3 Key Factors for Sonos Ahead of the Speaker Giant's IPO

Famous for its sound systems with high-end audio quality, home speaker company Sonos has announced it is going public. Sonos, founded in 2002, is a pioneer in the speaker industry thanks to its wireless audio systems.

Sonos will price its initial offering between $17 and $19 a share, giving the company a market cap of up to $1.9 billion and a 1.9x EV/Revenue multiple at the time of the deal.

Here are some key factors, both good and bad, that investors should keep in mind ahead of Sonos’ IPO:

Strong Market Position with Loyal Customer Base

Sonos boasts a very strong market position as a leader in the industry. The company was the first in the world to release a wireless multi-room home speaker system in 2005.

Its primary business is working with contractors on the installation of home theater speakers. Its other business is smart speakers, which include a range of products it sells through approximately 10,000 third-party physical retail stores.

Sonos today has a customer base of around 6.9 million, and with its established partnerships with popular music streaming services such as Spotify (SPOT ) , Apple Music (AAPL ) , and Pandora (P ) , its customer base is likely to grow.

Historically Steady Financials

Sonos shows historically steady financials in terms of its revenue and gross margins. According to FactSet, the company is on its way to generating $1 billion in revenue for this year through September.

Sonos’ revenue has been trending upward since the fiscal year of 2016. Also, for the past five years, Sonos has been generating consistent gross margins of about 46 percent on average.

Increasing Competition in the Market

Considering the reasons above, Sonos looks like a strong company. However, its strong position can be threatened by increasing competition in the industry.

Initially, when voice-assisted speakers from Amazon (AMZN ) and Google (GOOGL ) emerged in the market, Sonos was quick to partner with these tech companies to integrate their technologies. For example, the Sonos One and Sonos Beam feature Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and Apple’s AirPlay in the speakers.

However, Sonos doesn’t have a voice assistant of its own; it is highly dependent on the tech moguls that have developed the technology. So, although integrating their voice assistants was a good idea at first, now, with these tech firms having smart speakers of their own, it could cause a problem for Sonos.

Sonos’ partners’ emergence with their own smart speakers will work against the company’s strong position in the market and its customer base.

Bottom Line

All IPOs present unique risks, and when deciding to buy Sonos’ stock at the start, investors should keep consider both the good and the bad factors influencing the company. Sonos is a strong industry leader, but it faces tough competition. Invest wisely.

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Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NWBI) Expected to Post Earnings of $0.26 Per Share

Analysts predict that Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI) will announce earnings per share of $0.26 for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Two analysts have made estimates for Northwest Bancshares’ earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $0.26 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.25. Northwest Bancshares reported earnings per share of $0.22 during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year-over-year growth rate of 18.2%. The business is expected to report its next earnings report on Monday, July 23rd.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Northwest Bancshares will report full-year earnings of $1.00 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.99 to $1.00. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will report earnings of $1.06 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.03 to $1.08. Zacks’ earnings per share averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that that provide coverage for Northwest Bancshares.

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Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.24. Northwest Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 21.53%. The company had revenue of $103.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.47 million.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NWBI shares. BidaskClub lowered Northwest Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 13th. Zacks Investment Research lowered Northwest Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 21st. Finally, Boenning Scattergood restated a “hold” rating on shares of Northwest Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 13th.

Shares of Northwest Bancshares opened at $17.91 on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Northwest Bancshares has a one year low of $15.06 and a one year high of $18.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70.

In other Northwest Bancshares news, COO David E. Westerburg sold 18,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $318,660.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Scalise sold 10,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total value of $176,741.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,943.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,802 shares of company stock worth $662,473. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWBI. CNB Bank bought a new position in Northwest Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Northwest Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $168,000. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Northwest Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,000. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Northwest Bancshares by 61.7% in the first quarter. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 14,414 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 5,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Northwest Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $242,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.35% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Bancshares Company Profile

Northwest Bancshares, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Northwest Savings Bank that offers various personal and business banking solutions in the United States. The company offers personal and business deposits, such as checking, savings, money market deposit, term certificate, and individual retirement accounts.

Read More: Price to Earnings Ratio (PE), For Valuing Stocks

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Northwest Bancshares (NWBI)

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

Interstellar Holdings Hits Market Cap of $1.74 Million (HOLD)

Interstellar Holdings (CURRENCY:HOLD) traded 5% higher against the dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 18:00 PM E.T. on July 20th. One Interstellar Holdings coin can now be bought for about $0.0025 or 0.00000038 BTC on major exchanges including Cryptopia and Mercatox. Interstellar Holdings has a total market cap of $1.74 million and $6,550.00 worth of Interstellar Holdings was traded on exchanges in the last day. During the last seven days, Interstellar Holdings has traded down 12.7% against the dollar.

Here’s how similar cryptocurrencies have performed during the last day:

Get Interstellar Holdings alerts: MedicCoin (MEDIC) traded down 14.8% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0212 or 0.00000291 BTC. AsiaCoin (AC) traded down 7.9% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0023 or 0.00000032 BTC. Mintcoin (MINT) traded 31.2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0001 or 0.00000002 BTC. GPU Coin (GPU) traded up 18.5% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0352 or 0.00000364 BTC. Renos (RNS) traded 11.1% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0174 or 0.00000238 BTC. Digital Rupees (DRS) traded 46.8% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0002 or 0.00000003 BTC. AllSafe (ASAFE2) traded 4.2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0110 or 0.00000150 BTC. DigiFinexToken (DFT) traded up 3.7% against the dollar and now trades at $0.69 or 0.00009405 BTC. Bitok (BITOK) traded down 2.2% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0001 or 0.00000001 BTC.

About Interstellar Holdings

HOLD is a proof-of-stake (PoS) coin that uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm. It was first traded on October 31st, 2017. Interstellar Holdings’ total supply is 738,488,498 coins and its circulating supply is 698,772,633 coins. Interstellar Holdings’ official Twitter account is @InterstellarHLD and its Facebook page is accessible here. The official website for Interstellar Holdings is www.interstellarcoin.com.

Interstellar Holdings Coin Trading

Interstellar Holdings can be traded on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: Mercatox and Cryptopia. It is usually not presently possible to purchase alternative cryptocurrencies such as Interstellar Holdings directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to trade Interstellar Holdings should first purchase Bitcoin or Ethereum using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Changelly, Coinbase or GDAX. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Bitcoin or Ethereum to purchase Interstellar Holdings using one of the exchanges listed above.

Sportsman’s Warehouse (SPWH) Receives Daily Media Sentiment Score of 0.07

Media stories about Sportsman’s Warehouse (NASDAQ:SPWH) have been trending somewhat positive on Wednesday, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research firm identifies negative and positive media 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 positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Sportsman’s Warehouse earned a daily sentiment score of 0.07 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the company an impact score of 47.8609414485648 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the near term.

