Jet Airways climbs 9% after lenders take control of the board

Jet Airways shares continued to see buying interest, rising another 9 percent in the morning trade on March 26 after lenders took control of company's board and Naresh Goyal stepped down as Chairman.

The stock was quoting at Rs 272.30, up Rs 17.80, or 6.99 percent on the BSE, at 0933 hours IST.

Jet Airways founders, Naresh Goyal and wife Anita Goyal stepped down from the board of the cash-strapped airline on March 25. With this, Naresh Goyal ceases to be Chairman.

Apart from the Goyals, one nominee of Etihad Airways PJSC, Kevin Knight has also stepped down from the board, Jet Airways said in its BSE filing after its board meeting. Two nominee directors representing lenders have been inducted into the board.

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The board also approved the issue of 11.4 crore equity shares to the lenders upon conversion of Re 1 of the outstanding debt. Lenders will infuse up to Rs 1,500 crore via debt instruments.

The board also approved the constitution of an Interim Management Committee to manage and monitor the daily operations and cash flow of the company.

"The Rs 1,500 crore is a fully secured, priority, interim funding for two months that we believe is good enough to normalise operations of the airline before it is sold," SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. "In return, lenders are getting a 51 percent stake, which itself is worth over Rs 1,500 crore," he added.

Joint venture partner Eithad's stake will be brought down to 12 percent from 25 percent and Naresh Goyal will now hold 25 percent, Kumar said.

Expression of interest for bids will be floated by April 9 and the deadline for binding bids is April 30, Kumar said, adding, a new investor is expected to be on board by May 31. "There is no legal bar on anyone with a funding and revival plan in place. The option is open for anyone including Naresh Goyal and Etihad to bid for the stake," Kumar said.

Jet Airways will use the fresh funding to partly repay its stakeholders.

The airline will start taking back its grounded fleet from later this week, and 'normalcy' may be restored within two months.

"The airline will leverage the funding to partly clear pending dues towards lessors, vendors, creditors and employees in a phased manner. The move will see Jet Airways re-deploy several of its grounded aircraft back into its network, helping renew many of the routes it had temporarily suspended, which will help restore normalcy of operations...," the company said. First Published on Mar 26, 2019 09:52 am

Technical View: Nifty forms bearish candle ahead of F&O expiry, crucial support at 11,400

The Nifty50 opened strong on short covering, but last hour sell-off pushed index lower on March 27, ahead of expiry of March derivative contracts due on Thursday.

Along with weak global cues, index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Group stocks dragged market. The index closed a tad below 11,450 levels and formed bearish candle on the daily charts.

The Nifty50 opened sharply higher at 11,531.45 and hit a day's high of 11,546.20, but saw selling pressure in last hour of trade and hit an intraday low of 11,413. The index closed 38.30 points lower at 11,445.

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"Nifty50 registered a bearish candle with a lower top, which appears to be a cause for concern. Failure to build on to the gains of gap-up opening is suggesting lack of conviction on the part of bulls at higher levels who has chosen to book profits by making use of strength," Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist – Technical Research & Trading Advisory at Chartviewindia.in told Moneycontrol.

He said in next trading session if Nifty closes below 11,400 then selling pressure may get further accentuated in the new series.

As Nifty appears to be entering into high volatile phase it is advisable for traders not to initiate any fresh positions by making use of dip on expiry session, he added.

According to Mazhar Mohammad, strength on Nifty can be expected only on a close above 11,550 levels which shall then pave the way for test of life time highs placed around 11,760 levels.

India VIX moved up by 3.44 percent to 17.04 levels.

On Option front, maximum Put open interest (OI) is at 11,000 followed by 11,400 strike while maximum Call OI is at 11,600 followed by 11,500 strike.

Meaningful Call writing is at 11,600 followed by 11,550 strike while Put unwinding is at all immediate strike price with minor Put writing is at 11,350 strike.

Option band signifies a narrow trading range in between 11,400 to 11,550 zones, experts said.

"Nifty index has to hold above 11,400-11,420 zones to extend its gains towards 11,550 then 11,650 zones while on the downside support is seen at 11,350 to 11,333 zones," Chandan Taparia, Associate Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited said.

Bank Nifty opened gap up and made an new life time of 30,262 mark but witnessed some profit booking at higher levels and drifted sharply towards 29,800 zones.

The index closed above psychological 30,000 levels for the first time, up 137.65 points at 30,019.80 and formed a Doji Candle on daily scale as it closed near its opening level but managed to hold above 29,888 zones.

"Now till it holds above 29,888 zone to extend its gains towards 30,250 then 30,500 zones while on the downside crucial support is seen at 29,500 zone," Chandan Taparia said.

First Published on Mar 27, 2019 04:50 pm

How To Invest $1 Million Without The Stock Market

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;If you invested money into the S&a;amp;P 500 in 2009 and reinvested dividends, you would have enjoyed a hefty 191.835% return as of early 2019. That&a;rsquo;s an 11.305% annualized return after adjusting for inflation, which is pretty darn sweet.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Had you invested your money in the year 2000, however, the results aren&a;rsquo;t quite as rosy. Your investment would yield only 35.395% total, for an annualized return of 1.608%.&l;/span&g;

