Toll (TOL) (TMK) (TPX) (AUMN) (AVGO) (AXS) Ratings, Price Targets

Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL), Torchmark Co. (TMK), Tempur-Pedic International Inc. (TPX), Golden Minerals (AUMN), Avago Technologies (AVGO) and Axis Capital (AXS) ratings and price targets.

Barclays Capital initiated coverage on Torchmark Co. (TMK). They placed an “Overweight” rating on the company.

KeyBanc downgraded Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Oppenheimer upgraded Tempur-Pedic International Inc. (TPX) from a “Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $70.00 on the company.

Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage on Golden Minerals (AUMN). They placed an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $13.63 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) downgraded Avago Technologies (AVGO) from an “Overweight” rating to an “Equal Weight” rating.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc upgraded Axis Capital (AXS) from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Toll (TOL) (AMCX) (TXI) (ATW) (RBS) (AUQ) Upgraded

Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX), Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI), Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW), Royal Bank Scotland (NYSE: RBS) and Aurioo Gold Inc (NYSE: AUQ) upgraded by analysts.

Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) was upgraded by Susquehanna from a “Neutral” rating to a “Positive” rating.

AMC Networks (AMCX) was upgraded by Barclays Capital from an “Underweight” rating to an “Equal Weight” rating. They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

Texas Industries (TXI) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $39.00 on the company, down from $43.00.

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (ATW) was upgraded by Macquarie from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Royal Bank Scotland (RBS) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Aurioo Gold Inc. (AUQ) was upgraded by CIBC from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Toll (TOL) (AEO) (NAV) (AMAT) (THC) (DAN) Price Targets Changed

Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), American Eagle (NYSE: AEO), Navistar (NYSE: NAV), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Tenet Healthcare Co. (NYSE: THC) and Dana Holding Co. (NYSE: DAN) had price targets adjusted by analysts.

Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) had its price target lowered by RBC Capital from $23.00 to $17.00. They have a “Sector Perform” rating on the company.

American Eagle (AEO) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $12.00 to $11.00. They have an “Equal Weight” rating on the company.

Navistar (NAV) had its price target lowered by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) from $80.00 to $62.50. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) had its price target lowered by Barclays Capital from $16.00 to $15.00. They have an “Overweight” rating on the company.

Tenet Healthcare Co. (THC) had its price target lowered by Ticonderoga from $8.00 to $6.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Dana Holding Co. (DAN) had its price target lowered by Deutsche Bank from $22.00 to $20.50. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

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.

Apple (AAPL) (WFC) (TOL) (AEO) (MU) (ORCL) Price Targets Changed

Apple (AAPL), Wells Fargo (WFC), Toll Brothers (TOL), American Eagle (AEO), Micron Technology (MU) and Oracle (ORCL) price targets adjusted by analysts.

Wells Fargo (WFC) had its price target lowered by Guggenheim. They have a price target $32. They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Apple (AAPL) had its price target lowered by BMO to $445. They have an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Toll Brothers (TOL) had its estimates cut by Citigroup (NYSE:C) through 2012. They have a "Hold" rating and price target of $23 on the company.

American Eagle (AEO) had its price target reduced by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to $17. They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Micron Technology (MU) had its price target cut by Sterne Agee to $14. They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Oracle (ORCL) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to $36. They have an "Overweight" rating on the company.

Toll (TOL) (DVR) (DXCM) (NBS) (EIX) (SPB) Upgraded

Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), Cal Dive International, Inc. (NYSE: DVR), DexCom Inc (NASDAQ: DXCM), Neostem (NYSE: NBS), Edison International (NYSE: EIX) and Spectrum Brands Inc. (NYSE: SPB) upgraded by analysts.

Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Sell” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Cal Dive International, Inc. (DVR) was upgraded by Morgan Keegan from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $4.00 on the company, down from $6.00.

DexCom Inc. (DXCM) was upgraded by Feltl & Co. from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $15.35 on the company, down from $15.85.

Neostem (NBS) was upgraded by WBB Securities from a “Hold” rating to a “Speculative Buy” rating.

Edison International (EIX) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Spectrum Brands Inc. (SPB) was upgraded by SunTrust (NYSE:STI) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Toll (TOL) (ASML) (CBE) (BRFS) (SVNT) Upgraded

Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML), Cooper Industries PLC (NYSE: CBE), BRF Brasil Foods (NASDAQ: BRFS) and Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) upgraded by analysts.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) upgraded Toll Brothers (TOL) from a "Neutral" rating to a “buy” rating. They have a price target of $25.00 on the company.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) upgraded ASML Holding (ASML) from a "Buy" rating to a “hold” rating.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) upgraded BRF Brasil Foods (BRFS) from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) upgraded Cooper Industries PLC (CBE) to a “Buy” rating.

