Toll (TOL) (AEO) (UTHR) (AMAT) (SNI) (CVI) (GSM) (PRU) EPS Estimates Changed

Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), American Eagle (NYSE: AEO), United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE: SNI), CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CVI), Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (NYSE: GSM) and Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) EPS estimates adjusted by analysts.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) lowered its EPS estimates on Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL). They have a “Hold” rating and a price target of $23.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lowered its EPS estimates on American Eagle (AEO). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $17.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs lowered its EPS estimates on United Therapeutics (UTHR). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $52.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs lowered its EPS estimates on Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $10.50 on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) lowered its EPS estimates on Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $44.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) boosted its EPS estimates on CVR Energy, Inc. (CVI). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $38.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse lowered its EPS estimates on Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (GSM). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $22.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) lowered its EPS estimates on Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU). They have an “Overweight” rating and a price target of $67.00 on the company.

Applied Materials (AMAT) (CVI) (GES) (GSM) (LEN) (PRU) (SNI) (UTHR) Price Targets Changed

Applied Materials (AMAT), CVR Energy (CVI), Guess (GES), Globe Specialty Metals (GSM), Lennar (LEN), Prudential Financial (PRU), Scripps Networks (SNI) and United Therapeutics (UTHR) price targets adjusted by analysts.

Applied Materials (AMAT) had its price target cut by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to $10.50. Goldman has a "Neutral" rating on the company.

CVR Energy (CVI) had its price target cut by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) to $38. They boosted its estimates and have an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Guess (GES) had its price target cut by Brean Murray to $44. They also lowered their estimates also cut and have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Globe Specialty Metals (GSM) had its price target cut by Credit to $22. They also cut their estimates and have an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Lennar (LEN) had its price target cut by Keybanc to $23. They also cut their estimates while having a "Buy" rating on the company.

Prudential Financial (PRU) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley to $67. They lowered their Estimates and have an "Overweight" rating on the company.

Scripps Networks (SNI) had its price target cut by UBS (NYSE:UBS) to $44. They lowered their estimates and have a "Neutral" rating on the company.

United Therapeutics (UTHR) had its price target cut by Goldman Sachs to $52. They cut their estimates and have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Dividend Yields for (ACE) (PGR) (PRU) (XL) (PFG)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies ACE Ltd (ACE), Progressive Corp (PGR), Prudential Financial Inc (PRU), XL Group Plc (XL)) and Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG).

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.

ACE Ltd (ACE) has a dividend yield of 1.97 percent on a declared dividend of $0.33. The payout ratio is 11.2 percent.

Progressive Corp (PGR) has a dividend yield of 1.82 percent on a declared dividend of $0.40. The payout ratio is 307.6 percent.

Prudential Financial Inc (PRU) has a dividend yield of 1.81 percent on a declared dividend of $0.11. The payout ratio is 326.0 percent.

XL Group Plc (XL) has a dividend yield of 1.80 percent on a declared dividend of $0.55. The payout ratio is 17.1 percent.

Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG) has a dividend yield of 1.63 percent on a declared dividend of $0.55. The payout ratio is 88.4 percent.

Aflac (AFL), Hartford Financial (HIG), MetLife (MET), Prudential Financial (PRU) Down on Japan Exposure

Shares of insurance companies with significant exposure in Japan closed down on Tuesday, with Aflac Inc. (NYSE:AFL), Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:HIG), MetLife Inc. (MET) and Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) all feeling the nuclear heat.

Aflac is getting hit the most, as they have the most exposure to the Japanese market, followed by Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. , MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc.

Uncertainty as to the amount having to be paid out will keep pressure on insurers and reinsurers, and at that time it could get worse, depending on how deeply the damage goes, which is obviously extensive.

Aflac closed Tuesday at $50.89, losing $3.01, or 5.58 percent. Hartford closed at $25.60, dropping $1.22, or 4.55 percent. MetLife was lower, ending at $43.40, falling $1.34, or 3.00 percent. Prudential closed the day at $60.09, down $1.17, or 1.91 percent.

General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F) MetLife (MET), Prudential (PRU) Investors to Benefit from Japan Tragedy

Although most people don't like to think about how someone could benefit from someone else's pain, the truth is it's always going to happen, and that's no different with the tragedy in Japan, which will definitely help boost General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor (NYSE:F), while also offering low entry points for companies with heavy exposure to Japan like insurers MetLife Inc (NYSE:MET) and Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU).

Marting Sass, the founder of hedge fund M.D. Sass, said "We don't invest directly in Japan, but we like two stocks that are particularly under pressure now - MetLife and Prudential - because they are most exposed to Japan, with 25 percent and 41 percent of earnings, respectively, coming from Japan."

