Allstate Corp (ALL) Holdings Lifted by HL Financial Services LLC

HL Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. HL Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Allstate by 10.6% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,138,023 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,678,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608,827 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,650,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $466,888,000 after purchasing an additional 130,257 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 24.7% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,096,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $373,917,000 after purchasing an additional 811,694 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 8,063.9% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 3,165,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,957,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $244,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

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ALL has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Investment Research cut Allstate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Co set a $100.00 price target on Allstate and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 8th. William Blair upgraded Allstate from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 6th. ValuEngine upgraded Allstate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Allstate from $113.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.27.

Shares of ALL stock opened at $94.57 on Friday. Allstate Corp has a one year low of $77.00 and a one year high of $102.73. The company has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.23. Allstate had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 5.66%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Allstate Corp will post 9.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 28th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 27th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.80%.

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Allstate Company Profile

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in property and casualty insurance, and life insurance businesses in the United States and Canada. The company's Allstate Protection segment sells private passenger auto and homeowners insurance; specialty auto products, including motorcycle, trailer, motor home, and off-road vehicle insurance policies; other personal lines products, including renter, condominium, landlord, boat, umbrella, and manufactured home insurance policies; and commercial lines products under the Allstate, Esurance, and Encompass brand names.

See Also: What is the return on assets (ROA) ratio?

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Hot China Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:TISA,CDTI,BIDU,ATAI, &l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-1014721812&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/1014721812/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;659&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; China uses soy for oil, for animal and fish food, and for human consumption. Thanks to 25% tariffs on their top market, American soy, they will now have to pay more for it in Brazil. (Photo by VCG/Getty Images)

China made a &a;ldquo;dumb move&a;rdquo; in targeting America&a;rsquo;s heartland with tariffs. Soybeans are a case in point.

&a;ldquo;I understood politically why they chose soybeans, but they made a dumb move,&a;rdquo; says John Baize, a market analyst with the U.S. Soybean Export Council. The U.S. is the number one exporter of soybeans. Brazil is number two. No one comes close after that except for Argentina, which is the largest exporter of soymeal and soybean oil.

Soybeans don&a;rsquo;t fall from the sky, so China has very little mega-markets outside of the U.S. Brazil is the only one, really. And now they are paying more for soy at a time when soy prices are near rock bottom thanks to record acreage and harvest sizes in Brazil and the U.S.

Hot China Stocks To Buy Right Now: Top Image Systems Ltd.(TISA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Top Image Systems (TISA)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Top Image Systems (TISA)

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

• [By Money Morning Staff Reports]

  Before we get to our latest pick, here are last week's top-performing penny stocks:

  Penny Stock Sector Current Share Price Last Week's Gain Melinta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MLNT) Healthcare $1.74 104.01% Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PTX) Healthcare $0.83 84.40% Top Image Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: TISA) Healthcare $0.82 59.85% Jason Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: JASN) Healthcare $2.21 58.99% Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MXWL) Financial $4.66 51.79% Marathon Patent Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) Healthcare $0.52 51.47% Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: FWP) Basic Materials $1.53 43.57% Dixie Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DXYN) Healthcare $1.40 42.86% Trevena Inc. (NASDAQ: TRVN) Services $1.41 39.60% Alliance MMA Inc. (NASDAQ: AMMA) Healthcare $4.95 36.18%

  Don't Miss Out: The Treasury is sitting on an $11.1 billion cash pile, and a loophole entitles Americans to a sizable portion. Some are collecting $1,795, $3,000, or $5,000 every month thanks to this powerful investment…

Hot China Stocks To Buy Right Now: Clean Diesel Technologies Inc.(CDTI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Shares of CDTi Advanced Materials Inc (NASDAQ:CDTI) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $0.33 and last traded at $0.36, with a volume of 500 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $0.36.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the media stories that may have impacted Accern Sentiment’s analysis:

  Get Molecular Templates alerts: Trading Center: Watching the Levels for Molecular Templates, Inc. (:MTEM): Move of 0.02 Since the Open (stocknewscaller.com) Molecular Templates (MTEM) Announces Clinical Data at 2018 ASCO Meeting (streetinsider.com) Gallbladder Cancer Treatment Sales Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application and Forecast to 2025 (exclusivereportage.com) ATR in spotlight EnSync, Inc. (NYSE:ESNC), CDTi Advanced Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTI), Molecular Templates, Inc … (stocksnewspoint.com)

  MTEM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. ValuEngine lowered shares of Molecular Templates from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Molecular Templates from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.20.

Hot China Stocks To Buy Right Now: Baidu Inc.(BIDU)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Noonan]

  iQiyi has the advantage of being backed by one of the world's most advanced AI leaders. The company was spun off in March from Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), China's largest internet search engine and a world leader in AI. Baidu, which retains a roughly 70% stake in its streaming offshoot, is already providing the company with AI and data analytics services, and has plans to continue providing its subsidiary with more support in these fields. 

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) was downgraded by research analysts at Credit Suisse Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

• [By Leo Sun]

  Shares of Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) tumbled 10% on May 18, after the company announced the upcoming departure of COO Qi Lu in July. Prior to joining Baidu in early 2017, Lu served as Microsoft's executive VP of its Applications and Services Group. As one of the industry's leading AI experts, Lu played a key role in Baidu's transition from an online search company to a cloud and AI services provider.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  In this segment from the Motley Fool Money podcast, host Chris Hill is joined by Jason Moser of Million Dollar Portfolio, David Kretzmann of Hidden Gems Canada, and Aaron Bush of Motley Fool Rule Breakers to address a listener's question: What's the best Chinese stock for long-term investors? The team likes Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), commonly referred to as "the Google of China," as well as Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY), the company behind the extremely popular messaging and social media app WeChat.

• [By Billy Duberstein]

  There are three clear leaders riding this wave, all of which have ties to the "big three" of China, or the "BAT": Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), and Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY). For investors interested in riding the Chinese streaming video trend, the following are definitely the stocks to own.

