Jim Cramer Blog

Buy Back Stock, Get Taken Over: Cigna (NYSE: CI), Sonic (NasdaqGS: SONC), United Stationers (NasdaqGS: USTR)
Cramer observed an interesting fact about takeovers; out of 14 companies which bought back a minimum of 17% of their stock last year, four were taken over. Although four out of 14 may not be an impressive figure at first glance, Cramer comments finding a takeover is like winning the lottery. Companies who buy back stock agressively are keen to increase their own value; "Any company buying back 17% or more of its shares doesn't need to be public." Cramer devoted the program to discussing potential takeover targets with generous buybacks. He gave a passing mention to CI, which is repurchasing stock, although he has covered the company already, and SONC, which he did not discuss because he is concerned about consumer spending. His first featured stock was office products wholesaler USTR, which has a buyback level of 20% and is a "primo" takeover target. He adds the company has a "good margin expansion story" and is currently covered by only three analysts.
On the Brinks (NYSE: BCO)
Brinks bought back 21% of its stock in 2006, and Cramer comments companies like BCO don't "just shrink the float -- they devour it." One segment of the company produces armored cars and the other manufactures security alarms, and BCO could split itself in two or could be bought. Cramer notes BCO is paying off its debts as aggressively as it is buying back stock.

The Skinny on Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW)
Cramer's favorite stock on Monday was WTW, not only because obesity is a hot issue, but because it has among the most "voracious" buybacks he has ever seen along with a generous cash flow. He adds WTW is a "tremendous" brand, has a good business model, strong licensing and online businesses, and a satisfying quarterly report. Cramer predicts if WTW doesn't get bought, it could take itself private; "takeover or no takeover, Weight Watchers is a buy," Cramer said.
CEO Interview: Peter Georgiopoulos, CEO and Chairman of General Maritime (NYSE: GMR), Chairman of Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK), and Chairman of Aegean Marine Petroleum (NYSE: ANW)
When Cramer asked why Peter Georgiopoulos wears so many hats, he replied that while it would be simpler to consolidate the three companies, shareholders prefer to be invested in a specific market; "we think we'll get a better valuation for a pure play." Georgiopoulos notes GMR is up 40% since December and has a fixed $2 dividend in the works. Cramer said Georgiopoulos " is the guy I'm sticking with."
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: ANW, BCO, CI, GMR, GNK, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, SONC, USTR, WTW

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network (NYSE:ANW - News) shares surged Friday in the company's stock market debut.
Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT - News) shares jumped in the company's initial public offering.
Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARNA - News) priced a public offering of 11.5 million common shares at $13.21 each, the stock's closing price on Thursday. The deal includes an over-allotment option for the sale of an additional 1.725 million shares. San Diego-based Arena said CIBC World Markets served as the sole book-running manager in the offering.
Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE:ATW - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $23.2 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with $6.66 million, or 21 cents a share, in the same period last year, as revenue jumped.
Cascade Corp. (NYSE:CAE - News) said third-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $12.3 million, or 94 cents a share, from $10.8 million, or 84 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Also, the company is increasing its revolver to $125 million from $25 million to fund potential acquisitions and to provide short-term funding for the share repurchase program.
Shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C - News) traded at their highest level since April 2004 on Friday. In a research note, analysts at Lehman Bros. said they expect the company's management to provide an outlook for positive operating leverage and improving net interest margins in 2007 when it holds an investor presentation next weeks. The analysts said they do not expect the company to announce any plans to break it up.
Credence Systems (NASDAQ:CMOS - News) said the fourth-quarter net loss narrowed, as operating expenses fell, to $1.94 million, or 2 cents a share, from a net loss of $22.5 million, or 23 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year.
Esterline Technologies Corp. (NYSE:ESL - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $18.4 million, or 71 cents a share, up 19% from $15.4 million, or 60 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The company also said it now expects fiscal 2007 per-earnings of $2.45 to $2.60, up from its previous outlook of $2.40 to $2.60, boosted by record backlogs and new products coming to market.
Shares of Forgent Networks (NASDAQ:FORG - News) soared after the Austin, Texas-based technology licensing company posted a profit for its fiscal first quarter due to a doubling of revenue. The company, which also provides office administration software, earned $2.7 million, or 11 cents a share, for the three months ended Oct. 31 on revenue of $9.1 million. In the same period a year earlier, Forgent lost $300,000, or a penny per share, on revenue of $4.4 million. Looking ahead, the company said it expects to continue to generate intellectual property licensing revenue in fiscal 2007.
Shares of Hansen Natural Corp. (NASDAQ:HANS - News) surged after the Corona, Calif., beverage company disclosed it's recorded more than $500 million in gross sales for its Monster Energy drinks since their launch on January 1. The company said it reached the milestone in November.
Harsco Corp. (NYSE:HSC - News) reaffirmed its outlook for earnings from continuing operations of $4.49 to $4.51 a share in 2006 on revenue of more than $3.3 billion. The company also forecast earnings from continuing operations of $5.05 to $5.15 a share in 2007 with sales projected to grow more than 7%. The current average estimates of analysts polled by Thomson First Call are for profits of $4.51 a share in 2006 and $5.06 a share in 2007.
Heelys Inc. (NASDAQ:HLYS - News) shares jumped in one of the top IPO performances of the year.
Ingersoll-Rand Co. (NYSE:IR - News) said it has authorized the buyback of up to $2 billion of its Class A shares.
Investment Technology Group (NYSE:ITG - News) said November average daily volume rose to 175 million shares from 119 million shares a year earlier, and up from 150 million shares in October. Total U.S. volume was 3.7 billion shares vs. last year's 2.5 billion shares and last month's 3.3 billion shares.
Mace Security International (NASDAQ:MACE - News) agreed to sell its Arizona car wash operations for $19.3 million cash. Mace, Mount Laurel, N.J., said the sale includes 12 car washes and represents about $10 million of Mace's total revenue of $68 million in 2005. Nine of the car washes are owned and three are leased.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MLNM - News) said the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval of Velcade for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy. MCL is a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which has a U.S. prevalence of 10,000 patients. Cambridge, Mass.-based Millennium said the approval marks the first indication for Velcade in lymphoma, the most common blood cancer.
Nanometrics Inc. (NASDAQ:NANO - News) said it has received a favorable Markman decision in the patent infringement case brought by Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - News).
Online Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCC - News) said it sees a first-quarter 2007 per-share net loss of 33 to 35 cents on revenue of $30 million to $31.5 million. Pro forma, or "core net income," for the quarter is expected to range from a loss of a penny to a profit of a penny.
QMed (NASDAQ:QMED - News) shares rose after the Eatontown, N.J.-based provider of information management systems to health plans said it has reached an agreement with Alere Medical Inc. to settle their litigation and arbitration. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, although QMed said the agreement calls for Alere to pay a "low seven-figure dollar amount," which is to be received by Dec. 13.
Shares of PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - News) advanced after the San Diego, Calif., warehouse club retailer said its same-store sales jumped 18.5% in November. Total sales for November rose 22.9% to $69.7 million from $56.7 million in the same period a year earlier.
Verifone Holdings Inc. (NYSE:PAY - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $13.9 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $12.1 million, or 18 cents a share, in the same period last year, on the back of strong revenue from international business.
By Michael Baron of MarketWatch

Labels: ALGT, ANW, ARNA, ATW, C, CAE, CMOS, ESL, FORG, HANS, HLYS, Hot Stocks, HSC, IR, MACE, MLNM, NANO, PAY