Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 pay TV operator in the U.S., has been fending off advances from No. 4 operator John Malone's Charter Communications for months.
But now TWC has made a better match with No. 1.
ANY LEGAL ROADBLOCKS? Probably not, antitrust experts say
In a deal that would combine the two largest pay-TV operators, Comcast plans to announce Thursday that it will pay $159 per share of Time Warner Cable stock in an all-stock deal valued at about $45 billion. That trumps Charter's earlier offer of about $132.50 per share and is closer to TWC's asking price of $160.
MEDIA DEAL: Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion
The deal makes sense for shareholders because Comcast's price would also be a premium over the company's current market value by about 18%, based on TWC's Wednesday closing price of $135.31.
Hot Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Own For 2015: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)
Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Barclays’ Andy Kaplowitz and team are feeling optimistic about Caterpillar’s (CAT) chances heading into its second-quarter earnings on July 24 despite heightened optimism:
Bloomberg2Q14 Machinery results are likely to reflect what we view as a still mixed but improving macroeconomic environment that we think could support pockets of strength in Machinery end markets. In particular, we think both North American truck and North American energy markets continue to improve while global construction markets look supportive of continued solid/better-than-expected results (mostly from improved margin) in Caterpillar’s Construction segment. Solid truck, energy and construction markets seem supportive of earnings for Caterpillar as well as truck suppliers Cummins (CMI) and Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN)…
Expectations for an EPS beat have risen, but Caterpillar seems well positioned into 2Q earnings, with solid oil and gas markets and gradually improving construction machinery demand supporting results. Despite 2014 consensus EPS slightly above Caterpillar’s guidance range, we expect�Caterpillar to raise its outlook based on a stronger oil and gas market than expected, some improvement in global construction equipment markets, and significant margin leverage as markets begin to recover, although we do expect mining to remain a modest headwind on results.
Shares of Caterpillar have fallen 0.8% to $110.24 at 2:36 p.m. today, while Cummins has dropped 0.7% to $156.60 and Allison Transmission Holdings has declined 0.8% top $31.40.
- [By Matt Thalman]
Year-to-date, shares of the aluminum giant Alcoa (NYSE: AA ) are down 8.06% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) has risen 12.94%. Alcoa is currently the worst-performing Dow component and one of two stocks to have fallen into negative territory for the year. The other is Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) , the construction and mining equipment company.
- [By Alex Planes]
Founded in 1925, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, and ranked among the top 50 Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. for 2012. Caterpillar is also a component of both the Dow. Headquartered in Peoria, Ill., Caterpillar traces its roots from the merger of the Holt Manufacturing Company and the C.L. Best Tractor Company. The company has grown through a number of acquisitions over the past decade, including Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi in 2008, Caterpillar Xuzhou and MWM Holding in 2010 and Bucyrus International in 2011. Caterpillar heavy machinery is as common at construction and excavation sites as Boeing's jets are at airports, which makes this a classic battle of land versus air.
Hot Valued Companies To Watch In Right Now: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)
Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
Not surprisingly, the industry's annual capital spending has more than tripled over the past decade, coming in at $550 billion in 2011, according to oil-field services firm Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) . Yet despite shelling out all that money, the industry as a whole has been unable to secure enough new reserves to offset production.
- [By David Smith]
A mixed quarter
These shortfalls did not occur in a quarter in which the services group has languished and generally disappointed at earnings time. Indeed, the figurative chieftain of the group, Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) , reported precisely a week earlier that it not only had topped the forecasts of the Wall Street seers, but in fact had also outdone the prior year's results. Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI ) didn't accomplish the latter feat, but it topped the analysts' prognostications and even managed to radiate an air of optimism about the North American onshore picture, recently the bane of the group's existence. - [By Ben Levisohn]
Schlumberger�(SLB) has become the latest company to say that it will get hit by Russian sanctions on U.S. companies today.
Sterne Agee’s Stephen Gengaro and Ivan Suleiman assess the potential impact:
Schlumberger�expects that the economic sanctions in Russia will have a small financial impact on Schlumberger’s Russian operations. The company estimates that it could be up to $0.03 per share due to a short-term impact in operational efficiencies and costs in Russia.
Schlumberger�remains confident that it can support its Russian clients without material disruption and will continue to work closely with its Russian customers.
Although other large-cap service companies have exposure to Russia, we believe the effect is also minimal. Specifically, Weatherford (WFT) has noted that the Russian sanctions are not a concern as this is a very small portion of its business. In addition, this business is not impacted by the sanctions which are against Arctic and shale-related technologies. We estimate that Weatherford’s revenue in Russia is less than 3% of our estimated 2014 revenue.
Other companies with large exposure to Russia include Nabors Industries (NBR), Halliburton (HAL) and Baker Hughes (BHI).
RBC’s Kurt Hallead and Robert Pinkard use the occasion to assess the potential impact on�Schlumberger from Iraq instability:
We estimate roughly $600mn in annual Iraq revenue ($0.06-$0.08 in EPS) for�Schlumberger with operating margins of ~20%. The situation due to political unrest is still very fluid in the country and EPS impact at this point is unknown.
We are risk adjusting the next 6 quarters which we believe could be characterized by activity disruptions, higher security expenses and unabsorbed fixed costs.
Hallead and Pinkard lowered their 2014 earnings-per share forecast to $5.56 from $5.64, and cut their 2015 prediction to $6.63 from $6.70. They did, however, leave their pric
Hot Valued Companies To Watch In Right Now: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)
Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Teresa Rivas]
We think KMB will be perceived as the safest of the multinationals. Its sales outside the US are about 55% of total; this compares to 65%-70% for Procter & Gamble (PG) and Coty (COTY) and 80%-90% for Colgate (CL), Avon and Tupperware (TUP). In general, its risk to the most volatile currencies is below average (its exposure to Eastern Europe is less than 2% of sales), though it is still translating results in Venezuela (about 3% of sales and profit) at the official rate of 6.3 VEF/$ (the parallel rate just hit 175 VEF/$) and Argentina (also 3% of sales) may devalue again. The cost of important raw materials has started to weaken; as they follow oil�� decline they could boost gross margins in 2H15. Of note, polypropylene and natural gas are off 17% 4Q-to-date; pulp prices, while not declining much, seem manageable.
- [By John Kell]
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesday’s session are Dow Chemical Co.(DOW), Tupperware Brands Corp.(TUP) and Yahoo Inc.(YHOO)
Hot Valued Companies To Watch In Right Now: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)
Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lawrence Meyers]
The finance sector, as mentioned, can make money in many ways. The second-highest growth sector is expected to be consumer discretionary, with a 6.2% increase. When you look at earnings from luxury brands like Tiffany & Co. (TIF), and that the hotel sector continues to do very well, it suggests that those people who are in good financial shape are spending their money. Meanwhile, dollar players like Dollar Tree (DLTR) continue to perform very well, suggesting that folks with less money are spending it on cheaper items.
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