Stockwinners Market Radar for November 22, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:41 EDT Loews CEO James Tisch buys 3M shares of General Electric - In a regulatory filing, James Tisch, CEO of Loews (L) and a General Electric (GE) director, disclosed the purchase of 3M shares of GE on the open market for $53.7M.

18:02 EDT Suncor closes sale of equity interest in East Tan Farm, redeems $750M in debt - Suncor successfully closed the sale of a 49% equity interest in the East Tank Farm Development project for aggregate proceeds of $503 million. Suncor is directing the proceeds from this sale, together with the proceeds from the issuance earlier this month of US$750 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.000% senior unsecured notes due 2047, towards the early redemption of outstanding US$600 million 6.05% senior unsecured notes and CAD$700 million 5.80% Medium Term Notes, both due in 2018. Suncor has given notice of the redemption to The Bank of New York Mellon and Computershare Trust Company of Canada and a notice of redemption was sent to the holders of the Notes on November 15, 2017. The redemption date will be December 15, 2017 and the redemption price will be paid in accordance with the indentures governing the Notes. Upon redemption of the Notes, Suncor will have redeemed all outstanding long term debt due in 2018.

16:44 EDT Icahn reports 13.51% stake in SandRidge Energy, intends to vote against Bonanza - Icahn has read Fir Tree Partners' statement setting forth their criticisms of the proposed acquisition of Bonanza Creek Energy (BCEI) and their reasons for intending to vote against it. While Icahn has not spoken with Fir Tree, he could not be more in agreement with the views expressed in the statement - especially with the assertion that the transaction "reminds us of SandRidge's (SD) prior history when this same management team acquired disparate assets and added leverage with reckless abandon." Icahn obviously also intends to vote against the nonsensical Bonanza transaction. While Icahn has not spoken with any stockholders of the company, including Fir Tree, he notes that news reports indicate other large holders, including Susquehanna Advisors and Cannell Capital, are similarly opposed to the transaction and intend to vote against it. Representatives of Icahn attempted to reach James Bennett, the CEO of SandRidge Energy, and intend to continue to seek to meet with him and his management team soon. Icahn looks forward to hearing what possible justifications management could have for entering into such a seemingly ill-advised, dilutive and value-destructive acquisition and why they believe the transaction is anything more than an entrenchment technique. Icahn also intends to have discussions with SandRidge's board of directors, other stockholders of the company, and other relevant parties as they continue to evaluate the situation. Icahn is considering all options and, while he has no present plan to do so, he reserves the right and is considering whether to propose other transactions which relate to or would result in one or more of the actions specified in clauses (a) through (j) of Item 4 of Schedule 13D, including, without limitation, calling a special meeting of stockholders to seek to remove the company's board of directors.

16:32 EDT Symantec selects Amazon Web Services to deliver cloud security - Amazon Web Services, an Amazon.com company (AMZN), announced that Symantec (SYMC) has chosen AWS as its strategic infrastructure provider for the vast majority of its cloud workloads, leveraging AWS's infrastructure scale and maturity to deliver cloud security to its global customers. With AWS's breadth and depth of cloud capabilities, Symantec has transformed legacy applications into cloud-based solutions, and built innovative, cloud-native as well as hybrid offerings. Symantec's relationship with AWS is long-term and bi-directional, with Symantec not only making a major operational move to AWS, but also tapping the global footprint of the AWS Marketplace to deliver its security services. The company built a data lake on AWS that collects tens of terabytes of data every day from 175M endpoints and more than 57M attack sensors. Symantec chose AWS for its scale and comprehensive cloud capabilities, including data services, analytics, machine learning, and container management. Innovating on AWS has allowed Symantec to deliver new security software and tools to customers faster, while adhering to strict data protection requirements.

16:22 EDT Northrim BanCorp announces CFO transition - Northrim BanCorp is hiring Jed Ballard as CFO following the voluntary transition of Latosha Frye to Senior Vice President, Corporate Accounting Manager. Ballard is a CPA and has worked for KPMG for sixteen years in Alaska and Slovakia. He is currently a Senior Manager in KPMG's Anchorage office. Ballard will become CFO effective January 1, 2018.

16:17 EDT GP Strategies announces $10M share repurchase increase - GP Strategies Corporation announced that its board has authorized a $10 million increase in funding for its share repurchase program, which has approximately $3.6 million remaining, bringing the total authorization to approximately $13.6 million. GP Strategies' share repurchase program allows management, at its discretion, to repurchase shares from time to time in the open market subject to market conditions and other factors. The company expects to fund share repurchases using cash generated from operations and borrowings under its $100 million credit facility.

