Somewhat Positive News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Impact Tidewater (TDW) Stock Price

Media headlines about Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) have been trending somewhat positive on Friday, Accern Sentiment reports. The research group scores the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Tidewater earned a news sentiment score of 0.11 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the oil and gas company an impact score of 44.8671779497142 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the near term.

Here are some of the news articles that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

Get Tidewater alerts: Golar LNG (GLNG) and Tidewater (TDW) Head to Head Survey (americanbankingnews.com) New Dedicated Senior Medical Center Brings Affordable Concierge-Style Health Care to Bradenton Seniors (prweb.com) Tidewater Inc. (TDW) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest (americanbankingnews.com) Tidewater to Buy Offshore Supply Vessel Operator GulfMark (wsj.com) Tidewater to Buy GulfMark, Form Combined Entity Worth $1.25B (finance.yahoo.com)

Shares of Tidewater traded down $0.10, reaching $31.49, during trading on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. 158,400 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,937. Tidewater has a 12-month low of $20.37 and a 12-month high of $35.98. The company has a quick ratio of 3.71, a current ratio of 3.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 14th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.76) EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.55) by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $91.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $105.65 million. Tidewater had a negative return on equity of 116.17% and a negative net margin of 409.22%. The business’s revenue was down 43.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.01) earnings per share.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TDW. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Tidewater from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 6th. ValuEngine raised shares of Tidewater from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc provides offshore service vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore exploration, field development, and production, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations, and seismic and subsea support; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying.

Featured Article: What do investors mean by earnings per share?

Hot Clean Energy Stocks For 2019

tags:UAA,NEWR,BNCL,CTSH,

Natural gas for transportation supplier�Clean Energy Fuels Corp�(NASDAQ:CLNE) reported earnings on May 10, and while the company was profitable on both a GAAP and adjusted basis, growth -- measured in gallons of natural gas delivered -- slowed to almost a trickle, even when adjusted for last year's sale of the biomethane business. At the same time, the cyclical nature of its station construction and expansion business also affected the results, playing a role in a big decline in revenue.�

Yet even with these concerns, there were some positives on earnings day that investors should now factor into the thesis for the company, including a big announcement prior to earnings that multinational energy giant�Total�was taking a 25% stake in the company and would partner with it in an upcoming program to help accelerate adoption of heavy-duty natural gas trucks in the U.S.�

Clean Energy is counting on it being the dawn of heavy-duty natural gas vehicles. Image source: Clean Energy Fuels.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks For 2019: Just Hold Your Nose and Dive Into Under Armour Inc (UAA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Hill: And to the extent that there's been optimism in sports apparel, it hasn't been with Nike and it hasn't been with Under Armour (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA), it's really been about Adidas lately.

• [By VantagePoint]

  Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UAA) also had a bullish crossover in late-April, indicating that an uptrend was beginning. Since that crossover, the stock has risen almost 18 percent above the $20 handle, a price level not seen since November.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Also, Dick's Sporting Goods�(NYSE:DKS) is up a whopping 23% this morning on a better-than-expected quarter. The World Cup will present some fun [and expensive] opportunities for sports retailers like Nike (NYSE:NKE), Adidas, and Under Armour (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA). The German team's strategy looks like it might give them a nice advantage in this year's World Cup. Tune in to find out more.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Wednesday was a generally favorable day for the stock market, with modest gains for most major benchmarks even as the Russell 2000 once again hit intraday record highs. Most investors' attention was focused on the retail sector, where an especially strong performance from department store giant Macy's suggested that the long period of difficult conditions for brick-and-mortar retailers might finally have come to an end. Ongoing concerns about other factors -- including the move in the 10-year Treasury yield above the 3% mark and the outcome of a possible summit between U.S. and North Korean leaders -- helped keep the gains somewhat in check. But some companies had good news that sent their shares sharply higher. Under Armour (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA), Boot Barn Holdings (NYSE:BOOT), and Abaxis (NASDAQ:ABAX) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.

• [By Steve Symington, Anders Bylund, and Rich Duprey]

  We asked three top Motley Fool investors to weigh in to that end. Here's why they like Under Armour (NYSE:UA)(NYSE:UAA),�Helios & Matheson (NASDAQ:HMNY), and Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z)(NASDAQ:ZG).

Hot Clean Energy Stocks For 2019: New Relic, Inc.(NEWR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steve Symington, Jeremy Bowman, and Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  So we asked that question to three top Motley Fool investors. Read on to learn why they put New Relic (NYSE:NEWR), XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO), and Ebay (NASDAQ:EBAY)�on their short lists of stocks capable of outperforming a five-bagger.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Amedica Corporation (NASDAQ: AMDA) rose 31.3 percent to $4.11 in pre-market trading after climbing 181.98 percent on Tuesday. ZAGG Inc (NASDAQ: ZAGG) rose 18.7 percent to $13.65 in pre-market trading after the company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings. TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) rose 18.6 percent to $46.00 in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday. TransEnterix, Inc. (NYSE: TRXC) shares rose 15 percent to $2.08 in pre-market trading after reporting Q4 results. Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAXN) rose 9.8 percent to $49.00 in pre-market trading following a big Q1 beat. The company raised its fiscal 2018 sales growth guidance from 16-18 percent to 18-20 percent. Centennial Resource Development, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDEV) shares rose 8.1 percent to $21.06 in pre-market trading following Q1 results. OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) shares rose 6.8 percent to $3.44 in pre-market trading following Q1 beat. Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp. (NYSE: TIK) rose 6.7 percent to $3.20 in pre-market trading after surging 25.37 percent on Tuesday. KBS Fashion Group Limited (NASDAQ: KBSF) rose 6.4 percent to $5.84 in pre-market trading after jumping 9.36 percent on Tuesday. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) rose 6.6 percent to $8.26 in pre-market trading after reporting Q2 earnings. New Relic, Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) rose 6.3 percent to $82.00 in pre-market trading following Q4 results. Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) rose 5.8 percent to $38.43 in pre-market trading after reporting upbeat Q1 earnings. Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PBH) rose 5.2 percent to $30.62 in pre-market trading.