&l;img class=&q;dam-image ap size-large wp-image-c15d13d184214a24a2591d2b9d798420&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/c15d13d184214a24a2591d2b9d798420/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;This just goes to show &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettsteenbarger/2018/10/14/the-psychology-of-navigating-a-volatile-stock-market/#1e450fe4615c&q;&g;how volatile investing in stocks can be&l;/a&g;. Your return depends a lot on where you invest your money, but the results can be skewed drastically by &l;/span&g;&l;i&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;when you invest&l;/span&g;&l;/i&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;, too.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;With that in mind, not everyone wants to drop a ton of additional cash into stocks &l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;&a;mdash; &l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;especially not when they&a;rsquo;re close to retirement age.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Where to Invest $1 Million Dollars&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Recently, a reader contacted me for this exact reason &a;mdash; he had $1 million dollars to invest but didn&a;rsquo;t want to &l;a href=&q;https://www.goodfinancialcents.com/guide-to-basic-investing/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;invest all of it into the stock market&l;/a&g;. He wanted to know where else he could invest his money where he had the potential for a great return without as much volatility and risk.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;While it&a;rsquo;s not easy to score market returns without any risk, there are plenty of tools and platforms you can use that could lead to serious returns &a;mdash; or perhaps more peace of mind.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Online Savings Accounts, Money Market Accounts, and CDs&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;One of the most secure options available comes in the form of online savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). While a savings account may make it easier to access your money, CDs tend to offer a slightly higher rate of return in exchange for locking your money away for several months or years. With a 12-month CD from Marcus by Goldman Sachs, you can qualify for 2.75% APY right now. A minimum balance of $2,500 is required.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Financial advisor Mitchell Bloom of&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://bloomwealth.com/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g; &l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Bloom Financial, LLC&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g; says he advises clients to explore online savings accounts or money market accounts with competitive rates. On a personal level, he keeps his emergency savings in a Capital One 360 Money Market account with no fees of any kind. The current rate on his account is 2.0% APY for balances over $10,000. &l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;&a;ldquo;This money market is totally liquid and has no constraints,&a;rdquo; he says.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;You can also consider a high-interest savings account from an online bank that offers exceptional returns. With the CIT Bank Savings Builder Account, for example, you can get 2.45% APY on your money with a minimum account balance of $25,000 or a minimum monthly deposit requirement of just $100.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;TIPS or Short-Term Bond ETFs&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Another option is investing all or part of your nest egg in TIPS or Short-term bond ETFs. TIPS stands for Treasury Inflation-Protected Security, which makes it obvious TIPS are meant to protect against inflation. TIPS pay interest twice per year based on a fixed rate, and they are offered in terms of five, ten, and thirty years. You can buy TIPS from TreasuryDirect.gov or from a licensed broker.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;A&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/06/20/best-etfs-short-term-bonds-3/#53a89d9b6816&q;&g; &l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;short-term bond ETF&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g; is an ETF (exchange-traded fund) made up of short-term bonds with maturities lasting less than three years. These portfolios are geared to more conservative investors who prefer less volatility over the long run.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Super Saver Accounts&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Whether you use a traditional financial advisor, save with a robo-advisor, or manage your own investments, you can also explore Super Saver accounts offered by major online financial services companies.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Betterment, for example, offers a &a;ldquo;Smart Saver&a;rdquo; account that moves your excess cash into a low-risk bond portfolio for higher returns than you would get with an average savings account. At the moment, the robo-advisor says their accounts are&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.betterment.com/resources/short-term-investing-savings-account-alternative/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g; &l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;earning 2.23% APY&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Wealthfront is also reportedly rolling out a high-yield cash management account that works similarly to a savings account with an annual return of 2.24% APY.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Annuities&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Annuities could provide another way to earn a reasonable return outside the stock market, but &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/jrose/2016/10/11/beware-of-the-annuity-illustration-optical-illusion/#148a5c6c5ecc&q;&g;they tend to be difficult to understand&l;/a&g;. It doesn&a;rsquo;t help that there are several types of annuities, including variable annuities &a;mdash; a&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/jrose/2015/03/28/5-reasons-why-you-should-never-buy-a-variable-annuity/#162680114c6b&q;&g; &l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;type of annuity you should never buy&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;The important thing to remember with annuities is that you&a;rsquo;re making a contract with an insurance company. In exchange for a lump sum of cash, they usually promise you a payment every month.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;With a fixed-rate annuity, you&a;rsquo;re promised a payment in a specific amount each month. A variable annuity, on the other hand, promises a payment that depends on how an underlying investment performs. A fixed-indexed annuity works as a hybrid of the two, offering greater potential for returns with less risk overall.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Life Insurance&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;While I am adamant about the fact that whole life insurance is an awful deal for the average American family (and &l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/jrose/2018/07/10/here-are-the-5-biggest-financial-rip-offs-to-avoid/#58d3a339137b&q;&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;maybe even a financial rip-off&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;), I&a;rsquo;ll admit there are situations where whole life makes sense. For example, a high net worth individual could use a whole life insurance policy to protect some of their assets and provide their family with a tax-free lump sum when they pass away. To reiterate my position though, this strategy only makes sense in certain situations &a;mdash; usually when a lot of money is involved.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;But, what about &l;a href=&q;https://www.goodfinancialcents.com/indexed-universal-life-insurance/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;indexed universal life insurance&l;/a&g;? Typically, these are policies that won&s;t make you a lot of money over the long-term. However, they&s;re marketed similarly to fixed-index annuities in that you get unlimited upside potential with none of the downside risk. &l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;While there are plenty of pitfalls to be aware of, a properly structured indexed universal life insurance policy could provide a decent return with little risk. The key phrase here is &a;ldquo;properly structured&a;rdquo; because not all policies fit the bill.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Here&a;rsquo;s an example of how this might work in real life:&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;I once had a client who was looking for principal protection and more interest than he could get with a high interest savings account. At the same time, he wanted an investment with some liquidity. Normally, this type of high-rate, liquid investment doesn&a;rsquo;t exist. However, I was able to work with an insurance carrier to structure a policy that met his needs. &a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;The indexed universal life insurance policy he wound up with paid a dividend of just over 3% before fees were factored in. The policy also had an index option that was tied to the S&a;amp;P 500, and there were no surrender charges as long as the policy was held for three years.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;There were a couple of other details to take into consideration, but this option still helped us accomplish the goal at hand. &l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;If this is an investment you are considering, just make sure you have an advisor that is a fiduciary and working on your behalf. If you approach a life insurance salesman who isn&a;rsquo;t a fiduciary, it&a;rsquo;s pretty likely they&a;rsquo;ll try to score a huge commission instead of helping you choose a plan that suits your needs. &l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Private Business&l;/b&g;

&l;img class=&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-43345506&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/43345506/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Bloom says that, if you&a;rsquo;re an accredited investor who doesn&a;rsquo;t mind some risk, you can consider investing in private business as an angel investor.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Angel investors are high net worth individuals that are interested in funding early-stage startup companies and may invest anywhere from $10,000-$100,000 per project they take on. While throwing money into the next Google or Uber sounds like a smart idea, the downside is that, if the business fails, you could lose every dollar you invest. Ask angel investors who bet on Theranos &l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/hershshefrin/2018/04/14/the-theranos-con/#56b89cbf2314&q;&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;how that worked out&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;. &l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;If this is something you&a;rsquo;re considering, it&a;rsquo;s important to have several million set aside before even looking at investing in startups. &a;ldquo;The failure rate is very high,&a;rdquo; said Bloom.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Bloom also suggests taking the time to conduct due diligence instead of investing in a frenzy out of excitement or FOMO. You can also search for a consultant you can trust. &l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;&a;ldquo;There are Angel investor groups all over the country and the largest is called the Keiretsu Forum, based out of California,&a;rdquo; he says. &a;ldquo;If approved for membership, you can gain access to a wide array of opportunities.&a;rdquo;&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Projects on this platform have been strictly vetted through a committee and formal due diligence process.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Real Estate&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Another popular investing option for high net worth individuals is real estate. Fortunately, new technology and startups have made it possible for more and &l;a href=&q;https://www.goodfinancialcents.com/how-to-invest-in-real-estate/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;more investors to get into the real estate game&l;/a&g; without dealing with the headaches of being a landlord.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;One real estate investment that is entirely hands-off is the REIT, or real estate investment trust. This type of investment, which you can buy through any major online brokerage account, lets you invest your money into a company that owns and operates income-producing real estate. There are also real estate ETFs (exchange-traded funds), which invest in underlying REITs.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Some online real estate platforms also make it easy to crowdfund real estate with the potential for high returns (and no landlord hassle).&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2017/06/15/home-sweet-investment-fundrise-introduces-new-way-for-millennials-to-endow-their-future-houses/#21a7d584779b&q;&g; &l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Fundrise&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g; is an especially popular option for investors since it has boasted returns between 9.11% and 12.42% since 2014. You can invest into a Starter Portfolio for just $500, although the platform also offers portfolios for long-term growth, supplemental income, and balanced investing.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Peer-to-Peer Lending&l;/b&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Finally, don&a;rsquo;t forget about the prospect of peer-to-peer lending with platforms like LendingClub and Prosper. Both let you loan money to individuals as if you were a bank, helping you score higher returns than you may get with other investments.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;With&l;/span&g; &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/companies/lending-club/#11f76a0ce4c3&q;&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;LendingClub&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;, you can invest a lump sum of money over hundreds or even thousands of $25 notes. The platform reports a historical return of 3% to 8% per year, although your returns will depend on the risk involved in the underlying investments you choose.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Fortunately, the level of risk you take on is mostly in your hands. LendingClub lets you earn higher rates on high-risk consumers with shaky credit, but you can also choose safer notes with less potential for volatility.&l;/span&g;

Cramer Remix: The biggest mistake investors can make with taxes

CNBC's Jim Cramer knows that he constantly repeats the same old investing rules, but it's because rules mean discipline, and discipline always trumps conviction.

