Vonovia SE said Monday that it is launching its public takeover offer at 53 euros ($62.01) per outstanding share for Deutsche Wohnen SE and that this will be its final attempt to buy the company after having failed already before.
The real-estate company had already said earlier this month that it had agreed with its German rival to launch the new offer after failing in July to reach the minimum acceptance threshold of 50% from Deutsche Wohnen’s shareholders when the offer price was at EUR52 a share. The new deal, worth roughly EUR19.1 billion, would create Europe’s largest residential real-estate group, and represents a 17.8% premium on Deutsche Wohnen’s share price unaffected by the news of a takeover, it said.
Vonovia said the new price and offer are final. “An increase in the offer price during the acceptance period or during the additional acceptance period is irrevocably excluded,” it said. “Nor will a third offer be presented to the shareholders of Deutsche Wohnen,” Vonovia said.
Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: National Grid Transco, PLC(NGG)
National Grid plc, incorporated on July 11, 2000, is an electricity and gas utility company focused on transmission and distribution activities in electricity and gas in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The Company’s segments include UK Electricity Transmission, which is engaged in high voltage electricity transmission networks in Great Britain; UK Gas Transmission, which is the gas transmission network in Great Britain and UK liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage activities; UK Gas Distribution, which includes approximately four of the eight regional networks of Great Britain’s gas distribution system, and US Regulated, which includes gas distribution networks, electricity distribution networks and high voltage electricity transmission networks in New York, and New England and electricity generation facilities in New York. Its other activities relate to non-regulated businesses and other commercial operations not included within the above segments, including the United Kingdom gas metering activities; the Great Britain-France Interconnector; the United Kingdom property management; a United Kingdom LNG import terminal (National Grid Grain LNG Limited); the United States LNG operations; the United States unregulated transmission pipelines; together with corporate activities.
UK Electricity Transmission
The Company owns and operates the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, with day-to-day responsibility for balancing supply and demand. The Company operates but do not own the Scottish networks. Its networks comprise approximately 7,200 kilometers (over 4,470 miles) of overhead line, approximately 1,500 kilometers (over 930 miles) of underground cable and approximately 340 substations.
UK Gas Transmission
The Company owns and operates the gas national transmission system in Great Britain, with day-to-day responsibility for balancing supply and demand. Its network comprises approximately 7,660 kilometers (over 4,760 miles) of high pressure pipe and approximately 20 compressor stations. The gas throughput across the system is over 80 billion cubic meters.
UK Gas Distribution
The Company owns and operates approximately four gas distribution networks comprising over 131,000 kilometers (over 81,400 miles) of pipeline. The Company transports gas from the national transmission system to approximately 10.9 million consumers on behalf of approximately 40 shippers.
US Regulated
The Company jointly owns and operates transmission facilities across upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. It owns and operates electricity distribution networks in upstate New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The assets it operates include over 170 kilometers (approximately 110 miles) of underground cable, over 490 transmission substations and approximately 690 distribution substations. It owns and operates gas distribution networks across the northeastern United States, located in upstate New York, New York City, Long Island, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Company forecasts, plans for and procures over 20 billion standard cubic meters of gas each year.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By ]
So where does the cash come from? Occasionally (when funding is cheap) it is borrowed. In other cases, management is preparing for a corporate restructuring or returning the proceeds from an asset sale. That was the case with National Grid (NYSE: NGG). The U.K. utility giant recently unloaded some non-core gas distribution operations. That divestiture paid for a hefty special dividend of $5.42 per share (8.2% yield).
- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Investors would be forgiven for overlooking National Grid (NYSE:NGG) when evaluating utility stocks. Over half of the company’s asset base is located in the United Kingdom, along with its corporate headquarters. That means it reports financial performance in pounds, and it’s a lot easier to avoid currency conversions and the painful effects of currency exchange rates, which have significantly weighed on the business in recent years thanks to a strong U.S. dollar.
- [By Anders Bylund, Timothy Green, and Brian Feroldi]
So we asked a few Motley Fool contributors to share some alternatives to GM’s attractive dividend yields. Read on to see why our panelists recommended Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), National Grid (NYSE:NGG), and AT&T (NYSE:T).
Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Hailiang Education Group Inc.(HLG)
Hailiang Education Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides K-12 educational services in the Peoples Republic of China. The company operates three centrally managed schools, including Zhuji Hailiang Foreign Language School, Zhuji Private High School, and Tianma Experimental School under the Hailiang brand in Zhuji city, Zhejiang province in the Peoples Republic of China. Its schools offer basic educational program and international program at the kindergarten, primary school, middle school, and high school levels, as well as provide courses designed for students to become admitted to programs, such as A-levels courses for the United Kingdom universities and SAT courses for the United States universities for students planning to apply to undergraduate programs in the United States and the United Kingdom. As of September 30, 2014, the company had 17,151 enrolled students in its schools. Hailiang Education Group Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Zhuji, the Peoples Republic of China.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ethan Ryder]
Espey Manufacturing & Electronics Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:ESP) CFO David A. Oneil sold 1,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.12, for a total value of $57,109.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,330.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
- [By Joseph Griffin]
Espey Manufacturing & Electronics Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:ESP) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 24th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Monday, October 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 21st.
Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: La-Z-Boy Incorporated(LZB)
Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker started Floral City Furniture in 1927, and in 1928 the newly formed company introduced its first recliner. In 1941, we were incorporated in the state of Michigan as La-Z-Boy Chair Company, and in 1996 we changed our name to La-Z-Boy Incorporated. Today, our La-Z-Boy brand is the most recognized brand in the furniture industry.
We manufacture, market, import, export, distribute and retail upholstery furniture products. In addition, we import, distribute and retail accessories and casegoods (wood) furniture products. We are the leading global producer of reclining chairs and the second largest manufacturer/distributor of residential furniture in the United States. The La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® stores retail network is the third largest retailer of single-branded furniture in the United States. Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Garrett Baldwin]
If the answer is no, then understand that you are not alone – and you need to click here now…
Stocks to Watch Today: HSBC, NAVI, LUV
Shares of HSBC Holdings Plc. (NYSE: HSBC) fell more than 2% in pre-market hours. The slide came after the bank announced that it anticipated “a weaker global economic outlook.” The bank also issued a warning about the upcoming Brexit and said that many of its customers in the United Kingdom are “understandably cautious about the immediate future.” The firm also issued a weaker earnings report than expected. The company to watch today is Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI), which is the largest student loan servicer in the country. Sallie Mae spun off the company in 2013. It has 12 million customers and services about $300 billion in loans. While no one likes student loans, a few key metrics show this stock is a raging buy right now. Here’s what you need to know to get your trading week started. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is under scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration. According to reports, a probe is underway on whether the company has failed to calculate checked baggage loads on flights correctly. The Wall Street Journal reports that several planes carried 1,000 pounds of cargo more than what was listed on flight paperwork. Look for earnings reports from Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP), Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL), La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE: LZB), LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC), and Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH).
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- [By Joseph Griffin]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on La-Z-Boy (LZB)
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Thursday was another relatively calm day on Wall Street, with most major benchmarks easing very slightly lower. Fears about Washington scandals and trade tensions between the U.S. and China weighed on enthusiasm over a strong U.S. economy as economists and policymakers met in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium to discuss economic prospects across the globe. At a more granular level, some companies suffered from downbeat news that sent their share prices lower. IAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG), Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE:HTZ), and La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB) were among the worst performers on the day. Here’s why they did so poorly.
- [By Steve Symington]
Shares of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) were up 12.6% as of 1:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday after the furniture producer announced strong fiscal first-quarter 2019 results.
Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Progressive Corporation (PGR)
The Progressive Corporation, incorporated on February 4, 1965, is an insurance holding company. The Company’s insurance subsidiaries and affiliates provide personal and commercial automobile and property insurance, other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services. It also offers vehicle insurance products that protect its customers against losses due to collision and physical damage to their motor vehicles, uninsured and underinsured bodily injury, and liability to others for personal injury or property damage arising out of the use of those vehicles. The Company’s property insurance products protect its customers against losses due to damages to their structure or possessions within the structure, as well as liability for accidents occurring in the structure or on the property. Its non-insurance subsidiaries and affiliates generally support the Company’s insurance and investment operations. The Company operates its vehicle businesses and property business in the United States. The Company also sells personal auto physical damage and auto property damage liability insurance in Australia. The Company operates through Personal Lines, Commercial Lines and Property segments.
Personal Lines
The Company’s Personal Lines segment writes insurance for personal autos, and recreational and other vehicles. It writes personal auto insurance in approximately 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the Company writes the majority of its special lines products in over 50 states. The Personal Lines segment consists of its personal auto insurance products, as well as special lines products. Personal auto insurance business includes Snapshot, the Company’s usage-based insurance program, which is available to consumers through both the Agency and Direct channels in over 48 states and the District of Columbia. Special lines products include insurance for motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), recreational vehicles (RVs), manufactured homes, watercraft, snowmobiles and other items. The Company also offers a personal umbrella insurance product in approximately 37 states and the District of Columbia through certain independent agents and to direct customers through telephone.
The Company’s Personal Lines products are sold through both the Agency and Direct channels. The Agency business includes business written by its network of approximately 35,000 independent insurance agencies located throughout the United States, including brokerages in New York and California. These independent insurance agents and brokers place business with the Company for specified insurance coverages. The Agency business also writes insurance through strategic alliance business relationships with other insurance companies, financial institutions and national agencies. The Direct business includes business written directly by the Company on the Internet, through mobile devices and over the phone.
