CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity
Research highlights CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) as the Bull
of the Day and Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) as the Bear of
the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
(NYSE: WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (Nasdaq:
COST).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO)
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day:
CBS Corporation's (NYSE: CBS) second-quarter 2011
earnings of $0.58 per share beat the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.45 and
surged more than double from $0.25
earned in the year-ago quarter, buoyed by a favorable operating
environment and cost-containment efforts. The quarter saw a step up
in both the advertising marketplace as well as margins.
Management remains confident about continued growth momentum in
fiscal 2011 and 2012. However, the significant potential risk is
CBS's high dependence on advertising revenue, which is driven by
the health of the economy. To mitigate this, the company is
striving to add diverse revenue streams to hedge against economic
cycles, which include retransmission, affiliate and online
distribution fees.
Further, CBS's substantial liquidity, positions it to drive
future growth and enhance shareholders return. We have a long-term
Outperform recommendation on the stock. Our target price of
$24.00, 12.8X 2011 EPS, reflects this
view.
Bear of the Day:
We are downgrading Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) shares
to Underperform from Neutral following the company's second quarter
miss and its clouded post-split outlook. Near-term upstream
production profile remains muted without any meaningful large
volume additions for the next few years.
The weaker-than-expected performance at the Droshky development
in deepwater Gulf of Mexico and
the suspension of the low cost Libyan operations are also causes
for concern. Additionally, the transfer of the refining/sales
operations has left Marathon with a less diversified business,
thereby heightening its risk profile.
Our $25 price objective reflects a
2011 P/E multiple of 6.0x, which is within Marathon's historical
trading range. The stock also carries a Zacks #5 Rank (Strong Sell)
at this time.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
Target Beats Zacks Estimate
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) recently posted
better-than-expected second-quarter 2011 results on the heels of
higher sales and improved profitability across its credit card
business.
The quarterly earnings of $1.03
per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 97 cents, and rose from 92
cents earned in the prior-year quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter increased by a
penny with 5 out of 23 analysts covering the stock raising their
projections and only one analyst lowering his or her estimate in
the last 30 days.
Target's efficient marketing, multi-channel strategy, product
innovation, compelling pricing strategy and new merchandise
assortments should help drive comparable-store sales and operating
margins over the long term. We expect the company to gain market
share, and believe that more focus on consumable items should boost
sales and earnings in a sluggish consumer environment.
Target now tends to focus more on store renovations and
enhancing store sales productivity, introducing smaller format
stores, and eyeing opportunities to open stores in the
international markets.
The greater concentration of Target's revenue generating
capability in a few regions of the United
States poses a competitive threat compared to Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corporation
(Nasdaq: COST), which are geographically more diversified and more
resourceful.
Consequently, we prefer to have a long-term Neutral
recommendation on the stock. Moreover, Target holds a Zacks #3
Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.
About the Bull and Bear of the Day
Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two
stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear)
the markets over the next 3-6 months.
About the Analyst Blog
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