For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL - May 1, 2012 - Zacks Equity Research highlights:
Hibbett Sporting Goods
(
HIBB
) as the Bull of the Day and
CONSOL Energy, Inc.
(
CNX
) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research
provides analysis on
Humana
(
HUM
),
Aetna
(
AET
) and
Coventry Healthcare
(
CVH
).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678
.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day
:
Backed by double-digit sales growth along with operational
efficiencies,
Hibbett Sporting Goods'
(
HIBB
) earnings of $0.59 per share for fourth-quarter 2012 surged 34.1%
from the prior-year quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate
of $0.56. Bolstered by strong quarterly results, management expects
fiscal 2013 earnings to be in the range of $2.35 to $2.55, up
9.3%-18.6% from the fiscal 2012 level.
Management also remains committed of expanding its store network
by 55 to 60 new stores in fiscal 2013. Moreover, Hibbett's sharp
focus on mid-sized and smaller markets and strategic mix of branded
as well as localized merchandise provide an edge over its
rivals.
In addition, the company has a healthy balance sheet with no
debt. Currently, we maintain a long-term Outperform recommendation
on the stock.
Bear of the Day
:
CONSOL Energy, Inc.'s
(
CNX
) first quarter earnings per share were below our expectation as
low gas prices and the increase in the cost per ton of coal
production impacted the performance of the company. The weak demand
and declining prices per ton has prompted the company to idle two
coal mines.
CONSOL has decided to make more capital investment in the oil
prone areas and shy away from gas investment due to depressed gas
prices. However, dependence on a small group of consumers for bulk
sales, rising cost for producing coal along with stricter
legislations and rigid penalties on underground mining remain
concerns for underground miners like CONSOL Energy.
We are maintaining our Underperform rating on the stock. Our
target price of $30.00 is based on a 2012 P/E multiple of 14.8.
Latest Posts on the Zacks
Analyst Blog
:
Earnings Heavy, but Spotlight Shifts
Monday morning's positive Personal Income & Outlays report
is welcome, but the essence of this reading was already captured in
the consumer spending component of the first quarter GDP report
last Friday.
This monthly report showed that both Personal Income and spending
grew at better than expected rates in March. Consumer spending
increased at a 0.3% pace, compared to February's upwardly revised
0.9% growth pace (originally up 0.8%). The Personal Income
component of today's report showed a 0.4% increase, up from
February's upwardly revised 0.3% increase (originally at up 0.2%).
The March Personal income gain is particularly welcome given the
recent run of fairly modest income readings. With income outpacing
spending this month, the personal savings rate inched up to 3.8%
from February's 3.7% rate.
The most reassuring part of Friday's advance look at the first
quarter GDP was the consumer spending component, which increased at
a better-than-expected 2.9% rate, compared to the preceding
quarter's 2.1% pace. This morning's strong Personal Income &
Outlays reading not only reconfirms that report, but improves the
odds of further positive revisions in the GDP's subsequent
iterations.
The focus this week no doubt will be on the labor market, but we
are still in the midst of the first quarter 2012 reporting season.
We are past the mid-point of the reporting cycle with about 60% of
the results already in. But this week brings reports from another
124 S&P 500 companies, which means that by end of this week we
will seen first quarter results from roughly 84% of the companies
in the S&P 500.
The earnings miss Monday morning from
Humana
(
HUM
) notwithstanding, this has overall been a very good earnings
season. The roughly 60% of the companies that have already
reported, total earnings growth is tracking 9.4%, with roughly 71%
coming out with positive earnings surprises.
Most of the growth is coming through revenue gains, with aggregate
margins essentially flat from the year-earlier level. This is a far
cry from pre-season expectations, when aggregate earnings were
expected to be down modestly from the year-earlier period. The
Humana earnings miss does not appear that surprising when we
realize that fellow health insurers
Aetna
(
AET
) and
Coventry Healthcare
(
CVH
) also posted negative earnings surprises last week.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649
.
About the Bull and Bear of the Day
Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two
stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear)
the markets over the next 3-6 months.
About the Analyst Blog
Updated throughout every trading day, the
Analyst Blog
provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news
and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and
qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and
which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150
publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry
which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company
profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices
are six-month time horizons.
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AETNA INC-NEW (
AET
): Free Stock Analysis Report
CONSOL ENERGY (
CNX
): Free Stock Analysis Report
COVENTRY HLTHCR (
CVH
): Free Stock Analysis Report
HIBBET SPORTS (
HIBB
): Free Stock Analysis Report
HUMANA INC NEW (
HUM
): Free Stock Analysis Report
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