Ahead Of The Bell: BMO Analyst Upgrades Avon
Stock quotes in this article:
AVP
NEW YORK (AP) Shares of cosmetics company Avon Products Inc. were upgraded to "Market Perform" from "Underperform" by a BMO Capital Markets analyst as the company signed up 1 million new representatives in the first quarter.
Analyst Connie Maneaty also said the company should offer more details of its $300 million to $400 million restructuring program when it reports second-quarter results. The restructuring is expected to cut costs by $200 million a year by 2013. Still, Maneaty warns that sales are likely to worsen. "Avon expects organic sales to slow owing to the severe recession," the analyst wrote in a research note to investors. She dropped her estimate of 2009 operating profit by 6 cents to $1.45 and assumes a 6.5 percent sales decline. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect $1.57 per share in 2009. In the second, third and fourth quarters, Maneaty expects profit of 31 cents, 33 cents and 57 cents, respectively. The analyst lowered the second- and third-quarter estimates, in part because higher prices will not be enough to close a deficit from unfavorable currency comparisons. Profits of companies that do business overseas are hurt by a stronger dollar as revenue collected in local currencies are translated back into dollars. A consensus forecast from analysts is that second-quarter profit will be 35 cents per share. Avon shares closed Monday at $23.67. They have traded in a 52-week range of $14.40 to $45.34.- Loading Comments...
- Loading Comments...
Recent Comments
Featured Photo Galleries
| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,452.68 | 1,109.24 | 2,185.03 | 33.23 |
Oil *
77.83
|
|
DOWN
18.90
|
UP
0.38
|
UP
9.22
|
UP
0.48
|
10 Yr
3.32%
SPDR Gold
119.18
|
|
-0.18%
|
+0.03%
|
+0.42%
|
+1.47%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |














