Company Description

Crane Co. manufactures highly engineered industrial products. Founded in 1855, the company provides products and solutions to customers in the aerospace, electronics, hydrocarbon processing, petrochemical, chemical, power generation, automated merchandising, transportation and other markets. Crane's five business segments are: Aerospace & Electronics, Engineered Materials, Merchandising Systems, Fluid Handling and Controls. Crane has approximately 11,000 employees in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Solid Income

The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share, noting that it is payable on December 10 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 30.

Crane's dividend yield of 2.7% tops the industry average of 1.6%

A Strong Quarter

The company also posted solid results for the third quarter, raising the lower end of its earnings outlook.

Third-quarter earnings per share of 60 cents surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 25% and matched the year-prior earnings. Sales of $551 million slipped 14% year-over-year.

Management noted that despite a 14% decline in sales from the third quarter of 2008, operating profit and earnings per share were flat compared to 2008, primarily reflecting the company's success in re-aligning its cost base, adding that operating margin improved by 160 basis points, to 10.1%, compared to 8.5% a year ago.

The company said its $305 million in cash, $300 million revolving bank credit agreement and no near-term debt maturities provide it with a solid financial foundation to continue to manage through the current environment, positioning Crane for growth as end markets recover.

Bullish Estimates and a Surging Share Price

The company upped the lower end of its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $1.90 - $2.05 from $1.75 - $2.05.

Analysts boosted the 2009 Zacks Consensus Estimate to $2.05 per share from last month's $1.90. For the following year, analysts polled by Zacks are projecting earnings of $2.21 per share, versus the previous month's $2.08.

Shares of Crane soared past the market by more than 100% over the past year. Zacks Investment Research

For Flow Control, revenues of $1 billion declined 15% in the quarter with an organic revenue decline of 10%. Organic revenues declined 7% in the Valves business, 17% in Water and 12% in Thermal Controls. In Fire Protection Services, revenues of $904 million declined 11% in the quarter with an organic revenue decline of 7%. Service revenues declined 5% organically and installation revenues declined 8% driven by continued softness in the North American and EMEA regions. Revenues declined 45% in the Electrical and Metal Products segment and 25% in Safety Products on a year-over-year basis.
 
Operating income was $226 million in the quarter and the operating margin was 12.6%. Special items of $31 million resulted primarily from restructuring activities. The operating margin before special items improved 160 basis points to 14.3%, as cost-containment initiatives, restructuring activities and growth in ADT's higher-margin recurring revenue business more than offset volume declines.
 
Cash from operating activities was $985 million in the quarter. The company had free cash flow of $614 million, which included cash payments of $84 million for restructuring and legacy legal matters.
 
Cash and equivalents were $2.3 billion with long-term debt at $4 billion and shareowners’ equity at $12.9 billion.
 
The company’s large and growing service revenue base has provided stability and consistency to its performance in 2009 and now represents about 40% of its total revenues. A significant portion of service revenues is contractual recurring revenue in ADT, which grew 4% organically for the year with growth across all geographic regions.
 
Throughout the year the company was very active in executing cost containment programs, which resulted in charges of about $250 million. These actions, which are expected to provide incremental savings of $175 million in 2010, included staffing reductions as well as the consolidation of both back office operations and manufacturing facilities.

The company anticipates an organic revenue decline of 11% to 13% for the first quarter of 2010. Partially offsetting this decline will be the currency tailwind which is estimated at about 5% of revenue. This brings the total revenue for the quarter to approximately $4.1 billion Tyco expects earnings per share from continuing operations before special items in the first quarter to be between 48 and 50 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently 52 cents.
 
Tyco is a diversified, global company that provides vital products and services to customers around the world. Tyco is a leading provider of security products and services, fire protection and detection products and services, valves and controls, and other industrial products. Major competitors include General Electric Co. (GE), Honeywell International Inc. (HON) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX).
 
We currently have an Outperform recommendation on TYCO.

Chicago, IL – November 12, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Macy’s Inc. (M), Nissan (NSANY), Priceline.com (PCLN), General Electric Co. (GE) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Macy’s Raises Earnings Guidance

Macy’s Inc. (M) recently reported third-quarter 2009 results. The company posted a loss of 3 cents a share that outshined the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of 9 cents, and improved substantially from a loss of 8 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter.