  Find out what's going on in today's market and bring any questions you have to Benzinga's PreMarket Prep.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  New Relic Inc (NYSE:NEWR) CFO Mark Sachleben sold 7,500 shares of New Relic stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.18, for a total transaction of $803,850.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  New Relic (NYSE:NEWR) had its target price increased by BMO Capital Markets from $95.00 to $110.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the software maker’s stock.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Deutsche Bank assumed coverage on shares of New Relic (NYSE:NEWR) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $125.00 target price on the software maker’s stock.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks For 2019: Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc.(BNCL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Beneficial Bancorp (NASDAQ: BNCL) and Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Media coverage about Beneficial Bancorp (NASDAQ:BNCL) has trended positive recently, according to Accern. Accern identifies positive and negative news coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Beneficial Bancorp earned a news impact score of 0.38 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media headlines about the bank an impact score of 45.8699493506664 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  BidaskClub upgraded shares of Beneficial Bancorp (NASDAQ:BNCL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

  Shares of Beneficial Bancorp opened at $16.35 on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44 and a beta of 0.55. Beneficial Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $14.40 and a fifty-two week high of $17.50.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks For 2019: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation(CTSH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) has been a key player in the technology revolution over the past 25 years. By providing much-needed information technology consulting services, Cognizant has been able to succeed in helping clients join the digital age effectively and competitively. Even with some of its rivals having competitive advantages in the form of lower labor costs, Cognizant nevertheless has found ways to keep expanding and growing its footprint.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  Oil prices are at levels we haven't seen in years. U.S. crude topped $70 for the first since 2014, as U.S. President Donald Trump appeared increasingly likely to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and reinforce sanctions on Tehran. In addition, OPEC has announced plans to bolster prices and cap production. For oil investors, Money Morning�Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors says it's time to buckle up. According to Moors, revoking the Iran deal would cause "price chaos" around the globe. And that's right as driving season starts in the United States. Here's more on the coming chaos for oil. In deal news, Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) announced it will purchase Gramercy Property Trust (NYSE: GPT) for $7.6 billion in cash. Grammercy manages commercial real estate. While this may seem like a boring deal, Blackstone is buying a business that churns out cold hard cash for its investors. We want to keep this deal on your radar, because there are many other deals like this coming down the pipeline. We're going to be discussing one of the best real estate opportunities available very soon – so keep an eye out for updates. Three Stocks to Watch Today: AMZN, AAPL, TSN, SBUX Shareholders of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) cheered statements made by Warren Buffett over the weekend. The Oracle of Omaha said he messed up by not investing in Amazon and Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL). "I made the wrong decisions on Google and Amazon," Buffett said on Saturday. "We've looked at it. I made the mistake in not being able to come to a conclusion where I really felt that at the present prices that the prospects were far better than the prices indicated." Buffett says he now has a "very, very, very high opinion" of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The Oracle believes that Bezos has created something that is "close to a miracle." Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) added another 0.6% Monday, to reach $185.00 per share – a new 52-week high. The uptick came after Warren Buffett announced
• [By Max Byerly]

  Media stories about Cognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH) have been trending somewhat positive on Saturday, according to Accern Sentiment. The research firm identifies positive and negative press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Cognizant earned a daily sentiment score of 0.18 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news articles about the information technology service provider an impact score of 46.6851487556046 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the near term.

Comparing Banco Macro SA ADR Class B (BMA) & Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS)

Banco Macro SA ADR Class B (NYSE: BMA) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (NYSE:RBS) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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28.3% of Banco Macro SA ADR Class B shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of Royal Bank of Scotland Group shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Banco Macro SA ADR Class B pays an annual dividend of $2.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Royal Bank of Scotland Group does not pay a dividend. Banco Macro SA ADR Class B pays out 25.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Banco Macro SA ADR Class B and Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Macro SA ADR Class B	24.73%	25.82%	5.20%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group	11.77%	7.04%	0.46%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Banco Macro SA ADR Class B and Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco Macro SA ADR Class B	$2.21 billion	2.00	$567.08 million	$8.65	7.78
Royal Bank of Scotland Group	$19.56 billion	1.99	$1.78 billion	$0.65	10.00

Royal Bank of Scotland Group has higher revenue and earnings than Banco Macro SA ADR Class B. Banco Macro SA ADR Class B is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Royal Bank of Scotland Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Banco Macro SA ADR Class B and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Macro SA ADR Class B	0	1	5	0	2.83
Royal Bank of Scotland Group	0	7	5	0	2.42

Banco Macro SA ADR Class B presently has a consensus target price of $108.85, indicating a potential upside of 61.71%. Given Banco Macro SA ADR Class B’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Banco Macro SA ADR Class B is more favorable than Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Volatility and Risk

Banco Macro SA ADR Class B has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Royal Bank of Scotland Group has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Banco Macro SA ADR Class B beats Royal Bank of Scotland Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

Banco Macro SA ADR Class B Company Profile

Banco Macro S.A. provides various banking products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Argentina. It offers various retail products and services, such as savings and checking accounts, time deposits, credit and debit cards, consumer finance loans, mortgage loans, automobile loans, overdrafts, credit-related services, home and car insurance coverage, tax collection, utility payments, automated teller machines (ATMs), and money transfers. The company also provides personal loans, document discounts, mortgages, overdrafts, pledged loans, and credit card loans to retail customers. In addition, it offers corporate banking products and services that include deposits, lending, check cashing advances and factoring, guaranteed loans, credit lines for financing foreign trade, and cash management services. Further, the company provides trust, payroll, and financial agency services, as well as corporate credit cards and other specialty products; transaction services, such as collection services, payments to suppliers, payroll services, foreign exchange transactions, and foreign trade services; and information services, such as Datanet and Interpymes services to corporate customers. As of December 31, 2016, it operated through a network of 444 branches, 1,395 ATMs, 920 self-service terminals, and service points. Banco Macro S.A. also offers Internet banking services. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Company Profile

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services to personal, commercial, corporate, and institutional customers worldwide. It operates through Personal & Business Banking, Commercial & Private Banking, RBS International, and NatWest Markets segments. The company offers savings and current accounts; secured personal loans, and business lending and asset-backed lending products; invoice financing and other financing products; and insurance products and credit cards. It also provides unitized fund, rate, portfolio management, payment, liquidity management, financial planning, and currency products. In addition, the company offers personal and business banking, commercial and private banking, wealth planning, investment management, risk management, and trading services to retail banking, mass affluent, small business, and high net worth customers. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc was founded in 1727 and is headquartered in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom.

President Trump and Katy Perry among Twitter users hit hardest by follower purge

Katy Perry was one of the biggest losers in the Great Twitter Follower Purge of 2018, losing about 2.8 million followers overnight.

