NWS) Q2 2019 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

Logo of jester cap with thought bubble.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

News Corp  (NASDAQ:NWS)Q2 2019 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 08, 2019, 5:00 p.m. ET

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

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the News Corp. Second Quarter Fiscal 2019 Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. Media will be on a listen-only basis.

At this time, I'd like to turn the conference's over to Mr. Michael Florin, Senior Vice President and Head of Investor Relations. You may begin, sir.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Thank you very much, Aaron. Hello, everyone, and welcome to News Corp.'s Fiscal Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Call. We issued our earnings press release about an hour ago, and it's now posted on our website at newscorp.com

On the call today are Robert Thomson, Chief Executive; and Susan Panuccio, Chief Financial Officer. We will open with some prepared remarks, and then we'll be happy to take questions from the investment community.

This call may include certain forward-looking information with respect to News Corp's business and strategy. Actual results could differ materially from what is said. News Corp's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings identify risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ and contain cautionary statements regarding forward-looking information. Additionally, this call will include certain non-GAAP financial measurements such as total segment EBITDA, adjusted segment EBITDA and adjusted EPS. The definitions and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations of such measures can be found in our earnings release.

With that, I'll pass it over to Robert Thomson for some opening comments.

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

Thanks, Mike. News Corp reported increased profitability and revenue growth during the first half of fiscal 2019, highlighting the power of premium content and authenticated audiences in a fact-changed world that craves credibility. For the second quarter, the company saw 21% revenue growth and a 13% rise in total segment EBITDA, reflecting the consolidation of Foxtel and a healthy expansion of revenues at HarperCollins, Dow Jones and REA Group.

More generally, at News and Information Services, we saw a continuation of positive trends in paid digital subscriptions and digital advertising in Australia and the US where growth mitigated declines in print revenue. Even though our teams have been diligent in pursuing revenue opportunities, the digital world remains somewhat dysfunctional and subject to intensifying scrutiny.

We are in a world of exponential e-evolution in which dominant players have the potential to manipulate markets for data, products, advertising, news and ideas. There is no doubt that some of these companies are arbitraging algorithmic ambiguity and hoping that regulators do not fully appreciate or define their dominance in certain sectors.

When one company controls much of the US consumer audio book market and has its own products in that market and can tweak its algorithm at will, the potential for abuse is almost limitless. It is clear that there has been a regulatory awakening, and the time has come for a regulatory reckoning.

Turning now to our end businesses, which are certainly conscious of their responsibilities as custodians of customer data. It is clear that the ongoing digital transformation of Dow Jones is efficacious. Many traditional media companies are ailing, but that is certainly not the case at the Wall Street Journal, where paid digital subscribers grew 23% to over 1.7 million. Dow Jones overall has approximately 3.2 million total subscribers, 13% higher year-over-year.

Elsewhere in the Dow Jones family, MarketWatch saw a strong gains this quarter, with visits up 45% year-over-year, according to Adobe Analytics, while Barron's grew its total subscribers 27% year-over-year. The professional information business at Dow Jones also continues to show progress, with Risk and Compliance reporting a 26% increase in revenues. There has now been in excess of 25% year-over-year revenue growth for seven consecutive quarters.

At The Times in the UK, print advertising revenues rose for the fifth consecutive quarter. The Times and Sunday Times saw solid growth in digital subscribers, while The Sun continues as the UK's number one news brand across print and digital combined, according to the latest PAMCO survey.

Last month, we made an application to the UK government to allow sensible sharing of resources and cost reduction across The Times and The Sunday Times. The editorial independence and uniqueness of these peerless publications will be protected. But there are clearly areas of cost duplication and we want to ensure the very best use of our financial and of our journalistic resources.

Chris Evans, the gifted legendary writer/broadcaster, joined Wireless Group's Virgin Radio last month, and the audience growth has been remarkable. To put the impact and the potential in perspective, during the first day of Chris' show, Virgin Radio saw more app downloads for digital listening than in all of 2018. The breakfast program also deployed the unique sponsorship partnership with Sky, so that the flow was not disrupted by conventional ad breaks. That model has already proven its worth and is likely to be replicated elsewhere on the radio roster.

