Why the Upgrade?
Cigna delivered positive earnings surprises in the last 4 quarters with an average beat of 13.8%.
Cigna is strongly poised to record earnings growth given a number of strategic investments undertaken. The long-term earnings growth for the company is presently pegged at 11.3%.
The company is focusing more on international expansion. Its global businesses have historically delivered double-digit revenue and earnings growth with very attractive margins and capital efficiency. Cigna is specifically eyeing the key Asian markets where the growing middle class demands better care.
Moreover, with the acquisition of HealthSpring, Cigna expanded in the Seniors and Medicare business. The acquisition of HealthSpring is likely to drive growth going forward and will be highly accretive on a cash basis.
Exiting its Run-off Reinsurance businesses is also a positive, as it was a significant liability on the Cigna.
Top Financial Companies To Own In Right Now: Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW)
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies to treat structural heart disease and critically ill patients worldwide. The company offers surgical heart valve therapy products, such as tissue heart valves and repair products, which are used to replace or repair a patient�s diseased or defective heart valve; and produces pericardial and porcine valves. Its surgical heart valve therapy products include Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT pericardial valve that comprise PERIMOUNT Magna Ease valves for aortic and mitral replacement; ThruPort systems that enable minimal incision valve surgery; and protection cannulae used during cardiac surgery in venous drainage, aortic perfusion, venting, and cardioplegia delivery. The company also provides transcatheter heart valves portfolio that includes technologies designed to treat heart valve disease using catheter-based approaches, as well as critical care products, such as hemodynamic monitoring systems to measure a p atient�s heart function in surgical and intensive care settings; Swan-Ganz line of pulmonary artery catheters and PreSep continuous venous oximetry catheters for measuring central venous oxygen saturation; VolumeView sensor-catheters; FloTrac continuous cardiac output monitoring system, a minimally invasive cardiac monitoring technology for goal-directed fluid optimization; and EV1000 clinical monitoring platform, which displays a patient's physiologic status. Its critical care products also include disposable pressure monitoring devices and closed blood sampling systems to help protect both patients and clinicians from the risk of infection; and products used to treat endolumenal occlusive disease, including balloon-tipped, catheter-based embolectomy products, surgical clips, and clamps. The company distributes its products through direct sales force and independent distributors. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Irvine, Californi a.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) �declined 5.7%. Medtronic Inc. (MDT) , which recently lost a court fight with Edwards Lifesciences over a patent for a heart valve, said it plans to appeal the jury verdict which awarded Edwards $392.5 million for patent infringement.
- [By Dan Carroll]
Earnings season hasn't been kind to medical-device makers so far. Leading firms in the industry produced mixed results last week, with cardiovascular products in particular crimping sales across the market, despite rising net income at numerous companies. Earnings struck again Wednesday, with net income falling at both orthopedics player Stryker (NYSE: SYK ) and heart-product maker Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW ) .
- [By Jayson Derrick]
Analysts at JPMorgan upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) to Neutral from Underweight with a price target raised to $78 from a previous $60. Shares lost 0.36 percent, closing at $80.71.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) shares tumbled 2.23 percent to $57.88 on Federal District Court ruling preventing the company from selling its CoreValve System in the US as a result of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) patent infringement verdict.
Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks For 2014: Genie Energy Ltd (GNE)
Genie Energy Ltd., incorporated on January 10, 2011, consists of IDT Energy and Genie Oil and Gas (GOGAS). IDT Energy is a retail energy provider supplying electricity and natural gas to residential and small business customers primarily in the Eastern United States.
GOGAS focuses on providing technologies to produce transportation fuels from the world's oil shales and other fuel resources. GOGAS resource development projects include a conventional oil and gas exploration program in Israel and in-situ oil shale projects in Colorado, Israel and Mongolia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ali Berri]
Utilities shares surged around 0.87 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included WGL Holdings (NYSE: WGL), up 6.3 percent, and Genie Energy (NYSE: GNE), up 2.4 percent.
Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks For 2014: Laclede Group Inc (LG)
The Laclede Group, Inc. (Laclede Group), incorporated on October 18, 2000, is a utility holding company. The Company operates in two segments: Regulated Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company (Laclede Gas or the Utility), Laclede Group's subsidiary and core business unit. Laclede Gas is a public utility engaged in the retail distribution and sale of natural gas. Laclede Gas is the natural gas distribution utility in Missouri, serving more than 1.13 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The Gas Marketing segment includes Laclede Energy Resources, Inc. (LER), a wholly owned subsidiary is engaged in the marketing of natural gas and related activities on a non-regulated basis. Effective September1, 2013, Laclede Group Inc through its newly formed subsidiary acquired Missouri Gas Energy, a provider of natural gas distribution services.
Gas Utility
The Utility focuses its gas supply portfolio around a number of natural gas suppliers with equity ownership or control of assets strategically situated to complement its regionally diverse firm transportation arrangements. During fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 (fiscal 2013), the Utility purchased natural gas from 35 different suppliers to meet current gas sales and storage injection requirements. Natural gas purchased by the Laclede Gas for delivery to its service area through the Enable Mississippi River Transmission LLC (MRT) system totaled 55.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Laclede Gase also holds firm transportation on several other interstate pipeline systems that provide access to gas supplies upstream of MRT. In addition to deliveries from MRT, 8.6 Bcf of gas was purchased on MO Gas, 13.4 Bcf on the Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star Central), 0.03 Bcf on the Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company system, and 0.1 BCF on the Postrock system. Some of the Utility�� commercial and industrial customers purchased their own! gas with the Utility transporting 17.0 Bcf to them through the Utility�� distribution system.
The Utility has a contractual right to store 23.1 Bcf of gas in MRT�� storage facility located in Unionville, Louisiana, 16.3 Bcf of gas storage in Southern Star Central system storage facilities located in Kansas and Oklahoma, and 1.4 Bcf of firm storage on Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company�� system storage. In addition, the Utility supplements flowing pipeline gas with natural gas withdrawn from its own underground storage field located in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties in Missouri.
Gas Marketing
LER is engaged in the marketing of natural gas and providing energy services to both on-system utility transportation customers and customers outside of the Utility�� traditional service area. During fiscal year 2013, LER utilized 12 interstate pipelines and 93 suppliers to market natural gas to its customers primarily in the Midwest. LER served more than 205 retail customers and 100 wholesale customers. Through its retail operations, LER offers natural gas marketing services to large industrial customers, while its wholesale business consists of buying and selling natural gas to other marketers, producers, utilities, power generators, pipelines, and municipalities. LER also serves power plants that use natural gas to generate electricity.
OTHER
Laclede Pipeline Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates a propane pipeline under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction. This pipeline connects the propane storage and vaporization facilities of the Utility to third-party propane supply terminal facilities located in Illinois, which allows the Utility to receive propane that is vaporized to supplement its natural gas supply and meet peak demands on its distribution system. Laclede Pipeline Company also provides transportation services to third parties. Other also includes Laclede Group�� subsidiaries that are engaged in,! among ot! her activities, oil production, real estate development, compression of natural gas, and financial investments in other enterprises. These operations are conducted through seven subsidiaries.
The Other category also includes the Utility�� non-regulated propane services business which involves providing propane-related services and storage to third parties and its affiliate, Laclede Pipeline Company. Beginning July 1, 2013, propane-related services are included within Gas Utility operations pursuant to the Utility's new rate case.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Earnings Releases Expected:�Nuance Communications, New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR), Laclede Group, Inc. (NYSE: LG)
Economic Releases Expected:�U.S. pending home sales, Italian trade balance, Swiss employment level
- [By IBTimes]
Getty Images Not all smartphones that receive high ratings from expert reviewers end up being popular, according to an analysis of ratings data from FindTheBest. The report analyzed the ratings that expert reviewers gave smartphone models and compared them to consumers' ratings of the same. It found that some phones that get very high ratings from expert reviewers don't get the same glowing reviews from users. For example, expert reviewers thought the Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II was a fantastic phone. It received a rating of 88 out of 100 on FindTheBest, a website that aggregates and analyzes ratings from tech review sites. However, smartphone users gave the phone a rating of 2.5 out of 5. The reverse held true in some cases. Although expert reviewers gave the LG Optimus Elite (LG) a low rating -- 48 out of 100 -- the same phone got an average rating of 4 out of 5 from users. Here's a scatterplot of a variety of smartphones, as rated by both expert ("smart") reviewers and users: (Click on the chart to view a larger version.)
- [By Ahmed A. Namatalla]
Egypt�� biggest publicly traded company agreed to pay about 7 billion Egyptian pounds ($1 billion) over five years to settle the tax dispute on the sale of its cement unit to Lafarge SA (LG) in 2007, Amsterdam-based parent OCI NV said yesterday. The payments will start in May and end in 2017. OCI NV shares had the biggest increase since the company�� Dutch public offering in January.
Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks For 2014: Sport Chalet Inc.(SPCHB)
Sport Chalet, Inc. operates specialty sporting goods stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Its stores offer traditional sporting goods merchandise, including footwear, apparel, and other general athletic products; and core specialty merchandise, such as snowboarding, skateboarding, mountaineering, and scuba. The company?s stores also offer various services for the sports enthusiast, including backpacking, canyoneering and kayaking instruction, custom golf club fitting, snowboard and ski rental and repair, scuba training and certification, scuba boat charters, team sales, racquet stringing, and bicycle tune-up and repair. As of July 3, 2011, it operated 54 store locations; and an online store at sportchalet.com. The company was founded in 1959 and is based in La Ca�da, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Sport Chalet (NASDAQ: SPCHB) is projected to post its quarterly earnings.
Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: IRET) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $67.73 million.
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