This key thing could be messing with your tax refund: Tax withholdings

Tax withholding.

What is it and why does it matter?

If you're an employee of a company that gets paid through a payroll service, your employer likely withholds some of your income every paycheck, and sends the money to the government for you.

When you start working at a new company, you should fill out a W-4 form for your employer.

The IRS has a withholding calculator on its website. Check it out to get a personalized estimate of your taxes.

But if you work for yourself, nobody will withhold for you. So make sure you're putting some money aside to pay that tax bill each quarter.

Watch the video above to learn more about tax withholding and your W-4 form.

More from Invest In You
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Prevent tax return anxiety by following these steps

Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.

Zacks: Brokerages Expect Titan Machinery Inc. (TITN) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $357.25 Millio

Equities research analysts expect Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) to announce $357.25 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Two analysts have issued estimates for Titan Machinery’s earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $358.30 million and the lowest estimate coming in at $356.20 million. Titan Machinery posted sales of $339.61 million during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year-over-year growth rate of 5.2%. The company is scheduled to report its next earnings report before the market opens on Wednesday, March 27th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Titan Machinery will report full year sales of $1.27 billion for the current financial year. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect that the company will report sales of $1.33 billion, with estimates ranging from $1.32 billion to $1.34 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that follow Titan Machinery.

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Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TITN. ValuEngine downgraded shares of Titan Machinery from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 25th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Titan Machinery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Saturday, December 1st. TheStreet upgraded Titan Machinery from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 13th. BidaskClub upgraded Titan Machinery from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 15th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Titan Machinery in a report on Wednesday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.67.

Shares of NASDAQ:TITN opened at $20.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $453.51 million, a PE ratio of -168.08 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Titan Machinery has a 52-week low of $11.99 and a 52-week high of $25.09.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TITN. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Titan Machinery by 51.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in Titan Machinery by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 3,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Quantamental Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Titan Machinery during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Titan Machinery by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY boosted its position in Titan Machinery by 425.5% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY now owns 6,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 5,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.10% of the company’s stock.

About Titan Machinery

Titan Machinery Inc owns and operates a network of full-service agricultural and construction equipment stores. It operates through three segments: Agriculture, Construction, and International. The company sells new and used equipment, including agricultural and construction equipment manufactured under the CNH family of brands, as well as equipment from various other manufacturers.

See Also: Reverse Stock Split

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

$6.74 Billion in Sales Expected for SAP SE (SAP) This Quarter

Equities analysts expect SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) to post sales of $6.74 billion for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Four analysts have made estimates for SAP’s earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $6.62 billion and the highest is $6.98 billion. SAP posted sales of $6.46 billion during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 4.3%. The business is scheduled to announce its next earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd.

On average, analysts expect that SAP will report full year sales of $30.96 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $30.66 billion to $31.48 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the business will report sales of $33.06 billion, with estimates ranging from $32.83 billion to $33.81 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are an average based on a survey of analysts that that provide coverage for SAP.

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SAP (NYSE:SAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 29th. The software maker reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $7.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.22 billion. SAP had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 16.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SAP shares. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of SAP in a report on Tuesday, January 29th. ValuEngine raised SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 18th. CIBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of SAP in a report on Friday, February 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $131.00 target price on shares of SAP in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of SAP in a report on Friday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. SAP presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $117.14.

NYSE:SAP traded up $2.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $112.49. 769,114 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 650,304. The company has a market capitalization of $134.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. SAP has a 1-year low of $94.81 and a 1-year high of $127.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SAP. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of SAP by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,798 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Hubard Feinour & Brown Inc. VA purchased a new stake in shares of SAP during the 3rd quarter worth $255,000. Advisor Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of SAP by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners LLC now owns 10,719 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of SAP by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 360,305 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $44,318,000 after purchasing an additional 40,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of SAP by 190.8% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,886 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SAP Company Profile

SAP SE operates as an enterprise application software, and analytics and business intelligence company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Applications, Technology & Services; SAP Business Network; and Customer Experience. It offers SAP HANA, which enables businesses to process and analyze live data; SAP Data Hub, a solution for businesses to manage data from various sources; and SAP Cloud platform that offers an enterprise platform-as-a-service.

Further Reading: What is the price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio?

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

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

The iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF's Underlying Holdings Could Mean 10% Gain Potential

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-1135726509&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/1135726509/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;693&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Getty

Looking at the underlying holdings of the ETFs in our coverage universe at &l;a href=&q;https://www.etfchannel.com/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;ETF Channel&l;/a&g;, we have compared the trading price of each holding against the average analyst 12-month forward target price, and computed the weighted average implied analyst target price for the ETF itself.&a;nbsp; For the iShares Core S&a;amp;P Mid-Cap ETF, we found that the implied analyst target price for the ETF based upon its underlying holdings is $208.04 per unit.

With IJH trading at a recent price near $189.57 per unit, that means that analysts see 9.74% upside for this ETF looking through to the average analyst targets of the underlying holdings. Three of IJH&s;s underlying holdings with notable upside to their analyst target prices are Belden, Herman Miller and Synovus Financial. Although BDC has traded at a recent price of $57.80/share, the average analyst target is 13.15% higher at $65.40/share. Similarly, MLHR has 11.58% upside from the recent share price of $35.85 if the average analyst target price of $40.00/share is reached, and analysts on average are expecting SNV to reach a target price of $42.88/share, which is 10.65% above the recent price of $38.75.