Effective inventory management and division consolidation to lower costs helped the company to post a narrower quarterly loss.

The better-than-expected results prompted management to raise its earnings guidance. Macy’s now expects full year 2009 earnings in the range of $1.01 to $1.06 per share, up from the previously anticipated 70 cents to 80 cents a share. For the fourth-quarter 2009, earnings are expected between $1.00 and $1.05 per share.

On a reported basis, including one-time items, Macy’s reported a quarterly loss of 8 cents a share, an improvement over a loss of 10 cents delivered in the year-ago quarter.

Nissan to Build World’s Cheapest Car

Carlos Ghosn, the Chief Executive of the alliance Renault and Nissan (NSANY), has revealed that the company will roll out a small car with its Indian partner, Bajaj Auto, that will be cheaper than any other car in India -- and in the world. The car, which is scheduled for launch in India in 2012, would beat India’s largest automaker Tata Motors’ Nano both in terms of pricing and fuel-efficiency, and become the world's cheapest car.

Presently, Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car. The car has a starting price of about Rs100,000 ($2,150). When Renault and Bajaj started discussing on their "ultra low-cost" car 2 years ago, it has been revealed that the car would have been priced between $2,500 and $3,000. However, at the World Economic Forum meeting in New Delhi, India, Mr.Ghosn announced that the ultra low-cost car would be cheaper than the Nano.

So far, India’s bottom-end motor vehicles market has been well known for motorcycles. After the hearty response to the Tata Nano, automakers around the world realized the huge market potential for small cars in India. Hence the initiative for the world's cheapest car.

Priceline Beats, Guidance Strong

Priceline.com (PCLN) reported very strong third quarter results, with earnings beating the consensus by 57 cents and revenue beating by 5.3%.

Revenue of $730.7 million was up 21.0% sequentially and 30.1% year over year. The significant increase from the year-ago quarter was helped by easier comps as the third quarter of 2008 was impacted by the recession, while the third quarter of 2009 benefited from strengthening demand.

Revenue growth was driven by significantly higher room night volumes, which offset the decline in average daily rates (ADRs). Room nights increased 14.1% sequentially and 56.3% year over year. Both airline ticket units and rental car days declined sequentially, although they were up 30.2% and11.6%, respectively from the year-ago quarter.

GE to Sell Security Systems

General Electric Co. (GE) is in talks to sell its security systems unit, most likely to United Technologies Corp. (UTX), for more than $1.5 billion in an effort to reshuffle its extensive portfolio and raise capital for strategic acquisitions.

United Technologies Corp. is a diversified company whose products include Carrier heating and air conditioning, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and industrial products, Otis elevators and escalators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Sikorsky helicopters, UTC Fire & Security systems and UTC Power fuel cells. The company has been lately looking to expand its security business.

GE’s move to sell its fire alarms and security division comes as it is finalizing a bigger deal to hive off its NBC Universal television and movie unit into a joint venture controlled by the cable operator Comcast. Strategically, GE wants to raise funds to expand its core businesses – which include infrastructure, oil and gas equipment, and energy – partly by hiving off peripheral divisions.

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Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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United Technologies Corp. is a diversified company whose products include Carrier heating and air conditioning, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and industrial products, Otis elevators and escalators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Sikorsky helicopters, UTC Fire & Security systems and UTC Power fuel cells. The company has been lately looking to expand its security business.

GE’s move to sell its fire alarms and security division comes as it is finalizing a bigger deal to hive off its NBC Universal television and movie unit into a joint venture controlled by the cable operator Comcast.  Strategically, GE wants to raise funds to expand its core businesses – which include infrastructure, oil and gas equipment, and energy – partly by hiving off peripheral divisions.

The security services unit operates in more than 26 countries around the world and caters to individuals, companies, governments and the military. The Florida-based division expanded when GE bought Edwards Systems Technology, a maker of fire detection equipment, from the US group SPX in 2004 for $1.4bn in cash.

Addition of GE’s security division could fulfill the United Technologies’ ambition to expand in a sector that it estimates to be worth $100 billion.

