American Tower Co. (AMT) Shares Sold by IBM Retirement Fund

IBM Retirement Fund decreased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. IBM Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Security National Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Security National Trust Co. now owns 5,035 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. ETRADE Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. ETRADE Capital Management LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 12,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,843,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 87,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,550,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Shares of AMT opened at $136.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $125.24 and a twelve month high of $155.28.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.68 by ($1.05). The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.02%.

In other American Tower news, EVP Amit Sharma sold 32,943 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.82, for a total value of $4,573,147.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,486,481.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joann A. Reed sold 845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.83, for a total transaction of $124,071.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,579 shares of company stock valued at $9,319,595 in the last three months. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $162.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 27th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of American Tower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 3rd. ValuEngine cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 27th. KeyCorp set a $171.00 price objective on shares of American Tower and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $161.00 to $157.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $160.38.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 150,000 communications sites. For more information about American Tower, please visit the ?Earnings Materials? and ?Company & Industry Resources? sections of our investor relations website at www.americantower.com.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT).

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2018

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

The airlines have been one of the cheapest sectors in the last few years and the stocks are finally soaring to new highs led by the strong numbers from Delta Air Lines (DAL). Investors need to keep in mind that this airline isn't even seeing multiple expansion this week leaving a long runway for stock gains from here.

Key Catalysts

A couple of key catalysts are finally grabbing investor attention. First, the airlines from the quarterly report for Delta to the December traffic report from United Airlines (UAL) confirmed that positive revenue trends are sustainable. Second, the tax cuts are a big boost to the bottom line for airlines that are domestically focused.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Q1 2018 EPS Estimates for Rent-A-Center Increased by KeyCorp (RCII)” was first reported by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this article on another publication, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of United States and international trademark & copyright laws. The legal version of this article can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/3350595/q1-2018-eps-estimates-for-rent-a-center-increased-by-keycorp-rcii.html.

• [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.

• [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.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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).

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Shares of Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ:SIRI)�hit a new 12-year high of $7.08 this week, and in terms of market cap the satellite radio provider has never been as valuable as it is right now. The market darling hasn't traded this high since late 2005, and it's fair to say that this was an entirely different company back then. Sirius had yet to merge with XM. The share count was substantially lower.�

• [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.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Lange]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is scheduled to share its quarterly report on Tuesday as well. The consensus estimates are $2.91 in EPS on $54.8 billion in revenue. Shares were last seen at $224.28. The stock has a 52-week range of $164.96 to $250.79, and the consensus price target is $271.67.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded down 0.80% at $224.07. The stock’s 52-week range is $156.09 to $231.77. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 3 million shares. The company had no specific news Wednesday

• [By Paul Ausick]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded up 3.08% at $223.90 in a 52-week range of $164.60 to $250.79. Volume of about 3.5 million shares was about 10% below the daily average. The company had no specific news.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  Market fears of an escalating Middle Eastern conflict abated thanks to last week's military strikes against the Syrian government. On Friday, April 13, U.S. forces joined the United Kingdom and France in retaliation for a chemical gas attack carried out by the Syrian government. The military exercise came at a time that tensions are also rising in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Today, several members of the U.S. Federal Reserve will be speaking at events around the globe, including San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Chicago Fed Bank President Charles Evans. But no one will be more watched today than Fed Gov. Randal Quarles, who will testify before the U.S. House Financial Services Commission. Quarles will provide testimony on the central bank's plans to regulate and oversee the financial system. Expect a wealth of questions about the Fed's plans to raise interest rates and manage its massive balance sheet. Money Morning�Liquidity Specialist�Lee Adler offers you advice on how to play the Fed's problems, right here. Four Stocks to Watch Today: GS, NFLX, TSLA, and ROKU Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) added 0.6% after the Wall Street bank easily topped Q1 earnings and revenue estimates. The firm reported�earnings per share (EPS) of $6.95 on top of more than $10 billion in revenue. Analysts projected EPS of $5.67 on top of $8.89 billion. The investment bank hiked its quarterly dividend and said that revenue from equity trading rallied thanks to an uptick in recent market volatility. Shares of Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) are flat on the news that the firm will suspend production of its Model 3 vehicles. The firm said the temporary halt in production will aim to "improve automation" and address ongoing bottlenecks in its production process. Shares of Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) popped more than 8.2% on news that Steven Cohen's family office has taken a passive 5.1% stake in the company. The streaming device manufactur
• [By Chris Lange]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is scheduled to reveal its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday. The consensus estimates are $2.51 in earnings per share (EPS) and $51.5 billion in revenue. Shares traded at $228.64 as the week came to a close. The consensus price target is $248.19, and the 52-week trading range is $156.09 to $231.77.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded up 0.37% at $220.41. The stock’s 52-week range is $156.09 to $231.77. Volume was about a 65% below the daily average of around 3 million shares. The company had no specific news.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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 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 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 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 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: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 29,765,891 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the April 13th total of 27,095,285 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,456,427 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days. Approximately 17.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Kohl��s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) will share its latest quarterly earnings on Tuesday. The consensus estimates call for $0.50 in EPS and $3.95 billion in revenue. Shares ended last week at $63.67, in a 52-week range of $35.16 to $69.48. The consensus analyst target is $69.76.

