Full-scale bailout for industries impacted by tariffs would cost $39 billion, Chamber of Commerce sa

Spreading a bailout across all industries affected by the ongoing trade war would cost taxpayers $39 billion, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce analysis.

The Chamber opposes the billions in tariffs that President Donald Trump has slapped on a host of goods from China as well as steel and aluminum imports.

To compensate for the economic damage, Trump recently approved $12 billion in emergency aid for farmers who produce certain goods, particularly soybeans. The package was touted as a temporary solution while negotiations continue, but the president has taken seething criticism including from his own party and some farmers themselves.

In its study of what would happen should the aid program spread, the Chamber said the effects would be substantial.

"The best way to protect American industries from the damaging consequences of a trade war is to avoid entering into a trade war in the first place," Neil Bradley, the organization's executive vice president and chief policy officer, said in a statement. "The administration's focus should be expanding free trade and removing these harmful tariffs, not allocating taxpayer's money to only marginally ease the suffering for some of the industries feeling the pain of the trade war."

The aid package, Bradley said, is "a slippery �� and costly �� slope."

The Chamber compared the total amount of the farmers' aid to the amount of exports affected by the tariffs, then applied the same ratio across other impacted industries, to come up with the bailout requirement if it was applied across the board.

Doing so produced the $39 billion total �� $12 billion to the farmers, plus another $27 billion to other industries. The impact ranged from $43 million for starch and glue producers up to $7.6 billion for auto, motorcycle and parts manufacturers.

There have been no indications from the White House that it is considering extending the aid package to other industries.

As a matter of proportion, if the administration did decide to compensate all industries and the Chamber's figures are accurate, the total would amount to about 0.2 percent of GDP and just shy of 1 percent of the fiscal 2018 budget total.

CNBC has reached out to the White House for comment.

3 Reasons This Analyst Thinks Amazon Stock Will Hit $2,000

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is scheduled to report the results of its 2018 second quarter on Thursday, July 26, after the market close. The company has been one of the top performers in the market this year, up more than 50%, far outpacing the S&P 500, which is up just about 5% as of this writing.

Despite its meteoric rise so far this year, which has already seen the stock achieve all-time highs, at least one analyst believes Amazon still has further to climb. Investors might be justifiably skeptical of such a call. Rather than taking this at face value, let's take a look at his logic and see if his argument holds water.

Image source: Getty Images.

The call

Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on Amazon to $2,000 from its previous level of $1,800 -- the stock closed on July 19 with a share price of $1,812.97. That target, would give the company a market cap of more the $970 billion.

In a note to clients, a team led by analyst Michael Graham laid out a compelling argument for why they believe the company will continue to thrive.

E-commerce is just beginning

Worldwide e-commerce sales have been increasing at a fast clip and accounted for more than 10% of all retail in 2017. That trend is expected to continue, growing to more than 17% of all sales by 2021.�Amazon's position as the world's largest online retailer and its growing network effect should help that growth continue.

Graham said, "We think fundamentals remain as strong as ever as e-commerce business continues to grow nearly 30%, [excluding] Whole Foods." The company's product sales recently accelerated, growing 33% and 35% year over year, respectively, in the two previous quarters.�

Strong levels of investment

Amazon continues to invest a significant amount of its profits in growing the reach of its business. Graham notes that this is creating a wide moat against the competition. "Amazon's rapidly growing scale of investment is strengthening long-term competitive barriers," he said.�

As outlined by my colleague Adam Levy, Amazon continues to invest in numerous other areas including, grocery delivery, its voice-activated Alexa products, Prime video, advertising, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Cloud computing

Speaking of AWS, Amazon pioneered the concept of renting unused space on its servers in 2006, and cloud computing has become one of the company's fastest-growing and most profitable businesses. "AWS remains the market leader, accelerating growth to almost 50% last quarter," Graham said.�

A look at Amazon's results for the first quarter confirms that view, as AWS grew 49% year over year, accounting for more than 10% of the company's revenue and nearly 73% of the company's operating profit. With that type of growth, some believe the cloud-computing operations could triple over the next five years.

Data by YCharts.

A parting thought

Graham went a step further, saying, "We continue to see Amazon as having the most robust and durable growth outlook in the group," referring to the vaunted FANG stocks:�Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google-parent Alphabet.�That's pretty high praise considering that the companies that make up the FANG acronym have all beaten the broader market by a wide margin this year.

Amazon also possesses a number of other advantages, including the growing adoption of its Prime membership, its fulfillment and logistics operation, and its industry-leading voice-activated speaker system, which encourages consumers to spend more on its e-commerce site.

With all of these things working in its favor, I think the analyst's price increase is justified -- and the target may actually be a little too low.

U.S. IPO Week Ahead: Tech, Tech, And More Tech With 11 U.S. IPOs Planned For This Coming Week

11 IPOs are expected to price this week, making it another busy one, and totaling $3.4 billion in combined proceeds. A whopping six tech deals are pricing, including three from China. Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo is the week's largest deal, raising $1.5 billion. US cybersecurity play Tenable should get the most attention - almost every enterprise software IPO with its profile has been a homerun. Bloom Energy's long-anticipated IPO is expected to price this week. Berry Petroleum aims to be the first E&P IPO in over a year. Biotechs are still hitting the market, with two expected to price this week.

U.S. IPO Calendar

Issuer
Business

Deal Size
Market Cap

Price Range
Shares Filed

Top
Bookrunners

Aquestive Therapeutics (AQST) Warren, NJ	$60M $362M	$14 - $16 4,000,000	BMO RBC
Drug manufacturer developing oral film formulations of CNS disease therapies.
Bloom Energy (BE) Sunnyvale, CA	$252M $1,719M	$13 - $15 18,000,000	JP Morgan Morgan Stanley
Sells clean energy power generators based on solid oxide fuel cell technology.
Aurora Mobile (JG) Guangdong, China	$114M $1,246M	$8.50 - $10.50 12,000,000	Goldman (Asia) Credit Suisse
Offers targeted mobile marketing campaigns and various app services in China.
Berry Petroleum (BRY) Bakersfield, CA	$300M $1,427M	$15 - $17 18,750,000	Goldman Wells Fargo
California-based onshore oil production company.
Cango (CANG) Shanghai, China	$138M $1,776M	$10 - $12 12,500,000	Morgan Stanley BofA ML
Online car marketplace for businesses and consumers in China.
Focus Financial Partners (FOCS) New York, NY	$600M $2,263M	$35 - $39 16,216,217	Goldman BofA ML
Operates a national network of more than 50 independent wealth managers.
Liquidia Technologies (LQDA) Morrisville, NC	$50M $175M	$10 - $12 4,545,455	Jefferies Cowen
Developing engineered formulations of therapies for PAH and pain.
Pinduoduo (PDD) Shanghai, China	$1,498M $21,932M	$16 - $19 85,600,000	Credit Suisse Goldman (Asia)
Operates an e-commerce mobile app centered on group buying in China.
Tenable Holdings (TENB) Columbia, MD	$166M $1,835M	$17 - $19 9,200,000	Morgan Stanley JP Morgan
Provides analytics-based vulnerability management software to enterprises.
Endava (DAVA) London, United Kingdom	$101M $987M	$17 - $19 5,600,000	Morgan Stanley Citi
Provides outsourced IT development services.
Opera Limited (OPRA) Oslo, Norway	$106M $1,259M	$10 - $12 9,600,000	CICC Citi
Leading provider of web browsers and digital content discovery platforms.

