John Molvar's Stock Ideas

United Rentals URI 87 – Great news. Q4 earnings rose 38% ex items to 2.19 and full year earnings rose 41% to 6.91. Debt declined slightly. They are buying back their stock. They said the downturn in oil will be only a slight net negative and they forecast blowout earnings for 2015 up about 25%. I am raising my sell target to 106.

Discover DFS 60 – Disappointing news. Q4 earnings fell 13% sequentially to 1.19 ex items the worst quarterly performance in more than 2 years. With the stock way up and earnings reversing and the stock at the high end of its historical P/E range, I sold after hours at 59. I sold for an average gain of 52.1% plus dividends for a net gain of 55.5% over the 3+ years I owned it.

FFD Financial Bank FFDF 27 – Good news. Q2 earnings rose 10% to 0.69. Book value rose to 24. Non performing assets are negligible at 0.5%. Equity to assets is rock solid at 8.8%. They raised the dividend by 17% and it now yields 3.1%. I am raising my sell target to 41.

Raymond James Financial RJF 52 – Good news. Q1 earnings rose 19% ex items to 0.87. Book value rose to 30. They raised the dividend by 13% to now yield 1.4%. I am raising my sell target to 63.

When do they report earnings?