Best Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:EPAM,DBL,TMST,

"Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." - Ralph Marston

Happy New Year to the SeekingAlpha community. May 2017 be full of good health and prosperity for all.

As we look for investment opportunities in 2017, the biotech sector stands out as one area of the market I think will provide good returns and significantly outperform the overall market in the New Year. I believe this for three key reasons.

Reversion To The Mean:

One of my late father's favorite sayings was "Life is like a pendulum. It swings too far to the left. It swings too far to the right. It is rarely in the middle where it belongs". I have found this to be sage advice over the years when comes to politics, relationships, sports and the markets.

Best Stocks To Own Right Now: EPAM Systems, Inc.(EPAM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Constant advances in technology require companies of all sizes to make efforts to keep up and take maximum advantage of new capabilities before competitors do. That puts companies like EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) in a great position, because the resulting demand for IT services is constant and growing. EPAM did a good job of fulfilling its potential for strong growth in 2017, and the IT services specialist has high hopes that 2018 will bring even more gains.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern Sentiment’s scoring:

  Get EPAM Systems alerts: 33 Top US Companies Short-Listed in 10 categories for USA-Europe Shared Services Awards, June 20th, New York (benzinga.com) Alexion SmartPanel Developed in Partnership With EPAM Wins Judges’ Prize in the 2018 Bio-IT World Best Practices … (globenewswire.com) Alexion SmartPanel Developed in Partnership With EPAM Wins Judges�� Prize in the 2018 Bio-IT World Best Practices Awards (finance.yahoo.com) Financial Review: NTT DATA Corp/ADR (NTDTY) and EPAM Systems (EPAM) (americanbankingnews.com) What is RPA? A revolution in business process automation (computerworld.com.au)

  A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Investment Research raised EPAM Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $132.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on EPAM Systems to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of EPAM Systems in a research note on Friday, February 16th. ValuEngine raised EPAM Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $132.00 price objective (up from $123.00) on shares of EPAM Systems in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.25.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. increased its position in EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 360,326 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,329 shares during the quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in EPAM Systems were worth $41,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Best Stocks To Own Right Now: DoubleLine Opportunistic Credit Fund(DBL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  News headlines about Doubleline Opportunistic Credit Fund common stock (NYSE:DBL) have been trending somewhat positive on Monday, according to Accern Sentiment. Accern identifies positive and negative news coverage by reviewing more than twenty million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Doubleline Opportunistic Credit Fund common stock earned a news impact score of 0.04 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media stories about the investment management company an impact score of 47.2090833571026 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near term.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Doubleline Opportunistic Credit Fund common stock (NYSE:DBL) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, June 1st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.167 per share by the investment management company on Friday, June 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 13th.

Best Stocks To Own Right Now: Timken Steel Corporation(TMST)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Timkensteel (NYSE: TMST) and APERAM/SH N Y REGISTRY SH (OTCMKTS:APEMY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

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

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

What to Expect When World Wrestling Entertainment Reports Earnings

Investors in World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) have had plenty to cheer about. Shares of the sports-entertainment company are up a whopping 150% so far in 2018, and up an even more impressive 275% over the past 12 months.

Recent broadcast media deals have propelled the stock higher, so investors will be watching closely when WWE reports the financial results for the 2018 second quarter after the market closes on Thursday, July 26. Let's take a look at a few items of interest to investors going into the company's earnings report.

Image source: WWE.

Off the top rope

For the first quarter, WWE reported revenue that was on par with last year's figure, but excluding the impact of adopting a recent accounting change, its revenue of $187.7 million represented an increase of 5% year over year. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) of $35.2 million increased 40% compared to the prior-year quarter, and jumped 68% excluding the impact of accounting changes.�

Paid subscribers increased by 5% year over year to 1.56 million, slightly ahead of the 1.53 million the company had forecast. Based on the strength of its first-quarter results, WWE raised its full-year guidance for adjusted OIBDA to at least $150 million -- an all-time record -- up from the previous forecast of $145 million (excluding stock-based compensation).

The main event

WWE has made several key announcements since its previous earnings report, signing "landmark" deals with Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOX)(NASDAQ: FOXA) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA). The company revealed that it had inked a new five-year contract to broadcast its flagship program, SmackDown Live, on Fox Sports beginning in October 2019.�The program regularly boasts the sixth-largest audience among cable originals, slightly behind the ratings of news and political talk shows.�While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, some reports place the value of the agreement north of $1 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter.�

The company also announced a renewal of its contract with USA Network, which will continue to be the broadcast home of Monday Night Raw, with the new deal beginning in October 2019. NBC is reportedly paying $265 million annually for the wrestling mainstay, up from $80 million per year previously.

