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:
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR),
Akzo Nobel N.V. (OTC: AKZOY),
Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP),
Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) and
ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq: ASMI).
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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Nabors Remains at a Premium
Weakness in natural gas prices and a tentative long-term outlook for the onshore drilling scene continues to weigh on Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) shares and the rest of the group. In the last two months alone, the stock is down more than 30%. Despite the pullback, the stock commands a valuation premium relative to its peers.
As such, we are maintaining our Hold recommendation. While we expect to see steady onshore activity levels this year and early next year, the long-term outlook remains vulnerable to natural gas weakening fundamentals. Being the largest onshore driller, Nabors remains particularly exposed to this emerging headwind.
Akzo Nobel in Tough Euro Market
Akzo Nobel NV (OTC: AKZOY) is enhancing its global position in coatings through acquisitions and organic growth. Recently, Akzo underwent a major transformation with the sale of its Organon Pharma business to Germany-based pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP). It has also acquired UK-based chemical producer Imperial Chemical Industries PLC.
However, rising commodity costs are negatively affecting margins. Raw material and energy costs are expected to rise further. The company is also facing a difficult environment in Europe. Akzo reduced its guidance for the full year 2008. This prompts us to rate the stock a Hold with a six-month target price of $66.
Unum Group's Industry Overhangs
Unum Group's (NYSE: UNM) core 2Q08 results came in five cents ahead of our expectations.
UNM has improved its balance sheet risk through reserve strengthening, write-off of intangibles, and improved operating company capitalization level. Further, the company had nearly no exposure to subprime mortgages or CDO as of the end of 2Q08. We believe that the capital management strategy of the company will be accretive to shareholders value over time. However, industry overhangs lead us to expect somewhat limited upside potential for the shares presently.
ASM Int'l Numbers Look Good
ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq: ASMI) is an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] of both front-end and back-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The company has a growing presence in Asia.
ASMI currently trades at a 13.7x multiple of our fiscal 2009 earnings estimate (P/E). Note that our pro forma earnings estimates exclude foreign exchange gains/losses and use the spot rate as a forward exchange rate proxy. ASMI shares should benefit from the growth in 300mm orders, which is likely to be sustained in the foreseeable future. Capacity driven purchases have slowed, as foundry utilizations rates have fallen.
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