In the Personal Lines segment, the Company focuses to penetrate customer households through cross-selling auto policies with other products, including through Progressive Home Advantage (PHA) to meet a range of customer needs. PHA is the program in which it bundles auto product with property insurance provided by American Strategic Insurance (ASI), primarily in the Agency channel, or unaffiliated insurance carriers in the Direct channel. In addition, it offers Platinum product, which is a home and auto insurance combined offering that provides the agents a single offering with compensation, coordinated policy periods, single event deductible and other features.
Commercial Lines
The Commercial Lines business writes primary liability, physical damage and other auto-related insurance for automobiles and trucks owned and/or operated predominately by small businesses as a part of the commercial auto market. It offers these products in over 49 states. Its Commercial Lines customers on average insure approximately two vehicles.
The Commercial Lines business operates in the business market targets: Business auto, which includes autos, vans and pick-up trucks used by small businesses, such as retailing, farming, services and private trucking; For-hire transportation, which includes tractors, trailers and straight trucks primarily used by regional general freight and expeditor-type businesses and non-fleet long-haul operators; Contractor, which includes vans, pick-up trucks, and dump trucks used by small businesses, such as artisans, heavy construction, and landscapers/snowplowers; For-hire specialty, which includes dump trucks, log trucks, and garbage trucks used by dirt, sand and gravel, logging and coal-type businesses; Tow, which includes tow trucks and wreckers used in towing services and gas/service station businesses, and For-hire livery , which includes non-fleet taxis, black-car service and airport taxis.
Property
ASI is a homeowner carrier in the United States, which specializes in personal and commercial property insurance, personal umbrella insurance, and primary and excess flood insurance. Its Property business writes homeowners and renters insurance, primarily in the Agency channel in over 31 states and the District of Columbia for personal property insurance and in over four states for commercial property insurance. The Company also writes flood insurance in approximately 37 states, ASI is a provider of homeowner products for new PHA business in its Agency channel. The commercial business principally includes insurance covering real estate owned by condominium and homeowners associations and similar entities, as well as apartment complexes.
Other Indemnity
The Company’s other indemnity businesses consist of managing its run-off businesses, including the run-off of professional liability business. It has approximately five professional liability policies in force.
Service Businesses
The Company’s service business includes Commercial Auto Insurance Procedures/Plans (CAIP) and Commission-based businesses. It is a servicing carrier on a nationwide basis for CAIP plans, which are state-supervised plans servicing the involuntary market in over 41 states and the District of Columbia. It has over two commission-based service businesses. In its Direct business through Progressive Home Advantage, the Company offers home, condominium and renters insurance, among other products, written by unaffiliated insurance companies on a nationwide basis. Through Progressive Commercial Advantage, the Company offers its customers the ability to package their auto coverage with other commercial coverages that are written by unaffiliated insurance companies or placed with additional companies through unaffiliated insurance agencies. This program offers general liability and business owners’ policies throughout the continental United States and workers’ compensation coverage in approximately 44 states.
Claims
The Company manages its vehicle claims handling on a company-wide basis through approximately 215 claims offices located throughout the United States. In addition, it operates over 67 Service Centers in approximately 51 metropolitan areas across the country, of which over 53 have combined claims offices and Service Centers.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Motley Fool Transcribers]
Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 28, 2019, 1:30 p.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
- [By Ethan Ryder]
Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 8,639 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,962% compared to the average volume of 419 call options.
- [By ]
Many insurance companies run frequent ads meant to tickle the funny bone. A recent television commercial from the Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) illustrates my point.
- [By Max Byerly]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Progressive (PGR)
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: First Cash Financial Services, Inc.(FCFS)
The Company is a leading operator of retail-based pawn stores in the United States and Latin America. As of December 31, 2015, the Company had 1,075 locations, consisting of 338 stores across 14 U.S. states, 705 stores across 29 states in Mexico and 32 stores in Guatemala. The Company’s primary business is the operation of full-service pawn stores which make small pawn loans secured by personal property such as consumer electronics, jewelry, power tools, household appliances, sporting goods and musical instruments. These pawn stores generate significant retail sales from the merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures and over-the-counter purchases from customers. In addition, some of the Company’s pawn stores offer small unsecured consumer loans or credit services products. Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By ]
Shares of FirstCash, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $88.69 and last traded at $88.15, with a volume of 130897 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.06.
- [By Logan Wallace]
FirstCash Inc (NYSE:FCFS) – Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group lifted their Q3 2018 earnings per share estimates for shares of FirstCash in a report issued on Tuesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst J. Hecht now forecasts that the credit services provider will post earnings of $0.76 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.70.
- [By Logan Wallace]
FirstCash Inc (NYSE:FCFS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.75.
