Bank of Kentucky Financial, Bob Evans Farms, AT&T, T-Mobileand Sprint highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
CHICAGO, Jan. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Bank of Kentucky Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:BKYF-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Bob Evans Farms (Nasdaq:BOBE-Free Report)as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onAT&T (NYSE:T-Free Report), T-Mobile (NYSE:TMUS-Free Report) and Sprint (NYSE:S-Free Report).
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Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
The Bank of Kentucky Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:BKYF-Free Report) delivered solid fourth quarter results on January 16, driven by improving credit quality and strong non-interest income. That prompted analysts to revise their estimates significantly higher for both 2014 and 2015.
It is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock.
Valuation looks attractive for The Bank of Kentucky too, with shares trading at a very reasonable 13x forward earnings.
The Bank of Kentucky operates 32 branches in Northern Kentucky. It has assets of approximately $1.857 billion and a market cap of $276 million.
The Bank of Kentucky reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results on January 16. Earnings per share came in at 76 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11 cents. It was a 15% increase over the same quarter last year.
The increase in EPS was driven in large part by a lower provision for loan losses and strong growth in non-interest income. Net interest income actually declined 2% year-over-year as solid loan growth was offset by a 24 basis point contraction in the net interest margin, on a tax equivalent basis, to 3.39%.
Bob Evans Farms (Nasdaq:BOBE-Free Report) recently released disappointing guidance for fiscal 2014, as severely cold weather and higher sow costs are negatively impacting earnings. It's interesting to note, however, that analysts haven't just slashed their estimates for 2014, they've cut them for 2015 too.
Bob Evans is a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
With shares trading at more than 20x 2014 earnings, investors should consider avoiding this stock until its earnings momentum improves.
Bob Evans Farms owns and operates 561 restaurants in 19 states, primarily in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States. It also produces and distributes refrigerated and frozen side dishes, convenience food items and pork sausage under the 'Bob Evans' and 'Owens' brands.
On January 21, Bob Evans released disappointing guidance for fiscal 2014, citing severe winter weather and high sow costs. Management now expects adjusted EPS between $2.20-$2.30, which was significantly below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.60 at the time.
Additional content:
AT&T Beats All 3: Earnings, Revenue and the Competition
AT&T (NYSE:T-Free Report) posted earnings after the bell today. EPS came in at $0.53 verse the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.50, and Revenues of $33.2 billion, slightly beating the Zacks Revenue Estimate of $33.06 billion.
One of the major headwinds the street anticipated was the significantly increased promotional efforts by both T-Mobile (NYSE:TMUS-Free Report), and Sprint (NYSE:S-Free Report); which were attempting to lure current AT&T clients to their services. Unfortunately for them, AT&T saw an increase in wireless subscriptions quarter over quarter, of 4.8%, and only saw 1.11% of their wireless clients leave the company in the quarter (this was down year over year from 1.19%, and a record quarter for least subscriptions lost). Moreover, the company increased their new subscription base by over 800,000 customers, exceeding the expectation of just over 600,000 new subscribers. Finally, the company continued to see forward momentum with their U-verse and Strategic Services segments.
Over the weekend, there was much news on a potential bid by AT&T to purchase the UK-based Vodafone Group. But management quickly squashed the rumors by stating that, "AT&T Inc. notes the recent speculation regarding a potential transaction involving Vodafone Group. At the request of the UK Takeover Panel, AT&T confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for Vodafone."
Tomorrow morning Zacks will post a more detailed earnings report covering the prepaid division (Leap Wireless acquisition), the 4G network investments, the consumer video division, and the business data services divisions.
In afterhours trading, AT&T was up just over 1%, but quickly shifted into the red, going down as much as 1.5% on mild volume.
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