16:13 EDT FieldPoint Petroleum to be suspended, pending delisting from NYSE American - FieldPoint Petroleum announced that the NYSE American will suspend trading of the company's Common Stock and Warrants ticker symbols FPP and FPP WS effective November 27. The company has not requested a review of this determination. Following suspension, the NYSE will apply to the SEC to delist the company's Securities. The company has applied for listing and quotation of its Securities on the OTC.QB quotation system.

16:06 EDT TimkenSteel and United Steelworkers reach tentative four-year agreement - TimkenSteel and the United Steelworkers Local 1123 have reached a third tentative agreement on a four-year contract. The union will set and announce the date for its membership to vote on the tentative agreement. The tentative agreement provides increases to permanent base wages every year, a signing bonus if ratified, annual bonus opportunities, high-quality healthcare and retirement benefits for all members, and a continued focus on safety and employee wellbeing. The USW Local 1123 represents approximately 1,650 employees at the company's facilities in Canton, Ohio.

16:02 EDT Peapack-Gladstone's Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel departing - Peapack-Gladstone's Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel Finn M. W. Caspersen, Jr. will be leaving from his positions as an officer of the corporation and the bank, and from the board of directors of the corporation and the bank, effective December 31. Caspersen is leaving to explore various professional and personal opportunities. Finn will remain in a consultative role through March 31, 2018. The corporation and bank will be conducting a search for Caspersen's replacement.

14:23 EDT Battleground: Macquarie says sell OpenText, Raymond James remains bullish - This morning, Macquarie analyst Gus Papageorgiou downgraded OpenText to Underperform, a sell equivalent rating, citing "poor" returns on capital and a leveraged balance sheet. Commenting on the rating cut and OpenText's balance sheet, Raymond James analyst Steven Li told investors he believes the report's "logic does not hold historically," especially since the company just made the largest acquisition in its history. SELL OPENTEXT: In a research note to investors, Macquarie's Papageorgiou downgraded OpenText to Underperform from Neutral and lowered his price target on the stock to $31.50 from $34.50, saying there are better opportunities elsewhere. Furthermore, the analyst recommended investors consider Constellation Software for exposure to a similar business model, since he believes it has a "much stronger" balance sheet, a "much higher" return on capital, and better growth and cash return prospects. OpenText maintains highly recurring and profitable operations but "poor" returns on capital, and a leveraged balance sheet that limits growth, he contended. LOGIC 'DOES NOT HOLD HISTORICALLY': Commenting on his peer's rating cut, Raymond James' Li told investors in a research note of his own that saying Constellation Software has a "much stronger" balance sheet is "stating the obvious," given that OpenText just made the largest acquisition in its history. "This logic does not hold historically," he argued, noting that in 2013 Constellation Software had a large debt position whereas OpenText was in a net cash position. While Li acknowledged that Constellation Software has a "much higher" return on capital, and may have better growth and cash return prospects, he pointed out that his competitor's report does not highlight the recent turn in organic growth. Li reiterated an Outperform rating and $40 price target on OpenText's shares. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of OpenText have dropped over 2% to $33.12.

14:12 EDT Sandy Spring Bancorp reports receipt of all regulatory approvals for acquisition - Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR) announced that it has received all of the requisite regulatory approvals from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, and the Virginia State Corporation Commission to complete the acquisition of WashingtonFirst Bankshares (WFBI) and the related merger of WashingtonFirst Bank into Sandy Spring Bank. The transaction is expected to close on January 1, 2018. Upon completion of the acquisition, Sandy Spring Bank will have combined assets of approximately $7.5B.

13:03 EDT Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count up 8 to 923 rigs - Baker Hughes reported the U.S. rig count is up 8 rigs from last week to 923, with oil rigs up 9 to 747, gas rigs down 1 to 176, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged.

12:10 EDT Johnson & Johnson reports sale of 18.37M shares of Achillion - In a regulatory filing, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) disclosed that Johnson & Johnson Innovation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, disposed of 18,367,346 shares of Achillion (ACHN) common stock on November 20 at a price of $2.75 per share. Following the disposal, Johnson & Johnson holds no shares of Achillion, the filing shows.

11:59 EDT Patriot National trading resumes

11:36 EDT athenahealth active after CNBC report on Cerner deal with Amazon - Shares of athenahealth (ATHN) initially dropped after CNBC said Cerner (CERN) will be teaming up with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help health-care providers better use their data, but the stock has recovered to briefly move back into positive territory following the headlines.

