CAE (CAE) PT Raised to C$27.00

CAE (TSE:CAE) (NYSE:CAE) had its target price upped by investment analysts at CIBC from C$24.00 to C$27.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday. CIBC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.12% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. National Bank Financial increased their price target on CAE from C$26.00 to C$29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank increased their price target on CAE from C$24.25 to C$28.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James increased their price target on CAE from C$21.00 to C$25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CAE from C$26.00 to C$29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on CAE from C$23.00 to C$26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. CAE currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$27.56.

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Shares of CAE traded up C$0.13, reaching C$26.70, during trading hours on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The company had a trading volume of 245,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 450,048. CAE has a 1-year low of C$19.57 and a 1-year high of C$27.10.

In other CAE news, insider Gennaro Colabatistto acquired 11,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$18.19 per share, with a total value of C$204,091.80. Also, insider Mark Hounsell sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$23.65, for a total value of C$40,205.00.

CAE Company Profile

CAE Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies simulation equipment worldwide. It operates in three segments: Civil Aviation Training Solutions, Defence and Security, and Healthcare. The Civil Aviation Training Solutions segment provides training solutions for flight, cabin, maintenance, and ground personnel in commercial, business, and helicopter aviation; flight simulation training devices; and ab initio pilot training and crew sourcing services.

Positive Press Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect Republic First Bancorp (FRBK) Share Price

Media headlines about Republic First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FRBK) have trended positive this week, Accern Sentiment reports. The research firm ranks the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Republic First Bancorp earned a news sentiment score of 0.30 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the bank an impact score of 45.3528308922321 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.

Shares of Republic First Bancorp traded down $0.05, reaching $8.70, during mid-day trading on Friday, according to Marketbeat.com. 134,089 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 159,081. Republic First Bancorp has a 52 week low of $8.00 and a 52 week high of $9.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $511.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.09 and a beta of 0.92.

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Republic First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FRBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Republic First Bancorp had a return on equity of 2.64% and a net margin of 9.28%. The company had revenue of $22.65 million during the quarter.

Separately, BidaskClub downgraded Republic First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st.

About Republic First Bancorp

Republic First Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Republic First Bank that provides a range of credit and depository banking products and services to individuals and businesses primarily in Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. It offers consumer and commercial deposit, checking, interest-bearing demand, money market, savings, sweep, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.

Which Is the Best Hemophilia Stock to Buy Now?

Treatment options for hemophilia have improved a great deal recently and could get a whole lot better. Expensive, time-consuming clotting factor transfusions aren't going away entirely, but new therapies from several companies are about to dramatically reduce their necessity.

It's commendable to develop rare disease treatments that are so effective, some might call them "cures," but that hardly guarantees market-beating returns. Let's look into three companies with a hand in next-generation hemophilia treatments to see which has the best chance of coming out ahead.

Company Market Capitalization Trailing-12-month Revenue

Roche (NASDAQOTH:RHHBY)	$188.6 billion	$56.5 billion
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)	$15.6 billion	$1.38 billion
Spark Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ONCE)	$3.0 billion	$26.4 million

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

Roche: A big player with a head start

Last November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Hemlibra for hemophilia A patients, but only those with inhibitors to standard clotting factor replacement treatments.�That's why Roche's latest major drug to launch generated just $23 million in sales during the first quarter.

Sales of the weekly injection are expected to peak at around $5 billion annually, but it needs to earn an approval to treat hemophilia A patients who�don't have factor VIII inhibitors, as well. Based on some recent trial results, a greenlight from the FDA to treat the wider population is widely expected. A stunning 33 of 35 patients taking Hemlibra every other week experienced between zero and three bleeds on an annualized basis. Just 1 out of 18 patients in the placebo group achieved the same goal.

Down the road, Roche's Hemlibra could run into trouble from experimental gene therapies making their way through clinical trials, but cautious investors still can find reasons to appreciate this big pharma stock. A multiple sclerosis drug it launched in 2017, Ocrevus, already hit an annualized $1.9 billion run rate in the first quarter of 2018.

Image source: Getty Images.

I think peak annual Ocrevus sales eventually will top $6 billion, and Hemlibra also could be a big contributor for at least a few years. That will go a long way to offset impending losses to sales of the company's top-selling cancer therapies.

Aging cancer therapies will give Roche an uphill battle in the years ahead, but it's the only company in this list with reliable profits at the moment. If shares of the pharmaceuticals and diagnostics giant happen to tumble, you'll still receive a dividend that offers a 3.8% yield at the moment.