The pop singer, along with Justin Bieber and former President Barack Obama, led a long list of celebrities, politicians, social media stars and news organizations who saw their followers drop as a result of Twitter's purge of suspicious accounts.

Earlier this week, Twitter said tens of millions of accounts previously locked due to suspicious activity will be removed from its follower counts. The social network said "most" people will lose "four followers or fewer," but prominent Twitter accounts "will experience a more significant drop."

Did they ever.

Social media analytics firm Keyhole tracked the impact of the purge on the 100 most popular Twitter (TWTR) accounts. The list reads like a who's who of US pop culture, with people like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Oprah collectively losing millions of followers.

Twitter's move to purge locked accounts is part of it's larger effort to safeguard the platform amid heightened scrutiny over the proliferation of trolls, fake news and disinformation on social networks like Twitter and Facebook (FB).

President Donald Trump lost 204,000 of his 53.3 million followers, placing him at no. 18 on Keyhole's list.

Singer Justin Bieber lost about 2.7 million followers, while President Obama's total dropped by nearly 2.4 million. That represents almost 2.5% of their respective followers.

New organizations took a hit too. CNN's breaking news account lost roughly 1 million followers, while the main New York Times account lost about 730,000.

Twitter's own account wasn't immune either: It shed more than 12% of its followers, or about 7.8 million users. That made it by far the biggest loser. Company CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted he personally lost 200,000 followers.

Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates lost nearly 900,000 followers, while basketball star LeBron James' follower count dropped by 880,000.

It's long been an open secret that numerous Twitter users rely on bogus accounts and bots to inflate their follower count. Others are unwittingly followed by accounts that have gone dormant. Mounting attention to the issue may have forced the company to address the problem and boost its credibility.

CNNMoney's Seth Fiegerman contributed to this report.

Brokerages Anticipate SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) Will Post Earnings of $1.22 Per Share

Analysts expect SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) to report $1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Three analysts have issued estimates for SkyWest’s earnings. The highest EPS estimate is $1.25 and the lowest is $1.20. SkyWest posted earnings per share of $0.95 during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 28.4%. The firm is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, July 26th.

On average, analysts expect that SkyWest will report full year earnings of $4.64 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.60 to $4.70. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the business will post earnings of $5.16 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.90 to $5.30. Zacks’ earnings per share calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research firms that follow SkyWest.

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SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 26th. The transportation company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.17. SkyWest had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $783.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 5th. ValuEngine downgraded shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 26th. Imperial Capital upped their target price on shares of SkyWest from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “line” rating in a research note on Monday, April 30th. BidaskClub raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 19th. Finally, Cowen upped their target price on shares of SkyWest from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.20.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Natixis purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. CAMG Solamere Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Suntrust Banks Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. 89.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SKYW traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.75. 131,641 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,697. SkyWest has a 12-month low of $31.75 and a 12-month high of $60.65. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 29th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 28th. SkyWest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.66%.

SkyWest Company Profile

SkyWest, Inc is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest’s airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on SkyWest (SKYW)

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Better Buy: Shopify Inc. (SHOP) vs. eBay (EBAY)

Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) are two of the many platforms positioned to succeed in a world increasingly trending toward e-commerce. While Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) may be the 800-pound gorilla in the room, there are still other ways to take advantage of the increasing growth of online sales, which has provided a fertile field for investors. In just the past three years -- since its IPO -- Shopify has returned an astounding 400%, compared to eBay's 44% return, and both have beaten the S&P 500's�gains of 32%. Over the longer term, eBay has been a monster: Since its public debut in 1998, it has returned more than 4,000%.

While the rearview mirror may help provide perspective, there are no guarantees that companies will continue along their current paths, and investors want to know which is a better opportunity right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

A word about the competitors

Most investors have probably heard of eBay. Founded in 1995, the company provides a platform where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods. It's no exaggeration to say that eBay was one of the original e-commerce sites, and is still among the largest online marketplaces in the U.S. That said, the company's growth has slowed as e-commerce becomes more widespread, giving consumers a multitude of choices.

On the other hand, you may not have heard of Shopify. The company is a cloud-based platform that provides the tools necessary for businesses of all sizes to set up and manage an e-commerce site across multiple sales channels, including the web, social media, and brick-and-mortar stores. Shopify provides a host of ready-to-use templates and thousands of apps to build and customize a website. It can also handle invoices, credit card payments, and it can track orders by offering integration with all the major shipping companies. It's also worth noting that merchants can use Shopify's platform to sell goods on online marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon as well.

Recent results

In its most recent quarter, eBay's revenue and gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 7% in constant currency. During the same period, active buyers on the platform grew 4% compared to the prior-year quarter to 171 million.

During the same period, Shopify's revenue grew 68% year over year, while GMV grew 64%. The company no longer provides quarterly updates on the metric, but in 2017, the number of merchants on its platform grew 61% year over year to 609,000.

For perspective, overall U.S. e-commerce sales during the most recent quarter grew 16.4% year over year.�This shows that Shopify is growing much faster than the overall rate of e-commerce growth, while eBay's growth is stagnating.

Winner: Shopify

Image source: Getty Images.

Growth prospects

Over the coming five years, analysts expect both companies' current trajectories to continue. eBay's earnings per share are expected to increase 16% annually,�while Shopify's are expected to grow over 100% per year.�

Analysts' consensus estimates are for Shopify to produce earnings per share of $0.17 this year, and for that to more than triple to $0.58 in 2019. Analysts expect eBay's earnings per share to grow from $2.28 in 2018 to $2.64 next year, an increase of about 16%.

These estimates appear reasonable. While eBay�maintains its massive marketplace it is fighting to stand out in an increasingly e-commerce-centric world, and Shopify is providing the tools others need to succeed in this new paradigm. Additionally, while Shopify has operations in about 175 countries, the majority of its merchants are still located in the U.S., giving the company a vast runway for growth.

Winner: Shopify

Financial strength and flexibility

Metric

eBay

Shopify

Revenue (TTM)	$9.93 billion	$760 million
Operating income (TTM)	$2.30 billion	($55 million)
Net income (TTM)	($1.64 billion)	($42.3 million)
Cash from operations (TTM)	$3.06 billion	$17.36 million
Cash and equivalents	$2.12 billion	$141 million
Total debt	$9.23 billion	NA

Data source: YCharts. TTM = trailing 12 months.

It's important to note that eBay's net income was adversely affected by a one-time charge of $3.1 billion as a result of recent U.S. tax reform, and in this case, operating income is a better gauge.

