CDW (CDW) Shares Bought by Cabot Wealth Management Inc.

Cabot Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in CDW (NASDAQ:CDW) by 1.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 101,702 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. CDW makes up approximately 1.6% of Cabot Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Cabot Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in CDW were worth $7,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in CDW by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,018 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in CDW by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 30,998 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in CDW by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 29,903 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. ETRADE Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CDW by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. ETRADE Capital Management LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in CDW by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Inc. now owns 11,093 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.94% of the company’s stock.

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Shares of CDW opened at $80.89 on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22. CDW has a 1 year low of $58.57 and a 1 year high of $81.66. The firm has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 1.08.

CDW (NASDAQ:CDW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The information technology services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. CDW had a return on equity of 69.59% and a net margin of 3.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. equities analysts expect that CDW will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 25th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 24th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. CDW’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.65%.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CDW. Zacks Investment Research lowered CDW from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CDW from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CDW in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. BidaskClub upgraded CDW from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on CDW from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.50.

In other news, Director Paul J. Finnegan sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total value of $176,652.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,384 shares in the company, valued at $954,063.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Neil B. Fairfield sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $51,982.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,255.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,673 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,721. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

About CDW

CDW Corporation provides integrated information technology (IT) solutions to business, government, education, and healthcare customers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It operates through three segments: Corporate, Small Business, and Public. The company offers discrete hardware and software products, as well as integrated IT solutions, including mobility, security, data center optimization, cloud computing, virtualization, and collaboration.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CDW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CDW (NASDAQ:CDW).

China Energy Misses Payment on Bond, Triggering Cross Default

China Energy Reserve & Chemicals Group Co. said it hasn’t paid a $350 million bond that matured earlier this month, in the latest example of China’s deleveraging campaign choking off financing for some companies.

The oil and gas producer, which has $1.8 billion of offshore notes outstanding, cited “tightening in credit conditions” for the default. The company plans to suspend this year’s interest payments on bonds due in 2021 and 2022 while it considers asset sales and seeks to restructure the notes, China Energy said in a filing that appeared on the Hong Kong exchange on May 27.

China Energy rose to prominence earlier this year when it pulled out of a $5.2 billion deal to buy a Hong Kong skyscraper from Li Ka-shing’s company, after making an unsuccessful bid for Australian oil and gas explorer AWE Ltd.

The company’s refinancing woes show China’s deleveraging efforts are taking a toll on funding for the corporate sector, particularly via a crackdown on shadow financing. The yield spread on three-year AA rated bonds, considered high-yield in China, over top-rated peers has risen 28 basis points this year to the highest since June 2017.

“The default adds to the jitters for China dollar bonds,” said Owen Gallimore, head of credit strategy at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. “Access to funding onshore has been restricted for some time and this is now starting to cause stress as companies need to refinance.”

Defaults Rise

The Chinese government is seeking to encourage market-based pricing for credit risk and is tolerating more bond failures. At least 14 publicly issued bonds defaulted in China’s domestic market so far this year, compared with 13 in the year-earlier period, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

READ: Man Group CEO Says China Bond Defaults Will Normalize the Market

China Energy’s payment default has triggered cross-defaults on other bonds of the oil and natural gas producer including $400 million of 5.55 percent dollar bonds due in 2021, and HK$2 billion ($255 million) of notes maturing in 2022, according to the company’s statement. Cross-default was also triggered on the company’s 2019 notes due in January and November, Lin Jianbang, an executive president at the company, told Bloomberg News on Monday.

The issuer of the 2018 bonds, a wholly owned subsidiary, has remitted accrued interest on those notes, the statement said.

No Payment

China Energy’s offshore unit had expected to receive funds to pay the $350 million principal on the 2018 bonds from onshore parent by noon Friday, but the money didn’t arrive by then, Lin told Bloomberg News Friday.

Lin also said the company was in talks with the trustee of its November 2019 bonds regarding a coupon payment due May 25 but said on Monday that the payment wasn’t made.