11:26 EDT Cerner jumps after CNBC says 'huge healthcare deal' to be announced with Amazon - Shares of Cerner (CERN) are moving higher after CNBC, citing sources, reported that Amazon Web Services (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy plans to announce next week that the company is teaming up with Cerner to help health-care providers better use their data. Following the CNBC report, Cerner shares are up $2.09, or 3%, to $68.77. Reference Link

10:13 EDT Oclaro rises as analyst makes case for potential acquisition - Shares of Oclaro (OCLR) are on the rise after MKM Partners analyst Michael Genovese recommended investors buy the stock, citing an uptick in Chinese market commentary and noting that the company is in a "good position" to choose an acquisition partner and create an even stronger company going forward. Among potential buyers, the analyst argued that Oclaro may be an especially attractive acquisition candidate for Finisar (FNSR), while Inphi (IPHI) may be a "good strategic fit." ATTRACTIVE ACQUISITION CANDIDATE: In a research note to investors, MKM Partners' Genovese reiterated a Buy rating on Oclaro. The analyst argued that he sees this as a "good entry point" because the company's commentary on the timing of a Chinese market recovery has slightly upticked since earnings. Oclaro's leadership in Indium Phosphide Datacom lasers positions it well for market leadership in upcoming 400G/600G/1.2Tbps Datacom and Telecom product cycles, putting Oclaro in a "good position" to choose an acquisition partner and create an even stronger company going forward, he argues. According to his industry checks, Oclaro makes the best Datacom lasers in the industry, and makes both directly modulated lasers and electro-absorption modulated lasers. Therefore, Genevose believes it would be an "especially attractive" acquisition candidate for Finisar. Datacom is Finisar's largest product category, but the company makes directly modulated lasers only and not electro-absorption modulated lasers, he pointed out, adding that it may need Oclaro if it wants to remain competitive in Datacom at speeds of 400G and above. While merging with Finisar would give Oclaro greater scale in the Optical market, the analyst said that combining with a Silicon player may create an even stronger company. As the industry moves to 400G and above, likely starting in early 2019, the combination of Oclaro's Indium Phosphide lasers and transceiver/modulator PICs would combine well with a Silicon player's DSP, drivers and amps to create an Optical module powerhouse, Genovese added. He thinks a company like Inphi is a perfect example of a good strategic fit with Oclaro. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Oclaro have gained nearly 5% to $7.20. Year-to-date the stock is down 20%.

09:31 EDT Mechel announces reversal of Court decision - Mechel reports a court decision. According to court information, the North Caucasus Arbitration Court reversed the decision by a first-instance court, as well as that of a court of appeal, to charge Mechel PAO jointly with other respondent parties a sum of 12.7B rubles in favor of Rostov Electrometallurgical Plant OOO. The case was remanded for a new trial. Mechel PAO is satisfied by the cassation court's decision and expects that at the new trial, the respondents' defence arguments will be taken into account, and a reasonable and lawful decision will follow.

09:24 EDT Puma Biotechnology, Specialised Therapeutics Asia enter licensing agreement - Puma Biotechnology and Specialised Therapeutics Asia have entered into an exclusive agreement under which Specialised Therapeutics will commercialize NERLYNX throughout South East Asia, beginning with Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and New Zealand. Currently, Specialised Therapeutics markets Abraxane and other oncology products in these countries. NERLYNX is not approved currently for commercialization outside of the United States. Specialised Therapeutics will be responsible for seeking the requisite regulatory approvals and, once approved, for commercializing NERLYNX in those countries. Puma will receive upfront and milestone payments of up to $4.5M throughout the term of this agreement, as well as significant double digit royalties on NERLYNX sales in all regions in which Specialised Therapeutics commercializes NERLYNX.

09:22 EDT Trian comments on Procter & Gamble's contest to voting tabulation - Trian Fund Management, whose investment funds beneficially own approximately $3.5B, of shares of The Procter & Gamble Company, expressed its disappointment in P&G's decision to review and challenge the November 15 official preliminary voting tabulation by IVS Associates, which showed that P&G shareholders elected Nelson Peltz to the Company's Board of Directors. Trian issued the following statement: "Regardless of how they voted, P&G shareholders should be concerned that P&G has opted to waste further time and shareholder money contesting the official tabulation of the independent Inspector. The review and challenge process will be a continued distraction at a time when management and the Board should be focused on improving business results and regaining lost market share. Additionally, the review and challenge process will squander even more shareholder money - in addition to the up to $100M Trian estimates P&G already spent on the proxy contest - in a further effort to keep Nelson Peltz off the Board. The Inspector's report was the first independent tabulation of all proxies and ballots submitted to the Inspector by both P&G and Trian, and it was released only after the Inspector completed a careful five-week process. Based on that tabulation, shareholders have sent a strong message to P&G: they want Nelson Peltz to join the Board. Trian strongly urges the P&G Board to reconsider its decision to review and challenge the official independent voting tabulation and seat Nelson Peltz immediately as a director of P&G."

