For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 1, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Caterpillar (CAT) as the Bull of the Day and Astec Industries (ASTE) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Bank of America Corporation (BAC), American International Group (AIG) and Citigroup (C).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Caterpillar (CAT) is a market leader in construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. With its strong brand name, pricing power, and global dealer network, we believe Caterpillar is well positioned to take advantage of the growing need for infrastructure development globally.
Though the company expects 2009 sales to decline more than 35% year-over-year, it anticipates an improvement in its top-line in 2010. The company forecasts a 10% to 25% increase in sales for 2010, compared to the midpoint of the 2009 outlook range.
Asserting its optimistic outlook, the company recently announced plans to increase its machinery prices by 2% effective January 2010. We have upgraded the stock to Outperform.
Astec Industries (ASTE) reported third-quarter EPS of $0.15, which is well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.32. Except for the Mobile Asphalt Paving group that is benefiting from the stimulus packages, sales were down in all other Astec segments.
Uncertainty surrounding the Highway Bill renewal is currently a major concern for the company. With no progress on the reauthorization of the bill, Astec’s customers are staying away from investing in capital equipment.
Given continued weakness in most of its end-markets and uncertainty surrounding the Highway Bill, we do not expect to see a major improvement in Astec’s numbers until 2011. We are downgrading the stock from Neutral to Underperform.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
BofA Slashes Top Executive Pay
Bank of America Corporation (BAC) said on Friday that it has altered the compensation of its two top executives as a result of the pay czar’s review. The two executives, Chief Financial Officer Joe Price and mortgage head Barbara Desoer would receive $500,000 as salary for 2009, while they had earned $800,000 each as salary in 2008.
Mr. Price will also receive stock-unit awards valued at $5.25 million and Ms. Desoer will receive $3.95 million worth of stock-unit awards. During 2008, the executives received stock and option awards that increased the total 2008 compensation for Mr. Price to $4.02 million, and Ms. Desoer’s compensation to $7.42 million.
The pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, decides compensation packages for the highest-paid executives at the seven firms, including BofA, that have received substantial support from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The pay restrictions were imposed on these firms to enable them to repay government money. BofA received $45 billion under TARP and hasn’t said when it will repay.
The six other firms, whose top 25 executives received an average 50% lower pay last month by the order of the pay czar, include American International Group (AIG) and Citigroup (C). The move has become very sensitive for BofA, which is searching for a new CEO to replace Ken Lewis.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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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.
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