AT&T (T) (TDW) (TRIP) (ASCA) (BRO) (BRS) Get New Coverage

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW), TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP), Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA), Brown & Brown Inc. (NYSE: BRO) and Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) getting new coverage from analysts.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) initiated coverage on AT&T Inc. (T). They placed a “Hold” rating on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) initiated coverage on Tidewater Inc. (TDW). They placed a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $50.00 on the company.

Nomura (NYSE:NMR) initiated coverage on TripAdvisor, Inc. (TRIP). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

ISI Group initiated coverage on Ameristar Casinos (ASCA). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $24.00 on the company.

Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on Brown & Brown Inc. (BRO). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $27.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Bristow Group Inc. (BRS). They placed an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $55.00 on the company.

AT&T Inc. (T) Gets Qualcomm (QCOM) Airwaves Approval

After being slapped over the attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA, AT&T (NYSE:T) got better news over its bid of $1.93 billion for airwaves held by Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM).

The Federal Communications Commission gave its approval for the deal to go foward, which frequencies acquired will cover approximately 300 million people.

AT&T, and others, have been scrambling to expand the amount of spectrum they hold in response to the growing demand for wireless Internet service from the increasing number of gadgets used by consumers and businesses.

Qualcomm owned the frequencies because of the attempt to launch a mobile-television service, which they later abandoned.

AT&T closed Thursday at $29.66, gaining $0.36, or 1.23 percent. Qualcomm closed at $54.38, climbing $0.89, or 1.66 percent.

Tanger (SKT) (T) (TDC) (BKU) (CCL) (CFR) Downgraded

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Teradata Co. (NYSE: TDC), BankUnited (NYSE: BKU), Carnival Co. (NYSE: CCL) and Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE: CFR) were downgraded by analysts.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (SKT) was downgraded by Hilliard Lyons from a “Long” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

AT&T Inc. (T) was downgraded by Argus from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Teradata Co. (TDC) was downgraded by Oppenheimer from an “Outperform” rating to a “Perform” rating. They have a price target of $63.00 on the company.

BankUnited (BKU) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from an “Outperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Carnival Co. (CCL) was downgraded by Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from a “Buy” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) was downgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to an “Underperform” rating.

AT&T (T) Abandons T-Mobile Deal

AT&T (NYSE:T) announced it has decided to quit persuing its $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA, which the company said was needed to boost is spectrum.

Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile USA, wanted to sell the unit in order to focus on its European market. Deutsche was also going to use part of the capital to pay down debt and initiate a $6.51 billion share buyback program.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Greenhill, Evercore, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Citigroup (NYSE:C), among others,are expected to lose approximately $150 million in fees as a result of the failed deal, according to ThomsonReuters/Freeman Consulting.

AT&T will pay a hefty $3 billion break up fee to Deutsche, helping ease some of the pain.

AT&T closed Monday at $28.74, falling $0.11, or 0.38 percent.

SanDisk (SNDK) (SWKS) (T) (UNP) (LLY) EPS Estimates Changed

SanDisk Co. (NASDAQ: SNDK), Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) EPS estimates changed by analysts.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) cuts its EPS estimate on SanDisk Co. (SNDK). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $62.00 on the company.

UBS AG lowered its EPS estimate of Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS). They have a “Buy” rating on the company. They cited valuation as the catalyst behind the call.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) boosted its EPS estimate on AT&T Inc. (T). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $30.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) raised its EPS estimate on Union Pacific (UNP). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $131.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised its EPS estimate on Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY). They have a “Sell” rating and a price target of $35.00 on the company.

JA Solar (JASO) (HSOL) (CSIQ) (T) (ETP) Downgraded by Analysts

JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO), Hanwha Solar (NASDAQ: HSOL), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Energy Transfer (NYSE: ETP) downgraded by analysts.

Macquarie downgraded AT&T Inc. (T) from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating.

Wunderlich downgraded Energy Transfer (ETP) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They have a price target of $52.00 on the company, down from $56.00.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) downgraded JA Solar (JASO) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They have a price target of $5.00 on the company, down from $7.00.

Jefferies downgraded Hanwha Solar (HSOL) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They have a price target of $6.00 on the company, down from $8.00.

Jefferies downgraded Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They have a price target of $11.00 on the company, down from $14.00.

JA Solar closed Thursday at $5.01, falling $0.22, or 4.21 percent. Hanwha Solar closed at $5.94, down $0.14, or 2.30 percent. Canadian Solar Inc. ended the day at $10.95, dropping $0.10, or 0.90 percent. AT&T Inc. closed at $21.23, the same as the prior trading session. Energy Transfer closed at $49.18, rising $0.54, or 1.11 percent.

Dividend Yields for (FTR) (HCN) (WIN) (CTL) (T) (VZ)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Frontier Communications Corp (FTR), Health Care REIT Inc (HCN), Windstream Corp (WIN), CenturyLink Inc (CTL), AT&T Inc (T) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

Frontier Communications Corp (FTR) has a dividend yield of 9.06 percent on a declared dividend of $0.19. The payout ratio is 405.2 percent.

Health Care REIT Inc (HCN) has a dividend yield of 5.32 percent on a declared dividend of $0.71. The payout ratio is 115.3 percent.

Windstream Corp (WIN) has a dividend yield of 7.81 percent on a declared dividend of $0.25. The payout ratio is 167.6 percent.

CenturyLink Inc (CTL) has a dividend yield of 7.11 percent on a declared dividend of $0.72. The payout ratio is 97.3 percent.

AT&T Inc (T) has a dividend yield of 5.53 percent on a declared dividend of $0.43. The payout ratio is 74.5 percent.

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) has a dividend yield of 5.16 percent on a declared dividend of $0.49. The payout ratio is 95.9 percent.

Verizon (VZ) Profits Soar on IPhone (AAPL) Sales

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) reported a solid quarter as earnings were over triple what they were while taxes were cut, as new customers flocked to the carrier in response to it now carrying Apple's iPhone (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Net income jumped to $1.44 billion, or 51 cents a share, Verizon said today in a statement. Analysts estimated 50 cents a share. Sales were level at $27 billion.

Verizon added 906,000 wireless contract customers in the quarter. Analysts on average projected 998,000. AT&T (NYSE:T), the biggest U.S. phone company, said it added 62,000 users last quarter.

Average monthly bills for wireless contract customers rose 2.2 percent from last year in the same quarter to $53.52, a little under analysts’ average estimate. The data portion climbed 17 percent to $20.51, Verizon said. Bills in the fourth quarter averaged $53.50.

Verizon was trading at $36.94, down $0.85, or 2.25 percent, as of 12:10 PM EDT. Investors are using the relatively average report to take some profits after the recent run up in share price.

Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) Fight Back Against FCC Roaming Decision

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) are fighting back against the decision by the FCC to adopt automatic data roaming rules, which allow competitors unwilling to invest in wireless infrastructure to use theirs.

Tom Tauke, Verizon Communications' executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications, said in a statement, "By forcing carriers that have invested in wireless infrastructure to make those networks available to competitors that avoid this investment, at a price ultimately determined by the FCC, today's order discourages network investment in less profitable areas. That is directly contrary to the interests of rural America and the development of facilities-based competition and potential job creation. Therefore, it is a defeat for both consumers and the innovation fostered by true competition."

Expectations are Verizon will probably legally challenge the decision.

For AT&T, they're in the midst of attempting to acquire T-Mobile USA, and so unfortunately will have to walk softly, as the implications are if they fight too hard the deal may be rejected.

It does make you wonder if the timing of the FCC was based on that event.

Verizon was trading at $37.71, falling $0.05, or 0.13 percent, as of 12:13 PM EDT. AT&T was at $30.52, down $0.02, or 0.05 percent.

Time Warner Cable (TWC) Sell Extra Ad Inventory on AT&T (T) U-verse

Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) says it has worked out a deal with AT&T (NYSE:T) to sell its excess ad inventory on AT&T U-verse.

Markets the company will sell ad inventory in with AT&T U-verse are Austin, Los Angeles, Dallas, Cleveland, San Antonio and Milwaukee.

“We look forward to working together to make AT&T U-verse inventory available to local market television advertisers through the TWC Media sales team,” says Greg McCastle, senior vice president of AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions. “This new agreement will add qualitative and quantitative value to the local advertising offerings put forth by the Time Warner Cable sales team and make life easier for media buyers in terms of seamless planning and buying.”

Time Warner Cable is working with AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions, the U.S. advertising sales division of AT&T, to sell local spots on AT&T U-verse channels.

Time Warner Cable was trading at $72.12, down $0.15, or 0.21 percent, as of 2:33 PM EDT. AT&T was trading at $30.86, up $0.09, or 0.31 percent.

AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) Respond to Sprint (S) Announcement

With Sprint (NYSE:S) stealing the thunder of AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) by being the first company to roll out a service which allows consumers to use their smartphones to make purchases by tapping or waving them near electronic readers.

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless have an existing agreement in place, but that was an exclusive one with Discover Financial Services.

After Sprint made their announcement the two companies fell over one another to announce they're going to extend there venture to an all payments network, meaning all card networks will be able to participate.

Sprint appears to be in the lead in launching the wider service, which could win them some customers wanting it as soon as possible.

Sprint (S) Beats AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) to Tap-And-Go

Needing every edge it can get, Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) said it will implement what is called a tap-and-go system which empowers customer to make purchases with their mobile phones, beating out similar initiatives from T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T).

The new technology dubbed near-field communication, or NFC, allows customers to wave their smartphones in front of an electronic reader in a store, or tap them, which then registers the transaction.

If Sprint can get this out quick enough to get a significant lead, they would definitely attract a number of new users who would consider it a must-have feature.

“We intend to make this an open solution where consumers can use their phone in a variety of physical locations,” said Kevin McGinnis, vice president of product platforms.. “Because we’re allowing other brands and other institutions to participate, they can also tell their consumers that this is available on Sprint.”

Sprint closed Monday at $4.62, gaining $0.06, or 1.32 percent.

JPMorgan (JPM) Shares AT&T (T) Risk with (BAC) (GS) (WFC) (C), Others

After offering up the largest loan in the history of the bank via the AT&T (NYSE:T) bid for T-Mobile, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) went about spreading the risk by offering up pieces of the deal with 11 other banks, including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

A person close to the deal said JPMorgan made 11 calls and 11 banks responded. "Eleven calls were made, and eleven relationship banks signed up," said the source.

Other banks getting into the action were Barclays Capital (NYSE:BCS), BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), Morgan Stanley MUFG (NYSE:MS), RBS (NYSE:RBS) and UBS (NYSE:UBS).

Terms of the 18-month unsecured loan are reportedly 75 basis points above Libor, according to Reuters.

AT&T (T) CEO Rejects Higher Price Theory in T-Mobile Deal

Assertions by AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) detractors coming as a result of the bid of the company for T-Mobile, saying it will result in higher prices, was argued against by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson

Speaking at an event in New York sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, Stephenson cited a government report which stated prices over the last 10 years have dropped about 50 percent after the merger of five wireless companies during that time.

Another argument he used was concerning AT&T customers themselves, which had paid in the past about $1.90 a megabyte of wireless data, which has been whittled down to close to 16 cents at this time.

AT&T offered $39 billion to Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA unit, which is the fourth-largest in the country, and is a low-price leader.

AT&T closed Wednesday at $30.71, gaining $0.66, or 2.20 percent.

AT&T (T) Faces Divestitures in T-Mobile Deal

Facing scrutiny and some opposition from competitors, AT&T (NYSE:T) CEO Randall Stephenson said he expects to have to divest of some of the assets they get when they acquire T-Mobile.

Included in the divestiture will be some of the wireless spectrum and customers that come with the company.

“We anticipate there will be some markets we will have to divest,” Stephenson said.

"AT&T’s plan to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom AG for $39 billion is expected to face heavy scrutiny from regulators and opposition from consumer-advocacy groups and competitors. Rivals Sprint (NYSE:S) and Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ:CLWR) have been vocal about the alleged harmful impact of the deal," said Marketwatch.

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) Chief Executive Dan Mead previously said his company sees an opportunity to potentially scoop up some divested assets.

This is how Sprint and Clearwire need to view the potential transaction, not from a place of weakness where all they attempt to do is stop the deal from going forward.

AT&T was trading at $30.89, gaining $0.84, or 2.80 percent, as of 1:19 PM EDT.

Sprint (S) Should Focus on Self, Not AT&T (T)

Sprint (NYSE:S) seems to be losing its focus on the proposed deal for AT&T (NYSE:T) to acquire T-Mobile, fighting hard to influence the merger not to be allowed to go forward.

The problem for Sprint is even if the deal isn't allowed to go ahead, how does that help them if after the smoke clears they still have to deal with the same issues they faced before the bid by AT&T.

Sprint said in a press release that the merger "would reverse nearly three decades of actions by the U.S. government and the courts that modernized and opened U.S. communications markets to competition."

That would be more convincing if Sprint was in a more competitive position. But since they're struggling to find themselves, it's hard to see why the deal shouldn't go through from that perspective, as if it doesn't, they would still have to compete against the two entities.

It's there they must find the answer, not in worrying about what its competitors are doing that they have no control over.

When measured against lobbying spend, Sprint is also way behind AT&T, making the time and effort spent on the actions dubious at best, and unlikely to succeed.

Instead they should focus on growing and innovating their way out of the challenges they face; something they'll have to do either way.

Sprint closed Tuesday at $4.62, falling $0.16, or 3.35 percent.

AT&T (T), (YUM) (AYI) (FIBK) Maintain Dividends at Prior Quarterly Levels

Yum (NYSE:YUM), AT&T (NYSE:T), Acuity (NYSE:AYI) and First Interstate Bancsystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) all declared they're maintaining their dividends at their recent quarterly levels.

Yum Brands maintained its quarterly dividend of 25 cents a share. AT&T (T) maintained its quarterly dividend of 43 cents a share. Acuity Brands maintained its quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share, and First Interstate Bancsystem maintained its quarterly dividend of 11.25 cents a share.

Yum! closed Monday at $51.47, dropping $0.37, or 0.71 percent. AT&T closed at $29.36, up $0.51, or 1.77 percent. Acuity closed at $56.11, falling $0.03, or 0.05 percent. First Interstate closed at $13.58, down $0.10, or 0.73 percent.

JPMorgan's (JPM) AT&T (T) Loan Credit Negative Says Moody's (MCO)

According to Moody's Investors Service (NYSE:MCO) JPMorgan Chase & Co's (NYSE:JPM) being the only underwriter for the $20 billion bridge loan for AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) is a "credit negative."

Moody's analyst Sean Jones stated, "We believe JPM's $20 billion commitment is credit negative, as it highlights JPM's increased appetite for risk."

"If this translates into giving the bank an advantage in winning the mandate to underwrite AT&T's long-term bond issuances to pay off the bridge facility, then it may encourage more banks to take on greater single-risk exposure, which would be credit negative for the industry, including JPM."

The $20 billion loan is to hep AT&T secure the acquisition of T-Mobile USA if it's given approval to go forward.

JPMorgan closed Monday at $45.96, up $0.10, or 0.22 percent.

Google (GOOG) Migrating Towards Verifone (PAY) Mobile Payments

In a move that will provide a consistent revenue stream for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), it's near field communications (NFC) chips in Android phones will allow customers to make purchases on credit and debit cards at stores with Verifone (NYSE:PAY) terminals using MasterCard (NYSE:MA) and Citibank (NYSE:C).

Other competitors already with plans in place are Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T), which are going to use Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the same manner.

The Street said, "If everything goes according to plan, Google's near field communications (NFC) chips in Android phones will allow customers to make purchases on credit and debit cards at stores with Verifone(PAY) terminals.

"The move is just the latest that pits Google against its telco partners in a race to new mobile revenue streams. In Google's case however, the budding mobile payment technology may be more of an intelligence-gathering process for its advertising business."

Expectations are Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is also ready to enter this segment of the market as well.

Google was trading at $581.51, up $1.77, or 0.31 percent, as of 1:55 PM EDT. veriFone is trading at $55.35, gaining $2.55, or 4.83 percent. Mastercard was $252.16, rising $4.46, or 1.80 percent. Citigroup was at $4.43, up $0.03, or 0.78 percent.




Source

AT&T (T), (VZ), (PCS), (LEAP) All Get Upgrades on T-Mobile Deal

Shares of AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) and Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) all soared today after the overall sector received a positive outlook from analyst William V. Power of R.W. Baird & Co.

This was based on Power's assumption the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T will clear regulatory hurdles and be approved.

Power sees the wireless industry becoming more stable and competitive, while companies like Leap and MetroPCS benefiting from it.

Also noted was an approved deal could result in Verizon or Sprint (NYSE:S) attempting to acquire U.S. Cellular, MetroPCS or Leap Wireless.

The obvious benefit for AT&T would be lower costs and for Verizon the current number of competitors would be cut back, which would result in a more consistent pricing environment, according to Power.

Leap was trading at $15.70, up $0.68, or 4.53 percent, as of 12:57 PM EDT. MetroPCS was at $15.85, gaining $0.31, or 1.96 percent. Verizon was trading at $37.82, rising $0.53, or 1.42 percent. AT&T was at $29.36, up $0.51, or 1.79 percent.