Looking over a variety of financial metrics, it appears at first glance that eBay may have the stronger hand, but initial impressions can be misleading. eBay is certainly producing enough cash flow to manage its current debt load, but Shopify has no debt.

Shopify isn't yet profitable, but this is a strategic move on the company's part and context is important. Shopify is plowing all of its earnings back into growth and its aforementioned international expansion. While some might see this as a disadvantage, I would argue that the company has the flexibility to ratchet back on its growth if the need arose, and produce not only profitability, but increase its cash flow as well.

Winner: Tie

Valuation

For some investors, valuation is a key consideration when evaluating a stock, but many of the usual metrics are useless for valuing Shopify, given that it's currently unprofitable. We'll use the�price-to-sales ratio, which is a reasonable metric when evaluating unprofitable, high-growth companies.

Remembering that lower is better, eBay sports a price-to-sales ratio of 4, compared to Shopify's valuation of 21. While this valuation is typical for any high-growth company, it is by no means an inexpensive stock. eBay clearly gets the nod here.

Winner: eBay

And the winner is...

Based on the metrics we reviewed, Shopify is the clear winner.

While some investors might prefer the assurance provided by a slowly growing, profitable company, Shopify has had remarkable success in its three short years as a public company. It's feeding the massive trend of companies migrating to e-commerce, providing the tools they need to succeed in this new world. Combine that with a long international growth runway, and I think that Shopify is clearly the better buy.

Top 5 Safest Stocks For 2019

tags:HGSH,HRC,MET,STO,EME, Despite several years of steady declines, deadly vehicle crashes are on the rise, according to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The safest day to be on the road: Tuesday. The most dangerous? Saturday.

That's according to a new�study by Avvo, an online legal referral and review site, which analyzed data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System in 2016 on how many car crash-related fatalities happened across the country by weekday and time of day.�

The analysis found that 6,802 lives were lost on Saturday out of the 37,461 road deaths that occurred in 2016. That was 53% higher than the 4,444 deaths that happened on a Tuesday, the day with the least number of crash-related fatalities.�

The second and third deadliest days were also associated with the weekend: Friday (5,826) and Sunday (5,809).�

Top 5 Safest Stocks For 2019: China HGS Real Estate, Inc.(HGSH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Money Morning Staff Reports]

  But before we show you our pick, here are the top 10 penny stocks to watch this week…

  Penny Stocks Current Share Price (as of Jan. 5) Jan. 2-5 Gain (as of Jan. 5) My Size Inc. (Nasdaq: MYSZ) $1.66 152.28% Cytori Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CYTX) $0.47 89.52% DelMar Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: DMPI) $1.675 58.02% CAS Medical Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CASM) $1.09 55.71% China HGS Real Estate Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSH) $1.83 47.58% Aethlon Medical Inc. (Nasdaq: AEMD) $1.56 43.12% Midatech Pharma Plc. (Nasdaq: MTP) $1.23 43.01% Comstock Holding Cos. Inc. (Nasdaq: CHCI) $1.87 36.5% Cenveo Inc. (Nasdaq: CVO) $1.20 31.82% EV Energy Partners LP (Nasdaq: EVEP) $0.6844 31.62%

  
  FREE PROFIT ALERTS: Get real-time recommendations on the best penny stock opportunities the moment we release them. Just sign up here, it's completely free…

Top 5 Safest Stocks For 2019: Hill-Rom Holdings Inc(HRC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB raised its holdings in shares of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRC) by 32.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,102 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB’s holdings in Hill-Rom were worth $705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Hill-Rom (HRC)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Hill-Rom (NYSE: HRC) and CAS Medical Systems (NASDAQ:CASM) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Top 5 Safest Stocks For 2019: MetLife, Inc.(MET)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  The Evercore analysts also said that Metlife Inc. (MET) and CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO) have "sizable exposure" to long-term care from a reserve standpoint, "but our analysis indicates that their blocks have below average risk and/or more robust reserves versus peers, implying a lower risk of charges over the next few years."

• [By Logan Wallace]

  State Treasurer State of Michigan lessened its stake in shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 305,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the period. State Treasurer State of Michigan’s holdings in MetLife were worth $14,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Media coverage about MetLife (NYSE:MET) has trended somewhat positive on Wednesday, Accern Sentiment reports. Accern scores the sentiment of media coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. MetLife earned a coverage optimism score of 0.19 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news articles about the financial services provider an impact score of 47.1051416403295 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the near term.

Top 5 Safest Stocks For 2019: Statoil ASA(STO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Another highlight in April was that Shell gave the green light to the Vito project, which is a joint venture with Statoil (NYSE:STO) in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell and Statoil were able to cut that project's cost estimate by 70% from the original design so that it's now profitable at $35 a barrel. The partners expect the project to produce 100,000 BOE/D of low-cost oil and gas when it comes online in 2021.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Anyone that has watched oil prices tick up recently has probably expected oil producers to report some impressive earnings results this past quarter, and Statoil (NYSE:STO) did just that with a 21% boost to the bottom line. At the same time, management is using all of its additional cash to do some wheeling and dealing that should help boost its growth possibilities in the nearer term.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Statoil (NYSE: STO) and Delek US (NYSE:DK) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Top 5 Safest Stocks For 2019: EMCOR Group, Inc.(EME)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of Emcor Group Inc (NYSE:EME) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.00.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Emcor Group (EME)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:ENG,WGL,MIK,SCOR,HIO,ASYS,

There are numerous trading techniques to consider for each and every options trade, so Fred Oltarsh at Options Strategy Network details five of the ones he considers extremely vital for trying to put the percentages in the trader's favor.

The key to trading options contracts successfully (individual stocks and futures as well) is to put the percentages in your favor. This involves numerous trading techniques discussed in the Options Strategy Network options guide. Briefly, one should consider the following factors for each and every trade: 1) liquidity or the cost to initiate and liquidate the position, 2) implied volatility or the relative value of the particular option one is trading, 3) having a pre-designated point of liquidation, 4) risk/reward ratio after commissions and slippage and 5) diversification of strategies and trades.