Shares of NASDAQ:SPWH traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 260,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 497,209. The company has a market cap of $221.45 million, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of -0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.78. Sportsman’s Warehouse has a 1 year low of $3.40 and a 1 year high of $6.99.

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Sportsman’s Warehouse (NASDAQ:SPWH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 24th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.80 million. Sportsman’s Warehouse had a return on equity of 48.91% and a net margin of 1.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts expect that Sportsman’s Warehouse will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SPWH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Sportsman’s Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 9th. ValuEngine downgraded Sportsman’s Warehouse from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 5th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Sportsman’s Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, March 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sportsman’s Warehouse in a research report on Wednesday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

In other news, Director Seidler Kutsenda Management Co sold 25,000 shares of Sportsman’s Warehouse stock in a transaction on Friday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.27, for a total value of $131,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,015,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,665,450. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

About Sportsman’s Warehouse

Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an outdoor sporting goods retailer in the United States. It offers camping products, such as backpacks, camp essentials, canoes and kayaks, coolers, outdoor cooking equipment, sleeping bags, tents, and tools; and clothing products, including camouflage, jackets, hats, outerwear, sportswear, technical gear, and work wear.

Winklevoss cryptocurrency firm hires NYSE executive

A cryptocurrency trading company founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss has hired a top executive from the New York Stock Exchange.

Robert Cornish, the NYSE's chief information officer, will become the first CIO for Gemini Trust Co.

The hiring is another sign of the growth of digital currencies such as bitcoin, both as an investment and as part of the economy.

Cornish will start later this month. Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini's CEO, said he will help the company "set the standards of excellence for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole."

The Winklevoss twins became known for their legal battle with Mark Zuckerberg, whom they accused of stealing the idea for Facebook when they were all students at Harvard. The dispute was dramatized in the movie "The Social Network."

The twins settled with Facebook in 2008. The deal eventually gave them 6 million shares of Facebook, a stake worth more than $228 million at the time of its IPO. Facebook stock has since more than quadrupled.

The Winklevosses have become high-profile advocates for the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. And they have sought to make crypto trading more mainstream. In April, Gemini signed a deal to use Nasdaq's technology to ensure trading activity complies with banking standards.

Their attempt to sell an exchange-traded fund based on bitcoin has yet to be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Some investors remain concerned about the safety of cryptocurrency trading. Warren Buffett called bitcoin "rat poison squared" at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting earlier this year.

Just last month, South Korea's Bithumb, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, said that more than $30 million worth of the cryptocurrency had been stolen.

Best Undervalued Stocks For 2019

tags:FCEL,TK,MDY,

Sandstorm Gold (NYSEMKT:SAND) is not a typical streaming/royalty company. Apart from running a portfolio of streams and royalties, the company also holds a few equity stakes in mining companies. As a result, it is a little bit hard to value the company's shares. In this article, using a simple valuation model, I would like to show that Sandstorm's shares are undervalued now.

Introduction

As I noted above, Sandstorm holds two main asset classes:

Streaming/royalty portfolio Equity portfolio

The first class may be valued using the discount cash flow model. In its financial reports, the company discloses all relevant conditions at which it had entered each stream and royalty agreement as for example: duration, price at which the metals are to be acquired, the amount of metals under agreement, etc.

Having this data, I can easily find the discounted value of each stream and royalty.

As for equities, I have focused on three main equity stakes held by the company. To find their value, I am using two methods:

Best Undervalued Stocks For 2019: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Electro Scientific Industries (NASDAQ: ESIO) and FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) is one of 25 public companies in the “Miscellaneous electrical machinery, equipment, & supplies” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare FuelCell Energy to related companies based on the strength of its risk, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) and Integer (NYSE:ITGR) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) posted an increase of 17.8% in short interest during the period. Some 6.9 million shares were short as of May 15. The stock closed at $1.88 on Thursday, down about 1.1% for the day, in a 52-week range of $0.93 to $2.49. Shares traded up about 1.4% in the short interest period, and days to cover rose from eight to 14.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) shares traded up 5.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $1.49 and last traded at $1.45. 12,581,855 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 983% from the average session volume of 1,161,380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.37.

Best Undervalued Stocks For 2019: Teekay Corporation(TK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Teekay (NYSE: TK) and Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  Crude oil prices continue to remain in focus after Brent crude hit $80.00 per barrel. The benchmark crude touched $80.00, as markets are concerned about the impact renewed Iranian sanctions will have on global supply. French oil giant Total announced Wednesday that it was abandoning a gas project in Iran after failing to obtain a waiver from the Trump administration to do business in Iran. The sanctions are expected to decline global output at a time that OPEC is already working diligently to push oil prices higher by containing excessive global production. Four Stocks to Watch Today: JCP, BABA, F, KR Shares of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) are ticking higher after its earnings report before the bell. Yesterday, retail companies were stunned by the 11% jump for its rival Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) stock thanks to a strong first-quarter report. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.�(NYSE: BABA) is generating a lot of buzz as investors monitor trade relations between the United States and China. BABA stock had slumped by 18% thanks to trade restrictions on Chinese companies. Ford Motor Co.�(NYSE: F) announced it will restart production of its popular F-150 pickup truck at its Dearborn, Mich., facility. The company recently suspended operations after a fire damaged supplies needed for manufacturing. The F-150 is the most popular consumer vehicle in the United States. In an effort to beat back the growth of Wal-Mart and Amazon, grocery giant Kroger Co.�(NYSE: KR) announced a deal to purchase a 5% stake in British online supermarket Ocado. The deal will allow Kroger to utilize the UK firm's warehouse automation technology in the United States and improve its supply chain costs. Look for additional earnings reports from Applied Materials Inc.�(Nasdaq: AMAT), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), The Children's Place Inc.�(Nasdaq: PLCE), Teekay Corp.�(NYSE: TK), and Quantum Corp.�(NYSE: QTM).

  Follow�Money Morning��on��Facebook,�Twitter, and�LinkedIn.

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  Although Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH) and Teekay Corporation (NYSE:TK) are both focused on the shipping industry, they go about it in vastly different ways. Both companies were hit hard by industry downturns, but Textainer started to see a notable improvement in its container business in 2017. Teekay's collection of ship-owning businesses in the energy sector, on the other hand, continued to struggle overall -- but signs seem to point to an upturn this year. Which one is the better buy today?

Best Undervalued Stocks For 2019: SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF (MDY)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF (NYSEARCA:MDY) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,139,465 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock after selling 22,647 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF were worth $389,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By ]

  Yet when it comes to investing, reward often comes from being willing to take on risk. Over the past 10 years, investors who've been willing to look at smaller companies have seen much stronger returns than those who've stuck with the tried-and-true big names that are more familiar to them. When you look at exchange-traded funds tracking indexes composed of companies of different sizes �� SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT: SPY) for large companies, SPDR S&P Midcap 400 (NYSEMKT: MDY) for midsize companies and SPDR S&P SmallCap 600 (NYSEMKT: SLY) for small companies �� you can put a number on just how much better smaller stocks have done:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF (NYSEARCA:MDY) by 84.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,686 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF were worth $576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now

tags:WPZ,RRC,APA,HAL,COP,

Shares of Facebook (FB ) popped 2.19% on Thursday to close at $191.78 per share, inching ever closer to their 52-week and all-time high of $195.32 per share. The question is what might have investors excited about the company that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently.