"One thing I've learned in my investing career: no matter how much you might believe in something, you violate the rules of the road at your own peril," the "Mad Money" host said.

Investing rules aren't easy to spot. They're not like the laws of physics, which can be deduced by observing the way the world works. The market is a beast of its own, and rules come from experience.

Cramer's nearly 40 years in the business have taught him some important lessons, lessons that he's made into rules for all the homegamers interested in buying stocks.

One of his most important rules? Don't avoid the tax man.

"Look, no one has ever liked paying taxes," Cramer acknowledged. "But, like death, taxes are inevitable and unavoidable."

So many investors are loath to pay taxes on their winnings, but Cramer has seen some market players incur serious losses by waiting too long to write a check to Uncle Sam.

The fact is, some gains are unsustainable and should be booked quickly, no matter the cost, Cramer said. Taking some profits won't set you back dramatically; it'll keep your portfolio safe.

Buying strategy Ralph Orlowski | Bloomberg | Getty Images Statues of a bull and a bear outside the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

At the end of the day, Cramer knows investors are only human.

That's why the "Mad Money" host has come up with a set of investing rules to help guide them through the emotion and the fallibility that can come with being involved in stocks.

Another one of Cramer's most important rules has to do with buying stocks.

"This is a real important one: never buy a stock all at once," Cramer said. "I can't stress it enough: do not, under any circumstances, buy all at once."

Plenty of Wall Street brokers and advisors prefer not to deal with partial orders or buying a stock gradually over time. They like to go in big and make a statement with their purchases.

"From where I stand, that's all wrong — 100 percent wrong," the "Mad Money" host said. "What I want you to do is stage your buys. Stage your sells. The term we use on Wall Street is 'Work your orders.' Try to get the best price over time, and not necessarily in one day. Maybe multiple days."

Navigating panic Getty Images A trader reacts to the Flash Crash on May 6, 2010.

In many ways, individual investors are often their own worst enemies, as Cramer has learned over the years.

"If you want to invest wisely, you constantly need to be fighting off your own worst impulses," he said. "We're not robots, we have emotions, and those emotions can really throw you off your game."

That's why Cramer is always drilling down on another cardinal rule: "Nobody ever made a dime panicking."

Yet no matter how much he repeats it, Cramer constantly sees sellers come out of the woodwork anytime an individual stock or the overall market takes a hit.

Now, if you were an ancient hunter-gatherer and came across a grizzly bear, the instinct to panic and flee would come in handy, the "Mad Money" host said.

"But it's not a useful emotion when it comes to analyzing the stock market, where you're running away when maybe you should be running toward" stocks, he said.

Less is more? ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images

Every morning at his old hedge fund, Cramer would spend a few hours going over the mistakes he made the day before.

"I would analyze every losing trade — you don't need to analyze the winners, they take care of themselves — [and] I'd try to figure out how I could've made more money or, much more importantly, lost less money," the "Mad Money" host said.

After a few years of this routine, something finally dawned on him.

"I realized that good performance could be linked directly to having fewer positions," Cramer said. "When we owned fewer stocks, we tended to make more money."

Ever since, Cramer hasn't bought a stock without taking a different one off the table. But not owning too many stocks comes with a price, too.

The value of homework Getty Images

If you want to be serious about investing, you have to be rigorous. And nothing says rigorous like doing your homework, Cramer said.

The problem is that so many investors act like Cramer's kids when it comes to the homework: they hate it, feel like it's punishment and don't understand why it's useful.

In Cramer's world, that's wrong. To him, discovering everything there is to know about a company is the definition of responsible investing.

"Before you buy a stock, you should listen to the conference calls," he said. "That's the minimum. You can go to the company's website. You can read the research. Read some news stories. Google the darned thing. Everything's available on the web. Everything. You have so much more available now, so much more knowledge, that there really is no excuse."

Doing the homework helps investors stay diversified, another one of Cramer's most significant lessons. Sector risk — or the tendency for stocks in the same sector to trade together — can hit at extreme moments and destroy entire portfolios if investors don't know what they own.

"Whether you're an amateur or a professional, you always need to do your homework and keep your portfolio diversified," Cramer said. "It may not be exciting, it may not be sexy, but this is the kind of routine maintenance stuff that protects you from monster losses down the line."

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

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Here's the Thing About "Buying Weed from the Grocery Store"

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Greg Miller

John Mackey, CEO of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) subsidiary Whole Foods Market Inc. recently sat down with a reporter from The Texas Tribune.

The reporter bagged a great quote – and we investors got quite an earful, too. It's worth us taking a minute to parse out, because there are real implications for our marijuana investments.

Mackey was talking with the Tribune about the possibility of carrying cannabis products in his stores: "If cannabis is ever passed in Texas, chances are good that grocery stores will be selling that, too."

And it seems Mackey may even be open to a variety of products. When asked whether we would ever see cannabis edibles in a Whole Foods outlet, Mackey said, "Let's see what happens with the market and the government regulations over time."

Financial journalists have been making a lot of hay over these statements, and that's understandable.

After all, if cannabis were available in major grocery stores, the potential profits for any party involved would be incredible; it would certainly be a turning point in cannabis' lucrative journey into the American mainstream.

I agree that it's fairly likely we'll see cannabis products in grocery stores in the near future. But there's a caveat: The "arrival" is going to play out a little differently than everyone – Mackey included – may be thinking.

Investors had better get ready, because it's going to play out like this…

It's Easy – Look to Liquor for Clues

Old habits die hard, and it's important to remember how, well, new cannabis is as a legitimate recreational product. The very first legal cannabis sale did not occur until just six years ago.

The very legislators and bureaucrats charged with regulating this new industry were often deeply invested in the war against cannabis just a few years ago.

THREE STOCKS: Any one of these cannabis companies I've researched could potentially deliver a 1,000% windfall. Click here to learn more…

While some may be recent converts to the benefits of legal cannabis, they aren't ready to allow cannabis products to be sold alongside cigarettes at the grocery store… even though we all know those cigarettes are incredibly hazardous to human health.