At News Australia, profitability improved, thanks to continued digital advertising growth and cost efficiencies. news.com.au was again the number one news website, significantly ahead of its competitors, reaching almost 10 million unique users in the month of December according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, The Australian, where digital paid subscriptions account for more than half of the total subscriber base, we saw strong digital subscription growth this quarter, up 23% year-over-year.

Since we brought together Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia, we have made extensive changes in management, enhanced the sports and entertainment portfolio and upgraded the technology. Average audiences across Fox Sports Australia channels are up over 70% year-over-year, with the addition of live cricket boosting viewership during the summer, traditionally, a relatively quiet period for customer acquisition.

Our new sports streaming product, Kayo, has certainly changed the traditional trend. As of February 5, Kayo had attracted over 115,000 users, of which approximately 100,000 were paid. And we expect that number to increase markedly as we head into the peak selling season for the more popular winter sports, Australian Football and Rugby League.

It is clear in a competitive world of content that the passion for sport drives subscription growth, and Foxtel has, by far, the best collection of that cherished content.

In our Digital Real Estate Services segment, REA Group in Australia continues to outperform the competition, posting robust results despite a challenging listings environment, driven by strong residential growth and the inclusion of the Data Services business, which was not in the prior comparative period.

The continued success of REA would not have been possible without the leadership of Tracey Fellows. She will be driving global expansion and seeking new opportunities for our fastest revenue growing segment in her new role as President of Global Digital Real Estate at News Corp.

Since the creation of the new News Corp in 2013, Digital Real Estate Service revenues have more than tripled, and segment EBITDA has more than doubled. The appointment of Tracey underscores our increasing commitment to the sector. We are particularly pleased that Owen Wilson has become the new Chief Executive of REA where he's overseeing strategy, M&A and operations, all of which have thrived.

Turning to US real estate. Our long-term optimism is undiminished, even as shorter-term trading in the property market has been somewhat sluggish. As evidence of the enduring strength of our business, real estate revenues at the operator of realtor.com, Move, Inc. were up 23% this quarter, with total revenues up 11%. This includes Opcity, the acquisition of which we successfully closed in October. Its strategic importance is evident in the higher quality value-added leads it provides with brokers about potential clients. Unlike a certain other company in the sector, we are not in the business of flagrantly flipping houses or covertly competing with our clients. Our aim is to provide the best possible service to buyers, sellers and realtors.

In Book Publishing, HarperCollins delivered another outstanding performance this quarter, fostered by best-selling titles, such as Homebody by Joanna Gaines, and Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, both of whom are set to publish new titles in the current quarter. And in the UK, also very successful was the Ice Monster by the irrepressible David Walliams. Digital sales also grew 12% on the prior year, driven by a 58% increase in the sales of audiobooks.

Our results this quarter and for the first half of the fiscal year demonstrate the power of our premium products and reflect our ongoing digital transformation, which is building a muscular platform for the future and for our investors.

Now Susan will provide incisive insight into the finer details of our accounts.

Susan Panuccio -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Robert. Turning to the financials. Fiscal 2019 second quarter total revenues were over $2.6 billion, up 21% versus the prior year. And total segment EBITDA was $370 million, up 13% the prior year. Results reflect the impact of the consolidation of Foxtel.

On an adjusted basis, which excludes the impact of the Foxtel consolidation, currency fluctuations and the other items disclosed in our release, revenues increased 3% and EBITDA increased 2%. For the quarter, earnings per share was $0.16 as compared to a loss of $0.14 in the prior year, which included a charge related to the US tax reform. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.18 in the quarter versus $0.24 in the prior year.

Turning now to the individual operation segments. In News and Information Services, revenues for the quarter were $1.3 billion, down 3% versus the prior year. Currency had a $34 million negative impact, accounting for more than half the decline. Within the segment, reported revenues at Dow Jones rose 4%; News UK declined 10%; News Australia declined 5%, although it was relatively stable in local currency; and News America Marketing fell 7%. Approximately 32% of the segment's revenues were digital, up from 29% in the prior year.

Moving on to the segment highlights. Advertising revenues accounted for 50% of segment revenues and were down 5% versus the prior year, with approximately $18 million or 2% being due to currency fluctuations. Second quarter advertising trends across our new businesses improved modestly from the prior quarter rate.