Below is a summary table of the current analyst target prices discussed above:

&a;nbsp;

&l;/p&g;&l;div class=&q;table-wrapper&q;&g;&l;table class=&q;hctblstyle&q; border=&q;0&q; cellspacing=&q;0&q; cellpadding=&q;0&q;&g;&l;tbody&g;&l;tr&g;&l;th&g;Name&l;/th&g; &l;th align=&q;center&q;&g;Symbol&l;/th&g; &l;th align=&q;right&q;&g;Recent Price&l;/th&g; &l;th align=&q;right&q;&g;Avg. Analyst 12-Mo. Target&l;/th&g; &l;th align=&q;right&q;&g;% Upside to Target&l;/th&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;b&g;iShares Core S&a;amp;P Mid-Cap ETF&l;/b&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;center&q;&g;&l;b&g;IJH&l;/b&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;&l;b&g;$189.57&l;/b&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;&l;b&g;$208.04&l;/b&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;&l;b&g;9.74%&l;/b&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Belden&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;center&q;&g;BDC&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;$57.80&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;$65.40&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;13.15%&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Herman Miller&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;center&q;&g;MLHR&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;$35.85&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;$40.00&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;11.58%&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Synovus Financial&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;center&q;&g;SNV&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;$38.75&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;$42.88&l;/td&g; &l;td align=&q;right&q;&g;10.65%&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;/tbody&g;&l;/table&g;&l;/div&g;

Are analysts justified in these targets, or overly optimistic about where these stocks will be trading 12 months from now? Do the analysts have a valid justification for their targets, or are they behind the curve on recent company and industry developments? A high price target relative to a stock&s;s trading price can reflect optimism about the future, but can also be a precursor to target price downgrades if the targets were a relic of the past. These are questions that require further investor research.

&l;a href=&q;http://www.etfchannel.com/slideshows/ten-etfs-with-most-upside/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Click here to find out 10 ETFs With Most Upside To Analyst Targets &a;raquo;&l;/a&g;

Oracle (ORCL) Given a $60.00 Price Target at Credit Suisse Group

Credit Suisse Group set a $60.00 price target on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) in a report issued on Monday. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the enterprise software provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ORCL. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Oracle from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, November 22nd. Nomura set a $53.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 12th. Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Monday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Oracle currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $52.12.

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ORCL stock opened at $53.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.09. Oracle has a 12 month low of $42.40 and a 12 month high of $53.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 17th. The enterprise software provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.52 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director Hector Garcia-Molina sold 3,750 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.51, for a total value of $193,162.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,440,683.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dorian Daley sold 25,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,631,355. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,552 shares of company stock worth $1,945,486 in the last three months. Insiders own 32.00% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Csenge Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Massey Quick Simon & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 220.9% in the 4th quarter. Massey Quick Simon & CO. LLC now owns 600 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Truehand Inc acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 49.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, sells, hosts, and supports application, platform, and infrastructure solutions for information technology (IT) environments worldwide. The company provides services in three primary layers of the cloud: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service.

See Also: Momentum Indicator: Relative Strength Index

Best Undervalued Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:EXC,HOLI,JRVR,

Recently, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has become one of my least-favorite investments to discuss. For starters, everyone wants to talk about Amazon stock, which is great for the first thousand go-arounds. But now, I feel like a one-hit wonder asked to play that song one more time.

Plus, I’m not sure what else I can add to the discussion. Whether you want to admit it or not, Amazon.com is the greatest company on earth. No one, not Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), not Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), not even trillion-dollar Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) can dethrone Jeff Bezos’ house.

So I’m often left to reiterate the obvious: Amazon.com will take over the world. By logical deduction, you’ll want exposure to Amazon stock, if you can afford it.

But in searching for any new angles for this all-angles-covered company, I realized something: we are grossly underestimating AMZN stock.

You read that correctly. The e-commerce giant, which has disrupted almost every single brick-and-mortar retailer, and is stridently pushing into new sectors, is undervalued.

Best Undervalued Stocks To Own Right Now: Exelon Corporation(EXC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  US Bancorp DE trimmed its position in shares of Exelon (NYSE:EXC) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,712 shares of the energy giant’s stock after selling 15,626 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Exelon were worth $6,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Banco de Sabadell S.A bought a new position in Exelon Co. (NYSE:EXC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 15,909 shares of the energy giant’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Investors bought shares of Exelon (NYSE:EXC) on weakness during trading on Wednesday. $34.07 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $18.56 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $15.51 million into the stock. Of all stocks tracked, Exelon had the 24th highest net in-flow for the day. Exelon traded down ($0.42) for the day and closed at $39.79

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Investors sold shares of Exelon Co. (NYSE:EXC) on strength during trading hours on Thursday. $15.04 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $55.72 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $40.68 million out of the stock. Of all stocks tracked, Exelon had the 21st highest net out-flow for the day. Exelon traded up $0.32 for the day and closed at $44.44

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Skba Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Exelon Co. (NYSE:EXC) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,350 shares of the energy giant’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $8,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Best Undervalued Stocks To Own Right Now: Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd.(HOLI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: HOLI) shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $27.3947 following Q3 results.

