LONDON --�Shares in�Admiral Group� (LSE: ADM ) �have continued to surge in recent weeks, striking 18-month peaks in recent weeks and are currently trading 16% higher from the start of the year.
The insurer announced last month that group pre-tax profit leapt 15% in 2012 to 354 million pounds, helped by a slight 1% uptick in revenues to 2.2 billion pounds. The move prompted the firm to supercharge the dividend to 20% for the year, boosting enthusiasm for the stock.
Revenues forecast to experience heavy pressure
Although last year's results exceeded analysts' expectations, I expect revenues to heavily dip moving forwards, crimping earnings growth and putting future payout prospects under the cosh.
Almost 60% of Admiral's profits last year originated from non-core operations, and broker Investec expects revenues from these activities to drop as legal referral fees are banned and other referral fees begin to drop. Meanwhile, increasing rate competitiveness in the motor insurance sector is also likely to hit group turnover looking ahead.
Best Healthcare Equipment Companies To Own For 2015: ProShares UltraShort FTSE China 25 (FXP)
ProShares UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (the Fund) seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (the Index). The Index consists of 25 of the largest and most liquid Chinese stocks listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). This free float-adjusted Index caps the weight of any of constituent stock at 10% to ensure broad representation of the Chinese economy. The Fund takes positions in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, should have similar daily return characteristics as -200% of the daily return of the Index. The Index is a price return index. The Fund�� investment advisor is ProShare Advisors LLC. Advisors' Opinion:- [By pamatlarge]
Three short ETFs are designed to profit from China�� economic downward slide. The ProShares Short FTSE China 25 (YXI), an unleveraged ETF, holds shares in iShares FTSE China Large-Cap (FXI) swaps. Investors looking to magnify their returns can choose from two leveraged short ETFs: ProShares Ultra Short FTSE China 25 (FXP) and Direxion Daily China Bear 3x Shares (YANG). Both ProShares Ultra Short and Direxion Daily hold shares that increase in value three times faster than an unleveraged ETF. The downside is that the per share price of these leveraged ETFs also drops three times faster.
Hot Integrated Utility Stocks To Watch Right Now: The Travelers Companies Inc.(TRV)
The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Business Insurance; Financial, Professional, and International Insurance; and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers property and casualty products and services, such as commercial multi-peril, property, general liability, commercial auto, and workers? compensation insurance. It operates in six groups: Select Accounts, which serves small businesses; Commercial Accounts that serves mid-sized businesses; National Accounts, which serves large companies; Industry-Focused Underwriting that serves targeted industries; Target Risk Underwriting, which serves commercial businesses requiring specialized product underwriting, claims handling, and risk management services; and Special ized Distribution that offers products to customers through licensed wholesale, general, and program agents. The Financial, Professional, and International Insurance segment provides surety and financial liability coverage, which uses a credit-based underwriting process; and property and casualty products primarily in the United States., the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals. It distributes its products through independent agents, sponsoring organizations, joint marketing arrangements with other insurers, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of American International Group have dropped 1.7% to $49.67 at 1:19 p.m. today, while American Financial Group (AFG) has, dropped 0.2% to $57.23, HCC Insurance (HCC) is little changed at $45.12,�Travelers (TRV) has dipped 0.1% to $83.52 and Chubb (CB) is off 0.1% at $86.58.
- [By Jessica Alling]
Insurance companies have also been struggling against the pressures of low interest rates, with their all-important investing operations suffering from lower yields. Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV ) is in the red this morning, with a lesser drop of 0.21% as of this writing. Despite the pressure from low bond yields, the company announced impressive earnings in April. As one of the favorites of Street hedge funds, Travelers has been getting plenty of good press from analysts, with a reiterated "buy" rating from TheStreet, an "outperform" from Raymond James, and a boost to its target price. The increase to $97 gives current investors a 12.2% upside based on yesterday's close.
- [By Sue Chang]
Travelers Inc. (TRV) , the only financial stock in the Dow reporting Tuesday, is expected to turn in earnings of $2.16 a share in the fourth quarter.
Hot Integrated Utility Stocks To Watch Right Now: Southwestern Energy Company(SWN)
Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas and crude oil in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream Services. The Exploration and Production segment involves in the development of an unconventional gas reservoir located on the Arkansas side of the Arkoma Basin, as well as exploration and production activities in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. This segment also conducts conventional drilling programs in the Arkoma Basin; and development drilling and exploration programs in the Oklahoma portion of the Arkoma Basin, as well as in Texas and Pennsylvania. In addition, it operates drilling rigs in the Fayetteville Shale play, as well as in other operating areas; and explores for natural gas and crude oil under 32 licenses in New Brunswick, Canada. The Midstream Services segment engages in gathering, marketing, and transportin g natural gas in Arkansas, Texas, and Pennsylvania. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s estimated proved natural gas and oil reserves were approximately 4,937 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent. Southwestern Energy Company was founded in 1929 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Divine]
Lastly, Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN ) , which produces and explores for oil and natural gas in the U.S., slumped 3% today. A decline of some kind was appropriate, considering that the oil and gas sector was the worst-performing sector of the index today. The 3% slip becomes even easier to understand upon noting falling natural gas prices, an unfavorable trend for natural gas explorers like Southwestern.�
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
Sale of Marcellus assets to Southwestern Energy
And then, most recently, was the sale of Chesapeake's natural gas assets in Pennsylvania prospective for the Marcellus Shale, which Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN ) , a leading natural gas producer, agreed to acquire for roughly $93 million. � - [By Charley Blaine]
Southwestern Energy Co (NYSE: SWN) was gained 2.79 percent to $38.26, after the company reported Q3 financial and operating results. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Southwestern Energy Co (NYSE: SWN) was also up, gaining 4.41 percent to $38.86 after the company reported Q3 financial and operating results. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy.