At Dow Jones, advertising revenues were flat with the prior year. Digital advertising revenues increased significantly both year-over-year and sequentially, offsetting print decline. The improvement was driven by strong programmatic growth resulting from audience going to MarketWatch.

At News Australia, advertising declined 7% but down just 1% in local currency, again, showing moderating declines versus the prior quarter, with improvements in the rate of print declines and strong year-over-year gains in digital. On the digital front, we saw further expansion of news.com.au our national news portal and News Xtend, our small to medium business offering. News UK advertising fell 8% versus the prior year or down 4% in local currency, due mostly to soft print trends at The Sun, which had challenging prior year comparisons. We saw modestly higher print advertising revenues at The Times.

Finally, at News America Marketing, advertising revenues fell 7% due to weak home-delivered revenues, which included FSI product and lower install advertising revenues, which were partly impacted by the timing of product campaigns.

Turning now to circulation and subscription revenues, which accounted for 42% of segment revenues. We saw an increase of 1%, with foreign currency negatively impacting these revenues by $12 million or 2%. We are continuing to see very healthy digital paid subscriber growth, which has been a core strategic focus and key to improved performance.

At Dow Jones, circulation revenues grew 7%, benefiting from strong pay digital-only subscriber growth at The Wall Street Journal, which were up 23% year-over-year to over 1.7 million and an increase of 125,000 subscribers from the first quarter. Digital paid subscribers accounted for 67% of total subscribers at The Wall Street Journal, up from 60% last year.

In addition, we again saw healthy year-over-year digital subscriber growth at The Times and The Sunday Times, up 22% to 269,000, and at News Australia, up 18% to over 460,000. In Australia, cover price increases and rising digital sales offset print volume declines, while circulation revenues were down modestly in the UK.

Turning to segment EBITDA. News and Information Services segment EBITDA was $120 million, down 15%, mainly driven by declines in the UK from lower revenues, including the exit of Sun Bets and higher expenses related to newsprint prices. However, we again had increased contribution at both Dow Jones and News Australia.

Turning to the Subscription Video Services segment. Revenues were $562 million versus $120 million a year ago. Segment EBITDA in the quarter was $84 million versus $33 million in the prior year. On a pro forma basis, reflecting the Foxtel transaction, segment revenues in the quarter decreased $69 million or 11% compared with the prior year, an improvement from the first quarter decrease of 17%. $39 million of the decline or 6% was due to the negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations.

Broadcast trends were relatively similar to the prior quarter, with the revenue decline driven by a lower broadcast subscriber base, higher offer cost and mix shift to lower (Technical Difficulty). The subscription revenue decline was partially offset by an increase in Foxtel Now revenues. Broadcast ARPU was AUD78, down about 3% versus the prior year, reflecting a 2% negative impact from the new revenue standard. Compared to the first quarter, broadcast ARPU was up over 2%, reflecting a price increase implemented on October 1.

Pro forma segment EBITDA in the quarter decreased $71 million or 46% compared to the prior year. The year-over-year decline reflects the lower revenues, higher sports programming and production costs, including approximately $26 million of costs related to Cricket Australia and about $9 million of marketing related to the commercial launch of Kayo Sports. This level of reinvestment was consistent with our expectations as we focus on better positioning Foxtel for future growth.

On operating metrics, Foxtel's total closing subscribers were approximately 2.9 million as of December 31, up 4% against the prior year, driven by higher Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports subscriptions and the inclusion of commercial subscribers of Fox Sports Australia.

In terms of the subscriber mix, about 2.5 million subscribers were broadcast and commercial. The remainder were Foxtel now and Kayo Sports subscribers. We launched Kayo Sports in late November and are very pleased with the early adoption. As Robert mentioned, we had 115,000 subscribers as of February 5, of which approximately 100,000 were paid subscribers and expect to see it scale into the important winter sports selling season.

Pleasingly, the Kayo Sports user base is engaged with average viewing time per active user currently at 69 minutes per day with over 70% watching live video and smartphone being the primary device.

In the second quarter, broadcast churn was 15.6% versus 14.5% in the prior year, which was mainly impacted by the October price rise. Churn management is a major focus for the team in Australia. And we are investing to better utilize data and advanced analytics to predict churn going forward in order for the business to be much more proactive with customized solutions through attention and win-back.

