Tag Archives: HFC

Morgan Stanley Upgrades Refining Sector, Names Valero A Top Pick

The refining and marketing industry looks strong through 2020, according to Morgan Stanley. The firm upgraded the sector and named a new top pick.

The Analyst

Morgan Stanley’s Benny Wong upgraded his R&M industry view from In-Line to Attractive.

Won upgraded Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $110 to $140.

The Thesis

The R&M sector stands to gain from underinvested supply that will struggle to keep pace with growing global demand, Wong said in a Wednesday note. (See the analyst's track record here.) 

A number of factors have caused the industry to restrain investment in refining capacity, including long-term demand uncertainty and the hype surrounding electric vehicles, Wong said. Limited supply growth relative to robust demand — especially in emerging markets — provide global refiners with a strong tailwind, he said. 

“In the simplest terms, we believe the world needs three refineries every year to match demand growth, and it will fall short by one refinery each year through 2020,” the analyst said. 

Morgan Stanley expects refining margins to expand by 30 percent through 2020.

U.S. refiners in particular will benefit from regional tailwinds, Wong said: they sit on "abundantly cheap" natural gas and crude oil which, along with regulation rollbacks by the Trump administration, will allow them to gain market share.

In line with this view, Wong upgraded Valero, citing the company’s high-quality exposure to the current refining upcycle, low cost structure and growing exports.

The upgrade makes Valero one of Morgan Stanley’s top R&M picks along with Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE: MPC).

Price Action

Valero Energy shares were up 4.7 percent at $120.36 at the time of publication Thursday morning. 

Other refinery stocks also traded higher: 

Marathon was up 4.3 percent. 
PBF Energy Inc (NYSE: PBF) was up 4.9 percent. 
HollyFrontier Corp (NYSE: HFC) was up. 4.45 percent. 

Related Links:

Andeavor Downgraded By Morgan Stanley On Marathon Acquisition

Energy Sector Earns An Upgrade

Latest Ratings for VLO

DateFirmActionFromTo
May 2018 Morgan Stanley Upgrades Equal-Weight Overweight
May 2018 Edward Jones Upgrades Hold Buy
Apr 2018 Credit Suisse Maintains Neutral Neutral

View More Analyst Ratings for VLO
View the Latest Analyst Ratings

Ulta, Valero, And 3 Other Stocks Showing Signs Of More Upside This Week

The following five stocks are currently in the midst of uptrends according to VantagePoint, an AI charting platform that uses intermarket analysis to predict future price action 1-3 days in advance.

A couple of things to know in order to understand the charts below:

Each chart is a 3-month chart. Candles represent one day of trading
The blue line is a predicted moving average that forecasts a what a stock's 6-day moving average will be in 72 hours. The black line is a simple 10-day moving average
When the blue line crosses above the black, that's a bullish signal. When the black crosses over the blue, that's bearish. 
For a more detailed look at VantagePoint's charts, click here.
Ulta Beauty

Despite reporting less-than-stellar Q4 sales and earnings figure, Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) has been on quite a run. The stock had a predictive moving average crossover to the upside on April 9, and since then the stock is up nearly 20 percent. You can see how, even in the face of several down days, ULTA has steadily risen. As long as the two moving averages don't converge, expect this uptrend to keep going.

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HollyFrontier

HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) follows a similar pattern. VantagePoint's indicators signaled the beginning of an uptrend on March 9 when the stock was at $46.52. In the two months since, shares of HFC have risen to $66 as of this writing, a 41 percent increase. 

With the blue 72-hour predicted 6-day moving average continuing to stay above the simple 10-day moving average, the uptrend will continue, in spite of Tuesday's weakness.

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Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation's (NYSE: VLO) bullish crossover came on April 4 when the stock closed at $93.35. Since then it has spiked dramatically up 20 percent, at one point hitting an all-time high of $115.48 before pulling back slightly. This is one trend that doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon. 

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Kellogg

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) is a little bit of a different story. As you can see, the stock's been pretty out of favor of late. But that downtrend looks like it could be ending, as the last two days of price action have led to the blue line crossing over the black. In the chart below, the blue line predicts what K's 6-day moving average will be in 48 hours (as opposed to the 72 hours in the other charts). 

We'll have to see if the stock can sustain the upward momentum in the coming days enough to confirm a complete crossover, and if that does happen the stock could look to regain some of its losses from 2018. 

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Citrix Systems

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) had a very clear crossover to the upside on April 11, and since that day's close the stock is up 15 percent. This one is interesting also because the two moving averages have also recently diverged even further, indicating that the uptrend has only gotten stronger since the company posted an excellent Q1 earnings and Q2 guidance report that came in well above Wall Street's expectations. 

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Watch the full Hot Stocks Outlook below. 

VantagePoint is a content partner of Benzinga. For a live demo click here.

Hot Internet Stocks To Watch For 2016

These five stocks had the most social chatter and the lowest investor confidence this week, according to Stockal. Stockal tracks analyst ratings, news, and social sentiment to paint a picture a stock's overall sentiment. 

1. GoPro Inc (NASDAQ: GPRO)

Stockal's confidence meter, which measures the Street's near-term confidence in the stock, stands at 56% for GoPro. Recently, Oppenheimer reiterated their neutral rating for the stock, saying that shares had "established their near-term bottom following the impact of a weak product cycle in 2015 and ensuring channel inventory issues."