Each analysis described above increases the likelihood of success of an individual trade. Examining the liquidity of the market that one is about to trade is the first step to increasing levels of productivity. If one is buying a stock for a long-term hold, the implications of liquidity are not as great for that trader as for the trader who intends to buy and sell stock frequently. If one is day trading, whether stocks or options, even a bid/ask spread of a penny on a low priced stock, has an impact on the bottom line. The best way to analyze it is to quickly determine the difference of the bid/ask spread as a percentage of the value of the instrument traded. Then determine what that value is per one thousand dollars invested. If the number sounds high, it's probably worth staying away from that trade.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: ENGlobal Corporation(ENG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Enigma (CURRENCY:ENG) traded 0.7% higher against the US dollar during the 24 hour period ending at 10:00 AM ET on June 17th. During the last seven days, Enigma has traded down 12% against the US dollar. Enigma has a market capitalization of $104.94 million and $2.86 million worth of Enigma was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Enigma token can now be bought for about $1.40 or 0.00021533 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including HitBTC, Vebitcoin, OKEx and GOPAX.

• [By Max Byerly]

  ENGlobal (NASDAQ:ENG) will be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 9th.

  ENGlobal (NASDAQ:ENG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 15th. The construction company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter. ENGlobal had a negative net margin of 29.16% and a negative return on equity of 17.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.43 million during the quarter.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: WGL Holdings Inc(WGL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  WGL Holdings Inc (NYSE:WGL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $88.75 and last traded at $88.72, with a volume of 377688 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.56.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WGL Holdings Inc (NYSE:WGL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 28,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,374,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.06% of WGL as of its most recent SEC filing.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: The Michaels Companies, Inc.(MIK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  Also, the two look at the sharp sell-offs that the market treated Michaels�(NASDAQ:MIK) and Tailored Brands�(NYSE:TLRD) to yesterday -- what went wrong, and can the companies improve from here? Finally, they dip into the Fool mailbag to explain how a company's market cap compares to the size of its total potential market.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Michaels Companies (NASDAQ:MIK) issued an update on its FY19 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $2.19-2.32 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $2.32. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.217-5.293 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.26 billion.Michaels Companies also updated its Q2 guidance to $0.12-0.14 EPS.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Arts and crafts retailer The Michaels Companies (NASDAQ:MIK) reported first-quarter results in the early-morning hours of Thursday. The company met Wall Street's targets and confirmed that its full-year guidance targets are on track, but the stock still crashed due to an unimpressive slate of second-quarter guidance goals.

• [By Chris Lange]

  The Michaels Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIK), the arts and crafts retail chain, released its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The Irving, Texas-based company said it had $0.39 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.16 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.38 in EPS and $1.15 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.38 in EPS and $1.16 billion in revenue.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Following the June FOMC meeting, silver prices are hovering at very attractive price levels. With interest rates heading higher, it's going to be a very good time for silver hounds to buy on the dip and deliver incredible profits in the months ahead.�Learn more right here.

  The Top Stock Market Stories for Thursday On Thursday, the European Central Bank held its meeting in Latvia to discuss the future of its quantitative easing program. The central bank of the world's largest economic bloc said that it will likely end its quantitative easing program in December. This represents an extension beyond the current plan to end the stimulus program in September. ECB President Mario Draghi said the program would be reduced to 15 billion euros each month during the final three months of the year. Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the second time in 2018. The central bank said that economic growth has been rising at a solid rate and hinted that it could raise rates two more times this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell did raise an alarm on Wednesday after stating that companies are holding back on investment due to ongoing concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies. Trump is expected to decide this week on whether to proceed with tariffs on about $50 billion in Chinese goods. Trade tensions are heating up again. This morning, China announced it would call off its deal to avoid a trade war if the Trump administration proceeds with tariffs on Friday morning. Tomorrow, the Trump team will decide if it will hit China with tariffs on roughly $50 billion in goods. Stocks to Watch Today: ADBE, CMCSA, TSLA, MSFT Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE) will report earnings after the bell Thursday. The software giant is expected to report earnings per share of $1.54 on top of $2.15 billion in revenue. Insider buying is alive and well at Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA). Chair and CEO Elon Musk purchased $25 million in company stock, according to a
• [By ]

  The Michaels Companies (Nasdaq: MIK) owns six brands in the retail arts & crafts space, including the top specialty retailer in North America and the #1 wholesale distributor by market share. The arts & crafts segment should hold up well in any kind of consumer weakness as people look to save money by staying in and spending on inexpensive crafts.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: comScore Inc.(SCOR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  ComScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) was started with a buy rating at Loop Capital with a $32 price target. That compares with the Wall Street consensus target of $22. The stock closed trading on Monday at $23.57.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: Western Asset High Income Opportunity Fund, Inc.(HIO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Headlines about Western Asset High Income (NYSE:HIO) have been trending positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment. The research group scores the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Western Asset High Income earned a coverage optimism score of 0.49 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned press coverage about the closed-end fund an impact score of 47.4682522681889 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the next few days.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: Amtech Systems Inc.(ASYS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Oragenics, Inc. (NYSE: OGEN) shares surged 66.67 percent to close at $2.00 on Wednesday after the company’s AG013 for oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients showed favorable safety profile in mid-stage OM study. Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) shares jumped 49.24 percent to close at $1.97 on Wednesday. Sigma Labs demonstrated proof of concept for closed loop quality control during metal additive manufacturing. ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited (NASDAQ: ASLN) rose 34.45 percent to close at $9.21. BTIG Research initiated coverage on ASLAN Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating. Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) shares rose 25.82 percent to close at $38.35 after the company reported upbeat Q1 earnings and raised FY18 earnings outlook. TapImmune, Inc. (NASDAQ: TPIV) rose 24.15 percent to close at $5.09. WBB Securities upgraded TapImmune from Speculative Buy to Buy. Legacy Reserves LP (NASDAQ: LGCY) jumped 23.3 percent to close at $5.98 on Wednesday. Summer Infant, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMR) gained 22.92 percent to close at $1.18 after announcing commitment for $60 million credit facility from Bank of America and $17.5 million term loan from Pathlight Capital. Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD) rose 21.95 percent to close at $4.00. SpartanNash Co (NASDAQ: SPTN) gained 21.4 percent to close at $22.92 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday. Motus GI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOTS) rose 17.14 percent to close at $5.40. Movado Group, Inc. (NYSE: MOV) gained 16.59 percent to close at $49.20 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its guidance. Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ORMP) climbed 15.61 percent to close at $8.22. Oramed Pharma disclosed that its patent has been allowed in the US for oral administration of proteins. Dorian LPG Ltd. (NYSE: LPG) rose 14.89 percent to close at $8.41. Dorian LPG confirmed receipt of unsolicited proposal fr
• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) shares rose 90.9 percent to $2.52. Sigma Labs demonstrated proof of concept for closed loop quality control during metal additive manufacturing. Oragenics, Inc. (NYSE: OGEN) shares surged 58.4 percent to $1.9005 after the company’s AG013 for oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients showed favorable safety profile in mid-stage OM study. Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) shares climbed 23.2 percent to $37.5370 after the company reported upbeat Q1 earnings and raised FY18 earnings outlook. Summer Infant, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMR) rose 21.9 percent to $1.17 after announcing commitment for $60 million credit facility from Bank of America and $17.5 million term loan from Pathlight Capital. TapImmune, Inc. (NASDAQ: TPIV) jumped 18.8 percent to $4.87. WBB Securities upgraded TapImmune from Speculative Buy to Buy. Movado Group, Inc. (NYSE: MOV) gained 17.2 percent to $49.45 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its guidance. ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited (NASDAQ: ASLN) jumped 16.2 percent to $7.96. BTIG Research initiated coverage on ASLAN Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating. Legacy Reserves LP (NASDAQ: LGCY) rose 15.5 percent to $5.6011. InspireMD, Inc. (NYSE: NSPR) gained 13.3 percent to $1.36 following PR announcing sustained benefit of CGuard EPS. Immutep Limited (NASDAQ: IMMP) shares climbed 13.2 percent to $2.7724 after the company reported new data from its ongoing TACTI-mel Phase I trial, which evaluated the combination of eftilagimod alpha, its lead compound, with Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK)'s Keytruda in unresectable or metastatic melanoma patients, who have had a suboptimal response or had disease progression with keytruda monotherapy.. SpartanNash Co (NASDAQ: SPTN) rose 12.2 percent to $21.20 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday. Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) rose 12.1 percent to
• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ValuEngine cut shares of Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