Hot China Stocks To Buy Right Now: ATA Inc.(ATAI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  ATA Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAI) traded down about 14% Monday to set a new 52-week low of $0.82, based on revalued shares that closed at $0.72 on Friday but traded up about 250% on Monday at $2.53. Volume was more than 200 times the daily average of around 42,000. You’re on your own here to figure this one out.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:WPZ,RIG,ECA,APA,MRO, &l;p&g;Saudi Arabia&a;rsquo;s Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund currently with over $200 billion in assets, is &l;a href=&q;https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-12/saudi-fund-is-said-to-be-in-talks-to-invest-in-tesla-buyout-deal&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;said&l;/a&g;&a;nbsp;to be considering a major investment in &l;a href=&s;http://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/&s;&g;Elon Musk&l;/a&g;&a;rsquo;s Tesla. The Saudi government-run fund has accumulated a stake of almost 5% of the publicly traded electric car company, but a larger investment could help Musk take Tesla private. According to Bloomberg, unnamed sources say this move would be a hedge by the oil-rich kingdom against that commodity on which so much of its economy relies.

&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-866157410&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/866157410/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;656&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Saudi Arabia, smarting from a years-long oil crunch, said it aims to nearly double the assets of its Public Investment Fund by 2020 through launching a programme of investment initiatives. (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2019: Williams Partners L.P.(WPZ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market stayed in a pretty narrow range on Thursday, climbing early in the session but then slowly drifting lower through the afternoon hours. In the absence of major news, investors largely looked forward to key events like trade negotiations among the world's largest economies. Other financial markets saw mixed moves as well, with 10-year Treasury yields climbing above 3.1% while oil prices stayed comfortably above $70 per barrel. Despite the quiet day, some companies had good news that pushed their shares sharply higher. World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE), Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), and Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Williams Pipeline Partners (WPZ)

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

• [By Tyler Crowe, Jason Hall, and Matthew DiLallo]

  Matt DiLallo (Williams Companies): This natural gas pipeline giant has had a slow start in 2018. Through the first half of the year, cash flow at the company's MLP Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) has only increased by about 2%, due mainly to recent asset sales. However, with a major expansion project coming on line, cash flow growth should accelerate in the second half of the year. That project and others in the pipeline have the company on track to grow cash flow 9% in 2018 and another 13% next year.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Barclays set a $46.00 price target on Williams Pipeline Partners (NYSE:WPZ) in a research note published on Saturday. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  There's an interesting dichotomy here, however. Crestwood was looking to stay financially disciplined, but it also needed to invest to grow. Doing both at the same time is difficult, which is why it partnered up with Con Ed in the Marcellus region, Shell Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:SHLX) and First Reserve in the Delaware Basin, and Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) in the Powder River basin. These agreements allow Crestwood to keep expanding its business without having to foot the entire bill for the investments.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Williams Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:WPZ) by 27.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,682 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 14,458 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Williams Pipeline Partners were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2019: Transocean Inc.(RIG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market lost ground on Monday, although the declines in some major benchmarks were more extreme than others. A budding financial crisis in Turkey once again captured the attention of investors, as the threat of rising tariffs and escalating diplomatic tension could drive a wedge through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at a critical time for the geopolitical environment in the region. The repercussions of recent events involving Turkey echoed around the world, and some companies felt the tremors more sharply than others. First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG), Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri (NYSE:TKC), and Transocean (NYSE:RIG) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Max Byerly]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

  Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on RIG. Bank of America increased their price objective on Transocean from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Transocean from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 30th. Susquehanna Bancshares set a $11.00 price objective on Transocean and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Cowen set a $11.00 price objective on Transocean and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Piper Jaffray set a $11.00 price objective on Transocean and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $11.79.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  A wave of merger activity has swept across the offshore drilling sector in recent years. The latest news came on Monday when Ensco (NYSE:ESV) announced that it had agreed to buy Rowan in a $12 billion deal. That transaction occurred on the heels of Transocean's (NYSE:RIG) agreement earlier last month to acquire Ocean Rig for $2.7 billion. Before that, Transocean bought Songa Offshore for $3.4 billion while Ensco acquired Atwood Oceanics.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2019: Encana Corporation(ECA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

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

  Get Encana alerts: Encana Corp (ECA) Rising Higher 7.95% Over the Past Four Weeks (fisherbusinessnews.com) Encana Corporation (ECA) Most Active Stock Price trades 19.10% off from 200- SMA (nasdaqchronicle.com) Mid-Day Movers –: Encana Corporation (NYSE:ECA), CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX), MGIC Investment Corporation … (journalfinance.net) Featured Stock: Encana Corporation (ECA) (stockquote.review) Active Stock Evaluation – Encana Corporation (NYSE: ECA) (financerater.com)

  ECA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Encana from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $15.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Encana from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $10.84 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 7th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Encana from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised shares of Encana from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Goldman Sachs cut their price target on shares of Encana from $17.25 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.28.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Morgan Stanley set a $19.00 price objective on Encana (NYSE:ECA) (TSE:ECA) in a report published on Friday morning. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) may be one of the most undervalued companies in the energy patch. The Canadian energy player was given upside of almost 60% in a call from Merrill Lynch that noted the innovative shale leader has an infrastructure advantage and rising free cash flow.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2019: Apache Corporation(APA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Both Apache (NYSE:APA) and Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) have signed on to the private-equity-backed EPIC Pipeline, which will move 590,000 barrels of crude per day to the Texas coast when it starts operations in the second half of next year.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Kinder Morgan is already building a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline out of the Permian Basin after starting work on the Gulf Coast Express (GCX) in the first quarter. The company is developing that $1.75 billion pipeline in a partnership with Targa Resources and DCP Midstream. GCX will transport up to 1.98 Bcf/d of natural gas from shippers such as Apache (NYSE:APA), which not only signed a transportation agreement, but holds an option to buy a 15% stake in the pipeline from Kinder Morgan.