Hot Internet Stocks To Watch For 2016: Syngenta AG(SYT)

Syngenta AG, an agribusiness company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of products designed to enhance crop yields and food quality worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Crop Protection, Seeds, and Business Development. The Crop Protection segment offers herbicides for corn, cereals, soybean, and rice; fungicides for corn, cereals, fruits, grapes, rice, soybean, and vegetables; insecticides for fruits, vegetables, and field crops; seed care for corn, soybean, cereals, and cotton; and professional products, such as products for public health, and turf and ornamentals. This segment markets its products through independent distributors and dealers, agricultural consultants, and growers. The Seeds segment develops, produces, and markets seeds and plants based on advanced genetics and related technologies. This segment provides approximately 200 product lines and approximately 6,800 varieties of proprietary genetics, incl uding vegetables, flowers, corn, soybean, sugar beet, and sunflower primarily under the NK, Golden Harvest, Garst, HILLESHG, S&G, Rogers, Zeraim Gedera, and Fischer brand names. The Business Development segment engages in the development of enzymes and traits to enhance agronomic, nutritional, and biofuel properties of plants. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Vanina Egea]

    The battle on the field continues. Monsanto (MON) and Syngenta (SYT) are expected to enter the seed business with a strong bid. Both companies stand at the top of the agricultural inputs industry, and continue to look for ways to improve performance. Let us see what some gurus think about their future prospects, and if they see them fit for a long term investment.

Hot Internet Stocks To Watch For 2016: Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited(HMY)

 

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited engages in the exploration and mining of gold in South Africa and Papua New Guinea. The company also explores for copper, silver, uranium, and molybdenum deposits. It has nine underground operations located on the Witwatersrand Basin; an open-pit mine exploiting the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt; and various other surface operations in South Africa. The company also owns a 50% interest in the Hidden Valley, an open-pit gold and silver mine; the Wafi-Golpu project; and exploration tenements in Papua New Guinea. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited was incorporated in 1950 and is based in Randfontein, South Africa.

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Javier Hasse]

    Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE: HMY) rose 2.2 percent on Friday, even though gold prices dropped. However, the stock lost 3.7 percent in after-hours trading, in what also seemed like a correction of the surge seen during the day.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares fell by 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE: SLW), down 5 percent, and Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE: HMY), down 5 percent.

Top 5 India Companies To Invest In Right Now: Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A.(GOL)

 

GOL Linhas A茅reas Inteligentes S.A., through its subsidiaries, provides regular and non-regular air transportation services for passengers, cargoes, and mailbags in South America and the Caribbean. The company operates in two segments, Flight Transportation and Smiles Loyalty Program. As of December 31, 2014, it operated a fleet of 144 aircraft, which included 96 aircraft under operating leases, 45 aircraft under finance leases, and 3 aircraft owned by the company. It also develops and manages its own or third partys customer loyalty program, as well as sells redemption rights of awards related to the loyalty program. GOL Linhas A茅reas Inteligentes S.A. has a strategic partnership with Air France-KLM. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in S茫o Paulo, Brazil.

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Regional Airlines: The industry dropped 1.9 percent by 11:00 am. The worst performer in this industry was Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR) (NYSE: GOL), which declined 5.8 percent.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR) (NYSE: GOL) is expected to post a quarterly loss at $0.73 per share on revenue of $705.31 million.

    Caretrust REIT Inc (NASDAQ: CTRE) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.26 per share on revenue of $22.21 million.

Hot Internet Stocks To Watch For 2016: Formula Systems (1985) Ltd.(FORTY)

 

Formula Systems (1985) Ltd. provides a range of information technology (IT) solutions and services, and develops and markets proprietary software solutions. It offers software solutions and services, such as outsourcing and developing customized software; computer systems management infrastructures, Web world content management, database and data warehouse mining, application integration, database and systems, data management, and software development tools; computer and telecommunication infrastructure solutions; and professional training courses and advanced professional studies. The company also sells personal computers, portable computers, Intel servers, peripheral equipment, operating systems, servers, and workstations; provides computer and peripheral equipment maintenance services, lab, and helpdesk services; and sells and markets cloud based solutions. In addition, it offers Sapiens ALIS, an L&P software solution for i ndividual, group, and worksite insurance products; Sapiens Retirement Services for record-keeping management; Sapiens Closed Books, a solution to administer policies and claims relating to closed books of business; and Sapiens TOPAZ to handle L&P activities and regulations. Further, the company provides Sapiens IDIT for general insurance carriers; Sapiens Insight for business demands at the insurer level and regulatory needs at the state level; Sapiens Reinsurance that enables property and casualty/general insurance carriers and brokers to handle reinsurance activities on a single platform; and Sapiens DECISION, a business decision management solution. Additionally, it supplies professionals in the areas of accounting and finance, administrative, customer service, clinical, scientific and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing and operations, human resources, IT technology, LI/MFG, and marketing and sales. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Or Yehuda, Is rael.

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    On Friday, technology shares rose by 0.26 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), up 9 percent, and Formula Systems (1985) Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ: FORTY) up 19 percent.

Hot Internet Stocks To Watch For 2016: Novo Nordisk A/S(NVO)

 

Novo Nordisk A/S, a healthcare company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products worldwide. It operates in two segments, Diabetes Care and Biopharmaceuticals. The Diabetes Care segment covers insulins, GLP-1 analog, obesity, and oral antidiabetic drugs, as well as other protein related products comprising glucagon, protein related delivery systems, and needles. The Biopharmaceuticals segment offers products in the areas of haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy. The company markets and distributes its products through its subsidiaries, distributors, and independent agents. Novo Nordisk A/S has a collaboration agreement with the Langer Laboratory for the development of next-generation drug delivery devices; and collaboration and licensing agreement with Ablynx nv to discover and develop novel multi-specific Nanobody drug candidates. The compa ny was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Charles Carlson, CEO and Portfolio Manager, Horizon Investment Services]

    For investors looking for growth but also income, I especially like three health-care related stocksFresenius Medical (FMS), Novo Nordisk (NVO), and Smith & Nephew (SNN).