Gold Stocks To Buy 2017: August 2018

Friday, August 3, 2018

Occidental Petroleum Co. (OXY) Shares Bought by Destination Wealth Management

Destination Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 478.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,173 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OXY. Stelac Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $112,000. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Kaizen Advisory LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 142.0% in the second quarter. Kaizen Advisory LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.91% of the company’s stock.

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A number of equities research analysts recently commented on OXY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 9th. Piper Jaffray Companies upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $77.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Sunday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.20.

Shares of Occidental Petroleum opened at $82.64 on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $58.44 and a 12-month high of $87.67. The company has a market capitalization of $64.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.21. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.4% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 10th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 7th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 346.07%.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Macy's stock is doing almost as well as Amazon

The best performing retail stock this year is no surprise: Amazon is up 54% so far in 2018.

But you may be surprised to learn that Macy's, often considered a casualty of Amazon, is the second best retailer.

Shares in the department store are up more than 50%, which makes it the 10th best performer in the S&P 500 this year.

A number of factors have driven Macy's (M) performance.

For one, the retailer recognized that had to be a bigger player in digital as more people shop on their phones, tablets and computers.

CEO Jeff Gennette -- who took over for longtime Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren in March 2017 -- boosted Macy's e-commerce and mobile efforts. Digital sales have been growing at a double-digit clip for the past few quarters as a result.

The company also continues to invest heavily in its Bluemercury chain of specialty beauty stores and its discount outlet, Macy's Backstage.

Another reason for the Macy's turnaround: The company has started to close underperforming stores and has sold off some of its real estate holdings. That helped cut costs and boost profits.

Its unclear if that will that be a long-term strategy for fending off Amazon (AMZN) and other retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT). But analysts like its chances.

Moody's put out a report this week about department stores and specifically cited Macy's as a company that may be able to hold its own against larger retail rivals.

The Moody's analysts said Macy's strategy of letting people buy online and pick up at the store has helped boost sales. Shoppers tend to make other purchases when they come to pick up online orders.

Macy's has quoted a 25% increase in sales to these customers, the Moody's analysts noted.

What's more, Moody's praised Macy's for making it easier and convenient to use the online shopping site and app.

Moody's noted that Macy's was just one of two department store chains that let customers check prices on its app, track order history, do visual searches for products and also chat with customer representatives. Kohl's (KSS) was the other.

Macy's and Kohl's were also the only two department stores that accepted Apple and Samsung Pay, PayPal and mobile wallet payments from major credit card companies. Kohl's, by the way, has also enjoyed a turnaround this year. The stock is up 30%.

"Retail companies that embrace innovation can survive in the age of Amazon," said Matt Schreiber, president and chief investment strategist at WBI Investments, in a recent email.

"Macy's is making a comeback by revising its business model to better integrate e-commerce and brick-and-mortar," he added.

Still, some wonder if Macy's can continue to wow Wall Street.

Morgan Stanley's Kimberly Greenberger, a top Wall Street retail analyst, said in May she thinks Wall Street has already rewarded the company for some easy, quick fixes. Now comes the hard part.

Greenberger is concerned overall sales are expected to remain flat this year and next. She said that Macy's needs to do more to get rid of underperforming stores.

"Even though Macy's is closing stores proactively, it may not be doing so quickly enough," she said.

Macy's will report its latest earnings on August 15.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

$152.83 Million in Sales Expected for Shenandoah Telecommunications (SHEN) This Quarter

Wall Street analysts forecast that Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) will report $152.83 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Two analysts have provided estimates for Shenandoah Telecommunications’ earnings. The highest sales estimate is $154.76 million and the lowest is $150.90 million. Shenandoah Telecommunications posted sales of $153.26 million in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year-over-year growth rate of 0.3%. The firm is expected to issue its next earnings results on Wednesday, August 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Shenandoah Telecommunications will report full year sales of $617.06 million for the current year, with estimates ranging from $611.99 million to $622.12 million. For the next financial year, analysts forecast that the business will report sales of $634.56 million per share. Zacks’ sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that follow Shenandoah Telecommunications.

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Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). Shenandoah Telecommunications had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $151.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.69 million.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SHEN shares. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research report on Wednesday, April 11th. ValuEngine upgraded Shenandoah Telecommunications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 2nd. BidaskClub upgraded Shenandoah Telecommunications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 7th. Zacks Investment Research cut Shenandoah Telecommunications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 10th. Finally, Raymond James cut Shenandoah Telecommunications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.00.

In other news, VP Richard A. Baughman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.65, for a total transaction of $195,900.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 42,624 shares in the company, valued at $1,391,673.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.84% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHEN. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications during the first quarter worth about $226,000. Hartford Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications in the second quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications in the first quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 1,957.1% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 7,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Institutional investors own 46.90% of the company’s stock.

Shenandoah Telecommunications stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $31.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 114,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,987. Shenandoah Telecommunications has a 52 week low of $29.05 and a 52 week high of $41.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 121.15 and a beta of 0.61.

About Shenandoah Telecommunications

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated and unregulated telecommunications services to customers and other telecommunications providers in central and western Virginia, south-central Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.