Capital expenditures related to new Foxtel was $139 million in the first half, which would have been down modestly had we consolidated Foxtel in the prior year. At Book Publishing, we posted another very solid quarter, driven by strong sales in general books with the release of Joanna Gaine's Homebody and The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, as well as Rachel Hollis's, Girl, Wash Your Face, in Christian Publishing.

Revenues for the quarter increased 6% to $496 million and segment EBITDA increased 13% to $88 million, and both achieved record levels for HarperCollins. This growth came despite recent tighter supply conditions for both paper and bookbinding across the industry. Total digital revenues for the quarter grew 12%, consistent with the previous quarter, and represented 17% of consumer revenues, up from 16% last year. Downloadable audio again grew over 50%.

At the Digital Real Estate Services segment, revenues increased 7% to $311 million, which was driven by strong organic growth and the impact of acquisitions, partially offset by currency headwind. Acquisitions contributed $7 million to revenues, while currency had a $13 million offset. On an adjusted basis, revenues grew 10%.

REA Group revenues grew 6% or 13% in local currency due to residential depth revenue growth in Australia, reflecting higher penetration for premium all and increased yield and modest contribution from the Hometrack acquisition. We also saw an improvement in developer revenues. Revenue growth was partially offset by an overall 2% decline in new listing volume, which included a more pronounced decline in Sydney and lower media revenues. Please refer to REA's earnings release and their conference call following this call for additional details and comments on their outlook. Move revenues rose 11% to $122 million versus prior year, helped by growth of its Connections Plus product and inclusion of the acquisition. Real estate revenues increased 23%, including Opcity.

Revenue growth was partially offset by reduced display advertising to drive user experience and engagements, similar to last quarter. We also saw moderating growth in Connection Plus lead volume, partially impacted by the transferring of leads to Opcity as well as a more challenging US housing market, including declines in existing home sales in the second quarter.

Average monthly unique users at realtor.com were approximately 53 million for the quarter, rising 6% versus the prior year. On Opcity, we are very pleased with how the integration is going. The team at realtor is focused on leveraging their extensive industry relationships to expand adoption of the new platform. We are using advanced AI, machine learning and algorithms to better match consumers with agents. We are taking advantage of the Opcity platform to monetize consumer leads that in the past have gone unsold or underutilized.

Segment EBITDA rose 2% to $121 million. The quarter reflected additional cost at Move related to the Opcity acquisition, including deferred compensation combined with continued reinvestment in product development. And on an adjusted basis, segment EBITDA grew 12%.

I would now like to mention a few things for the fiscal third quarter. At News and Information Services, we expect higher cost at Dow Jones in the third quarter to drive execution growth initiatives, including expansion into live events. In addition, we expect continued challenges at News America Marketing, mostly related to the FSI advertising. We will continue to seek cost efficiency to streamline the business.

In Subscription Video Services, similar to the second quarter, when comparing with the prior year, we will have additional cost related to Cricket of $25 million to $30 million and incremental marketing for Kayo Sports of $10 million to $15 million.

In Book Publishing, overall trends remain favorable and we are encouraged by our upcoming releases together with the ongoing strong performance of our backlist. Some key titles this quarter includes: Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis; On the Come Up by Angie Thomas; and We Are Gardeners by Joanna Gaines.

At Digital Real Estate Services, similar to Q2, we expect continued reinvestment to drive revenue growth at realtor.com and Opcity, including higher marketing and product development. With that, let me hand it over to the operator for Q&A.

Questions and Answers:

Operator

(Operator Instructions) We will take our first question from Alexia Quadrani with JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Unidentified Participant -- -- Analyst

This is Lee Van (ph) for Alexia. And just New York Times reported another strong quarter of digital subscriber growth yesterday. And from your numbers, the Wall Street Journal is also growing really nicely. Do you believe that, longer term, both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times can grow at this pace, and is there room for two meaningful paid digital properties longer term?