The Raw and SmackDown deals increased the average annual value of WWE's distribution in the U.S. to 3.6 times the value of the previous deal, according to WWE.�

The raw numbers

The company said it "anticipates a meaningful increase in revenue based on the distribution of new content in certain international markets, as well as higher rights fees in existing content agreements and the continued growth of WWE Network." For the second quarter, WWE expects OIBDA in a range of $30 million to $34 million, which would be year-over-year growth between 23% and 40%. The company is expecting about 1.77 million paid subscribers, an 8% increase compared to the prior-year quarter.

For their part, analysts, on average, are forecasting quarerly revenue of $239.58 million and earnings per share of $0.16. That would represent increases of 11.6% and 166% year over year, respectively.�

A word about valuation

It's important to note that the massive run-up in the stock price over the past year has resulted in an equally impressive increase in its valuation. Its�P/E ratio now clocks in at a nosebleed 137, with a forward multiple of 86. While the excitement about these recent agreements is certainly understandable, there's a lot of growth already built into the current stock price, so there's potential for significant volatility.

Jacobs & Co. CA Has $3.80 Million Position in Cummins Inc. (CMI)

Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) by 8.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,587 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Cummins were worth $3,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Green Square Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cummins by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Green Square Capital LLC now owns 47,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,452,000 after purchasing an additional 9,542 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cummins by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 126,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,417,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares during the last quarter. Delek Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cummins during the 4th quarter worth $586,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Cummins in the fourth quarter valued at about $353,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cummins in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,527,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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Shares of Cummins traded up $0.09, reaching $137.82, during mid-day trading on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The stock had a trading volume of 988,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,559,686. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.15. Cummins Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.90 and a 1-year high of $194.18.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 1st. The company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Cummins had a return on equity of 23.47% and a net margin of 4.33%. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. sell-side analysts forecast that Cummins Inc. will post 13.76 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 22nd will be issued a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Cummins’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Cummins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.68%.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Investment Research cut Cummins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 24th. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $164.00 price target on Cummins and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cummins from $176.00 to $164.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 10th. Buckingham Research cut Cummins from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Cummins from $180.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.52.

Cummins Profile

Cummins Inc designs, manufactures, distributes, and services diesel and natural gas engines, and engine-related component products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Engine, Distribution, Components, and Power Systems segments. The Engine segment manufactures and markets a range of diesel and natural gas powered engines under the Cummins and other customer brands for the heavy-and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, construction, mining, marine, rail, oil and gas, defense, and agricultural markets.

Featured Story: What does earnings per share mean?

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CMI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI).

Why owning a home in retirement could be a mistake

We all have our own respective visions of what life in retirement will look like. For the bulk of Americans, however, that means owning a home.

In fact, 85% of current workers say they plan to own during their golden years, according to new data from Voya Financial, while 79% of current retirees are property owners. But while owning during retirement has its benefits, there's one major drawback to also be aware of.

Why own during retirement?

There are several good reasons to own a home during retirement. For one thing, ownership still offers a host of tax breaks, such as the mortgage interest and property tax deduction, which is currently capped but very much still in play.

Additionally, owning a home gives you a potential source of equity you can use to your advantage later in life. If cash flow becomes an issue, for example, you can get a reverse mortgage (though proceed with caution before you do) or home equity line of credit to buy yourself more options for paying the bills. And that's something renters can't do.

Homeownership in retirement can be a dangerous prospect

Despite the aforementioned benefits, there's one huge drawback to owning property in retirement, and it's committing yourself to a variable expense while living on a fixed income. Even if your mortgage itself is paid off by the time you enter retirement, you'll still have property taxes to contend with. And those have a tendency to rise over time, even during periods when home values don't follow suit.

There's also maintenance and repairs to think about, and that's where a lot of retirees who own homes get into trouble. The average homeowner spends 1% to 4% of his or her home's value on standard annual upkeep. Now being a retiree doesn't automatically mean you'll own an aging home. But if yours is on the older side, you should plan on hitting the top end of that range, which could really eat into your limited budget.