Citing the destruction of automobiles and the closing of automotive manufacturing plants in Japan, Doug Kass, founder of hedge fund Seabreeze Partners, said the best investing idea to come out of the tragedy is Ford and General Motors.

General Motors closed Monday at $31.59, down $0.34, or 1.06 percent. Ford closed at $14.30, down $0.06, or 0.42 percent. Met Life closed down $44.74, falling $1.11, or 2.42 percent. Prudential ended the session at $61.26, dropping $1.84, or 2.92 percent.

Insurers (HIG), (AFL) (PRU) Drop on Japan Exposure

Insurance companies with strong exposure in Japan have been pressured today, as the markets are weighing the Japan play more than any other factor, for obvious reasons, as shares of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG), Aflac Inc. (AFL) and Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) were all down today by about 3 percent of more.

Concerns were over the death claims to the unknown exposure to cancer claims from the damage to nuclear facilities.

Even so, Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) said, “The financial implications for U.S. life insurers with large Japanese operations are not likely to be material to annual earnings or capital.” Long-term issues are probably more the risk, although it's unclear if there is any exposure at this time to radioactivity in any meaningful numbers, as far as measured by financial risk.

Credit Suisse did add that the insurers could face the “potential for elevated hospitalization claims and given concerns over damaged nuclear plants, elevated cancer claims over the next few years.”

Aflac, which has by far the most exposure in Japan of American insurers, said, “As we look to the remainder of 2011, we expect Aflac Japan sales will only be minimally impacted by these events. Our earnings guidance for the year remains unchanged.”

Prudential was trading at $61.19, down $1.91, or 3.03 percent, as of 2:43 PM EDT. Aflac was trading at $53.60, falling $1.95, or 3.51 percent. Hartford was at $26.78, down $0.82, or 2.97 percent.

Berkshire (BRK-A), (AIG), (CB), (XL),(RE), (PRU) Could Get Slammed from Japan Quake

The insurance industry has been especially hit hard and expected to have the most exposure overall to the 8.9 quake in Japan, which is the strongest in over a century.

Companies like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), Prudential (NYSE:PRU), American International Group (NYSE:AIG), Chubb Group (NYSE:CB), XL Group plc (NYSE:XL) and Everest Re Group Ltd. (NYSE:RE) are among those that could be negatively impacted over time, as far as those trading in the United States.

Claims from the disaster are expected to reach into the tens of billions.

Other secondary effects in physical Japan are for companies like Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM), Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) and Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC), which have had to close plants.

Reinsurers like RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) and Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) are still recovering from the New Zealand earthquake in February.

Prudential (NYSE:PRU), American Equity (NYSE:AEL) FBR's Top 2011 Insurance Picks

When compared with financial stocks in 2010, life insurance stocks had a good year, and even with some headwinds in 2011, FBR Capital sees room for insurers to continue to grow, with their top picks being Prudential (NYSE:PRU) and American Equity (NYSE:AEL).

FBR said, "2010 was a good year for life insurance stocks compared to their financial counterparts as their relatively limited regulatory risk and transparent invested-asset exposure gave investors more reasons to be constructive on the space. However, these stocks, on average, remain at a discount to book value as fears from low interest rates and macroeconomic headwinds continued to weigh on top- and bottom-line growth. These are real concerns that investors should take into account. However, we believe there is still room for life insurers’ valuations to grow, given a clearer path to capital return. Our operating outlook for life insurers assumes minimal constraints related to return of excess capital via acquisitions, share buybacks, and increased dividends. We tend to be overweight more mortality and annuity exposed names that have relatively predictable results and can catch some tailwind from the aging population.

"Prudential (Outperform) is our top pick as the company screens as being one of the best capitalized with $2.5 billion of excess capital through YE11. While capital deployment may be left to a minimum in 2011 due to the integration of Star-Edison and managing rating agency expectations for targeted capital structures, we believe the excess capital story for PRU will build through 2011 and ROE expectations for 2012 will exceed 12%.

"American Equity (Outperform) is our top pick for the small-cap life insurers, as it remains one of the only true growth stories in the space (outside of AFL) yet it is still trading at a discount to our hypothetical run-off valuation of $13. Our $16 price target is 1.0x YE11 BV ex-AOCI of $16.20 and a discount to our regression analysis, which indicates a $17 price target, as we currently forecast 13%-plus ROEs on a forward basis."

Prudential closed Friday at $58.09, up $0.73, or 1.27 percent. American Equity closed at $12.76, up $0.13, or 1.03 percent.