GE operates as a technology, media, and financial services company worldwide. Major competitors include Citigroup Inc. (C) and Siemens AG (SI).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on GE.

The deal would cover low-rate production engines to be built from 2012 to 2015. Without F-35, GE would be out of the large fighter-aircraft engine business. Gates recently reiterated his opposition in Fort Worth, Texas, where Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) builds the F-35. Lawmakers backing the program are of the view that continuing work on a second engine will stimulate competition and lower costs on the massive $300 billion fighter program in the long run.

United Technologies Corp.’s (UTX) Pratt & Whitney unit has seen the cost of developing its F135 engine soar by nearly $1.9 billion since 2002. The engine for the short-takeoff, vertical-landing version of the fighter needed redesigning after problems arose during testing several years ago.

Without a competing engine, Pratt & Whitney would essentially get a $100 billion monopoly on engines for over 3,000 airplanes expected to be sold over time. If the second engine program remains in place, current plans call for the two engine makers to compete for new engine orders every year, beginning in 2015 or 2016.

General Electric is a global infrastructure, finance and media company. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products, it serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. We currently have a Neutral recommendation on GE.

In April, Kuwait floated a new tender for building turbines for a plant in the north of the country. At that time, the Ministry had expected costs for bringing the plant into effect by 2011 to be far less than 700 million dinars. Kuwait has one of the world’s highest per capita power consumption rates.

Apart from GE, other companies that initially qualified for the project included Germany's Siemens (SI), Japan's Mitsui & Co. (MITSY) and Marubeni Corp., Spain's Iberdrola Ingenieria Y Construccion and Canada's SNC-Lavalin Ltd.

General Electric has products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products. It serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on GE.

United Technologies Corporation is a diversified company whose products include Carrier heating and air conditioning, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and industrial products, Otis elevators and escalators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Sikorsky helicopters, UTC Fire & Security systems and UTC Power fuel cells.

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on UTX.

Earnings per share were 98 cents compared to analysts' estimates of 96 cents.

Revenue grew 6% to $491.3 million compared to the second quarter of 2008. Foreign currency translation negatively effected revenue by 4% in the quarter.

The company saw strength in the Worldwide V.A.C Therapy segment as revenue rose 3% to $349.4 million year over year.

Regenerative Medicine, or LifeCell, which accounts for 15% of total revenue, climbed 22% to $71.1 million on a pro forma basis. The company completed its acquisition of LifeCell in May 2008.

Sales of Strattice, its porcine-based regenerative tissue matrix which launched in Mar 2008, generated 31% of the total LifeCell sales in the quarter, up from 10% of the total in the year ago period.

Reaffirmed 2009 Guidance

The company reaffirmed prior 2009 earnings per share guidance in the range of $3.95 to $4.10.

Covering analysts responded by raising full-year consensus estimates by 15 cents to $3.97 per share to be in line with the company's forecast.

Third-quarter estimates fell, however, to 88 cents from $1.02 per share. in the last week even though 4 out of 8 covering analysts raised and 2 lowered during that period.

Value Fundamentals

Kinetic Concepts, which manufactures health care products for advanced wound care, negative pressure wound therapy and therapeutic support systems, was a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock when I last reviewed it on Jul 1. It is now a Zacks #2 Rank (buy) stock.

It is still cheap, trading at just 7.4x forward earnings.

Read the Jul 1 analysis.

Update to Previous Value Zacks Rank Buy Stocks

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), the global financial services firm, recently reported a much better than expected second quarter that surprised by 40.06%. While everyone is talking about the blow-out quarter, not many people realize that Goldman Sachs is a value stock and trades at just 10x forward earnings. Read the full article.

Tyco International Ltd. (TYC), the global manufacturer of various industrial products, has surprised on estimates the last four quarters by an average of 26.56%. It is expected to report third quarter results next week. Read the full article.

Mirant Corporation (MIR), the electricity provider, has surprised on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters by an average of 9.87%. The stock is cheap. MIR trades at just 5.4x forward earnings. Read the full article.

