Category: Stock Market

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) surged almost 10% after the company said that preclinical study data results of its potential vaccine candidate showed “robust” neutralizing antibody and T cell immune responses against coronavirus.Shares rose 9.5% to $15.94 in midday U.S. trading. The value of the stock has this year gone up five-fold with investors excited about Inovio’s potential Covid-19 vaccine INO-4800. The vaccine drug candidate targets the major antigen Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19 disease."These positive preclinical results from our Covid-19 DNA vaccine not only highlight the potency of our DNA medicines platform, but also build on our previously reported positive Phase 1/2a data from our vaccine against the coronavirus that causes MERS, which demonstrated near-100% seroconversion and neutralization from a similarly designed vaccine INO-4700,” said Kate Broderick, Inovio's Senior VP of R&D. “The potent neutralizing antibody and T cell immune responses generated in multiple animal models are supportive of our currently on-going INO-4800 clinical trials."The study found that vaccination with INO-4800 generated robust binding and neutralizing antibody as well as T cell responses in mice and guinea pigs. What’s more Inovio now expects in June to receive preliminary safety and immune responses data from Phase 1 clinical trial.“We are planning to utilize these positive preclinical results along with our upcoming animal challenge data and safety and immune responses data from our Phase 1 studies to support rapidly advancing this summer to a large, randomized Phase 2/3 clinical trial,” said Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio’s President & CEO.Inovio is currently preparing to initiate a larger Phase 2 vaccine trial for INO-4700 in the Middle East where most MERS viral outbreaks have occurred. Phase 2/3 trial is now planned to start in July or August pending regulatory approval.Five-star analyst Jason McCarthy at Maxim Group this month raised his price target on the stock to $18 from $12 and maintained a Buy rating.“Inovio and its deep pipeline of DNA vaccines for infectious diseases, including other coronaviruses, has demonstrated safety and induced robust immune responses, more than any in the space, in our view,” McCarthy wrote in a note to investors. “Yet, from a valuation perspective INO lags its nucleic-acid vaccine peers MRNA and BNTX.The Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on Inovio, with a Moderate Buy consensus based on 4 Buys and 3 Holds. As share prices have skyrocketed so quickly, the $14.14 average analyst price target now indicates more than 10% downside potential. (See Inovio stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million Moderna Spikes 21% Amid “Positive” Early-Stage Covid-19 Vaccine Data AstraZeneca-Merck Lynparza Prostate Cancer Treatment Gets FDA Approval More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Clorox Bumps Up Dividend By 5%; Shares Rise In Pre-Market * Urban Outfitters Reports Slow Quarter, Predicts More Dramatic Sales Decline in Upcoming Quarter * Facebook Canada Faces C$9 Million Fine Over ‘False’ Privacy Claims * Revance Acquires HintMD In All-Stock Deal, Analyst Praises Bold Step Forward