Facebook held its annual stockholder meeting in Menlo Park, California on Thursday. The meeting came amid turmoil for the social media giant caught up in a massive user data scandal, which eventually forced CEO Mark Zuckerberg to speak in front of members of Congress, and more recently, EU officials.

Facebook executives on Thursday said that the company rejected all of its shareholder proposals, while all eight of its director nominees were elected, according to Reuters. These proposals included calls for greater oversight and transparency, as well as a new voting structure. This might not surprise many investors as Zuckerberg himself controls a large amount of voting power.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Williams Partners L.P.(WPZ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Barclays set a $46.00 price target on Williams Pipeline Partners (NYSE:WPZ) in a research note published on Saturday. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Williams Pipeline Partners (WPZ)

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

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) from Buy to Hold..

  Williams Partners shares fell 0.63 percent to close at $41.23 on Friday.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,421 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,839 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Chris Lange]

  The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Monday was Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) which rose about 6% to $16.05. The stock��s 52-week range is $11.93 to $25.96. Volume was 8.6 million compared to the daily average volume of 7.4 million.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Global Securities raised their Q4 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Range Resources in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 23rd. Seaport Global Securities analyst M. Kelly now anticipates that the oil and gas exploration company will post earnings per share of $0.12 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.11. Seaport Global Securities has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. Seaport Global Securities also issued estimates for Range Resources’ Q1 2019 earnings at $0.36 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.18 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $0.26 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $0.98 EPS.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  OppenheimerFunds Inc. lowered its holdings in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) by 68.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,532 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 65,576 shares during the quarter. OppenheimerFunds Inc.’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) fell about 3.6% Monday to post a new 52-week low of $14.77 after closing at $15.30 on Friday. The 52-week high is $35.64. Volume of about 9.4 million was about 20% higher than the daily average of around 7.7 million shares traded. The company had no specific news.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) fell about 4.4% Tuesday to post a new 52-week low of $14.43 after closing at $15.09 on Monday. The 52-week high is $34.93. Volume of about 15 million was nearly double the daily average of around 7.7 million shares traded. The company had no specific news.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Apache Corporation(APA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Bromels]

  And despite the stock market's long bull run, there are still some dividend stocks out there that are both cheap and high-quality. So let's go bargain shopping and see if we can find some! Three in the bargain bin that look promising are Kinder Morgan�(NYSE:KMI),�ExxonMobil�(NYSE:XOM), and Apache Corporation�(NYSE:APA). Here's why they might be right for your portfolio.

• [By John Bromels]

  It seems like a great time to buy in, but you still shouldn't just buy any oil and gas stock. Luckily, it doesn't take a genius to identify great choices in the oil and gas industry like�Apache Corporation�(NYSE:APA),�Devon Energy�(NYSE:DVN), and�Royal Dutch Shell�(NYSE:RDS-A)(NYSE:RDS-B). Here's why they're such no-brainer investments.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) dropped about 7.3% Thursday to post a new 52-week low of $34.50. Shares closed at $37.20 on Wednesday and the stock’s 52-week high is $55.23. Volume was over 11 million, about three times the daily average of around 3.9 million. The company reported quarterly results this morning, but investors were not impressed.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) stunned the oil and gas world in late 2016 by announcing the discovery of the Alpine High play in a long-overlooked spot of the Permian Basin. The company believed that it had uncovered more than 3 billion barrels of oil and even more natural gas, which would drive growth for years to come. However, that growth wouldn't materialize overnight because Apache first had to build out the infrastructure needed to develop the field from scratch.�

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Halliburton Company(HAL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  That investment would likely benefit both Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, but more so their competitor Halliburton Co. (HAL) , which is the most levered to the North American market among the big three oil services providers. 

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) reported first-quarter 2018 results before markets opened Monday. The oil and gas services company posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.41 on revenues of $5.74 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.04 on revenues of $4.28 billion. First-quarter results also compare to consensus estimates for EPS of $0.41 per share and $5.75 billion in revenues.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Halliburton (HAL)

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

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  SemGroup (NYSE: SEMG) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Zacks]

  Moreover, BP opened 100 retail sites in the country in 2017 and plans to open 1,400 more by 2021. The largest publicly traded oil company, ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) opened its gas stations in Mexico in December, while one of the world's biggest independent oil producers – ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) – showed interest in Mexico, post-reform.

• [By Spencer Israel]

  Oil companies were popular sells for the month, including ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP), and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) all net sold. Investors also net sold Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA), Starbucks Corporation (NYSE: CMG). and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) in the midst of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress. 

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  Oil driller ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is benefiting from rising oil prices and rewarding investors with dividend hikes. However, the company's drilling-focused business hasn't been able to sustain a high dividend in the past, cutting the payment in 2016 amid low oil prices. This suggests that dividend investors will end up disappointed if highly volatile oil prices fall again. Here are two stocks with higher yields today and strong histories of rewarding investors through good times and bad: ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG).�

Zacks: Brokerages Anticipate American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) Will Post Quarterly Sales of $72

Wall Street analysts expect American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI) to announce $72.89 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Two analysts have made estimates for American Public Education’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $72.77 million to $73.00 million. American Public Education posted sales of $72.20 million in the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year-over-year growth rate of 1%. The firm is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report after the market closes on Wednesday, August 8th.

On average, analysts expect that American Public Education will report full year sales of $302.46 million for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $301.47 million to $303.44 million. For the next year, analysts expect that the firm will post sales of $311.62 million per share, with estimates ranging from $310.00 million to $313.23 million. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that cover American Public Education.

Get American Public Education alerts:

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $75.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.13 million. American Public Education had a net margin of 7.10% and a return on equity of 7.90%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on APEI. Sidoti began coverage on shares of American Public Education in a report on Monday, June 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. BidaskClub raised shares of American Public Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 18th. Barrington Research raised shares of American Public Education from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 9th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of American Public Education from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 4th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of American Public Education from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $40.75.

NASDAQ:APEI traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.15. The stock had a trading volume of 70,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,439. The stock has a market cap of $690.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.67. American Public Education has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $45.75.

In other American Public Education news, insider Wallace E. Jr. Boston sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $172,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 390,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,840,015.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,800 shares of company stock worth $205,785. 3.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Public Education during the first quarter worth approximately $101,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 26,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 206,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Public Education by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 18,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Public Education in the 1st quarter valued at $168,000. 94.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About American Public Education

American Public Education, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online and campus-based postsecondary education. The company operates through two segments, American Public Education and Hondros College of Nursing. It offers 108 degree programs and 109 certificate programs in various fields of study, including business administration, health science, technology, criminal justice, education, and liberal arts, as well as national security, military studies, intelligence, and homeland security.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on American Public Education (APEI)

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

Does GE's Credit Rating Cut Matter?

