COTERRA ENERGY INC. $27 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (New York symbol CTRA; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 764.4 million; Market cap: $20.6 billion; Dividend yield: 3.3%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.coterra.com) produces and explores for natural gas and oil in the Permian (Texas), Marcellus Shale (Pennsylvania) and Anadarko (Oklahoma) Basins.


Activist investment firm Kimmeridge, which holds an undisclosed stake in the company, recently sent a letter to Coterra’s board of directors outlining several proposals to improve investor value and governance. Those include selling or spinning off the Marcellus and Anadarko assets and focusing solely on the Permian properties.

Activist investors are now pushing these two resource-focused firms to spin off some their operations. While that would help boost shareholder value, we feel a spinoff by Barrick is the more likely outcome.

Thanks to pressure from an activist investor, the shares of Calian Group have gained 35% in the past six months.


It seems likely that Calian will sell or spin off some of its businesses. That should spur the stock even higher as investors prefer pure-play companies that are easier to evaluate and compare to other firms.



Even without a spinoff, Calian will continue to benefit from its steady stream of government contracts. The company also has no controlling shareholder, which could make it an attractive takeover target.

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY INC. $30 remains a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol WBD; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.5 billion; Market cap: $75.0 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Highest; www.wbd.com) recently announced that it would split into two new firms: Global Networks will hold its cable TV channels (including CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, TLC and Animal Planet) while Streaming & Studios will own the Warner Bros. entertainment production studios and its streaming services. As well, the Global Networks business will retain a 20% equity stake in the Streaming unit.

In November 2014, Agilent spun off its electronic testing equipment business as Keysight Technologies. Agilent shareholders received one Keysight share for every two shares they held.


Since the split, Agilent is up over 240% while Keysight has jumped about 600%. In fact, both stocks are close to all-time highs.



Even after those impressive gains, we feel both stocks can keep moving higher. Agilent is in a strong position to profit from rising demand from companies developing new GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Chipmakers also need Keysight’s equipment to test their new artificial intelligence (AI) processors.

Walmart shares are hitting record highs. As a result, its P/E (price-to-earnings ratio) is now over 40. That’s high for any retailer that operates on thin profit margins.


However, the elevated P/E reflects the company’s continuing success at attracting customers—both low and middle-income earners. Those consumers remain focused on lowering their spending in the face of persistent inflation. The company is also developing new revenue streams, such as its Walmart+ subscription service, which provides customers with fast home delivery and other rewards.



In addition, this leading retailer has a long history of using technology to monitor its inventories. That lets it avoid costly markdowns for unsold goods as well as product shortages.



Walmart is now adding artificial intelligence tools to better predict shopping trends and speed up its deliveries. A new alliance with the creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT should also spur sales for its online channels.



The company recently announced that John Furner, who heads up its U.S. operations, will succeed Doug McMillon as CEO in early 2026. Mr. Furner is expected to continue with his predecessor’s policies and add to the stock’s 588% gain over the past 10 years.