Stockwinners Market Radar for July 05, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

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D...		Hot Stocks 20:16 EDT Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Dominion Energy (D) and Duke Energy (DUK) announced the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline due to ongoing delays and increasing cost uncertainty which threaten the economic viability of the project. "Despite last month's overwhelming 7-2 victory at the United States Supreme Court, which vindicated the project and decisions made by permitting agencies, recent developments have created an unacceptable layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays for ACP," according to the companies. 2. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B), announced it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Dominion Energy's natural gas transmission and storage business. The assets include over 7,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines, with approximately 20.8 billion cubic feet per day of transportation capacity and 900 billion cubic feet of operated natural gas storage with 364 billion cubic feet of company-owned working storage capacity, and partial ownership of a liquefied natural gas export, import and storage facility. The transaction has an enterprise value of approximately $9.7B. 3. Buying "ugly" stocks - like Sally Beauty (SBH), Michaels (MIK) and Blackbaud (BLKB) - might not seem to make much sense, especially with another wave of coronavirus threatening to undo recent economic progress, but these shares could surge if almost anything goes right, Al Root wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. 4. Nike (NKE) has yanked Washington Redskins gear from its online store amid renewed calls for the NFL team to change its name, The New York Post's Noah Manskar reported. Nike, the NFL's official jersey supplier, is reportedly among three major companies whose investors have urged them to cut ties with the team unless it changes its name, which some people describe as a racial slur for Native Americans, the author noted. FedEx (FDX) - the shipping giant whose name is on the team's stadium - said that it "communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name." 5. Domino's Pizza (DPZ), Papa John's (PZZA), Chipotle (CMG) and Wingstop (WING) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's.
D...		Hot Stocks 15:29 EDT Berkshire's Energy to acquire Dominion's Gas Transmission, Storage Business - Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B), announced it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Dominion Energy's (D) natural gas transmission and storage business. The assets include over 7,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines, with approximately 20.8 billion cubic feet per day of transportation capacity and 900 billion cubic feet of operated natural gas storage with 364 billion cubic feet of company-owned working storage capacity, and partial ownership of a liquefied natural gas export, import and storage facility. The transaction has an enterprise value of approximately $9.7B. As part of the transaction, Berkshire Hathaway Energy will acquire 100% of Dominion Energy Transmission, Questar Pipeline and Carolina Gas Transmission; and 50% of Iroquois Gas Transmission System. The agreement does not include acquisition of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Additionally, the company will acquire 25% of Cove Point LNG - an LNG export, import and storage facility in Maryland. Dominion Energy will continue to own 50% of Cove Point, with Brookfield Asset Management continuing to own the remaining 25% share. Berkshire Hathaway Energy will operate the Cove Point facility once the transaction closes. The Cove Point export terminal is one of only six LNG export facilities in the U.S. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020.
DUK		Hot Stocks 15:25 EDT Duke Energy reaffirms capital investments in renewables, grid projects - Duke Energy said that the company will continue advancing its ambitious clean energy goals without the Atlantic Coast Pipeline by investing in renewables, battery storage, energy efficiency programs and grid projects. "Duke Energy's $56B capital investment plan will deliver significant customer benefits and create jobs at a time when policymakers at all levels are looking for ways to rebuild the economy in 2020 and beyond. These investments will deliver cleaner energy for customers and communities while enhancing the energy grid to provide greater reliability and resiliency," the company said. In September 2020, Duke Energy plans to file its Integrated Resource Plans for the Carolinas.