Furthermore, while that 1% to 4% range applies to regular maintenance, it doesn't include major repairs that could spring up on you without notice. I'm talking about things like your heating system going kaput or a pipe bursting in your basement -- expenses that could really hurt you financially when your income doesn't allow for too many surprises.

And there lies the danger of owning a home in retirement: You just don't know what to expect. And while renting certainly isn't without risk -- you could see your rent go up from year to year or find yourself suddenly on the hunt for a new home when your landlord unexpectedly decides to sell -- when you rent, you lock yourself into a fixed cost for the duration of your lease. Sign a series of long-term, affordable leases, and you eliminate much of the worry that comes with owning.

Related links:

�� Motley Fool Issues Rare Triple-Buy Alert

�� This Stock Could Be Like Buying Amazon in 1997

�� 7 of 8 People Are Clueless About This Trillion-Dollar Market

Ultimately, the decision to own a home during retirement boils down to how much risk you're willing to take on.

If you love your home, adore your neighborhood, and don't want to deal with the hassle and uncertainly of renting, then by all means, stay in your home. Just make sure you have a decent chunk of savings -- both emergency and otherwise -- to protect yourself from the various unknowns involved.

Here's Why Shares of Snap Jumped 15% Last Month

What happened

Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) climbed 14.9% in June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after Citron Research published a positive note about the company and initiated coverage at the very end of May.

Shares continued to climb through mid-June after S3 Partners, a company that analyzes short-seller trends, said that millions of shares that were being held for short sellers were being recalled.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Snap's shares first started ticking up at the very end of May after Citron set a price target for Snap at $17. Citron said in its investor note that negative news surrounding Snap's app, Snapchat, has caused short sellers to increase their position. But Citron added that "Snap shorts have overstayed their welcome."

Citron cited Snap's growth in ad impressions, the popularity of its Snapchat app among younger users, and its efforts to fix the app's redesign flop as reasons why the shares could turn around. Though Citron mentioned several reasons why it's bullish on Snap, my fellow Motley Fool Evan Niu highlighted a few inaccuracies in the report here.

Additionally, S3 Partners issued a report saying that over 5 million Snap shares were recalled (meaning that owners of the shares sold them and they were no longer available for lending to short sellers). The temporary shortage of available Snap shares for short sellers helped lead to Snap's price ticking up toward the beginning of the month.

Now what

Snap's shares began to lose some of their steam toward the end of the month after Cowen's John Blackledge lowered his previous price target from $10 to $9, and reiterated his sell rating. Additionally, Needham & Company cut its revenue estimate for Snap's second quarter by 15%, and by 5% for the full fiscal year.

Chaotic reactions to any news, both negative and positive, continue to plague Snap's stock. Even social media comments from celebrities have sent the company's stock reeling.�

Snap will report is second-quarter results at the beginning of August. Management said on last quarter's earnings call that the company's second-quarter revenue growth rate will "decelerate substantially from Q1 levels..." All of which means that Snap's shareholders may not be able to hold on to June's gains for very long.

Here's My Top Stock to Buy (Again) in July

Even after rising 7% since I called Apple�(NASDAQ:AAPL) my top stock to buy in 2018�earlier this year, I still think Apple shares offer investors a compelling risk-reward profile.

Call me biased. After all, you'd probably be right: I've owned Apple stock for years -- and I have no plans to sell. But I'm biased for a reason. For the most part, Apple's performance over the last 10 years in relation to its valuation has consistently left the stock looking attractive. This remains true today, with Apple trading at just 18 times earnings despite its accelerating revenue and recent earnings-per-share growth.

Apple Store. Image source: Apple.

Here are two reasons I'm betting Apple will continue to outperform the market.

The Street underestimates the value of Apple's platform

Every Apple product sold gives customers access to the company's ever-growing and highly integrated ecosystem of hardware, software, and services, or Apple's platform. There was a time when customers' primary interaction with Apple was through software and applications on Mac computers. But now, Apple customers are increasingly entrenched in Apple's ecosystem through not only a range of Apple products, such as the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, but also through an increasing number of services, like Apple Music, Apple Pay, and third-party services available in the iOS App Store.

