Analyst Upgrades Amid a Quiet Trading Day
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Greece’s debt problems were shrugged off Monday as stocks trimmed most of the losses, but still managed to finish lower as the attention toward European creditors and Portugal's borrowing costs were still lingering.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) broke through $450 and is trading near its 52-week high of $454.45. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) managed to find support at the $7 range. And Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) keeps treading higher above $125. Overall it was a neutral trading day: short sellers were few, but so were the buyers that were sitting on the sidelines. However, there were a few analyst upgrades that were noteworthy throughout the day.
Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) was upgraded by UBS from “neutral” ranking to a “buy” as the stock popped 1.62% with a volume of million shares. The company's net sales are expected to increase 5.7% in 2012. The opening of approximately 135 new Advanced Auto Parts and comp store sales increases of 3 to 4%, are what is currently driving the company’s growth. Management has a continued focus on increasing commercial revenues, which should account for 40% of total sales this year. The stock has been trading between $76.57 and $49.50 in the last 52 weeks with a trailing 12 month EPS of $4.70 and a trailing twelve month P/E ratio of 16. $10,000 invested in the company five years ago would currently yield an investor $20,657.
Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS) was also upgraded from “hold” to a “buy” rating from Brigantine. This $700 million company is a provider of automation, vacuum and instrumentation solutions. It sells products and services to semiconductor chip manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers worldwide. It also provides solutions to customers in data storage, analytical instruments, solar and light emitting diode markets.
The stock pays a 2.75% dividend yield and has a 5.74% year to date performance gain. In the past 52 weeks the stock has ranged between $14.59 and $7.40 with a trailing 12 month EPS of $1.97 and a P/E ratio of 5.5. According to the capital IQ consensus estimate, company's revenues are expected to decline 26% in 2012 following a 16% rise in 2011. The decline is largely attributable to the sale of the company's contract manufacturing operations to Celestica in June of 2011, as well as the expected softness of demand in the chip equipment market. Brooks Automation is expected to earn $.64 this year and has an operational EPS forecast of $.85 in 2013. $10,000 invested in the company five years ago would leave an investor with $7,910 today.
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