  Equities Trading DOWN

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Hollysys Automation Technologies (NASDAQ: HOLI) and GrafTech (NYSE:EAF) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Red Violet, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDVT) rose 75.31 percent to close at $9.94 after reporting Q1 results. Euro Tech Holdings Company Limited (NASDAQ: CLWT) shares jumped 40.62 percent to close at $4.50 on Tuesday after reporting 2017 year-end results. MEI Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEIP) gained 34.39 percent to close at $3.40. MEDIGUS Ltd/S ADR (NASDAQ: MDGS) gained 32.74 percent to close at $1.50 in reaction to its Monday announcement of a distribution agreement. The medical device company said it reached an agreement to distribute its minimally invasive medical devices in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Pfenex Inc. (NYSE: PFNX) surged 31.15 percent to close at $8.00 after the company announced the positive top-line PF708 study results in Osteoporosis patients that showed no imbalances in severity or incidence of adverse events. Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: RKDA) rose 21.07 percent to close at $11.09. Arcadia Biosciences reported that Albert D. Bolles, Ph.D. has joined its board of directors. Genprex, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNPX) rose 20.23 percent to close at $10.58. Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) shares gained 17.62 percent to close at $17.82. Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: APVO) rose 17.1 percent to close at $5.82. Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG) shares jumped 16.23 percent to close at $4.87 following Q1 earnings. Stein Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) rose 16.04 percent to close at $3.69. PPDAI Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PPDF) climbed 15.99 percent to close at $7.98 following Q1 results. Tyme Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: TYME) rose 15.93 percent to close at $3.42. LiqTech International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIQT) gained 15.59 percent to close at $0.5532 following Q1 results. Sophiris Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPHS) gained 13.92 percent to close at $3.52 on Tuesday following Q1 results. Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) jumped 13.4 percent to close at $2.37. Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITI) shares surged 13.05 percent to close
• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market finally hit some resistance on Tuesday, giving up ground and breaking a long streak of consecutive advances for most major benchmarks. Market participants got spooked by a rise in interest rates, with 10-year Treasury yields once again climbing above the 3% mark and leading some to predict even steeper advances in the future. With budget deficits ballooning, higher interest expenses on the national debt could have a dramatic impact on the U.S. economy, especially if it lures investors away from high-flying stocks. Yet even amid the bond-driven downturn, some individual companies saw good news lift their shares. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE:VRX), Hollysys Automation Technologies (NASDAQ:HOLI), and Ascena Retail Group (NASDAQ:ASNA) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Bloom Energy (NASDAQ: HOLI) and Hollysys Automation Technologies (NASDAQ:HOLI) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

• [By Rich Smith]

  China's Hollysys Automation Technologies (NASDAQ:HOLI) stock is up 14.3% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT, after hitting a high as much as 26% above yesterday's close earlier this morning.

Best Undervalued Stocks To Own Right Now: James River Group Holdings, Ltd.(JRVR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) and Conifer (NASDAQ:CNFR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

• [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

  James River Group Holdings Ltd  (NASDAQ:JRVR)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 22, 2019, 8:00 a.m. ET

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

  Operator

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of James River Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:JRVR) by 318.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 119,204 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 90,695 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.40% of James River Group worth $4,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

After-Hours News: Stitch Fix Soars and ADT Falls

Personalized-apparel service Stitch Fix (NASDAQ:SFIX) and security company ADT (NYSE:ADT) are making headlines in after-hours trading on Monday, with both companies' stocks making big moves.

Stitch Fix impressed investors with strong quarterly results and upbeat guidance. ADT posted solid revenue growth but disappointed when it came to adjusted earnings per share.

Here's a closer look at each of these stories.

Image source: Stitch Fix.

Stitch Fix

Shares of personalized online apparel business Stitch Fix soared after the market closed on Monday. The jump followed the company's second-quarter update, which featured better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter financial results and client growth. 

The company reported revenue of $370.3 million, up 25% year over year. That was higher than analysts' consensus forecast for revenue of $365.9 million. 

Net income for the quarter was $12 million, translating to earnings per share of $0.12. That's significantly higher than net income and earnings per share of $3.6 million and $0.02 in the year-ago quarter, respectively. On average, analysts were expecting earnings per share of $0.05 in the company's second quarter of fiscal 2019.

Stitch Fix also said it now has 3 million clients, up 18% year over year.

Impressively, the company stuck with its plan to spend less on advertising as a percentage of revenue during the quarter and was still able to drive client acquisition across its digital channels.

Making the quarterly update even more impressive, Stitch Fix provided strong guidance for both its fiscal third quarter and its full year of fiscal 2019. Management said it expects fiscal third-quarter revenue to rise 22% to 26% year over year and full-year revenue to increase 25% to 27% over fiscal 2018. 

Stitch Fix stock was up 24.1% in after-hours trading as of 7:20 p.m. EDT.

ADT

Residential and home security company ADT saw its shares fall sharply on Monday after the market closed. The stock's decline came as ADT reported disappointing fourth-quarter results.

ADT reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.19 billion, up 7% year over year. The security company's non-GAAP loss per share was $0.04, up from a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.06 in the year-ago quarter. While revenue was higher than analysts' consensus forecast for $1.16 billion, ADT's non-GAAP loss per share was significantly worse than analysts' average expectation for a non-GAAP profit per share of $0.12. 

ADT CEO Jim DeVries was optimistic about the company's results and its continued momentum, noting that the quarter was "strong" and better than management's financial outlook for the period.

"We continue to demonstrate improvement across key operating metrics and strengthened our leadership in leading-edge home automation through the launch of ADT Command and Control," DeVries continued.

Shares were down 11.2% in after-hours trading as of 7:20 p.m. EDT.

Tortoise Index Solutions LLC Raises Stake in Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (MMP)

Tortoise Index Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:MMP) by 110.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,677 shares during the quarter. Magellan Midstream Partners makes up approximately 1.8% of Tortoise Index Solutions LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC’s holdings in Magellan Midstream Partners were worth $4,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment Corp IL boosted its stake in shares of Magellan Midstream Partners by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment Corp IL now owns 49,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 11,300 shares in the last quarter. United Income Inc. bought a new position in shares of Magellan Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $986,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Magellan Midstream Partners by 1,535.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 40,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,716,000 after purchasing an additional 37,647 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Magellan Midstream Partners by 8.2% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 29,283 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Magellan Midstream Partners by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 76,773 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177 shares in the last quarter. 65.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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In other news, CEO Michael N. Mears sold 30,000 shares of Magellan Midstream Partners stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.35, for a total transaction of $1,780,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,185 shares in the company, valued at $10,872,029.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lisa J. Korner sold 6,958 shares of Magellan Midstream Partners stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.29, for a total transaction of $412,539.82. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,418,112.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,696 shares of company stock valued at $2,597,682 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

MMP traded down $0.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $59.82. The stock had a trading volume of 13,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,112,565. The company has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.85. Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. has a twelve month low of $54.25 and a twelve month high of $72.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 31st. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $865.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $710.21 million. Magellan Midstream Partners had a net margin of 47.19% and a return on equity of 40.90%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.9775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 6th. This represents a $3.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Magellan Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 93.88%.

