Somewhat Positive Media Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect Prudential Financial (PRU) Stock Price

Media headlines about Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research firm rates the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Prudential Financial earned a news impact score of 0.20 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned headlines about the financial services provider an impact score of 46.5607056190803 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next several days.

These are some of the headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

Get Prudential Financial alerts: Prudential (PUK) Presents At 2018 Deutsche Bank Annual Global Financial Services Conference – Slideshow (seekingalpha.com) Leston Welsh joins Prudential Group Insurance as head of Disability and Absence Management (finance.yahoo.com) Contrasting Prudential Financial (PRU) & Old Mutual (ODMTY) (americanbankingnews.com) Prudential again accused with unauthorised money deduction (vir.com.vn) An Application for the Trademark ��MULLINTBG�� Has Been Filed by Prudential Insurance Company (insurancenewsnet.com)

Prudential Financial traded down $5.05, hitting $94.97, during midday trading on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. 2,919,216 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,103. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $42.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.52. Prudential Financial has a one year low of $94.51 and a one year high of $127.14.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.68 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 13.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 12.15 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 21st. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.03%.

PRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Co reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $133.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $132.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Prudential Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.50.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through U.S. Individual Solutions, U.S. Workplace Solutions, Investment Management, and International Insurance divisions.

Indian Hotels stock rallies 7% as HSBC raises target post strong Q4 nos

Indian Hotels share price gained 7 percent intraday on Monday after global brokerage firm HSBC retained its Buy rating on the stock with increased target price to Rs 165 (from Rs 155) following strong earnings growth.

The research house expects 2019 growth to be better than 2018. "Occupancy is already near record-high levels in major cities."

Net profit of the company shot up more than 70 percent to Rs 79.3 crore for the quarter ended March 2018, compared to Rs 46.53 crore in same period last year.

Revenue from operations during the quarter increased nearly 9 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,144 crore in March quarter.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew by 38 percent to Rs 245 crore and margin expanded by 450 basis points to 21.4 percent YoY.

Indian Hotels reduced its finance cost sharply by 33 percent to Rs 52 crore compared to year-ago period.

At 13:16 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 144, up Rs 6.90, or 5.03 percent on the BSE.

Gold struggles to retain grip above trend line at $1,300, but aims for weekly gain

Gold prices fought to advance in early Friday trade, with investors watching whether the commodity can defend a key psychologically trend line above $1,300, as a strengthening dollar and an ease in geopolitical tensions weighs on bullion.

June gold GCM8, -0.08% was little changed, off less than 0.1%, to $1,306.70 an ounce.

A mixed reading within the details of a durable goods report did little to counter a largely dovish set of Federal Reserve meeting minutes released earlier this week, which had already helped the precious metal rebound from the lowest levels of 2018.

Activity may be lighter than normal ahead of a three-day weekend, with markets shut on Monday for Memorial Day.

��A weekly close above $1,307, which is the 200-day moving average, is likely to trigger a rethink among funds holding the lowest net-long position in 10 months,�� said Ole Hansen, commodities analyst at Saxo Bank.

Prices for the metal found some support this week as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve��s May meeting didn��t indicate a more aggressive pace of interest-rate increases was in the offing. Central bank officials backed longstanding market expectations for an interest-rate hike next month. Prospects for higher interest rates are typically dollar-positive and a drag on gold.

Chairman Jerome Powell was set to appear on a panel on financial stability and central-bank transparency at a conference in Stockholm Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the presidents of the Chicago and Dallas Feds, Charles Evans and Rob Kaplan, are expected to speak on a panel at a Dallas Fed conference on technology and disruption at 11:45 a.m. Eastern.

Investors will keep an eye on geopolitical headlines, which can be gold-supportive. President Donald Trump called off a June 12 summit with North Korea but a senior official from Pyongyang said its leader Kim Jong Un is still willing to meet. U.S. stocks briefly tumbled Thursday on news that Trump had pulled out, but traders seemed to be finding some reassurance in North Korea��s measured response, sending stocks higher Friday. Stock gains could help keep haven gold��s advance in check.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.45% �rose 0.3% to 94.11 after rising to its highest level since mid-December earlier this week and the 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -1.72% fell further below the closely watched 3% line.

In other trading, July silver SIN8, -0.61% slipped 0.1% to $16.67 an ounce, on track for a roughly 1.3% weekly gain.

��July silver futures bulls and bears are back on a level overall near-term technical playing field,�� said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst with Kitco.com. ��Silver bulls�� next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $17.00 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the May low of $16.07.��

July copper HGN8, -0.61% �saw muted action, trading at $3.097 a pound, as July platinum PLN8, -0.98% �fell 0.4% to $909.10 an ounce, but September palladium PAU8, -0.32% gained 0.5% to $970.50 an ounce.