China Energy expects to continue its business operations as usual, and plans to sell assets to resolve its current cash flow difficulties, according to the statement. The company had cash and equivalents of 10.3 billion yuan as of the end of June last year, against short-term debt of 3.6 billion yuan and long-term debt of 17.9 billion yuan, according to a December 2017 bond prospectus.

This is what traders and analysts said about the default:

Anne Zhang, executive director for fixed income, currencies and commodities at JPMorgan Private Bank in Asia.

“This default shows onshore liquidity conditions are really tight and issuers can’t get funding from the market or banks. I expect investors in China’s bond market to have a tough time with more defaults this year. In the short term, industrial names are taking a hit in the offshore market.”

Anthony Leung, a Hong Kong-based senior analyst at Wells Fargo & Co.

"I think the key here is government stance of moving away from a blanket support. We are in the middle of the juncture of moving from the ‘who’s your daddy’ model to the "fittest survive" model, and volatility remains high. If we fully move into the latter model we are actually in a better place."

Steve Wang, a senior credit analyst at Citic CLSA Securities Co. in Hong Kong.

“It’s giving credit investors a real nightmare on trying to avoid land mines in the Chinese high yield space! Spooky signposts ahead: asset sale, coupon suspension, consensual restructuring - things that would appear in a Halloween theme park for bond investors. More and more funky rides are being installed.”

Todd Schubert, head of fixed-income research at Bank of Singapore.

"I think that this was a unique case and don’t view it as a sign of a systemic problem. Within Chinese corporates, I don’t see wide-spread trends such as difficulties accessing liquidity, massive over-leverage that would indicate a systemic crises. There will always be companies that default for various problems even in the best of times."

Sandra Chow, Singapore-based senior analyst at research group CreditSights.

“While I doubt one catastrophic event will spook the whole market, these kind of headlines here and there do make people more cautious on Asia high-yield dollar bonds in general. I think it’s quite name-specific. The markets have been semi-expecting some events, in that sense you should take it in its stride.”

(An earlier version of this story was corrected to fix spelling of name in third paragraph, and a typographical error in the quote in last paragraph.)

— With assistance by Finbarr Flynn, Lianting Tu, Denise Wee, Carrie Hong, Narae Kim, and Judy Chen

(Updates with cash, and debt figures in 11th paragraph.) LISTEN TO ARTICLE 5:11 Share Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Send as an Email Print

Personal Capital Advisors Corp Sells 8,732 Shares of United Parcel Service (UPS)

Personal Capital Advisors Corp lessened its holdings in United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 279,188 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 8,732 shares during the quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $29,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,000. Massey Quick Simon & CO. LLC boosted its stake in United Parcel Service by 2,857.1% during the 1st quarter. Massey Quick Simon & CO. LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC bought a new position in United Parcel Service during the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,000. Finally, Resources Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in United Parcel Service by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Resources Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 53.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Shares of UPS stock opened at $115.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.84, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $99.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. United Parcel Service has a 52 week low of $101.45 and a 52 week high of $135.53.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 26th. The transportation company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $17.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.49 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 417.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. analysts forecast that United Parcel Service will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 18th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.57%.

In other news, SVP Teri P. Mcclure sold 4,500 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.80, for a total value of $480,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.42, for a total transaction of $170,130.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several research firms recently weighed in on UPS. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $79.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stephens reissued a “hold” rating and set a $126.00 price objective on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Monday, April 9th. Knight Equity lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Edward Jones raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.26.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

United Parcel Service, Inc provides letter and package delivery, specialized transportation, logistics, and financial services. It operates through three segments: U.S. Domestic Package, International Package, and Supply Chain & Freight. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.

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5 Key Takeaways From The New York Times' Earnings Call

The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) has been under additional scrutiny since the 2016 election as President Donald Trump continues to call out the flagship publication for what he deems "fake news." But the company is holding up under the spotlight, reporting quarterly revenue of $413.9 million, up from $398 million in the year-ago quarter.

