Friday, June 22, 2012

Pep Boys (PBY) (JACK) (KMB) (OME) (SVU) (TFM) Ratings, Price Targets

Pep Boys (PBY), Jack in the Box Inc. (JACK), Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB), Omega Protein Co. (OME), Supervalu (SVU) and The Fresh Market (TFM) had ratings and price targets on them upgraded by analysts.

Argus upgraded Pep Boys (PBY) from a "Sell" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $12.00 on the company.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) upgraded Jack in the Box Inc. (JACK) from an "Underperform" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

Argus upgraded Kimberly Clark (KMB) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $92.00 on the company.

DA Davidson upgraded Omega Protein Co. (OME) from an "Underperform" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $10.00 on the company.

Northcoast Research upgraded Supervalu (SVU) from a "Sell" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Piper Jaffray upgraded The Fresh Market Inc (TFM) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Overweight" rating.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Ford's (F) Production Challenges

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) faces production challenges according to CEO Alan Mulally, who says demand for its best-selling models can't be kept up with by the company.

Mulally concludes the firm will be hard pressed to boost growth in the months going forward as a result.

The problem of course is the weak global economy, which makes it extremely difficult to project sales in the near future. Even in the best of economies it's a uncertain art.

That means the company faces uncertainty as to spending to encourage growth, which when demand slows down, would crush them, as it did General Motors (NYSE: GM) in the past.

Many times it's best to lose sales than to attempt to extract every revenue ounce out of the company. That's where Ford is at today.

About all that Ford can do at this time is to boost overtime and adjust its production schedules. Other than that, it's too much of a risk to add factories and go further into debt.

Until there is more clarity, we should see Ford continue at its production pace. That could be last for some time, which could be good for investors, as it removes a lot of volatility from the mix, assuming demand for popular models continue.