Among exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +0.04% �rose 0.1%, with the iShares Silver Trust SLV, -0.52% �down slightly, while the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, -0.79% �eased 0.4%.

4 Simple Reasons to Buy TJX Companies Stock

Shares of TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) rallied 70% over the past five years as the retailer continued to win over consumers and investors with its off-price business model. With the stock already up nearly 15% this year, investors might be wondering if they should wait for a pullback before starting a position -- but I think it's still wise to buy TJX at these levels, for four simple reasons.

1. It's Amazon-resistant

TJX uses its network of over 1,000 buying associates to purchase excess inventories from more than 18,000 vendors in over�100 countries. It then sells these products at 20% to 60% discounts through its brick-and-mortar chains, which include T.J. Maxx, T.K Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense, Sierra Trading Post, and Winners.

Image source: TJX Companies.

TJX's scale enables it to sell products at significantly lower prices than Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). It also rotates its products quickly, which encourages shoppers to frequently go "treasure hunting" at its stores. That's why customer traffic at its stores rose for�15 straight quarters.

2. Consistent top and bottom line growth

TJX's revenue rose 12% annually to�$8.7 billion last quarter, compared to just 3% growth a year earlier. Its comparable store sales grew 3%. For the full year, analysts expect TJX's revenue to�grow 6%. Its closest rival, Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST), is expected to report 4% sales growth.

TJX's gross margin dipped 10 basis points annually to 28.9% last quarter, but its consolidated pre-tax profit margin rose 30 basis points to 11%. Those are impressive margins for a company that regularly undercuts Amazon and other brick-and-mortar retailers.

As a result, TJX's adjusted EPS -- which excludes a $0.17 tax benefit -- rose 17% annually to $0.96 per share during the quarter. Its diluted EPS, which includes that benefit, rose 38% to $1.13 per share. For the full year, TJX expects its diluted earnings to grow 18% to 20%. That's a robust growth rate for a stock that trades at just 18 times this year's earnings. Ross, by comparison, trades at 20 times this year's earnings.

3. Opening stores as others retreat

TJX also consistently opens new stores. Between the first quarters of�2018 and 2019, its total store count rose 7% to 4,141 locations in nine countries, with year-over-year openings across all seven banners. That expansion slightly outpaced Ross' annual store count�growth of 6% to 1,622 locations last quarter.

TJX's positive comps, rising earnings, and new store openings all indicate that it's much healthier than other American brick-and-mortar retailers, many of which are closing stores to stay afloat.

Image source: Getty Images.

TJX also generates high sales per square foot relative to its industry peers. Its stores, on average, generated $328 in sales per square foot in fiscal 2018, compared to just $300 in�2014. Ross generated $322 in sales per square foot in fiscal 2017, up from $286 in fiscal 2013.

4. Plenty of buybacks and dividends

TJX repurchased $400 million in stock last quarter, and plans to buy back another $2.5 billion to $3 billion in shares this year. It also raised its dividend by 25% in April, marking its 22nd straight year of annual dividend hikes.

TJX's forward dividend yield of 1.9% might not satisfy serious income investors, but its long streak of dividend hikes and low payout ratio (29% in fiscal 2018) indicate that its yield will likely climb over the long term.

The key takeaway

TJX's business model is built to last against e-tailers like Amazon. So long as other brick-and-mortar retailers get "Amazoned" and need to dump their inventories at fire sale prices, TJX's business will thrive. Therefore, investors looking for a safe retail play with a decent dividend should consider buying TJX at these levels.

New York & Company (NWY) Given $4.50 Consensus Target Price by Brokerages

Shares of New York & Company (NYSE:NWY) have received an average broker rating score of 1.00 (Strong Buy) from the one brokers that provide coverage for the stock, Zacks Investment Research reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a strong buy rating.

Analysts have set a 12-month consensus target price of $4.50 for the company and are forecasting that the company will post $0.04 earnings per share for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Zacks has also given New York & Company an industry rank of 84 out of 265 based on the ratings given to related companies.

Get New York & Company alerts:

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. ValuEngine raised New York & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 4th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on New York & Company in a research note on Monday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company.

In other news, Director Arthur E. Reiner sold 10,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total value of $42,116.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 53.80% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWY. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of New York & Company by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 6,395,586 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $18,291,000 after acquiring an additional 473,518 shares during the last quarter. Wynnefield Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of New York & Company by 179.0% in the 1st quarter. Wynnefield Capital Inc. now owns 724,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after acquiring an additional 465,000 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of New York & Company by 2,019.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 460,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 439,141 shares during the last quarter. Penbrook Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New York & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $829,000. Finally, EAM Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of New York & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $482,000. 32.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NWY stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3.85. 1,515 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 158,474. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. New York & Company has a 12 month low of $1.28 and a 12 month high of $4.31. The firm has a market cap of $245.43 million, a P/E ratio of 38.50 and a beta of 1.43.