It's never good news when a credit rating agency downgrades debt ratings for a company, so investors in General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)�didn't appear to have welcomed�Fitch's recent lowering of its rating on GE's debt to A from A+ the day it was announced. That said, does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Let's take a look at the rationale for the ratings cut and whether it should concern for GE investors or not.

Fitch cuts GE's debt rating

Companies rely on debt in order to function (even if it's short-term financing for working capital needs), and a high rating tends to mean they pay less interest on that debt. So when a company's debt rating is cut by a credit rating agency, it implies bond investors will require higher rates in order to compensate them for the extra risk. Therefore, in the purest sense, Fitch's downgrade is a negative.

Power remains at the forefront of GE's problems. Image source: GE Energy Connections.

Moreover, the reasons behind the downgrade are obviously a concern. In a nutshell, Fitch's major worry is what it called "constrained" earnings and cash flow while GE deals with a number of issues due to a combination of factors:

An ongoing struggle dealing with its underperforming GE power business.� CEO John Flannery is restructuring the company through divestitures and cost-cutting. GE has a large pension deficit that it needs to fund in the future -- around $29 billion at the end of 2017.� A "weaker balance sheet at GE Capital" after the company took significant charges on GE capital businesses this year.� Don't we already know this?

Of course, these factors are already well known to the market. The problems at GE capital are known, as is the pension deficit and the restructuring plans. Moreover, the deterioration in the power segment outlook was also recently flagged by Flannery.

In case you are wondering why the power segment always attracts attention, it's because the aviation and healthcare segments are performing well, so the deciding factor in GE's earnings and cash flow performance (Fitch's major concern) will come from its power segment.

Of course, GE recently announced plans to separate the healthcare business. While this is good news from a liquidity perspective -- it will bring in cash as GE plans to monetize 20%�of the healthcare business and distribute the remaining 80% to GE shareholders -- exiting Healthcare will also reduce ongoing free cash flow generation and earnings. In addition, it means the power segment is even more important to GE's long-term prospects.�

Going back to the end of May at the Electrical Products Group (EPG) conference,�Flannery dialed back investors' expectations for the troubled power segment by claiming there would be "no quick fix" and that the end market for gas turbines (GE power's core product) would remain weak until at least 2020.�

In addition, at EPG Flannery said he aimed to get power segment margin back to above 10% (power margin was 5.6% in 2017) although he didn't give a specific time frame. This figure has now become one to watch for investors, as Fitch cited a failure to improve "segment margins in the Power business to around 10% by 2020" as a development that could lead to a negative rerating.

All told, Fitch's downgrade is pretty much a reaction to what GE has already told investors, and the credit rating agency's rationale for the rating cut shouldn't concern shareholders per se.

But the outlook should worry investors

On the other hand, it should be noted that Fitch's updated rating assumptions assume GE's free cash flow (FCF) after dividends will be around $2 billion in 2018 and will be "steady to slightly higher through the next one to two years with expectations for further improvement." Failure to reach the 2018 FCF target could lead to Fitch cutting its rating. �

Unfortunately, there are reasons to believe GE will struggle to hit Fitch's 2018 target. To put this into perspective, GE will likely pay out around $4.2 billion in dividends, so Fitch's assumption for GE's FCF is around $6.2 billion in 2018. That seems OK, after all Flannery reiterated GE's standing forecast for $6 billion to $7 billion in FCF in 2018.

But here's the thing -- or rather, the three things:

GE's EPS guidance for 2018 is $1.00-$1.07, but analyst consensus is for $0.94. GE has already lowered earnings expectations to the low end of the range so it's reasonable to assume FCF will come in at the low end of the range, too. Any further deterioration in the power segment is likely to lead to further guidance cuts for it and this will negatively impact FCF generation.

In other words, GE may well struggle to meet 2018 FCF assumptions (both its own and those of Fitch), and this could cause for another credit rating cut.

Investor Takeaway

Fitch's actions reflect the deterioration in the outlook at GE through 2018, and even though most of this is already known to the market, the credit agency's negative perspective still highlights the risk in the stock. There will surely be a time to buy GE shares at some point, but it's probably a good idea to wait until the power segment stabilizes, because only then can investors have full confidence in the company's earnings and cash flow outlook.

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019

tags:AIG,WRB,AON,TOP,PRU,PFG,

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,381,436 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114,075 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Harley-Davidson were worth $59,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 85,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,353,000 after purchasing an additional 12,807 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 181,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,254,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 26,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 13,760 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,730,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,869,000 after purchasing an additional 27,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 5,971.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 249,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 245,773 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.87% of the company’s stock.

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: American International Group Inc.(AIG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Insurance company American International Group Inc. (AIG) stock fell 5.3% as harsh winter weather weighed on profits. But the company's long-term care exposure is relatively minimal.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Gifford Fong Associates acquired a new position in shares of American International Group (NYSE:AIG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 44,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000.

• [By Max Byerly]

  These are some of the media stories that may have effected Accern’s rankings:

  Get American International Group alerts: AIG’s loss for European business worsens in 2017 (businessinsurance.com) $1.26 EPS Expected for American International Group (AIG) This Quarter (americanbankingnews.com) UBS: Buy AIG After Earnings Estimates ‘Bottom Out’ (finance.yahoo.com) American International Group (AIG) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS (americanbankingnews.com) American International Group (AIG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts (americanbankingnews.com)

  American International Group traded up $0.36, hitting $55.15, during mid-day trading on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The stock had a trading volume of 9,821,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,828,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. American International Group has a 1-year low of $49.57 and a 1-year high of $67.30. The firm has a market cap of $49.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.24.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in American International Group (NYSE:AIG) by 8.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,147 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American International Group were worth $3,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: W.R. Berkley Corporation(WRB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on W. R. Berkley (WRB)

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

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on W. R. Berkley (WRB)

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

• [By Logan Wallace]

  W. R. Berkley (NYSE: WRB) and State Auto Financial (NASDAQ:STFC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ValuEngine cut shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

  WRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 14th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Boenning Scattergood restated a hold rating on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, April 25th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday. They set a sell rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $70.78.