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With unemployment rising to 15%, and the grim corporate earnings seasons wrapping up, investors may struggle to keep up the relatively buoyant mood that has boosted markets in recent weeks. Writing from JPMorgan, global market strategist Samantha Azzarello has commented on the apparent performance disconnect between the markets and the economy. “I think the volatility right now is tied to a bunch of different things whether we’re going up or going down — right it’s vaccine news, it’s treatment news, it’s Jay Powell speaking… I still think though there’s a little bit of a disconnect between the real side of the economy and what’s happening with the macro data, in particular the labor market…”It’s a situation tailor made for defensive stocks. High-yield dividend plays are getting lots of love from Wall Street’s corps of stock analysts, and are showing high upside potential as investors move toward them. These are the stocks that pad a portfolio, providing an income stream capable of compensating for low share appreciation. Using TipRanks database, we’ve found three low-cost dividend plays that are yielding 10% or better. If that's not enough, all three received enough support from Wall Street analysts to earn a “Strong Buy” consensus rating.Starwood Property Trust (STWD)We’ll start with a real estate investment trust, a safe place to look for high-yield dividends. These companies are required by tax codes to return a certain percentage of profits and earnings directly to shareholders, and dividend payments are the common method. Starwood, which both originates and invests in commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate debt investments and instruments, is typical of the niche, as shown by the 90% dividend payout ratio.Starwood posted strong Q1 beat recently. Earnings came in at 53 cents against a 46-cent forecast. The 15% earnings beat came in a quarter when most companies were struggling to cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and reports of steep misses were common.The solid earnings have supported a solid dividend. We’ve already noted the high payout ratio – the actual dividend payment is 48 cents per share quarterly, and has been paid out reliably for the past seven years. The yield, at 15.2%, is simply excellent – and it shows the value of a reliable dividend stock. Dividend yields in the financial sector average 2.16%, so simple arithmetic shows that STWD returns more than 7x that rate.Deutsche Bank’s analyst George Bahamondes gives STWD shares a Buy rating, and his $17 price target suggests an upside potential of 32%. (To watch Bahamondes’ track record, click here)Justifying his bullish stance, the analyst noted, “We continue to believe STWD's diversified business model allows the company to allocate capital to strategies that generate the best risk adjusted returns for shareholders… Importantly, the company's business model has also been central to the STWD's diversified capital structure, insulating the company from liquidity issues to a better degree than peers. In an environment mired with uncertainty, capital allocation optionality is valuable…”The group wisdom on Wall Street is in concurrence with Bahamondes; STWD shares have a unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating, based on 5 recent Buy reviews. The average price target of $16.88 is also in line with Bahamondes’, and indicates about 32% upside for the coming year. (See Starwood stock analysis on TipRanks)Cherry Hill Mortgage (CHMI)Based in, and operating in, the state of New Jersey, Cherry Hill Mortgage is another REIT. Rather than buying properties directly, the company manages a portfolio of excess mortgage services rights, agency residential mortgage backed securities, and other mortgage assets.Unlike many companies in recent months, Cherry Hill has flat-out beaten expectations on earnings. In Q4, the company reported 48 cents EPS against a 44-cent forecast; in Q1, despite the coronavirus, CHMI showed 47 cents EPS after a 43-cent forecast. Q1 revenues, at $6.23 million, beat the forecast by an impressive 19%, and also grew 6% year-over-year. Earnings are estimated at 32 cents per share for Q2.CHMI shares pay out a 40-cent dividend, after a downward adjustment from 49 cents in Q3 2019. The adjustment kept the payment in line with earnings; important, since the payout ratio is a high 85%. The annualized payout, of $1.60, gives a stunning yield of 21.5%. There is simply no point in comparing that to peer companies; that return is head-and-shoulders higher than anything else an investor is likely to find in the financial markets.In his note on this stock, Piper Sandler analyst Kevin Barker says, “We expect CHMI to remain defensive in the near-term by reducing leverage and holding cash. We also assume prepay speeds will continue to accelerate over the next couple of quarters as mortgage rates push closer to 3.0% or lower. Meanwhile, the bump higher in interest expense to 2.33% should moderate with market volatility settling down.”Barker gives CHMI a $12 price target, which suggests room for a 52% upside to the stock. (To watch Barker’s track record, click here)Cherry Hill is another stock, like Starwood above, with a unanimous analyst consensus rating. In this case, the Strong Buy rating is based on 4 recent Buys. Shares are priced low, at $7.85, and the average price target of $11.41 implies a 12-month upside potential of 45%. (See Cherry Hill Mortgage stock analysis on TipRanks)Solar Capital, Ltd. (SLRC)Next up is a business development company, focusing on debt and equity investment in leveraged companies, generating income by pumping capital into client companies existing investment-grade loans. Solar Capital is one of the scores of financing companies that makes liquid capital available to mid-market firms.After a remarkably stable earnings run from Q3 2018 through Q3 2019, SLRC saw a sudden drop-off in EPS in Q4 and Q1. Both quarters missed expectations and saw sequential drops. Q4 EPS came in at 41 cents, against a 44-cent forecast, while Q1, hit by the coronavirus-inspired shutdowns, saw EPS slip again to 38 cents. It’s important to note, however, that SLRC remains in positive earnings territory, in contrast to the well-publicized earnings losses that have made headlines since Q1. Looking ahead, Solar Capital is expected to remain profitable in Q2, with a 35-cent EPS projected.Solar Capital uses its earnings to fund a generous dividend. The company has been growing the payment very gradually over the past seven years, and the current quarterly payment is 41 cents per share. At $1.64 annualized, this gives a yield of 10.6%. With dividend yields among S&P companies averaging 2%, and Treasury bonds down below 1%, the attraction of SLRC’s yield is obvious. The only bit of cloud is the 107% payout ratio, indicating that earnings do not cover the dividend – but with $60 million cash available, and a further $545 million on a revolving credit facility, the company sees no problem in maintaining the payments.Covering SLRC for JMP Securities, Christopher York sees SLRC taking a proactive role generating income moving forward. He writes, “[We expect] that the company will be very active in new originations in 4Q20 and 1Q21. We believe Solar continues to be a strategic buyer of niche commercial finance businesses, which could be an immediate use of investment capacity.”York’s Buy rating is supported by an $18.50 price target, which suggests a one-year upside of 19% for the stock. (To watch York’s track record, click here)The Wall Street analyst corps is bullish on SLRC, giving the stock 7 Buys against just one Hold. This adds up to an analyst consensus rating of Strong Buy. The average price target is a bit more cautious than York’s, at $17.57, and implies an upside of 13% for the coming year. (See Solar Capital stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

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Scientists are raising questions about Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trial and results, as the company has yet to reveal data that supports how its drug is successfully producing antibodies in human trials. Yahoo Finance’s Anjalee Khemlani joins the On the Move panel to discuss.