So let me be frank: It's going to be a very, very long time (if ever) before you see "Alice B. Toklas" pot brownies in the Entenmann's case or next to the Little Debbie snack cakes.

In fact, your best chance of buying THC products from Whole Foods wouldn't actually be inside the store at all.

It's much more likely, I think, that Whole Foods would open cannabis dispensaries or retail outlets adjacent to its grocery stores. This model is already in use for liquor stores connected to other groceries, like you'd find at Wegmans. Many states don't allow the sale of alcohol within grocery stores, so these affiliated retailers act as a sort of loophole, allowing the parent store to boost profits without running afoul of any state regulations.

It may be some time before state and local legislatures determine regulations that would allow for a grocery-adjacent dispensary, though.

And it's doubtful the first of those would appear in conjunction with Whole Foods, a company headquartered in a "red" state that has yet to legalize even medical cannabis use.

But I do believe there is a far likelier way for Whole Foods to profit from the cannabis industry, and by now, you'll be very familiar with it.

This Compound Is the High-Profit Key

In the end, what you are most likely to find on the shelves of a Whole Foods – or any other grocery store – are cannabidiol products, more broadly known as "CBD."

It's convenient, then, and thoroughly unsurprising, that Whole Foods itself listed "next-level hemp" as one of its "top 10 food trends for 2019."

Of course, as I've said before, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to keep CBD out of food products simply because it is a regulated drug.

(Note: Subscribers to my free Cannabis Profits Daily research will get a report from me on the FDA's approach to CBD. No investor can afford to miss this – go here to subscribe at no charge.)

But CBD holds incredible potential as a "nutraceutical," or dietary supplement, alongside capsules of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D3 pills.

That health-oriented market is squarely where many of our key Cannabis Investors Report model portfolio picks have staked their claim – and reaped the beginnings of a massive wave of profits.

The health properties of CBD are too great to ignore, and with the passage of the Farm Bill, hemp-derived CBD enjoys a federal legality that all other segments of the cannabis sector currently lack.

So even in Texas, a state that has taken no measures to legalize marijuana, low-THC/high-CBD cannabis is perfectly legal.

Even as headlines dominate the news cycle with talk of a New York City CBD ban and the resignation of a CBD-friendly FDA head, the smart money continues to bet on this sector – and our Members will continue to get the chance to profit from it.

Ultimately, the opportunity CBD presents to grocers like Whole Foods is too great to ignore, and you should not be surprised if you see one of our model portfolio Members on the shelf of a grocery store very soon.

These 3 Stocks Are the Key to 2019's Greatest Profits

The 2018 midterm election was a turning point for the cannabis industry.

We expect nothing short of historic profits by the end of the year.

But not all pot stocks will hand you life-changing wins. In fact, often the companies making headlines are least likely to see the biggest gains.

These three stocks, on the other hand, are flying under the radar… for now. Each of them could see exponential stock price acceleration at any moment, and if you get in before that happens, you could turn a token stake into a lifetime of wealth.

I don't know of any other sector providing anywhere near this level of growth now.

Click here to learn more.

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Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Greg Miller

About the Author

Browse Greg's articles | View Greg's research services

Greg Miller started working on Wall Street in September, 1987, just a month before the "Black Monday" stock market crash.

During his career there, he became an expert in just about every kind of publicly traded security - from blue-chip and small-cap stocks to municipals, junk bonds, and derivatives. As a portfolio manager, Greg was responsible for over $500 million of assets in mutual funds and insurance company accounts.

After leaving the Street, he designed a successful options trading strategy and made lucrative tech investments for a financial publication. He has also helped develop new products and worked with other editors to hone their strategies.  He's always been dedicated to deep, fundamental research - and he always will be - because he believes buying the very best companies at the right price is the best way to amass wealth in the stock market.

… Read full bio

EXACT Sciences (EXAS) Shares Up 6.4%

EXACT Sciences Co. (NASDAQ:EXAS) shares shot up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $91.32 and last traded at $90.85. 2,469,509 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 1,869,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.37.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXAS. Zacks Investment Research downgraded EXACT Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Goldman Sachs Group raised EXACT Sciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 26th. UBS Group set a $109.00 price target on EXACT Sciences and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 22nd. BidaskClub downgraded EXACT Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 23rd. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $95.00 price target on EXACT Sciences and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. EXACT Sciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.64.

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The company has a quick ratio of 11.72, a current ratio of 12.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.70 and a beta of 1.83.

EXACT Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 21st. The medical research company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $142.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.00 million. EXACT Sciences had a negative return on equity of 23.29% and a negative net margin of 38.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Research analysts predict that EXACT Sciences Co. will post -1.85 EPS for the current year.

In related news, insider D Scott Coward sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.75, for a total transaction of $99,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,544 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,136. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Scott C. Johnson sold 1,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.20, for a total value of $108,671.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 445,896 shares of company stock valued at $36,518,057. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EXACT Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $260,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EXACT Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of EXACT Sciences by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,509,000 after purchasing an additional 261,239 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of EXACT Sciences by 602.9% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of EXACT Sciences by 37.6% during the third quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 153,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,131,000 after purchasing an additional 41,965 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.37% of the company’s stock.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This story was published by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this story on another domain, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of United States and international copyright and trademark laws. The original version of this story can be accessed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4219308/exact-sciences-exas-shares-up-6-4.html.

EXACT Sciences Company Profile (NASDAQ:EXAS)

Exact Sciences Corporation, a molecular diagnostics company, focuses on developing products for the early detection and prevention of various cancers in the United States. The company offers Cologuard, a non-invasive stool-based DNA screening test for the early detection of colorectal cancer and pre-cancer.

Read More: What is a short straddle?

Hot Tech Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:STV,ARCW,BIIB,TCX,

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 655,442 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,628 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Medtronic were worth $52,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. We Are One Seven LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the fourth quarter valued at about $104,000. BB&T Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 147.6% in the fourth quarter. BB&T Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. Barrett Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 856.0% in the fourth quarter. Barrett Asset Management LLC now owns 1,826 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Medtronic by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter valued at about $193,000. 80.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hot Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.(STV)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Sativacoin (CURRENCY:STV) traded 2.1% higher against the US dollar during the 1-day period ending at 22:00 PM E.T. on May 9th. Over the last week, Sativacoin has traded up 0.1% against the US dollar. One Sativacoin coin can now be purchased for $0.0318 or 0.00000341 BTC on popular exchanges including Cryptopia and YoBit. Sativacoin has a market capitalization of $225,415.00 and $19.00 worth of Sativacoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

Hot Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Arc Wireless Solutions Inc.(ARCW)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  News articles about ARC Group WorldWide (NASDAQ:ARCW) have been trending somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. Accern identifies negative and positive media coverage by analyzing more than 20 million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. ARC Group WorldWide earned a news sentiment score of 0.08 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media coverage about the technology company an impact score of 45.8235732272447 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near term.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Barnes Group (NYSE: B) and ARC Group WorldWide (NASDAQ:ARCW) are both industrial products companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Watts Water Technologies (NYSE: WTS) and ARC Group WorldWide (NASDAQ:ARCW) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  ARC Group WorldWide (NASDAQ:ARCW) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The technology company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, MarketWatch Earnings reports. The firm had revenue of $20.91 million during the quarter. ARC Group WorldWide had a negative return on equity of 30.03% and a negative net margin of 13.64%.