• [By Jason Hall, Tyler Crowe, and John Bromels]

  If you're shopping for great buys in the oil patch right now, three Motley Fool contributors think you should take a close look at tech-heavy but asset-light oilfield services provider Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB), value-priced independent oil producer Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA), and refining giant Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC). 

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Diamondback Energy's investment in the EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline is worth noting because it follows a blueprint laid out by Apache (NYSE:APA) for creating midstream value. Apache spent the last couple of years investing in the build-out of midstream infrastructure to support the growth of its Alpine High discovery in the Permian. Initially, the company invested capital in constructing natural gas-gathering pipelines and other related infrastructure to move its production to regional hubs. However, as Apache signed up to be a major shipper on longer-haul pipeline developments, it also secured options to participate in these projects, making five such agreements.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) stunned the oil and gas world in late 2016 by announcing the discovery of the Alpine High play in a long-overlooked spot of the Permian Basin. The company believed that it had uncovered more than 3 billion barrels of oil and even more natural gas, which would drive growth for years to come. However, that growth wouldn't materialize overnight because Apache first had to build out the infrastructure needed to develop the field from scratch. 

• [By John Bromels]

  Three stocks with outsized prospects for doing just that are uniform renter Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS), oil and gas driller Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA), and natural gas pipeline operator Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI). Here's why I recommend them.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2019: Marathon Oil Corporation(MRO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Marathon Oil (MRO)

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

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  One sector that the market threw into the discount bin was oil, with several producers plunging double digits this week. Because of that, investors have a chance to pick up some top-notch oil stocks for a much lower price. Three that stand out are Hess (NYSE:HES), Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO). Here's a look at why this week's sell-off looks like it could be a great opportunity to buy these oil stocks.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.05 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, March 11th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 19th.

3 Marijuana Stocks to Buy for the Long Haul in 2019

Canada's nationwide recreational marijuana market opened last October; last week, we got results from Canada's two biggest marijuana companies that suggest the country's marijuana market represents a massive opportunity.

The possibility of capturing billions of dollars in legal marijuana sales in Canada only hints at the larger opportunity associated with legalization of marijuana globally. If you think increasingly more countries will follow Canada's lead, then it could be smart to buy shares in Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), and Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) in 2019.

The biggest marijuana company

Canopy Growth is Canada's biggest marijuana company. A vertically integrated pot play, Canopy Growth grows marijuana in state-of-the art greenhouses, processes it using the latest in automated machinery, packages it, and sells it throughout Canada.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

The company's investments in growing capacity early on allowed it to capture over 30% of Canada's medical marijuana market. Based on its latest quarterly results, leveraging its size and brand recognition is allowing it to capture at least as much market share in Canada's emerging recreational market.

Last quarter, selling into every Canadian province's adult-use market catapulted Canopy Growth's revenue to 83 million Canadian dollars, up 282% from the same quarter last year. Last quarter only included about six weeks of recreational sales, and demand outstripped supply early on, crimping revenue. So there's good reason to believe sales will head a lot higher.

Canopy Growth is also establishing itself in other countries that are breaking down barriers to marijuana; it has operations in Europe, Australia, and Latin America. It also recently announced plans to enter the United States for the first time.

Until recently, Canopy Growth couldn't operate in the U.S. because of rules prohibiting publicly traded companies from engaging in businesses that are illegal at the federal level. Marijuana remains a Schedule I drug in the U.S. However, the latest Farm Bill removed hemp, a non-psychoactive form of cannabis, from the controlled substance list in December. Following hemp's reclassification, Canopy Growth plans to spend up to $150 million in New York state to create a hemp industrial park.

The U.S. market for hemp-based products is already worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, but it could become a multibilion-dollar market if new products are made using hemp-derived extracts. Importantly, Canopy Growth's hemp facilities could be converted to process marijuana someday. Therefore, if marijuana becomes legal nationwide, Canopy Growth's hemp strategy could give it a valuable head start in what's estimated to be a $50 billion market opportunity.

A mad rush of production growth

Investors should also consider buying Canada's second-largest cannabis company, Aurora Cannabis. Aurora Cannabis doesn't have Canopy Growth's market share, but it's arguably best-positioned to give it a run for its money.

The company's acquisitions of CannaMed and MedReleaf last year turned it into one of the biggest medical marijuana suppliers in Canada, and a robust expansion plan that includes significant increases in annual marijuana production offers strong revenue tailwinds.

Last quarter, Aurora Cannabis reported that acquisitions and initial adult-use sales in Canada caused its sales to skyrocket 363% to CA$54 million. The adult-use market accounted for CA$21.6 million in sales, giving it (the company estimates) a market share of roughly 20%.

The company sold nearly 7,000 kilograms of marijuana or marijuana equivalents, such as extracts, in the quarter -- up 502%. However, that figure could increase substantially because of new production coming online from expansions to greenhouses, including Aurora Sky. Currently, management says annual marijuana production capacity is running at about 120,000 kilograms, but that's expected to increase to 150,000 kilograms next month. If so, then Aurora Cannabis expects to have 25,000 kilograms of marijuana available for sale by the end of June.

Aurora Cannabis's future plans include boosting annual production above 500,000 kilograms; if it can accomplish that, it could see its gross margin improve considerably. Last quarter, its gross margin was 52%, but that reflected average production costs of $1.92 per gram. Aurora Cannabis believes the new production it's bringing online at Aurora Sky and elsewhere will be at cost below $1 per gram.

Given the company's potential sales growth and improved gross margin as new supply comes online, its future appears bright.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

A powerful partner

There are marijuana companies that are bigger than Cronos Group by revenue and planned marijuana production. But Cronos and Canopy Growth are the only two cannabis companies with significant financial firepower and access to supply-chain, branding, and regulatory expertise because of investments from major consumer-goods companies. Cronos Group sold 45% of itself to tobacco powerhouse Altria (NYSE:MO) for $1.8 billion in December; this followed Canopy Growth's decision to sell 38% of itself to alcohol giant Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) for roughly $4 billion last August.