New York & Company (NYSE:NWY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter. New York & Company had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $278.71 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. research analysts expect that New York & Company will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York & Company Company Profile

New York & Company, Inc operates as a specialty retailer of women's fashion apparel and accessories in the United States. It offers a merchandise assortment, including wear-to-work, casual apparel, and accessories comprising pants, dresses, jackets, knit tops, blouses, sweaters, denims, T-shirts, active wear, handbags, jewelry, and shoes under the New York & Company, NY&C, NY Style, Soho New York & Company Jeans, Lerner, Lerner New York, and Fashion to Figure brand names for women between the ages of 25 and 49.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on New York & Company (NWY)

For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Somewhat Positive News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect JD.Com (JD) Stock Price

Headlines about JD.Com (NASDAQ:JD) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern reports. The research firm scores the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. JD.Com earned a news impact score of 0.08 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the information services provider an impact score of 46.7225172033459 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

These are some of the media stories that may have effected Accern’s scoring:

Get JD.Com alerts: Can Vipshop Stock Bounce Back After Last Week’s 20% Drop? (fool.com) JD.com brings AR to Walmart stores and seeks to partner with other external partners (tamebay.com) JD.com deploys AR beauty mirror into bricks & mortar (essentialretail.com) Metcash Partners with JD.Com to Sell Groceries in China (which-50.com) NXP and JD.com partner to develop internet of things and artificial intelligence in China (roboticsandautomationnews.com)

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JD shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of JD.Com in a research report on Friday, March 2nd. ValuEngine lowered shares of JD.Com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase reduced their target price on shares of JD.Com from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 5th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of JD.Com from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Vetr lowered shares of JD.Com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.78 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.35.

JD.Com traded up $0.57, hitting $36.28, during trading on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. 9,484,264 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,351,558. The firm has a market cap of $42.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,628.00, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. JD.Com has a 1 year low of $34.88 and a 1 year high of $50.68.

JD.Com (NASDAQ:JD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 8th. The information services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $100.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.92 billion. JD.Com had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 3.62%. JD.Com’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. analysts anticipate that JD.Com will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About JD.Com

JD.com, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an e-commerce company in the People's Republic of China. The company operates in two segments, JD Mall and New Businesses. It sells mobile handsets, consumer electronics products, and auto parts and accessories; home appliances; and general merchandise products directly to customers through its Website jd.com and mobile applications.

Tepper's ��Do What's Right�� Advice Drawn From Goldman Experience

David Tepper’s advice to graduating Carnegie Mellon University students to “do what’s right” stemmed from his own experience at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The billionaire hedge fund manager, who gave the keynote commencement address at his alma mater Sunday, relayed a story from his early days at the bank, when he had to "refuse a powerful partner’s request."

The partner, who had started a new fund to invest in bankrupt firms, also controlled the list of companies that Goldman couldn’t invest in because of a conflict of interest or due to sensitive information, recalled Tepper, wearing a black graduation gown, blue sash and cap with gold tassel. The partner had asked Tepper to make a trade, buying a company that the partner had removed from the restricted list that very day.

"It didn’t seem right. In fact I went to our legal department and told them what was going on," said Tepper, who worked at the bank from 1985 to 1992.

After much back and forth, the legal team said the trade would be okay, but it still didn’t feel right to Tepper, he said. So he refused again to make the trade. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment Sunday.

"I didn’t get fired but when I came up for partner I got shot down and I was incredibly upset," he said under the sun at the university’s Gesling Stadium. "But you know what, you know what, it turned out all right. Because I didn’t end up as partner at Goldman Sachs, I started my own company in 1993 called Appaloosa, and ended up doing something that was a lot more fun and made my life better in so many ways."

This week Tepper, whose mother was in the audience as Carnegie Mellon awarded him an honorary doctorate degree, agreed to purchase the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers for a record $2.3 billion in an all-cash deal. His Appaloosa Management, which runs about $17 billion, is among the hedge fund industry’s top performers. Tepper has donated more than $125 million to CMU.

"In life, do what’s right. Really. Do what’s right. It won’t hurt you, just keep your priorities straight," he told the students.

But childhood wasn’t easy for the now-60-year-old hedge fund manager, who was raised in Stanton Heights, Pittsburgh. Tepper said his father was physically abusive. It may have been a cycle he got from his father, and his grandfather before him, Tepper recalled.

“In my young life there was nothing more terrifying,” he recalled, fighting back tears. “There was no greater adversity. But I prayed to God that I would never be the same to my children. And I am proud to say, in what I view as the greatest accomplishment of my life, that I broke that cycle.”

He took a gulp of water while the audience stood in applause.