MMP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Magellan Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Magellan Midstream Partners to an “underperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 1st. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Magellan Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 5th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Magellan Midstream Partners from $76.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 11th. Finally, SunTrust Banks initiated coverage on shares of Magellan Midstream Partners in a research note on Friday, January 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.18.

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About Magellan Midstream Partners

Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. engages in the transportation, storage, and distribution of refined petroleum products and crude oil in the United States. The company operates through Refined Products, Crude Oil, and Marine Storage segments. It operates refined products pipeline that transports gasoline, distillates, aviation fuels, and liquefied petroleum gases for independent refiners and integrated oil companies, wholesalers, retailers, traders, railroads, airlines, bio-fuel producers, and regional farm cooperatives; and provides services, including terminalling, ethanol and biodiesel unloading and loading, additive injection, custom blending, laboratory testing, and data services to shippers.

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7 Growth Stocks Racing to All-Time Highs

After a brutal late 2018 selloff, financial markets have been on a healthy and stable recovery path thus far in 2019. Through the first three months of the year, the S&P 500 is up 12%, marking one of its best starts to a calendar year in recent memory.

As broader financial markets have stabilized, growth stocks have come back into favor. Indeed, one could say that they’ve done much more than come back into favor. Many of them have rushed to fresh all-time highs in 2019, and that’s after big corrections in late 2018. That means that a handful of these growth stocks have staged huge rallies over the past three months.

Which stocks fit into this category? And can these big rallies last?

These are questions investors should be asking as we head into what projects to be a more volatile time for financial markets throughout the balance of 2019. As such, let’s take a look at seven growth stocks which have raced to all-time highs in early 2019, and analyze whether or not their big rallies can continue.

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 iRobot (IRBT)

Why It’s at All-Time Highs: Shares of consumer robotics giant iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT)have run up to all-time highs prices on the back of a strong double-beat-and-raise fourth-quarter earnings report that emphasized a few positive trends, including continued robust robotic vacuum market expansion, strong margin growth and a mitigated tariff impact.

Where It’s Going Next: The long-term IRBT growth narrative is positive. This company is morphing into a consumer robotics leader with minimal competition, and as such, will be a big revenue and profit grower for a lot longer as the consumer robotics space expands. Such big revenue and profit growth will keep IRBT stock on a long-term winning trajectory. But, in the near term, the valuation seems stretched at nearly 40x forward earnings. This stock needs to trade sideways for the foreseeable future to allow the fundamentals to catch up.

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 Shopify (SHOP)

Why It’s At All-Time Highs: Shares of e-commerce solutions provider Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) have notched new all-time highs thanks to renewed macroeconomic confidence and a strong Q4 earnings report in which growth hardly slowed and margins continued to move higher.

Where It’s Going Next: In the big picture, Shopify stock is powered by a secular growth narrative that goes something like this: the world is becoming increasingly decentralized thanks to technology democratizing creation and distribution processes. Shopify is enabling and empower this decentralization in the retail world. As this decentralization trend continues to play out over the next several years, Shopify’s merchant base will grow by leaps and bounds. Revenues will roar higher. Profits will, too. So will SHOP stock. As such, the long-term narrative here is very bullish — bullish enough to make this a long-term buy-and-hold stock.

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Cronos (CRON)

Why It’s At All-Time Highs: Shares of Canadian cannabis company Cronos (NASDAQ:CRON) have more than doubled in 2019 and run to fresh all-time highs on the back of a multi-billion dollar investment from tobacco giant Altria (NYSE:MO). Investors have interpreted this investment as a major vote of confidence from a well respected global tobacco giant, at a time when global cannabis market fundamentals are improving. Consequently, they have bid up CRON stock to new highs.

Where It’s Going Next: The cannabis market projects to be really, really big one day. With a multi-billion dollar investment from Altria in its back pocket, Cronos has the necessary financial resources, business know-how, and distribution networks to one day turn into a major player in this global market. It’s fair to say that the stock has gone too far, too fast, and needs to cool off. This is likely what will happen. But, after that cooling off period, CRON stock will resume its uptrend, because the long-term fundamentals here of Cronos turning into a global cannabis giant are quite promising.

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Wayfair (W)

Why It’s At All-Time Highs: Shares of online home retailer Wayfair (NYSE:W) have surged over the past few weeks to all-time highs thanks to two things. One, confidence in the macroeconomic environments in the U.S. and Europe has dramatically improved. Two, Wayfair’s margins finally stabilized last quarter, and that stabilization coupled with continued robust domestic and international growth served as justification for what had been several quarters of big investment. Investors rallied around those numbers, and bid up W stock to new highs.

Where It’s Going Next: Wayfair is a big growth story. This company has differentiated itself as the leader in a secular growth online home retail market, and this market is very big. Management pegs it at $600 billion in the U.S. and Europe. Revenues were under $7 billion last year, and grew by over 40% year-over-year. Thus, there is lots of runway for Wayfair to remain a big growth company for a lot longer. Having said that, the valuation is a tough pill to swallow here, especially with profit margins still very weak. As such, I wouldn’t chase this rally. But, I would buy any big dips.

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The Trade Desk (TTD)

Why It’s At All-Time Highs: Programmatic advertising leader The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) has exploded to all-time highs over the past few weeks thanks to a robust double-beat-and-raise fourth quarter earnings report which underscored that this company’s growth narrative is still accelerating, and that big growth is here to stay for a lot longer.

Where It’s Going Next: The Trade Desk is a secular growth company powered by still accelerating tailwinds in automation and advertising. Over time, all $1 trillion worth of global ads will be transacted programmatically. That means that Trade Desk, which had under $3 billion in gross spend last year, has a huge opportunity in front of it to grow gross ad spend towards $100 billion-plus. If management successfully executes on that opportunity, TTD stock will head significantly higher in a long term window.

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Etsy (ETSY)

Why It’s At All-Time Highs: Shares of Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) have surged to all-time highs over the past few weeks thanks to robust holiday numbers which were strong across the board, including robust community, sales, margin, and profit growth. Investors cheered those results, and bid up ETSY stock to fresh highs.

Where It’s Going Next: Etsy is a big growth company with strong growth drivers in e-commerce. But, there’s lots of competition here, from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), and others. To be sure, Etsy has held off that competition, but that’s because Etsy dominates a niche of the market, meaning that growth won’t remain big forever. Eventually, it will tap out, and so will margins. That may happen sooner than most expect, and at over 60x forward earnings, a slowdown could be catastrophic for ETSY stock.

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Chegg (CHGG)

Why It’s At All-Time Highs: Digital education platform Chegg (NASDAQ:CHGG) has roared to all-time highs on the back of a strong Q4 earnings report which included robust subscriber, revenue, and profit growth, as well as a healthy first quarter and fiscal 2019 guide.

Where It’s Going Next: CHGG stock will head higher from here. Why? Because the company is the unchallenged leader in the digital education market, and that market is far bigger than what the company is currently penetrating. At scale, Chegg will transform into a must-have digital education tool for all high school and college students. It is only a fraction of that today. As such, big growth is here stay for a lot longer. Such big growth is also accompanied by big margins. The combination of big growth and big margins will inevitably power CHGG stock higher in the long run.

As of this writing, Luke Lango was long SHOP, TTD, AMZ

First Trust Advisors LP Sells 117,286 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 117,286 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.18% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $7,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. First Interstate Bank increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 5,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 47,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 79,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 18,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 83.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WAL shares. Stephens reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Wednesday, December 12th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $56.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 15th. TheStreet lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, December 24th. Finally, ValuEngine lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Shares of NYSE WAL opened at $44.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $37.39 and a one year high of $64.06.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $281.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.36 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 40.48% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, Director Bruce D. Beach sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.55, for a total value of $174,562.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Randall S. Theisen sold 2,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.09, for a total transaction of $109,233.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,060.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “First Trust Advisors LP Sells 117,286 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL)” was first published by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this story on another publication, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of U.S. & international trademark and copyright laws. The legal version of this story can be viewed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4202862/first-trust-advisors-lp-sells-117286-shares-of-western-alliance-bancorporation-wal.html.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Profile

Western Alliance Bancorporation operates as the holding company for Western Alliance Bank that provides various banking products and related services primarily in Arizona, California, and Nevada. The company offers deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts, as well as fixed-rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposit accounts.

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Southwestern Energy Forecasted to Post Q1 2019 Earnings of $0.19 Per Share (SWN)

Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) – Equities researchers at Capital One Financial dropped their Q1 2019 earnings estimates for shares of Southwestern Energy in a note issued to investors on Friday, March 1st. Capital One Financial analyst B. Velie now anticipates that the energy company will post earnings of $0.19 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.26. Capital One Financial currently has a “Underweight” rating on the stock. Capital One Financial also issued estimates for Southwestern Energy’s Q2 2019 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.13 EPS and Q4 2019 earnings at $0.15 EPS.

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Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Southwestern Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 13th. MKM Partners assumed coverage on shares of Southwestern Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $4.00 target price on Southwestern Energy and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 29th. Finally, B. Riley set a $7.00 target price on Southwestern Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.52.

SWN stock opened at $4.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.30. Southwestern Energy has a 1-year low of $3.23 and a 1-year high of $6.23.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwestern Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Courier Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwestern Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its stake in shares of Southwestern Energy by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 14,600 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Enlightenment Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwestern Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwestern Energy by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,620 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,485 shares during the period. 95.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwestern Energy Company Profile

Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. The company focuses on the development of unconventional natural gas reservoirs located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

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Trueblue (TBI) Cut to “Sell” at ValuEngine

ValuEngine downgraded shares of Trueblue (NYSE:TBI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TBI. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Trueblue from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Trueblue from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 11th. TheStreet cut shares of Trueblue from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Monday, December 31st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group decreased their price objective on shares of Trueblue from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Trueblue presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $26.00.

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Shares of NYSE TBI opened at $23.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Trueblue has a 52-week low of $20.56 and a 52-week high of $29.85. The company has a market capitalization of $930.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.78.

Trueblue (NYSE:TBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 7th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. Trueblue had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of $650.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Trueblue will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, CFO Derrek Lane Gafford sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total transaction of $590,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 128,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,028,509.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TBI. Norges Bank bought a new position in Trueblue during the fourth quarter worth $19,543,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Trueblue by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 96,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Trueblue by 720.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 66,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 58,664 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Trueblue by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan bought a new position in Trueblue during the fourth quarter worth $499,000. Institutional investors own 92.57% of the company’s stock.

About Trueblue

TrueBlue, Inc provides contingent staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, and contingent staffing management services in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The PeopleReady segment offers a range of staffing solutions for blue-collar, contingent on-demand, and skilled labor in construction, manufacturing and logistics, warehousing and distribution, waste and recycling, hospitality, general labor, and other industries under the Labor Ready, CLP Resources, and Spartan Staffing brands.

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Why Amazon Stock Will Break Out of Its Trading Range

After rewarding shareholders with modest stock gains in the last year of about 8%, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) continues to dominate in nearly all the businesses it enters.

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What makes the online retailer so tough to beat? Does it owe its success to leaning its moat from AWS, its cloud business? Or is there more to it?

Huge Online Presence

Amazon.com’s strong online presence, such as through its retailing site or by streaming content, attracts plenty of advertising revenue. And don’t forget about IMDB.com, its internet movie database unit, which drives plenty of website traffic.

IMDB launched FreeDive, whose ad-supported free streaming video channel is bringing in more advertising dollars.

In the last quarter (Q4), advertising decelerated to 97%. That is still a very strong, year-on-year growth number. Amazon owes strong ad dollars growth to solid adoption across its vendors, sellers, and authors.

Thanks to the diversity of its business, the company attracts advertisers from all types of markets.

Physical Store Underperformance.

Amazon did report one weak data point its business: physical store revenue. Sales fell 3% year-over-year due to its Whole Foods unit. Still, this includes Amazon Books stores, Amazon Go and Amazon 4 star. If the company changes its metric by including online orders where people use their Prime Now app, that year-on-year physical store sale number changes. So if the customer orders for delivery or pick up at Whole Foods stores, Y/Y sales would be up 6%.

Growth Catalysts

With the holiday season now behind it, Amazon may not have any near-term growth catalysts. When it lowered its free shipping threshold ahead of the fourth-quarter holiday period, that may have driven sales higher. Beyond that, Amazon will likely ship more and more Alexa devices in 2019. Home assistants are still a novelty and are not any every household. There is a growth opportunity in growing device sales, which in turn could drive Prime membership and shopping activity at Amazon’s site higher.

Wall Street Projects 28% Upside in Amazon.com Stock

Per Tipranks, the average price target on AMZN stock is $2,125, implying an upside of 28%. Conversely, on Feb. 14, Citi replaced Amazon with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) as its top pick. Citi cited strength in YouTube and mobile search for the switch. It also thought that Amazon canceling the New York headquarters and the Jeff Bezos’ affair scandal are negative developments.

The problem with this top pick switch is that Google’s growth is limited worldwide. It reported some $5 billion in revenue in Asia but this could be due to ad sales in Hong Kong and vicinity. Google has no access to China’s market, which would limit the revenue growth upside for the search giant.

The affair scandal involving Amazon’s boss is a non-event because it will not have an impact on Bezos’ ability to lead the company. Amazon will continue to innovate its site, leverage the low cost of AWS, and deliver on selling goods at costs lower than its competitors.

Risks

Amazon’s revenue grew 44% in the fourth quarter while CapEx grew 17%. In Q1 last year, CapEx grew 33%. 2018 was also a lighter investment year, so the lower costs may have helped lift the stock price. Although this cost figure varies quarterly, Amazon could report a usually larger cost basis that will hurt profits. This could dissuade investors from continuing to hold AMZN stock. Weaker may face ongoing gross margin due to higher shipping costs, including free shipping. AWS, though, will limit the drop in gross margin.

Bottom Line on Amazon Stock

Amazon is trading in a range of between $1500 to $1700. Valuations are not a concern because the market traditionally assigns a high P/E multiple for the stock. Chances are good that the stock could break out above the trading range when it reports results next quarter. Strong AWS revenue, higher Alexa shipments, and higher online sales will set the stock back to yearly highs.

As of this writing, Chris Lau did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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3 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Before Claiming Social Security Early

Social Security benefits are earnings-based, which means the monthly payments you receive as a senior will be a function of how much you earned during your career -- specifically, your 35 highest paid years on the job. That said, the age at which you initially file will affect your benefits, too.

If you file for Social Security at full retirement age, or FRA, you'll get the precise monthly benefit your earnings record entitles you to. But you don't have to file at FRA. You can delay benefits past that point and accrue credits that boost them by 8% a year up until age 70, or you can claim benefits as early as age 62, albeit with a reduction for each month you file ahead of FRA.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Not surprisingly, most seniors opt for the latter and file for benefits before reaching FRA. In fact, 62 remains the most popular age to start taking benefits despite the major reduction in income it causes.

If you're planning to claim Social Security early -- meaning, before FRA -- then you'll really need to think about whether that's a smart choice. Here are a few questions whose answers might influence your decision.

1. Do I need this money right away to cover essentials?

Many seniors are forced into early retirement, whether from losing their jobs or being physically unable to keep up with the demands of full-time work. If that happens to you before you hit FRA, you might be inclined to start collecting Social Security right away. But before you do, ask yourself whether there might be another source of income you can tap to cover your expenses and tide yourself over until FRA. For example, you might have savings in an IRA or 401(k), income from a pension, investments you can cash out, or good old cash in the bank. You might also have the option to rent out space in your home, or work in some capacity to generate income.

Now, if your financial resources are limited and you definitely don't have the money to cover your essential living costs, then you might have no choice but to file for Social Security early. But make sure that's really the case before making your claim official.

2. Am I planning to work at all in the coming years?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will allow you to work and collect benefits at the same time. But unless you've reached FRA, you might see a portion of those benefits withheld if your earnings exceed a certain threshold.

For the current year, you can earn up to $17,640 before having your benefits impacted, but once your earnings exceed that level, you'll have $1 in Social Security withheld for every $2 you make. Meanwhile, if you're going to reach FRA at any point this year, you can earn up to $46,920 without having benefits withheld, but from there, you'll lose $1 in Social Security for every $3 in earnings.

The good news in either scenario is that the benefits you have withheld won't be lost permanently. Rather, they'll be added back into your monthly benefits once you reach FRA. What will be permanent, however, is the reduction in monthly benefits you'll face by virtue of having filed early. As such, you might ask yourself whether it really pays to claim Social Security if you're planning to work anyway.