The New York Times had tough comparisons this quarter considering it got a boost in subscribers at this time last year when the election had just ended and people were eager to keep up with the news through reputable sources. That explains why the Times�added fewer digital subscribers in the latest quarter --�139,000, compared with 348,000 a year earlier.�

But due to�new revenue streams and a rollback on discounts, the company's digital subscription revenue still rose 25.8% to $95.4 million. To get a better picture of how The New York Times Company is doing one year post-election, here are five key takeaways from its latest earnings call.�

The New York Times' chairman, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., and publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, are focusing on building additional revenue streams for the company. Image source: The New York Times.

1. The NYT is turning its attention to TV and film

The NYT was pleasantly surprised by the success of its daily news podcast The Daily, which debuted in February 2017 and now boasts 4.5 million unique listeners each month. The podcast has helped drive more traffic to its site, and the company believes it can use this same strategy with new film and TV projects.�

The New York Times' first feature film will center on how an all-female team at the�Times�broke the Harvey Weinstein story that made waves around the world when it was published in the fall of 2017. This follows the 2017 film centered on The Washington Post's investigative team, aptly named The Post, which made $175 million at the box office and was a nominee for a Best Picture Academy Award.�

The company is also working on an extended TV program called The Weekly that will take viewers behind the scenes of its newsroom.�FX landed the first-run North American rights to the program, while Hulu will have exclusive streaming rights to the program the day after episodes air.

2. The NYT claims it has a good relationship with Facebook

The journalism world has had a bumpy relationship with Facebook�this year after the social media platform made tweaks to its News Feed that caused a drop in traffic for a number of publishers.�

However, The�New York Times' management claims that recent conversations with Facebook indicate that while the latter wants less overall emphasis on news in the News Feed, it also wants to help promote trusted news sources over less reliable sources. Facebook specifically told them that it sees the Times as a trusted news source, NYT CEO Mark Thompson claimed on the earnings call. To that point, Thompson�said he actually believes the News Feed tweak could end up helping the paper's traffic.�

3. The NYT is renting out floors for additional revenue

In the past quarter, the New York Times reorganized its headquarters to free up more space for rental income. The company has already signed leases for 4.5 floors and expects the rental income from these agreements to show in the second quarter under "Other" revenue. By the end of the year, the New York Times expects to be reporting rental income from the additional 3.5 free floors.�

4. The NYT expects a boost from upcoming midterms

The 2016 election gave The New York Times a meaningful boost in subscribers, and the company is hoping to capitalize on the same thirst for trusted news sources during this year's midterm elections. The NYT COO�Meredith Levien�said she's expecting a vigorous new cycle of subscription signups at the end of 2018 and into the start of 2019.��

5. The NYT's cooking, crossword offerings are doing well

The Times added 99,000 subscribers to its basic digital news product, as well as 40,000 subscribers to its Crosswords and Cooking offerings. That made for a grand total of more than 3.7 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, across the print and digital businesses.�

The NYT Cooking subscription was announced about a year ago, in June 2017. For $5 every four weeks, subscribers have unlimited access to more than 18,000 recipes from past and present New York Times food writers. The NYT Crossword subscription costs about $20 annually for access to its daily puzzle, as well as all of the puzzles in its archive.�

These subscriptions are separate from the basic digital and print subscriptions, meaning they help the publication�gain new subscribers who just want to subscribe to its Crossword or Cooking products. And they're also a way to increase the average revenue per user as some of its print and digital subscribers opt to pay for access to these add-on subscriptions.�

General Mills' 30% Upside Looks Appetizing

Top brands that command premium pricing and customer loyalty can create significant competitive advantages over peers. General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) offers a portfolio of leading brands and recently acquired high-growth pet food leader Blue Buffalo. Center-store weakness persists, but trading at 5-year lows and showing nearly 30 percent upside General Mills looks attractive for value investors. The Power of a Brand

When Warren Buffett began practicing Benjamin Graham's style of value investing, he didn't give much thought to brands or business quality. Graham's net-net strategy (stocks selling for less than net current assets) inherently provided the margin of safety that value investors require.

