For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 9, 2022 – 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: The Home Depot, Inc.
HD
, Diageo plc
DEO
, Enbridge Inc.
ENB
, eBay Inc.
EBAY
, and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings
LH
.
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Home Depot, Diageo and Enbridge
The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today’s Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including The Home Depot, Inc., Diageo plc and Enbridge Inc. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
You can
see all of today’s research reports here >>>
Shares of
Home Depot
have modestly lagged rival Lowe’s (LOW) and the broader market this year (-22.9% vs. -20% for LOW and -18.7% for the S&P 500 index). The company reported soft gross margin in the fiscal third quarter driven by higher supply chain investments. Higher inventory levels and interest expense also remain concerning.
However, Home Depot reported its 10th straight quarter of earnings and sales beat in the fiscal third quarter. Results also outpaced our estimate in Q3. It continues to gain from strong demand for home-improvement projects, robust housing market trends and ongoing investments.
It also witnessed continued strength in both Pro and DIY categories, and digital momentum. Its interconnected retail strategy and underlying technology infrastructure have helped consistently boost web traffic for the past few quarters, aiding digital sales.
(You can
read the full research report on Home Depot here >>>
)
Shares of
Diageo
have underperformed the Zacks Beverages – Alcohol industry over the past year (-9.4% vs. -1.5%). The company is facing continued inflationary pressures and currency headwinds that are concerning. However, recovery in the on-trade channel, strong consumer demand in the off-trade and market share gains aided Diageo’s fiscal 2022 results.
It witnessed sales, operating margin and earnings growth driven by organic sales growth across all regions. Price/mix gained from a positive mix due to the robust growth in super-premium-plus brands, particularly scotch, tequila and Chinese white spirits.
DEO’s margin trends were favorable in fiscal 2022, thanks to its premiumization efforts, recovery in markets, pricing actions and supply productivity savings, which mostly offset the cost inflation. It provided a decent view for fiscal 2023, with net sales growth expected across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
(You can
read the full research report on Diageo here >>>
)
Enbridge
shares have gained +3.9% over the past year against the Zacks Oil and Gas – Production and Pipelines industry’s gain of +11.1%. The company has the longest and most sophisticated oil and liquids pipeline system in the world, which spreads across 17,809 miles. Hence, a significant portion of the midstream operator’s earnings is generated from transportation operations, driven by a string of long-term contracts.
Enbridge announced the increase of its annualized common share dividend to C$3.55 per share, thereby marking a dividend increase for 28 straight years. The company expects to put more than C$10 billion of growth projects into service in 2024 and beyond. This is expected to generate significant EBITDA growth in the coming years.
However, ENB has significant debt exposure since there has been a weakness in its operations. Also, Enbridge has mostly been yielding lower dividends than the industry over the past year. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.
(You can
read the full research report on Enbridge here >>>
)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include eBay Inc., and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss
.
This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit
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