Shares of Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) slumped about 7.70% in early trade. The oil and energy company late last evening said that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was conducting an “informal” inquiry both its acquisition deal with Berry Petroleum, which it agreed to acquire in February and accounting.
The Company now fears that the investigation will delay the closure of the deal. Earlier Linn Energy was anticipating the deal to get closed after the shareholders’ meeting—which was scheduled in September when the company will release its fiscal third quarter results. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to “market perform” from “outperform”, citing delay caused by the SEC investigation. Analyst at Raymond James also pointed out that the ongoing inquiry will delay the buyout process by “at least 30 days”. The SEC has asked Linn to preserve documents related to the buyout deal, its hedging strategy and non-GAAP accounting evidences. Linn Energy LLC which became a public traded company in October, agreed to buyout Berry Petroleum Company in a stock deal estimated at $2.42 billion in February.
Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) fell about 1.75% by early trade. The aluminum giant was downgraded to “neutral” from “overweight” by JP Morgan Chase on Wednesday, citing firm’s lower price outlook for the metal. JP Morgan Chase also cut the price target to US$9 from US$12. In note to clients, JP Morgan’s analyst Michael Gambardella wrote, “Additionally, outside of aluminum prices materially increasing or investor sentiment on the sector significantly improving, we see few catalysts for Alcoa’s stock in the near term.” Alcoa is scheduled to release fiscal second quarter results on July 8th.
Shares of AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) gained about 1.80% in early trade. The Car retailer was upgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” by Credit Suisse on Wednesday. Credit Suisse said earnings are expected to increase due to improved performance its parts and services segment, adding that the stock has underperformed in the recent past.
Shares of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) plunged about 6.20% by early trade.
Analysts at RBC Capital initiated the coverage on the stock with “outperform” rating on Tuesday. However, analysts at Ned Davis downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy” rating on Monday. Earlier on June 17th, analysts at Zacks reaffirmed “neutral” rating on the stock. Zacks keeps a price target of $35. In all, seven equity research analysts have assigned a “buy” rating on the stock while three analysts maintain a “hold” rating on the stock. The average price target is $37.38 while average consensus rating is “buy”, currently.
Shares of Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) climbed about 5% by early trade. The world’s leading high performance network security provider said on Wednesday that it will hold a conference call on July 30 at 4:30 p.m. EST, to discuss fiscal second quarter results. After the conference call, Fortinet will also arrange question and answer meeting at 6:30 p.m. EST. The meeting is meant for analysts and investors to seek more details/information on company’s financials and products.
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