For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 26, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) as the Bull of the Day and Cincinnati Financial (CINF) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Telefonica (TEF), Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Vodafone (VOD).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
In response to global economic conditions, BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) has undertaken various actions such as withdrawing from its pursuit of Rio Tinto, adjusting production levels in line with the demand and suspending cash negative operations.
BHP’s long-term strategy of investing in value-added projects and the ongoing industrialization in China will improve the demand and the price of its products. With its diversified portfolio of low cost and high quality assets, and a strong balance sheet, BHP Billiton is well positioned to benefit from a market recovery.
Moreover, a progressive dividend policy and joint venture with Rio Tinto raises shareholder value, which inspires us to reiterate our Outperform rating.
Cincinnati Financial’s (CINF) first quarter earnings disappointed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, primarily due to lower-than-expected earned premium. Its Commercial Lines segment prime premium contributor has been suffering from soft market conditions, exerting downward pressure on pricing and restricting growth.
Not much improvement is expected here in 2010. However, its Personal Lines segment is expected to clock modest positive growth. Then again, we remain cautious on the investment portfolio with an above-average equity concentration.
Our six-month target price of $24.00 equates to about 14.8X our earnings estimate for 2010. We view $1.58 per common share annual dividend as secure, implying a negative return of about 6.9%.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
German 4G Auction Misses Forecast
Germany’s recently concluded 4G mobile broadband spectrum (radio airwave) auction has fetched lower-than-expected revenues for the government. The multi-round auction which was initially expected to generate between €6 billion and €8 billion (US$7.5 billion and US$9.9 billion) eventually raked in €4.38 billion (US$5.5 billion).
The results appear lackluster compared with the staggering €51 billion (US$63 billion) in revenues generated from the sale of 3G spectrum licenses ten year ago.
The auction, which was the first of its kind in Europe, officially kicked off in Mainz, Germany, on April 12, 2010. The minimum bid price was set at €1.5 million (US$1.9 million) per 5 megahertz (MHz) frequency block compared to €25.57 million (US$32 million) set in the 3G auction.
The German telecom regulator Bundesnetzagentur has auctioned the 4G radio spectrum in 41 frequency blocks across the 800 MHz, 1.8 gigahertz (GHz), 2.0 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands. The regulator has released the list of winners, with three European telecom behemoths Telefonica (TEF), Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Vodafone (VOD) bagging two 10MHz blocks of spectrum in the most expensive and valuable 800 MHz frequency band.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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