Category: Stock Market News

Weight Watchers International Inc. shares rallied Wednesday after the weight-loss company said its program garnered top rankings in a survey conducted by U.S. News & World Reports. Shares of Weight Watchers jumped 19% to $13.21. Overall, Weight Watchers was tied for fourth place with the Mayo Clinic diet and the National Institutes of Health’s TLC diet in the U.S. News & World Reports ranking. Weight Watchers noted that it took first place in the categories of “Best Diet for Fast Weight Loss”, “Best Diet for Weight Loss”, “Best Commercial Diet”, and “Easiest Diet to Follow”.

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Apple Inc. was initiated at buy with a $140 price target at Guggenheim Securities Wednesday. Though Apple’s iPhone growth is slowing, the analysts said the company’s rapid pace of innovation at a lowered valuation gives investors “optionality for free.” The analysts forecast tough quarters for Apple from December through June, due to flat iPhone sales, but see an uptick with the expected release in September of the iPhone 8. They add that Apple may need a new product, such as a smart car, for incremental growth, or it could consider a subscription bundle with its products such as an iPhone and services such as iTunes. The analysts forecast that Apple’s 2017 fiscal year revenue will grow 3% year-over-year to reach $222 billion and earnings per share will see the same percentage growth, reaching $8.58. Shares of Apple have gained 2.6% in the past three months, underperforming the S&P 500 , which gained 5.4%. Shares of Apple were up less than 1% Wednesday.

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President-elect Donald J. Trump named Jay Clayton as his nominee for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. Clayton, currently a partner with law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, specializes in advising on mergers and acquisitions transactions, capital markets offerings, and regulatory and enforcement proceedings. He has not previously served at the SEC.

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Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. rose 1.1% in early trade Wednesday, after the retailer said it has entered a new credit facility with funds run by Chief Executive Eddie Lampert, its second such agreement in a week. Entities affiliated with Lampert’s ESL Investments are offering the $500 million committed secured facility which matures in July 2020. The facility is secured by mortgages on 46 real properties owned by the company’s subsidiaries and comes with an interest rate of 8% a year. “The loan facility is intended to provide the company with additional liquidity to fund its operations while it initiates a process to market and sell a portfolio of its real estate assets, the proceeds of which would primarily be used to repay outstanding indebtedness,” Sears said in a statement. Last week, the company said it had secured a standby letter of credit facility for up to $200 million with funds owned by ESL Investments, that can be further expanded to up to $500 million if the lenders approve. Sears shares have fallen 50% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 12.5%.

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General Motors shares rose 3% Wednesday after the company reported its best U.S. December retail sales performance since 2007, with total U.S. sales up 10% from the previous year. GM said it sold 249,983 vehicles to individual or retail customers in the U.S. Sales were led by gains at Chevrolet, which saw retail sales grow 8% for the month. The company estimates that GM gained more U.S. retail market share, gaining 0.3 points to make up 17.6%. For 2016, GM’s U.S. retail shares were up close to 2%. In the Chevrolet brand, the Volt, Malibu, Impala, Equinox, Traverse and Colorado set new sales records for the month and several for the year. The Malibu had its best calendar year sales since 1980. Shares of GM have gained 9% in the past 12 months, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 12.6%.

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Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. surged 4.8% in early trade Wednesday, as the stock started trading as a separate entity to the company’s time-share business for the first time. That business, now named Hilton Grand Vacations Inc., is trading under the symbol “HGV”, but was halted after rising nearly 10% in the first minutes of trading. The stock resumed trading up 3.6%. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey initiated coverage of Hilton Grand Vacations with a buy rating and reiterated a buy rating on Hilton Worldwide. That stock is up 9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

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U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as banking stocks led the Dow Jones Industrial Average closer to the 20,000 milestone. The Dow gained 25 points, or 0.1%, to 19,906. The S&P 500 climbed four points, or 0.2%, to 2,262. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 13 points, or 0.3%, to 5,447. Morgan Stanley , Bank of America Corp. saw strong gains, as did Amazon.com Inc. . Investors are awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting, at which it decided to raise interest rates for the second time in a decade. Traders will be watching for clues about the central bank’s policy outlook.

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AT&T Inc. on Wednesday officially laid plans to explore 5G connectivity in 2017 and provide faster internet access speed to consumers in the future. AT&T’s 5G Evolution plan encompasses fixed and mobile solutions and initial lab trials have achieved speeds up to 14 gigabits-per-second over wireless connection, according to a news release. The company said lab tests have seen less than three milliseconds of latency, which impacts things like the time between pressing play and seeing a video start. “Data on our mobile network has increased about 250,000% since 2007, and the majority of that traffic is video. 5G’s promise of greater speed and overall network performance brings huge opportunities not only for video but in the Internet of Things, 4K video, augmented and virtual reality, smart home and cities, autonomous vehicles and much more,” said Chief Strategy Officer John Donovan in a statement. AT&T also said it’s marketing 1 gigabit connections on its fiber network starting today to four million locations across 46 metros nationwide. Shares of AT&T are up more than 25% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 Index is up 12%.

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Coach Inc. said Wednesday it has appointed Kevin Wills as chief financial officer, replacing Jane Nielsen, who left the luxury accessories maker last August. Wills comes to the company from advisory firm AlixPartners LLP, where he has been CFO since March 2014. Before that, Wills did stints at Saks Inc. , the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as energy producer Tennessee Valley Authority. Coach shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but have gained 5.6% in the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 12.2%.

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Mueller Industries Inc. said on Wednesday its board authorized a $3 special cash dividend on its common stock along with $5 in principal amount of the company’s 6% notes due 2027 for each share owned. The subordinated bonds will be callable, in whole or in part, at any time at the option of Mueller Industries, subject to declining call premiums during the first five years, according to a news release. Shares of Mueller Industries are up nearly 56% in the past 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up 12%.

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