Leerink upgraded Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SVNT) from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.

Builders (PHM) (DHI) (TOL) (MDC) (RYL) Continue to Struggle

Pulte Group Inc (NYSE:PHM), D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI), Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL), M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MDC) and The Ryland Group Inc (NYSE:RYL) were under pressure Tuesday as new building permits in the U.S. missed estimates by about 40,000, coming in at $550,000.

Housing starts were also a disaster, reaching 520,000, 60,000 below the projected 580,000.

A healthy home construction market is considered to be about 1.2 million homes per year. So far the rate for 2011 is an anemic 523,000 homes per year pace.

In April, new home construction dropped 10.6 percent from March, down 10.6 percent.

PulteGroup closed at $7.61 Tuesday, level with Monday's close. D.R. Horton closed at $11.46, dropping $0.21, or 1.80 percent.

Pulte (PHM) (DHI) (TOL) (MDC) (RYL) Pessimistic on Housing Market

According to the National Association of Home Builders, U.S. home builders like D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI), Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL), M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MDC), The Ryland Group Inc (NYSE:RYL) and Pulte Group Inc (NYSE:PHM) continue to have a negative outlook on the sector, giving it a 16 grade, with anything below 50 being considered negative.

Added to the usual factors of foreclosed homes, tighter lending standards and higher unemployment, was the return of higher gas prices, which all are weighing on the housing market.

The biggest factor appears to be those who own being concerned over their inability to sell their them at a good price, pressuring them to keep their homes rather than have to possibly pay out to make up the difference in the selling price and what they own on their homes, which in many cases have fallen in price below what they can get for them.

Homes of a strong spring season are fading away, as it hasn't worked out as builders have hoped, and there's little to indicate this will change any time soon.

Builders were trading mixed early in the session, with most of those listed above trading slightly in positive territory.

Home Sales Push Pulte (PHM) (DHI) (TOL) (MDC) (RYL) Up

Shares of D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI), Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL), M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MDC), The Ryland Group Inc (NYSE:RYL) and Pulte Group Inc (NYSE:PHM) were all up today after reports new home sales rose 11.1 percent from February to March.

Investors shouldn't get too excited though, as sales are still far behind 2010's numbers, coming in at a seasonally adjusted 300,000. Year-over-year, sales are still down 21.9 percent.

Jon Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros of RDQ Economics said, “With the distortions of the homebuyers’ tax credit now well behind us, it appears (looking through the monthly volatility) that new home sales have settled in around 300,000 at an annual rate (the six-month average of sales has been between 291,000 and 313,000 since September 2010). The rebound in March to that 300,000 level suggests a weather-related bounce back from snowstorm-affected levels in February. For 2011 as a whole, we expect that sales (and housing starts) will continue to bounce around recent levels and, given the low share of housing construction in GDP, will have little impact on the overall growth story.”

PulteGroup was trading at $7.84, rising $0.06, or 0.84 percent, as of 1:20 PM EDT. Ryland Group was at $17.58, gaining $0.36, or 2.06 percent. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. was trading at $28.28, up $0.54, or 1.95 percent. Toll Brothers was at $20.30, up $0.02, or 0.10 percent. D.R. Horton was at $12.16, jumping $0.18, or 1.46 percent.

Home Builders Toll (TOL) (DHI) (MDC) (RYL) (PHM) Close Up Even with Dismal Outlook

Oddly, investors chose to ignore warnings of a dismal year from home builders and pushed up shares of D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI), Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL), M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MDC), The Ryland Group Inc (NYSE:RYL) and Pulte Group Inc (NYSE:PHM) on Monday.

According to The National Association of Home Builders, sentiment for April dropped back to 16 after going up to 17 in March. A reading below 50 indicates a negative sentiment, to show how weak the outlook for 2011 is. It has been five years since the index has been above the 50 mark.

Various negative catalysts including high unemployment, tighter lending standards and bigger requirements for down-payments are keeping many people from buying homes. Also a record number of foreclosures are pushing down home prices, leaving potential buyers concerned that the market has yet to reach bottom.