Western Digital Corporation (WDC), the hard drive manufacturer, is set to report fourth-quarter 2009 earnings next week. The company has surprised 6 consecutive quarters. Even though the stock has more than doubled since its March lows, it still isn't expensive. WDC trades at 13.9x forward earnings. Read the full article.

Zacks Investment Research

Chicago, IL – July 22, 2009 – Four free stock picks are being made available today on Zacks.com. The industry’s leading independent research firm highlights one Zacks #1 Rank Strong Buy or a Zacks #2 Rank Buy stock for each of the four main styles of investing: Aggressive Growth, Growth & Income, Momentum, and Value.

The four highlighted picks are: Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE), Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO), BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) and Tyco International Ltd. (TYC).
    
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Four daily picks are offered free at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5607

Zacks #1 Rank Stocks have nearly tripled the S&P 500 since 1988, producing an average annual return of +26%. Performance has been notable even during volatile and down times. For example, during the last bear market, 2000-2002, the market tumbled -37.6% – but Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%.

Here is a summary of today's selected stocks that are now highly rated by Zacks:          
       
Aggressive Growth – Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE)
Isle of Capri Casinos has crushed analysts' estimates and the consensus estimate for next year are up sharply.

Zacks Guide to Aggressive Growth Investing (free!): http://at.zacks.com/?id=4309

Growth & Income – Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO)
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. recently reported record results for the fiscal third quarter. Earnings per share 62 cents came in 5% ahead of the consensus estimate and surged past the previous year’s 46 cents.

Zacks Guide to Growth & Income Investing (free!): http://at.zacks.com/?id=4310
  
Momentum – BlackRock, Inc. (BLK)
BlackRock, Inc. reported solid second-quarter results on July 21 that marked a nice improvement from just last quarter. The company is also working on closing a deal to acquire Barclay's lucrative iSHares ETF business for $13.5 billion.

Zacks Guide to Momentum Investing (free!): http://at.zacks.com/?id=4311

Value – Tyco International Ltd. (TYC)
Tyco International Ltd., the global manufacturer of various industrial products, has surprised on estimates the last four quarters by an average of 26.56%. It is expected to report third quarter results next week.

Zacks Guide to Value Investing (free!): http://at.zacks.com/?id=4312

How to Regularly Access Picks from the Zacks Rank Discovery for Free:  http://at.zacks.com/?id=5607
 
Underlying the four free stock picks is a simple truth that first appeared in a Financial Analysts Journal article published in 1979. Leonard Zacks, a Ph.D. in Mathematics from M.I.T. found that "earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices."  Zacks #1 Rank is awarded to a stock when analysts sharply upgrade their estimates of what the company will earn.

Today, Zacks is promoting its stock recommendations by offering four daily picks free to those who register at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5607 

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Len Zacks. The company continually processes stock reports issued by 3,000 analysts from 150 brokerage firms.  It monitors more than 200,000 earnings estimates, looking for changes.

Then, when changes are discovered, they’re applied to help assign more than 4,400 stocks into five Zacks Rank categories: #1 Strong Buy, #2 Buy, #3 Hold, #4 Sell, and #5 Strong Sell. This proprietary stock-picking system continues to outperform the market by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. 
  
More Free Stock Picks

Each weekday, new Zacks #1 Rank or Zacks #2 Rank stock picks are released on the free email newsletter, Profit from the Pros. Investors are invited to register for their free subscription at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5642

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Zacks.com

Aggressive Growth Stocks:
Contact: Bill Wilton
Phone: 312-265-9277

or

Growth & Income Stocks:
Contact: Alex Kolb
Phone: 312-265-9149

or

Momentum Stocks:
Contact: Michael Vodicka
Phone: 312-265-9226

or

Value Stocks:
Contact: Tracey Ryniec
Phone: 312-265-9232

Email: pr@zacks.com
Visit: www.zacks.com

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
 

Company Description

Tyco International manufactures industrial products for customers in more than 60 countries through 5 business segments: ADT Worldwide, Fire Protection Services, Safety Products, Flow Control, and Electrical & Metal Products.

The company's products include electronic security and alarm monitoring, fire-fighting equipment and breathing apparatus, water purification, valves and controls, and armored wire and cable, among other items.