• [By ]

  The reluctance of millennials to spend their tax cuts could hurt the stock prices of many consumer companies. Shares of department stores such as Kohl's (KSS) and an electronics retailer like Best Buy (BBY) have run up this year on expectations of consumers shopping till they drop this spring/summer. Considering there are more than 83 million millennials in the U.S., that's a big pool of humans letting down some of the country's biggest companies. 

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Finally, General Dynamics Corp. (GD) , along with Lockheed and BAE Systems, could possibly profit from heightened demand ships and other vehicles. 

• [By Lee Jackson]

  This company, like other major defense prime contractors, had a very solid year and is also on the Merrill Lynch US 1 list.�General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) is engaged in business aviation, land and expeditionary combat vehicles and systems, armaments, munitions, shipbuilding and marine systems, and information systems and technologies.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on General Dynamics (GD)

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

• [By Lou Whiteman]

  Two of the biggest laggards have been General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) and Huntington Ingalls (NYSE:HII), each down by more than 10% in the past three months. The similarities go well beyond stock performance. The companies have two of the more interesting outlooks for growth among defense players, but each seemed to catch investors off guard over how long it will take that increased business to materialize.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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.

• [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 Jason Hall, George Budwell, and Chuck Saletta]

  And while it may not always work out well to simply copy the moves other investors make, it can pay off to use their buying and selling moves as jumping-off points in your own research. We asked three real-world investors for their insight, and they wrote about two recent Buffett buys of�Apple Inc.�(NASDAQ:AAPL) and�USG Corporation�(NYSE:USG), and a recent Baker Brothers buy of�Heron Therapeutics Inc�(NASDAQ:HRTX).�

• [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.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in shares of IBM Common Stock (NYSE:IBM) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,925 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the period. IBM Common Stock makes up approximately 1.3% of Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in IBM Common Stock were worth $4,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Timothy Green]

  International Business Machines' (NYSE:IBM) return to growth after five years of declining revenue has been driven by a few different things. A weakening U.S. dollar has boosted the top line thanks to currency translation effects, the continued double-digit expansion of IBM's growth businesses has offset slumping sales in some legacy businesses, and the launch of the newest z14 mainframe system has provided a boost to the hardware business.

• [By Sean Williams]

  There has been no shortage of partnerships backing up these advantages. Dow component IBM (NYSE:IBM) is arguably leading the charge on blockchain acceptance. IBM is pioneering a project at a dozen major banks in the South Pacific that's aiming to expedite transaction settlement over its proprietary blockchain network. This project involves using Stellar's Lumens coin as an intermediary currency to speed up settlement times on cross-border money flows.

• [By Jamal Carnette, CFA]

  By recent metrics, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had a decent first quarter. The company beat analyst expectations of $2.41 adjusted EPS and revenue of $18.82 billion, according to data from Thomson Reuters, by reporting $2.45 and $19.1 billion, respectively.

