Dividend.com: Boeing Grounded

Boeing Delivers Fourth-Quarter Loss, Blames Results on Strike

Boeing(BA Quote) shares are up over 2% today, despite the world's largest plane manufacturer reporting a fourth-quarter net loss of $56 million, or 8 cents a share, vs. a gain of $1 billion, or $1.36 a share, in the year-ago period.

The impact of the machinist strike was estimated at $1.09 a share, a 61 cents-a-share charge related to upsets in its 747 program, and a 9-cents-a-share contribution to a litigation-related reserve.

Looking ahead, management is forecasting EPS in the range of $5.05 to $5.35, while Wall Street was looking for earnings of $5.76.

We had removed shares of Boeing from our "Recommended" list back on Aug. 19, when the shares were trading at $63.64. The company has a 3.89% dividend yield, based on last night's closing stock price of $43.22. The stock has technical support at the $34 level, and if that fails to hold, we could possibly see $25 as a possibility. On the upside, the shares would have overhead resistance near the $52 to $53 level. We would look elsewhere for better investment opportunities.

Boeing is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

McCormick May Sneeze in 2009

McCormick & Co.(MKC Quote) shares are up over 2% after the company reported fourth-quarter profit fell 6% to $82.5 million, or 62 cents per share, from $87.6 million, or 67 cents per share last year.

The seasonings company reported sales were up 5% to $906.9 million from $860.1 million a year earlier, boosted by acquisitions and higher prices.

Looking ahead, the company sees EPS in a range of $2.24 to $2.28 and sales growth between 2% and 4%, which means revenues may fall a bit light of consensus estimates of sales of $3.36 billion.

We have avoided shares of McCormick since our early June coverage began, when the stock was trading at $37.76. The company has a 3.09% dividend yield, based on last night's closing stock price of $31.04. The stock has technical support in the $26 to $28 price area -- and if that fails to hold -- again at the $22 level. We see initial overhead resistance at the $35 to $36 levels. We would remain on the sidelines for now.

McCormick & Co. is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Novartis Shares Fall Despite 70% Profit Growth in the Fourth Quarter and Dividend Raise

Shares of Novartis(NVS Quote) are down over 5% in early trading as the company reported profit in the fourth quarter jumped 70% to $1.54 billion from $904 million a year earlier. This was below some consensus estimates that were as high as $1.83 billion.

Overall, drug sales rose 5% to $6.43 billion -- pressured by the strengthening dollar over the quarter. Blood-pressure drug Diovan remains the company's bestselling drug at $1.42 billion. Cancer drug Gleevec -- the second-bestselling product -- contributed $890 million.

The company also announced it was boosting its dividend to $1.75 for 2008.

We had removed shares of Novartis back in September, when shares were trading at $52.91. The company will now have a dividend yield of 3.87%, based on Friday's closing stock price of $45.25. The stock has technical support at the $40 level. If that fails to hold, we could see the $30 to $31 level come into play. If the shares can bounce back, we see overhead resistance around the $50 to $52 levels. We would remain on the sidelines for now.

Novartis is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

Legg Mason Posts Third-Quarter Loss of $1.49 Billion

Legg Mason(LM Quote) shares are bucking the rally and are down over 11% so far today after the company reported a third-quarter loss of $1.49 billion, or $10.55 per share, compared with profit of $154.6 million, or $1.07 per share, in the year-ago period.

The asset manager said sales dropped 39% to $720 million, from $1.19 billion in the year-ago quarter. Due to the company's continued efforts to reduce its Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV) exposure, it incurred a loss of $842.1 million. Total exposure to SIVs remaining in the money market funds has declined from approximately $10 billion in October 2007 to $1.4 billion -- through systematic reduction of positions.

Assets Under Management (AUM) were $698.2 billion, down 17% from $841.9 billion at Sept. 30, reflecting net client outflows and market declines. AUM was down 30% from $998.5 billion at Dec. 31, 2007.

We had removed Legg Mason from our "Recommended" list back on Sept.15, when the shares traded at $36.30. The shares were briefly on the "Recommended" list from the $39 level. The company has a 4.94% dividend yield, based on last night's closing stock price of $19.44. The company needs to hold the $15 to $16 levels technically. If it fails to, then the $7 to $8 price area is likely. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance at the $25 area. We would look elsewhere for better investment opportunities at this time.

Legg Mason is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system.

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