The index gauging existing conditions dropped one point, to 16, while the recorded foot traffic of prospective buyers increased by a point, to 13. The estimate of single-family home sales over the next six months fell three points, to 23, declining to its lowest level since October.

Some of this is affected by regions and extent of weakness, but overall there's little to be excited about with the home builders.

PulteGroup closed at $7.84 on Monday, gaining $0.02, or 0.26 percent. The Ryland Group ended the session at $16.91, up $0.39, or 2.36 percent. M.D.C. Holdings Inc. closed at $27.26, rising $0.38, or 1.41 percent. Toll Brothers climbed to $20.58, closing at $0.46, increasing 2.29 percent. D.R. Horton ended the day at $11.67, up $0.14, or 1.21 percent.

Can Toll (TOL) (SPF) (DHI) Honeymoon Last?

If you were to look at a recent chart of the performance of Standard Pacific (NYSE:SPF), DR Horton (NYSE:DHI) and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), it may not appear that they're in a honeymoon period, but when coupled with the pressures related to the foreclosure supply, they've actually caught a break even while their share prices struggle.

It's the same of course with other home builders as well.

But there's no holding back the inevitable wave of growing foreclosures which will hit the market, even with attempts to slow it down by the government, which is only hurting the market, not helping it.

Hurting the market because of homes sitting there without someone in them while the process is grinding slowly along. That means those homes may be unable to be sold once things clear up. That's why the home builders have temporarily caught a break as the number that should be on the market aren't, but that will release, and when it does, they'll not only struggle, but be unable to compete with the much less expensive properties on the market than they can build.

It's questionable whether these companies will be able to survive; or at least the majority of them.

There is also the artificial props of QE2 and so-called Federal stimulus winding down, and that will further exasperate the situation.

Toll Brothers (TOL) (DHI) (CVCO) (MHO) Struggle on New Home Sales

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI), Cavco Industries (NASDAQ:CVCO) and M/I Homes (NYSE:MHO) Struggle were all under pressure today on news new home sales plunged again in February, dropping to its slowest pace on record.

The exception was Pulte Group, which went against the grain and are trading strongly in the positive.

According to the Commerce Department report Wednesday, sales declined 16.9 percent to a 250,000 annual pace in February, down from a revised rate of 301,000 in January. Analysts were looking for a narrower decline to 290,000 for the month.

"The median new home price plunged 8.9 percent from the same month in 2010, hitting the lowest level since 2003. Depreciating home values and a slower pace of home-buying is a worrying factor to many in the economic recovery. The Federal Reserve has highlighted the slow rebound that the housing market is experiencing in several of its recent statements, saying that the ailing market is a persistent overhang on unemployment and GDP growth. The data follows a separate government report released Monday showing that existing home sales fell 9.6% in February," said Forbes.

M/I Homes dropped on the news, but has rebounded slightly to trade at $13.99, gaining $0.02, or 0.14 percent, as of 2:16 PM EDT. Cavco was trading at $43.26, down $0.30, or 0.69 percent. D.R. Horton was at $11.78, falling $0.07, or 0.59 percent. Toll Brothers was trading at $20.21, declining $0.28, or 1.37 percent. Pulte was at $7.39, gaining $0.25, or 3.43 percent.




Source

PulteGroup (PHM), Lennar (LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL) Drop on Disappointing Data

It was just a couple of days ago after the news of the earthquake in Japan that the home construction industry was one of the few sectors in the positive. That has changed quickly as shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM), Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) are all falling on data showing the industry continues to struggle.

The idea a couple of days ago was the hope that spring sales would boost the sector, but that's not going to be the case, as housing starts were at a 27-year low and new building permits dropped to a record low.

It appears the gains a couple of days ago were just investors trying to find anything that would move up at the time.

Toll Brothers was trading at $20.41, down $0.45, or 2.16 percent, as of 2:04 PM EDT. Lennar was at $19.20, falling $0.48, or 2.44 percent. PulteGroup was at $6.90, dropping $0.11, or 1.57 percent.

Homebuilders Up (PHM) (LEN) (TOL) (Hov) (DHI) Up on Dismal Trading Day

In what appears to be investors searching for anything positive to sink their teeth into, shares of homebuilders Pulte (NYSE:PHM), Lennar (NYSE:LEN), Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), Hovnanian (NYSE:Hov) and D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) are trading up.

The only other positive sector on the day is solar, which is trading up on the nuclear play.