09:19 EDT Whitman says 'probably have more confidence' now in previously issued guidance - HP Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman, while being interviewed on CNBC, said she has "no worries" about the company's full year guidance, adding that she "probably" has more confidence in the outlook now following the company's Q4 report than when the outlook was issued at the company's analyst day meeting.

09:08 EDT Patriot National trading halted, news pending

09:02 EDT Yum! Brands appoints Tanya Domier to board of directors - Yum! Brands announced the appointment of Tanya Domier to its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2018. Domier is CEO of Advantage Solutions.

08:34 EDT Ampio's Ampion for knee osteoarthritis featured in peer-reviewed journal - Ampio Pharmaceuticals announced that a manuscript has been published as a feature article in Orthopedics, a peer-reviewed journal that offers clinically valuable research covering all aspects of orthopedics. The article describes the efficacy and safety of Ampion in an analysis of three studies of severe osteoarthritis of the knee. The end points of these studies were changes in pain, function and patient global assessment from baseline and compared to a saline control. The article details that Ampion exceeded provisional benchmarks for a meaningful response in the treatment of chronic pain in all previously conducted single-injection clinical trials and is statistically significant compared with patients receiving saline. The primary end-point for the current pivotal trial of patients with severe osteoarthritis of the knee is responder rate compared to baseline. The article highlights the responder rate for Ampion in all previously conducted single-injection clinical trials demonstrated a meaningful response and was significantly better than the saline control.

08:06 EDT Laureate Education agrees to sell institutions in Italy, Cyprus for $263M - Laureate Education and Galileo Global Education, a company under the umbrella of Providence Equity, a leading global asset management firm, have signed an agreement for the sale of Laureate's institutions in Italy and Cyprus for a total transaction value of $263M. Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano and Domus Academy collectively make up one of the largest private fine arts academies in Milan, offering innovative market-aligned products augmented by deep industry immersion and partnerships.

08:02 EDT Nxt-ID CEO: Strong downward pressure on stock not reflective of underlying value - NXT-ID issued the following response to recent shareholder inquiries concerning the recent downward volatility of its stock. Gino Pereira, CEO of NXT-ID commented, "We believe the strong downward pressure on the stock in the recent days is not reflective of the underlying value of our company. The prospects of the Company are unchanged from the information in the recently filed 10Q and on the related earnings call. On year-to-year basis, we continue to out-perform in terms of revenue, gross profit, and operating income, particularly through LogicMark, which continues to perform at record levels. As was announced recently, the activation of Garmin Pay represents the successful commercialization of FitPay's payment platform, which means that subsidiary is on track to contribute to revenue early in 2018." Added Pereira, "Equally as important as a result of the recent financing, we've begun taking steps to opportunistically reduce our debt. While that resulted in some dilution, it better positions the Company to refinance our existing debt facility, which we are actively pursuing. We have a number of significant business development opportunities that we are pursuing in Q4 2017 and remain confident that the Company is poised for continued significant growth in 2018."

07:53 EDT Unisys selected by New Zealand Ministry of Education for resourcing system - Unisys has been selected by the New Zealand Ministry of Education to design and support a new digital Education Resourcing System. The ERS will deliver funds more efficiently for early childhood, primary and secondary school education providers. The Ministry of Education is a new client for Unisys. The Unisys solution will replace the current manual, paper-based system with a cloud-based solution. The 10-year digital transformation engagement covers the design, development and support of the system, which will be delivered via an Application-Platform-as-a-Service model. The contract to develop the system was signed in June.

07:09 EDT First Data, AccorHotels form strategic relationship - First Data announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with AccorHotels to enable global and cross channel payments. The AccorHotels Group is a global leader in travel and lifestyle, and a pioneer in digital technology, offering unique experiences in more than 4,200 hotels, resorts and residences, and in more than 10,000 outstanding private residences worldwide. As part of the deal, First Data will power payments for AccorHotels for in-store, online, and mobile transactions. This includes facilitating transactions for AccorHotels' online booking tool that enables customers to quickly and easily make and pay for reservations online. First Data will also provide a Nexo central acceptance platform for AccorHotels, based on the new Nexo standard protocols. Nexo standards enable fast and borderless payments acceptance by standardizing the exchange of payment acceptance data between merchants, acquirers, and payment service providers in the EMEA region. Additionally, First Data will provide tokenization services for AccorHotels. First Data's tokenization solutions provide a high level of security to protect cardholder data during a transaction. The phased introduction of the First Data and AccorHotels partnership starts with properties in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, before continuing into other countries throughout 2018.