Having Altria as a partner is a big win for Cronos Group. Altria owns the U.S. Philip Morris tobacco brands, including Marlboro cigarettes, and it has extensive experience navigating regulatory scrutiny. It's built up a slate of successful brands, and it has extensive relationships with farmers and other suppliers. Additionally, Altria owns over 30% of Juul, a leading vape company that theoretically could provide Cronos Group with some intriguing collaboration opportunities.

Cronos Group hasn't reported results for the calendar fourth quarter yet, so we don't know how it did after recreational sales began in Canada -- but sales jumped 186% year over year to CA$3.8 million in the third quarter, so its products appear to be gaining traction. Its annualized production capacity was just 6,650 kilograms in Q3, but it has said that capacity will reach 40,150 kilograms this year and that it plans to produce 117,000 kilograms per year. Those predictions were prior to Altria's investment, so you could see Cronos Group announce new targets during its next earnings release.

During Altria's fourth-quarter earnings call, it highlighted a forecast for legal marijuana sales of $40 billion per year, based on current legal markets. It also said worldwide legalization could increase that market opportunity to $250 billion. Given those figures and Altria's help, it could be smart to own Cronos Group for the long haul, too.

Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 167,796 Shares of CNO Financial Group Inc (CNO)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of CNO Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CNO) by 44.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 547,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,796 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.33% of CNO Financial Group worth $8,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNO. Paragon Capital Management Ltd raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 17,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 118,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Quantamental Technologies LLC bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $139,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in CNO Financial Group by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 141,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 11,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Several equities analysts have commented on CNO shares. TheStreet downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 1st. ValuEngine downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 2nd. Evercore ISI upgraded CNO Financial Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 9th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Shares of CNO opened at $17.31 on Tuesday. CNO Financial Group Inc has a 1 year low of $13.64 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.36.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.14). CNO Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 7.57% and a negative net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $778.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $981.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. CNO Financial Group’s revenue was down 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group Inc will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Stephen N. David acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.85 per share, for a total transaction of $41,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,403.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It operates through Bankers Life, Washington National, Colonial Penn, and Long-Term Care in Run Off segments.

Recommended Story: Diversification in Investing

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Varonis Systems (VRNS) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $73.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $81.00. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Varonis Systems’ Q1 2019 earnings at ($0.63) EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at ($0.27) EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $0.05 EPS, FY2019 earnings at ($0.99) EPS, Q1 2020 earnings at ($0.51) EPS, Q2 2020 earnings at ($0.22) EPS, Q3 2020 earnings at ($0.18) EPS, Q4 2020 earnings at ($0.01) EPS and FY2020 earnings at ($0.88) EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reissued a buy rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $75.00) on shares of Varonis Systems in a research note on Tuesday. BidaskClub raised Varonis Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 31st. Craig Hallum raised Varonis Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Varonis Systems from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a hold rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Varonis Systems in a research note on Tuesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $67.48.

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Shares of NASDAQ:VRNS opened at $54.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.56 and a beta of 0.99. Varonis Systems has a fifty-two week low of $48.67 and a fifty-two week high of $83.10.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $87.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.33 million. Varonis Systems had a negative net margin of 10.57% and a negative return on equity of 24.02%. Research analysts predict that Varonis Systems will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, CEO Yakov Faitelson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.72, for a total transaction of $1,641,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Coe Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Coe Capital Management LLC now owns 21,405 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Advisors LLC now owns 53,837 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 4,243 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,900 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,118 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Varonis Systems Company Profile

Varonis Systems, Inc provides software solutions that protect data from insider threats and cyberattacks. The company, through its software, allows organizations to protect data stored on premises and on cloud, such as sensitive files and emails; confidential customer, patient and employee data; financial records; strategic and product plans; and other intellectual property.

Featured Story: How Does the Quiet Period Work?

Comparing Devon Energy (DVN) and Energen (EGN)

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) and Energen (NYSE:EGN) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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82.8% of Devon Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.9% of Energen shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Devon Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Energen shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Devon Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Energen does not pay a dividend. Devon Energy pays out 50.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Devon Energy and Energen’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Devon Energy	$13.95 billion	0.95	$898.00 million	$0.63	45.11
Energen	$961.04 million	7.32	$306.82 million	$0.75	96.16

Devon Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Energen. Devon Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Energen, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Devon Energy and Energen, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Devon Energy	1	12	16	0	2.52
Energen	1	10	7	0	2.33

Devon Energy presently has a consensus target price of $46.76, suggesting a potential upside of 64.54%. Energen has a consensus target price of $81.69, suggesting a potential upside of 13.27%. Given Devon Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Devon Energy is more favorable than Energen.

Profitability

This table compares Devon Energy and Energen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Devon Energy	16.62%	6.40%	2.91%
Energen	31.37%	8.70%	5.78%

Volatility and Risk

Devon Energy has a beta of 2.23, indicating that its share price is 123% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energen has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Energen beats Devon Energy on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Devon Energy

Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, primarily engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States and Canada. It operates approximately 14,600 gross wells. The company also offers gathering, transmission, processing, storage, fractionation, and marketing to upstream oil and natural gas producers; and owns natural gas pipelines, plants and treatment facilities. Devon Energy Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

About Energen

Energen Corporation, through its subsidiary, Energen Resources Corporation, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas. The company has operations within the Midland Basin, the Delaware Basin, and the Central Basin Platform areas of the Permian Basin in west Texas and New Mexico. As of December 31, 2017, it had a total proved reserves of 444 million barrel of oil equivalent. The company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

BidaskClub Downgrades Lakeland Financial (LKFN) to Hold

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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

Read More: Penny Stocks, What You Need To Know

How Costco Actually Makes Money

Everyone has a favorite Costco (NASDAQ:COST) item. Some love the four-pound bags of Kirkland trail mix; others can't make a trip to the warehouse retailer without getting a $1.50 hot dog and soda combo in the food court. 