A good example of one area where Apple is benefiting handsomely from the platform its customers have access to is in the growth of paid subscriptions from Apple services and third-party services available in the App Store. Subscriptions surpassed 270 million in Apple's most recent quarter -- up 30 million sequentially and 100 million compared to the year-ago period.�

Of course, Apple's strong growth in its overall services revenue is arguably the best representation of the momentum Apple is seeing from monetizing its platform. Apple's services revenue was up 31% year over year in the company's most recent quarter. As Apple's second-largest segment after iPhone, services revenue accounted for 15% of total revenue during the quarter.

During Apple's earnings call for its first quarter of fiscal 2018, management said its active installed base, or the number of its devices that are being actively used, swelled to 1.3 billion -- up 30% in just two years.�And in Apple's most recent conference call, management noted that its active installed base is "growing at a double-digit number on a year-over-year basis."

Apple CEO Tim Cook is clearly optimistic about the opportunity for the tech company to better monetize its growing user base. "[W]ith that kind of change in the installed base and with the services that we have now and others that we are working on," Cook explained, "I think this is just a huge opportunity for us and feel very good about the track that we're on."

New products will drive revenue growth

While Apple's HomePod doesn't appear to have been a blockbuster hit with customers, investors shouldn't underestimate how well Apple can launch new, premium-priced products at scale.

AirPods and an iPhone. Image source: Apple.

The Apple Watch and Apple's more recently launched AirPods have been driving significant growth in Apple's other products segment. In Apple's most recent quarter, other products revenue was up 38% year over year. Apple's wearables business, which includes sales of Apple Watch, AirPods, and Beats products, was the primary driver of this growth, management explained in the company's second-quarter earnings call. Wearables revenue was up 50% year over year in the first quarter.

With such rapid growth from its other products segment, Apple certainly won't stand idly by and bask in its reinvigorated iPhone revenue growth. Indeed, Apple is expected to be working on several new Apple-branded headphones and a new version of the Apple Watch�to be launched between late this year and sometime next year.

Even if investors want to refrain from relying too much on a rosy outlook for Apple's services and other products segments, the company's recent performance alone easily justifies the tech company's valuation. Apple's year-over-year revenue growth rate has accelerated every quarter since it returned to growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 -- and second-quarter revenue and earnings per share increased 16% and 30%, respectively, compared to the year-ago quarter.

Of course, there's always a risk that these catalysts don't pan out to be meaningful growth drivers, or -- even worse -- iPhones lose their luster with customers, and Apple fails to make up for the maturing product in other areas. Still, Apple's conservative valuation and its long track record of continually pleasing customers suggest it's unlikely the company won't be able to keep growing revenue and earnings per share over the long haul.

J Sainsbury (SBRY) Reaches New 12-Month High at $332.60

J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 332.60 ($4.43) and last traded at GBX 329.40 ($4.39), with a volume of 6384248 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 329.10 ($4.38).

A number of research firms have weighed in on SBRY. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a research report on Thursday, July 5th. Deutsche Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Thursday, July 5th. Shore Capital downgraded J Sainsbury to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Tuesday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 400 ($5.33) price objective (up previously from GBX 325 ($4.33)) on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Tuesday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. J Sainsbury presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 302.79 ($4.03).

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J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 30th. The grocer reported GBX 20.40 ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of GBX 19.20 ($0.26) by GBX 1.20 ($0.02). J Sainsbury had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 1.13%.

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 7th will be paid a GBX 7.10 ($0.09) dividend. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 7th. This is a boost from J Sainsbury’s previous dividend of $3.10.

In related news, insider Michael Andrew Coupe sold 154,948 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 301 ($4.01), for a total value of 拢466,393.48 ($620,947.25).

J Sainsbury Company Profile

J Sainsbury plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food, general merchandise and clothing retailing, and financial services activities in the United Kingdom. It operates through four segments: Retail ? Food; Retail ? General Merchandise and Clothing; Financial Services; and Property Investment.

Horizon Therapeutics (HPTX) Receiving Somewhat Positive Media Coverage, Analysis Shows

Headlines about Horizon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HPTX) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern Sentiment reports. The research group scores the sentiment of news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Horizon Therapeutics earned a coverage optimism score of 0.17 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news articles about the biopharmaceutical company an impact score of 45.8301226256293 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

Shares of NASDAQ:HPTX remained flat at $$45.99 during mid-day trading on Monday. Horizon Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $20.23 and a 12-month high of $46.96.

