Archive for June, 2011
(GWW) W.W. Grainger Still Neutral
W.W. Grainger Inc.’s (GWW) fiscal first quarter 2011 EPS was a record $2.18, up 58% year over year, while revenues climbed 12.6%, both outperforming the relevant Zacks Consensus Estimates. Results were driven by expanding product lines, investments in eCommerce, and enhancement...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WM) Waste Management Completes a Year of Green Energy
The leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America Waste Management Inc. (WM) recently completed a year of supplying renewable energy to the communities of McMinnville, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. The energy is generated from the garbage collected...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VAR) Varian Medical Systems Wins R&D 100 Award
Leading integrated radiotherapy systems maker Varian Medical Systems (VAR) recently disclosed that its image guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery system (TrueBeam) is the recipient of a 2011 R&D 100 Award conferred by R&D Magazine. This yearly felicitation recognizes...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BSDM) BSD Medical’s MicroThermX Gains Acceptance
Cancer treatment systems maker BSD Medical Corp. (BSDM) recently revealed acceptance of its MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System (“MicroThermX”) at the World Conference on Interventional Oncology (“WCIO”) convened in New York City, between June 9 and 12, 2011. The two...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HON) Honeywell International’s UOP Unit Wins Contract
UOP LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc. (HON), has agreed to provide key technology to the Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Co. (Takreer) for a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in the United Arab Emirates. The financial terms of the transaction were not...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HBC) HSBC Holdings Plc-Madoff Trustee Lawsuit
HSBC Holdings Plc (HBC) will have to wait for about a month (July end) for the verdict whether the trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC can be allowed to proceed with a $9 billion lawsuit accusing the company of having enabled the huge fraud. In December last...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BRKA) Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Wesco Financial Offer
Yesterday, Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive officer of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA) (BRKB) renegotiated the offering price to Wesco Financial Corp. (WSC) at $385.00 per share in cash. This is the third time that the price has been adjusted. In February...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HSC) Harsco Corporation Wins Contracts From JSW Steel
Harsco Corporation (HSC) has won two major new environmental solutions contracts from JSW Steel Ltd valued at $135 million. The tenure of the contract is 10 years. JSW Steel, a part of O.P. Jindal Group, is acknowledged as one of the largest steel makers in India and lowest cost...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HTGC) Hercules Technology Growth Capital Renews Credit Facility
Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc. (HTGC) announced the completion of its renewal of $300 million credit facility. The company’s credit facility has a commitment of $75 million through Wells Fargo Capital Finance, LLC (WFCF), a division of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC). Hercules...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CHT) Chunghwa Telecom Eyes Chinese Expansion
Taipei-based Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd., (CHT) recently announced its plans to enter into an agreement with Chinese telecom operators in order to provide value-added services and other application support to the Chinese subscribers. The agreement will allow the company to seize...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SONC) Sonic Booms on Higher Comps
Sonic Corp. (SONC), the drive-in fast food chain operator, reported third quarter 2011 adjusted earnings of 21 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 18 cents and the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 15 cents. The better-than-expected results were...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RAI) FDA Launches Stronger Anti-smoking Campaign
The Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) in a recent ruling has asked the tobacco giants of United States to print the latest design set by the council on their cigarette packets from October 2011. Graphic design of a dead body, cancerous lungs and rotten teeth would definitely...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PFE) Pfizer’s Lyrica Holds Promise
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) recently presented positive top-line data on its blockbuster drug, Lyrica. Pfizer said that Lyrica met the primary endpoint in a study that was being conducted in patients with chronic central neuropathic pain following traumatic spinal cord injury. Patients...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ETR) Entergy Unit Showing the Green Way
Integrated energy company Entergy Corporation (ETR) announced that its unit Entergy Louisiana, LLC has sought permission from the Louisiana Public Service Commission for approval to build a new, 550-megawatt (MW) natural gas unit at its existing Ninemile Point plant in Westwego,...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CAT) Caterpillar Opens New Facility
Caterpillar Logistics Service Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), intends to open a new parts distribution center in Spokane, Washington. The company is now the industry’s leading global service parts distributor. The new facility in Spokane, which...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FLR) Fluor Earns Design Contract From Dow for Propane Project
