This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines feature an upgrade for Thomson Reuters Reuters (NYSE: TRI ) , a new buy rating for Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) -- but for Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP ) , a downgrade. Let's get that bad news out of the way first.
Union Pacific derailed
Two weeks after railroad operator Union Pacific reported Q3 earnings that topped analyst estimates�by a penny, the stock got its reward today: a downgrade at the hands of investment banker R.W. Baird.
Coming on top of the 4% slide the stock has experienced since reporting its "beat", Baird's recommendation seems a bit harsh -- like adding insult to the injury that Union Pacific shareholders have seen inflicted on their portfolios. And yet, when you look at the numbers, it's apparent that Baird's making the right call in downgrading to neutral.
Priced at 16.5 times earnings, Union Pacific shares sell for a valuation right in the middle of the pack�of North America's bigger railroad operators, where Canadian National Railway, for example, costs more than 18 times earnings -- but CSX sells for just a hair over 14 times.
Hot Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Helios Advantage Income Fund Inc. (HAV)
Helios Advantage Income Fund, Inc. is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It invests a majority of its assets in below investment grade debt securities, which are bonds rated Ba1 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., BB+ or lower by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate High Yield Index and the Barclays Capital Ba U.S. High Yield Index. It was formerly known as RMK Advantage Income Fund, Inc. Helios Advantage Income Fund, Inc. was formed on November 8, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Namitha Jagadeesh]
Havas SA (HAV) lost 1.6 percent to 5.78 euros. Barclays Plc downgraded the French advertising company to equal weight, similar to neutral, from overweight, citing the need to ��ause for breath��after its strong performance over the past three months. Havas climbed 28 percent from a June 24 low through yesterday�� close.
5 Best Penny Stocks To Buy Right Now: Hawaiian Holdings Inc.(HA)
Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., engages in the scheduled air transportation of passengers and cargo. It offers daily service on transpacific routes between Hawaii and Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington, as well as daily service on its inter island routes among the four islands of the State of Hawaii. The company also provides scheduled service on its Pacific routes between Hawaii and Pago Pago, American Samoa; Papeete, Tahiti; Sydney, Australia; Manila, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea, as well as other ad hoc charters. As of December 31, 2010, its fleet consisted of 15 Boeing 717-200 aircraft for its interisland routes; 18 Boeing 767-300; and 3 Airbus A330-200 aircrafts for its transpacific, Pacific, and charter routes. Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Earlier this month, Allegiant announced a new route that marks a significant shift in the company's philosophy. Beginning in late October, Allegiant will serve the busy Los Angeles-Honolulu route twice a week. This route is already served by all three major network carriers, as well as Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA ) , with each carrier offering multiple daily flights. What is Allegiant up to? More importantly, will it work?
- [By Michele Lerner, The Motley Fool]
Alan Diaz/APAmerican Airlines did better at staying on schedule last year than it did in 2012, when it accused pilots of a work slowdown. DALLAS -- A big drop in customer complaints helped U.S. airlines post their best ratings ever even though more flights were late and more bags were mishandled, according to a report released Monday by university researchers. Virgin America topped the ratings, and three regional airlines scored at the bottom. Among the four biggest airlines, Delta Air Lines (DAL) ranked best followed by Southwest (LUV), American (AAL) and United (UAL), according to researchers from Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The researchers have graded airlines since 1991 on government figures for on-time performance, mishandled bags, bumping passengers, and complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Their key findings: On-Time Performance: Airlines operated 78.4 percent of their flights on time in 2013, down from 81.8 percent in 2012. Best: Hawaiian Airlines (HA); worst: American Eagle. Only two airlines improved: American Airlines and United. Bag Handling: The rate of lost, stolen or delayed bags rose 5 percent. Best: Virgin America; worst: American Eagle. Bumping: The rate of bumping passengers from flights fell 8 percent. Best: JetBlue Airways (JBLU); worst: SkyWest (SKYW). Complaints: Consumer complaints to the government dropped 15 percent in 2013 after rising 20 percent the year before. Best: Southwest Airlines; worst: Frontier (RJET). One of the report's authors, Wichita State business professor Dean Headley, credited the drop in complaints partly to United Airlines. The company suffered several computer-network outages and grounded hundreds of flights in 2012 when it combined the United and Continental computer networks after a merger, but "got their act together" in 2013, he said. Headley said the drop in complaints might also reflect "a certain amount of resignation" that "it's neve
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Last week Hawaiian Airlines (HA) announced they will suspend service from Honolulu to Fukuoka after two years of unprofitable service. Hawaiian stated the market was not profitable. Delta recently started flying Honolulu-Fukuoka (and they have hedged the Yen at 80); both US airlines were operating about half full. As a result of Hawaiian leaving the market, we expect Delta’s load factors to improve. Delta has been slowly overlaying a lot of competitor capacity on the West Coast, especially to / from Seattle…
5 Best Penny Stocks To Buy Right Now: Chiquita Brands International Inc. (CQB)
Chiquita Brands International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution and marketing of bananas and fresh produce under the Chiquita and other brand names worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Bananas, Salads and Healthy Snacks, and Other Produce. The Banana segment sources, transports, markets, and distributes bananas to retailers and wholesalers, and chain stores. It also engages in the cultivation and production of bananas. The Salads and Healthy Snacks segment offers value-added salads under the Fresh Express and other labels; and fresh vegetable and fruit ingredients used in foodservice, healthy snacks, and processed fruit ingredient products. This segment also provides fresh-cut products, such as lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, and onions to foodservice distributors who resell these products to foodservice operators. It distributes Fresh Express branded products to food retailers, foodservice distributors, and quick-service restaurants; and fresh produce foodservice offerings primarily to third-party distributors for resale principally to quick-service restaurants in the United States. The Other Produce segment engages in sourcing, marketing, and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables other than bananas in Europe and North America. It offers grapes, pineapples, melons, kiwis, tomatoes, and avocados. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anders Bylund]
That's why Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB ) wants to move to Ireland. The fruits and vegetables distributor currently labors under a 41% effective tax rate, so it could use the Emerald Isle's lower base tax.