No matter the product, it seems Costco manages to give its customers exceptional value on pretty much every item in the store. That's great for customers, but investors might wonder: "OK, but how does this company actually make money then?"

We're here to answer that question with a video from our YouTube channel! (A full transcript follows the video.)

 

Editor's note: The paid members count in the video is in thousands. 

Narrator: You might think that Costco is your average retailer... but it's not.

The "everything in bulk" store sells cleaning supplies, jeans, pet food, and anything in-between, but Costco doesn't actually make much money on the merchandise it sells.

In this video, we're going to break down exactly where the cash really comes from for Costco.

According to the company's 2018 results, it sold $138 billion in merchandise -- that's a lot of Kirkland brand trail mix and discount prescription glasses.

The products they sold cost the company $123 billion, leaving $15 billion for the business.

BUT WAIT! We also have to account for all the company's retail employees, pallet trucks, and store overhead expenses that enable Costco to sell those goods and give away those sweet, sweet free samples.

All those costs combined totaled nearly $14B.

So we've got:

Sales of $138 billion. Cost of goods sold of $123 billion. And selling, general, and administrative costs of $14 billion.

That leaves us with just $1 billion dollars... but the company reported over $3 billion in net income for the year. So where's the extra money coming from?

Costco's real source of income: its memberships.

In order to shop at Costco, you need to be a member, and annual membership costs either $60 or $120, depending on the benefits an individual or business chooses.

Those membership fees add up over time: In the company's 2018 results, they said they collected $3.1 billion in membership fees.

A huge chunk of this revenue flows directly down to the company's bottom line because memberships are relatively cheap to create -- all the company needs to do is give people a card, maintain a tracking system, and occasionally provide some customer service. All told, that's a much higher-margin business than selling products to consumers, even at regular retail prices.

If you look over the past few years, you'll see Costco's net income tracks pretty closely to the revenue it brings in from membership fees. This revenue from membership fees is what allows the company to offer customers the marked-down prices and cheap private-label goods they've come to expect.

It also means that, while merchandise sales matter for the company, the metrics that Wall Street tends to care about are mostly related to Costco's member base.

When the company reports earnings, investors want to see the company continue to add members, and over the past few years, it has. And the members the company brings in are generally pretty satisfied with what they're paying for. Costco maintains a member-renewal rate of around 90%.

Satisfied members keep the money consistently flowing in, and it helps insulate Costco from the creeping competition of e-commerce. The membership model has helped Costco earn the "Amazon-proof" label, and kept the company's brick-and-mortar business thriving, even as online sales make up a larger portion of U.S. retail.

Membership fees -- it's how Costco actually makes money.

Thanks for watching this video -- if you have a company you'd like to see us break down, mention it in the comments section below [on Youtube], and be sure to like the video and subscribe to get more videos like this one from The Motley Fool.

Cisco (CSCO) Stock Up Ahead of Earnings: What to Expect

Cisco Systems (CSCO ) shares have been on a tear since Christmas, along with much of the market and other tech giants like Facebook (FB ) and Amazon (AMZN ) . CSCO stock closed regular trading up 0.65% in a sign that investors might expect good things from the networking giant’s fiscal second-quarter financial results that are due out after the closing bell Wednesday.

Quick Overview

Cisco’s core infrastructure platforms business is comprised of networking equipment like routers and switches. The historic tech company also operates two other larger division, applications and security, which have been growth drivers in recent years. These businesses include offerings like AppDynamics software and its recent purchase of Duo Security for $2.35 billion.

The company is coming off a fiscal first-quarter that saw its revenues jump 8% to reach $13.1 billion, which topped Wall Street estimates. More specifically, Cisco’s application business surged 18% and security climbed 11%. CSCO also saw its adjusted earnings per share jump 23% to beat estimates.

But investors should note that Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette on Tuesday downgraded Cisco to “equal-weight” from “overweight” and lowered his price target to $49 from $51 a share. Despite the downgrade, shares of CSCO popped 0.65% during regular trading hours to reach $47.89 a share and rest just below their 52-week high of $49.47.

Shares of Cisco have soared 19% since Christmas to outpace the S&P 500’s roughly 16% climb. CSCO stock has climbed 16% over the last year to beat its peer group’s 3.5% average expansion, which includes NetGear (NTGR ) , Extreme Networks (EXTR ) , and others. Cisco has also performed well over the last five years, outpacing Google (GOOGL ) and is now nearly neck-and-neck with Apple (AAPL ) after the iPhone giant's recent downturn.

 

Outlook

Cisco management initially called for its second quarter 2019 revenues to climb between 5% and 7% and its EPS to come in the $0.71 to $0.73 a share range. With that said, our current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for Cisco’s Q2 revenues to pop 4.3% to reach $12.40 billion.

At the bottom end of the income statement, Cisco’s adjusted quarterly earnings are projected to surge 14.3% to reach $0.72 a share. Investors should also note that the company’s earnings estimate revision trends have trended completely in the right direction recently. 

Cisco is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and sports an “A” grade for Growth and a “B” for Momentum in our Style Scores system. The company is scheduled to release its Q2 fiscal 2019 financial results after the closing bell on Wednesday, February 13. So, make sure to come back to Zacks for a full breakdown of the company’s actual metrics.

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Nvidia shares 'likely to remain hamstrung,' Bernstein says in downgrade

Bernstein downgraded semiconductor stock Nvidia on Monday to market perform from outperform, saying the company is facing severe challenges to growth and "headline risk [is] likely to continue increasing."

"Following the company's somewhat chilly guidance cut ... we believe the shares are likely to remain hamstrung," Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said in a note to investors.