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Aon Corporation(AON)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Aon (NYSE:AON) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in AON were worth $5,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  AON (NYSE:AON) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $160.00 to $165.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

• [By Max Byerly]

  State of Wisconsin Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Aon (NYSE:AON) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 384,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,942 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in AON were worth $53,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  BB&T Securities LLC raised its holdings in Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. BB&T Securities LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $3,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.96 per share on revenue of $3.46 billion. Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $2.8 per share on revenue of $2.93 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AXL) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.81 per share on revenue of $1.75 billion. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.88 per share on revenue of $9.27 billion. LifePoint Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.13 per share on revenue of $1.62 billion. V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.65 per share on revenue of $2.90 billion. Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.26 per share on revenue of $3.05 billion. Titan International, Inc. (NYSE: TWI) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.04 per share on revenue of $407.27 million. Boise Cascade Company (NYSE: BCC) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.45 per share on revenue of $1.09 billion. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE: LNG) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.39 per share on revenue of $1.59 billion. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.24 per share on revenue of $308.05 million. ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $683.96 million. Fred's, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) is expected to report quarterly loss at $0.19 per share on revenue of $551.00 million. Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.52 per share on revenue of $288.31 million. Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: CQP) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.57 per share on revenue of $1.38 billion. Genesis Energy, L.P
• [By Logan Wallace]

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

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

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Topdanmark A/S (TOP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  TopCoin (CURRENCY:TOP) traded down 15.4% against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 7:00 AM E.T. on June 21st. During the last seven days, TopCoin has traded up 4% against the dollar. TopCoin has a market cap of $0.00 and approximately $123.00 worth of TopCoin was traded on exchanges in the last day. One TopCoin coin can currently be bought for about $0.0010 or 0.00000015 BTC on popular exchanges.

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Flippin Bruce & Porter Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares during the period. Flippin Bruce & Porter Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $6,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  State of Tennessee Treasury Department lessened its position in Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU) by 29.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 312,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 132,238 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department owned approximately 0.07% of Prudential Financial worth $32,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Chuck Saletta]

  Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) takes such pride in its rock-solid financial condition that it uses an actual rock -- the Rock of Gibraltar�-- as its corporate symbol. Prudential Financial backs up that claim with a balance sheet that has more cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments�than total debt on it. It also claims a debt-to-equity ratio around 0.6 and a current ratio around 1.0�, which are further signs of a solid financial condition.

Best Insurance Stocks To Watch For 2019: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  These are some of the news articles that may have impacted Accern’s scoring:

  Get Principal Financial Group alerts: Principal Financial Group (PFG) Approves New $300M Buyback (streetinsider.com) Principal Financial Group (PFG) Announces Share Repurchase Plan (americanbankingnews.com) Is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now? (finance.yahoo.com) Principal Financial Group is Oversold (nasdaq.com) Principal Names New Chief Human Resources Officer (finance.yahoo.com)

  Several equities analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 5th. Wells Fargo reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, March 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Friday, March 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.18.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Provident Financial plc (LON:PFG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,244.33 ($16.57).

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the details of Stilwell Value LLC's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Stilwell+Value+LLC

  These are the top 5 holdings of Stilwell Value LLCOFG Bancorp (OFG) - 1,614,868 shares, 14.1% of the total portfolio. Kingsway Financial Services Inc (KFS) - 3,780,889 shares, 12.63% of the total portfolio. HopFed Bancorp Inc (HFBC) - 627,128 shares, 7.62% of the total portfolio. Alcentra Capital Corp (ABDC) - 1,251,324 shares, 7.27% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 20.66%Sound Financial Bancorp Inc (SFBC) - 228,600 shares, 7.02% of th
• [By Max Byerly]

  Shore Capital reissued their hold rating on shares of Provident Financial (LON:PFG) in a report issued on Thursday.

  PFG has been the subject of several other reports. Liberum Capital reissued a sell rating and set a GBX 483 ($6.48) price objective on shares of Provident Financial in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Peel Hunt reissued a hold rating and set a GBX 870 ($11.67) price objective on shares of Provident Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Provident Financial from GBX 1,100 ($14.76) to GBX 750 ($10.06) and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 10th. Barclays reissued an underweight rating and set a GBX 584 ($7.84) price objective on shares of Provident Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Societe Generale lowered Provident Financial to a hold rating and set a GBX 1,050 ($14.09) price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Provident Financial presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 1,190.14 ($15.97).

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE:PFG) by 41.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 201,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 142,313 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $12,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE:PFG) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Forget the Lyft IPO – Buy This Stock Instead

Eager investors are hoping the�Lyft IPO�will be their next opportunity for market-beating gains this year.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to invest in Lyft stock�right now because the IPO hasn't happened yet. But that doesn't mean there isn't a way to profit off the most exciting companies on the market…

The Lyft IPO remains one of the most anticipated public debuts ever, though.

At the end of 2017,�Lyft�announced that it had reached 500 million rides. It has also been chipping away at Uber's market share in the United States.

Don't Miss: This secret stock-picking method has uncovered 217 double- and triple-digit peak-gain winners since 2011. Find out how it's done…

At the beginning of 2017, Uber dominated the U.S. market with an 80% market share. By the end of October, that had fallen to 70%.

But if you're thinking about jumping into the�Lyft IPO in 2018, there is much more to consider than just the company's growing share of rides. And there's an even better way to get in early on the most popular IPOs…

What We Know About the Lyft IPO

A San Francisco–based ridesharing company, Lyft was founded in 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer. The two co-founders were no strangers to ridesharing apps. They began with a company aimed at helping college students connect for long-distance carpools, called Zimride.

In 2013, the two sold Zimride to Enterprise Holdings for an undisclosed amount and decided to concentrate their efforts on Lyft. Considering the progress they have made in the past five years, it was a wise choice.

The ridesharing company reported 53.3 million rides in 2015. It boosted those figures 136% in just one year to 162.6 million rides in 2016.

And now Lyft is chipping into the market share of its main rival – Uber.

Uber has faced a seemingly never-ending string of troubles over the past year and a half. Even with a new CEO, Uber is struggling with a negative reputation, and Lyft now claims a 35% market share.

Lyft has modeled itself as the fun, friendly rival to Uber's troubled brand. Throughout 2017 and into 2018, more riders have become "brand aware" of Lyft, and this accounts for many of its new activations.

Plus, Lyft is expanding internationally. Specifically, the company started operating in Toronto on Dec. 12, and Ottawa was recently added as well.

Lyft is also forming some unique partnerships. In February 2018, the company partnered with Baltimore Bike Share to transform some of its bike-share stations into Lyft drop-off and pick-up spots.

The company is also appealing to clients through its philanthropic efforts. When a rider pays for their fare, they have the option to "round up" to the nearest dollar to donate that difference to charity. In 2017, Lyft raised $3 million with this program.

In its most recent funding round,�Lyft brought in an additional $1.5 billion in financing, bringing its total from private investors to $4.3 billion. Some of those investors include CapitalIG, Rakuten, Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and Alliance Bernstein.

The latest�valuation for Lyft is $11.7 billion, which is making potential investors anxious to buy Lyft stock.

And the Lyft public offering could be soon…

A Lyft IPO in 2018 Is Possible

The Lyft IPO has seemingly stalled for years, but it appears that the company is still moving forward with its IPO plans.

Even still, we don't know what the Lyft stock symbol�is yet, and we won't know what the chosen�Lyft ticker�will be until just before the market debut, so the process is still in the early stages.

The latest news we have is that the company was looking for an advisory firm last fall to help it choose underwriters for its IPO.