Aquestive Therapeutics, a drug manufacturer developing oral film formulations of CNS disease therapies, plans to raise $60 million by offering 4.0 million shares at a price range of $14.00 to $16.00. Insiders intend to purchase $20 million of the IPO (33% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, Aquestive Therapeutics would command a market value of $362 million. Aquestive Therapeutics, which was founded in 2004, booked $74 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Warren, NJ-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol AQST. BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Aurora Mobile, which offers targeted mobile marketing campaigns and various app services in China, plans to raise $114 million by offering 12.0 million shares at a price range of $8.50 to $10.50. Insiders intend to purchase $35 million of the IPO (30% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, Aurora Mobile would command a market value of $1.4 billion. Aurora Mobile, which was founded in 2012, booked $379 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Guangdong, China-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol JG. Goldman Sachs (Asia), Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Berry Petroleum, a California-based onshore oil production company, plans to raise $300 million by offering 18.8 million shares at a price range of $15.00 to $17.00. At the midpoint of the proposed range, Berry Petroleum would command a market value of $1.4 billion. Berry Petroleum, which was founded in 1909, booked $357 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Bakersfield, CA-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol BRY. Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo Securities, BMO Capital Markets and Evercore ISI are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Bloom Energy, which sells clean energy power generators based on solid oxide fuel cell technology, plans to raise $252 million by offering 18.0 million shares at a price range of $13.00 to $15.00. Insiders intend to purchase up to $50 million of the IPO (20% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, Bloom would command a market value of $1.7 billion. Bloom Energy, which was founded in 2001, booked $473 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Sunnyvale, CA-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol BE. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and KeyBanc Capital Markets are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Cango, an online car marketplace for businesses and consumers in China, plans to raise $138 million by offering 12.5 million shares at a price range of $10.00 to $12.00. At the midpoint of the proposed range, Cango would command a market value of $1.8 billion. Cango, which was founded in 2010, booked $1.3 billion in sales over the last 12 months. The Shanghai, China-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol CANG. Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs (Asia) are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Endava, which provides outsourced IT development services, plans to raise $101 million by offering 5.6 million shares at a price range of $17.00 to $19.00. A corporate business partner intends to purchase $10 million of the IPO (10% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, Endava would command a market value of $987 million. Endava, which was founded in 2000, booked $199 million in sales over the last 12 months. The London, United Kingdom-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol DAVA. Morgan Stanley, Citi, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Focus Financial Partners, which operates a national network of more than 50 independent wealth managers, plans to raise $600 million by offering 16.2 million shares at a price range of $35.00 to $39.00. At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $2.5 billion. Focus Financial Partners, which was founded in 2004, booked $724 million in sales over the last 12 months. The New York, NY-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol FOCS. Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch, KKR and BMO Capital Markets are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Liquidia Technologies, which is developing engineered formulations of therapies for PAH and pain, plans to raise $50 million by offering 4.5 million shares at a price range of $10.00 to $12.00. Insiders intend to purchase $30 million of the IPO (60% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $175 million. Liquidia Technologies, which was founded in 2004, booked $7 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Morrisville, NC-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol LQDA. Jefferies and Cowen are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Opera Limited, a leading provider of web browsers and digital content discovery platforms, plans to raise $106 million by offering 9.6 million shares at a price range of $10.00 to $12.00. Bitmain and IDG have agreed to invest $60 million in a concurrent private placement. At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $1.3 billion. Opera Limited, which was founded in 1995, booked $148 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Oslo, Norway-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol OPRA. CICC and Citi are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Pinduoduo, which operates an e-commerce mobile app centered on group buying in China, plans to raise $1.5 billion by offering 85.6 million shares at a price range of $16.00 to $19.00. Insiders intend to purchase $500 million of the IPO (33% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, Pinduoduo would command a market value of $21.9 billion. Pinduoduo, which was founded in 2015, booked $3.1 billion in sales over the last 12 months. The Shanghai, China-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol PDD. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs (Asia) and CICC are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Tenable Holdings, which provides analytics-based vulnerability management software to enterprises, plans to raise $166 million by offering 9.2 million shares at a price range of $17.00 to $19.00. Insiders intend to purchase $1.2 million of the IPO (<1% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, Tenable would command a market value of $1.8 billion. Tenable, which was founded in 2002, booked $206 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Columbia, MD-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol TENB. Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Allen & Company and Deutsche Bank are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

IPO Market Snapshot

The Renaissance IPO Indices are market cap weighted baskets of newly public companies. The Renaissance IPO Index is up 9.6% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is up 6.0%. Renaissance Capital's IPO ETF (NYSE: IPO) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) and SNAP (NYSE:SNAP). The Renaissance International IPO Index is up 5.5% year-to-date, while the ACWX is up 5.4%. Renaissance Capital's International IPO ETF (NYSE: IPOS) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Delivery Hero and Siemens Healthineers.

Facebook's rhetoric on misinformation doesn't match its actions

Facebook has said it finds claims that survivors of a violent tragedy are actually actors duping the public to be "abhorrent." The company has said that content with such claims violates its community standards, and has pledged to remove such posts.

But when contacted by CNN over the last week about two InfoWars videos on Facebook which strongly suggest survivors of the Parkland shooting were acting, the company chose to leave the videos online.

The videos feature InfoWars founder Alex Jones and two other InfoWars personalities making a number of insinuations. Among them were that there is "a cover up going on" related to Parkland; casting doubt on the veracity of a video that Parkland survivor David Hogg filmed while the shooting was taking place, rhetorically asking, "How set up is that?"; implying that there is something sinister about Hogg having previously visited CNN and having a father who was in the FBI; and noting that some of the Parkland students advocating for gun control have a background in drama club.

One of the videos asked in big, bold letters, "Are child actors being used to push gun control in Florida shooting?"

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said the company had reviewed the videos and found that neither violated its community standards. Specifically, the Facebook spokesperson said, "No survivors were alleged to be lying, acting, or pretending to be a victim of the tragic event -- nor were they accused of being paid to mislead people about their role in the tragedy." In other words, because the InfoWars personalities never explicitly accused the Parkland students of being actors, the videos were in accordance with company guidelines.

It's just one example of how Facebook's rhetoric does not seem to line up with its actions. The company has pledged to tackle the issue of false news and misinformation, but it has allowed pages like InfoWars that produce such content to remain on the platform and to escape punitive measures it says are in place to stop bad behavior.

InfoWars is an organization notorious for spreading demonstrably false information and conspiracy theories on a host of issues, including suggesting that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, and that the September 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job orchestrated by the US government.

InfoWars content appears to have thrived on Facebook over the past year. InfoWars' videos have been viewed more than 92 million times, according to data from CrowdTangle, a social media analytics company owned by Facebook. The CrowdTangle data also showed that InfoWars' page received 6.86 million interactions over the past year. For context, the National Review, a reputable conservative publication with a similarly-sized Facebook audience of slightly more than one million followers, received 2.78 million interactions and slightly more than 11 million video views over the past year.

Facebook has said that, in the interest of free expression, it has chosen not to ban the posting of false content, or pages like InfoWars which traffic in misinformation. Instead, it has decided to demote false content so that it's visible to fewer people in News Feed. Additionally, when a user attempts to share a post with false misinformation on their page, Facebook says, it will also provide an alert that indicates alternative reporting exists on the matter from a more reliable source.

Additionally, Facebook has said that if a page is "repeatedly given a 'false' rating from our third-party fact checkers" the company will "remove their monetization and advertising privileges to cut off financial incentives." And, the company has said, if a page's content is repeatedly flagged by fact-checkers, it would "dramatically reduce the distribution of all their page-level or domain-level content on Facebook."

But it appears that the InfoWars' Facebook page has skirted a number of these disciplinary measures.

Facebook has failed to affix much of InfoWars' conspiratorial and false content with fact checks. A Facebook spokesperson said when a piece of content is fact-checked, it is demoted and its audience is reduced by about 80% on average.