Tyco Readies Third Quarter Results

On July 30, Tyco is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2009 earnings. Third quarter consensus has fallen 2 cents to 45 cents in the last 60 days but 1 out of 13 covering analysts has raised in the last month.

2009 consensus estimates are holding at $2.16 per share over the last 60 days with 1 out of 13 covering analysts raising in the last 30 days.

Will Tyco Continue to Surprise?

Tyco has a history of surprising on estimates having beaten for the last 12 quarters.

On Apr 30, the company reported second quarter results that surprised by 34.15%, or 14 cents per share. Adjusted earnings per share were 55 cents compared to analysts' estimates of 41 cents per share.

Reflecting the tough economic conditions, revenue fell 15% to $4.2 billion primarily due to the stronger U.S. dollar. Organic revenue fell 5.5%.

All 5 of its business segments saw a decline in revenue in the quarter with Flow Control seeing the smallest decline of 9%.

Electrical and Metal Products took the biggest hit with a fall of 39% mainly due to weak demand in end markets, especially steel and copper products. Volume for steel products fell 49% while copper volumes slid 11%.

Value Fundamentals

Tyco International is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It has attractive value characteristics with a forward P/E of 13.45 and a price-to-book of 1.16. The company has a solid 5-year average return on equity (ROE) of 10.69%.

As an added bonus, Tyco pays a dividend with a current yield of 2.80%.

Zacks Investment Research

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Despite a tough operating environment, Equity Residential (EQR) reported 1Q09 FFO [funds from operations] of $0.57 per share vs. $0.58 in 1Q08.

As expected in a recession, operations are steadily declining for all apartment REITs. The company reported year-over-year SS [same-store] occupancy and rental rate declines in 1Q09. Massive job losses will continue to negatively affect results.

Despite the slowdown, we still rate EQR a Buy. The company's balance sheet is in relatively good shape; EQR has enough cash and debt availability to take care of maturing debt over the next couple of years. We think multi-family will be one of the better performing REIT sectors in 2009, largely due to continued problems in the for-sale housing market.

Bear of the Day:

Celanese (CE) is a global hybrid chemical company based in Dallas. The company produces chemical substances and materials, and concentrates on four different business segments targeting the consumer and industrial products market.

Weak market conditions drove a dramatic decline in overall global demand for many industries, which affected Celanese's operations. Recessionary trends, coupled with inventory destocking, resulted in sharp volume declines in the Advanced Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Intermediates businesses.

The company expects volumes to remain under pressure in 2009, even with the easing of inventory destocking. Thus, we rate the shares a Sell with a target of $16.00.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

First Wave of TARP Repays

The repayment of TARP funds obscures the problems within the broader banking industry -- large banks continue to hold the "toxic mortgage-backed assets" that created the financial crisis, and smaller institutions still have billions in risky commercial real estate loans.

While the government asserts that it should receive investment returns from the warrants attached to the preferred stock, which would allow it to buy shares of the banks at a set price over the next 10 years, three of the nation's biggest banks -- Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC) have not received permission to return funds yet.

Overall, even if there is repayment of TARP funds, these institutions still dependent on government support, such as debt guarantees from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and credit lines from the Federal Reserve.

Considering that we have yet to see a bottom in the current banking crisis (unemployment continues to rise, which could result in more losses on loans and new bank failures), the rationale for letting these institutions return capital could wind up to be a short-sighted resolution, and could cause the need for the government to come to the rescue yet again.

But at least executive compensation schemes at these institutions can resume for the time being.

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

Updated throughout every trading day, the Analyst Blog provides analysis from Zacks Equity Research about the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today by visiting http://at.zacks.com/?id=2677.

About Zacks 

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks InvestmentResearch is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=4582.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Weak market conditions drove a dramatic decline in overall global demand for many industries, which affected Celanese's operations. Recessionary trends, coupled with inventory destocking, resulted in sharp volume declines in the Advanced Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Intermediates businesses.

The company expects volumes to remain under pressure in 2009, even with the easing of inventory destocking. Thus, we rate the shares a Sell with a target of $16.00.Zacks Investment Research

The manufacturer of industrial products attributed the decline to a 23% fall in base revenues coupled with an 8% decrease on account of currency translation.

