Wells Fargo CEO Out, Stock Rises

&l;p&g;The CEO of Wells Fargo is stepping aside as a massive phony account scandal continues to plague the bank.&l;/p&g;&l;figure class=&q;image-embed embed-0&q;&g;&l;div&g;&l;img src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/cda9257976dd46e6a8b8e0477275e91e/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; alt=&q;Financial Markets Wall Street Wells Fargo&q; data-height=&q;3840&q; data-width=&q;5760&q;&g;&l;/div&g;&l;figcaption&g;&l;fbs-accordion&g;&l;p class=&q;color-body light-text&q;&g;The Wells Fargo logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)&l;small&g;ASSOCIATED PRESS&l;/small&g;&l;/p&g;&l;/fbs-accordion&g;&l;/figcaption&g;&l;/figure&g;&l;p&g;Tim Sloan informed the bank&s;s board of directors of his decision to retire from the company, effective June 30, 2019, and to step down as CEO, president, and board member effective immediately.&l;/p&g;&l;p&g;Wells Fargo has named Allen Parker, who served as the general counsel, as interim CEO and president (and member of the Board), effective immediately. &l;/p&g;&l;p&g;Wells Fargo has faced its share of negative news over the last few years following a huge credit and bank account scandal. In 2016, the bank paid some $185 million over allegations that it opened more than 3 million unauthorized accounts. The phony accounts helped boost the banks revenue by over $2 million.&l;/p&g;&l;fbs-ad position=&q;inread&q; progressive&g;&l;/fbs-ad&g;&l;p&g;The scandal cost then &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2016/09/23/the-9-most-important-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-well-fargo-fiasco/#3ffb5bf03bdc&q; target=&q;_blank&q; class=&q;color-link&q;&g;CEO John Stumpf his job&l;/a&g;, and the bank would end up paying over $2 billion in fines over the next couple of years.&l;/p&g;&l;p&g;Sloan took over in October 2016 but the hits kept coming for Wells. The bank was hit with lawsuits over the phony account scandal and legal costs totaled more than $1 billion shortly after the problems began.&l;/p&g;&l;div class=&q;vestpocket&q; vest-pocket&g;&l;/div&g;&l;p&g;Lawmakers were also critical of Wells Fargo and have regularly called for Sloan&s;s resignation. The Federal Reserve has limited the bank&s;s ability to grow.&l;/p&g;&l;p&g;News of the leadership change is sitting well with investors. Shares of the bank are up nearly 4% in after-hours trading.&l;/p&g;&q;,&q;bodyAsDeltas&q;:&q;

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2019

tags:GD,USG,SIRI,EMR,KSS, Introduction

I have logged a couple of articles on what I think is a sector revival in the gas compression and transmission business. These sectors have been pretty much left for dead and really have not participated in the robust OSV recovery that peaked in February of this year. However, I think that dynamic is starting to change. As an example, my positions in pipeline MLPs have improved markedly in the last six months. The contract compression companies have lagged behind, leaving some opportunity to ride the wave up.

Off their lows, and sometimes multiplying a couple of times, these stocks are still relatively cheap in actual dollars and often in financial measures as well, EV/EBIDTA, etc.

This time around, I want to discuss Archrock, Inc., (NYSE:AROC), a premiere provider of gas compression units to the gas pipeline industry. This company serves as an excellent counterpoint to CSI Compressco (NASDAQ:CCLP), which I discussed in an earlier article. AROC is currently up about 60% from its April lows, so it has had a good run.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2019: S&P GSCI(GD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on General Dynamics (GD)

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• [By Rich Smith]

  Five years ago, General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) was struck by disaster.

  Years of acquisitions in the IT space, designed to turn the defense giant best known for its battle tanks and nuclear submarines into a cybersecurity specialist, had failed to produce significant profit growth. Instead, realizing that it had overpaid for its new subsidiaries, General D acknowledged its mistake, took a $2.9 billion charge to earnings, fired its IT division head (or allowed him to retire "to pursue new professional opportunities"), and reported only its second full-year net loss in the last 30 years.

• [By Lou Whiteman]

  Whiteman: It is. The big guns, so to speak, are the names you mentioned, Lockheed Martin being the biggest with an $85 billion market cap. Then, there's a handful of other companies that are focused mostly on weapons platforms -- your General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), Northrop Grumman, Raytheon. The Boeing defense business is only 20% of the company, but it's still a huge contractor. 

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on General Dynamics (GD)

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

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2019: USG Corporation(USG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

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

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

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  USG Co. (NYSE:USG) – Equities research analysts at SunTrust Banks reduced their Q3 2018 earnings per share estimates for shares of USG in a report issued on Monday, July 9th. SunTrust Banks analyst K. Hughes now forecasts that the construction company will post earnings of $0.57 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.61. SunTrust Banks currently has a “Hold” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. SunTrust Banks also issued estimates for USG’s FY2018 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.71 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $2.53 EPS.

• [By Jordan Wathen]

  As USG Corporation (NYSE:USG) drags its feet on an offer to sell the company for $42 per share, Berkshire intends to use its 30.8% ownership stake to motivate its top brass to make a deal. Berkshire told Bloomberg it intends to vote its shares against USG's board members who are up for re-election at this year's annual meeting, a clear message that Buffett is ready to cash in, even if USG's management and board are not.