When asked how many times Facebook has fact-checked InfoWars, which publishes frequently each day, a Facebook spokesperson provided CNN six examples of the company having done so. Facebook launched its fact-checking program in the Spring of 2017. This past Monday alone, InfoWars published 29 posts on its Facebook page. When asked in a follow-up email specifically how many times Facebook had fact-checked the page, the Facebook spokesperson did not respond.

In a video it created in May promoting its efforts to combat misinformation, Facebook specifically pointed to PizzaGate, a fringe right-wing conspiracy theory that falsely linked top members of the Hillary Clinton team to an underground child sex ring, calling it "dangerous." But multiple posts on InfoWars' Facebook page share the theory -- and do not appear to be affixed with a Facebook fact check. Nor was one added after CNN brought the posts to Facebook's attention.

That's not all.

InfoWars does not appear to be choosing to monetize its content on Facebook. But despite the company policy that allows Facebook to pull monetization, InfoWars is still allowed to monetize on Facebook if it chooses to do so, the company spokesperson told CNN.

Over the past two weeks, Facebook has suffered a public relations crisis over how it handles misinformation and false news on its platform.

The trouble started for Facebook when it invited reporters last Wednesday to its Manhattan offices to tout the various ways in which it combats misinformation. Asked at the event by CNN how they can claim to be serious about tackling the problem of misinformation online while simultaneously allowing InfoWars to maintain a page with nearly one million followers, company executives struggled to provide an answer.

On Wednesday, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg attempted to explain Facebook's position on the matter, he gave new fuel to the controversy by saying he did not know if Holocaust deniers intended to deceive others when sharing Holocaust-denying material. Zuckerberg later walked back his comments.

Hertz Global (HTZ) Stock Price Down 3.7%

Shares of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) dropped 3.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $15.41 and last traded at $14.88. Approximately 4,268,603 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 18% from the average daily volume of 3,604,642 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.45.

HTZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Hertz Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 9th. ValuEngine downgraded shares of Hertz Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Hertz Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

Get Hertz Global alerts:

The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of -8.96 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77.

Hertz Global (NYSE:HTZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 7th. The transportation company reported ($1.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($1.26) by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Hertz Global had a net margin of 3.90% and a negative return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.61) earnings per share. analysts anticipate that Hertz Global Holdings, Inc will post -1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other Hertz Global news, CFO Thomas C. Kennedy acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.22 per share, with a total value of $258,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $953,574.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hertz Global by 18.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,728,202 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,705,000 after buying an additional 884,967 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Hertz Global by 4.1% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,011,290 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $99,474,000 after buying an additional 197,206 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Hertz Global by 0.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,385,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,057,000 after buying an additional 28,444 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Hertz Global by 653.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,729,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,229,000 after buying an additional 1,500,100 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in Hertz Global by 16.2% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,207,707 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,970,000 after buying an additional 168,603 shares during the period.

Hertz Global Company Profile

The Hertz Corporation, a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc, operates the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty vehicle rental brands in approximately 9,700 corporate and franchisee locations throughout North America, Europe, The Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

United Natural Foods (UNFI) Earning Somewhat Favorable News Coverage, Report Finds

News articles about United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI) have been trending somewhat positive this week, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern identifies positive and negative media coverage by reviewing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. United Natural Foods earned a news sentiment score of 0.12 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media coverage about the company an impact score of 46.3652197768221 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

Here are some of the headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment’s rankings:

Get United Natural Foods alerts: Can United Natural's Growth Strategies Wipe Off Cost Woes? (finance.yahoo.com) United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages (americanbankingnews.com) Free Post Earnings Research Report: United Natural Foods’ Sales Jumped 11.8%; Adjusted EPS Soared 35.1% (finance.yahoo.com) 4 Stocks That Will Benefit From the Weight Crisis (investorplace.com)

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on United Natural Foods from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 21st. ValuEngine upgraded United Natural Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 18th. Pivotal Research cut their price target on United Natural Foods from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 13th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on United Natural Foods from $50.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.51.

Shares of United Natural Foods traded down $0.01, hitting $42.99, during midday trading on Tuesday, according to MarketBeat Ratings. 728 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 530,642. United Natural Foods has a 52 week low of $32.52 and a 52 week high of $52.69. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 6th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a net margin of 1.72% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts expect that United Natural Foods will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, insider Joseph J. Traficanti sold 6,680 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $314,694.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,558.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Spinner sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $339,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,630.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products in the United States and Canada. The company operates through three divisions: Wholesale, Retail, and Manufacturing and Branded Products. The Wholesale division offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, nutritional supplements and sports nutrition, bulk and foodservice products, and personal care products.

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Buys Macnica Fuji Electronics Holdings Inc, KASAI KOGYO Co, Doshisha C

Investment company Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund buys Macnica Fuji Electronics Holdings Inc, KASAI KOGYO Co, Doshisha Co, Kobe Bussan Co, Kanematsu Corp, EF-ON Inc, Nihon Flush Co, Hanwa Co, Stella Chemifa Corp, SOU Inc, sells NEC Networks & System Integration Corp, Sanko Gosei, MEC Co, Nittoku Engineering Co, Nippon Seiki Co during the 3-months ended 2018-04-30, according to the most recent filings of the investment company, Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund. As of 2018-04-30, Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund owns 61 stocks with a total value of $215 million. These are the details of the buys and sells.

New Purchases: 3132, 7256, 3038, 9514, 7820, 9270, 2385, Added Positions: 7483, 8020, 8078, 4109, 7581, 6622, 4733, 5288, 2412, 6750, Reduced Positions: 6951, 9037, 2384, Sold Out: 1973, 7888, 4971, 6145, 7287, 6999, 2792, 8940, 7438,

For the details of Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Hennessy+Japan+Small+Cap+Fund

These are the top 5 holdings of Hennessy Japan Small Cap FundOBIC Business Consultants Co Ltd (4733) - 73,200 shares, 2.48% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 27.53%Bellsystem24 Holdings Inc (6183) - 325,500 shares, 2.42% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 19.14%Digital Garage Inc (4819) - 148,900 shares, 2.3% of the total portfolio. Kanematsu Corp (8020) - 320,600 shares, 2.27% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 130.48%Kito Corp (6409) - 249,600 shares, 2.23% of the total portfolio. New Purchase: Macnica Fuji Electronics Holdings Inc (3132)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund initiated holding in Macnica Fuji Electronics Holdings Inc. The purchase prices were between $1839 and $3270, with an estimated average price of $2321.03. The stock is now traded at around $1806.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 2%. The holding were 252,400 shares as of 2018-04-30.

New Purchase: KASAI KOGYO Co Ltd (7256)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund initiated holding in KASAI KOGYO Co Ltd. The purchase prices were between $1318 and $1768, with an estimated average price of $1463.45. The stock is now traded at around $1318.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.78%. The holding were 272,900 shares as of 2018-04-30.

New Purchase: Kobe Bussan Co Ltd (3038)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund initiated holding in Kobe Bussan Co Ltd. The purchase prices were between $3935 and $5320, with an estimated average price of $4591.09. The stock is now traded at around $5480.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.43%. The holding were 63,800 shares as of 2018-04-30.

New Purchase: EF-ON Inc (9514)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund initiated holding in EF-ON Inc. The purchase prices were between $908.33 and $1267.5, with an estimated average price of $1073.11. The stock is now traded at around $1228.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.28%. The holding were 240,360 shares as of 2018-04-30.

New Purchase: Nihon Flush Co Ltd (7820)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund initiated holding in Nihon Flush Co Ltd. The purchase prices were between $2298 and $2879, with an estimated average price of $2552.7. The stock is now traded at around $2444.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.18%. The holding were 103,200 shares as of 2018-04-30.

