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Asset manager Eaton Vance Corp. said Thursday it is increasing its quarterly dividend by 6% to 28 cents a share. The new dividend will be paid Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 31, the company said in a statement. Shares were down 0.7% Thursday, but are up 15% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.5%.
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Oil futures settled higher Thursday, finding support from a weekly drop in U.S. crude production, despite the first supply climb in six weeks. The Energy Information Administration reported that weekly crude output from the lower 48 states fell 36,000 barrels to 7.969 million barrels a day–the lowest level since June 2014. The EIA also said that crude supplies rose 4.9 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 7. November West Texas Intermediate crude rose 26 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $50.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Office Depot Inc. said Thursday that its stores, including those under the OfficeMax brand, will close on Thanksgiving Day. Shoppers can visit the website starting at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday for Black Friday deals, the company said in a statement, and online purchases can be picked up in-store starting Friday, Nov. 25. Office Depot stores will open at 6 a.m. Office Depot shares are down 2.8% in Thursday trading, down 41.5% for the year so far. The S&P 500 Index is up 4.4% for 2016 to date.
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Gold futures settled higher Thursday, building on gains seen in electronic trading Wednesday following the Federal Reserve’s release of policy meeting minutes, as the dollar slipped. Gold for December delivery settled up $3.80, or 0.3%, at $1,257.60 an ounce, while the U.S. dollar retreated 0.4% against a basket of major currencies. A weaker dollar provides a boost to dollar-denominated commodities. Silver for December delivery , on the other hand, settled down 4.7 cents, or 0.3%, at just under $17.46 an ounce.
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Viacom Inc. on Thursday saw its class A voting shares and class B non-voting shares gain more than 1% after the stock was upgraded to buy from underperform by Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts led by Jessica Reif Cohen. Viacom was also upgraded to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo Securities. While Viacom continues to struggle on a fundamental level, the company’s low valuation, lack of permanent management and a potential re-combination with CBS Corp. are all reasons to believe it has quicker turnaround potential, according to Cohen. She said in a note to clients, however, a turnaround is not a given and her call may be too early. “Although there are no guarantees a deal can be reached between CBS and Viacom, given the National Amusements process now in place and Viacom’s current management vacuum, we believe the odds of bringing in a new management team to run Viacom are high under any scenario and its assets appear closer than ever to a strategy shift.” In Cohen’s view Viacom needs to re-program, re-brand and potentially even sell off some of its cable networks, as well as extend content into digital outlets and restore profitability and growth to a struggling film business in Paramount Pictures. “While such a strategy would take significant time and reinvestment to play out, we believe the narrative for Viacom appears poised to change significantly.” Viacom’s class B shares–held by general investors–have declined more than 13% in the year to date and more than 23% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 Index is up nearly 4% in the year and 6% in the last 12 months.
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Oil futures fell back below $50 a barrel Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 7. A 250,000-barrel climb was expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported a rise of 2.7 million barrels. The EIA had reported surprise supply declines in each of the previous five weeks. Gasoline supplies, meanwhile, fell by 1.9 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles dropped by 3.7 million barrels, according to the EIA. November crude lost 72 cents, or 1.4%, to $49.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $50.20 before the data.
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Natural-gas futures turned higher Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 79 billion cubic feet for the week ended Oct.7. That was below the average rise of 87 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.759 trillion cubic feet, up 56 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 192 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. November natural gas climbed 9.8 cents, or 3.1%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $3.308 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.168 before the data.
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The Energy Information Administration on Thursday forecast that consumers will see a 22% climb in their natural-gas heating bills this winter, compared to last winter. Residential prices for natural gas are expected to average $10.05 million British thermal units, which would be 11% higher than last winter and the highest since the winter of 2010-2011, the EIA said in its Winter Fuels Outlook report. Consumption of the fuel will likely be 10% higher than last winter. Households using heating oil , meanwhile, will likely spend 38% more on their heating bills than last winter, with retail prices at 42 cents a gallon, or 20% higher. Consumption of heating oil is seen up 15%.
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The World Health Organization said Thursday that efforts to fight the global tuberculosis epidemic were far behind schedule, which the WHO attributed to not enough action or investment in this area. About $1 billion more a year is needed in vaccine, diagnostic and drug development, the WHO said, and investments in low and middle-income countries for tuberculosis care and prevention are nearly $2 billion shy of the level they should be this year. To reach the WHO goal of significantly reducing tuberculosis deaths and cases by 2030, the organization said the rate of reduction in cases must accelerate rather than stagnate, as it did this year. More than half of new tuberculosis cases worldwide last year were reported by just six countries: India in particular, as well as Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa, according to the WHO. Drug resistant tuberculosis also remains “a public health crisis,” the organization said, with nearly half a million cases estimated in 2015. “To save more lives now, we must get newly recommended rapid tests, drugs and regimens to those who need them. Current actions and investments fall far short of what is needed,” said Dr. Mario Raviglione, WHO Global TB Program director. “The world is finally waking up to the threat of antimicrobial resistance — now is the time to accelerate the [multidrug-resistant TB] response.” Companies that are currently developing treatments include Johnson & Johnson , Sanofi , Novartis AG , GlaxoSmithKnline , Pfizer , AstraZeneca and more, according to BioMed Tracker.
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International Paper said Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Carol Roberts and William Hoel, senior vice president, container the Americas, will retire on March 31. The CFO position will be taken by Glenn Landau as soon as the company has filed its 2016 10-K in the first quarter of 2017. Shares fell 1% in early trading, but are up 22% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained nearly 5%.
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