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer said XPO Logistics (XPO) is a remarkable company.

  Cramer said UPS (UPS) has labor problems and people think FedEx (FDX) is expensive. "XPO has got a lot of things that they can do," Cramer said. "They're in M&A mode."

• [By ]

  For his final "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer also checked in with Brad Jacobs, chairman and CEO of XPO Logistics (XPO) , the transportation provider with shares up 16% in 2018.

• [By ]

  XPO Logistics (XPO) : "This stock just won't come down. "

  Over on Real Money, Cramer talks about how to trade the highly unlikely deal between Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) . Get more of his insights with a free trial subscription to Real Money.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Bank of America in a research note issued on Friday. They presently have a $105.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock. Bank of America’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.86% from the stock’s previous close.

• [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 ]

  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) .

Victoria's Secret customers are buying bras online ... and that's a problem

Victoria's Secret customers are shopping online, but it's not doing the company much good.

The intimate apparel chain's parent company, L Brands (LB), reported on Wednesday that Victoria's Secret sales ticked up just 1% in the the first quarter of the year. Excluding online transactions, sales fell by 5%.

The brand, which stopped printing its catalog in 2016, has been trying to convince customers to go digital. Though the sales numbers show that it's working, it's spending a lot of money to get customers to make the transition.

L Brands slashed its earnings-per-share forecast for the rest of the year by more than 8%. First quarter profit plummeted by nearly half.

The news spooked investors. Shares of the company fell as much as 7% after the bell on Wednesday. This year, L Brand's stock has tanked 44%.

Still, Victoria's Secret sales performed better in the first quarter of 2018 than in the same period last year, when overall sales slumped 14%. And Bath & Body Works grew by 8% this quarter.

Victoria's Secret is facing steep competition from American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)' Aerie, Gap's (GPS) Love brand, and Amazon (AMZN), which sells inexpensive bras and nightgowns under the Arabella brand.

�� CNN's Paul R. La Monica contributed to this report.

4 Solid Ways To Boost Your 401(k)

&l;!--donotpaginate--&g;&l;p&g;If only employers would share the best advice on how to make their 401(k) more profitable savings machines. Then few of us would be worrying about saving enough for retirement.

The best advice, though, is rarely given, so employees make mistakes and don&s;t save as much as they can. What we do know is that spending hours trying to figure out which mutual funds are best is going to cost you money in the long run.

Here are four ways to make your 401(k) more profitable. They are pretty simple decisions, yet will help you save tens of thousands of dollars more over several decades.

&l;img class=&q;dam-image shutterstock size-large wp-image-672388036&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/672388036/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Shutterstock

&l;strong&g;-- Less is More. &l;/strong&g;The average 401(k) plan has 19 funds, according to &l;a href=&q;https://www.psca.org/PR_2018_60thAS&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;a recent survey&l;/a&g; by the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA). Do you need 19 funds? No. Investing is not dining in a buffet restaurant.

Why is more choice &l;em&g;not&l;/em&g; a good thing? You lose sight of what you need to achieve your long-term goals. You&s;ll also be making bad choices.

Stick to a core group of a stock, bond and cash fund. Keep it simple. They should be index funds that buy big chunks of each market.

&l;strong&g;-- A Roth IRA Should Be Companion Fund.&l;/strong&g; While you get immediate gratification from investing in conventional 401(k) funds -- you get a tax break on contributions -- Roths make sense down the road.

You&s;ll pay taxes on Roth contributions, but you won&s;t pay taxes on withdrawals, which is the main drawback for conventional 401(k)s. That makes them ideal for short-term expenses in retirement or pre-retirement, since the tax-free withdrawal period starts after age 59 1/2.

How much should you put into a Roth? Probably no more than one-third of your total contributions, although you pick the amount that&s;s right for you based on your tax and savings goals.