New Purchase: SOU Inc (9270)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund initiated holding in SOU Inc. The purchase prices were between $3900 and $7520, with an estimated average price of $5849.11. The stock is now traded at around $5650.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.66%. The holding were 29,800 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Added: Doshisha Co Ltd (7483)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund added to a holding in Doshisha Co Ltd by 236.64%. The purchase prices were between $2274 and $2703, with an estimated average price of $2443.22. The stock is now traded at around $2424.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.53%. The holding were 200,300 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Added: Kanematsu Corp (8020)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund added to a holding in Kanematsu Corp by 130.48%. The purchase prices were between $1338 and $1680, with an estimated average price of $1474.02. The stock is now traded at around $1521.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.29%. The holding were 320,600 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Added: Hanwa Co Ltd (8078)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund added to a holding in Hanwa Co Ltd by 66.33%. The purchase prices were between $4230 and $5480, with an estimated average price of $4652.11. The stock is now traded at around $4135.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.81%. The holding were 100,300 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Added: Stella Chemifa Corp (4109)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund added to a holding in Stella Chemifa Corp by 44.33%. The purchase prices were between $2574 and $3735, with an estimated average price of $3203.98. The stock is now traded at around $3595.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.68%. The holding were 143,900 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Added: OBIC Business Consultants Co Ltd (4733)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund added to a holding in OBIC Business Consultants Co Ltd by 27.53%. The purchase prices were between $5760 and $8020, with an estimated average price of $6628.28. The stock is now traded at around $7650.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.54%. The holding were 73,200 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Added: Daihen Corp (6622)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund added to a holding in Daihen Corp by 95.54%. The purchase prices were between $767 and $1059, with an estimated average price of $837.19. The stock is now traded at around $658.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.54%. The holding were 307,000 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Sold Out: NEC Networks & System Integration Corp (1973)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund sold out a holding in NEC Networks & System Integration Corp. The sale prices were between $2605 and $3050, with an estimated average price of $2799.13.

Sold Out: Sanko Gosei Ltd (7888)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund sold out a holding in Sanko Gosei Ltd. The sale prices were between $543 and $835, with an estimated average price of $646.42.

Sold Out: MEC Co Ltd (4971)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund sold out a holding in MEC Co Ltd. The sale prices were between $1621 and $2280, with an estimated average price of $1826.69.

Sold Out: Nittoku Engineering Co Ltd (6145)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund sold out a holding in Nittoku Engineering Co Ltd. The sale prices were between $3640 and $5440, with an estimated average price of $4122.19.

Sold Out: Nippon Seiki Co Ltd (7287)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund sold out a holding in Nippon Seiki Co Ltd. The sale prices were between $1905 and $2341, with an estimated average price of $2089.89.

Sold Out: Koa Corp (6999)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund sold out a holding in Koa Corp. The sale prices were between $7.2 and $7.2, with an estimated average price of $7.2.

Reduced: Jeol Ltd (6951)

Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund reduced to a holding in Jeol Ltd by 28.89%. The sale prices were between $613 and $990, with an estimated average price of $870.59. The stock is now traded at around $1054.00. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.61%. Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund still held 485,000 shares as of 2018-04-30.

Here is the complete portfolio of Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund. Also check out:

1. Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund's Undervalued Stocks
2. Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund's Top Growth Companies, and
3. Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund's High Yield stocks
4. Stocks that Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund keeps buying

Playkey (PKT) Tops 1-Day Trading Volume of $60,239.00

Playkey (CURRENCY:PKT) traded down 0% against the US dollar during the 1 day period ending at 17:00 PM ET on July 5th. One Playkey token can currently be purchased for about $0.37 or 0.00005625 BTC on popular exchanges including Lykke Exchange, HitBTC, CoinExchange and Mercatox. Over the last week, Playkey has traded 3.7% lower against the US dollar. Playkey has a market capitalization of $4.99 million and approximately $60,239.00 worth of Playkey was traded on exchanges in the last day.

Here is how related cryptocurrencies have performed over the last day:

Get Playkey alerts: XRP (XRP) traded 4.7% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.48 or 0.00007327 BTC. Stellar (XLM) traded 5.8% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.20 or 0.00003093 BTC. IOTA (MIOTA) traded down 7.9% against the dollar and now trades at $1.13 or 0.00017376 BTC. Tether (USDT) traded 0.3% higher against the dollar and now trades at $1.00 or 0.00015442 BTC. NEO (NEO) traded down 0.4% against the dollar and now trades at $39.81 or 0.00611913 BTC. TRON (TRX) traded down 4.9% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0377 or 0.00000579 BTC. Binance Coin (BNB) traded 2.1% lower against the dollar and now trades at $13.77 or 0.00211584 BTC. VeChain (VET) traded 9.7% lower against the dollar and now trades at $2.48 or 0.00038171 BTC. Ontology (ONT) traded 4.1% lower against the dollar and now trades at $4.95 or 0.00076143 BTC. Zilliqa (ZIL) traded down 4.2% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0836 or 0.00001285 BTC.

About Playkey

Playkey’s genesis date was November 1st, 2017. Playkey’s total supply is 19,893,268 tokens and its circulating supply is 13,631,512 tokens. Playkey’s official message board is medium.com/@playkey. Playkey’s official website is playkey.io. The Reddit community for Playkey is /r/playkey and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here. Playkey’s official Twitter account is @playkey_en.

Buying and Selling Playkey

Playkey can be purchased on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: Lykke Exchange, HitBTC, CoinExchange and Mercatox. It is usually not possible to buy alternative cryptocurrencies such as Playkey directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to acquire Playkey should first buy Ethereum or Bitcoin using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Gemini, GDAX or Coinbase. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Ethereum or Bitcoin to buy Playkey using one of the aforementioned exchanges.

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3 of the Best Marijuana Stocks to Buy in July 2018

We've been telling Money Morning readers that marijuana is one of the most explosive industries you can invest in this year.

Today, we're going to show you three of the�best marijuana stocks to buy�in July 2018.

The 4 Cannabis Stocks to Buy Now – Profits of Up to 1,000% Could Be Likely This Election Year!

But first, we want to show you why it's such an important moment for marijuana investing…

Marijuana Sales Will Soar Through 2021

Marijuana is rapidly being legalized across the United States and Canada.

That's leading to a flood of revenue coming to the companies successfully positioned to capitalize on the wave of legalization.

Sales of legal cannabis in North America are forecast to reach $24.5 billion by 2021, up from only $10 billion last year. In other words, in only four years marijuana sales throughout North America will jump a whopping 145%.

The sales will be driven by the growing legalization in the United States and Canada.

Canada will fully legalize cannabis this fall, after voting to approve it on June 7.

And more U.S. states may join Canada in 2018's election cycle. New Jersey and Arizona are among the states contemplating legalization.

But even as states move to legalize cannabis, it's still illegal under federal law. There were fears that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions – a marijuana critic – would harshly enforce federal law against states that legalized cannabis.

Plus, marijuana being federally illegal keeps banks and financial services from providing cannabis companies with much-needed cash and security.

That's keeping a lid on some marijuana stocks for now, but it's not going to last…

U.S. President Donald Trump is already considering support of legislation that will protect the states that have legalized pot.

If the president does that, Sessions will have to follow suit, no matter how much he doesn't like marijuana legalization.

And it's simply a matter of time before federal law is brought into the 21st century, and marijuana is treated with a hands-off approach.

That means there's still time to get in early on the best pot stocks before they truly soar.

But there are so many cannabis stocks listed, it's tough for investors to find those worth owning. Some lists contain up to 227 different companies.