Illinois Tool's 3 weakest segments were industrial packaging, power systems and electronics and construction products, as each of them slipped more than 35%.

The company meanwhile affirmed second-quarter EPS of 25 cents to 37 cents per share, excluding items, compared to average forecast of 30 cents.

Over the past month, 11 out of 16 covering analysts have reduced full-year expectations, sending the consensus down 21 cents to $1.27 per share.

ITW, a Zacks #5 Rank ("Strong Sell") stock, is down about 1.3% on volume of approximately 1.8 million, compared to average daily volume of about 4.1 million.

Chicago, IL - April 29, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research picks Burger King (BKC) as Bull of the Day and Celanese Corp. (CE) as Bear of the Day. In addition, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest on AIG (AIG), Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

In the midst of a turnaround, Burger King's (BKC) customer traffic is beginning to decline, as diners move to food prepared at home and to competitors value meals, some of which are more extensive than Burger King's. Though these increasing economic headwinds heighten the risk in the company's turnaround, we think the plan is still viable and the shares valuation is compelling, albeit with substantial risk.

Now back in positive unit growth mode after four years of negative or no growth, BKC is poised, in our opinion, to grow earnings at a mid to high-teens CAGR over the next five years by accelerating unit growth, improving average unit volumes through restaurant remodels and new product launches and by expanding restaurant margins closer to those of McDonald's, the category leader.

Moreover, we think BKC shares offer investors an opportunity to participate in the fast-growing economies of Asia and South America, which are central to BKC's expansion plans but where it has a very small presence relative to MCD and Yum! Brands.

Bear of the Day

Celanese Corp. (CE) is a global hybrid chemical company based in Dallas. The company produces chemical substances and materials. The company concentrates in four different business segments targeting the consumer and industrial products market.

Weak market conditions drove a dramatic decline in overall global demand for many industries which affected Celanese operations. Recessionary trends, coupled with inventory destocking, resulted in sharp volume declines in the Advanced Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Intermediates businesses.

The company expects volumes to remain under pressure in 2009, even with the easing of inventory destocking. Thus, we rate the shares a Sell with a target of $10.00.

Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog

Will the FDIC Be Super-Regulator?

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York yesterday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair suggested that her agency was best suited to handle broad new powers being considered by the government to seize and restructure impaired, systemically important financial institutions before they threaten the broader system.

Government bailouts of companies like AIG (AIG), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and others involving billions of taxpayer dollars have brought into focus the need to better handle the problem of "too big to fail" financial institutions. Regulatory reforms currently being considered include close supervisory oversight of risk-taking, risk management and the financial condition of such institutions.

Regarding the mechanism for resolution, Ms. Bair suggested the "good bank-bad bank model," where viable parts can be placed into the "good bank" using a structure similar to the FDIC's bridge bank, and the nonviable parts can be placed in a "bad bank" until they can be unwound or sold.

She stated that there is no need for another government agency to run the resolution program since the FDIC already has many years of experience resolving banks and closing them.

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About the Analyst Blog

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Weak market conditions drove a dramatic decline in overall global demand for many industries which affected Celanese operations. Recessionary trends, coupled with inventory destocking, resulted in sharp volume declines in the Advanced Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Intermediates businesses.

The company expects volumes to remain under pressure in 2009, even with the easing of inventory destocking. Thus, we rate the shares a Sell with a target of $10.00. Zacks Investment Research

The industrial products and equipment manufacturer now expects first-quarter profit between 8 cents and 16 cents a share. Earlier in February, the company had projected earnings of 26 cents to 42 cents. Analysts see a profit of 32 cents for the current quarter.

ITW is expected to report first-quarter results on April 16.

Company Description

SPX provides creative solutions that enable its customers to deliver things like the parts and processes necessary to help manufacture food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and other critical products.

The company also provides solutions that help generate the power that heats homes, cools sports venues, transports products and more, as well as solutions that help tap into new energy sources like enabling power generation plants to run on alternate energy sources.

SPX’s businesses market and manufacture products and services for global infrastructure, process equipment and diagnostics tools. The company’s businesses segments are flow technology, test and measurement, thermal equipment and services, and industrial products and services.

