CHICAGO - (Business Wire) Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include:
Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE: CW),
H. J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ),
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM),
Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) and
Mylan, Inc. (NYSE: MYL).
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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Curtiss-Wright Aero Soars in Q2
Curtiss-Wright Corp.’s (NYSE: CW) Q2-08 EPS is up 25.0%, to $0.60 from $0.48. Its Q2-08 net sales were up by 24.0% to $453.5 million from $365.6 million.
The Aerospace/Defense Sector is entering the sweet spot of this cycle. Commercial deliveries of new models have yet to start in earnest, while deliveries of more mature marks continue apace. Maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of both commercial and military equipment is at a heightened level because of increased usage, which engenders a vibrant after-market.
Heinz Trading at Rich Value
Growth its domestic businesses, strengthening international operations, and the reallocation of resources in favor of key brands are major positive trends for H. J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ). However, the gross margin is declining due to higher commodity costs. Despite cost pressure, strong pricing of 3.5% to 4.5% has allowed the company to report positive earnings surprises or in line earnings in the last eight quarters.
The company’s operations in the international markets have been instrumental to growth. The management expects net sales to increase at least 6% in fiscal 2009, driven by new product introductions and positive pricing. However, since the stock is in the top-end of the historical valuation range, the Hold recommendation is maintained.
Newmont Mining Seeks Resources
We rate the shares of Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) -- one of the world’s largest unhedged gold producers -- a Hold. Gold prices are skyrocketing due to higher demand, U.S. trade/budget/currency issues and global instability. Declining grades are pushing up mining costs prompting the company to cut costs. We set a target of $47.50 due to high valuation and declining grade quality, despite the improving fundamentals.
For the second quarter, Newmont’s net income from continuing operations were $0.61 per diluted share, compared to net loss from continuing operations of $0.89 per diluted share in the prior year quarter.
Ocwen Financial Relatively Sound
Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) will release its 2Q08 earnings results on August 5, 2008, with a conference call scheduled on the same day at 11.00 am ET. 1Q08 earnings of $5.9 million or $0.09 per share were slightly short of estimates. The revenues increased 6.6% sequentially due to higher process management fees and servicing fees while the operating expenses were down 15.9%.
The company was also able to moderate the rise in delinquencies during the quarter but we suspect that the continued deterioration in the housing market, leading to decline in originations and increase in borrower defaults, coupled with the liquidity issues, will continue to challenge OCN in the near-to-medium term.
Mylan Positioning for Longer Term
Mylan, Inc. (NYSE: MYL) recently announced certain strategic initiatives which should help drive long-term growth. The acquisition of Merck Generics in October 2007 has catapulted Mylan to the position of the third largest generic company in the world and will allow Mylan to expand its footprint in non-U.S. markets like Europe, Japan and other Asia-Pacific regions.
With the Matrix and Merck Generics acquisitions, Mylan should be able to position itself as a leader in the worldwide generics market. The company expects to achieve synergies of $100 million, $121 million and $272 million in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively.
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