Some 63% of plans surveyed by the PSCA now offer Roths, so participate if you can. If not, you may be able to open a Roth IRA on your own, depending upon &l;a href=&q;https://www.rothira.com/roth-ira-rules&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;your income. &l;/a&g;

&l;strong&g;-- Go Cheap. &l;/strong&g; Pay as little as possible for fund management, which is expressed in the fund&s;s &q;expense ratio.&q; This is the cut that investment managers take from your kitty every year. The lower the number, the better.

This move translates to investing in either index mutual or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), collective investment trusts or target-date funds, which are usually portfolios of index funds.

But don&s;t assume that your employer is stocking your 401(k) with the lowest-cost funds. Only about half of employers surveyed review plan expenses on a regular basis. I generally look for stock and bond funds that cost less than 0.20% annually.

&l;strong&g;-- Save Early and Often.&l;/strong&g; It&s;s a numbers game. The more you save, the better off you&s;ll be. But most employees are going to come up short at retirement.

The average 401(k) contribution or deferral rate, notes PSCA, is just under 7 percent. If you take into account rising healthcare and living costs down the road, you&s;ll need to save more.

At the very least, take your employer&s;s matching contribution and automatically increase your savings rate when you get a raise. Even better, put your savings on autopilot, so that you&s;re not vacillating every month on how much to contribute. That will boost your savings significantly over time.&l;/p&g;

Kratos Defense Reports: Still Unprofitable, Still Promising Cash

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) has been promising investors for years that it is on the cusp of profitability, and could begin generating positive free cash flow in 2018.

It's not there yet -- but may be soon.

Drone maker Kratos may finally deliver some cash. Image source: Getty Images.

Promises, promises

In the company's Q1 2017 report, Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco clearly promised a "return to profitability in Q2 [2017]," for that profitability "to increase significantly [in the] second half of ... '17," to be followed by "significant revenue, profitability, and free cash flow increases in 2018."

Things didn't turn out that way.�Kratos earned no profits whatsoever in 2017, and its losses actually increased as the year progressed. Q4 2017's quarterly loss, for example, was nearly five times as large as the loss it incurred in Q4 2016. But is 2018 shaping up any better?

Let's take a look at Kratos' Q1 2018 earnings report, released last week, and find out.

Show us the money

In fiscal Q1, Kratos reported:

Sales growth of 8% compared to Q1 2017, good for $143 million in quarterly revenue. A $0.02-per-share net loss compared to last year's Q1 loss of $0.13 per share. Positive cash from operations of $6.5 million. Negative free cash flow of $0.02 million, after deducting $6.7 million in capital spending (up 31% from last year).

Despite a�GAAP�loss of $0.02 per share, Kratos argued that its adjusted earnings actually came out to a positive $0.05 per share and thus exceeded analysts' forecast for it to break even.�Kratos stock surged 7.4%�after reporting these results last Thursday (although it's given back some of those gains since).

All in all, it seems to have been a pretty fine report. For the first time in more than a year, Kratos has delivered on its promise of positive cash from operation. However, actual free cash flow eludes it and the promised drop-off in capital investment continues to elude management. The company's unmanned systems division, which seemed to be a bottomless pit into which Kratos poured capital expenditures over the past several quarters, began returning on that investment with a 78% year-over-year revenue growth rate, and now accounts for nearly 20% of Kratos' business. And Kratos' book-to-bill ratio hit 1.2, indicating continued strong sales growth in quarters to come.

What the future looks like

Kratos remains confident in its prospects. Concluding his remarks on Q1 earnings, DeMarco said Kratos is "laser-focused on operational execution, increasing Kratos' profit margins and increasing our cash flow."

Sales are expected to be down slightly in Q2 as a result of the sale of the company's public safety and securitybusiness, but DeMarco predicts "an extremely strong third and fourth quarter." According to the CEO, 2018 should end with revenue from the company's continuing operations rising about 7% from 2017 levels, to roughly $645 million, and full-year cash from operations turning positive for the first time since 2014 -- $35 million to $45 million.

Barring a big increase in capital expenditures, which no one is expecting, that should return Kratos to positive free cash flow territory for the first time since 2013 as well. For investors who resumed buying Kratos stock last week, that may be the best news of all.