Dice Holdings, JG Wentworth, Lincoln Educational Services, Grand Canyon Education and Capella Education highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
http://www.profits.zacks.com/
CHICAGO, Dec. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights Dice Holdings (NYSE:DHX-Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and JG Wentworth (NYSE:JGW-Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis onLincoln Educational Services Corporation (Nasdaq:LINC-Free Report), Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOPE-Free Report) and Capella Education Co. (Nasdaq:CPLA-Free Report).
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
The economy has continued to heat up as jobs have been added and consumer confidence has increased. While sites like Monster and CareerBuilder dominate the job search, upstarts are beginning to challenge them for market share. Today's Bull of the Day is looking to organize the world's talent by providing specialized insights and relevant connections tailored to specific professions and industries. The company serves the technology, security-clearance, financial services, energy, healthcare and hospitality industries.
Dice Holdings (NYSE:DHX-Free Report) is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) in the internet content industry. The company's mission is to help its customers source and hire the most qualified professionals in select and highly skilled occupations and to help those professionals find the best job opportunities in their respective fields and further their careers.
Dice has been growing its company and its brand through new products and services, fast innovation in current services and acquisitions. One new product is its Open Web platform. Open Web makes tech recruiting easier by bringing together social data from the 130 sites that matter most and presenting the data in a way that's simple to act on. It's a big data platform made for busy tech recruiters. With Open Web employers can reach millions more in-demand candidates, boost their response rates by understanding what makes candidates tick and connect fast through phone, email, Twitter and Facebook.
Dice has made several acquisitions over the last 18 months including the IT Job Board, Health eCareers network, HCareers and oilcareers.com. In total, the acquisitions are anticipated to add $49 million to 2014 GAAP revenue. The additional revenue should provide added strength to its already strong balance income statement. The business has provided strong free cash flow for each of the last six years.
The last two quarters Dice has surprised to the upside. Q2 2014 saw earnings come in at 13 cents versus estimates for 7 cents while Q3 2014's beat came in at 21 cents versus expectations of 10 cents. These two recent surprises are part of the reason for the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Daytime television isn't exactly the pinnacle of broadcast excellence. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching Maury break the news of the 8th potential baby's daddy paternity results just as much as the next guy. And there's something about hearing the snarky ferocity of Judge Judy snapping off on the sleezy businessman trying to take advantage of somebody that I can't get enough of. That's just the regularly scheduled programming filled with these gems. The real annoyance comes from the slew of commercials trying to sell me on a for-profit "college" that will train me in underwater basket-weaving. Or the personal injury attorney that's brought ambulance chasing to broadcast television. Then there's the fly-by-night car insurance operation that will give me a quarter what my car's worth if I ever really needed it. But my favorite is the company with the catchy jingle trying to use future value calculations to get me to give up the money the ambulance chaser just got me.
Today's Bear of the Day is JG Wentworth (NYSE:JGW-Free Report). You know, "Call J G Wentworth. 877 CASH NOW. 877 CASH NOW…" There's a commercial with a guy (I think) in an opera costume on the bus. Why someone in the opera needs to take the bus I'm not sure. Either way, JG Wentworth is focused on key sectors, including structured settlement payment purchasing, annuity payment purchasing, and lottery payment purchasing and pre-settlement funding. The company operates as two brands, JG Wentworth and Peachtree.
I don't want to sound like I'm cheapening JG Wentworth's business model. They do provide a legitimate solution for people who are receiving money from an annuity or structured settlement on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Rather than having to wait for you money, JG Wentworth will offer you cash up front so you can take care of bills and expenses now and surrender your future payments to JG Wentworth.
Analysts have seen sporadic growth from JGW and as a result have revised their earnings estimates for the current year and next year. Over the last 30 days, four analysts have revised estimates to the downside for the current year and three have done so for next year. The result has pushed estimates down for the current year from $1.71 all the way to $1.45 while next year's consensus has plummeted from $1.91 all the way to $1.58.
Additional content:
Lincoln Educational Upped to Strong Buy
On Nov 29, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (Nasdaq:LINC-Free Report) to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Earnings estimates have been moving upwards ever since the education company posted better-than-expected third quarter 2014 results on Nov 4.
Why the Upgrade?
Lincoln Educational's share price has increased about 7% since the company released the third quarter results.
Lincoln Educational's top and bottom lines in the third quarter were better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the company's expectation on the back of improving starts in the quarter.
Lincoln Educational's third-quarter 2014 adjusted loss (excluding the impact of impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets) of 12 cents per share was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 18 cents and the prior-year quarter loss of $1.12 per share due to a decline in expenses. The reported loss was also narrower than the company's expected loss of 14 cents to 20 cents per share.
Revenues of $84.7 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $84 million by 0.8%. However, revenues were down 4.4% year over year and stayed close to the higher end of the company's expected range of $83.0 million to $85.0 million. The year-over-year decline in revenues was due to a decline of 4% in student enrollment and lower revenue per student.
However, though student starts decreased 5.9% year over year, it was better than the company's expected range of 8% to 10% decline.
We believe, improved student start can be attributed to the company's focus on improving student outcome. The company has also been focusing on reducing expenses, rationalizing underperforming business and monetizing its real estate to improve its liquidity position.
Other Stocks to Consider
Other stocks in the education industry worth considering include Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOPE-Free Report) and Capella Education Co. (Nasdaq:CPLA-Free Report), which sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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
Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Click here to subscribe to this free newsletter today.
About Zacks
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.
Get the full Report on DHX - FREE
Get the full Report on JGW - FREE
Get the full Report on LINC - FREE
Get the full Report on LOPE - FREE
Get the full Report on CPLA - FREE
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
[email protected]
http://www.zacks.com
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dice-holdings-jg-wentworth-lincoln-educational-services-grand-canyon-education-and-capella-education-highlighted-as-zacks-bull-and-bear-of-the-day-300003247.html
SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.
Share this article