Unidentified Speaker --

Well, I can't speak for the New York Times. In fact, I can speak for the prime meaningful newspaper, which is, of course, The Wall Street Journal. At Dow Jones, the subscription business is performing well and obviously has much potential for growth. And if you look closely, you'll see the WSJ.com circulation revenues were up 15%. That's not crosswords or couscous recipes. They're not low-renter (inaudible) that we're seeing elsewhere in the sector. As for professional content, in their clotted world, there are companies who want to incorporate Dow Jones content in their workflow. And that is happening apace. To be honest, our advertising needed work, and we have a new ad team at Dow Jones and that team is certainly making a positive difference. Digital ads at Dow Jones were up 15%. And as for Risk and Compliance, the fastest-growing business at Dow Jones, if any of you out there want to minimize risk and maximize compliance, then you simply must have a Dow Jones contract. If not, I fear for you when the regulator comes a-knocking.

Unidentified Participant -- -- Analyst

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

(inaudible) We'll take our next question please.

Operator

Certainly. And the next question comes from Entcho Raykovski with Credit Suisse. Your line is open.

Entcho Raykovski -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

Hi, Robert. Hi, Susan. My question is around Subscription Video Services, and, particularly, Kayo Sports, given you've launched over the quarter. Very useful that you provided us some stats around the subscribers. Just interested in whether you expect the, sort of, rate of net adds to continue over the next couple of quarters? And where did you view the addressable market for this offering? Just interested in how are your thoughts there. And then more broadly, if we're looking at the churn rate, which has stepped up on a bind to the higher pricing, but do you think there's a level of cannibalization taking place as well, given you've launched Kayo? Thank you.

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

Entcho, Kayo is in the earliest innings and Cricket, you would say, it was in the first of 4 innings or in baseball, the second of 9 innings. What one can definitively say is that we have 115,000 customers, around 100,000 paying. And that number has indeed been rising week-after-week in the two months since we launched. And indeed, we are on the cusp of the peak sport selling season, which is Aussie Rules and Rugby League as you know. It is beyond clear that sports events are crucially important in an age of confected, concocted content. And we have the events that matter in Australia for the next four or so years. That's an incontrovertible fact and an extraordinary asset. You can be platform-agnostic but you can't be content idealistic. Of course, there is more churn when you increase prices as we did late last year. But what we are absolutely not seeing is massive spin-down to Kayo from premium subscribers. The fact is that the earlier versions of the IQ box were inadequate, and the current version is much more sophisticated and satisfying. The iQ4 really does go to show that the higher the IQ, the better.

Susan Panuccio -- Chief Financial Officer

I think, Entcho, too I'd also add just in relation to your question on the addressable market. Obviously, our penetration has been sort of sub-30% for some years. And there is a vast audience out there within Australia. The other 70% that we haven't managed to reach that our research has been very clear, are open to paying for, proposition it if it's at the right price point. So that would be the addressable market that we're having a look at. And just in relation to churn, I did mention it in the release, but the team in Australia are very focused on churn management, and they are and we are investing a lot of money in data capabilities in order to effectively manage that churn going forward.

And as Robert said, we really have seen very little spin-down as a consequence of Kayo, but it is early days. And we will continue to focus on that metric as we move forward.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Thank you Andrew. Aaron, we'll take our next question please.

Operator

Certainly. Our next question comes from Kane Hannan with Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open.

Kane Hannan -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Good morning Rob and Susan. Just digital real estate, just that comment made around Tracey and then seeking new opportunities following that appointment. Could you just elaborate on what you meant by that comment? And then I suppose just a couple of brief comments around the early traction of the Opcity model and what you're seeing on the ground following that completion?

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

Well, Tracey has just settled into the job and it's her task, obviously, to increase the cooperation among our various properties around the world. And that will be the first priority. Beyond that, one, of course, can't speculate. It's interesting, the U.S. real estate market is a tad sluggish. And obviously, listings are down in Australia and yet Digital Property revenue growth remains real. You could indeed say that these are testing times and our model and investment is definitely passing that test. And it shows the value of the Opcity purchase because we are providing a higher level of market intelligence and analysis, value-added services in the case of Opcity. And that is appreciated by our clients, who know that there are both quantity leads and quality leads, and quality leads mean revenue for our customers.