DUK D		Hot Stocks 15:23 EDT Dominion Energy, Duke Energy cancel Atlantic Coast Pipeline - Dominion Energy (D) and Duke Energy (DUK) announced the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline due to ongoing delays and increasing cost uncertainty which threaten the economic viability of the project. "Despite last month's overwhelming 7-2 victory at the United States Supreme Court, which vindicated the project and decisions made by permitting agencies, recent developments have created an unacceptable layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays for ACP," according to the companies. "Specifically, the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Montana overturning long-standing federal permit authority for waterbody and wetland crossings, followed by a Ninth Circuit ruling on May 28 indicating an appeal is not likely to be successful, are new and serious challenges. The potential for a Supreme Court stay of the district court's injunction would not ultimately change the judicial venue for appeal nor decrease the uncertainty associated with an eventual ruling. The Montana district court decision is also likely to prompt similar challenges in other Circuits related to permits issued under the nationwide program including for ACP. This new information and litigation risk, among other continuing execution risks, make the project too uncertain to justify investing more shareholder capital. For example, a productive tree-felling season this winter is a key milestone to maintaining the project's cost and schedule. Unfortunately, the inability to predict with confidence the outcome of the project's permits and the potential for additional incremental delays associated with continued legal challenges, means that committing millions of dollars of additional investment for tree-felling and subsequent ramp up for full construction is no longer a prudent use of shareholder capital. A series of legal challenges to the project's federal and state permits has caused significant project cost increases and timing delays. These lawsuits and decisions have sought to dramatically rewrite decades of permitting and legal precedent including as implemented by presidential administrations of both political parties. As a result, recent public guidance of project cost has increased to $8B from the original estimate of $4.5B-$5B. In addition, the most recent public estimate of commercial in-service in early 2022 represents a nearly three-and- a-half-year delay with uncertainty remaining."
BRK.B...		Hot Stocks 15:18 EDT Dominion agrees to sell gas transmission, storage assets, revises guidance - Dominion Energy (D) has executed a definitive agreement to sell gas transmission and storage assets - including more than 7,700 miles of natural gas storage and transmission pipelines and about 900B cubic feet of gas storage that the company currently operates - to an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) Energy in a transaction valued at approximately $9.7B, including the assumption of about $5.7 billion of existing indebtedness which will reduce Dominion Energy's total leverage. The buyer will also make a cash payment of approximately $4B to Dominion Energy upon closing. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter. It requires Hart-Scott-Rodino clearance as well as approval from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Dominion Energy Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of common shares using after-tax adjusted transaction proceeds which the company estimates could total approximately $3B. This new authority has immediate effect and material repurchases are planned for late 2020 following transaction closing. Share repurchases are subject to market conditions, applicable securities laws, and other factors. To reflect the announcements, Dominion Energy is revising its 2020 operating earnings guidance. The company now expects 2020 operating earnings of $3.37-$3.63 per share. The company's previous guidance was $4.25-$4.60 per-share. Dominion Energy expects 2021 operating earnings per share to grow around 10%-11% over 2020, reflecting the full-year impact of planned share repurchases, and by about 6.5% annually starting in 2022, off a 2021 base. This represents a 1.5 percentage point, or approximately 30%, increase from previous long-term earnings per share growth guidance. The company now expects to target an approximately 65% payout ratio to be effective upon completion of the transaction. This new payout ratio implies a 2021 dividend payment of around $2.50 per share. The projected reduction in the annual dividend reflects the absence of income from the divested assets and a revision to the company's target payout ratio to align with best-in-class industry peers. Beginning in 2022, the company expects annual dividend-per-share increases of approximately 6% per year. This represents a significant increase from previous long-term dividend per-share growth guidance of 2.5%. For 2020, the company has made two quarterly payments of 94c per share in March and June. The company expects to make an additional payment of 94c per share in September and currently expects a fourth payment in December 2020 of approximately 63c reflecting the expected timing of transaction closing. As is customary, all dividend declarations are subject to approval by the Board of Directors. Dominion Energy expects this strategic repositioning to be credit positive given the reduction of nearly $6B of debt, the material increase in the percentage of cash flow that comes from state-regulated utilities, the retention of 50% of Cove Point unlevered cash flows, and a peer-aligned dividend payout ratio. Dominion Energy continues to target single-A ratings for OpCos and high-BBB ratings for the parent company. Similarly, the company expects funds from operations to debt to continue to be in the "mid-teens" percent range. Existing Dominion Energy Gas Holdings and Questar Pipeline as well as Iroquois Gas Transmission unconsolidated indebtedness will convey to the buyer. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which is A-rated, has indicated it plans to support the existing credit profile of DEGH by foregoing the refinancing of some $1.2B of scheduled maturities over the next 12 months as well as consideration of other credit-enhancing measures including additional deleveraging past 2021, as needed.
