The departure of Allstate's ($27.73, -$1.74, -5.90%)
domestic property-and-casualty chief sent shares lower and prompted Sterne Agee to downgrade the company to neutral, saying the announcement "causes significant uncertainty on strategic direction/turnaround in the near to intermediate term. We viewed Joe Lacher's leadership ... as a key aspect of strategic initiatives and turnaround story for Allstate P&C operations." Allstate's brief statement doesn't say why Lacher is leaving; a spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment.
WebMD ($32.65, -$13.83, -29.75%)
cut its guidance for the current year and gave a weak third-quarter revenue outlook as the health-website operator sees longer-than-expected delays in sponsorship programs sold in prior quarters.
SkyWest (SKYW, $12.28, -$2.45, -16.61%)
on Friday offered a preliminary second-quarter outlook that badly missed analysts' expectations, as the airline-and-aircraft leasing company sees higher crew and health-care expenses, as well as increased merger costs. The outlook weighed on shares of other carriers. In addition,
Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Allegiant Travel Co. (ALGT, $43.77, -$2.33, -5.05%) and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (RJET, $4.48, -$0.42, -8.57%) to underperform, saying they are "more sensitive to higher oil prices than their peers." It also cut US Airways Group Inc. (LCC, $6.99, -$0.45, -6.05%) to neutral, contending high financial leverage and lack of hedging makes it the most sensitive to fuel prices among the legacy carriers.
Greenhill & Co. (GHL, $47.43, +$0.93, +2.00%)
reported a 22% jump in second-quarter profit on a surge in fees from merger and other advisory assignments. The results surpassed the expectations of analysts, arriving unexpectedly on a Sunday afternoon. Greenhill had previously planned to release earnings on Wednesday. The firm, battered after a 12% one-day selloff in its shares Friday, hastened the release of earnings to "clear up confusion" after a news report raised concerns about recent staff departures.
Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (KOG, $6.21, -$0.37, -5.62%)
said preliminary second-quarter sales volume exceeded prior expectations as weather improved in the Williston Basin region late in the quarter. The Canadian exploration and development company also announced the expansion of some credit agreements and unveiled plans to sell about 20 million shares to fund drilling activity in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota.
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