Hot Integrated Utility Stocks To Watch Right Now: Amgen Inc.(AMGN)
Amgen Inc., a biotechnology medicines company, discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology for grievous illnesses primarily in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company markets recombinant protein therapeutics in supportive cancer care, nephrology, and inflammation. Its principal products include Aranesp and EPOGEN erythropoietic-stimulating agents that stimulate the production of red blood cells; Neulasta and NEUPOGEN to stimulate the production of neutrophils, which is a type of white blood cell that helps the body to fight infections; and Enbrel, an inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor that plays a role in the body?s response to inflammatory diseases. The company also markets other products comprising Sensipar/Mimpara, a small molecule calcimimetic that lowers serum calcium levels; Vectibix, a monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to the epidermal growth factor receptor; and Nplate, a thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonist that mimics endogenous TPO, the primary driver of platelet production. In addition, it provides Denosumab, a human monoclonal antibody that targets RANKL, an essential regulator of osteoclasts. Further, the company offers product candidates in mid-to-late stage development in a variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology, hematology, inflammation, bone, nephrology, cardiovascular, and general medicine consisting of neurology. It markets its products to healthcare providers, including physicians or their clinics, dialysis centers, hospitals, and pharmacies; consumers; and wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products. The company has various collaborative arrangements with Pfizer Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline plc; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited; Array BioPharma Inc.; Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd.; and Cytokinetics, Inc. Amgen Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Stephens]
Fourth-quarter results released by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN ) were roughly in line with Wall Street estimates. So, while shares didn't react particularly strongly (and have pretty much tracked the wider Nasdaq index since their release), there were a number of positives in the results that investors should be happy to hear about.
- [By Dan Carroll]
Amgen's (NASDAQ: AMGN ) stock has surged more than 44% over the past year, but while this big biotech has rewarded investors handsomely with a solid performance lately, it's always in the hunt for the star pharmaceuticals of the future. The company reported solid clinical data from its developmental melanoma drug talimogene laherparepvec, or T-Vec, over the weekend as Amgen looks to forward the drug toward an eventual application.
Hot Integrated Utility Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aussie/New Zealand (AR)
Antero Resources Corporation operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The company focuses on the acquisition, development, and production of unconventional oil and liquids-rich natural gas properties primarily in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It was formerly known as Antero Resources Appalachian Corporation and changed its name to Antero Resources Corporation in June 2013. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Denver, Colorado with district offices in Mount Clare, West Virginia; and Marietta, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier]
Supply, meanwhile, is constrained by the fact that, even at the current elevated price, few gas projects outside of the bountiful Marcellus shale can compete with the returns available in crude oil. Our favorite Marcellus drillers are Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) and Antero Resources (AR).
- [By Robert Rapier]
Normally, we wouldn’t be updating so soon buy recommendations made within the last month or so. Then again, we normally wouldn’t expect a decent year’s worth of gains in a month, so a look-around definitely seems in order.
Marcellus and Utica driller Antero Resources (NYSE: AR) is up 13 percent (as of Dec. 27) since we added it to The Energy Strategist’s Growth Portfolio on Nov. 26, extending a rally that has made it one of the year’s most successful initial public offerings.
There have been no company-specific news in the last months, but the prices of natural gas and, crucially, the natural gas liquids that will account for the bulk of Antero’s future profits, have moved significantly higher.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Antero Resources (NYSE: AR) were down 3.64 percent to $60.92 after the company announced a 105% y/y gain in its Q1 preliminary gas production. - [By Robert Rapier]
In February,�Antero Resources�(NYSE: AR) filed an S-1 with the SEC for the initial public offering of an MLP comprised of its midstream assets.�The filing�indicated that Antero Resources Midstream LLC would be converted into a limited partnership named Antero Midstream Partners LP with a valuation of up to $500 million. Assets include a network of natural gas gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects raw natural gas from Antero’s operations in the Marcellus and Utica shales. Also included: two independent water distribution systems used for well completions in the Marcellus and Utica shales.
Hot Integrated Utility Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cash Store Financial Services Inc (CSFS)
The Cash Store Financial Services Inc., incorporated on January 17, 2002, under its Cash Store Financial, Instaloans and The Title Store banners, provides consumers with alternative financial products and services, serving everyday people for whom traditional banking may be inconvenient or unavailable. The Company acts as both a broker and lender of short term advances and offers a range of other products and services to help customers meet their day to day financial service needs. The Company employs a combination of payday loans and lines of credit as its primary consumer lending product offerings and earns fees and interest income on these consumer lending products. The Company also offers a range of financial products and services including bank accounts, prepaid MasterCard and private label credit and debit cards, cheque cashing, money transfers, payment insurance and prepaid phone cards. The Company has agency arrangements with a variety of companies to provide these products.
The Company typically arranges for advances to customers that range from $100 to $1,500. As of September 30, 2013, the Company�� total branch count was 537, addition of two new branches in the United Kingdom as well as 10 new Title Store branches and a new Cash Store Financial branch offset by the closure of 12 branches in Canada. The Company owns The Cash Store Australia Holdings Inc. The Company also has an investment in RTF Financial Holdings Inc., which is in the business of short-term lending, by utilizing automated mobile technology.
The Company competes with Dollar Financial Corp.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Despite�a slow global economy and continued high unemployment in many countries, small cap payday or pawn stocks Cash Store Financial Services Inc (NYSE: CSFS), DFC Global Corp (NASDAQ: DLLR) and Cash America International, Inc (NYSE: CSH) have not exactly been performing well since the start of the year. In fact, these three stocks are the worst performers in the payday or pawn loan sector, down 38.5%, down 14.4% and up 4.6%, respectively, since the start of the year.
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