Recent Events

The company recently announced that one of its divisions acquired AUTOBOSS Tech, Inc., a China-based manufacturer of diagnostic tools and equipment serving China's fast growing vehicle maintenance and repair market.

"This investment further underscores our commitment to accelerate growth and expand our business in strategic markets, China in particular," said David J. Wilson, President of SPX Service Solutions, Asia Pacific. "The leaders of AUTOBOSS have developed an outstanding brand that we will leverage to expand our aftermarket business in China and across the region. We are pleased the leadership team has committed to continue working with us.”

Wilson added that AUTOBOSS broadens SPX’s product portfolio, adds extensive channel coverage and gives the global engineering team a great opportunity to accelerate the development of SPX’s next generation diagnostics tools

Income

SPX declared a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share payable on October 2, 2008, to shareholders of record on September 15, 2008. The company’s yield is 1%, which is higher than the industry average.

Growth

The company posted second-quarter results in late July. Earnings per share of $1.70 exceeded the consensus estimate by 9% and was ahead of the year-prior total. The company's power and process equipment end markets contributed significantly to the earnings growth.

SPX has a solid history of outperforming analyst earnings estimates. During the past five consecutive quarters, earnings per share have eclipsed the consensus forecast by an average of 9%.

Revenues increased 28.8% to $1.56 billion from $1.21 billion in the year-ago quarter

The company commented that based on these results and current trends, it is raising its earnings per share guidance range to $6.40 to $6.60 from the previous range of $6.20 to $6.40. This is the second time SPX raised its guidance range this year, reflecting approximately 34% over last year.

Wall Street is in line, projecting $6.59 for 2008. Two months ago, analysts were calling for $6.41.
"SEO" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Shares of Intersil are currently trading at a 14.3x multiple of our current 2008 earnings estimate (P/E). IntersilÂ’s product breadth and increasing penetration indicate that it is relatively well positioned in the markets in which it operates. This could be a key factor in the next two years, if the recessionary trends continue. Recent acquisitions have augmented the product portfolio and increased the percentage of consumer and industrial products in the mix, which is a positive for revenue growth and margin expansion.

The management is improving the mix of products, and also implementing other initiatives to reduce costs and maintain profitability. Recent restructuring efforts are also expected to have a positive impact. The company has $2.75 in cash per share. We also analyzed the ROE [return on equity] of the company (9.1% on TTM [trailing 12-month] basis), breaking it into its three components net margin, asset turnover and equity multiplier. The net margin has held relatively steady over the last three years, although it dipped somewhat in 2005.

The asset turnover has been increasing from quarter to quarter during the same time period. This indicates that the company is managing assets efficiently, and converting them to revenue at an accelerated rate. The equity multiplier has also held relatively steady. This ratio, at over 100%, is a big positive, considering the companyÂ’s debt free balance sheet. We are reiterating our $30 price target, which corresponds to a P/E multiple of 18.3x.

Sejuti Banerjea contributed to the report.

Read the full analyst report on ISIL

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Shares of Intersil are currently trading at a 14.7x multiple of our current 2008 earnings estimate (P/E). Intersil's product breadth and increasing penetration indicate that it is relatively well positioned in the markets in which it operates. This could be a key factor in the next two years, if the recessionary trends continue. Recent acquisitions have augmented the product portfolio and increased the percentage of consumer and industrial products in the mix, which is a positive for revenue growth and margin expansion.

The management is improving the mix of products, and also implementing other initiatives to reduce costs and maintain profitability. Recent restructuring efforts are also expected to have a positive impact. The company has $2.75 in cash per share. We also analyzed the ROE [return on equity] of the company (9.1% on TTM [trailing 12-month] basis), breaking it into its three components net margin, asset turnover and equity multiplier. The net margin has held relatively steady over the last three years, although it dipped somewhat in 2005.

The asset turnover has been increasing from quarter to quarter during the same time period. This indicates that the company is managing assets efficiently, and converting them to revenue at an accelerated rate. The equity multiplier has also held relatively steady. This ratio, at over 100%, is a big positive, considering the company's debt free balance sheet. We are reiterating our $30 price target, which corresponds to a P/E multiple of 18.3x.

Sejuti Banerjea contributed to the report.

Read the full analyst report on ISIL