Tag: stock market

Chesapeake Energy Corp. shares surged 8% in premarket trade Friday, after the company said it is suspending its quarterly preferred stock dividends in an effort to save cash. The company said it expects to save about $170 million a year from the move. It will use those funds to buy its own debt at significant discounts. “Given the current commodity price environment for oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, we believe that redirecting this cash toward debt retirement provides better returns for the company,” the company said in a statement. “We currently have senior debt securities trading at significant discounts, and we will continue to take advantage of that within the coming year.” Shares have fallen 82% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 is down just 9%.

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Moody’s Investors Service has placed the ratings of 120 oil and gas companies around the world on review for a possible downgrade as the oil price remains at multi-year lows. The rating agency said it expects the mix of the low price, oversupply and weak demand to “significantly stress the credit profiles” of companies in the sector. Moody’s also lowered its oil price estimate for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude to $33 a barrel in 2016, followed by $38 a barrel in 2017 and $43 a barrel in 2018. It lowered its stress-case scenario oil price estimate to $25 a barrel for both WTI and Brent. The big name oil companies on review for downgrade include Schlumberger , Transcoean , Pemex and Gazprom.

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Jamba Inc. , the company behind the Jamba Juice chain of fruit juice and smoothie shops, named David Pace chief executive officer, succeeding James White. Pace will start with the company on Mar. 14. He joins from Bloomin’ Brands Inc. whose casual dining restaurant chains include Carrabba’s Italian Grill, where Pace was president from 2014, Outback and Bonefish Grill. Jamba also announced that Richard Federico, a member of the board since 2006, will assume the role of chairman and independent director of the board, effective immediately. Jamba shares are down 22.1% for the past 12 months while the Nasdaq is down 5.9% for the same period.

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Sotheby’s said Friday it will suspend its quarterly dividend, effective immediately, and has decided to repatriate foreign earnings, to help fund a $200 million increase to its stock repurchase program. The auction house disclosed in a regulatory filing that it expects a fourth-quarter loss of $10 million to $19 million, or 15 cents to 29 cents a share, compared with a profit of $74 million, or $1.06 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as a non-cash charge of $63 million to $68 million for taxes associated with foreign earnings, adjusted EPS is expected to be $1.11 to $1.17, above the FactSet consensus of 84 cents. The company said it had previously expected to reinvest the foreign earnings of about $381 million outside the U.S. to avoid U.S. income taxes, but said the increase in share repurchases and the need for cash in the U.S. made it necessary to repatriate the funds. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has plunged 33% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has lost 8.9%.

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Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. said it is increasing its dividend by 26.3% to 24 cents per share beginning with the first quarter of 2016. The dividend is payable on Feb. 26, 2016 to the shareholders of record as of Feb. 12, 2016. This is the third consecutive annual cash dividend increase, according to Perry Sook, chief executive of the company. Nexstar shares are down 7.8% for the past 12 months while the Nasdaq is down 5.9% for the same period.

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U.S. stock futures shot higher early Friday, as crude oil prices continued to climb. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 157 points, or 1%, to 15,944, while S&P 500 futures jumped 20.25 points, or 1%, to 1,881. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 51.25 points, or 1.2%, to 4,181.25. Stocks finished higher on Thursday, aided by a rebound for oil prices. Gains came as U.S. crude oil climbed $1.31, or 4.4%, to $30.83 a barrel, while Brent crude jumped $1.48, or 5%, to $30.73 a barrel.

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North Korea says it has detained a U.S. college student, claiming the person committed a “hostile act against the state,” according to media reports Friday. State-run KCNA news agency said the detainee, who has not been named, is a university student from Virginia, and U.S. embassy official in South Korea’s capitol of South said they were aware of the incident.

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Valero Energy Corp. said late Thursday its board approved a 20% hike to the oil company’s quarterly dividend. The board raised the dividend to 60 cents a share from 50 cents a share. The new dividend is payable March 3 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 9. Valero shares rose 0.9% to $63.99 after hours.

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Shares of Boeing Co. fell in Thursday’s extended session after the aircraft maker said it would cut back production on 747s to 0.5 plane per month by September from one currently. “Global air passenger traffic growth and airplane demand remain strong, but the air cargo market recovery that began in late 2013 has stalled in recent months and slowed demand for the 747-8 Freighter,” said Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. As a result, the company will report a $569 million after-tax charge in the fourth quarter. Boeing shares were off 1.5% in after-hours trading.

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Intuitive Surgical Inc. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the surgical robot maker topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter and announced Food and Drug Administration clearance for a new product. Intuitive Surgical shares advanced 2.1% to $567. The company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $5.89 a share on revenue of $676.5 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $5.04 a share on revenue of $654.7 million. Intuitive Surgical said it received FDA clearance to combine its da Vinci Xi surgical robot with Trumpf Medical’s TruSystem 7000dV operating table to improve adjustments and positioning of the robot during surgery.

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