It was only when Charlie Munger introduced Buffett to the idea of the power of brands that Buffett tweaked his style. One of Buffett's well-known successes with the investment shift was See's Candies. To understand the power of See's brand, Buffett once explained:

"If you give your girlfriend See's Candy and she kisses you, we've got you for life."

Later, Buffett recognized a similar brand loyalty from The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) customer:

"If you gave me $100 billion and said take away the soft drink leadership of Coca-Cola in the world, I'd give it back to you and say it can't be done."

That degree of brand power is rare, of course. Still, searching for solid brands at an attractive stock price was how Buffett evolved as a value investor.

Today's value investors might consider consumer packaged foods leader General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS). General Mills offers a portfolio of well-known brands and finbox.io valuation models show nearly 30 percent upside.

The General Mills Business Model

General Mills' generated $15.6 billion in consolidated net sales with an additional $1.0 billion from its proportionate share of joint venture net sales ($0.8 billion from Cereal Partners Worldwide and $0.2 billion from Häagen-Dazs Japan). The company is managed under four operating segments: North America Retail (65 percent fiscal 2017 net sales), Convenience Stores & Foodservice (12 percent), Europe & Australia (12 percent) and Asia & Latin America (11 percent). Products are split among five global categories including snacks, ready-to-eat cereal, convenient meals, yogurt, and super-premium ice cream:

Source: General Mills 2017 Annual Report

General Mills sells its products through retail stores and supplies products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries. Popular brands include Cheerios, Wheaties, Betty Crocker, Green Giant, Pillsbury, Haagen-Dazs, and Yoplait. Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) represented 20 percent of the company's 2017 consolidated net sales and 29 percent of its North America Retail segment.

Latest Quarterly Results, "Moat" Analysis, and Growth Outlook

Third-Quarter Results

In its third quarter, General Mills posted a 1 percent increase in organic net sales and net sales increased 2 percent to $3.9 billion. The North America Retail unit sales were up 1 percent compared to the previous year. Results were helped by the Canada operating unit (6 percent increase), U.S. snacks (3 percent), and U.S. Meals & Baking (2 percent), but were pressured by U.S. Yogurt (-8 percent) and cereal (-1 percent).

Management cited increases in freight and commodity costs as weighing on its adjusted diluted EPS of $0.79 (an 8 percent increase in constant currency). To help offset these costs, strategic initiatives include increasing freight carriers and alternative transportation as well as optimizing the distribution network and its administrative structure.

The General Mills "Moat"

As management works to trim costs, General Mills' strong lineup of brands and wide scale look to continue to give it a competitive advantage over peers. Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are all top-5 leading brands in ready-to-eat cereal. Leading brands including Old El Paso, Haagen-Dazs, Yoplait, and Pillsbury round out the rest of General Mills' categories. The quality of these brands can command pricing power and superior shelf space over peers. General Mills' wide distribution lowers unit costs versus smaller peers and its larger scale helps to maximize advertising's impact. In all, it seems General Mills has built a significant competitive advantage versus its peers.

Sources of Growth

This isn't to say that General Mills and other packaged food companies aren't facing challenges. Center-store weakness (as customers move to fresher foods on the perimeter) has taken its toll. To compensate, management plans to reinvest in its brands and new products. Its acquisition of Blue Buffalo, while at a premium price, should also provide some support to top-line growth while supporting General Mills' overall moat. Blue Buffalo is the leader (30 percent+ market share) in the U.S. pet food's wholesome natural segment with 12 percent sales growth and a 25 percent EBITDA margin. Also helping margins is management's targeting of $750 million in annual savings (including $50 million Blue Buffalo synergies).

Estimating Generals Mills' Intrinsic Value

While Buffett moved on from Graham's net-net strategy to buying quality brands, he still required his investments to trade at a reasonable discount, or margin of safety. Buffett held over this principle to provide protection against unfavorable business developments.

