Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Johnson & Johnson, Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd., Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Owens-Illinois, Inc. and Corporate Executive Board Co.CHICAGO -- 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: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : JNJ JNJ Johnson and Johnson (stock symbol) JNJ Journal of Nursing Jocularity ), Harmony Gold "Harmony Gold" may refer to:
Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579 Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog: J&J: Fairly Priced Core Holding Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) revenue growth in the next few years will likely slow relative to 2007 as a number of products are expected to experience declining sales. Incremental Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged. Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost. earnings growth will come in the form of improving margins and share buybacks. Investment in J&J offers consistency, reliability, and perhaps safety in this volatile market. We consider the name a core holding. The company continues to contend with generic competition which will keep a lid on growth of its Pharmaceutical division over the next few years. Patents of schizophrenia drug Risperdal and epilepsy drug Topamax will expire in March 2009. The safety issues surrounding erythropoietin erythropoietin /eryth·ro·poi·e·tin/ (-poi´e-tin) a glycoprotein hormone secreted by the kidney in the adult and by the liver in the fetus, which acts on stem cells of the bone marrow to stimulate red blood cell production stimulating agents have also negatively affected sales of anemia drug Procrit. While the company has a number of late-stage candidates that are expected to be commercialized in the near-term, they will not begin to make a material impact until 2010 or 2011. Harmony Gold Cutting Costs Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY) is benefiting from higher gold prices. Going forward, Harmony is focused on reducing its overall operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales through its continuous operations agreement and the shutdown of loss-making shafts. The company is also reducing its headcount to control costs. As a result, we rate the shares a Hold with a target of $11.50. The company will sell Orkney shafts 2, 4, 7 and 60% interest in its Randfontein operations to Pamodzi Investment Holdings and U.S.-based equity firms First Reserve Corporation and AMCI AMCI Advanced Micro Controls Inc. AMCI Automotive Marketing Consultants, Inc. AMCI Air Mobility Command Instruction AMCI Associazione Italiana Medici Cattolici (Italian Association of Catholic Physicians) Capital. In order to optimize value from its low-priority assets, the company also entered into a sale agreement with African Precious Minerals. Philips Sees Some Biz Dragging Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (NYSE: PHG) reported slightly higher-than-expected revenue for the second quarter, as revenue recovered in the Medical Systems Division and there was strong growth in Lighting and Consumer Lifestyle. This led to the company over-performing our revenue estimates while higher gain on stake sale and a lower effective tax rate led to an earnings jump. The company has worked to improve its cost structure, as its EBITA EBITA Earnings Before Interest Taxes Amortization margins remained flat along with modest revenue performance despite the weaker-than-expected dollar. Owens-Illinois Making Progress Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) reported first quarter EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) A PostScript file format used to transfer a graphic image between applications and platforms. EPS files contain PostScript code as well as an optional preview image in TIFF, WMF, PICT or EPSI, the latter being an ASCII-only format. of $1.08, above our estimate of $0.80, on account of favorable currency translation, a higher-than-expected price recovery of manufacturing inflation and lower net interest expenses. The company saw double-digit glass container revenue growth across all geographic markets, except North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . The company derived the bulk of its revenue gains from currency translation and price recovery rather than volume. We believe OI will continue to focus on profitability over market share. Our target price is $46.00, which is around 10.2x our FY08 EPS estimate of $4.51. Corp. Executive Board Overvalued Overvalued A stock whose current price is not justified by the earnings outlook or price/earnings (P/E) ratio and thus, expected to drop in price. Overvaluation may result from an emotional buying spurt, which inflates the market price of the stock or from a deterioration in a We maintain our Sell rating on Corporate Executive Board Co. (Nasdaq: EXBD) before the release of second-quarter results on July 23. Given the current operating pressures, along with ongoing concerns regarding a slowing economy, we believe the shares should trade at a discount to the peer group average. We anticipate that the stock will underperform the market in the near term. The current outlook for 2008 remains challenging, and we have identified several concerns within the company's current operating statistics. On its year-end conference call, the management indicated that the current corporate budgeting environment in the U.S. is proving to be a hindrance hin·drance n. 1. a. The act of hindering. b. The condition of being hindered. 2. One that hinders; an impediment. See Synonyms at obstacle. in driving new revenue. Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649. About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis Qualitative Analysis Securities analysis that uses subjective judgment based on nonquantifiable information, such as management expertise, industry cycles, strength of research and development, and labor relations. 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. 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