For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – April 13, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Vodafone Plc (VOD) as the Bull of the Day and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Cephalon, Inc. (CEPH), Teva (TEVA) and Mylan (MYL).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
We upgrade our recommendation for Vodafone Plc (VOD) to Outperform based on the carrier’s solid operating results in the last quarter and management’s upbeat guidance.
Revenue growth was fueled by healthy contributions from the Asia-Pacific and Middle East operations. Additionally, subscriber growth was driven by continued healthy net additions in the company’s Indian operation. Vodafone continues to accelerate 3G wireless service deployments and expanding network availability across Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.
Moreover, the company is focused on improving shareholder returns through attractive dividend payouts, supported by healthy free cash flow. Management’s outlook for fiscal 2010 appears more favorable as operating results are expected to improve with continued growth across the incipient markets coupled with the ongoing cost-saving initiatives.
We are downgrading Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) to Underperform from Neutral. While the partnership’s growth prospects are closely linked to a successful completion of organic growth projects, we believe it may face challenges.
These challenges include executing more growth-bearing projects following the completion of three large natural gas pipeline projects — REX, MEP and Louisiana. We are also concerned about the partnership’s increased dependence on its CO2 business, which is more closely related to the economics of oil than its other fee-based businesses.
Our $58 price objective reflects an annualized distribution run rate of $4.40 per unit (4.8% above current levels) and a target yield of 7.59%. Our yield assumption is based on a 334 bps spread over our 10-year Treasury bond yield expectation of 4.25%.
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Cephalon Buys Generic Drug Co.
Cephalon, Inc. (CEPH) recently announced the completion of its acquisition of Mepha AG, a privately-held Swiss generic drug company, for CHF 662.4 million (approximately $615.4 million). This acquisition marks Cephalon’s entry in the generics market.
This deal is in-line with Cephalon’s goal to reduce its dependence on its central nervous system (CNS) franchise for long-term growth. The company’s CNS franchise, which consists of Nuvigil, Provigil and Gabitril, is its primary growth driver. However, Provigil is slated to face generic competition from 2012 and Nuvigil is facing patent challenges from generic players like Teva (TEVA) and Mylan (MYL).
As such, Cephalon is looking to supplement long-term growth by acquiring/in-licensing products. The Mepha acquisition will not only allow Cephalon to enter the generic drug market, it will also allow the company to expand its footprints in ex-US territories including emerging markets which represent significant opportunity for growth. Cephalon expects to double the size of its international business.
Going forward, Cephalon will serve all three types of pharmaceutical markets — proprietary branded, generic and branded generic. Mepha specializes in innovative dosage formulations and markets both generic and branded generic products. Mepha sells more than 120 products in 50 countries and recognized sales of about CHF 400 million in 2009. Moreover, Mepha’s pipeline consists of about 50 chemical entities which could hit the market over the next five years.
For 2010, the company expects adjusted net income in the range of $518 – $533 million on total revenues of $2.610 – $2.690 billion.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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