07:04 EDT Pluristem granted key U.S. patent for skeletal muscle regeneration - Pluristem Therapeutics announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent titled, "Skeletal muscle regeneration using mesenchymal system cells." This key patent, which has already been granted in Europe, Hong Kong and Israel, addresses the use of MSCs for skeletal muscle regeneration used either directly after, or shortly after, post-surgical muscle injury.

07:04 EDT Rockwell Automation rejects revised proposal from Emerson

07:01 EDT S.Y. Bancorp raises quarterly dividend 5% to 21c per share - Stock Yards Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has increased the company's quarterly cash dividend 1c or 5% to 21c per common share. The new rate will go into effect with the next payment on December 29, 2017, to stockholders of record as of December 11, 2017.

06:51 EDT MVC Capital commences modified "Dutch Auction" tender offer - MVC Capital announced the commencement of a modified "Dutch Auction" tender offer to purchase up to $25M of its common stock at a price per share not less than $10.40 and not greater than $11.00 in $0.10 increments. The Tender Offer will expire on December 21, 2017, unless extended. If the Tender Offer is fully subscribed, MVC will purchase between 2,403,846 shares and 2,272,727 shares, or between 11.4% and 10.8%, respectively, of MVC's outstanding shares of its common stock. Any shares tendered may be withdrawn prior to expiration of the Tender Offer. Stockholders that do not wish to participate in the Tender Offer do not need to take any action. Based on the number of shares tendered and the prices specified by the tendering stockholders, MVC will determine the lowest per-share price that will enable it to acquire up to $25M of its common stock. All shares accepted in the Tender Offer will be purchased at the same price even if tendered at a lower price.

06:40 EDT Deere CEO: FY17 sales, earnings fifth-highest in company history - "John Deere has completed another successful year as markets for farm and construction equipment showed improvement and our actions to build a more durable business model yielded strong results," said Samuel Allen, chairman and CEO, adding that the year's sales and earnings were the fifth-highest in company history. "We saw higher overall demand for our products with farm machinery sales in South America making especially strong gains and construction equipment sales rising sharply. At the same time, the company realized continued benefits from its broad product portfolio and agile cost structure. As a result, Deere has remained well-positioned to serve present customers while making investments aimed at driving growth and attracting additional customers in the future."

06:32 EDT Radian Group sells Clayton EuroRisk business in Europe - Radian Group has completed the sale of Clayton EuroRisk, a provider of outsourced mortgage services in Europe, to a global investment firm. As a result, Radian no longer offers products and services for its Mortgage and Real Estate Services business in Europe.

06:02 EDT Kennedy Wilson acquires apartment community in Greater Bellevue for $135M - Kennedy Wilson has acquired Atlas, a wholly-owned 343-unit apartment community in Issaquah, WA, for $135M. KW invested $52M of equity, and secured a 10-year interest only loan for $84M at a fixed-rate of 3.86%. KW's portfolio in the Washington market has grown to over 10,000 units. Atlas was one of four properties acquired through a 1031 exchange with proceeds generated from the recent sale of Summer House, a wholly-owned 615-unit apartment community in Alameda, CA.

05:28 EDT Yandex appoints Greg Abovsky as COO - Yandex announced changes to its senior management team. Greg Abovsky has been appointed COO of Yandex, effective December 1. He will succeed Alexander Shulgin, current COO, who has decided to leave the company. Greg will continue acting in his current role as the company's CFO. Arkady Volozh will remain CEO of Yandex N.V.

05:15 EDT Rand Logistics to be acquired by American Industrial Partners - Rand Logistics announced that American Industrial Partners has agreed to acquire the company. AIP is a New York-based private equity firm with over $4B of assets under management that focuses on buying, improving and growing industrial businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Under the terms of the agreement entered into between Lightship Capital LLC, an affiliate of AIP, and the company, AIP has agreed to convert all of the company's second lien debt into 100% of the new common equity of the reorganized company. The transaction will materially de-lever the company's balance sheet, eliminating approximately $90M in outstanding debt and will also dramatically reduce annual interest expense. As a result of the AIP transaction, which will be effectuated through a pre-packaged plan of reorganization, Rand will enjoy its strongest financial position in recent years. Rand's business will continue uninterrupted pending completion of the transaction, the terms of which provide for payment in the ordinary course of all company vendors and other unsecured creditors.