So does General Mills offer much in the way of a margin of safety? It sure looks like it. Wall Street analysts expect low single-digit revenue growth to ramp up into the high-single digits with steady EBITDA margin expansion:

Source: General Mills 5-Year DCF Model, finbox.io

Incorporating these projections across nine finbox.io valuation models generates an average fair value of $53.53 per share. That estimate implies nearly 30 percent upside to current trading levels:

Source: finbox.io

That's more upside compared to General Mills' direct peers and its dividend yield also compares favorably:

Risks:

Greater-than-expected weakness in the center store could weigh on General Mills' top line. Volatile commodity costs and increased competition from incumbents and smaller players also pose risks. The Blue Buffalo integration and capturing the targeted $50M in synergies could also prove challenging.

General Mills Conclusion:

With a portfolio of leading brands and a recent acquisition of another, General Mills offers the high-quality brands that value investors seek out. Though customers have prioritized perimeter store offerings of late, brand reinvestment and new product development look to support the top line. With a 4.7 percent dividend yield and 30 percent upside, it's time value investors give General Mills another look.

Photo Credit: General Mills 2017 Annual Report

Author: Andy Pai

Expertise: financial modeling, mergers & acquisitions

Andy is also a founder at finbox.io, where he's focused on building tools that make it faster and easier for investors to do investment research. Andy's background is in investment banking where he led the analysis on over 50 board advisory engagements involving mergers and acquisitions, fairness opinions and solvency opinions. Some of his board advisory highlights:

Sears Holdings Corp.'s $620 mm spin-off via rights offering of Sears Outlet, Hometown Stores and Sears Hardware Stores. Cerberus Capital Management's $3.3 bn acquisition of SUPERVALU Inc.'s New Albertsons, Inc. assets.

Andy can be reached at andy@finbox.io.

As of this writing, I did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities and this is not a buy or sell recommendation on any security mentioned.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018

tags:EMR,IBM,RCII,SIRI,USG,WEN,XPO,UNH,GD,PH,

For a stock only a couple of weeks removed from a 17-year high, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has had some bad news this year. INTC stock has plunged twice already in 2018 — first when long-running chip flaws were disclosed and then off the loss of a key customer. Despite those moves, however, Intel stock still is up, about 9% so far this year.

That comes on the back of 27%+ gains in 2017, all of which came in the fourth quarter of the year. All told, a stock that looked like dead money seven months ago has gained more than 40% since.

But at this point, I think it’s time to take profits. INTC stock remains reasonably cheap, and the company still is grinding out growth. The chip space has taken a modest hit of late, but still is on a multi-year bull run led by high flyers like Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU). With Intel much less reliant on the PC business, I can see the case for Intel stock, particularly after a recent pullback to $51.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: Emerson Electric Company(EMR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 574,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,640 shares during the period. Emerson Electric makes up about 0.8% of D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $39,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Benzinga News Desk]

  Former President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized in Houston with an infection, just after attending the funeral of his wife, Barbara, a spokesman said Monday: Link

  ECONOMIC DATA Redbook Reports US Retail Sales During First 2 Weeks Of Apr. Up 0.3% MoM, Up 2.8% YoY USA S&P/CaseShiller House Price Index (MoM) for Feb Up 0.7% MoM New home sales report for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board’s consumer sentiment index for April is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET. The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET. ANALYST RATINGS Leerink upgraded Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) from Market Perform to Outperform Berenberg upgraded Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) from Sell to Hold Mizuho downgraded Skyworks (NASDAQ: SWKS) from Buy to Neutral BMO downgraded Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) from Outperform to Market Perform

  This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Analysts at Berenberg upgraded Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) from Sell to Hold.

  Emerson Electric shares fell 0.43 percent to close at $69.90 on Monday.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the headlines that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

  Get Emerson Electric alerts: Stocks This Week: Wells Fargo, Emerson Electric and CSX (finance.yahoo.com) Emerson Electric (EMR) & Philips (PHG) Financial Review (americanbankingnews.com) Emerson Electric (EMR) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages (americanbankingnews.com) Is It Time To Buy Emerson Electric Co (NYSE:EMR)? (finance.yahoo.com) Emerson Electric: An Autonomous Future (seekingalpha.com)

  EMR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Emerson Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. UBS initiated coverage on shares of Emerson Electric in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.26 price objective on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Emerson Electric in a research note on Wednesday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of Emerson Electric from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 24th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Emerson Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Flippin Bruce & Porter Inc. decreased its holdings in Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) by 33.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33,574 shares during the quarter. Flippin Bruce & Porter Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $4,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,015 shares during the quarter. Emerson Electric makes up approximately 2.4% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $7,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Wednesday was International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) which traded up 3.02% at $154.37 in a 52-week range of $139.13 to $176.33. Volume of about 3.6 million shares was about 30% below the daily average. The company had no specific news.