3. Will taking benefits early cause financial struggles down the line?

Much of the time, the reduction you face in Social Security benefits for filing early will remain in effect for the rest of your life. The only exception is if you undo your application within a year of filing and repay every cent you received in benefits back to the SSA. As such, you'll really need to think about the long-term ramifications of filing early.

As you age, you might find that additional health issues creep up -- issues that cost money. You might also find that it's costlier to maintain your home, or that you need some form of long-term care. Therefore, when you think about claiming benefits early, don't just think of the short-term impact, but rather, the lifelong impact that decision might have.

There are plenty of scenarios where claiming Social Security early makes sense. On the other hand, while it is a fairly common practice, it's one that can also backfire. Contemplate these questions carefully before making your decision so that you don't wind up regretting it after the fact.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Broadcom Inc (AVGO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,845 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $28,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 160.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 644 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. NN Investment Partners Holdings N.V. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 24.2% during the third quarter. NN Investment Partners Holdings N.V. now owns 4,243 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. GWM Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 97.8% during the third quarter. GWM Advisors LLC now owns 4,298 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 2.8% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 45,274 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,170,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dowling & Yahnke LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 21.1% during the third quarter. Dowling & Yahnke LLC now owns 2,606 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. 85.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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In other news, Director Donald Macleod sold 5,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.65, for a total transaction of $1,220,353.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas H. Krause sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.08, for a total value of $5,784,300.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,723 shares of company stock worth $20,347,374 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen lowered shares of Broadcom from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $280.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 22nd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, December 3rd. Charter Equity upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “market perform” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 7th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 7th. Finally, BidaskClub downgraded shares of Broadcom from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.42.

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $275.36 on Friday. Broadcom Inc has a 1 year low of $197.46 and a 1 year high of $286.63. The company has a market cap of $109.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.41 and a current ratio of 3.90.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 6th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $5.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.58 by $0.27. Broadcom had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 58.80%. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Broadcom Inc will post 18.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Broadcom Profile

Broadcom Inc designs, develops, and supplies a range of semiconductor devices with a focus on complex digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor based devices and analog III-V based products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Wired Infrastructure, Wireless Communications, Enterprise Storage, and Industrial & Other.

Further Reading: Dividend Achievers

Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc (COKE) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc (NASDAQ:COKE) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Coca-Cola Bottling Co Consolidated together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes nonalcoholic beverages. Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc has a market cap of $2.14 billion; its shares were traded at around $229.16 with a P/E ratio of 25.26 and P/S ratio of 0.47. The dividend yield of Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc stocks is 0.44%. Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 5.00% over the past ten years.

For the last quarter Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc reported a revenue of $1.1 billion, compared with the revenue of $1.1 billion during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $4.6 billion, an increase of 7% from last year. For the last five years Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc had an average revenue growth rate of 26.5% a year.

The reported loss per diluted share was $2.13 for the year, compared with the earnings per share of $5.36 in the previous year. The Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc had an operating margin of 1.25%, compared with the operating margin of 2.22% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc is 4.71%. The profitability rank of the company is 7 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc has the cash and cash equivalents of $13.5 million, compared with $16.9 million in the previous year. The long term debt was $1.1 billion, compared with $1.1 billion in the previous year. Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc has a financial strength rank of 5 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $229.16, Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc is traded at 18.7% premium to its historical median P/S valuation band of $193.06. The P/S ratio of the stock is 0.47, while the historical median P/S ratio is 0.39. The stock gained 26.32% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of COKE, click here.

Hold Axis bank; target of Rs 789: Arihant Capital

Arihant Capital 's research report on Axis bank

Axis Bank reported strong operating performance in Q3FY19. PAT surged by 131% at Rs. 1681cr driven by higher other income, which includes fee, treasury and miscellaneous income. Operating Profit for the quarter grew by 43% YOY to Rs 5,525 cr. Advances for the quarter grew by 13% YoY at Rs. 4,751 bln leading to higher NII growth of 18% to Rs. 5604 cr resulting into 9 bps improvement in NIM at 3.47%. Other income for the quarter grew by 54% YoY at Rs. 4001 cr. Treasury income for the quarter grew sharply by 90%. OPEX for the quarter grew by 18% YoY at Rs. 4080 cr taking CI ratio to 42.5% from 47.4% YoY.

Outlook

We have valued the stock at the P/ABV of 3.0x to its FY20E and arrived at a fair value of Rs 789 per share giving an upside of 9.0%. At CMP of Rs 723 the stock is available at its FY 20E P/ABV of 2.8(x). We have an 'HOLD' rating on the stock.

For all recommendations report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More First Published on Feb 28, 2019 05:08 pm

Blackrock Capital Investment (BKCC) Upgraded to “Hold” by Zacks Investment Research

Blackrock Capital Investment (NASDAQ:BKCC) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

According to Zacks, “BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation provides responsive, creative and flexible capital solutions to middle-market companies. BlackRock Kelso Capital provides middle-market companies with flexible financing solutions, including senior and junior secured, unsecured and subordinated debt securities and loans, and equity securities. The Companies strategy is to provide capital to meet our clients’ current and future needs across this spectrum, creating long-term partnerships with growing middle-market companies. “

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A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on BKCC. BidaskClub cut Blackrock Capital Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 1st. ValuEngine raised Blackrock Capital Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Blackrock Capital Investment from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Blackrock Capital Investment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

NASDAQ BKCC traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $6.34. 522,714 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 329,517. Blackrock Capital Investment has a one year low of $5.06 and a one year high of $6.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $451.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.80.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Blackrock Capital Investment by 385.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Quantamental Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Blackrock Capital Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackrock Capital Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Dfpg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Blackrock Capital Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Blackrock Capital Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. 33.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Blackrock Capital Investment

BlackRock Capital Investment Corporation, formerly known as BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation, is a Business Development Company specializing in investments in middle market companies. The fund invests in all industries. It prefers to invest between $10 million and $50 million and can invest more or less in companies with EBITDA or operating cash flow between $10 million and $50 million.

