All Star Analysts Portfolio Highlights: BJ Services, Caterpillar, Countrywide Financial, New York Community Bancorp.Business Editors CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2003 Zacks.com just released its latest additions and deletions to the coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. All Star Analyst portfolio. This exclusive portfolio represents all stocks with a Strong Buy rating from at least five analysts with a 5 Star All Star ranking. These are the brokerage analysts whose stock recommendations proved to be the most profitable for investors. In 2003 this portfolio has gained +22.1% outpacing the +9.4% rise of S&P 500. The members on the list are: BJ Services Company BJ Services Company (NYSE: BJS) is a Fortune 500 oil and gas equipment and services company with its headquarters located in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1872 as the Byron Jackson Company by inventor Byron Jackson. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BJS Noun 1. BJS - the agency in the Department of Justice that is the primary source of criminal justice statistics for federal and local policy makers Bureau of Justice Statistics ), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), Countrywide Financial Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) is a diversified financial marketing and service holding company engaged primarily in residential mortgage banking and related businesses. Corporation (NYSE:CFC CFC See: Controlled foreign corporation ), New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYB NYB Not Your Business ). View the entire list of stocks on the All Star Analyst portfolio at http://asaportfolio.zacks.com Here is a synopsis of why these stocks are on the All Star Analysts Portfolio: BJ Services Company (NYSE:BJS) is a leading provider of pressure pumping and other oilfield services serving the petroleum industry worldwide. In August, BJS announced that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment in the patent infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. lawsuit filed against Halliburton. The judgment of the trial court awarded BJ damages of $101 million and included a permanent injunction permanent injunction n. a final order of a court that a person or entity refrain from certain activities permanently or take certain actions (usually to correct a nuisance) until completed. prohibiting Halliburton from continuing to sell or offer for sale its competing system known as Phoenix. BJS reported net income of $49.5 million, or 31 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2003. This managed to beat the Street's estimates by a penny and was on the upper end of the company's guidance. With a positive outlook for the future, several top All Star analysts are recommending BJS to their clients. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. In Caterpillar's most recently reported quarter, the company posted a profit of $1.15 per share, which was almost +77% better than the consensus, on sales and revenues that reached a record $5.93 billion, which was +12% better than the year-ago performance. Over the past three months, earnings estimates for this year and next have improved by approximately +35% and +21% respectively, with analysts expecting next year's earnings result to be about +30% better than this year. Investors looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a profitable metamorphosis metamorphosis (mĕt'əmôr`fəsĭs) [Gr.,=transformation], in zoology, term used to describe a form of development from egg to adult in which there is a series of distinct stages. in their portfolio may want to look at Caterpillar. So far this year, CAT is up over +20% and a bunch of All Star analysts have taken notice. There still looks to be good potential to build bigger profits using CAT. Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE:CFC) is a diversified financial The diversified financial services segment includes a range of consumer and commercially-oriented companies offering a wide variety of products and services, including various lending products (such as home equity loans and credit cards), insurance, and securities and investment services provider. CFC announced that the average daily application volume was $1.8 billion in August 2003, which was an increase of +7% over August 2002. Loan fundings were $41 billion, which was +93% higher than August 2002. Year-to-date volume for eight months marked an all-time high of $325 billion, $74 billion more than the total fundings produced in calendar 2002. In July, CFC announced that net earnings for the second quarter reached $383 million, a gain of +17% over the prior quarter's record and more than double last year's second quarter. Earnings per diluted share set a new benchmark of $2.74, an increase of +12% over the first quarter's record of $2.44, and up +85% over the second quarter of 2002. The past two-and-a-half years have been a remarkable time for the mortgage industry and 2003 is on track to break all prior records, with forecasted industry origination volumes in the range of $3.3 to $3.7 trillion. By year-end 2003, CFC expects to achieve a 15% market share in loan originations and attain a $650 billion servicing portfolio. With growing numbers across the board, the second quarter of 2003 marks the company's ninth consecutive quarter of record earnings. Several top All Star analysts have shifted recommendations into the financial sector and CFC is one of those companies drawing the most attention. New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYB) reported second quarter 2003 net income of $71.8 million, up +23.4% from $58.1 million in the second quarter of 2002. The company also reported cash earnings of $84.6 million, or 62 cents per diluted share, for the current second quarter and $156.9 million, or $1.14 per diluted share, for the current six-month period. The company announced that their second quarter performance underscores four of the strengths of the institution: capacity to originate multi-family mortgage loans; the consistent quality of its assets during a time of economic uncertainty; the significant efficiency of their operations; and the success of their leveraged growth strategy. The second quarter was further highlighted by three events that illustrate the strength of NYB's performance. The first of these was the issuance of a 33.33% stock dividend in connection with a 4-for-3 stock split on May 21st. Secondly the company announced a +12% increase in their quarterly cash dividend payment. As a result, the dividend has increased 40% since the start of the year. The third event and the one that the company and several All Star analysts believe represents the greatest potential return to investors was the signing of a definitive merger agreement, on June 27th, with Roslyn Bancorp, Inc. With the economy turning around, NYB looks like money in the bank. Discover all the current All Star Analyst rankings and top analyst recommendations at http://allstarrank.zacks.com About Zacks All Star Analyst Survey Do you want to know which brokerage analysts are the best in their field and what stocks they're recommending today? Find out with the Zacks All Star Analyst survey. This exclusive survey, created with Fortune Magazine, reveals the "Best-of-Breed" brokerage analysts. They are the select group of winners from the universe of brokerage analysts - the ones who consistently beat the street - the few you should be following now. Visit the Zacks All Star Survey to find the best analysts and their top stock recommendations at http://bestofbreed.zacks.com Top recommendations from All Star Analysts Highlighted in FREE Investment Newsletter Each week, Zacks.com highlights investment insight and favorite recommendations from All Star Analysts and other leading investment experts. This is all part of our FREE e-mail See Internet e-mail service. newsletter, "Profit from the Pros." The only way to get these powerful insights is with a FREE subscription to the "Profit from the Pros" investment newsletter. 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These include brokers' commissions and spreads (the difference between the price the dealer paid for a security and the price they can sell it). , and represents the gross returns before management fees. Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. |
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