Before you consider buying Lyft stock, however,�Money Morning�Defense and Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson has some advice about IPO investing.

He also has a much better investment than Lyft that can help you maximize IPO returns and minimize risk…

Forget the Lyft IPO, and Buy This Stock Instead

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Caterpillar Becomes Trade-War Casualty Even With Record Profit

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The world on the cusp of a trade war has spooked investors, and few companies are feeling the fright more than Caterpillar Inc.

Shares of the Deerfield, Illinois-based company, which is expected to post record profit this year and the best sales since 2014, have dropped for five straight days and are headed for the biggest monthly loss since 2016. The stock vied with Boeing Co. as the worst performer Tuesday on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Morgan Stanley chief U.S. economist discusses tariff risks

The slide for Caterpillar, a bellwether for American industry, shows how trade frictions are upending assumptions for an improving global economy. Markets were rattled as China vowed to retaliate “forcefully” after President Donald Trump threatened to slap another $200 billion on imports from the Asian nation. Caterpillar said as recently as January, after boosting its 2018 forecast, that it didn’t expect the Trump administration’s policies to ignite a trade war.

“The market is selling the big trade-related plays, and the exporters in particular,” Matt Arnold, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis, said in a telephone interview.

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Caterpillar was the best-performing stock in the Dow Jones gauge over the past two calendar years. In May, the maker of iconic yellow bulldozers and excavators posted its biggest monthly gain since December.

Buy Music Broadcast; target of Rs 469: Motilal Oswal

Motilal Oswal's research report on Music Broadcast

Revenue grew 14% YoY (flat QoQ) to INR759m, in line with our expectation, led by (1) volume growth at new (Phase III) stations, and (2) volume and yield growth at legacy stations. This coupled with 3% decline in opex (including write-backs) led to 65% YoY (17% QoQ) jump in EBITDA to INR274m, an 8% beat.

Outlook

Asset-light business model coupled with robust growth should provide impetus to healthy return ratios. We expect RoE/RoCE to reach 14% by FY20 (9% FY18). We maintain Buy, with a TP of INR469 (EV of 15x FY20E EBITDA).

For all recommendations report,�click here

Disclaimer:�The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Emerging-Market Selloff Has Traders Caught in a Grim Feedback Loop

A feedback loop is taking hold across financial markets as the emerging-market selloff intensifies, helping to support the greenback and giving Treasury bears more ammo.

It goes like this: A rebounding dollar this year has likely spurred central banks in developing nations to pare Treasury holdings and use the cash to prop up local currencies. Those Treasury sales are helping to send yields higher, making U.S. investments more attractive, and supporting the dollar, which leads back to more bond sales by central banks.

The end result is a market ringing with soft echoes of the tumult in the second half of 2016 that sent emerging-market assets tumbling and temporarily halted the bull market in U.S. stocks.

The Federal Reserve’s holdings of U.S. government debt securities, a proxy gauge of overseas central banks’ stakes in Treasuries, are tumbling by the most since China’s battle to stabilize the yuan in 2016.

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To strategists at TD Securities, that’s a sign emerging markets have their fingerprints all over the jump in 10-year U.S. Treasury yields to levels firmly above 3 percent.

“If the USD continued to strengthen, it could result in continued selling of Treasuries from EM central banks as well as EM investors,” strategists including Priya Misra wrote in a recent note. Still, she pointed out that the dynamic may ultimately be self-stabilizing as violent market selloffs spur rallies in U.S. bonds.

“This would tighten financial conditions and ultimately bring a bid back to Treasuries,” she wrote, “similar to the China selling and USD strength episode in 2015 and 2016.”

The selloff in emerging-market currencies -- including the Turkish lira’s freefall this week -- in concert with haven demand for the yen evokes memories of the tightening in international financial conditions in 2016, according to Ben Emons, the chief economist at Intellectus Partners LLC. Further weakness in developing-economy assets would create more ripples across global interest-rate markets, he wrote in a note.

“The dollar strengthens and that causes contagion in other emerging markets where dollar debt has grown substantially,” he wrote. If yen strength continues, “Japanese investors become cautious and buy Treasuries (and Bunds).”

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T-Mobile Has More Upside Than Sprint - Cramer's Lightning Round (5/22/18)

Stocks discussed on the Lightning Round segment of Jim Cramer's Mad Money Program, Tuesday, May 22.

Bullish Calls

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT): Cramer likes the digital video and surveillance industry. Cramer thinks the stock is okay.

First Data (NYSE:FDC): "We had CEO Frank Bisignano on recently and he carried himself well. That was a terrific quarter. What can I say? I did not expect it to be that much of a blowout and it was."

Bearish Calls

Altria Group (NYSE:MO): The competitor 'Juul' is hurting the whole industry. Cramer cannot recommend tobacco companies.

Corning (NYSE:GLW): Cramer does not like optical fiber.

Beacon Roofing Supply (NASDAQ:BECN): A lot of these companies including Beacon Roofing missed the quarter. They can bounce back but anything housing is just going down and tough to own.

Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S): No. T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) has more upside.

Opko Health (NYSEMKT:OPK): The company doesn't have any traction since they bought BioReference Lab. It's a reasonable company though.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX): They had accounting issues and that equals sell.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS: Check out Cramer's multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio and uncover the stocks he thinks could be HUGE winners. Start your FREE 14-day trial now!

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Forbes - Investing Information and Investing News - Forbes.com","description":"Forbes is a leading s

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;size-large wp-image-19443&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/laurengensler/files/2018/05/Forbes-RichestByState2018-HeroImage-v2-1200x810.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;810&q; data-width=&q;1200&q;&g; (Design by Nick DeSantis, FORBES staff)

For the fourth year in a row, &l;em&g;Forbes&l;/em&g; has scoured the country from sea to shining sea to find the richest person in&a;nbsp;every single state. The centimillionaires and billionaires we found have made (or inherited) fortunes in&a;nbsp;a sprawling range of industries -- from&a;nbsp;hotels to hedge funds to coal.

In all, &l;em&g;Forbes&l;/em&g; located 53 captains of industry (three states had ties) with fortunes that add up to $832 billion, up from $747 billion last year and $682 billion the year before. The average fortune for this year&s;s list stands at $16.6 billion, up from $14.4 billion in 2017.

&l;span&g;The&a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2018/05/21/how-the-richest-person-in-every-state-got-rich&q;&g;most popular way to make a fortune that is unrivaled by anyone else in your state&l;/a&g; is&l;span&g;&a;nbsp;to go into finance and investing,&a;nbsp;where a full 10 people on our list have made a name for themselves. Fashion and retail comes next, and with eight people on our list, followed by the food and beverage sector (five people) and the service industry (with another five people).&l;/span&g;&l;!--donotpaginate--&g;

The surging price of Amazon stock has made Jeff Bezos the richest person in his adopted home state of Washington for the first time (as well as the wealthiest person in the world); his fortune skyrocketed from $83 billion last year to a current $132 billion. Amazon&s;s stock roared 66% higher in the 12 months through mid-May as investors cheered the company&s;s reshaping of the&a;nbsp;retail world, plus its ability to grab market share in places like the cloud, and post a stretch of profits, to boot. Bezos now easily outranks Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, who qualified as&a;nbsp;Washington&s;s richest last year with a net worth of $88.9 billion.

