7 Ex-Dividend Stocks With Buy Ratings
NEW YORK (
) -- The following stocks go ex-dividend Tuesday, meaning an investor must purchase the shares Monday to qualify for the next dividend payment:
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
,
Wynn Resorts
(WYNN) - Get Report
,
Marathon Oil
(MRO) - Get Report
,
Centerpoint Energy
(CNP) - Get Report
,
Archer-Daniels-Midland
(ADM) - Get Report
,
Black Hills
(BKH) - Get Report
and
MarketAxess
(MKTX) - Get Report
.
Each of the stocks gets a buy rating from
TheStreet Ratings
.
See the complete
.
|
Microsoft
The
last month posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, but missed on Windows 7 sales.
Microsoft posted an adjusted profit of 77 cents a share on sales of $19.95 billion, up from profit of 74 cents a share on sales of $19 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting EPS of 68 cents and revenue of $19.14 billion.
Microsoft's entertainment division saw 55% growth in the quarter thanks to holiday sales of the Kinect for Xbox 360, Xbox Live subscriptions and Xbox games.
Shares of Microsoft reached a
52-week high Thursday of $30.80.
"MSFT stock is more about upcoming Win 8 release and how the perception of thedefensibility of the Win/Office franchise could change," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in a report Friday. "At ~8x PE ex-cash and ~3% div yield, MSFT screens as top 3 defensive in uncertain macro. We reiterate Buy and $33 PO."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
2.6%
Rated "A- (Buy)" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's second-quarter gross profit margin was basically the same as the prior year.
Microsoft is extremely liquid. Its Quick Ratio is 2.58, which demonstrates that it can meet its short-term cash needs.
In the second quarter, stockholders' net worth increased 32.26% from the previous year.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
. The stock closed Friday at $30.50 and has risen 17.49% year to date.
Wynn Resorts
The casino resorts company reported earlier this month fourth-quarter earnings of $190.4 million, or $1.52 a share, down from year-earlier earnings of $114.2 million, or 91 cents.
"In our opinion, WYNN's shares trade at a valuation that does not fully incorporate the strong fundamentals and balance sheet, as well as the Company's premier position in Macau and Las Vegas," KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts wrote in a Feb. 3 report. "Macau remains on a tear and Las Vegas seems to be on the path to further recovery, albeit of undefined length and strength."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
1.7%
Rated "B (Buy)" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's fourth-quarter gross profit margin was basically the same from the prior year.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
. The stock closed Friday at $113.20 and has increased 2.45% year to date.
Marathon Oil
The energy company reported earlier this month fourth-quarter earnings of $549 million, or 78 cents a share, down from year-earlier earnings of $706 million, or 99 cents.
"We are reaffirming our Outperform rating on MRO and are raising our price target to $40/share, from $35/share, to reflect its upside growth potential, driven by onshoreUS liquids-rich plays, mainly the Eagle Ford, Bakken, Woodford and Niobrara," Oppenheimer analysts wrote in a Feb. 8 report. "These plays will account for the bulk of future growth and will be the key to MRO valuation and stock performance."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
2.1%
Rated "B- (Buy)" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's fourth-quarter gross profit margin was about the same as a year ago.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
. The stock closed Friday at $33.15 and has risen 13.26% year to date.
Centerpoint Energy
The utility is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 29. Analysts, on average, expect earnings of 19 cents a share on revenue of $2.51 billion.
"We are attracted to CNP's above-average EPS growth potential, no external financing needs, and 4.3% dividend yield," Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a Feb. 2 report. "Further, given recent share price underperformance, we believe the risk/reward is beginning to tilt in investors' favor. Our neutral stance reflects weak gas prices/fundamentals, which affect CNP's midstream business, and uncertainties around the use of cash. We initiated coverage of CNP with a Market Perform rating."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
4.3%
Rated "B (Buy)" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's third-quarter gross profit margin increased from the prior year.
Centerpoint Energy has weak liquidity. Its Quick Ratio is 0.50, which demonstrates a lack of ability to meet its short-term cash needs.
In the third quarter, stockholders' net worth increased 34.45% from the previous year.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
The stock closed Friday at $18.91 and has declined 5.87% year to date.
Archer Daniels Midland
The agricultural products company reported on Jan. 31 second-quarter earnings of $80 million, or 12 cents a share, a fall from year-earlier earnings of $732 million, or $1.14.
"We are maintaining our Underperform as we believe a challenging environmentwill continue to weigh on earnings near term," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in a Jan. 31 report. "We could become more positive if the drought in South America results in a significant decline in grain production, shifting export demand to the US which would be beneficial for ADM's asset base."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
2.3%
Rated "B (Buy>" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's second-quarter gross profit margin decreased from the prior year.
In the second quarter, stockholders' net worth increased 14.34% from the previous year.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
. The stock closed Friday at $30.57 and has risen 6.89% year to date.
Black Hills
The diversified energy company reported earlier this month fourth-quarter earnings of $26.5 million, or 62 cents a share, an increase from year-earlier earnings of $16.3 million, or 41 cents.
"We are hoisting our 12-18 month price target from $34 to $35, in order torecognize the earnings growth potential of a number of capital projects that thecompany is planning, which could push the five-year EPS growth prospect wellabove the 6% rate that we have been carrying," D.A. Davidson analysts wrote in a Feb. 7 report. "Our new target equates to ~16x (previously 15.5x) the average of our 2012 and 2013 EPS estimates. At the current share price we are maintaining a NEUTRAL rating."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
4.2%
Rated "B (Buy)" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's third-quarter gross profit margins were basically the same as a year ago.
Black Hills has very weak liquidity. Its Quick Ratio is 0.36, which demonstrates a lack of ability to meet its short-term cash needs.
In the third quarter, stockholders' net worth remained about the same as it did the prior year.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
. The stock closed Friday at $34.99 and has increased 4.2% year to date.
MarketAxess
The electronic trading platform reported earlier this month fourth-quarter earnings of $11.5 million, or 29 cents a share, an increase from year-earlier earnings of $8.9 million, or 23 cents.
"The structural trend of more small-sized trades over block trades being executed across the industry favors the MKTX model," Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts wrote in a Feb. 1 report. "However, dealer inventory and willingness to take risk still give us pause as 75-80% of dollar volume executed on MKTX's platform is still with the large dealers."
Forward Annual Dividend Yield:
1.4%
Rated "A+ (Buy)" by TheStreet Ratings:
The company's fourth-quarter gross profit margin increased from the prior year.
In the fourth quarter, stockholders' net worth increased 17.99% from the previous year.
TheStreet Ratings'
price target is
. The stock closed Friday at $32.23 and has risen 7.04% year to date.
-- Written by Alexandra Zendrian
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