Spark Therapeutics: Watch this runner-up

Investors want to keep an eye on Spark Therapeutics in the quarters ahead. Through a partnership with�Pfizer, this biotech is developing a one-time hemophilia treatment that could cost a heap of cash upfront but save insurers a bundle down the road.�

Spark and Pfizer's candidate SPK-9001 takes aim at the much smaller hemophilia B indication using a virus and DNA to help patients produce vital clotting factors on their own, and it's produced impressive results with a single dose. All 15 participants given the treatment in an early-stage trial have discontinued routine clotting factor infusions with the average patient-observation period lasting more than 14 months. Moreover, none of these patients experienced any treatment-related adverse events.

Spark has the distinction of earning the first approval for an adenovirus-delivered therapy. The FDA greenlighted Spark's Luxturna for the treatment of a rare eye disease in December, and it still is too early to tell whether its commercial launch will succeed. Just three patients were administered the $850,000 treatment during the first quarter, and if it doesn't pick up the pace soon, the stock's $3 billion market cap could take a tumble.�

BioMarin Pharmaceutical: A midsized favorite

Biomarin doesn't have a dividend or profits, but it's producing significant revenue from a stable of rare disease drugs that have put up some impressive growth recently. The company expects an approval decision for its seventh drug�pegvaliase�any moment now, and an eighth could be a big winner in hemophilia A.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company's hemophilia candidate valoctocogene roxaparvovec also makes use of an engineered virus to deliver a one-time treatment that has shown impressive results. Two years after receiving a single dose during an early-stage trial, a majority of patients exhibited factor VIII activity at 46% or higher, which is awfully impressive when you consider 50% is considered normal for patients without hemophilia.

Perhaps coincidentally, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently signaled a willingness to use a biomarker, such as changes in clotting factor activity, to support an approval rather than wait years for trials to generate annual bleeding-episode data.

At recent prices, BioMarin trades at around 10.4 times this year's revenue expectations of between $1.47 billion and $1.53 billion. A successful launch for pegvaliase and valrox could help the company more than double total sales within several years, making this the best hemophilia stock to buy right now.

$1.16 EPS Expected for Dell Technologies (DVMT) This Quarter

Brokerages forecast that Dell Technologies (NYSE:DVMT) will post earnings of $1.16 per share for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Zero analysts have issued estimates for Dell Technologies’ earnings. Dell Technologies reported earnings of $1.12 per share during the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year over year growth rate of 3.6%. The business is expected to report its next quarterly earnings report before the market opens on Monday, June 4th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Dell Technologies will report full year earnings of $5.76 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $5.40 to $6.11. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the firm will post earnings of $6.39 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $5.90 to $6.87. Zacks’ EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow Dell Technologies.

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Dell Technologies (NYSE:DVMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 8th. The company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $21.94 billion during the quarter. Dell Technologies had a positive return on equity of 23.17% and a negative net margin of 4.74%.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DVMT. Zacks Investment Research cut Dell Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 14th. ValuEngine cut Dell Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut Dell Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Co began coverage on Dell Technologies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank began coverage on Dell Technologies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Accident Compensation Corp boosted its holdings in Dell Technologies by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Accident Compensation Corp now owns 44,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,639,000 after buying an additional 6,805 shares during the last quarter. BBT Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dell Technologies by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. BBT Capital Management LLC now owns 195,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,857,000 after buying an additional 48,902 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Dell Technologies by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 68,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,596,000 after buying an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Dell Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 432,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,141,000 after buying an additional 13,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dalton Investments LLC bought a new position in Dell Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $3,081,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 22.55% of the company’s stock.

Shares of DVMT stock opened at $82.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of -0.45. Dell Technologies has a 12 month low of $59.92 and a 12 month high of $92.40.

About Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies Inc designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Client Solutions Group (CSG), Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG), and VMware. The CSG segment offers hardware, such as desktop personal computers, notebooks, and workstations; and branded peripherals, including monitors and projectors; third-party software and peripherals; and attached software, peripherals, and services comprising support and deployment, configuration, and extended warranty services.

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Carlyle��s David Rubenstein Builds a Family Office With Ambitions Beyond the Family

David Rubenstein’s love of historical documents runs deep. The billionaire co-founder of Carlyle Group LP owns a copy of the Magna Carta from 1297, a rare facsimile of the Declaration of Independence and an Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln.

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David Rubenstein

Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

When it came time for Rubenstein, 68, to name his family office, he dubbed it Declaration Capital. He created the firm last year as he stepped back from his role as co-chief executive officer of Carlyle and became co-executive chairman.

The former White House staffer who became a leveraged-buyout legend will directly oversee Declaration Capital. He’s also funded an affiliate called Declaration Partners, which has wider ambitions.

He recruited Brian Frank, a former money manager at Michael Dell’s MSD Partners, to run the unit targeting venture, growth and family-owned businesses, areas that wouldn’t directly overlap with Carlyle, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. The firm may ultimately seek outside capital beyond Rubenstein’s fortune.