Susan Panuccio -- Chief Financial Officer

And I think changes to add on the Opcity, know -- sort of the way that we look at this is the conversion of the leads into revenue will continually evolve as we move forward. And we bought a best-in-class, concierge-enabled company, which will enable REALTOR to better manage high-sale leads by offering higher-quality leads that will enable a better close rate for the agents, which will provide higher revenue. It also gives us access to high-quality data as a consequence of getting the leads, which we can use to branch out into other adjacencies, be it mortgage, title insurance, moving, et cetera, which is what we're currently looking at building out now. So I think the combination of those comments is what we think will drive the results with the Opcity and REALTOR.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Thank you. Aaron, we'll take our next question please.

Operator

Certainly. Our next question comes from Craig Huber with Huber Research. Your line is open.

Craig Huber -- Huber Research -- Analyst

Great. I have some quick housekeeping questions. What should we expect for CapEx for Foxtel for the full fiscal year and also for the entire company? And also curious if you can just tell us how does circulation revenues did with or without currency in the UK and Australia in the quarter. And my last one, if I could, do you have a comment on how you think the Australian economy is doing given all your media assets down there? Do you think it's about stable? Or do you think it's getting worse? Can you give more color into China? That's why I'm asking.

So just in relation to your first question on CapEx, I think we have given guidance on this before. So $285 million was the number for last year, US dollars, that we quoted for Foxtel, and we're expecting it to be $15 million higher. We haven't changed our expectations in relation to that but, obviously, we continue to monitor that CapEx as we progress through the year. I think your next question was in relation to circulation in local currency. So I think from a Dow Jones perspective, circulation revenues were up 7%. From News UK, circulation revenues were down 1%. And News Australia, circulation revenues were up 3%. What -- there was a third part, I think, to your question?

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

Australia?

Craig Huber -- Huber Research -- Analyst

Yes, I was asking CapEx for the whole company, please, and also Australian economy comment.

Susan Panuccio -- Chief Financial Officer

We haven't given that out before, Craig. But what I can say is we're broadly expecting it, excluding Subscription Video Services, to be roughly in line with last year.

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

For the macro economic, it's obviously a little difficult to tell. There are two events upcoming, a state election in New South Wales and a federal election, the lot to be held in May in Australia. Both those events could have some impact on business activity. But the underlying macro trends in Australia are positive. There has been something of the decline in the housing market. But that is, in some respects, welcome because it means that the rapid increases in property prices, which many analysts thought were unsustainable have indeed come to an end. And as in many countries, ensuring that there is enough excessively priced property is not just an economic issue but a political issue and one which is generating a lot of debate. So that trend of itself is efficacious. And News Australia and the team led by Mike Miller, is -- are performing very well. EBITDA is growing, the digital transformation of the company is continuing apace, and we're particularly optimistic about the potential for the business.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Thank you. Aaron, we'll take our next question please.

Operator

Certainly. And our next question comes from Brian Han with the Morningstar. Your line is now open.

Brian Han -- Morningstar -- Analyst

Hypothetically, if you had strong buyer interest for Wall Street Journal, is that a masthead that you and the board would consider selling? Or is the Journal an absolutely integral part of your digitization strategy across the board?

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

Hypothetically, you shouldn't answer hypothetical questions. But the Wall Street Journal not only is a powerful platform for us, that the network effect that you have, for example, in the relationship between REALTOR and the Wall Street Journal, the ability to cross-promote, for us, increasingly to get sophisticated permission data on those platforms and right around to HarperCollins and the New York Post digital network, it is truly more than the sum of the parts. And at the very center of it is the Wall Street Journal.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Thank you. Aaron we'll take our next question please.

Operator

At this time, there are no additional questions. So I'd like to turn the program back over to the presenters for any additional comments.

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Great. Aaron, thank you very much. And thank you, all, for participating. And have a great day, and we'll talk to you soon. Take care.

Operator

Thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's program. You may disconnect at any time.

Duration: 33 minutes

Call participants:

Michael Florin -- Head of Investor Relations

Robert Thomson -- Chief Executive

Susan Panuccio -- Chief Financial Officer

Unidentified Participant -- -- Analyst

Unidentified Speaker --

Entcho Raykovski -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

Kane Hannan -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Craig Huber -- Huber Research -- Analyst

Brian Han -- Morningstar -- Analyst

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