• [By Wayne Duggan]

  In 1983, IBM Common Stock (NYSE: IBM) released the IBM PC XT. Hurricane Alicia hit the Gulf Coast of Texas, killing 21 people. Federal Reserve interest rates were 11 percent.

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  Even if spending growth decelerates thereafter, it's unlikely to go to zero. Thus, Netflix might need to double its revenue again (to around $60 billion) just to reach $10 billion of annual free cash flow. For comparison, International Business Machines�(NYSE:IBM) has a slightly lower market cap than Netflix today and has produced at least $10 billion of cash flow every year for more than a decade.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  AerCap (NYSE: AER) and Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.36, but opened at $9.43. Rent-A-Center shares last traded at $9.54, with a volume of 375675 shares changing hands.

• [By ]

  Engaged Capital maintained large positions in Rent-A-Center (RCII) , TiVo (TIVO) , Hain Celestial (HAIN) , SunOpta and Jamba Inc. (JMBA) , all companies that have either previously been targeted by Welling or currently are in his cross-hairs.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: Sirius XM Radio Inc.(SIRI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  The market didn't exactly jump for joy with Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ:SIRI)�following its first-quarter results on Wednesday. Revenue rose 6.3% to hit $1.375 billion, in line with analyst expectations but the satellite radio provider's weakest top-line growth since 2011.�Free cash flow, operating cash flow, and earnings grew even faster, up 31%, 34%, and 40%, respectively. Sirius XM's profit of $0.06 a share did beat Wall Street's bottom-line target.��

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  There are two ways to buy into the country's lone provider of satellite radio, and one Wall Street pro thinks you should consider the road less traveled. Buckingham analyst Matthew Harrigan is downgrading shares of Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ:SIRI) on Monday, lowering his rating from buy to neutral.�

• [By Chris Hill]

  Lastly, the Fools answer a classic question from a listener: "When should an investor start taking profits on a multibagger stock? Or should he just hold on forever?" Since the answer to this depends a lot on the company, they both talk generally and address the case of the listener's stock --�Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI)�-- which is up around 500% since he bought it.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  In this segment from�MarketFoolery, host Chris Hill, Motley Fool One's Jason Moser, and Stock Advisor Canada's Taylor Muckerman consider an individual case of a common question for investors: When you have a stock that has become a big winner, should you hold on tight until you need the money, or sell to lock in some profits, and reinvest them elsewhere? There's certainly no single right answer, but the question is always a good one to ask. The response depends on the context of the individual company, so the Fools tailor their take this time to the outlook for Sirius XM�(NASDAQ:SIRI).

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: USG Corporation(USG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jordan Wathen]

  As USG Corporation (NYSE:USG) drags its feet on an offer to sell the company for $42 per share, Berkshire intends to use its 30.8% ownership stake to motivate its top brass to make a deal. Berkshire told Bloomberg it intends to vote its shares against USG's board members who are up for re-election at this year's annual meeting, a clear message that Buffett is ready to cash in, even if USG's management and board are not.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of USG (NYSE:USG) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

  A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of USG from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, April 27th. Jefferies Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of USG in a research note on Monday, April 23rd. SunTrust Banks boosted their target price on shares of USG from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 17th. Buckingham Research boosted their target price on shares of USG from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 16th. Finally, Nomura boosted their target price on shares of USG from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.00.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Warren Buffett likes to hold his stock positions for the long run, and his experience with USG (NYSE:USG) has been typical of his other long-term investments. The Oracle of Omaha started buying shares of the manufacturer of Sheetrock drywall and other building materials back in 2000, accumulating a sizable stake that has ballooned to more than 30% of the company. USG ended up going through bankruptcy in order to get a handle on its asbestos liability claims, but thanks largely to Buffett's involvement, the building materials company not only survived bankruptcy but also saw share prices soar briefly on hopes that USG would once again fully participate in the then-strong housing boom.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc.(WEN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) , Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) , Dunkin Brands (DNKN) and Wendy's (WEN) .

