Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog.
Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and
events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently
featured in the blog include: ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE: CPS),
Reed El Sevier NV (NYSE: ENL),
Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBRX),
Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP)
and Pride International (NYSE: PDE).
See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog: http://www.zacks.com/blog/post_info.html?g=6
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst
Blog:
ChoicePoint to Merge Eventually
The proposed merger between ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE: CPS)
and Reed El Sevier NV (NYSE: ENL)
has been delayed as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested
additional information and several state attorney generals are looking
into the proposed deal. Although delayed, we believe the merger will
ultimately be approved. With the acquisition price of $50 and the shares
trading close to this level, we maintain a Hold recommendation on CPS
shares.
On April 25, 2008, ChoicePoint announced results for the first quarter
of fiscal 2008 ended March 31, 2008. The company entered into an
agreement to sell its government software business, specifically i2 Inc.
and i2 Ltd., to private equity group Silver Lake Sumeru in a cash
purchase of $185 million.
Additionally, the company sold its iMap business to a private investment
group in March 2008. During the quarter, ChoicePoint generated $43.9
million from operating activities of continuing operations versus $46.4
million in the fourth quarter. With $14.9 million in capital
expenditures, the company recorded net free cash flow of $29 million
during the quarter versus $34 million in the fourth quarter.
Early Pipeline for Metabasis
Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBRX)
is a biopharmaceutical company that engages in the discovery and
development of drugs for chronic diseases involving pathways in the
liver. In July 2007, the company suffered two major setbacks when its
lead drug, CS-917, failed to meet the primary endpoint in a phase IIb
trial and Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP)
terminated its agreement for the development of Pradefovir. Both
products were in mid- to late-stage trials.
The shares plummeted 54% in response to the news and the company has yet
to recover from these setbacks. Although Metabasis recently reported
positive results on core pipeline candidate, MB07803, we believe that
investor confidence is not likely to return until the company enters
into suitable partnership deals for its candidates.
Despite some promising pipeline candidates, Metabasis' pipeline remains
in very early-stages of development and we do not see the company
achieving profitability anytime soon. The company did receive some
positive news recently when it announced favorable results on MB07803.
However, the main potential for Metabasis lies on its ability to sign
partnership agreements for its core pipeline candidates as this would
help resort investor confidence in the company’s
NuMimetic and HepDirect technologies.
Pride International Keeps It Coming
Pride International’s (NYSE: PDE)
first-quarter 2008 results came in better than expected, reflecting
higher day-rates for its deepwater and mid-water rigs, partly offset by
jack-up softness. Revenue and operating earnings from the company’s
deepwater fleet increased 19% and 35% from the previous quarter,
respectively. In the company’s mid-water
fleet, sequential revenue and earnings gains were 12% and 7%,
respectively.
Recent contract awards and extensions have helped the company achieve a
record backlog of approximately $9.4 billion, providing for significant
earnings visibility, going forward. Our earnings estimates and price
objective go up, while our Buy recommendation remains unchanged. Despite
its growing deepwater drilling exposure, Pride shares continue to trade
more in-line with Gulf of Mexico (GoM) jack-up operators than with its
deepwater peers.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.
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