The staff includes Rubenstein’s daughter, Alexa Rachlin, who did a four-year stint in private wealth management at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and was an investment director at Cambridge Associates, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Rubenstein declined to comment through a Carlyle spokesman, and Frank didn’t reply to a message seeking comment.

Business Titans

Family offices are increasingly common for the ultra-wealthy to manage their fortunes and take care of their personal needs. Rubenstein, who’s worth $2.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is one of the most active philanthropists in the U.S. and hosts a Bloomberg Television show interviewing world leaders and business titans.

Family offices can present challenges for private equity and other investment professionals. They “need to be sensitive to potential conflicts of interest,” said R. Scott Beach, head of the family office practice at law firm Day Pitney. “They should invest in strategies, assets or sectors that they don’t follow in their funds.”

Bill Ackman invited scrutiny when Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., a company he championed at the helm of his hedge fund, acquired Sprout Pharmaceuticals, a private venture funded by his family office. Some executives with active family offices have been confronted by investors questioning how much time they’re devoting to their funds.

To avoid any potential conflicts of interest, Declaration will have to get approval from Carlyle on transactions. Declaration has completed about 10 deals, a person with knowledge of the matter said. In April, it took part in a $50 million funding round for Workfusion, a company that develops intelligent automation software.

Rubenstein founded Carlyle in 1987 with Bill Conway and Dan D’Aniello, and the trio initially backed the venture with $5 million. They built the Washington-based company into one of the world’s largest managers of alternative assets -- a pioneer in leveraged buyouts that’s expanded globally into credit, real estate, energy and infrastructure investments.

One of its most successful investments was a buyout of DuPont Co.’s auto-paint business in 2013. Carlyle made $4.5 billion, its second-biggest profit ever on the deal, and an annualized return of 80 percent. The gains were second only to the firm’s investments in China Pacific Insurance Group Co. from 2005 to 2007.

See also: Carlyle said to make 80% return on Beats

Rubenstein and Conway announced in October that they were ceding their roles as co-CEOs to Glenn Youngkin and Kewsong Lee at the start of this year, passing on control of the $201 billion firm to the next generation.

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Engineers Gate Manager LP Sells 35,541 Shares of Party City Holdco (PRTY)

Engineers Gate Manager LP decreased its position in shares of Party City Holdco (NYSE:PRTY) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 35,541 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Party City Holdco were worth $856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PRTY. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Party City Holdco by 13.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,706 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Party City Holdco by 5.7% in the third quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 102,992 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 5,587 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Party City Holdco by 40.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 6,530 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Party City Holdco by 26.3% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,039 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Party City Holdco by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 61,833 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 6,917 shares during the period.

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In other news, Director Gerald C. Rittenberg sold 239,000 shares of Party City Holdco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.38, for a total transaction of $3,675,820.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder H. Lee Equity Fund Vi Thomas sold 12,000,000 shares of Party City Holdco stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $180,000,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.47% of the company’s stock.

PRTY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase cut Party City Holdco from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, March 19th. Zacks Investment Research cut Party City Holdco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 14th. Stephens restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Party City Holdco in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. ValuEngine cut Party City Holdco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Party City Holdco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $17.50 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.29.

Party City Holdco stock opened at $14.35 on Wednesday. Party City Holdco has a 12-month low of $9.50 and a 12-month high of $17.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 2.18.

Party City Holdco (NYSE:PRTY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 9th. The specialty retailer reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.05. Party City Holdco had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $507.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $502.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. equities analysts anticipate that Party City Holdco will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Party City Holdco

Party City Holdco Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sources, and distributes party supplies in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Retail and Wholesale. It offers paper and plastic tableware, metallic and latex balloons, Halloween and other costumes, accessories and novelties, stationery, and decorations.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PRTY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Party City Holdco (NYSE:PRTY).

Head to Head Contrast: KB Home (KBH) & Century Communities (CCS)

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) are both construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

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KB Home has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Century Communities has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for KB Home and Century Communities, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KB Home	5	10	1	0	1.75
Century Communities	0	0	6	0	3.00

KB Home presently has a consensus price target of $30.07, indicating a potential upside of 13.29%. Century Communities has a consensus price target of $36.92, indicating a potential upside of 18.70%. Given Century Communities’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Century Communities is more favorable than KB Home.