Ahead of earnings on Thursday, Nvidia cut its revenue guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter. The company cited "deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, particularly in China," for the lowered forecast, which was Nvidia's second cut in the past three months.

"The latest cut appears much more fundamentally demand-driven, with the question of the 'true' run-rate of the gaming business remaining up in the air for now," Bernstein said.

Nvidia shares slid 1.9 percent in trading Monday from Friday's close of $148.17 a share. Bernstein has a price target on Nvidia of $175 a share.

After five years of monster gains, the hot stock cracked in 2018. The shares are down more than 40 percent the last six months.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now

tags:NEM,INFN,MAN,LULU,HSON,

News coverage about Verso (NYSE:VRS) has trended somewhat positive recently, according to Accern Sentiment. The research firm identifies negative and positive media coverage by analyzing more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Verso earned a daily sentiment score of 0.11 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news headlines about the basic materials company an impact score of 45.5895559268372 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

These are some of the headlines that may have impacted Accern Sentiment’s scoring:

Get Verso alerts: $0.03 EPS Expected for Verso Corp (VRS) This Quarter (americanbankingnews.com) Verso to upgrade Jay mill for specialty papermaking (mainebiz.biz) Verso Corporation Announces Date of its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (finance.yahoo.com) Verso Announces Strategic Investments in its Androscoggin Mill in Jay, Maine (finance.yahoo.com) Verso stands to gain $42M in deal OK’d by Department of Commerce (mainebiz.biz)

VRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Investment Research raised Verso from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 10th. B. Riley set a $26.00 price target on Verso and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 10th. Finally, ValuEngine raised Verso from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 2nd.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Newmont Mining Corporation(NEM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  New England Research & Management Inc. raised its stake in Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Newmont Mining were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Engineers Gate Manager LP lessened its stake in shares of Newmont Mining Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 44.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 68,807 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Newmont Mining were worth $3,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Investors sold shares of Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) on strength during trading hours on Wednesday. $36.84 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $45.25 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $8.41 million out of the stock. Of all equities tracked, Newmont Mining had the 15th highest net out-flow for the day. Newmont Mining traded up $0.45 for the day and closed at $30.56

• [By Paul Ausick]

  As recently as four years ago, mergers between the mining giants were still being bandied about. The world’s two largest gold producers, Barrick and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), had talked about a possible merger in 2014 and again in 2015, but any chance of a deal died when Newmont acquired a Colorado mine from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) in June of that year. Mega-deals between gold miners have been taken off the table.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE: FSM) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation and profitability.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) COO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $37,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Infinera Corporation(INFN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

  Losers MDC Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: MDCA) fell 23.4 percent to $5.25 in pre-market trading after a first-quarter earnings miss. Hudson Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HDSN) shares fell 15.1 percent to $3.48 in pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat Q1 earnings. Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) fell 14 percent to $13.15 in pre-market trading after the company posted downbeat Q2 earnings and lowered FY18 organic growth guidance. Myomo, Inc. (NYSE: MYO) fell 13.2 percent to $3.10 in pre-market trading after reporting downbeat quarterly results. Rowan Companies plc (NYSE: RDC) shares fell 10.7 percent to $14.13 in pre-market trading after climbing 8.50 percent on Wednesday. BT Group plc (NYSE: BT) fell 9 percent to $14.80 in pre-market trading after the company reported Q4 results and announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs over the next three years. Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL) fell 8.3 percent to $19.90 in pre-market trading after the company disclosed that IMblaze370 Phase 3 pivotal trial of atezolizumab and cobimetinib in patients with heavily pretreated locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer did not meet primary endpoint. Infinera Corporation (NASDAQ: INFN) fell 8.2 percent to $10.80 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Synaptics, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYNA) shares fell 7.4 percent to $43.00 in pre-market trading. Synaptics reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates. Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) shares fell 7.4 percent to $76.23 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 earnings. Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: IART) shares fell 7 percent to $59.36 in pre-market trading. Integra LifeSciences priced its 5.25 million share public offering of common stock at $58.50 per share. Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) shares fell 6.9 percent to $12.75 in pre-m
• [By Max Byerly]

  Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 3,256 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 841% compared to the typical daily volume of 346 put options.

• [By Brian Feroldi]

  Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN) reported its first-quarter results on Wednesday, May 9. Management at the optical equipment provider told investors last quarter that revenue and margins were starting to rebound nicely from their 2017 lows. But did the company keep its momentum up in the first-quarter? Let's dig into the numbers to find out.

• [By Brian Feroldi]

  In response to receiving an analyst downgrade, shares of Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN), a maker of equipment used in telecommunications, fell 10% as of 3:45 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Monday was generally a good day for the stock market, although major benchmarks showed a considerable amount of variation in how they performed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 seemed to benefit the most from news that the U.S., Mexico, and Canada had resolved their trade differences and come to a trilateral agreement, but the Nasdaq Composite lagged, and small-cap stocks posted substantial declines. Also hurting the overall market were some disturbing developments regarding some key companies. Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN), Akorn (NASDAQ:AKRX), and Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Billy Duberstein]