Apparently investors are looking at the hope there will be a decent selling season this spring, the evident reason for pushing up the homebuilder sector. It's doubtful this will be sustainable, but interesting nonetheless.

D.R. Horton was trading at $11.80, gaining $0.15, or 1.29 percent, as of 1:06 PM EDT. Hovnanian was at $3.72, up $0.04, or 1.09 percent. PulteGroup was trading at $6.94, up $0.02, or 0.29 percent. Toll Brothers were at $20.71, gaining $0.07, or 0.34 percent. Lennar was at $19.47, up $0.14, or 0.72 percent.

Lowe's (LOW), Home Depot (HD), Toll Brothers (TOL) Down Even After Good Reports

Many investors consider results from the last quarter as largely looking in the rearview mirror, including those for Lowe's (LOW), Home Depot (HD) and Toll Brothers (TOL), which all exceeded expectations.

The crisis in the Middle East, ongoing concerns over the European sovereign debt crisis which never goes away, and rising inflation are among the factors weighing on markets.

This will be good for energy stocks for sure, as it appears the unrest in the Middle East has a long way to play out, which will especially be a boost to companies with strong crude exposure.

For those companies like Lowe's (LOW), Home Depot (HD) and Toll Brothers (TOL), it appears to underscore the fragility of the so-called recovery, and the economic jitters still being entertained by the majority of investors.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Among Top Holdings of Basswood Capital Management

Of the top ten holdings of Basswood Capital Management, banks were the leading representatives, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) among the top holdings of the company.

Basswood added a little over 24,000 more shares to Wells Fargo, and sold off over 57,340 shares of Bank of America. US Bancorp and JPMorgan remained level.

The top three holdings were Wells Fargo in the top position, US Bancorp 2nd, and JPMorgan Chase in third. Bank of America dropped to 9th place; all measured by market value.

The rest, as measured by market value, were Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE:IR) in fourth place, followed by Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC), Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) and Walgreen (NYSE:WAG), in that order. In the #10 spot was Anixter International (NYSE:AXE).

This was according to a required 13F-HR filing with the SEC.

Bank of America closed Monday at $14.89, up $0.12, or 0.81 percent. U.S. Bancorp closed at $28.68, gaining $0.31, or 1.09 percent. Wells Fargo ended the session at $33.87, up $0.11, or 0.33 percent. JPMorgan closed at $46.54, down $0.03, or 0.06 percent.

Toll Brothers' (NYSE:TOL) 2011 Looks Like 2010

Unfortunately for Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), it looks like their performance in 2011 is not going to change any from 2010.

Ticonderoga said, "Our biggest takeaway from TOL’s conference call was that the just started fiscal 2011 results could look eerily similar to 2010’s non-descript results. Given where the industry is and the duration it has been there, we do not view a repeat of this year as a good—nor desirable—thing. We believe this story is essentially in a state of animated suspension. Until TOL’s results look like the high-end retailer it is, we believe the equity is, at best, a middle-of-the-pack performer. In our view, relative valuation is not compelling, and the fundamentals provide no urgency to own this equity versus peers. We want to be clear: we do not believe this is a broken equity by any stretch, just one that has much heavy lifting to do before it can outperform the group.

"With revenues expected to be flattish this year (we forecast down 4%), the logical next place to turn for greater profits is on the cost side. However, the likelihood of significant improvement looks limited based on management commentary. We think Bob Toll makes a reasoned argument that the company has no desire to cut SG&A more for minimal gain while potentially sacrificing future growth. Given Toll's high touch business model, this makes sense."

Toll closed Friday at $18.86, dropping $0.01, or 0.05 percent. Volume was 50 percent over the 3-month daily average.

Toll Bros. (NYSE:TOL) Makes Ticonderoga Nervous

With the estimates of Ticonderoga for closings of Toll Bros. (NYSE:TOL) coming in on the high end of estimates, it make them nervous because there are no expectations in backlog conversion.

Ticonderoga said, "We expected very little from this post-tax credit quarter, and we got it. Virtually every operating metric was just a bit below our expectations. The lone exception was on JVs, where a reversal of prior accruals helped. Guidance for closings next year put our estimate at the top of the company’s range, which makes us a bit nervous given that we are not forecasting an improvement in backlog conversion; our orders forecast is likely too optimistic versus their views."

Ticonderoga maintains a "Neutral" on Toll Bros., which closed Thursday at $18.87, up by $0.41, or 2.22 percent.