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Facebook is up nearly 5 percent Wednesday morning after the announcement of Facebook and Instagram Shops. Yahoo Finance’s Heidi Chung breaks down details.

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(Bloomberg) — Millions of Americans getting breaks on their loans are about to hear from their banks.Nationwide, lenders are preparing to take a closer look at consumers who have arranged to delay payments, potentially pushing some out of the programs, as the industry tries to get a clearer picture of how many customers are truly unable to keep up during the coronavirus pandemic.Forbearance programs from March are nearing expiration dates, when many banks are set to decide whether to continue letting people put off roughly $150 billion of debt including credit cards balances, personal loans and car payments. In interviews, executives said they’re concerned that at least some borrowers sought relief unnecessarily and that they should be coaxed into paying. A number of firms aim to whittle out such participants, or charge interest to continue.“I would imagine we may have to go beyond 90 days” of forbearance, Southern Bancorp Inc. Chief Executive Officer Darrin Williams said in an interview, referring to the expiration date for many programs. “I feel pretty strongly that many of the folks who took advantage of the consumer payment holiday we provided probably didn’t have to. But if it’s offered, why not, right?”The rapid rollout of forbearance programs in March averted financial ruin for millions of households, giving Congress time to bolster unemployment benefits and offer emergency aid to businesses. The goal was to avoid a tidal wave of defaults by borrowers who began losing income when states locked down commerce to slow infections. More than 30 million people have since filed jobless claims.But many lenders offered to postpone bills with no proof of hardship, and many borrowers kept working. Some signed up for the programs as a precaution, taking a break from payments to shore up their savings. That’s made it impossible for banks to gauge the degree to which their loan portfolios are at risk of going bad.Some mid-sized banks placed more than 15% of their loan books into forbearance by the end of March, Janney Montgomery Scott analysts wrote in a report last week. In regions like the U.S. Southeast, relatively high rates of borrower relief contrasted with low infection rates at the time. Many programs have remained open since then, continuing to take on borrowers who have fallen on hard times.On average, banks had about 5% of their consumer loan portfolios on ice as of mid- to late-April, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods wrote in a report this month that compiled disclosures from about 80 large, regional and community banks. Based on Federal Reserve data, that would equate to roughly $150 billion in loans — though the amount may have climbed since then.Those figures don’t include U.S. mortgage forbearance programs that let borrowers with government-backed loans postpone payments for as long as 12 months while dealing with the pandemic.The consumer-loan deferrals have left banks, shareholders and even regulators in the dark on how many people are truly in distress and what the ultimate cost to lenders may be. Some executives expect to get a clearer view of the situation in the second half of the year.For now, regulators are letting banks put off that reckoning. In March, a bevy of watchdogs made it easier for lenders to modify terms, such as by lowering interest rates or letting borrowers skip payments. The moves wouldn’t necessarily require banks to label those situations as “troubled debt restructurings,” which require more capital.“My belief is losses aren’t coming until third quarter for banks,” Ira Robbins, CEO of Valley National Bancorp, said in an interview. Because banks granted deferrals to pretty much everyone who asked for it, “we have no idea, outside of hypothesis, as to what’s going to happen from a credit perspective.”Banks are now examining millions of account holders to determine who is taking advantage of the programs. The efforts include trying to figure out which customers still have jobs by checking databases operated by major credit reporting firms.In a more innovative approach, some lenders are hoping to reverse the flow of information that’s flooded from banks to financial technology ventures in recent years. Aggregators such as Plaid and Envestnet Inc.’s Yodlee have been collecting account data and providing it to apps that offer help with personal finances or investments. Now, banks are hoping to tap into that information to glean a more complete view of their own customers’ finances, such as their balances at other banks.“We’ve heard from some banks about their interest in using Plaid products for forbearance relief and are working with them to see if it can be used,” said John Pitts, head of policy at Plaid, which recently created a platform that makes it easier for banks to share their data with outside apps.Some banks are considering letting customers continue skipping payments but reinstating interest on loans, a move that could make forbearance less enticing for those who don’t absolutely need it. Others might require customers to show additional proof they’ve been impacted by the virus.“The banks want to genuinely help,” said Scott Barton, managing partner at 2nd Order Solutions, which advises lenders on collections and forbearance processes. But they “would like to start to differentiate and not give away money to people that don’t really need it right now.”Forbearance deadlines vary by bank and customer. Citigroup Inc. was one of the first banks to offer forbearance, initially granting a 30-day reprieve that it since extended twice until May 31.Generally, the nation’s largest banks — also including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. — have said they will at least check in with borrowers in coming weeks as they assess how to continue programs and whether to encourage people to use other options. Those can include modifying loans or restarting some payments for credit cards or car loans.So far, the programs seem to be easing financial strains during the pandemic. Fewer households were late on their cards, car loans, personal loans and mortgages in April than in March, according to TransUnion data released Wednesday. That upended expectations that consumers would fall behind on their debts as a result of widespread joblessness and the forced shutdown of the U.S. economy.Matt Komos, TransUnion’s vice president of research and consulting, said households may be postponing payments to keep an extra cash cushion just in case the economy worsens. Indeed, many consumers who deferred loans sent payments anyway, sometimes far more than the monthly minimums to reduce their overall debt loads, TransUnion data show. At Bank of America, about a third of people who asked to delay credit-card bills ended up paying, CEO Brian Moynihan said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television.“A lot of the banks are in the dark a little bit in terms of how to treat customers,” said Alan McIntyre, senior managing director for Accenture Plc’s banking practice. “The measures they focus on to manage credit quality — those dials aren’t moving. And those dials aren’t going to move until the fall.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi speak with Sorrento Therapeutics Founder & CEO Dr. Henry Ji about the company’s experimental antibody STI-1499.