&l;img class=&q;size-full wp-image-19502&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/laurengensler/files/2018/05/Map-RichestInEveryState2018-v2.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;904&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; (Design by Nick DeSantis, FORBES staff)

Digital trading pioneer Thomas Peterffy also had a blockbuster year&a;nbsp;and solidified&a;nbsp;his position as the richest person in Florida. His fortune basically doubled to $25.7 billion thanks to a dizzying 104% rise in shares of his company,&a;nbsp;Interactive Brokers. That makes him the largest gainer, in terms of sheer dollars as well as percentage growth, compared to last year&s;s list. He is now leaps and bounds ahead of fellow Florida resident and hedge fund manager David Tepper, who is the state&s;s second-richest with a fortune of $11 billion.

California&s;s wealthiest resident, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, managed to increase his fortune by $11.6 billion in the past year to a recent $74 billion. This is&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2018/05/12/mark-zuckerberg-net-worth-is-up-13-billion-since-midst-of-privacy-scandal/#7aaacd10758a&q;&g;despite an outcry over the way his social media empire&a;nbsp;handles user data and its alleged role in spreading&a;nbsp;&l;span&g;misinformation during the last presidential election&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;. Zuckerberg remains&a;nbsp;the third-richest person in the nation.

Investors were not so kind to Charles Ergen, who lost his place as the richest person in Colorado as&a;nbsp;shares of Dish Network were beaten down by almost 50% in the 12 months through mid-May. His net worth was knocked down to $10 billion,&a;nbsp;a far cry from the&a;nbsp;&l;span&g;$18.8 billion he clocked last year. Taking his place as the state&s;s richest is&a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;Philip Anschutz, with a net worth of $12.7 billion,&a;nbsp;which stems from a bevy&a;nbsp;of endeavors including&a;nbsp;&l;span&g;oil, railroads, real estate and entertainment.&l;/span&g;

In some states, there is&a;nbsp;little competition when it comes to&a;nbsp;wearing the crown of the state&s;s richest person. Take Warren Buffett in Nebraska. The legendary investor is the fourth-wealthiest person on the entire planet with a net worth of $85 billion. The next-richest person in his beloved home state is his longtime friend Walter Scott Jr., whose fortune also comes from Berkshire Hathaway (namely, its utilities subsidiary), but is decidedly smaller at $4.2 billion.

Six of the 50 U.S. states lack a billionaire altogether.&a;nbsp;For more on the richest&a;nbsp;person in those states, see &l;a href=&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2018/05/21/six-u-s-states-have-no-billionaires-see-whos-the-richest-person-in-each-in-2018&q;&g;here&l;/a&g;.

Here is the full list:

&l;span&g;&l;strong&g;Alabama&l;/strong&g;: &l;/span&g;&l;span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jimmy-rane/&q;&g;Jimmy Rane&l;/a&g;, l&l;/span&g;&l;span&g;umber,&a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;&l;span&g;$950 million&l;/span&g;

&l;strong&g;Alaska&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/leonard-hyde/&q;&g;Leonard Hyde&l;/a&g;, &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jonathan-rubini-1/&q;&g;Jonathan Rubini&l;/a&g; &a;amp; families, real estate, $310 million each

&l;strong&g;Arizona&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-shoen/&q;&g;Mark Shoen&l;/a&g;, U-Haul, $3 billion

&l;strong&g;Arkansas&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jim-walton/&q;&g;Jim Walton&l;/a&g;, Walmart, $40.3 billion

&l;strong&g;California&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/&q;&g;Mark Zuckerberg&l;/a&g;, Facebook, $74 billion

&l;strong&g;Colorado&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/philip-anschutz/&q;&g;Philip Anschutz&l;/a&g;, investments, $12.7 billion

&l;strong&g;Connecticut&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/ray-dalio/&q;&g;Ray Dalio&l;/a&g;, hedge funds, $17.4 billion

&l;strong&g;Delaware&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/robert-gore/&q;&g;Robert Gore&l;/a&g; and &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/elizabeth-snyder/&q;&g;Elizabeth Snyder&l;/a&g;, Gore-Tex, $750 million each

&l;strong&g;Florida&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-peterffy/&q;&g;Thomas Peterffy&l;/a&g;, discount brokerage, $25.7 billion

&l;strong&g;Georgia&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jim-kennedy/&q;&g;Jim Kennedy&l;/a&g;, media, $9 billion

&l;strong&g;Hawaii&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/pierre-omidyar/&q;&g;Pierre Omidyar&l;/a&g;, eBay, $10.6 billion

&l;strong&g;Idaho&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/frank-vandersloot/&q;&g;Frank VanderSloot&l;/a&g;, nutrition and wellness, $3.4 billion

&l;strong&g;Illinois&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/ken-griffin/&q;&g;Ken Griffin&l;/a&g;, hedge funds, $9 billion

&l;strong&g;Indiana&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/carl-cook/&q;&g;Carl Cook&l;/a&g;, medical devices, $8.2 billion

&l;strong&g;Iowa&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/harry-stine/&q;&g;Harry Stine&l;/a&g;, agriculture, $3.2 billion

&l;strong&g;Kansas&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/charles-koch/&q;&g;Charles Koch&l;/a&g;, Koch Industries, $51.5 billion

&l;strong&g;Kentucky&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/b-wayne-hughes/&q;&g;B. Wayne Hughes&l;/a&g;, self storage, $2.7 billion

&l;strong&g;Louisiana&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/gayle-benson/&q;&g;Gayle Benson&l;/a&g;, New Orleans Saints, $2.7 billion

&l;strong&g;Maine&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/susan-alfond/&q;&g;Susan Alfond&l;/a&g;, shoes, $1.6 billion

&l;strong&g;Maryland&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/ted-lerner/&q;&g;Ted Lerner &a;amp; family&l;/a&g;, real estate, $5.1 billion

&l;strong&g;Massachusetts&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/abigail-johnson/&q;&g;Abigail Johnson&l;/a&g;, money management, $16.9 billion

&l;strong&g;Michigan&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-gilbert/&q;&g;Daniel Gilbert&l;/a&g;, Quicken Loans, $6.3 billion

&l;strong&g;Minnesota&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/glen-taylor/&q;&g;Glen Taylor&l;/a&g;, printing, $2.8 billion

&l;strong&g;Mississippi&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/james-duff/&q;&g;James&l;/a&g; and &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-duff/&q;&g;Thomas Duff&l;/a&g;, diversified, $1.2 billion each