About Horizon Therapeutics

Horizon Therapeutics, Inc, formerly Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc, is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the development and commercialization of therapeutics to treat disorders in the areas of orphan diseases. The Company’s products include RAVICTI (glycerol phenylbutyrate) oral liquid, BUPHENYL and AMMONAPS (sodium phenylbutyrate) tablets and powder.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Hastings Group (HSTG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their neutral rating on shares of Hastings Group (LON:HSTG) in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has a GBX 315 ($4.19) price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of GBX 335 ($4.46).

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Peel Hunt lowered their price objective on shares of Hastings Group from GBX 315 ($4.19) to GBX 300 ($3.99) and set an add rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 23rd. HSBC raised shares of Hastings Group to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 9th. Numis Securities assumed coverage on shares of Hastings Group in a research note on Thursday, April 26th. They issued an add rating and a GBX 295 ($3.93) price objective for the company. BNP Paribas lowered their price objective on shares of Hastings Group from GBX 350 ($4.66) to GBX 265 ($3.53) and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 5th. Finally, Investec lowered their price objective on shares of Hastings Group from GBX 350 ($4.66) to GBX 325 ($4.33) and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 310.10 ($4.13).

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LON:HSTG opened at GBX 235 ($3.13) on Tuesday. Hastings Group has a 1-year low of GBX 244 ($3.25) and a 1-year high of GBX 336.70 ($4.48).

Hastings Group Company Profile

Hastings Group Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides general insurance products in the United Kingdom. The company operates in two segments, Underwriting and Retail. It is involved in the underwriting and brokerage of car, van, bike, and home insurance under various brands, including Hastings Direct, Hastings PREMIER, Hastings ESSENTIAL, Hastings Direct SmartMiles, InsurePink, and People's Choice.

RIL promises a Golden Decade in 41st AGM! Analysts maintain buy rating

The chairman of oil & gas major, Mukesh Ambani, started the 41st Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries saying that this is the first AGM as RIL begins its Golden Decade. Most analysts�� feel the same way about the stock price as well, which rose a little over 7 percent in 2018.

As the Golden Decade rolls on, our consumer businesses will contribute nearly as much to the overall earnings of the company as our energy and petrochemical businesses, Mukesh Ambani said addressing the shareholders.

Reliance continues to be India's largest exporter accounting for 8.9 percent of India's total merchandise exports with a value of Rs 176,117 crore with access to markets in 113 countries.

The speech has something for everyone. The big takeaway is that most of the business of RIL are contributing to its growth story and plans to foray into e-commerce business in agriculture, education, and healthcare.

related news Here's everything you want to know about JioGigafiber RIL AGM: Mukesh Ambani says revenues to more than double by 2025

The big announcement of advanced fiber-based broadband connectivity service called JioGigaFibre sent shivers in the telecom as well as Cable TV space. Mukesh Ambani says the new fibre service will redefine 24/7 emergency help for all homes across India.

The stock has risen a little over 7 percent in 2018 but analysts�� feel that there is plenty of growth left for the long-term investors. Although it may remain in a range in the next 12 months or so.

"RIL's profits are up by 20.6 percent to Rs 36,075.crore in FY18. Reliance has reached an inflection point," Ambani said addressing shareholders at the 41st AGM. He added that Reliance Jio and Retail's share in overall EBITDA has gone up from 2 percent earlier to 13 percent now.

Jio has doubled its customer base to 215 million users within 22 months since the official launch of the network which is a record that no technology company has been able to achieve anywhere in the world.

��RIL provided a detailed presentation on Jio citing its vision for Jio over the next few years. Significant growth in subscriber base to 215mn and robust jump in data and voice usage are commendable,�� Sudeep Anand, Head-Institutional Equity Research at IDBI Capital told Moneycontrol.

��The company��s strategy to go aggressive on FTH (Fibre-to-home) business along with connecting enterprise business are likely to drive growth for the company. The company is targeting 100 mn Reliance Jio phone users, 5mn FTH subscribers and 50mn households with broadband and other services,�� he said.

Also, Reliance disclosed its plan for e-commerce business in 3 main platforms 1) agriculture, 2) education and 3) healthcare. Though it provides a positive outlook but difficult to pen any numbers as of now, but Anand is quite optimistic about the future of Jio and RIL as a whole. IDBI Capital maintains a buy rating with a target price of Rs1,150.

In the last one year, Jio has achieved unprecedented growth starting with an already existing large base. The data usage has grown from 125 crore GBs per month to more than 240 crore GBs per month.