Hot Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Biogen Idec Inc(BIIB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Lange]

  Short interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) decreased slightly to 3.09 million shares from the previous 3.15 million. The stock recently traded at $344.57, within a 52-week range of $249.17 to $388.67.

• [By ]

  This week we get our first look at quarterly numbers from major drug and biotech giants such as AbbVie (ABBV)  , Amgen (AMGN)  , Biogen (BIIB) , Biomarin Pharmaceuticals (BMRN)  and Action Alerts PLUS holding Eli Lilly (LLY) , which all provide the market a glimpse of how the first quarter was for the industry over the next few days," according to Real Money Pro columnist Bret Jensen.

• [By George Budwell]

  Biotech heavyweight Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) has now lost over 13% of its value so far this year. To be fair, this year hasn't been kind to biotechs in general, thanks to President Trump's aggressive trade policies with China. But Biogen's value has been declining at a far faster rate than the industry as a whole due to stiffer competition in the all-important multiple sclerosis (MS) space.

• [By Todd Campbell]

  Scrambling to bulk up their drug pipelines, big biopharma companies are increasingly turning to gene therapy. Gene therapies' potential to overcome genetic mutations in over 6,000 genetic disorders prompted Roche Holdings (NASDAQOTH:RHHBY) to acquire gene therapy pioneer Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONCE) for $4.8 billion last month. This month, Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) followed that news up with its $877 million acquisition of gene therapy upstart Nightstar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NITE). Are more gene therapy deals in the works?

Hot Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Tucows Inc.(TCX)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Corelogic (NYSE:CLGX) and Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Yext (NASDAQ: TCX) and Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Online services veteran Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) reported first-quarter earnings last night, and the mixed results failed to impress investors. The stock fell as much as 9.4% Thursday morning before bouncing back to a smaller 6% drop.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) (TSE:TC) was downgraded by investment analysts at BidaskClub from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Domain name registrar and network services operator Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) recently reported fourth-quarter results where both revenues and earnings fell compared to the year-ago period. The company reported earnings of $0.42 per share on $85.6 million in top-line sales as Tucows handed off nearly 3 million domain names to other registrars and struggled to find traction for its Ting Mobile network services.

• [By Brian Feroldi, Sean Williams, and Maxx Chatsko]

  So, which stocks do we think are capable of delivering gains like that for shareholders who buy today? We asked a team of investors to weigh in, and they picked SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG), Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB), and Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX).

Vivint Solar Isn't Profitable, But There's Still Value in the Stock

Earnings in the residential solar business can be up and down depending on the quarter. But long-term, this is a business that could bring a lot of value to shareholders.

For Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR), the fourth quarter may not have been exactly what investors expected -- the company reported a drop in revenue and a loss on a GAAP basis. But there was still a lot to like about the company's results. 

Image source: Getty Images.

The numbers

Vivint Solar reported a 5% drop in fourth-quarter revenue versus a year ago to $63.5 million, and a loss from operations of $40.0 million, or $0.11 per share, worse than a $26.9 million loss from operations a year ago.

The drop in both revenue and losses from operations was due to a shift from selling solar systems to customers to leasing more of them. Leases push revenue and earnings out to future years, which is why we saw the drop in results last quarter. 

On the plus side, Vivint Solar is growing the amount, or value, it's retaining for shareholders. Retained value is the present value of the future cash flows that management expects from leased solar systems. At the end of the fourth quarter, the estimated net retained value was $1.11 billion, or $9.20 per share, nearly double where the stock trades today. 

Costs are now a concern

One concerning aspect about Vivint Solar's report is that costs continue to rise. Solar system costs rose from $2.99 per watt a year ago to $3.18 per watt, driven by a jump in sales and marketing costs from $0.76 per watt to $1.06 per watt. 

Residential solar companies have had a hard time keeping sales and marketing costs under control, and that was exactly what we saw from Vivint Solar last quarter. 

Where does Vivint Solar go from here? 

Vivint Solar is pushing into more states like Florida and Illinois, which will help fuel growth in the next few years. But I think management and investors should be looking at this as a value stock. The company has two decades of contracted cash flows from the solar systems it installs, and it can sell some of that cash or hold it on the balance sheet and let revenue and margins grow organically. 

For investors, the value continues to build as Vivint Solar installs more solar systems across the country. Retained value isn't a perfect metric for the value on the balance sheet, but it's a decent proxy -- and with shares trading nearly 50% below retained value, I think this is a great value stock in solar energy. 

Genworth Financial (GNW) Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) fell 2.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $3.69 and last traded at $3.80. 5,596,804 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 4,487,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.89.

Several brokerages recently commented on GNW. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Genworth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5.25 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 3rd. ValuEngine upgraded Genworth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.13.

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The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.60.

Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.84). The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Genworth Financial had a net margin of 1.41% and a return on equity of 1.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Genworth Financial Inc will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Genworth Financial by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,324,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,810,000 after buying an additional 432,946 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Genworth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $32,764,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Genworth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Genworth Financial by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,101,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,035,000 after buying an additional 680,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Litespeed Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Genworth Financial by 236.1% in the 4th quarter. Litespeed Management L.L.C. now owns 2,189,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,205,000 after buying an additional 1,538,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.40% of the company’s stock.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This story was published by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this story on another domain, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of United States and international copyright and trademark laws. The original version of this story can be accessed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4204829/genworth-financial-gnw-trading-down-2-3.html.

Genworth Financial Company Profile (NYSE:GNW)

Genworth Financial, Inc provides insurance and homeownership solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: U.S. Mortgage Insurance, Canada Mortgage Insurance, Australia Mortgage Insurance, U.S. Life Insurance, and Runoff. The U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment offers mortgage insurance products primarily insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans.

Read More: Closed-End Mutual Funds (CEFs)

Ask a Fool: Should I Buy Marijuana Stocks?

Q: I've seen tons of hype about marijuana stocks. Should I put some of my money into the space, or is it a bad choice?

The marijuana industry is a young and high-potential space, so there's definitely lots of room for long-term growth.

However, it's important to approach this with the right mentality. Investing in any up-and-coming industry is a speculative practice. That is, it's highly risky and you shouldn't invest any money that you aren't prepared to lose -- even if you think a particular company looks like a potential gold mine.

I don't want to discuss any individual companies, but it would be smart to approach investing in marijuana stocks in a similar manner as tech stocks in the late 1990s. Some will probably do wonderfully. People who invested in Amazon.com or Priceline (now Booking Holdings) during the dot-com boom and held on to their shares have made fortunes. People who invested in companies like Pets.com -- not so much.

With that in mind, I'd advise you to do two things if you want to add some marijuana stocks to your portfolio.

First, only use a small portion of your investable assets. If you put, say, 5% of your portfolio in marijuana stocks, that's all you can lose if things go badly. And if one of them turns out to be the Amazon of the marijuana industry, it'll still be enough to produce a significant win.