  For a great example, look no further than the recent note from MKM analyst Michael Genovese. Genovese anticipates large systems vendor Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) may end up stealing away large customer CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL) from smaller competitor Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN). That could be a huge win for Ciena and a huge blow to Infinera, and the episode is emblematic of this period in the industry.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ManpowerGroup(MAN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Kiwi Wealth Investments Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,204 shares during the period. Kiwi Wealth Investments Limited Partnership’s holdings in ManpowerGroup were worth $2,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Kelly Services, Inc. Class A (NYSE: MAN) and ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Frontier Investment Mgmt Co. bought a new stake in shares of ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Strategic Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN) EVP Mara E. Swan sold 11,192 shares of ManpowerGroup stock in a transaction on Friday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.77, for a total value of $1,049,473.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,265,238.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN) by 45.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in ManpowerGroup were worth $568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: lululemon athletica inc.(LULU)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman, Steve Symington, and Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  If you're looking for stocks to deliver for your retirement or your kid's college fund, keep reading to see why our contributors recommend lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AAXN), and Under Armour (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA) to buy and hold for the next 50 years.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Euro Tech Holdings Company Limited (NASDAQ: CLWT) rose 18.2 percent to $4.55 in pre-market trading after the company declared a $0.70 per share special dividend. Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) rose 11.7 percent to $3.24 in pre-market trading after falling 13.17 percent on Thursday. Co-Diagnostics reported its participation in a research project with the Stanford University. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) shares rose 8.6 percent to $25.95 in pre-market trading after the company posted upbeat Q1 results. Zuora, Inc. (NYSE: ZUO) shares rose 8 percent to $23.95 in pre-market trading after the company reported upbeat Q1 earnings and issued strong outlook. Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) shares rose 7.8 percent to $113.25 in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter. The company also raised its FY18 earnings and sales guidance. OPKO Health, Inc. (NYSE: OPK) rose 5.7 percent to $4.10 in pre-market trading. Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) rose 5.5 percent to $17.45 in pre-market trading following the FDA approval for Levofloxacin Oral Solution. Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) shares rose 5 percent to $59.8 in pre-market trading. VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) rose 4.6 percent to $143.74 in pre-market trading as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday. Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) rose 4.3 percent to $19.80 in pre-market trading after the company reported the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to place Rover pipeline’s full Mainline B into service. T2 Biosystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTOO) rose 4.3 percent to $7.73 in pre-market trading after declining 4.26 percent on Thursday. Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS) rose 4.3 percent to $2.90 in pre-market trading after jumping 21.93 percent on Thursday. Sasol Limited (NYSE: SSL) rose 4.2 percent to $37.91 in pre-market trading. Nucor Corporatio
• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  The Italian stock market has bounced back after a big day of losses. The global markets remain concerned about the nation's debt problems, even though the worst fears about the near-term future have subsided. EU officials are reportedly concerned that "Euroskeptics" could rise in the bloc's third-largest economy and promote political hostility toward the European Union. Shares of Sears Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: SHLD) plunged nearly 10% after the retail giant reported a big miss on quarterly earnings. Same-store sales fell by roughly 12%, fueling a report that the firm will close another 72 Sears and Kmart locations. Four Stocks to Watch Today: DG, AMZN, BRK.A, MSFT Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) slumped more than 7% after the discount retailer fell short of earnings expectations before the bell. The firm reported earnings per share of $1.36 per share, slightly below the average forecast of $1.40. Revenue and same-store sales were also below expectations. Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) has expanded Prime discount benefits to 121 Whole Foods Market stores and all of its Whole Foods Market 365 stores. The expansion brings locations in California, Arkansas, and Oklahoma into the fold. Amazon stock is up more than 38% since the beginning of the year. According to various reports, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) is considering a proposal to invest in Uber, the world's largest ride-share company. Warren Buffett has said that he admires Uber CEO Dara Khasrowshahi, and the firm is debating the size of a possible stake. Bloomberg has reported that Berkshire had offered Uber a $3 billion investment deal in early 2018. Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is on the verge of cracking $100 per share. With this news, the software and cloud computing giant has also surpassed rival Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) in market capitalization. Markets now are speculating on whether Microsoft will beat Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) in the race to a $1 trillion valuation. Look for addition
• [By Nicholas Rossolillo]

  Over the past 12 months, shares of lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) have risen 90%. The most recent surge came after an upgrade on 2018 holiday season guidance, helping the athletic-wear stock rebound from a slump brought on by a broad stock market sell-off at the end of the year. 

• [By Chris Lange]

  Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) shares saw a great gain early Friday after the company announced its most recent quarterly results Thursday afternoon. The company said that it had $0.71 in earnings per share (EPS) and $724 million in revenue for the fiscal second quarter. That compares with consensus estimates of $0.49 in EPS and $669 million in revenue, as well as the $0.36 per share and $581.05 million posted in the same period of last year.

• [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) took a different approach this year. The yoga apparel specialist enjoyed such strong demand in the spring -- both in its stores and online -- that management hiked its 2018 guidance on both the top and bottom lines in early June. The company said many of the encouraging trends that lifted last quarter's results were carrying over into the next sales period, too. Thus, investors' expectations are high for the retailer's upcoming report, set to publish on Thursday, Aug. 30.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Hudson Global, Inc.(HSON)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  JBF Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Hudson Global Inc (NASDAQ:HSON) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 157,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Shares Sold by State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement S

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 598,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,372 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $78,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Cerebellum GP LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1,376.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerebellum GP LLC now owns 192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Horan Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Intercontinental Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Automatic Data Processing alerts:

In related news, Director John P. Jones III sold 5,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.45, for a total value of $736,311.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 57,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,434,313.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 62,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.59, for a total transaction of $9,059,774.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 137,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,971,599.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 142,655 shares of company stock valued at $20,193,990 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADP. Zacks Investment Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Monday, November 12th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Wednesday, November 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $137.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $151.87.

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $146.81 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $107.61 and a 52-week high of $153.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 30th. The business services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.16. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 51.92%. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.64%.

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Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides business process outsourcing services worldwide. It operates through two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO) Services. The Employer Services segment offers various human resources (HR) outsourcing and technology-based human capital management solutions.

Read More: What is insider trading?

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ADP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP).