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Why Community Health Systems Stock Is Soaring Today

What happened

After the hospital conglomerate reported fourth-quarter and full-year results, shares of Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) were up 20% as of 10:25 a.m. EST on Thursday.

So what

Here's a look at the headline numbers from the quarter:

Revenue jumped 13% to $3.453 billion. That came in slightly ahead of Wall Street's estimate. Adjusted admissions grew 0.1%.  GAAP net loss was $328 million, or $2.91 per share. Adjusted net loss came in at $0.42 per share. That was much higher than the $0.28-per-share adjusted loss recorded in the year-ago period, but it was better than the $0.58-per-share loss that analysts had predicted.

Here are the company's results for the full year:

Revenue fell 8% to $14.2 billion. The decline was mostly due to hospital divestitures and closures. Net loss was $788 million, or $6.99 per share.  Adjusted net loss came in at $1.94 per share. 

Image source: Getty Images.

Investors appear to be applauding the better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Now what

Community Health Systems remains in a precarious position. The company is burning through capital each quarter and is rapidly shedding hospitals in an attempt to pay off its substantial debt load (which at year-end still topped $13.3 billion).

Community Health Systems might be able to eventually turn the ship around and turn into a fine investment from here. However, I'm not a fan of investing in turnaround stories.

If hospital stocks interest you, then there are other companies out there that are more deserving of your attention.

Duke Offshore locked at 20% upper circuit on new contract

Shares of Duke Offshore locked at 20 percent upper circuit on Wednesday as company won a contract from Daewoo-Tata projects JV.

The company has been awarded a prestigious contract by Daewoo-Tata projects JV to provide one initial high speed vessel to support construction for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project.

The contract is for a period of 2 years with an extension option upto 30 months and will start in the month of February 2019.

There were pending buy orders of 54,780 shares, with no sellers available.

At 09:21 hrs Duke Offshore was quoting at Rs 25.35, up Rs 4.20, or 19.86 percent on the BSE.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 47 and 52-week low Rs 14.53 on 27 February, 2018 and 23 July, 2018, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 46.06 percent below its 52-week high and 74.47 percent above its 52-week low.

For more market news, click here First Published on Feb 20, 2019 09:28 am

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) Shares Sold by Macroview Investment Management LLC

Macroview Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEARCA:VIG) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF makes up 1.4% of Macroview Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Macroview Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF were worth $435,000 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 the stock. Intl Fcstone Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Intl Fcstone Inc. now owns 13,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstreet Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealthstreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 31,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,128,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services boosted its stake in shares of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 6,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. First Command Bank now owns 2,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter.

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Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF stock opened at $108.43 on Friday. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has a one year low of $91.68 and a one year high of $112.61.

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Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF Company Profile

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the investment performance of the Dividend Achievers Select Index. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund. The Fund will hold all the stocks in the index in approximately the same proportions as their weightings in the index.

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HSBC Initiates Coverage on Stock Spirits Group (STCK)

HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Stock Spirits Group (LON:STCK) in a report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a GBX 290 ($3.79) price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Stock Spirits Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Stock Spirits Group to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from GBX 220 ($2.87) to GBX 230 ($3.01) in a research report on Friday, February 1st. Finally, Numis Securities reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 320 ($4.18) price target on shares of Stock Spirits Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 8th.

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Shares of STCK opened at GBX 224 ($2.93) on Tuesday. Stock Spirits Group has a 12 month low of GBX 155.50 ($2.03) and a 12 month high of GBX 320 ($4.18).

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 7th will be given a dividend of €0.06 ($0.07) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Stock Spirits Group’s previous dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 7th.

About Stock Spirits Group

Stock Spirits Group PLC produces and distributes branded spirits primarily in Central and Eastern Europe. It offers a range of spirits, including vodka, vodka-based liqueurs, rum, brandy, wines, whisky, gin, herbal bitters, and limoncello under approximately 45 brand names. The company also exports its products to approximately 50 countries.

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Brokerages Expect Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (AHT) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $343.55 Mil

Brokerages expect Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AHT) to report $343.55 million in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Five analysts have made estimates for Ashford Hospitality Trust’s earnings. The highest sales estimate is $345.00 million and the lowest is $341.86 million. Ashford Hospitality Trust reported sales of $341.57 million in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year-over-year growth rate of 0.6%. The company is expected to issue its next earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, February 28th.

On average, analysts expect that Ashford Hospitality Trust will report full year sales of $1.43 billion for the current year. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect that the firm will post sales of $1.47 billion, with estimates ranging from $1.45 billion to $1.48 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that cover Ashford Hospitality Trust.

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A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 12th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust in a report on Monday, November 5th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 7th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.75.

Ashford Hospitality Trust stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $5.39. The stock had a trading volume of 313,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,320. Ashford Hospitality Trust has a 52-week low of $3.85 and a 52-week high of $8.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 3.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.79. The company has a market capitalization of $544.60 million, a P/E ratio of 3.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.73.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Ashford Hospitality Trust by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,006,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,026,000 after purchasing an additional 544,053 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,476,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,383,000 after acquiring an additional 780,347 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,330,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,284,000 after acquiring an additional 667,800 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,955,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,661,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,614,000 after acquiring an additional 11,008 shares during the period. 73.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashford Hospitality Trust Company Profile

Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing opportunistically in the hospitality industry in upper upscale, full-service hotels.

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