Second, don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Whatever money you decide to invest in the marijuana industry, spread it among at least three or four reputable companies -- not penny stocks.

If you do those two things, you'll set yourself up to profit if you're right, but at the same time, you won't be devastated if things go badly.

Microvision Inc (MVIS) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Microvision Inc (NASDAQ:MVIS) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Microvision Inc is engaged in developing its proprietary PicoP display technology. Its technology can be used to create high-resolution miniature laser display and imaging engines. Microvision Inc has a market cap of $110.270 million; its shares were traded at around $1.08 with and P/S ratio of 4.86. Microvision Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 29.40% over the past ten years.

For the last quarter Microvision Inc reported a revenue of $11.6 million, compared with the revenue of $5.43 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $17.6 million, an increase of 61.7% from last year. For the last five years Microvision Inc had an average revenue growth rate of 30.8% a year.

The reported loss per diluted share was 31 cents for the year, compared with the loss per share of $0.44 in the previous year. The Microvision Inc had an operating margin of -154.6%, compared with the operating margin of -222.54% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of Microvision Inc is -331.02%. The profitability rank of the company is 2 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Microvision Inc has the cash and cash equivalents of $13.8 million, compared with $17.0 million in the previous year. The long term debt was $0.03 million. Microvision Inc has a financial strength rank of 5 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $1.08, Microvision Inc is traded at 61.8% discount to its historical median P/S valuation band of $2.83. The P/S ratio of the stock is 4.86, while the historical median P/S ratio is 12.74. The stock gained 0.93% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of MVIS, click here.

Coal India, NMDC gain over 2% as board members to consider interim dividend next week

Coal India shares gained more than 2 percent and NMDC rallied 2.6 percent intraday on Wednesday ahead of board meetings next week to consider interim dividend.

The country's largest and state-owned coal mining company said the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on March 14 to consider payment of second interim dividend, for the year 2018-19, if any.

The company has fixed March 25 as a record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend if declared by the board.

Hence, the trading window will remain closed from March 7 until the end of 48 hours after the announcement of decision of board of directors regarding payment of interim dividend, if any, is made public on March 14.

NMDC also on Wednesday said the board of directors, on March 12, will consider declaration of interim dividend for the financial year 2018-19, if any.

At 12:57 hours IST, Coal India was up 0.79 percent at Rs 242.20 and NMDC rose 1.42 percent to Rs 106.80 on the BSE. First Published on Mar 6, 2019 01:09 pm

Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for Worldpay Inc’s FY2019 Earnings (WP)

Worldpay Inc (NYSE:WP) – Stock analysts at Northcoast Research lifted their FY2019 earnings per share estimates for shares of Worldpay in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 27th. Northcoast Research analyst K. Mehta now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $4.23 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $4.10.

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Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Worldpay in a research report on Tuesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank raised their target price on Worldpay from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 27th. Wedbush raised their target price on Worldpay from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “average” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 27th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Worldpay in a report on Thursday, January 3rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Worldpay from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.09.

Shares of NYSE:WP opened at $95.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $27.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.84. Worldpay has a 12-month low of $70.41 and a 12-month high of $103.50.

Worldpay (NYSE:WP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Worldpay had a positive return on equity of 11.66% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS.

In other news, EVP Royal Cole sold 61,257 shares of Worldpay stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.14, for a total value of $5,889,247.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.05% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FTB Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Worldpay by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FTB Advisors Inc. now owns 7,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Worldpay by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 5,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Lourd Capital LLC lifted its stake in Worldpay by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Lourd Capital LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Worldpay by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. lifted its stake in Worldpay by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 9,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.81% of the company’s stock.

About Worldpay

Worldpay, Inc, through its subsidiary, Vantiv Holding, LLC, provides electronic payment processing services to merchants and financial institutions in the United States, Europe, and Asia. It operates in two segments, Merchant Services and Financial Institution Services. The Merchant Services segment offers merchant acquiring and payment processing services, such as authorization and settlement, customer service, chargeback and retrieval processing, and interchange management to national merchants, and regional and small-to-mid sized businesses.

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GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) Shares Bought by Usca Ria LLC

Usca Ria LLC grew its holdings in GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,537 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,372 shares during the period. Usca Ria LLC’s holdings in GlaxoSmithKline were worth $2,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GSK. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of GlaxoSmithKline by 195.3% in the fourth quarter. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. now owns 685 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GlaxoSmithKline in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GlaxoSmithKline in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. River Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of GlaxoSmithKline by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of GlaxoSmithKline in the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.99% of the company’s stock.

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GSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of GlaxoSmithKline in a research report on Tuesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GlaxoSmithKline in a research report on Friday, December 14th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Exane BNP Paribas downgraded GlaxoSmithKline from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 14th. BNP Paribas downgraded GlaxoSmithKline from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of GlaxoSmithKline in a research report on Monday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.99.

NYSE GSK traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $40.22. 63,144 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,158,324. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.51. GlaxoSmithKline plc has a 52 week low of $35.96 and a 52 week high of $42.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.79.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. GlaxoSmithKline had a return on equity of 160.39% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $10.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.85 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that GlaxoSmithKline plc will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.597 per share. This is a boost from GlaxoSmithKline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.39 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 21st. GlaxoSmithKline’s payout ratio is presently 74.68%.

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About GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline plc engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, anti-virals, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterials, dermatology, rare diseases, immuno-inflammation, and HIV, as well as vaccines.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday.

According to Zacks, “Of late, Aerojet Rocketdyne is facing increased competition from entrepreneurs such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, which in turn can hurt its top-line performance. Aerojet Rocketdyne is subject to interest rate risk related to the issuance of debt. Notably, a material rise in long-term interest rates is a major risk for capital intensive stocks like Aerojet Rocketdyne. This is because defense players like this company need to rely heavily on capital markets for access to funds and make the necessary investments in innovations and productions of high-end defense equipments. Moreover, with the current U.S. economy being in favor of expanding interest rate, the credit market may not turn out to be much favorable for Aerojet Rocketdyne. However, with an experience of supplying some of the world’s most technologically advanced propulsion systems for over 70 years, Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully serves a broad range of customers.”

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Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. SunTrust Banks raised their price objective on Aerojet Rocketdyne to $45.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 20th. Credit Suisse Group raised Aerojet Rocketdyne from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 14th. Finally, ValuEngine raised Aerojet Rocketdyne from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $45.00.

NYSE:AJRD traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.05. The company had a trading volume of 401 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,893. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Aerojet Rocketdyne has a 1 year low of $25.06 and a 1 year high of $40.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.80.

Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 19th. The aerospace company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). Aerojet Rocketdyne had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 36.16%. The company had revenue of $437.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.37 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Aerojet Rocketdyne will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJRD. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne during the second quarter valued at about $278,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne during the third quarter valued at about $207,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne by 161.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 110,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,769,000 after acquiring an additional 68,451 shares in the last quarter. ARP Americas LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne during the third quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Aerojet Rocketdyne by 801.6% in the third quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,877 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares in the last quarter.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of innovative solutions in the field of aerospace and defense, as well as in the field of real estate. It operates through the following business segments: Aerospace & Defense, and Real Estate. The Aerospace & Defense segment operates through the Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc in developing and manufacturing of aerospace and defense products and systems for the United States government, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, major aerospace and defense prime contractors as well as portions of the commercial sector.