Dividends

KB Home pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Century Communities does not pay a dividend. KB Home pays out 5.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares KB Home and Century Communities’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KB Home	$4.37 billion	0.53	$180.59 million	$1.85	14.35
Century Communities	$1.41 billion	0.66	$50.29 million	$2.87	10.84

KB Home has higher revenue and earnings than Century Communities. Century Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KB Home, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares KB Home and Century Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KB Home	2.15%	11.16%	4.11%
Century Communities	3.87%	12.68%	5.19%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.4% of KB Home shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Century Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.6% of KB Home shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of Century Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Century Communities beats KB Home on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KB Home

KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, and active adult homebuyers. The company also provides property and casualty insurance, as well as earthquake, flood, and personal property insurance to its homebuyers; title services; and mortgage banking services, including residential mortgage loan originations to its homebuyers. It has operations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, The company was formerly known as Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation and changed its name to KB Home in January 2001. KB Home was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Century Communities

Century Communities, Inc. engages in the development, design, construction, marketing, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in metropolitan areas in California, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It is also involved in the entitlement and development of the underlying land; and the provision of mortgage services and title services to its home buyers. The company sells homes through its sales representatives, as well as through independent real estate brokers. Century Communities, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Entegris (ENTG) Trading Down 7.2%

Shares of Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG) dropped 7.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $34.15 and last traded at $34.20. Approximately 2,094,599 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 109% from the average daily volume of 1,004,556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.85.

ENTG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Craig Hallum upgraded Entegris from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Entegris in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Dougherty & Co increased their price objective on Entegris from $36.00 to $37.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. ValuEngine upgraded Entegris from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Entegris from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.27.

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The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.42.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. Entegris had a return on equity of 23.26% and a net margin of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $367.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts expect that Entegris will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Entegris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.44%.

In related news, SVP Gregory Bryan Marshall sold 5,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.42, for a total value of $182,606.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Corey Rucci sold 5,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.43, for a total value of $208,816.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 335,754 shares of company stock valued at $11,317,780 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Entegris in the 1st quarter worth $229,000. Zeke Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Entegris during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. CAPROCK Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Entegris during the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. First Republic Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Entegris during the 1st quarter worth about $247,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Entegris by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,016 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

About Entegris

Entegris, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies microcontamination control products, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials handling solutions for manufacturing processes in the semiconductor and other high-technology industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Specialty Chemicals and Engineered Materials (SCEM), Microcontamination Control (MC), and Advanced Materials Handling (AMH).

Kratos Defense Reports: Still Unprofitable, Still Promising Cash

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) has been promising investors for years that it is on the cusp of profitability, and could begin generating positive free cash flow in 2018.

It's not there yet -- but may be soon.

Drone maker Kratos may finally deliver some cash. Image source: Getty Images.

Promises, promises

In the company's Q1 2017 report, Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco clearly promised a "return to profitability in Q2 [2017]," for that profitability "to increase significantly [in the] second half of ... '17," to be followed by "significant revenue, profitability, and free cash flow increases in 2018."

Things didn't turn out that way.�Kratos earned no profits whatsoever in 2017, and its losses actually increased as the year progressed. Q4 2017's quarterly loss, for example, was nearly five times as large as the loss it incurred in Q4 2016. But is 2018 shaping up any better?

Let's take a look at Kratos' Q1 2018 earnings report, released last week, and find out.

Show us the money

In fiscal Q1, Kratos reported:

Sales growth of 8% compared to Q1 2017, good for $143 million in quarterly revenue. A $0.02-per-share net loss compared to last year's Q1 loss of $0.13 per share. Positive cash from operations of $6.5 million. Negative free cash flow of $0.02 million, after deducting $6.7 million in capital spending (up 31% from last year).

Despite a�GAAP�loss of $0.02 per share, Kratos argued that its adjusted earnings actually came out to a positive $0.05 per share and thus exceeded analysts' forecast for it to break even.�Kratos stock surged 7.4%�after reporting these results last Thursday (although it's given back some of those gains since).

All in all, it seems to have been a pretty fine report. For the first time in more than a year, Kratos has delivered on its promise of positive cash from operation. However, actual free cash flow eludes it and the promised drop-off in capital investment continues to elude management. The company's unmanned systems division, which seemed to be a bottomless pit into which Kratos poured capital expenditures over the past several quarters, began returning on that investment with a 78% year-over-year revenue growth rate, and now accounts for nearly 20% of Kratos' business. And Kratos' book-to-bill ratio hit 1.2, indicating continued strong sales growth in quarters to come.

What the future looks like

Kratos remains confident in its prospects. Concluding his remarks on Q1 earnings, DeMarco said Kratos is "laser-focused on operational execution, increasing Kratos' profit margins and increasing our cash flow."

Sales are expected to be down slightly in Q2 as a result of the sale of the company's public safety and securitybusiness, but DeMarco predicts "an extremely strong third and fourth quarter." According to the CEO, 2018 should end with revenue from the company's continuing operations rising about 7% from 2017 levels, to roughly $645 million, and full-year cash from operations turning positive for the first time since 2014 -- $35 million to $45 million.

Barring a big increase in capital expenditures, which no one is expecting, that should return Kratos to positive free cash flow territory for the first time since 2013 as well. For investors who resumed buying Kratos stock last week, that may be the best news of all.