Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Wyndham Worldwide, Lender Processing Services, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America
CHICAGO, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Equity Research highlights: Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) as the Bull of the Day and Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS), as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).
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Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Wyndham Worldwide's (NYSE: WYN) fourth quarter 2010 earnings were ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, primarily due to strong operational performance at each of the three businesses, sound expense management and continued share repurchases. Going forward, we expect Wyndham to benefit from its repositioning to a more fee-for-service based business.
Wyndham is also experiencing recovery in lodging business with surge in leisure demands. Wyndham remains committed to enhancing shareholder value and expanding through acquisitions, given the robust free cash flow generation by the company.
Moreover, the company is strengthening its presence in the international markets, particularly in Europe and Asian markets like China and India. Hence, we maintain an Outperform rating on the stock.
Lender Processing Services' (NYSE: LPS) first-quarter 2011 results were a mixed bag. We are concerned about the high debt on its balance sheet as well as challenging origination and default market. There is also a possibility of further foreclosure delays.
Moreover, the company is anticipating near-term challenges due to significant changes in the origination volumes. Hence, we downgrade our recommendation from Neutral to Underperform on the shares.
Our six-month target price of $24.00 equates to about 6.8x our estimate for 2011. The target price implies an expected total negative return of 8.44% over that period.
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Citi Bolsters Investment Banking Team
In an effort to strengthen its investment banking business team, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has hired Samuel Di Piazza, Jr. who retired as Global CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwC) in September 2009, after serving in that position since 2002.
Mr. Di Piazza has joined Citi as vice chairman in the Institutional Clients Group and will be a member of the Senior Strategic Advisory Group. He comes with leadership expertise and international experience in both developed and emerging markets, a quality that is expected to attract new customers and maintain Citi's global institutional client base.
Plagued by severe losses during the financial crisis, Citi was ultimately rescued by the government bailout. The company has been administering several repositioning efforts to manage and grow its business since the past several quarters. After suffering billions in losses in 2008 and 2009, Citi ultimately swung back in 2010, posting a profit of $10.6 billion.
Citi suffered losses in business and key employees, and its reputation was hit back following the financial crisis and the government bailout. However, as part of rebuilding its lost glory and business, Citi is strategically hiring senior executives from its competitors such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) as well as well known entities who have served in important government positions.
In the past, Citi has hired Peter Orszag, former White House director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Carlos Gutierrez, the former Commerce Secretary. Earlier this month, the company hired Doug Baird, a managing director in U.S. equity capital markets who served at its rival company, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
We believe that such strategic hiring should help the company increase its top line. With an impressive global footprint, the hiring of Mr. Di Piazza is a strategic fit. Also, the addition to its executive pool from its rivals would aid the company in expanding its client base, efficiently servicing them and thereby growing its top line in a competitive landscape.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.
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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.
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