&l;strong&g;Missouri&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/pauline-macmillan-keinath/&q;&g;Pauline MacMillan Keinath&l;/a&g;, Cargill, $7.2 billion

&l;strong&g;Montana&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/dennis-washington/&q;&g;Dennis Washington&l;/a&g;, construction and mining, $5.9 billion

&l;strong&g;Nebraska&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/&q;&g;Warren Buffett&l;/a&g;, Berkshire Hathaway, $85 billion

&l;strong&g;Nevada&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/sheldon-adelson/&q;&g;Sheldon Adelson&l;/a&g;, casinos, $42.8 billion

&l;strong&g;New Hampshire&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/andrea-reimann-ciardelli/&q;&g;&l;span&g;Andrea Reimann-Ciardelli&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;, consumer goods, $1.1 billion

&l;strong&g;New Jersey&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-overdeck/&q;&g;John Overdeck&l;/a&g;, hedge funds, $5.5 billion

&l;strong&g;New Mexico&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/mack-c-chase/&q;&g;Mack C. Chase&l;/a&g;, oil, $700 million

&l;strong&g;New York&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-koch/&q;&g;David Koch&l;/a&g;, Koch Industries, $51.5 billion

&l;strong&g;North Carolina&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/james-goodnight/&q;&g;James Goodnight&l;/a&g;, software, $9.9 billion

&l;strong&g;North Dakota&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/gary-tharaldson/&q;&g;Gary Tharaldson&l;/a&g;, hotels, $900 million

&l;strong&g;Ohio&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/les-wexner/&q;&g;Les Wexner &a;amp; family&l;/a&g;, retail, $5.4 billion

&l;strong&g;Oklahoma&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/harold-hamm/&q;&g;Harold Hamm &a;amp; family&l;/a&g;, oil and gas, $19.5 billion

&l;strong&g;Oregon&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/phil-knight/&q;&g;Phil Knight &a;amp; family&l;/a&g;, Nike, $30.7 billion

&l;strong&g;Pennsylvania&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/victoria-mars/&q;&g;Victoria Mars&l;/a&g;, candy and pet food, $6 billion

&l;strong&g;Rhode Island&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jonathan-nelson/&q;&g;Jonathan Nelson&l;/a&g;, private equity, $1.8 billion

&l;strong&g;South Carolina&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/anita-zucker/&q;&g;Anita Zucker&l;/a&g;, chemicals, $2.5 billion

&l;strong&g;South Dakota&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/t-denny-sanford/&q;&g;T. Denny Sanford&l;/a&g;, banking and credit cards, $2.5 billion

&l;strong&g;Tennessee&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-frist-jr/&q;&g;Thomas Frist Jr &a;amp; family&l;/a&g;, hospitals, $9.7 billion

&l;strong&g;Texas&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/alice-walton/&q;&g;Alice Walton&l;/a&g;, Walmart, $40 billion

&l;strong&g;Utah&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/gail-miller/&q;&g;Gail Miller&l;/a&g;, Utah Jazz and car dealers, $1.4 billion

&l;strong&g;Vermont&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-abele/&q;&g;John Abele&l;/a&g;, healthcare, $630 million

&l;strong&g;Virginia&l;/strong&g;:&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jacqueline-mars/&q;&g;Jacqueline Mars&l;/a&g;, candy and pet food, $23.8 billion

&l;strong&g;Washington&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/&q;&g;Jeff Bezos&l;/a&g;, Amazon, $132 billion

&l;strong&g;West Virginia&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/jim-justice-ii/&q;&g;Jim Justice II&l;/a&g;, coal, $1.9 billion

&l;strong&g;Wisconsin&l;/strong&g;: &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-menard-jr/&q;&g;John Menard Jr&l;/a&g;, home improvement, $10.5 billion

&l;strong&g;Wyoming:&l;/strong&g; &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-mars/&q;&g;John Mars&l;/a&g;, candy and pet food, $23.8 billion

--

&l;strong&g;For more coverage on the richest people in every state, check out:&l;/strong&g;

&l;em&g;&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2018/05/21/how-the-richest-person-in-every-state-got-rich&q;&g;How The Richest Person In Every State Got Rich&l;/a&g;&l;/em&g;

&l;em&g;&l;a href=&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2018/05/21/six-u-s-states-have-no-billionaires-see-whos-the-richest-person-in-each-in-2018&q;&g;The Six U.S. States Without Billionaires: See Who&a;rsquo;s The Richest In Each In 2018&l;/a&g;&l;/em&g;

&l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/anismuslimin/2018/05/21/how-james-and-thomas-duff-became-billionaires-and-the-richest-people-in-mississippi/#5dac3d8f6b12&q;&g;&l;em&g;How Two Brothers Became Billionaires &a;mdash; And The Richest People In Mississippi&l;/em&g;&l;/a&g;

--

&l;strong&g;Methodology&l;/strong&g;

This is our fourth&a;nbsp;year compiling a list of the richest person in every state. Several of the members of this group also appear on the&a;nbsp;Forbes World&a;rsquo;s Billionaires List, which is published in March, and The&a;nbsp;Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, which comes out in October. For the richest in state package, we update the net worths of the billionaires we are constantly tracking to make sure we have the latest figures. We then spend a significant amount of time hunting for the richest centi-millionaires in the states with no billionaires. Our estimates represent a snapshot of wealth as of May&a;nbsp;11, 2018. The net worth of anyone in this group can change materially within&a;nbsp;days or weeks.

&l;strong&g;Editors&l;/strong&g;

Kerry A. Dolan, Lauren Gensler and Luisa Kroll

&l;strong&g;Reporters&l;/strong&g;

Angel Au-Yeung, Madeline Berg, Deniz Cam, Carter Coudriet, Lauren Gensler and Anis Muslimin. Additional reporting by Christopher Helman, Max Jedeur-Palmgren, Noah Kirsch, Joann Muller, Andrea Murphy, Samantha Sharf, Chloe Sorvino, Michela Tindera, Nathan Vardi and Jennifer Wang. Research by Susan Radlauer.

&a;nbsp;&l;/p&g;

Buy ICICI Bank; target of Rs 377: HDFC Securities

HDFC Securities' research report on ICICI Bank

A� ballooning of GNPAs in 4QFY18 (102bps QoQ) overshadowed some significant positives for ICICIBC. Domestic loan growth sustained (+15% YoY) while NIMs improved 10bps sequentially (3.24%). The watchlist nose-dived to ~Rs 47.2bn (vs� ~Rs� 190.6bn� in 3Q) and net stress reduced substantially (~6% vs 9.9% YoY).� Creditable CASA addition (Rs 431bn in FY18), steady growth in retail loans�� (21%� YoY),� fees� (+16%)� and� controlled� opex� (+9%)� were� also encouraging.

Outlook

We expect RoAAs� to pull back 36bps over FY18-20E as a result. Maintain BUY with a TP of Rs 377 (1.7x Mar-20 core ABV of Rs 150 and sub-value of Rs 122).

For all recommendations report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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