Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Twitter Inc. soared 7.7% in active afternoon trade Tuesday, putting them on track to close at a 2 1/2-year high, to extend gains made after the company reported blowout results last week. Volume topped 46.6 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 33.2 million shares, according to FactSet. The social media company did not release any news Tuesday, or issue any filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The stock has now rocketed 24% since Twitter reported before the Feb. 8 open fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. It was on track for the highest close since July 28, 2015. It has more than doubled over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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Two industry groups for small lenders on Tuesday wrote to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director asking that the agency help smaller lenders engaged in what it calls “plain-vanilla” mortgage lending to avoid “excessive regulation.” The Community Mortgage Lenders of America and Community Home Lenders Association asked CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney to commit to “tiered” regulation, in which regulatory burdens increase or decrease with the organization’s complexity and size. “Small lenders cannot absorb or amortize high fixed costs the way large banks are able to do,” said CMLA Acting Director Rob Zimmer. “In addition, many of these lenders have higher costs of funding due to their business models-they don’t get cheap deposit insurance money, cheap Fed window money, and they never took TARP funds.” The groups say they’re concerned that if small lenders don’t get relief, they may be forced to shut down, which would concentrate lending risk in increasingly large and complex entities.

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Oil prices turned finished lower Tuesday in up-and-down trade, as investors digested a report from the International Energy Agency forecasting strong global crude demand amid rising production from non-OPEC countries. March West Texas Intermediate crude oil finished off 10 cents, or 0.2%, at $59.19 a barrel. The IEA said an inundation of the market from outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, mostly driven by shale-oil producers in the U.S., might resemble a period back in 2014, when ballooning production capsized crude prices. The report also was upbeat on demand. Looking ahead, investors are awaiting the weekly U.S. petroleum supply and production report from the American Petroleum Institute later Tuesday and a similar report from the EIA due Wednesday.

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Guaranty Bancorp said Tuesday it was raising its quarterly dividend by 30% to 16.25 cents a share from 12.5 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable March 2 to shareholders of record on Feb. 23. The stock rose 0.4% in afternoon trade, after being down as much as 0.9% earlier in the session. At current share prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 2.33%, compared with the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF’s yield of 1.36% and the S&P 500’s implied yield of 1.91%, according to FactSet. Guaranty Bancorp’s stock has tacked on 1.5% over the past three months, whle the regional banking ETF has surged 10.0% and the S&P 500 has gained 5.1%.

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Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook said Tuesday at the company’s annual shareholder meeting that a special dividend is unlikely as Apple looks to spend $285 billion stashed overseas, according to a report. “Special dividends, I’m not really a fan of,” Cook said in response to a question, Reuters reported Tuesday. “But in terms of annual increases in the dividend, it is something that this board and management are committed to doing.” Apple stock is up less than 1% to $163.89 in afternoon trading. Cook said executives would update shareholders on the company’s capital return program on its April earnings call. Apple stock has gained 23% in the past 12 months, as the S&P 500 index rose 14%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , of which Apple is a component, has gained 21% in the past year.

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Starz, owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. , said on Tuesday that it agreed to a new multi-year carriage deal with Altice USA Inc. . Lions Gate shares were up more than 5% during intraday trade on Tuesday. The deal gives Altice’s Optimum and Suddenlink cable systems access to Starz and Starz Encore full suite of linear channels, as well as on-demand and online services. Lions Gate shares have declined more than 5% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 21%. Altice USA shares began trading in June and are down more than 9% in the last three months.

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Xerox Corp. said Tuesday the allegations made in the lawsuit filed by shareholder Darwin Deason were “without merit,” and said it will “vigorously defend itself.” Deason said earlier that he was suing Xerox and its board member, and Fujifilm, in an effort to block the deal in which Fujifilm acquires a controlling stake in Xerox, alleging an “improper and fraudulently” concealed lockup agreement that Xerox entered into with Fujifilm 17 years ago that was never disclosed to shareholders. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Deason is seeking to interfere with Xerox shareholders’ right to decide and is relying on meritless legal claims,” Xerox stated in its response Tuesday. “Xerox has fully disclosed the joint venture agreements, and the company will respond to Mr. Deason’s legal claims through the appropriate legal channels in due course.” Xerox’s stock was down 1.7% in midday trade. It has gained 1.4% the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has climbed 13.8%.

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T. Rowe Price Group Inc. said Tuesday it will raise its quarterly dividend by 23% to 70 cents a share from 57 cents a share. The investment management company’s stock swung to a gain of 0.1% in midday trade, after being down as much as 1.6% earlier in the session. The new dividend will be payable March 29 to shareholders of record on March 15. At current share prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 2.67%, above the implied S&P 500 dividend yield of 1.92%, according to FactSet. T. Rowe Price’s stock has lost 5.9% so far this month, but has rallied 12.4% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has shed 6.2% in February but has gained 2.4% the past three months.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 94 points in midday trade Tuesday, but has so far traded in the narrowest intraday range in three weeks, or since before the recent selloff began. The Dow’s intraday range is just 148.15 points, the narrowest since the 102.19-point intraday range on Jan. 23, which was three days before the Dow’s Jan. 26 record close of 26,616.71. On a percentage basis, the intraday swing has been 0.61%, also the smallest range since Jan. 23’s 0.39%. Despite the Dow’s narrow range, the CBOE Volatility Index is up 2.2%. So far on Tuesday, the Dow was down 32.09 points at its intraday high of 24,569.18 and down 180.24 points at its intraday low of 24,421.03. Des

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Shares of Xerox Corp. slumped 2.4% in morning trade Tuesday, after Darwin Deason, who he says is the document management company’s third-largest shareholder, sued Xerox and its current board members, Xerox’s former Chief Executive Ursula Burns and Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp. in an effort to block the deal in which Fujifilm acquires a controlling stake in Xerox. Deason alleges in his complaint that The Xerox-Fujifilm deal, which was announced on Jan. 31, is a result of an “improper and fraudulently concealed ‘crown jewel’ lock-up agreement that Xerox entered into with Fuji 17 years ago, that was never disclosed to Xerox’s shareholders before the signing of the Xerox/Fuji transaction.” Deason said his objective is to enjoin the transaction, terminate the Xerox/Fuji lock-up agreements and seek “strategic alternatives” for Xerox. The stock has now shed 14.3% so far this month, while the S&P 500 has lost 6.3% and Fujifilm’s Japan-listed shares have gained 3.0%.

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