  Separately, Zacks Investment Research raised Amtech Systems from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $14.88.

Zacks: Brokerages Anticipate Occidental Petroleum Co. (OXY) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $4.08 B

Analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) will report sales of $4.08 billion for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Two analysts have made estimates for Occidental Petroleum’s earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $3.99 billion and the highest estimate coming in at $4.18 billion. Occidental Petroleum reported sales of $3.60 billion in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year over year growth rate of 13.3%. The company is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, August 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will report full-year sales of $16.56 billion for the current year, with estimates ranging from $15.83 billion to $17.28 billion. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the firm will report sales of $17.85 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $16.99 billion to $18.71 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are an average based on a survey of analysts that cover Occidental Petroleum.

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Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 13.47%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was up 28.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 EPS.

OXY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Jaffray Companies raised Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Sunday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank raised Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 23rd. ValuEngine cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 1st. Citigroup raised Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.13.

Shares of Occidental Petroleum opened at $83.33 on Friday, according to MarketBeat.com. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.62. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $57.84 and a 1-year high of $87.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.26.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 8th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 346.07%.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stelac Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $112,000. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $114,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $141,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 192.2% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,580 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

C&J Energy Services (CJ) Stock Price Up 5.7%

Shares of C&J Energy Services Inc (NYSE:CJ) rose 5.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $24.45 and last traded at $24.25. Approximately 3,274,500 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 196% from the average daily volume of 1,105,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.95.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CJ. ValuEngine upgraded shares of C&J Energy Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 1st. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of C&J Energy Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of C&J Energy Services from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of C&J Energy Services from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $35.00 price target on shares of C&J Energy Services and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.75.

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The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -173.21 and a beta of 0.90.

C&J Energy Services (NYSE:CJ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $553.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.14 million. C&J Energy Services had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 4.72%. The company’s revenue was up 76.0% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts expect that C&J Energy Services Inc will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, insider Tim Wallace sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total value of $37,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,360 shares in the company, valued at $587,504. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CJ. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of C&J Energy Services by 118.5% during the first quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,368 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of C&J Energy Services by 1,427.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,424,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,789,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331,537 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of C&J Energy Services during the first quarter valued at about $32,303,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of C&J Energy Services by 347.5% during the first quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,296,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,878 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of C&J Energy Services by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,500,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,624,000 after purchasing an additional 535,243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.03% of the company’s stock.

C&J Energy Services Company Profile

C&J Energy Services, Inc provides well construction, well completion, well support, and other complementary oilfield services to oil and gas exploration and production companies throughout the continental United States. It operates through Completion Services and Well Support Services segments. The Completion Services segment provides hydraulic fracturing; cased-hole solutions comprising cased-hole wireline, pumpdown, wireline logging, perforating, pressure pumping, well site make-up and pressure testing, and other complementary services; and well construction and intervention services, which include cementing, coiled tubing, and directional drilling services.

BlackRock Inc. Grows Holdings in Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (KALU)

BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ:KALU) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,183,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,723 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned 13.03% of Kaiser Aluminum worth $220,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KALU. Flinton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Flinton Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 49,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,326,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 29,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 138,414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,966,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter.

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Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KALU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 25th. BidaskClub raised shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 22nd. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Kaiser Aluminum in a research report on Tuesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

In other news, VP Neal E. West sold 2,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $239,250.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack A. Hockema sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.64, for a total transaction of $977,760.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,400 shares of company stock worth $2,242,630 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kaiser Aluminum opened at $113.50 on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.70. Kaiser Aluminum Corp. has a 1-year low of $83.77 and a 1-year high of $116.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.65.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Kaiser Aluminum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts expect that Kaiser Aluminum Corp. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Company Profile

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation manufactures and sells semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products. The company offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used principally for aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer durables, electronics, electrical, and machinery and equipment applications.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KALU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ:KALU).

Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now

tags:BRD,PAA,CM,NUS,

What do Canadian Venture stocks, Arizona, Private Placements, and gold mines have in common? Well, stand alone, not much, but put the components together and you have a series of non-brokered private placements into Canadian small cap companies that have gold mine properties in Arizona. Hmmm....

This morning Silver Spruce Resources Inc. (TSX: SSE.V, OTCQB: SSEBF) announced that it has closed its current non-brokered private placement and raised gross proceeds of $166,495.00 (the offering). The offering will consist of the issuance of 2,378,500 shares and 2,378,500 warrants. The gross proceeds will be used to meet operating obligations.

Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Apollo Gold Corporation(BRD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Bread (CURRENCY:BRD) traded 10.1% lower against the U.S. dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 15:00 PM ET on May 6th. Bread has a market cap of $73.13 million and approximately $1.09 million worth of Bread was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Bread token can currently be purchased for about $0.82 or 0.00008683 BTC on popular exchanges including OKEx, Binance and Cobinhood. In the last seven days, Bread has traded 3.3% higher against the U.S. dollar.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Bread (CURRENCY:BRD) traded 2.1% lower against the U.S. dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 21:00 PM Eastern on May 27th. One Bread token can currently be bought for $0.46 or 0.00006320 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including Cobinhood, Binance and OKEx. Bread has a market capitalization of $40.78 million and $4.40 million worth of Bread was traded on exchanges in the last day. During the last seven days, Bread has traded down 28.2% against the U.S. dollar.

Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Plains All American Pipeline L.P.(PAA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Investors bought shares of Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) on weakness during trading on Thursday. $28.45 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $9.70 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $18.75 million into the stock. Of all equities tracked, Plains All American Pipeline had the 14th highest net in-flow for the day. Plains All American Pipeline traded down ($0.22) for the day and closed at $24.09

• [By John Bromels]

  That's what happened to U.S. oil and gas pipeline operators�Kinder Morgan, Inc.�(NYSE:KMI) and master limited partnership�(MLP)�Plains All American Pipeline�(NYSE:PAA) in 2016. Both made a major dividend/distribution cut. Both stocks took a hit. And neither one has recovered: Plains All American is down 53.3% over the last three years, while Kinder Morgan is down a painful 63.1%.

• [By Lisa Levin]

   

  Companies Reporting After The Bell Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $1.22 per share on revenue of $5.72 billion. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $1.04 per share on revenue of $5.68 billion. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $1.68 per share on revenue of $14.05 billion. Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.62 per share on revenue of $441.73 million. Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: JAZZ) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $2.77 per share on revenue of $434.87 million. Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.89 per share on revenue of $6.38 billion. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE: LTM) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.16 per share on revenue of $2.70 billion. Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ: LBTYA) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.02 per share on revenue of $4.05 billion. TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.16 per share on revenue of $362.11 million. The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ: WEN) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.1 per share on revenue of $379.98 million. A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRK) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.06 per share on revenue of $1.69 billion. Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.4 per share on revenue of $849.38 million. Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.4 per share on revenue of $670.10 million. ScanSource, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCSC) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.7 per share on revenue of $875.91 million. KAR Auction Services, Inc. (NYSE: KAR) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.76 per share on revenue of $923.13

Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce(CM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM) (NYSE:CM) – Analysts at Desjardins reduced their Q2 2018 earnings per share estimates for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, May 2nd. Desjardins analyst D. Young now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $2.85 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.86.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM) and Foreign Trade Bank of Latin America (NYSE:BLX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM) (TSE:CM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 23rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of 1.036 per share by the bank on Friday, July 27th. This represents a $4.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 27th.

Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.(NUS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE: NUS) and PetIQ (NASDAQ:PETQ) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Shares of Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS) reached a new 52-week high and low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $81.72 and last traded at $81.25, with a volume of 3382 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $80.34.

• [By ]

  Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE: NUS) is benefiting from two key trends: its strong presence in Asia where it books 79% of its revenue and leading brand awareness with millennials. The company has increased its dividend every year since 2001, now paying a 2% yield, and maintains a share repurchase program that returns excess cash to shareholders.

Leverage Alert Ringing While Cash Drains From Stock Broker Accounts

Few things evoke fear in markets like a margin call. Now there are signs that many U.S. stock investors are ill-prepared to deal with one.

The issue is net cash in equity brokerage accounts, seen by some as a proxy for how well-cushioned traders are from forced liquidations if stocks start to plummet. It’s calculated by subtracting the amount of debt used to buy securities from money in an account that’s available to buy more.

And right now, it’s perilously low.

#lazy-img-328040338:before{padding-top:56.25%;}

The deficit just reached $317 billion, the widest ever, according to New York Stock Exchange data compiled by Sundial Capital Research Inc. The previous record was set in January, right before the S&P 500 Index suffered its first 10 percent correction in two years.

Cash “seems to provide less of a cushion for any decline in the value of stock,” Jason Goepfert, president of Sundial Capital Research Inc., wrote in a note to clients. “That is clearly concerning.”

There are few topics in the market subject as much demagoguery as margin debt, and a standard critique over the the period of the bull market has been that it’s at untenable levels -- $652 billion, by the NYSE’s last count. What’s usually lost in the discussion is that such debt basically always rises with the value of equities -- the two are virtually synonymous since one collateralizes by the other.

What’s bad is when the expansion of margin comes untethered from the slope of equities, signaling people are taking out loans even faster than stocks are appreciating. That happened in the final year of the last two bull markets, when margin loan growth outpaced share gains by twofold in 2007 and almost four times in 2000.

Nothing like that is happening now. At the same time, a similarly dire picture is evident when cash credits in brokerage accounts are taken into consideration. Available for investors to withdraw at any time, for any purpose, they include proceeds from short sales and extra buying power held in margin accounts. Last month, they fell 3.3 percent to $335 billion, the lowest level in four years.

Think of the money as assets on a balance sheet and stock loans as liabilities. As traders withdrew cash while at the same time raising debt, their financial health, or in Sundial’s term “net wealth,” deteriorates.

“Debt alone doesn’t tell the whole story,” Goepfert said. “The new record in negative net worth is most concerning, just not as concerning as it would be if the growth in debt was more extreme. The latest drop in net worth is due more to a drain of cash out of accounts as opposed to an increase in debt. Maybe that’s just as worrisome.”

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Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:CHK,TTI,ENB,HAL,IPWR,BCEI, &l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-949027892&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/949027892/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;592&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Saudi Energy Minister Khaled al-Faleh (L) and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak attend a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC members to assess compliance with production cuts and to discuss potential long-term cooperation, in Jeddah on April 20, 2018. (AMER HILABI/AFP/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump tweeted about oil prices this morning and now has everyone from oil ministers to the market reacting.

&l;/p&g;&l;blockquote class=&q;twitter-tweet&q;&g;

&l;p dir=&q;ltr&q; lang=&q;en&q;&g;Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!&l;/p&g;

&a;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &l;a href=&q;https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/987284041304100864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;April 20, 2018&l;/a&g;&l;/blockquote&g;

Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Chesapeake Energy Corporation(CHK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) dropped about 11% Monday to post �a new 52-week low of $3.00 after closing at $3.33 on Friday. The stock’s 52-week high is $6.65. Volume was around 45 million, about 55% above the daily average of around 28.8 million. The company had no specific news.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted the latest report:

  Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.9%, at $75.53 in a 52-week range of $73.90 to $89.30. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded up nearly 19%, at $3.13 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $6.59. The company reported better-than-expected earnings this morning. EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded up about 1.1% to $106.91. The 52-week range is $81.99 to $119.00.