RRR		Hot Stocks 07:56 EDT Red Rock Resorts announces death of President Richard Haskins - Red Rock Resorts issued a statement saying that, "It is with profound sadness that we announce that Richard J. Haskins, President of Red Rock Resorts, Inc. and Station Casinos LLC, died today in a watercraft accident while vacationing in Michigan. The entire Station Casinos family mourns this loss. On behalf of our Board of Directors, management team and employees, we extend our deepest sympathies to the Haskins family." "The Board of Directors expects to make further announcements regarding its plan of succession in the coming days."
GILD		Hot Stocks 07:53 EDT Gilead presents new findings on Biktarvy, switch data in older adults - Gilead Sciences announced data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the once-daily, single tablet regimen Biktarvy in virologically suppressed adults ages 65 and older, including those with common comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and dyslipidemia, which is an abnormal amount of lipids in the blood. At 48 weeks, 92% of those who switched to Biktarvy maintained virologic suppression, achieving HIV RNAless than50 copies/mL. Across the studies, Biktarvy was generally well tolerated. These data were evaluated as part of a pooled analysis of four international trials and presented during the 23rd International AIDS Conference. Gilead also announced a new data analysis from multiple studies evaluating drug resistance, including the first study to investigate a switch to Biktarvy in virologically suppressed study participants in which some of the participants had a history of treatment failure or suspected pre-existing nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance. The study showed infrequent and similar viral blips among study participants switching to Biktarvy, as compared to the comparator arm. The results support further evaluation of whether the once-daily, single tablet regimen Biktarvy may potentially be an effective and well-tolerated option for adults with a history of treatment failure or pre-existing resistance. The use of Biktarvy in individuals with a history of treatment failure or known resistance to the components of Biktarvy is investigational. Biktarvy is indicated in the U.S. as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults or pediatric patients weighing at least 25 kg who have no antiretroviral treatment history. While it is also indicated for adults and pediatric patients weighing at least 25 kg who are virologically suppressed and on a stable antiretroviral regimen, these people must have no history of treatment failure and no known substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of Biktarvy.
GILD		Hot Stocks 07:39 EDT Gilead presents data supporting possible 6-month dosing interval for lenacapavir - Gilead Sciences announced data from an ongoing Phase 1 study, which showed that a sustained-delivery subcutaneous formulation of the company's investigational, novel inhibitor of HIV-1 capsid function, lenacapavir, sustained predicted therapeutic concentrations for at least six months following a single 900 mg dose. In the study, lenacapavir was generally well-tolerated, and no serious adverse events were reported. These data were presented at the 23rd International AIDS Conference. Lenacapavir is an investigational agent that is being developed as a component of a long-acting regimen in combination with other antiretroviral agents. Lenacapavir disrupts HIV capsid, a multimeric shell that is essential to viral replication, at multiple stages throughout the viral life cycle. In May 2019, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the development of lenacapavir for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in heavily treatment-experienced patients with multi-drug resistance in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. The safety, efficacy and dosing of lenacapavir are being evaluated in multiple ongoing clinical studies, and have not yet been established. Initial data from Phase 1 studies that assessed the antiviral activity of lenacapavir were presented at the 17th European AIDS Conference in 2019 and presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2020. In this ongoing, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, single-ascending dose Phase 1 study, 30 participants were randomized to receive 300 mg/mL of subcutaneous lenacapavir or placebo, at 300 mg or 900 mg. All study participants completed dosing, and pharmacokinetic and safety data were collected through approximately 64 weeks post-dose. A slow initial release of lenacapavir was observed, and therapeutic plasma concentrations were sustained for at least six months following a single 900 mg dose, administered as 3 x 1.0 mL injections. Similar results were observed following a 900 mg dose administered as 2 x 1.5 mL injections. Lenacapavir exposures increased in a generally dose-proportional manner from 300 mg to 900 mg, with maximum concentrations achieved 11 to 14 weeks post-dose and an apparent half-life of roughly 15 weeks. Lenacapavir was generally well-tolerated; no serious or grade 3 or 4 adverse events related to study drug or leading to study discontinuation occurred. There were no clinically relevant laboratory abnormalities of grade 3 or higher. Lenacapavir is an investigational compound and is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any other regulatory authority and the safety and efficacy are not yet known. There is no cure for HIV or AIDS.