Instead, we're making it easy…

Here's our list of the three best marijuana stocks to buy…

The Best Marijuana Stocks to Buy in July 2018

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Better Buy: Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. vs. Celldex Therapeutics

If you like putting money into the beaten-down stocks of clinical-stage biotechs, Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ:ZIOP) and Celldex Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CLDX) might warrant a look. Ziopharm's share price has dropped more than 25% so far in 2018, while Celldex stock has plunged more than 80%.�

Are either of these two biotech stocks likely to rebound? And, if so, which is the better pick for investors? Here's how Ziopharm and Celldex compare.

Image source: Getty Images.

The case for Ziopharm�

A couple of delays have weighed on Ziopharm stock in 2018. The company has been working on completing Chemistry Manufacturing and Control technical requirements for a planned pivotal phase 3 clinical study evaluating gene therapy�Ad-RTS-hIL-12 plus veledimex�in treating�recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer. The FDA also recently put a clinical hold on a planned phase 1 clinical study of Ziopharm's CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy.�

Are either of these setbacks death knells for Ziopharm? Not really. It's taking a while for the biotech to finalize all of the information needed to move forward with the pivotal phase 3 study of its controlled IL-12 gene therapy, but Ziopharm will finish this task sooner or later. The company should also be able to answer questions for the FDA regarding the CAR-T phase 1 study.

The main reason investors might want to consider buying Ziopharm is the potential for both of its clinical programs. Ad-RTS-hIL-12 has shown the potential to achieve something very important in fighting cancer: making cold tumors become hot. The body's immune system attacks hot tumors, but not cold ones.�

Ziopharm's gene therapy works by promoting the expression of�human interleukin-12 (hIL-12). Interleukins are proteins produced by white blood cells that regulate immune responses. The hIL-12 interleukin activates the immune system's killer T cells and guides them to tumors.

A phase 1 study evaluating the biotech's CAR-T therapy in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that expresses the CD33 antigen is already enrolling patients, while Ziopharm answers the FDA's questions on the planned phase 1 study for its CD19-targeted CAR-T therapy. Both therapies use point-of-care manufacturing that hold the potential to be faster and less expensive than current CAR-T therapies.

After its latest drop, Ziopharm's market cap stands below $430 million. If the company is able to succeed in clinical trials with either of its programs, the biotech stock should skyrocket.

The case for Celldex

Celldex has experienced two crushing failures over the last couple of years. In 2016, Rintega flopped in a phase 3 clinical study targeting treatment of�glioblastoma. Celldex's next best hope,�glembatumumab vedotin (glemba), failed to meet the primary endpoint in a pivotal study targeting treatment of�triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

After swinging and missing twice, does Celldex have anything left in the pipeline that could succeed? Most clinical-stage biotechs would be out after two strikes. Celldex, however, still has four candidates in clinical testing.

Varlilumab (varli) is being evaluated in a phase 2 study in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo in treating several types of cancer. Celldex reported data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in early June that showed promise for the combination of the two drugs in turning cold tumors hot.��

Celldex's�CDX-3379 is also in a phase 2 study in combination with Eli Lilly's chemotherapy Erbitux in treating�advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer. This study is still in its early stages.

The biotech also has a couple of candidates in phase 1 clinical testing. CDX-1140 is being evaluated in treating several types of solid tumors. The company's other early-stage program, CDX-301, is in an investigator-initiated study with radiation therapy targeting treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).�Celldex thinks both CDX-1140 and CDX-301 could have potential in combination with varli.�

The huge setbacks for Rintega and glemba devastated Celldex's market cap. Any positive news for its pipeline candidates would likely cause the biotech stock to soar.

Better buy

There's a four-letter word associated with both of these biotech stocks: R-I-S-K. Celldex has already proven just how risky a clinical-stage biotech can be. However, Ziopharm also faces a significant risk of failure with its pipeline candidates. Because of these risks, I don't think either of these stocks is a good pick for most investors.

If I had to choose one of them, though, I'd go with Ziopharm since it's farther along in clinical development. Still, the biotech only had $51 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter. That should be enough to fund operations into the first half of 2019. However, Ziopharm will almost certainly need to issue more shares -- and therefore dilute the value of existing shares -- prior to then.

With a great deal of risk remaining for its pipeline, and this prospect of dilution on the way, I would recommend watching Ziopharm from the sidelines even though it's arguably the better buy between these two beaten-down biotech stocks.�

Britain's royal family made even more money in 2017

It appears to have been a bumper year for Britain's royal family, especially Prince William, his wife Kate and his brother Prince Harry.

Two sets of documents published Thursday provide new insights into how the royal family earned, distributed and spent its money in the financial year ended March 31.

The reports divide income and spending into broad categories that make analysis difficult, but the biggest change from years past involves William, Kate and Harry, who are known formally as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.

One of the official reports, which covers the finances of Prince Charles, shows the budget category that includes funding for William, Kate and Harry increased roughly 40% to 拢5 million ($6.6 million). One major caveat: The category also includes "capital expenditure" and Charles' savings.

In recent years, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, have increased spending in the category at more modest rates of up to 10%.

Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle on May 19 has sparked huge public interest in their finances, but the royal family and British government have declined to give details about their wedding spending.

There's another potential explanation for the funding increase: William has taken on more royal responsibilities, and Charles may have provided more financing for his activities.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Duke of Sussex.

Prince Charles

Charles and Camilla rely on a mix of public and private money to finance their work and lives.

Over 90% of their income comes from a private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, which was established in 1337 to provide an income to the heir to the throne. The Duchy of Cornwall owns and operates land in rural and urban areas, a collection of islands and rental cottages in places like Wales and Cornwall.

The new documents show the couple made 拢21.7 million ($28.6 million) from the estate in the year ended March, up about 5% from the previous year. They also receive some money from Queen Elizabeth II, which is predominantly used for official travel.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Queen Elizabeth II

The second new report covers the Sovereign Grant, which is the Queen's main source of income.

The Sovereign Grant is generated from the Crown Estate, a collection of UK properties and farms that bring in hundreds of millions of pounds each year. The vast majority of earnings go into government coffers, but 25% of the profits are given back to the Queen in the form of the Sovereign Grant.

The grant essentially acts as an expense account, covering the costs of travel, security, staff and the upkeep of royal palaces. The family took part in roughly 3,000 official engagements in the past year alone, with the Queen present at just over 150 of those.

The Queen received 拢76.1 million ($100.2 million) free of tax from the Sovereign Grant in the year ended March, a 78% increase from the previous year that will help finance an extensive 10-year renovation of Buckingham Palace. She'll get another 8% boost in the current financial year.

The report said the Queen's household also made additional income of 拢17.3 million ($22.8 million) last year from services like property rentals and facilities management.

Another important source of income for the Queen -- the Duchy of Lancaster -- is a private estate of commercial, agricultural and residential properties that dates back to 1265.

It generated 拢19.2 million ($25.3 million) in income during the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The estate will release updated financial information in July.

Tandem Diabetes Takes Aim at Medtronic's Artificial Pancreas

Insulin pump maker Tandem Diabetes Care (NASDAQ:TNDM) has secured an FDA OK that puts it on track to challenge�Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) for the lead in the emerging market for closed-loop insulin systems. Is Tandem Diabetes stock a buy?

A little background

Produced by beta cells in the pancreas, insulin is necessary for removing glucose from the bloodstream so it can be stored in the liver and muscles for energy.

Image source: Getty Images.

With diabetes, patients either don't produce insulin (type 1) or they develop a resistance to the insulin they do produce (type 2).

