wall street
NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC., $28.88, New York symbol NWL, makes a variety of everyday items, such as trash cans and food-storage containers. Aside from Rubbermaid, its main brands include Sharpie, Paper Mate, Waterman and Levolor. In the three months ended March 31, 2014, Newell’s sales fell 0.7%, to $1.23 billion from $1.24 billion a year earlier. That’s partly because harsh winter weather kept many shoppers at home. As well, the company had to recall infant car seats to fix defective seat belts. Newell gets about a third of its sales from outside the U.S. If you disregard the negative impact of currency exchange rates, sales rose 0.7% in the quarter....
We’ve had great success with companies spun off from larger parent firms in the past few years. That’s mainly because spinoffs let both companies focus on their already well-established businesses. As well, a parent will only hand out a subsidiary’s shares to its own investors if it’s confident the spinoff will benefit both companies. Shares of this food producer we cover in Wall Street Stock Forecaster have jumped since it was spun off to become a separate firm. Here is our analysis of its future prospects....
APPLE INC., $571.94, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, rose 9% this week after it announced several moves to enhance its investment appeal. These initiatives include raising its quarterly dividend by 7.9%, to $3.29 a share from $3.05. The new annual rate of $13.16 yields 2.3%. Apple also increased its share buyback program by $30 billion. It can now repurchase up to $90 billion worth of its stock by the end of 2015. That’s equal to 18% of its $492.9-billion market cap. Apple will also split its outstanding shares on a 7-for-1 basis in June 2014. In addition to making its shares more affordable, the split would make Apple a candidate for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. If Apple does join the widely followed Dow, mutual funds and exchange traded funds that mimic the index would have to buy the stock, which would push up the share price....
Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF, $21.82, symbol XLF on New York (Shares outstanding: 851.4 million; Market cap: $18.6 billion; www.spdrs.com), holds a number of stocks we recommend in Wall Street Stock Forecaster as its top holdings, including Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and American Express. It also holds some stocks we don’t recommend, including its second-largest holding, Berkshire Hathaway. Unlike many holding companies, Berkshire Hathaway trades at a premium to its net asset value. We think the company is fully valued at today’s share price. What’s more, its chairman and CEO, famous investor Warren Buffett, celebrated his 83rd birthday last August. When he dies, or if he becomes incapacitated, the stock is vulnerable to a sudden and severe downturn....
PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 25, 2014. GOOGLE INC. $543.34, Nasdaq symbol GOOGL, has paid an undisclosed sum for Titan Aerospace. Titan is a privately held company that’s developing unmanned aircraft, or drones, that run on solar power. That means they don’t need to refuel, so they can fly non-stop for up to five years....
PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 25, 2014. POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $38.45, Toronto symbol POT, rose 5% this week on speculation that BHP Billiton (New York symbol BHP) may launch a second takeover offer for the company. (BHP is a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on U.S. stocks.) In 2010, BHP offered to buy Potash Corp. for $43.33 U.S. a share (adjusted for a 3-for-1 stock split in February 2011). However, Ottawa ultimately blocked the takeover, as it did not provide a “net benefit” to Canada under the Investment Canada Act....
These two small-cap Manufacturing & Industry picks are riskier than most of the large-cap selections in that sector we cover in Wall Street Stock Forecaster. However, they are both market leaders that are investing in new products and making acquisitions. TENNANT CO. (New York symbol TNC; www.tennantco.com) makes industrial floor-cleaning equipment, including scrubbers, sweepers and polishers. It also manufactures cleaning gear for garages, stadiums, parking lots and city streets....
PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Good Friday holiday, our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, April 17, 2014. PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., $80.76, New York symbol PG, is selling most of its pet food business to privately held Mars Inc. Under the deal, Mars will get the right to make Iams, Eukanuba and Natura pet foods in North America and Latin America, which supply 80% of these brands’ sales. Procter aims to sell its remaining pet food operations in Europe and elsewhere, probably in the next few months. That will let it focus on its more-profitable household and personal care products....
GENERAL MILLS INC. (New York symbol GIS; www.generalmills.com) is one of the world’s largest food makers. Its top brands include Big G (cereal), Green Giant (canned and frozen vegetables), Pillsbury (baking dough), Old El Paso (tacos), Progresso (soups and salads) and Yoplait (yogurt)....
MONSANTO CO., $114.28, New York symbol MON, sells technology-based agricultural products, such as genetically modified seeds, to farmers, grain processors and food companies. It also sells weed- and pest-control products. In the second quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ended February 28, 2014, Monsanto earned $1.7 billion, up 12.6% from $1.5 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 15.0%, to $3.15 from $2.74, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus forecast of $3.07. Sales gained 6.6%, to $5.83 billion from $5.47 billion. That also beat the consensus sales forecast of $5.8 billion....