• [By Max Byerly]

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

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

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2019: Sirius XM Radio Inc.(SIRI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  There are two ways to buy into the country's lone provider of satellite radio, and one Wall Street pro thinks you should consider the road less traveled. Buckingham analyst Matthew Harrigan is downgrading shares of Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ:SIRI) on Monday, lowering his rating from buy to neutral. 

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  We're now more than a year removed from when Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) abandoned plans to buy Pandora outright, taking a minority stake instead. Now that streaming stocks in general and Pandora in particular are hot again, it wouldn't be a surprise if Sirius XM or any tech giant wanting an audience of more than 70 million streaming accounts snaps up Pandora. 

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sirius XM Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 196,142,023 shares, an increase of 1.7% from the August 15th total of 192,889,327 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,084,621 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 17.7 days. Approximately 14.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Pandora (NYSE:P) is hitting the "last dance" phase of its life as a stand-alone public company, and if anyone wants to outbid Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) for the streaming music pioneer they better speak up soon. Sirius XM announced the all-stock deal initially valued at $3.5 billion on Monday. 

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2019: Emerson Electric Company(EMR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Samaha]

  One person's challenge is another's opportunity, and there are very few CEOs as bold and decisive in taking advantage of a chance to enhance value for shareholders as Emerson Electric's (NYSE:EMR) David Farr. Although the terms of Emerson's deal to buy General Electric's (NYSE:GE) Intelligent Platforms business weren't disclosed, it's likely that GE's desire to sell assets in order to raise cash means Farr's company wouldn't have overpaid to acquire a strategically important business. Let's take a look at the deal, and at what it says about both companies.

• [By Lee Samaha]

  However, analysts are right to question Rockwell's relative valuation, because peer Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) has outgrown Rockwell in the past three quarters. The difference is that Emerson is more of a process automation company and has more exposure to capital spending of energy and heavy industry-related companies, which are growing faster than Rockwell's end markets. The latter is more of a factory automation company and has more general industrial exposure, notably to the automotive industry.

• [By Lee Samaha]

  In PMT, Honeywell's process-solutions rival Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) continues to report strong results. But whereas Emerson's CEO David Farr is expecting to benefit from relatively stronger LNG (liquefied natural gas) spending in the current cycle, Honeywell's LNG revenue accounts for just 5% of its PMT sales, and it's more heavily exposed to petrochemical and refining spending.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

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  Stocks to Watch Today: DIS, TMUS, BP, S Shares of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) will lead a busy day of earnings reports. Wall Street is expecting a small decline in revenue for the first quarter. Disney is still in the process of absorbing most of Fox's assets from a deal last June. In addition, Disney will be launching its streaming service, Disney+, and investors will be looking for updates on the project. In deal news, T-Mobile U.S. Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) is looking to sweeten an offer to regulators to ensure a merger with rival Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). The telecom giant told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that it would freeze the prices of many plans if it receives approval for a deal. T-Mobile has offered $26 billion to buy Sprint. Shares of BP Plc. (NYSE: BP) rallied more than 3.7% after the global energy giant topped 2018 earnings expectations. The firm's big bets on shale developments have paid off. Profitability more than doubled over the previous year, while production topped out at 3.7 million barrels per day. Look for earnings reports from Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Becton, Dickenson & Co. (NYSE: BDX), BP Plc. (NYSE: BP), Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB), Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR), Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR), Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (NYSE: EL), Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ), Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), Plains All American Pipeline LP (NYSE: PAA), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), and Tableau Software Inc. (NASDAQ: DATA).

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• [By Max Byerly]

  Flippin Bruce & Porter Inc. decreased its holdings in Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) by 33.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33,574 shares during the quarter. Flippin Bruce & Porter Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $4,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2019: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 29,765,891 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the April 13th total of 27,095,285 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,456,427 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days. Approximately 17.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

• [By Daniel B. Kline]

  Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) has proven to be one of the retail companies that understand how to operate in a changing market. The company, which at one point looked like it would fall victim to the so-called retail apocalypse, has posted some strong results recently.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  First Allied Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,660 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the period. First Allied Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Kohl’s were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  J.C. Penney surprised many onlookers by achieving a strong 4.5% comp sales increase in fiscal 2015, far outpacing rivals like Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), which reported a meager 0.7% comp sales gain that year. Entering 2016, management expected J.C. Penney's momentum to continue. The company's initial guidance for fiscal 2016 called for 3% to 4% comp sales growth.

• [By JJ Kinahan]

  Adding to positive sentiment, Kohl’s Corporatrion (NYSE: KSS) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, and same-store sales were up 3.6 percent. It’s interesting that the company was able to do this despite wintery weather, particularly in areas where Kohl’s stores are concentrated. The company’s  shares were up more than 5 percent in premarket trading. 

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  On Monday, top department store stocks including Macy's (NYSE:M), Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), Dillard's (NYSE:DDS), and J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) lost roughly 3% to 4%. The catalyst was a negative analyst report.

Peel Hunt Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Smart Metering Systems (SMS)

Smart Metering Systems (LON:SMS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Peel Hunt in a research report issued on Monday.

SMS opened at GBX 627 ($8.19) on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $704.90 million and a PE ratio of 42.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.64, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Smart Metering Systems has a 52 week low of GBX 485.50 ($6.34) and a 52 week high of GBX 845 ($11.04).

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About Smart Metering Systems

Smart Metering Systems plc, through its subsidiaries, connects, owns, operates, and maintains metering systems and databases on behalf of energy companies in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Caribbean. It operates through three segments: Asset Management, Asset Installation, and Energy Management. The Asset Management segment engages in the regulated management of gas meters, electric meters, and ADM devices.

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