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Surprise! AMC Shows Movie Theaters Can Make Money From Subscriptions

Expectations were low going into AMC Entertainment's (NYSE:AMC) fourth-quarter earnings report. The company had been under a cloud of skepticism amid tepid box-office results to start 2019, along with nervousness surrounding its new subscription service, AMC Stubs A-List.

However, some of that skepticism may have vanished after the report, which sent shares skyrocketing as much as 17.6% on Friday.

In the quarter, AMC met its revenue guidance and trounced expectations for profitability, posting earnings per share of $0.43, well ahead of estimates for just $0.17. One particular bright spot for AMC was the U.S. market, where the company's full-year attendance growth of 6.1% bested the overall domestic market's 5.8% growth.  

So what's causing these eye-popping profits and U.S. market share gains? It appears to be AMC Stubs A-List.

After A-List's rollout last June, the market soured on AMC. After all, movie subscription service MoviePass is barely clinging to life. Could a subscription service really work without cannibalizing existing full-priced patrons?

As this earnings report showed, AMC appears to have cracked the movie subscription code.

AMC A-List appears to be surprisingly profitable. Image source: Getty Images.

Higher food and beverage sales

In the movie business, theaters typically make about a 50% gross margin on ticket sales, give or take. That's good, but the real money is made on those egregiously priced buckets of popcorn. Last quarter, AMC earned a whopping 85.9% gross margin on food and beverage sales in the United States.

While AMC may be taking a hit on its admissions profit per A-List subscriber, higher frequency means more sales of high-margin food and beverages. CEO Adam Aron said A-Listers are spending 2.5 times more on food and beverages per month than before they joined A-List.

A-Listers bring friends... at full price

Aron was also excited about A-List's "bring-along rate." While movie lovers may be getting a great deal on their A-list subscription, many don't like going to the movies alone. 

On the conference call with analysts, Aron said A-list subscribers doubled their "bring-along revenue" of friends and family, who, unlike A-Listers, pay full-price. It's not clear how one measures this item, but given that A-Listers are now seeing several movies per month, as opposed to just six movies per year before joining, it's likely that many more incremental full-priced friends are coming along. That helps mitigate the lower admissions margins from core A-Listers.

A-List signups continue ahead of expectations

Management also revealed that the number of A-List members surpassed 700,000 shortly before earnings, after crossing the 600,000 mark near the end of December and the 500,000 mark around the time of the November earnings call. At this rate, it's possible that A-List could have 1 million subscribers by its one-year anniversary in June: double management's initial expectations for the service's first year.

In addition, Aron said that usage trends remain similar to what management described in November: heavy upon initial sign-up, at 3.3 average visits by the end of the first month, but falling below 3 visits per month in short order. Average usage across the whole footprint, which includes many high-frequency new subscribers, was already at a manageable 2.8 visits per month in February.

It all adds up

As A-List initially ramped up, management expected it to cost the company $10 million to $15 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2018. However, the hit came in toward the lower end of that range at just $11.6 million, despite AMC signing up more subscribers than expected, which theoretically should have caused a larger hit to earnings in the short run. While management had previously expected A-List to break even in 2019 before adding incremental EBITDA in 2020, management now expects A-List to add to AMC's adjusted EBITDA in 2019, ahead of schedule.

Aron said he would "not be surprised" if A-List wound up generating $3 in incremental EBITDA per subscriber per month when mature. At the current 700,000 member count, that equates to an extra $2.1 million per month, or $25.2 million per year, already above the high end of management's initial hopes of $15 million to $25 million. If membership reaches 1 million, that's an extra $36 million in annual EBITDA. At 2 million subs, it's an extra $72 million. 

Considering AMC's full-year 2018 adjusted EBITDA was $929.2 million, that would be a meaningful boost to profits. In short, shareholders should be excited, not fearful, about AMC Stubs A-List. It could bring a happy ending to 2019. 

Q4 GDP Provides Backdrop for Stronger 2018 Growth Story

At the end of 2018, the stock market was in freefall mode due to slower economic readings and fears that earnings growth was about to dry up. The federal government shutdown also created many problems, including delays in the release of many government-issued economic reports. And the fear was growing that gross domestic product (GDP) was slowing to a crawl ahead of the tariffs and trade war fears. Due to the partial shutdown, this GDP report replaced the advanced report and the first revision.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the economy grew by 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2018. Dow Jones was calling for a gain of 2.2%. That estimate likely would have been lower had this report been issued four to six weeks ago.

While this is better than expected, the reality is that this is still shy of the 3.4% growth recorded in the third quarter of 2018 and the 4.2% posted in the second quarter.

The Commerce Department also reported that the so-called current-dollar GDP increased by 4.6%, or $233.2 billion, to a level of $20.89 trillion in the fourth quarter. That compares with a current dollar GDP gain of 4.9%, or $246.3 billion, in the third quarter. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, versus a 1.8% gain in the third quarter.

One area of weakness was from softness in consumer spending and in the housing market. Recall that roughly two-thirds of U.S. GDP comes from consumer spending activities. That said, consumer spending was measured as being up 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Nonresidential fixed investment rose by a sharp 6.2% in the fourth quarter, after having risen just 2.5% in the third quarter. That measurement includes business investment and spending on structures, equipment, software, R&D and so on. Residential investment fell by 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Exports also rose by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, following a drop of 4.9% in the third quarter. Petroleum and capital goods exports accounted for the gains there.

The broader growth for the year showed a 2.9% annual GDP increase over 2017. That was the strongest growth since 2015. Two figures stood out for the annual report showing full-year 2018 versus 2017:

Real GDP increased 2.9% in 2018 over 2017, and that was compared to an increase of 2.2% in 2017. Current-dollar GDP increased 5.2%, or $1.02 trillion, in 2018 to a level of $20.50 trillion, compared to a 2017 gain of 4.2% ($778.2 billion) in 2017.

One more issue to consider is that the contribution from inventories was just 0.15% of the total GDP growth. That figure had been over 2.3% in the third quarter. If businesses end up deciding that they need to replenish inventories more for the year ahead it could actually act as a boost to GDP and overall production gains in 2019. Then again, any additional slowing might take that the other way.

It is important to understand what has happened in the markets versus the broader economy in 2019. Year to date, the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 are both up over 11% on last look, and almost every week has been an up-week for the broader market indexes. Economic numbers have shown growth at a more muted pace, and the Federal Reserve finally figured out that it was being far too aggressive with hiking interest rates and telegraphing future rate hikes.

Despite a solid gain in the fourth quarter, many economists, market watchers and even Federal Reserve officials have called for slower growth in 2019. Much of that outcome will, of course, depend on the outcome of China tariff and trade issues being negotiated. A few dozen political and geopolitical issues are all potential drags.