  Cramer was bearish on Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Univar (UNVR) .

• [By Lisa Levin]

   

  Companies Reporting After The Bell Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $1.22 per share on revenue of $5.72 billion. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $1.04 per share on revenue of $5.68 billion. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $1.68 per share on revenue of $14.05 billion. Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.62 per share on revenue of $441.73 million. Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: JAZZ) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $2.77 per share on revenue of $434.87 million. Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.89 per share on revenue of $6.38 billion. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE: LTM) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.16 per share on revenue of $2.70 billion. Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ: LBTYA) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.02 per share on revenue of $4.05 billion. TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.16 per share on revenue of $362.11 million. The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ: WEN) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.1 per share on revenue of $379.98 million. A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRK) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.06 per share on revenue of $1.69 billion. Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.4 per share on revenue of $849.38 million. Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.4 per share on revenue of $670.10 million. ScanSource, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCSC) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.7 per share on revenue of $875.91 million. KAR Auction Services, Inc. (NYSE: KAR) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.76 per share on revenue of $923.13
• [By ]

  Throughout its history, Starbucks has mostly had a company-owned model for its retail locations, a strategy that is at odds with a trend of activist investors pushing fast food, restaurant and coffee companies to franchise locations out to raise cash for stock buybacks and debt reduction. In recent years, activists have targeted Jamba Juice (JMBA) , Potbelly (PBPB) , Jack in the Box (JACK) , Wendys Co. (WEN) , McDonald's (MCD) and elsewhere. In addition, Starbucks has a one-share, one-vote structure, which can make it vulnerable to an activist investor seeking to elect dissident director candidates as it pursued the strategy.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Argus in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. They currently have a $16.34 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price target of $19.00.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: Express-1 Expedited Solutions Inc.(XPO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Paychex (PAYX) , Martin Marietta Materials (MLM) and XPO Logistics (XPO) .

  Cramer was bearish on 3M (MMM) , Fitbit (FIT) and Granite Construction (GVA) .

• [By ]

  In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) , XPO Logistics (XPO) , Diamondback Energy (FANG) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW) .

• [By Neha Chamaria]

  Right now, I believe Mastercard (NYSE:MA), Brookfield Renewable Partners�(NYSE:BEP), and XPO Logistics�(NYSE:XPO) fall right into place, because each stock has been a multibagger and has strong tailwinds behind it.

• [By ]

  TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer analyzes Thursday's trending stocks from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange including Macy's (M) , Amazon (AMZN) , Etsy (ETSY) , XPO Logistics (XPO) and Groupon (GRPN) . 

• [By Rich Duprey, Nicholas Rossolillo, and Maxx Chatsko]

  Yet finding the best stocks to buy and hold isn't easy. So to help get you started, we asked three Foolish investors to pick a growth stock that they believe investors would be wise to buy now and hold for the long term. Read on to learn why they like SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR), salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), and XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO).

• [By ]

  But then there's the little-known trucking company JB Hunt (JBHT) , which popped 6.1% because the company saw some surprise growth that no one was expecting. That news was so strong, FedEx (FDX) and XPO Logistics (XPO) also rose 2.2% and 4.6%.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated(UNH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Recently the managers removed AmerisourceBergen Corp (NYSE: ABC) and used the proceeds from the sale to increase the position they already held in Unitedhealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH).