Hot Oil Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:MRO,RIG,MMP,RRC,

Small cap proppant and fracking stock U.S. Silica Holdings Inc (NYSE: SLCA) reported Q2 2017 earnings after the Monday market close. Revenue increased 148% on a year-over-year basis and increased 19% sequentially over Q1 2017 to $290.5 million while overall tons sold totaled was up 63% to 3.638 million versus 2.237 million tons sold in Q2 2016 and an increase of 7% sequentially from Q1 2017. Oil and gas revenue totaled $235.0 million compared with $64.9 million for the same period in 2016, an increase of 262% on a year-over-year basis and an increase of 22% sequentially from Q1 2017 while tons sold totaled 2.745 million, an increase of 106% compared with the 1.333 million tons sold in Q2 2016 and an increase of 8% sequentially compared with the tons sold in Q1 2017. Industrial and specialty products revenue totaled $55.4 million versus $52.1 million for the same period in 2016, an increase of 6% on a year-over-year basis and up 7% sequentially from Q1 2017 while tons sold totaled 0.893 million, relatively flat on a year-over-year basis and an increase of 4% on a sequential basis compared with Q1 2017.

Hot Oil Stocks To Own Right Now: Marathon Oil Corporation(MRO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Back in 2011, Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) elected to spin off Marathon Petroleum. At the time, much of the reasoning for the split was that both entities would garner higher valuations than as an integrated company. Also, by separating them, both could best allocate capital to grow shareholder value. 

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.09, but opened at $21.63. Marathon Oil shares last traded at $21.47, with a volume of 12430818 shares traded.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) also has cashed in on the improvement in oil prices. Shares of the U.S. oil company are up more than 80% over the past year -- making it one of the best-performing oil stocks of 2018 -- due to the impact higher oil prices are having on its cash flow. Like EOG, Marathon Oil set its budget to run on $50 oil, which has it on pace to produce $500 million in free cash at $60 a barrel and even more at current prices.

Hot Oil Stocks To Own Right Now: Transocean Inc.(RIG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG)’s share price shot up 1.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $13.60 and last traded at $13.39. 771,349 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 13,165,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.19.

• [By Neha Chamaria, Jason Hall, and Ashraf Eassa]

  When we asked three Motley Fool contributors to identify a stock they believe is absurdly cheap right now given its prospects, they picked Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC). Here's why.

• [By Jason Hall, Tyler Crowe, and Matthew DiLallo]

  At the same time, there has been a tremendous amount of consolidation (like this and this and this), leaving fewer -- stronger -- companies operating just when work is starting to pick up. Here's a look at quarterly revenue for Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Ensco PLC (ADR) (NYSE:ESV), Noble Corp. (NYSE:NE), and Rowan (NYSE:RDC) so far this year. 

• [By Jim Crumly]

  As for individual stocks, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) briefly broke through $1 trillion in valuation, and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced plans to acquire Ocean Rig UDW (NASDAQ:ORIG).

• [By Logan Wallace]

  American International Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 872,019 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,611 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Transocean were worth $8,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Hot Oil Stocks To Own Right Now: Magellan Midstream Partners L.P.(MMP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jason Hall]

  Let's start with Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP), ticker MMP. First thing to note here, distributable cash flow up 7% year over year. You notice I'm talking about cash flow. I'm not talking about earnings, I'm not talking about revenue. That's because cash is king in this particular segment of the industry.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:MMP) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Magellan Midstream Partners were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Tyler Crowe, Matthew DiLallo, and Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  Fortunately for those looking at these attractive valuations, oil's end-of-days scenario is likely a ways down the road. So we asked three Fool.com contributors to highlight a stock they see in the oil industry right now that looks attractive. Here's why they picked Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA), Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC), and Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP). 

Hot Oil Stocks To Own Right Now: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Global Securities raised their Q4 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Range Resources in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 23rd. Seaport Global Securities analyst M. Kelly now anticipates that the oil and gas exploration company will post earnings per share of $0.12 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.11. Seaport Global Securities has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. Seaport Global Securities also issued estimates for Range Resources’ Q1 2019 earnings at $0.36 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.18 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $0.26 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $0.98 EPS.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Companies in this region have had more measured growth plans because of the lack of pipelines. As Miller mentioned, though, improved efficiency has resulted in most companies outpacing their production growth plans. The lack of takeaway capacity has led to much lower prices for in-basin production. Range Resources (NYSE:RRC), one of the larger producers in the region, has noted that its price realizations were 10% below benchmark prices because of a lack of takeaway capacity. 

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Range Resources (RRC)

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  OppenheimerFunds Inc. lowered its holdings in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) by 68.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,532 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 65,576 shares during the quarter. OppenheimerFunds Inc.’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,421 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,839 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Carolina Financial Corp (CARO) Director Sells $181,060.00 in Stock

Carolina Financial Corp (NASDAQ:CARO) Director Robert M. Moise sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.92, for a total value of $181,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,250,619.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Shares of CARO opened at $34.67 on Friday. Carolina Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $27.62 and a 1 year high of $45.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $782.50 million, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.01.

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Carolina Financial (NASDAQ:CARO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.07. Carolina Financial had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 24.72%. The business had revenue of $43.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.07 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Carolina Financial Corp will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Carolina Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Carolina Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Carolina Financial by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,682,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,450,000 after buying an additional 153,603 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Carolina Financial by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,111,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,916,000 after buying an additional 78,219 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Carolina Financial by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 994,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,498,000 after buying an additional 12,960 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Carolina Financial by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 994,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,498,000 after buying an additional 12,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Carolina Financial by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 665,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,094,000 after buying an additional 45,777 shares in the last quarter. 54.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Several research firms have commented on CARO. ValuEngine cut Carolina Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 17th. BidaskClub cut Carolina Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 1st. Zacks Investment Research raised Carolina Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 30th. Finally, Brean Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Carolina Financial in a report on Friday, January 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.60.

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Carolina Financial Corp (CARO) Director Sells $181,060.00 in Stock” was originally published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this piece of content on another publication, it was stolen and reposted in violation of US & international trademark and copyright laws. The original version of this piece of content can be viewed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4122410/carolina-financial-corp-caro-director-sells-181060-00-in-stock.html.

About Carolina Financial

Carolina Financial Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Mortgage Banking, and Other. The Community Banking segment offers traditional banking services.

Further Reading: Market Capitalization – What it Means for Investors