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Target’s sales surged in the first quarter, fueled by people spending during the coronavirus outbreak. Sucharita Kodali, Forrester Research Retail analyst, joins Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi to discuss the retailers earnings report and how it compares to its competitors.

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Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi break down the latest earnings reports for Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, and Walmart with Morgan Stanley Retail Analyst Simeon Gutman.

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Luckin Coffee said on Tuesday that Nasdaq had notified the company of plans to delist it from the U.S. stock exchange, a month after the company disclosed that some employees had fabricated sales accounts. Nasdaq’s notice comes as the exchange renews its focus on auditing standards. In its delisting notice, the bourse cited public interest concerns raised by the fabricated transactions and Luckin’s failure to disclose material information.

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Halliburton (HAL) has announced today a 2020 second quarter dividend of $0.045 a share on the company’s common stock payable on June 24, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 3, 2020.This translates into a 75% decrease from the previous dividend payout of $0.180 and represents a forward yield of 1.61%.“The decision to set the quarterly dividend at a lower level reflects the current market conditions and uncertainties regarding the depth and duration of this downturn” Halliburton says.At the same time, the company’s board of directors also approved a 20% voluntary reduction to their annual retainer. This follows salary reductions already taken by the members of the executive committee.“Halliburton continues to take measures to strengthen our liquidity and financial resilience under the current circumstances. We implemented a $1 billion action plan to reduce overhead and other costs, lowered capital expenditures roughly 50% from 2019 levels and accelerated the implementation of our North American service delivery improvement strategy,” said Jeff Miller, Halliburton CEO.According to Miller, the lower dividend reflects a reasonable payout during these uncertain times.Shares in Halliburton, one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, have plummeted 54% so far year-to-date. And analysts are staying on the sidelines, with a Hold consensus and an average price target of $8.54- indicating further downside potential of 23%.Nonetheless RBC Capital’s Kurt Hallead maintains his buy rating on the stock, arguing “We continue to see HAL as a through-cycle core holding for mid- and large-cap energy investors given its disciplined approach to maximizing profitability, free cash flow and shareholder returns.” (See HAL stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: GM Plans to Reopen Mexican Pickup Plant Next Week- Report Billionaire Steven Cohen Bets Big on These 3 Stocks 3 Airline Stocks to Bet on After the Coronavirus Crash More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Clorox Bumps Up Dividend By 5%; Shares Rise In Pre-Market * Urban Outfitters Reports Slow Quarter, Predicts More Dramatic Sales Decline in Upcoming Quarter * Facebook Canada Faces C$9 Million Fine Over ‘False’ Privacy Claims * Revance Acquires HintMD In All-Stock Deal, Analyst Praises Bold Step Forward

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