5 Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs: PAY, RHT, VMW, EBAY, CHKP

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - These stocks hit 52-week highs on Thursday: eBay (EBAY), VeriFone (PAY), Red Hat (RHT), VMware (VMW) and Check Point (CHKP).

eBay

The online marketplace operator reported first-quarter earnings of $725 million, or 55 cents a share. Analysts, on average, anticipated 52 cents a share in earnings.

"Rev./adj. EPS at $3.28bn/$0.55 was above Street at $3.15bn/$0.52 driven by strength across all segments, and 2Q guidance (our concern into results) was inline with street at high end," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in a report Thursday. "While not a big 2012 est. change (eBay raised full year EPS guidance by just 2%), a cleaner than usual quarter and we continue to expect a strong 2H for eBay with multiple product catalysts (see below) which could continue improve sentiment on eBay & PayPal's position in eCommerce."

Shares of eBay hit a 52-week high Thursday of $41.84 The stock's 52-week low of $26.86 was set on Aug. 19.

eBay shares trade at an estimated price-to-earnings ratio for next year of 15.18 times; the average for specialized consumer service companies is 15.31X.

Twenty-four of the 35 analysts who cover eBay rate it at buy; 11 analysts give the stock a hold rating.

TheStreet Ratings gives eBay an A grade with a buy rating and $42.55 price target. The stock has risen 33.56% year to date.

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