- [By Rich Duprey]
After all, like Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB ) , Dole's been undergoing a significant corporate restructuring, and last month it�sold its packaged-foods and Asia fresh business for $1.7 billion, making it a more focused international fresh fruit business, but one subject to all the vagaries that entails. In comparison, Chiquita's reorganization has it looking to become a high-volume, low-cost producer of bananas and chopped salads.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Amy Sancetta/AP Plenty of stocks go up and down in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets. Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers. Chiquita Brands (CQB) -- Up 35 Percent Last Week Investors went bananas over Chiquita after it received -- and rejected -- a buyout offer. Cutrale and Safra offered an unsolicited offer to buy the banana giant at a price of $13 a share, representing a 29 percent premium to where Chiquita closed before bid was made public. Chiquita's board rejected the offer. The stock still moved higher -- above and beyond $13 -- on the possibility of Cutrale and Safra sweetening their bid. Monster Beverage (MNST) -- Up 34 Percent Last Week Soft drinks are out, and adrenaline-boosting energy drinks are in. Coca-Cola (KO) knows this, so it announced on Friday morning that it was buying a nearly 17 percent stake in Monster Beverage for $2.15 billion. Monster and Red Bull dominate this niche despite growing concerns about the health risks of young consumers taking in too many energy drinks. Monster's stock rallied on Friday. Investors may be hoping that Coca-Cola eventually swallows down all of Monster, but in the meantime it validates the beverage category. United Online (UNTD) -- Up 20 Percent Last Week It's possible to be at the right place at the right time but with the wrong approach. United Online hasn't been the market darling that it could have been given its ability to hop on to trends early. After all, it acquired alum-reuniting Classmates before social networking was hot. It built up NetZero when the country was just starting to migrate online. It also bought MyPoints from a legacy airline before the appeal of online coupons and loyalty clubs became popular. However, investors were rewarded last week when United Online posted preliminary quarterly results. Its bean counters are still trying to assess th
- [By Sara Murphy]
Furthermore, the court's finding does not undermine the use of the ATS in cases of human rights abuses. It just requires a stronger connection to the United States. That means that other ATS cases currently working their way through the legal system, such as Earth Rights International's case against Chiquita (NYSE: CQB ) for allegedly funding and arming Colombian terrorists, are still on track. That also means that the link from human rights violations to corporate liability remains.
5 Best Penny Stocks To Buy Right Now: Servotronics Inc.(SVT)
Servotronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of technology and consumer products primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Advanced Technology Group (ATG) and Consumer Products Group (CPG). The ATG segment designs, manufactures, and markets various servo-control components that convert an electrical current into a mechanical force or movement, and other related products. Its servo-control components include torque motors, electromagnetic actuators, hydraulic valves, pneumatic valves, and similar devices that are principally sold to commercial aerospace, missile, aircraft, government related, medical, and industrial markets. This segment also produces metallic seals in various cross-sectional configurations that are used to fit between two metal surfaces to produce a secure and leak-proof joint. The ATG segment markets its products primarily through its professional staff to the United States Govern ment, government prime contractors, government subcontractors, commercial manufacturers, and end users. The CPG segment designs, manufactures, and sells various cutlery products, including steak, carving, bread, butcher, and paring knives for household use and for use in restaurants, institutions, and private industry; pocket and other types of knives for use in hunting, fishing, and camping; and machetes, bayonets, and other types of knives for military use. This segment also produces and markets other cutlery items, such as specialty tools, putty knives, linoleum sheet cutters, field knives, and other edged products. The CPG segment markets its products through sales personnel and independent manufacturers? representatives to hardware, supermarket, variety, department, discount, gift, and drug stores, as well as to various branches of the United States Government primarily under the ?Old Hickory? and ?Queen? brand names. Servotronics, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is based in Elma, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sarah Jones]
Societe Generale SA, Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG led a selloff in banks, with each falling more than 2 percent. Severn Trent Plc (SVT) sank the most since October 2006 after a consortium of investors dropped their bid for the water utility. Kabel Deutschland Holding AG jumped 8.2 percent after Vodafone Group Plc confirmed it approached the company about a takeover.
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