Type 1 diabetes is normally diagnosed in childhood and is thought to be caused by genetics or environmental factors that result in the immune system attacking beta cells. Occurring later in life, diet and smoking is thought to contribute to the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Although type 1 diabetes is less common than type 2 diabetes, it still represents a 1.5 million addressable patient population in the United States. Currently, there are about 30 million Americans with type 2 diabetes and by 2030, the number of Americans with diabetes is expected to reach 55 million.

Because type 1 diabetics don't produce insulin, they require more intensive insulin treatment. Historically, managing type 1 diabetes has involved multiple finger sticks per day to measure blood sugar levels, followed by insulin injections when necessary. Although type 2 diabetics don't always require insulin at first, most patients will need insulin injections eventually.

A new approach to managing diabetes

Increasingly, type 1 patients are turning away from traditional finger sticks and insulin injections. Instead, they're embracing continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), such as those made by DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM), and insulin pumps, such as those made by Tandem Diabetes Care.

CGMs track blood sugar over time, providing diabetics with greater insight into changing trends in their blood glucose levels. Insulin pumps can be affixed to the body to provide insulin at regular intervals based upon glucose readings.

The two devices have been used by patients separately to manage their disease for years, but technology is advancing that's allowing these devices to work together in a system that automates glucose measurement and insulin dosing.

In 2016, Medtronic's MiniMed 670G became the first of these coordinated, closed-loop systems to secure an FDA go ahead. The MiniMed 670G, which includes a Medtronic CGM, insulin pump, and software, can suspend insulin if predicted blood sugar levels appear too low.

The MiniMed 670G was officially launched in the summer of 2017 and demand for it is accelerating. Exiting the most recent quarter, there were over 70,000 people using the MiniMed 670G, up from 20,000 people in the prior quarter.

Let the competition begin

Medtronic's monopoly of the closed-loop system market is quickly coming to an end.

In August, Tandem Diabetes plans to make a new feature called Basal-IQ available to users of its t:slim X2 insulin pump that will stop the pump from delivering insulin when CGM readings predict insulin levels in the future will be too low. Once this feature is available,�users will be able to create a system like the MiniMed 670G that combines DexCom's latest CGM, the G6, with the t:slim X2 to eliminate finger sticks and automate monitoring and insulin dosing.

It remains to be seen if Tandem Diabetes can outsell Medtronic, but Tandem's system does have some advantages. Tandem Diabetes t:slim X2 pump is 38% smaller than the MiniMed 670G and the sensors for DexCom's G6 can be worn for 10 days, rather than seven days for Medtronic's CGM. Also, Tandem Diabetes solution essentially does away with fingers sticks, while finger sticks are still necessary to calibrate the MiniMed 670G.

What it means to investors

Medtronic doesn't reveal exactly how much money it's making on the MiniMed 670G, but the system costs thousands of dollars and growing demand for it is one reason why Medtronic's expects double-digit diabetes revenue growth this fiscal year. For perspective, that division contributed $2.1 billion to Medtronic's top-line last fiscal year.

Tandem Diabetes Care is a much smaller company. In Q1 2018, it shipped 4,444 insulin pumps, up 58% year over year, and its sales totaled $27.3 million, up 44% year over year. Over the past 12 months, Tandem Diabetes sales were $116 million.

TNDM Revenue (TTM). Data source:�YCharts.

Since Medtronic exited last quarter with 70,000 MiniMed 670G users, winning away even a little market share could be financially significant to Tandem Diabetes; especially because it's still losing money.�Despite its sales growth, Tandem Diabetes reported a net loss of $32.7 million in the first quarter of 2018.

Tandem Diabetes is guiding for sales of between $132 million to $140 million, up 23% to 30% from 2017, but I suspect that forecast will increase now that the FDA's given its automated insulin system the OK.

In the past, management has said it can break even on a cash flow basis once it reaches 80,000 installed pumps, which is something it hopes to achieve in the second half of next year. A good launch of its new system this summer could allow it to pull that timeline forward and if so, investors could be rewarded with profits sooner than previously expected.

Overall,�Tandem Diabetes' opportunity is big enough to have me thinking it's a stock worth buying, however, it and Medtronic won't have this market all to themselves forever. New closed-loop systems from Insulet and Bigfoot Biomedical could be available in a year or two, so investors will want to pay close attention to their progress.

�

�

Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN) Upgraded by ValuEngine to “Hold”

Cross Country Healthcare (NASDAQ:CCRN) was upgraded by stock analysts at ValuEngine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CCRN. BidaskClub downgraded Cross Country Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 8th. TheStreet raised Cross Country Healthcare from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Lake Street Capital downgraded Cross Country Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Cross Country Healthcare from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 2nd. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Cross Country Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Get Cross Country Healthcare alerts:

Cross Country Healthcare opened at $12.52 on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $452.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. Cross Country Healthcare has a twelve month low of $9.07 and a twelve month high of $14.65.

Cross Country Healthcare (NASDAQ:CCRN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $206.75 million. Cross Country Healthcare had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 4.74%. Cross Country Healthcare’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.05 earnings per share. analysts anticipate that Cross Country Healthcare will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director W Larry Cash bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.14 per share, with a total value of $55,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 118,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,320,981.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO William J. Burns bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.92 per share, for a total transaction of $29,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 144,378 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,985.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Koch Industries Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cross Country Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $117,000. Aperio Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cross Country Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $133,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cross Country Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Cross Country Healthcare by 118.6% in the 1st quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 6,665 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Cross Country Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $162,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cross Country Healthcare

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc provides healthcare staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Nurse and Allied Staffing, Physician Staffing, and Other Human Capital Management Services. The Nurse and Allied Staffing segment offers traditional staffing, including temporary and permanent placement of travel nurses and allied professionals, branch-based local nurses, and allied staffing; short-term staffing of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse assistants, practitioners, pharmacists, and other allied professionals on per diem and short-term assignments; and travel allied professionals on long-term contract assignments.

To view ValuEngine’s full report, visit ValuEngine’s official website.

Deutsche Bank Analysts Give Renault (RNO) a €115.00 Price Target

Deutsche Bank set a €115.00 ($133.72) target price on Renault (EPA:RNO) in a report released on Friday morning. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on RNO. Berenberg Bank set a €82.00 ($95.35) target price on Renault and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Goldman Sachs Group set a €100.00 ($116.28) target price on Renault and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank set a €115.00 ($133.72) target price on Renault and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a €100.00 ($116.28) target price on Renault and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays set a €108.00 ($125.58) target price on Renault and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of €98.89 ($114.99).

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Shares of Renault opened at €95.21 ($110.71) on Friday, according to MarketBeat.com. Renault has a 52 week low of €73.71 ($85.71) and a 52 week high of €100.70 ($117.09).

Renault Company Profile

Renault SA designs, manufactures, sells, and distributes vehicles worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Automotive, Sales Financing, and AVTOVAZ. It primarily offers passenger and light commercial, and electric vehicles under the Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine, Nissan, Datsun, and LADA brands.

Diversified Restaurant (SAUC) Sets New 1-Year High and Low at $1.15

Diversified Restaurant Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SAUC) shares hit a new 52-week high and low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $1.15 and last traded at $1.16, with a volume of 422 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1.20.

Separately, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Diversified Restaurant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 11th.

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The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of -4.53, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Diversified Restaurant (NASDAQ:SAUC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 9th. The restaurant operator reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $39.53 million during the quarter. Diversified Restaurant had a negative net margin of 13.13% and a negative return on equity of 4.31%.

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Diversified Restaurant stock. Poehling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Diversified Restaurant Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SAUC) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 814,825 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 67,241 shares during the quarter. Poehling Capital Management LLC owned 3.03% of Diversified Restaurant worth $1,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.66% of the company’s stock.