Jio is the world's largest mobile data network last year and the gap from the others has only widened in the last 12 months. The voice usage on the network has grown from 250 crore minutes per day to more than 530 crore minutes per day.

RIL plans to foray into three new platforms vis. Agriculture, education, as well as healthcare. Mukesh Ambani further added that as India starts on its high growth journey to double the size of its economy by 2025, I assure you that the size of Reliance will more than double in the same period.

��Launch of Jio was just a trailer, the array of services which Reliance now wants to deliver/cross-sell to the last mile consumers are huge and varied across many sectors which hitherto are serviced by brick and motor establishments,�� says Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote who has a target of Rs 1050-900 on RIL for next 12 months.

��These will now be catered through Jio��s digital platform. The philosophy of forwarding integration in data is the next mission of Jio. This will truly bring in digital revolution if they are able to implement and execute the same,�� he said.

Reliance started with backward integration in Refinery by later venturing into hydro carbon sector, but in digital it is the reverse.

Hydrocarbon Business:

RIL has successfully commissioned and stabilized the world's largest Paraxylene complex. Reliance is the second largest PX producer in the world and Jamnagar has the distinction of being the largest manufacturing facility of PX in the world with 4.2 million MT of capacity.

Speaking at the AGM, Mukesh Ambani said that we commissioned the largest off-Gas cracker complex in the world. Using our Refinery off-gasses as feedstock, this cracker is the most cost competitive ethylene cracker, globally.

��This positions us uniquely, as one of the most efficient producers of Polymers in the world. I am proud to report that both these projects have been completed in a record time frame, at world-beating capital productivity and commissioned flawlessly,�� he said. "Both the Paraxylene and Cracker complexes are already running substantially higher than their design capacity."

��The core downstream projects are largely on track with Paraxylene and RoGC already running above the design capacity and petcoke gasification project now fully stabilized. We have Buy rating on Reliance Industries,�� Abhijeet Bora, analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas told Moneycontrol.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. First Published on Jul 5, 2018 04:40 pm

US Retail Sales Rose in the First Half of the Year, but Store Closings Rose Too

When U.S. gasoline prices rise by a double-digit percentage that usually causes U.S. consumers to reduce their discretionary retail spending. Gas prices rose about 12% in the first half of 2018, and retail sales also rose, by 4.5%, according to a report from Coresight Research.

Assuming that gas prices end the year up 12%, Americans will spend about $33 billion more on gas than they did in 2017. Coresight estimates that U.S. retail spending this year will reach $3.6 trillion (not including automobiles and gasoline), a 4.4% year-over-year increase. Changes to tax laws, higher wages, and continued economic growth are tabbed to drive the increase.

The not-so-good is that retail store closures are likely to total around 10,000 in 2018. At the end of June, Coresight had recorded 4,136 announced closures from major U.S. retailers. That’s fewer than the 5,341 at the same point last year. For the full year, the firm estimates store closures in a range of 8,000 to 10,000, more than the 7,066 closures recorded in 2017.

Coresight has recorded 1,985 store openings so far in 2018 compared to a total of 3,267 in the first half of 2017.

The bankruptcies of Toys “R” Us and Bon-Ton Stores resulted in the announced closure of 1,241 stores. Walgreens has announced that it will close 600 stores, Sears will close 274, and Best Buy will close 250.

Coresight also noted that tariffs are not expected to have much impact on apparel and footwear.

While retail sales are solid, the same is not true for U.S. shopping malls. Bill McBride of the Calculated Risk blog cites research from Reis on mall vacancy rates:

With 3.8 million square feet of negative net absorption brought on by the Toys “R” Us store closings, the U.S. Retail Vacancy Rate climbed 0.2% to 10.2% in the second quarter. Rent growth was positive at 0.2%.

The Regional Mall vacancy rate also increased 0.2% to 8.6% in the quarter, the average Mall rent increased 0.3%. The Mall vacancy rate has climbed 0.8% from a low of 7.8% at the end of 2016.

After withstanding the hundreds if not thousands of store closings over the last 18 months, the neighborhood and community shopping center industry suffered its worst quarter in nine years with negative net absorption of 3.8 million square feet. This pushed the overall vacancy rate to 10.2% from 10.0 percent where it had held steady for the four previous quarters.

The Coresight Research report is available at the company’s website.

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