Fluor Corporation (FLR) received a basic engineering and design services contract from The Dow Chemical Company. The services are for Dow’s propane dehydrogenation (PDH) expansion project in Freeport, Texas. The value of the contract has not been disclosed but included in the...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ORCL) U.S. Announces Positive Durable Goods Report
Positive economic reports on the U.S. front and lingering optimism from Thursday’s Greek deal are expected to help stocks push higher today. Approval from the Greek parliament next week for the new austerity plan will pave the way for a fresh multi-year rescue fund for...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LGF) Lions Gate Entertainment Sells Maple Pictures
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) recently announced the sale of its Canadian distributor Maple Pictures to the Alliance group for approximately $38.5 million. The deal subject to the approval by the Canadian regulatory authorities, allows the Alliancegroup to acquire Maple...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HRS) Harris’ Winning Spree Continues
A leading supplier of communications equipment and services, Harris Corp. (HRS) recently won a $16 million contract from the U.S. military forces to supply Falcon III AN/PRC-117G Multiband Manpack tactical radios. Earlier, the company had received orders worth $9.4 million and...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SNN) Smith & Nephew Acquires Tenet
Smith & Nephew (SNN), an international medical device major operating in the orthopedic reconstruction and trauma, endoscopy and advanced wound management market, recently announced its intention of acquiring privately-held Tenet Medical Engineering, Inc. However, the financial...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMB) Williams Bids for Southern Union
Williams Companies (WMB) has offered to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Southern Union Company (SUG) for a total cash value of $4.86 billion, topping the bid of $4.2 billion that was placed by Energy Transfer Equity L.P. (ETE). The total enterprise value of the deal...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RF) Regions Financial Restructures Three Units
Yesterday, Regions Financial Corp. (RF) announced the merger of its three units into a single wealth management group. The company reorganized its businesses following the plan of selling off its scandal-hit brokerage unit Morgan Keegan. Alabama-based Regions pooled its trust,...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(S) Sprint-Nextel to Enhance Corporate Service
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will offer its corporate clients the Managed Telepresence services of Indian telecom giant, Tata Communications Limited (TCL). Financial details of the recent contract with Tata were not disclosed. The collaboration will allow Sprint to combine its cutting...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LMNX) Luminex MAGPIX Earns Stevie Award for Business
Luminex Corporation (LMNX), a developer of biological testing technologies, has clinched two American Business Awards (“Stevie Awards”) for its flagship MAGPIX analytical instrument. The Stevie Awards were created to honor organizations of all types and sizes and business...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RCII) Rent-A-Center Adjusts Management Efficiencies
Rent-A-Center Inc. (RCII) is one of the largest rent-to-own operators in the U.S. and leverages an extensive network of about 3,000 stores to effectively penetrate its target markets, and gain an advantage over its competitors, such as Aaron’s Inc. (AAN), and Advance America. The...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(STJ) St. Jude Medical Device Reducing Migraines
Medical devices major St. Jude Medical (STJ) presented encouraging results from a large-scale clinical study evaluating the effectiveness of an implantable device developed by the company in treating chronic migraine, a condition afflicting millions globally. Migraines are estimated...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AN) AutoNation Remains Neutral
We reiterate our Neutral recommendation on AutoNation Inc. (AN), which is the largest automotive retailer in the U.S. and almost twice the size of its nearest competitor. The company sells 31 different brands of new vehicles, its core brands being Ford Motor Co. (F), General...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AFL) Aflac Incurs Losses on Risky Investments
Yesterday, Aflac Inc. (AFL) filed a statement disclosing impairment and investment losses of about $610 million to be incurred in the second quarter of 2011. These losses are associated with the company’s exposure to risky investments in the financial institutions of Portugal,...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(STO) Statoil ASA Awarded Contract for Subsea Compression
Statoil ASA (STO) has awarded a contract to Aker Solutions for subsea compression topside modifications on the Statoil-operated Asgard A and B platforms in the North Sea. The contract is worth NOK 650 million ($116.7 million). This deal is classified as an engineering, procurement,...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XOM) U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil to Ease Prices?
In a surprise move, U.S. and its allies in the Paris-based International Energy Agency (“IEA”) – the energy-monitoring body of 28 industrialized countries – have announced the release of 60 million barrels of emergency crude supplies from government-held strategic reserves...
26Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued