The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: SL Green Realty, Apple, Ralph Lauren, AT&T and eBay
CHICAGO, Dec. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE:SLG-Free Report), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE:RL-Free Report), AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T-Free Report) and eBay Inc (Nasdaq:EBAY-Free Report).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO)
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:
SL Green to Solidify Retail Presence
Consistent with its efforts to enhance its retail portfolio, SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE:SLG-Free Report) announced a lease deal and several other capital market transactions. The expansion move is in line with the company's strategy of boosting the tenant base of industry giants and paving way for rental revenue increment.
Lease Deal
SL Green along with its partner Jeff Sutton penned a new deal with a Europe based top fashion firm for about 2,800 square foot of space at 747 Madison Avenue. With this 15-year lease agreement, the company concluded the repositioning at 747 Madison Avenue and the property now stands fully occupied.
Other Retail Transactions
This real estate investment trust (REIT) disclosed the handing over of its 33.3% interest in the retail co-op at 747 Madison for asset value worth $160 million. With the closure of this transaction, SL Green plans to craft a preferred equity investment of $30 million in the asset.
Moreover, the company declared the offloading of its 50% interest in 21-29 West 34th Street based retail properties, which houses renowned companies such as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), Geox and Aldo as tenants. This entire property was valued at $195 million. As a matter of fact, SL Green will still have its 50% stake of 152,000 square feet of development rights.
Furthermore, in concurrence with Jeff Sutton's joint venture investment at 530-536 Broadway, SL Green is going for a participating structured investment worth $100 million. 530-536 Broadway, which has a retail and office property, is positioned in the affluent submarket of SoHo. The properties are anchored by several well-known tenants such as Club Monaco of Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE:RL-Free Report), Vince Camuto, AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T-Free Report) and Eastern Mountain Sports.
In Conclusion
SL Green is seeking to tab opportunities in New York City's premium retail locations with its retail investments complementing its core office and structured finance businesses. In addition, the company's effort to solidify its partnership with Jeff Sutton in the renowned New York City retail corridor is commendable and provides significant growth prospects.
In relation to this, last month the company acquired interest in 650 Fifth Avenue through a joint venture with its partner Jeff Sutton. Moreover, in the same month, the duo penned a deal to buy out the lease of retailer Juicy Couture at 650 Fifth Avenue.
We believe that the diversification of investments in retail properties would offer this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock sufficient growth prospects.
"Anonymous" Pleads Guilty in PayPal Case
As per the U.S. Department of Justice, 13 members of the famous hacker group Anonymous have pleaded guilty to charges related to their involvement in a 2010 cyber attack on eBay Inc's (Nasdaq:EBAY-Free Report) PayPal unit.
Anonymous is an online collective of like-minded individuals whose main aim was to conduct hacking attacks, often with some social or economic goals.
Anonymous claimed that the cyber-attack was initiated by them to avenge the suspension of the WikiLeaks account by PayPal. In 2010, PayPal had accused WikiLeaks of violating their terms of service and had suspended its accounts so that it could no longer receive donations through PayPal. Wikileaks had claimed that this activity was intended to destroy it economically.
The incident happened in the form of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack. The cyber-attack was aided by software tools specially designed with the intention of damaging a computer network's functional ability by flooding it with useless commands and information, which in turn, denied service to genuine users.
As of now, the 13 defendants have been released on bond and their hearing is scheduled to take place in early Jan 2014. The defendants comprise 11 men and 2 women. One of the defendants has also been accused of conducting a separate cyber attack on the website of Santa Cruz County.
eBay is one of the world's largest online marketplaces. eBay's PayPal unit is a service that facilitates the electronic transfer of money between parties. Goods and services are sold on the platform by a large number of individuals and small businesses all over the world. Other than the U.S., it provides country-specific sites in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Japan, Korea and Australia.
eBay has taken all the necessary measures to boost growth, beginning with the fixed price format, to wooing big sellers and customers, improving technology and navigation of its properties, investing in better fulfillment services and focusing on mobile customers to boost profitability. Its drive to provide complete online solutions for traditional retailers should further add to its growth going forward.
eBay reported third-quarter revenues of $3.9 billion, up 14.3% from the year-ago quarter. Its non-GAAP earnings per share of 54 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 53 cents per share.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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 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. 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 SLG - FREE
Get the full Report on AAPL - FREE
Get the full Report on RL - FREE
Get the full Report on T - FREE
Get the full Report on EBAY - 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
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.
SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.
Share this article