Diversified Restaurant Company Profile

Diversified Restaurant Holdings, Inc (DRH) is a restaurant company. The Company is a franchisee of Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW).As of September 25, 2016, the Company operated 64 BWW restaurants, which are located in Michigan, Florida, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The BWW restaurants feature a range of menu items with a multimedia social environment, a bar and an open layout designed to create a dining experience for sports fans and families.

PPL Update: Has The Story Changed?

As I write this piece, PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) lingers near $27.40 a share after having been below $27.00 for a period of May 17 through May 21. I have written two lengthier pieces on PPL that have laid out the bullish case for a long-term investor, but I wanted to put together a piece reviewing some recent developments for those who remain interested in the stock. I am still quite surprised that PPL has been lingering at these valuation levels for such an extended period of time; however, I do not think the long-term outlook for PPL has changed materially.

The Stock Issuance Overhang

In my previous piece, I discussed the possible issues effecting the valuation of PPL (Is It Time To Re-Evaluate PPL?), and in the piece, and particularly the comments, we saw a lot of interest in the specter of PPL raising an additional $1B in capital through an equity offering in 2018. In fact, we now know that PPL has agreed to issue 55 million additional shares at a price of $27.00 with an over-allotment of 8.25 million shares. Those who are paying even scant attention to PPL will notice that this total offering seems to be much higher than initially forecast. There is a change here though - it would appear that this issuance is effective through November 2019 and allows for equity capital issuances both this year and next, which totals potentially over $1.5 billion in the 18-month period.

Clearly, this development, while anticipated, has created a short-term valuation ceiling for the stock. It is no coincidence that PPL has traded towards this $27.00 price point since the announcement on May 8th, and it will likely affect the stock for the next 12 months through dilution and the understanding of the pricing for new shares holding any price rally in check. PPL has said it intends to use the funds for ��general corporate purposes�� and is likely in response to tax reform issues, and seems typical of other utilities trying to raise capital in a variety of ways. One highlight or silver lining here �� the issuance of debt with increasing bond yields would likely prove less attractive in the long run. While PPL is diluting its share price currently, it will keep its overall debt level more stable in an era of rising interest rates. This could prove beneficial to investors going forward.

Other Recent Factors to Consider

It appears that institutional investors have been adding some significant positions in PPL in the first quarter which makes sense given its valuation and attractive yield. I view this development as bullish for the stock as money is moving into position as it had reached attractive price valuations. PPL has also boasted an earnings beat in each of its last 4 quarters, and the Q1 earnings call/presentation seemed very positive in my review. You can view a more detailed presentation of Q1 here: PPL Corporation Reports First-Quarter Earnings.

PPL reaffirmed the target of 5-6% earnings growth per share through 2020 and seems to be targeting a very favorable earnings and dividend growth pattern through the end of the decade. The fears over UK regulation seem to be overblown, and currency risk is nearly entirely mitigated by a very aggressive currency hedging strategy. While this may prove a mistake if the terms turn out to be less favorable than market rates, the certainty provided should weigh very positively for utility investors. 2018 is hedged at 100% at $1.32 per pound, and 2019 at 100% for $1.39, and 2020 at 50% for $1.49 per pound. These hedged currency positions for the next two years should allow for the consistent growth forecast through 2020 (see: PPL Corporation 2018 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Slides). I view this as very positive, given the concern over future earnings for the UK segment, a segment which will make up over half the earnings for PPL in 2018. Please note that PPL also stayed steady with its quarterly dividend at $.41 payable for investors of record by June 8th. These are all positive drivers in my mind, and suitable for an income producing utility investment.

Conclusions to Be Made

I still value PPL highly in my portfolio, and have been looking to extend my position as the stock price has declined �� particularly below $27.00. I do not think we will see any significant price rally in the next 12-month period as shares are issued, but as a long-term investor, I am content to value the stock according to its future potential and stability. A caveat would be a flight to safety in some unforeseen economic turmoil in the short term �� towards quality equity names and reliable yields - another reason I like the safety of a utility stock at this time. In this vein, I still am bullish on PPL and continue to rate the stock a ��buy��. My price target remains around the overall street consensus of +/- $32.00, but I do not believe we may see sustained pricing above this level until 2019. I am also looking heavily at other beaten-down utilities, including Dominion (NYSE:D) and Southern Company (NYSE:SO), and may initiate some articles on these names in the near future. Let me know your thoughts and ideas on this stock �� do you see it the same way?

Note: Please click the "Follow" button if you like what you have read above. I will continue to provide long term and value oriented investing articles in the months ahead and appreciate your readership.

Disclaimer: The opinions and the strategies contained herein are not intended to be official financial advice nor an official recommendation to buy or sell a security. Please evaluate each stock according to your own research and risk tolerance.

Disclosure: I am/we are long PPL.

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

Whiting Petroleum Co. to Post Q2 2018 Earnings of $0.85 Per Share, Piper Jaffray Companies Forecasts

Whiting Petroleum Co. (NYSE:WLL) – Equities research analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies lifted their Q2 2018 earnings estimates for Whiting Petroleum in a research note issued on Sunday, May 20th. Piper Jaffray Companies analyst K. Harrison now forecasts that the oil and gas exploration company will earn $0.85 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.33. Piper Jaffray Companies currently has a “Hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies also issued estimates for Whiting Petroleum’s Q3 2018 earnings at $0.97 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $1.16 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $3.90 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $1.47 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $1.59 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $6.24 EPS.

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Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.70. Whiting Petroleum had a negative return on equity of 1.08% and a negative net margin of 69.88%. The firm had revenue of $515.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.68 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 38.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WLL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Whiting Petroleum from $14.40 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Group set a $29.00 price target on Whiting Petroleum and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Goldman Sachs upgraded Whiting Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. ValuEngine downgraded Whiting Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Whiting Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.55.

Shares of Whiting Petroleum opened at $50.48 on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Whiting Petroleum has a 1-year low of $15.88 and a 1-year high of $54.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of -38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 2.90.

In other Whiting Petroleum news, VP David M. Seery sold 1,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $29,408.43. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,030,877.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Whiting Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $138,000. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Whiting Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Syntal Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Whiting Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Whiting Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. Finally, Sapphire Star Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Whiting Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $237,000.

Whiting Petroleum Company Profile

Whiting Petroleum Corporation engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States. The company sells its oil and gas production to end users, marketers, and other purchasers.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:AAT,SHLD,RHP,HST,AAOI,PLUS,BWLD,EPE,WYN,UUUU,

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) is slated to report its fiscal second-quarter 2018 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday, May 8.

Let's take a brief look at where the entertainment giant stands now and then get into what to watch in Tuesday's report.�

Going into the report on a solid note

Disney is going into its earnings report on a solid note. Last quarter, the company kicked off fiscal 2018 with a return to growth after both revenue and net income dipped 1% year over year in�fiscal 2017. Disney CEO Bob Iger made it clear early on that 2017 would see a pause in the company's recent growth dynamics, but he's also long said the company was poised to resume those robust growth dynamics in 2018. So far, so good. In the first quarter, revenue increased 4% year over year, while earnings per share (EPS) adjusted for one-time factors jumped 22%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: American Assets Trust, Inc.(AAT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) by 38.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,639,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 453,679 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 3.47% of American Assets Trust worth $54,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,890 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of American Assets Trust worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Sears Holdings Corporation(SHLD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Sears Holdings (SHLD) surprised to the upside after CEO Eddie Lampert, through his hedge fund ESL Investments, offered to purchase the appliance brand Kenmore for $500 million from the retailer.