  Furthermore, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: UNG) traded up about 0.1%, at $22.32 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $31.72.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Here’s how share prices of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to this latest report:

  Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, traded up about 0.1% to $77.53, in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down about 1.1%, at $3.16 in a 52-week range of $2.53 to $6.18. EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) traded down about 0.2% to $109.21. The 52-week range is $81.99 to $119.00.

  In addition, the United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEAMERICAN: UNG) traded up about 0.7%, at $222.17 in a 52-week range of $20.40 to $31.72.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  In the two-week short interest reporting period that ended April 13, the company with the biggest change in short interest was Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK). As of that date, 183.8 million shares were short. That’s about 20.5% of Chesapeake’s total float. Short sellers dumped 20.9 million shares from their positions during the period.

Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Tetra Technologies, Inc.(TTI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Tetra Technologies (NYSE: TTI) and Chaparral Energy (OTCMKTS:CHPE) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Enbridge Inc(ENB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Calgary-based energy infrastructure company Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) on Thursday made a nonbinding offer to acquire the approximately 17% of Spectra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: SEP) it does not already own in a deal that would pay unitholders of Spectra 1.0123 shares of Enbridge common stock for every common unit of Spectra they currently hold.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its position in Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 19.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 116,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 18,674 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $3,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  QCI Asset Management Inc. NY lifted its stake in Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 60.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 598,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 225,030 shares during the quarter. Enbridge makes up 2.0% of QCI Asset Management Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. QCI Asset Management Inc. NY’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $18,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  This growth helped more than offset a loss in the company's "other" segment, which used to house its Midcoast gas gathering and processing business. Last year the MLP sold that entity back to its parent Enbridge (NYSE:ENB), and Enbridge unloaded it this week.

Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Halliburton Company(HAL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Even though Haliburton's (NYSE:HAL) bottom line got hit yet again by the continued turmoil in Venezuela, the company was able to churn out a respectable profit for the first quarter of 2018. The number that pops out is that it grew revenue a whopping 34%. That's quite an accomplishment for such a large business, but management still thinks it has a few more quarters of growth like this left in it.�

• [By ]

  Selected examples: (AAL) , (CL) , (DRI) , (HAL) , (LUV) , (MCD) , (MMM) , (SBUX) . Darden and 3M are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS.

  What Trade War?

  Notes Goldman: "Firms expressed optimism that trade conflict would be resolved. Commentary emphasized the support for a free trade environment. Company management did not expect the disputes would escalate and affect global economic growth."

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Earnings season is now in full swing, with today's key reports from�Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) and Halliburton Co.�(NYSE: HAL). Thanks to tax cuts, expectations are high. Analysts expect profit growth to top 18%, which would be the biggest jump in seven years. But there are a few bearish trends that are still lurking in the market. And if you're serious about making money, you need to know how to harness them and target individual stocks for life-changing gains.�Money Morning�Quantitative Specialist Chris Johnson explains.

• [By ]

  Energy sector earnings season starts rolling later this week, and as always, the party will kick off with the so-called big three oilfield services providers: Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) , General Electric Co.'s (GE) Baker Hughes (BHGE) , and Halliburton Co. (HAL) . 

Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Ideal Power Inc.(IPWR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Here are some of the news headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment’s rankings:

  Get Ideal Power alerts: Ideal Power (IPWR) Expected to Announce Quarterly Sales of $390,000.00 (americanbankingnews.com) -$0.15 EPS Expected for Ideal Power (IPWR) This Quarter (americanbankingnews.com) Ideal Power Receives 1.1 Megawatt Purchase Order for its SunDial�� Plus Inverters (investingnews.com) Ideal Power Receives 1.1 Megawatt Purchase Order for its SunDial�� Plus Inverters from NEXTracker for One of the Largest Solar-and-Storage Installations in Iowa (finance.yahoo.com)

  A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Ideal Power from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1.50 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Ideal Power in a research note on Wednesday, March 7th. Roth Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $1.00 price target on shares of Ideal Power in a research note on Wednesday, March 7th. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Ideal Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $5.00 to $2.50 in a research note on Wednesday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Ideal Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.00.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Ideal Power (IPWR)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Ideal Power (NASDAQ: IPWR) and Hollysys Automation Technologies (NASDAQ:HOLI) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.

Top Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc.(BCEI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Bonanza Creek Energy (BCEI)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Bonanza Creek Energy (BCEI)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Shanthi Rexaline]

  Crude oil prices continue to remain bullish, brightening the prospects of oil and related companies. Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE: BCEI), an oil and natural gas exploration and production company that emerged from Chapter 11 in April 2017, could also benefit from an improved cost structure, according to Imperial Capital. 

Traders Sell Broadcom (AVGO) on Strength (AVGO)

Traders sold shares of Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) on strength during trading hours on Wednesday. $86.14 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $164.35 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $78.21 million out of the stock. Of all equities tracked, Broadcom had the 13th highest net out-flow for the day. Broadcom traded up $2.07 for the day and closed at $240.56

Several analysts have weighed in on AVGO shares. Zacks Investment Research raised Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Canaccord Genuity raised their price objective on Broadcom from $100.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Vetr raised Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $269.37 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.96.

Get Broadcom alerts:

The stock has a market capitalization of $98.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 5.70 and a quick ratio of 5.04.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 15th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $5.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 29.50% and a net margin of 41.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. equities analysts expect that Broadcom Inc will post 16.82 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 12th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

In other news, insider Kirsten M. Spears sold 199 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.88, for a total value of $48,532.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lake Group L.L.C. Silver acquired 344,761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $247.94 per share, for a total transaction of $85,480,042.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,675 shares of company stock worth $20,078,429. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 24,924,233 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,403,033,000 after buying an additional 508,470 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,583,858 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,434,493,000 after purchasing an additional 418,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,141,614 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,061,670,000 after purchasing an additional 135,437 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 3,735,957 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $959,768,000 after purchasing an additional 821,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,466,836 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $633,730,000 after purchasing an additional 310,906 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Limited designs, develops, and supplies a range of semiconductor devices with a focus on complex digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor based devices and analog III-V based products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Wired Infrastructure, Wireless Communications, Enterprise Storage, and Industrial & Other.