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Despite Big 2019 Rally, Top Wall Street Strategist Sees Potential Danger Ahead

Why Whiting Petroleum Stock Is Slumping Today

What happened

Shares of Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL) sold off on Wednesday, falling more than 10% by 10:15 a.m. EST. Driving the decline was the oil company's fourth-quarter report and its outlook for 2019.

So what

Whiting Petroleum reported a loss of $4.8 million, or $0.05 per share, during the fourth quarter, which missed analysts' expectations by $0.56 per share. The primary problem was that production came in well below the low end of the company's guidance range. While Whiting anticipated that it would pump out between 12.2 million and 12.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) during the quarter, it only produced 11.96 MMBOE due to issues with third-party midstream providers, including gathering delays and gas-processing curtailments. Production, however, was up 2% versus the year-ago period and up 8% for the full year. On an even more positive note, Whiting continued to produce excess cash as it tallied $19 million in free cash flow during the quarter despite lower oil prices, pushing its full-year total to $280 million.

Image source: Getty Images.

Whiting Petroleum also provided its outlook for 2019. The oil producer said that it plans to spend between $800 million and $840 million on capital projects this year. While that's about 1.5% lower at the midpoint from 2018's level ($832 million), it's not as deep a spending cut as most peers are planning. Instead, the company aims to invest enough money to grow its production in the Williston Basin by 11% while still generating some free cash flow at current oil prices.

Now what

Whiting Petroleum's fourth-quarter report was rather disappointing as production came in well below forecast due to some third-party midstream issues, which significantly squeezed profitability. In addition, the outlook for 2019 wasn't what investors wanted to see, because the company barely cut spending even though oil prices crashed to end 2018. This decision could cause problems if crude takes another tumble. Because of that, Whiting Petroleum is not the type of oil stock investors should consider buying given the current market volatility.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc (MLM) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Martin Marietta Materials Inc (NYSE:MLM) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Martin Marietta Materials Inc is a natural-resource-based building materials company. It supplies aggregates products used for the construction of infrastructure, nonresidential, and residential projects. Martin Marietta Materials Inc has a market cap of $11.79 billion; its shares were traded at around $188.61 with a P/E ratio of 25.37 and P/S ratio of 2.80. The dividend yield of Martin Marietta Materials Inc stocks is 0.96%. Martin Marietta Materials Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 6.80% over the past ten years.

For the last quarter Martin Marietta Materials Inc reported a revenue of $1 billion, compared with the revenue of $970.5 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $4.2 billion, an increase of 7% from last year. For the last five years Martin Marietta Materials Inc had an average revenue growth rate of 13.2% a year.

The reported diluted earnings per share was $7.43 for the year, a decline of 34% from the previous year. Over the last five years Martin Marietta Materials Inc had an EPS growth rate of 32.8% a year. The Martin Marietta Materials Inc had a decent operating margin of 16.59%, compared with the operating margin of 17.88% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of Martin Marietta Materials Inc is 12.05%. The profitability rank of the company is 7 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Martin Marietta Materials Inc has the cash and cash equivalents of $44.9 million, compared with $1.4 billion in the previous year. The long term debt was $2.7 billion, compared with $2.7 billion in the previous year. The interest coverage to the debt is 5.1. Martin Marietta Materials Inc has a financial strength rank of 5 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $188.61, Martin Marietta Materials Inc is traded at 17.9% premium to its historical median P/S valuation band of $159.96. The P/S ratio of the stock is 2.80, while the historical median P/S ratio is 2.38. The stock lost 9.56% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of MLM, click here.

Luminex Corp (LMNX) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Luminex Corp (NASDAQ:LMNX) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Luminex Corp develops, manufactures and sells proprietary biological testing technologies and products with applications throughout the life sciences and diagnostics industries. Its products include MAGPIX, Luminex 100/200, and FLEXMAP 3D. Luminex Corp has a market cap of $1.16 billion; its shares were traded at around $26.03 with a P/E ratio of 61.95 and P/S ratio of 3.67. The dividend yield of Luminex Corp stocks is 0.91%. Luminex Corp had annual average EBITDA growth of 15.60% over the past ten years. GuruFocus rated Luminex Corp the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.

For the last quarter Luminex Corp reported a revenue of $81.1 million, compared with the revenue of $78.20 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $315.8 million, an increase of 3% from last year. For the last five years Luminex Corp had an average revenue growth rate of 8.9% a year.

The reported diluted earnings per share was 41 cents for the year, a decline of 38.8% from the previous year. Over the last five years Luminex Corp had an EPS growth rate of 7.2% a year. The Luminex Corp had an operating margin of 8.82%, compared with the operating margin of 12.12% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of Luminex Corp is 10.02%. The profitability rank of the company is 7 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Luminex Corp has the cash and cash equivalents of $76.4 million, compared with $127.1 million in the previous year. The company had no long term debt. Luminex Corp has a financial strength rank of 9 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $26.03, Luminex Corp is traded at close to its historical median P/S valuation band of $27.61. The P/S ratio of the stock is 3.67, while the historical median P/S ratio is 3.87. The intrinsic value of the stock is $8.88 a share, according to GuruFocus DCF Calculator. The stock gained 32.24% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of LMNX, click here.

Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018

Oaktree Capital Group LLC (NYSE:OAK) files its latest 10-K with SEC for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2018. Oaktree Capital Group LLC is an investment management company. It invests in distressed debt, corporate debt, control investing, convertible securities, real estate and listed equities. Oaktree Capital Group LLC has a market cap of $6.76 billion; its shares were traded at around $43.05 with a P/E ratio of 14.32 and P/S ratio of 2.99. The dividend yield of Oaktree Capital Group LLC stocks is 6.89%.

For the last quarter Oaktree Capital Group LLC reported a revenue of $594.2 million, compared with the revenue of $311.1 million during the same period a year ago. For the latest fiscal year the company reported a revenue of $1.4 billion, a decrease of 5.7% from the previous year. For the last five years Oaktree Capital Group LLC had an average revenue growth rate of 65.4% a year.

The reported diluted earnings per share was $2.99 for the year, a decline of 17.2% from the previous year. Over the last five years Oaktree Capital Group LLC had an average EPS decline of 6.7% a year. The Oaktree Capital Group LLC had a decent operating margin of 27.81%, compared with the operating margin of 30.24% a year before. The 10-year historical median operating margin of Oaktree Capital Group LLC is -456.63%. The profitability rank of the company is 5 (out of 10).

At the end of the fiscal year, Oaktree Capital Group LLC has the cash and cash equivalents of $460.9 million, compared with $959.5 million in the previous year. The long term debt was $745.9 million, compared with $4 billion in the previous year. The interest coverage to the debt is 2.4, which is not a favorable level. Oaktree Capital Group LLC has a financial strength rank of 5 (out of 10).

At the current stock price of $43.05, Oaktree Capital Group LLC is traded at 70.4% discount to its historical median P/S valuation band of $145.62. The P/S ratio of the stock is 2.99, while the historical median P/S ratio is 10.19. The stock gained 8.91% during the past 12 months.

For the complete 20-year historical financial data of OAK, click here.