• [By ]
  Questionable Recent Stock-Price Gains. While some retail stocks have done well since February, it's my view that short-term stock-price movements might not hold much import over the following weeks or months. I'm bearish on the overall U.S. stock market's likely performance for 2018's balance. Risky U.S. Macroeconomics. The U.S. middle class, which supports the retail industry, could see its condition deteriorate going forward. U.S. employment levels will likely peak over the next several months, but inflation and interest rates are rising, which will reduce real disposable incomes. As inflation percolates, businesses could also see a rising costs of goods that will pressure margins. A Challenging Industry. Disruption in the retail space is continuing, if not intensifying. However, after several years of reducing fixed costs, the retail industry has little left to cut. Sears Stinks. I think that Sears Holdings (SHLD) will likely declare bankruptcy in 2018. This, coupled with an acceleration in other store closings, will flood the market with low-priced inventory.

  Watch all of Jim Cramer's full NYSE live shows right here:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD) traded up 8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $3.46 and last traded at $3.00. 116,454 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,320,185 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.26.

• [By Chris Lange]

  This past week, Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) saw its shares make an incredible gain, one that the company has not seen in a while. Perhaps this is the spark that puts Sears back on the right track. And it only seems fortuitous that one of the strongest companies in the world is helping what many consider a dying company.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.(RHP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) – Equities research analysts at SunTrust Banks boosted their Q2 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ryman Hospitality Properties in a research note issued on Wednesday, May 2nd. SunTrust Banks analyst P. Scholes now expects that the real estate investment trust will earn $1.80 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.74. SunTrust Banks has a “Outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. SunTrust Banks also issued estimates for Ryman Hospitality Properties’ Q3 2018 earnings at $1.18 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at $1.44 EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at $2.10 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $1.42 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $2.13 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $7.09 EPS.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high and low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $80.07 and last traded at $79.93, with a volume of 191025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.56.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP)

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

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.(HST)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HST) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 4,642 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $1,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Host Hotels & Resorts (HST)

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

• [By ]

  Selected examples: (BXP) , (DFS) , (HST) , (MA) , (TXN) , (USB) .

  Inflation Is a Key Risk

  Execs were most worried about inflation, as they should be.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HST) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $20.50 to $21.00 in a research note published on Thursday. They currently have a buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.(AAOI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ezra Schwarzbaum]

  Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ: AAOI) was trading up 1.4 percent. The stock was relatively unaffected by the ban, trading down as much as 5.3 percent on April 16 but ultimately ending the day within 1 percent of its previous close.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.39-$0.52 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.46. The company issued revenue guidance of $75-$81 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $77.48 million.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) closed 14.5% higher on Wednesday, having recorded a peak gain of 17.2% earlier in the trading session. An analyst firm issued an optimistic report on the stock based on good-looking checks among AAOI's data center customers.

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap fiber-optic networking product Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ: AAOI), a potential peer of EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ: EMKR), Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) and Oclaro Inc (NASDAQ: OCLR), is the�most�shorted stock on the�NASDAQ with short interest of 62.65% according to Highshortnterest.com.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI) reported its fourth quarter results after the markets closed on Wednesday. The company posted $0.89 in earnings per share (EPS) on $79.9 million, which compares to consensus estimates that were calling for $0.82 in EPS on $86.2 million in revenue. Here��s what analysts were saying after the fact:

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: ePlus Inc.(PLUS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Tech Data (NASDAQ: TECD) and ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  A long term performance chart shows Dave & Busters Entertainment�tripling in value�before falling back while�small cap upscale gentlemen's clubs and restaurant owner�RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK) began taking off in 2016 and small cap�Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) is being acquired by Arby��s Restaurant Group:

• [By Steve Symington]

  That's not to say it was a quiet day for every stock on the market. With earnings season ramping up, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) and restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) served as an exercise in contrast as investors reacted to their respective quarterly reports.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: EP Energy Corporation(EPE)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Wednesday afternoon, the energy shares rose 2.37 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE), up 24 percent, and Penn Virginia Corporation (NASDAQ: PVAC) up 24 percent.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRPA) shares jumped 31.6 percent to $12.18 following TripAdvisor Q1 earnings beat. ZAGG Inc (NASDAQ: ZAGG) rose 26.5 percent to $14.55 after the company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings. OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) shares gained 25 percent to $4.0234 following Q1 beat. Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAXN) jumped 23.5 percent to $55.12 following a big Q1 beat. The company raised its fiscal 2018 sales growth guidance from 16-18 percent to 18-20 percent. Penn Virginia Corporation (NASDAQ: PVAC) gained 23.3 percent to $59.00 after reporting Q1 results. TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) rose 22.5 percent to $47.51 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) shares surged 21.7 percent to $3.36. Amazon.com's partnership with Sears started in 2017 with an agreement to sell Kenmore-branded appliances online. On Wednesday, the companies announced an extension of their relationship to now include tire delivery and installations. EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE) jumped 21.3 percent to $2.68 following Q1 results. LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC) surged 20.4 percent to $3.395 following better-than-expected Q1 earnings. Superior Industries International, Inc. (NYSE: SUP) gained 19 percent to $15.82 after reporting Q1 results. Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLCM) shares rose 18.5 percent to $8.13 following Q1 results. Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) rose 18.3 percent to $52.47 after the company posted strong quarterly results. Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) shares jumped 18.3 percent to $6.47 following quarterly results. IEC Electronics Corp. (NYSE: IEC) shares climbed 17 percent to $4.68 after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings. New Relic, Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) rose 16.8 percent to $90.10 following Q4 results. Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: GPOR)
• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) shares climbed 23.2 percent to $155.19 after Elliott Management confirmed a $160 per share cash offer for athenahealth. Evolus, Inc. (NASDAQ: EOLS) gained 21.3 percent to $8.83. Evolus named David Moatazedi as new CEO. VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ: VVPR) climbed 18.2 percent to $3.12 after falling 39.86 percent on Friday. Gramercy Property Trust (NYSE: GPT) rose 15.6 percent to $27.53 after the company agreed to be acquired by Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) for $27.50 per share. EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE) rose 13 percent to $2.26. Energy XXI Gulf Coast, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGC) gained 11.9 percent to $7.35. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) surged 11.8 percent to $6.24 after the company posted upbeat quarterly profit. Sanchez Energy Corporation (NYSE: SN) shares gained 11.3 percent to $3.56. CVR Refining, LP (NYSE: CVRR) shares rose 8.8 percent to $18.875. Monaker Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MKGI) rose 8.7 percent to $2.9683. Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) shares rose 7.4 percent to $7.40. Ceragon Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRNT) rose 7 percent to $2.88 after climbing 1.89 percent on Friday. Cloudera, Inc. (NYSE: CLDR) surged 6 percent to $15.93. Craig-Hallum initiated coverage on Cloudera with a Buy rating. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) rose 5.1 percent to $257.35. Barclays upgraded Illumina from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Wednesday afternoon, the energy shares climbed 1.59 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SeaDrill Limited (NYSE: SDRL), up 77 percent, and EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE), up 19 percent.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Thursday morning, the energy shares rose 0.76 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Seadrill Limited (NYSE: SDRL), up 59 percent, and EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE) up 7 percent.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Wyndham Worldwide Corp(WYN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Mackay Shields LLC acquired a new stake in Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 176,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,147,000.

• [By Taylor Cox]

  Investor Events

  IPO/offering lockup expirations for SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SAIL) and Stitch Fix, Inc (NASDAQ: SFIX) Starbucks China investor day Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN) investor meeting

  Thursday
  Economic

• [By Max Byerly]

  Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) is one of 31 public companies in the “Hotels & motels” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Wyndham Worldwide to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Top 10 Stocks To Own Right Now: Energy Fuels Inc(UUUU)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Energy Fuels (NYSEAMERICAN:UUUU) (TSE:EFR) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 1,091,365 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 300% from the previous session’s volume of 272,846 shares.The stock last traded at $2.09 and had previously closed at $2.04.