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) has done an admirable job of navigating the ever-changing landscape of healthcare reform over the past several years. The company was slow to embrace the health insurance exchanges set out in the Affordable Care Act, and that helped leave UnitedHealth less vulnerable when the Trump administration sought to repeal and replace Obamacare. Even as many focused on the positives of tax reform, UnitedHealth had to find ways to navigate the return of the excise tax on health insurance premiums in 2018 without seeing a material negative impact to its bottom line.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) which traded up 1.67% at $242.25. The stock’s 52-week range is $166.65 to $250.79. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 3.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Monday was UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) which traded down 1.57% at $225.13. The stock’s 52-week range is $156.09 to $231.77. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3 million. The healthcare company had no specific news.

• [By JJ Kinahan]

  Going into earnings season, one school of thought was that investors might be concerned more about companies’ forward guidance in some cases than in Q1 results. There was worry that perhaps the recent market turmoil and fears of a possible trade war could dampen some S&P 500 firms’ expectations for what the near future might bring. It’s less than a week since earnings began and guidance could still represent a speed bump in coming weeks, but so far it hasn’t been a problem. For instance, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) raised fiscal year guidance Tuesday, and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) raised its revenue guidance. In other signs of general good cheer, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) raised its quarterly dividend, while Netflix (NFLX) reported big gains in subscriber growth. It’s still really early and things could change, but maybe some of those guidance fears could have been, shall we say, misguided? 

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: S&P GSCI(GD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  These are some of the headlines that may have effected Accern’s analysis:

  Get General Dynamics alerts: U.S. Air Force Awards General Dynamics Cloud Services Contract (finance.yahoo.com) General Dynamics (GD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts (americanbankingnews.com) America Desperately Needs More Submarines. And That Is Good News for General Dynamics. (yahoo.com) GD completes Hawker Pacific acquisition (janes.com) General Dynamics Unit Secures Work for Aircraft Computer System Repairs, Replacement (govconwire.com)

  Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $3.17 on Tuesday, reaching $199.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,149,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,029. General Dynamics has a 52-week low of $190.30 and a 52-week high of $230.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.84.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Riverhead Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) by 223.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,055 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,328 shares during the period. Riverhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By ]

  Only 10% of the companies on the list had female CEOs at the helm, four of which -- Hewlett Packard (HP) , Lockheed Martin (LMT) , General Motors (GM) , and General Dynamics (GD) -- grew significant revenue in five years or less. 

• [By ]

  Moreno was also upbeat on General Dynamics (GD) , which just made a bullish crossover, but felt that Raytheon had the best chart of them all.

  Cramer agreed, saying he's bullish on all of these names.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018: S&P Smallcap 600(PH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Eaton Vance Management lifted its holdings in shares of Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH) by 141.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 514,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 301,597 shares during the quarter. Eaton Vance Management’s holdings in Parker Hannifin were worth $88,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  ClariVest Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,773 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Parker Hannifin worth $20,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System reduced its position in Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,667 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned approximately 0.13% of Parker Hannifin worth $29,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Barings LLC decreased its holdings in Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH) by 36.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,937 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in Parker Hannifin were worth $4,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Parker Hannifin (PH)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Barings LLC decreased its holdings in Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH) by 36.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,937 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in Parker Hannifin were worth $4,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

SI Financial Group (SIFI) Getting Somewhat Favorable News Coverage, Study Finds

News articles about SI Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIFI) have been trending somewhat positive recently, Accern reports. Accern identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. SI Financial Group earned a media sentiment score of 0.03 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news stories about the savings and loans company an impact score of 47.0536892575283 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the next few days.

SI Financial Group traded up $0.10, hitting $14.80, during midday trading on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 100 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,338. SI Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $14.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $178.13 million, a PE ratio of 18.19 and a beta of 0.25.

Get SI Financial Group alerts:

SI Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The savings and loans company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. SI Financial Group had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $13.36 million for the quarter.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 7th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 4th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%.

In related news, insider Rheo A. Brouillard sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.52, for a total value of $52,272.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About SI Financial Group

SI Financial Group, Inc operates as the holding company for Savings Institute Bank and Trust Company that provides various financial services to consumers and businesses. Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing demand accounts, such as checking accounts; and interest-bearing accounts, including NOW and money market accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.