Monday, March 26, 2012

TierOne (TONE) Gains on Asset Sales; Ulta Salon (ULTA) Beats Forecasts; Matrixx (MTXX) CEO Restructures

In light, pre-holiday trading, mixed employment news provided a flat market in the early session. The Labor Department said employers cut a total of 216,000 jobs last month, less than the 276,000 jobs lost in July however, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.7%, the highest rate since June 1983.
Taking advantage of today's flat, drowsy market, bank holding company TierOne (TONE) announced it is selling some banking assets to offset Q2 losses. Ulta Salon (ULTA) shares soared this morning as it handily beat Q2 forecasts and drug maker Matrixx (MTXX) gained today on Wednesday's filing noting the new CEO is restructuring parts of its core business model.
Gaining 37.04% ($0.80) today is TierOne Corp., (TONE) http://www.tieronebank.com/ which is currently trading in the $2.70 range on the Nasdaq. TONE has a new market cap of $49 million. TONE has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 34,678 shares which shot past 220,849 shares traded by 11 a.m. EST.
Management at TONE announced today the Company will sell $1.1 billion in deposits, transfer or sell $800 million in loans and assets of 32 branch offices to Great Western Bank, a South Dakota subsidiary of National Australia Bank (NAB on the AX). The sell-off is expected to be completed by late 2009. Many of the branch offices being sold were acquired by TONE in its 2004 acquisition of United Nebraska Bank. When the transition is completed, TONE will have 37 banking offices located in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas and approximately $2.0 billion in assets, or about the same asset size TONE had prior to its United Nebraska Bank acquisition.
"After the branch office sale, TierOne Bank will return to its historic community bank footprint and will enhance its capital position," said Gilbert G. Lundstrom, chairman and chief executive officer.
On August 7, TONE reported a Q2 net loss of $16.1 million, or ($0.95) per diluted share, for the three months! ended J une 30, 09. The Q2 09 results compare to a net loss of $12.7 million, or ($0.75) per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 08. For the first half of 09, TONE reported a net loss of $25.9 million, or ($1.53) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $73.6 million, or ($4.36) per diluted share, for the first six months of 08.
TONE provides a range of consumer, commercial, and agricultural banking products and as of May 21, 09, it operated through a network of 69 banking offices in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska.
At $2.70, TONE is far below its 52-week high of $6.38 set on 09-08-08 and is above its 52-week low of $1.13 set on 02-04-09. At $2.70, TONE is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. TONE has trailing twelve month revenues of $61 million. TONE is widely held by insiders. Its shares out versus float ratio is a little lopsided and I would like to see more shares in the public float.
Gaining 13.77% ($1.72) this morning is Ulta Salon (ULTA) http://www.ulta.com/ currently trading on the Nasdaq in the $14.21 range. ULTA has a new market cap of $821 million. ULTA has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 301,494 shares and it had tripled that number in early trading topping 1,041,473 shares traded.
Late yesterday, ULTA reported a 56% rise in Q2 profits. For the three months ending Aug. 1, the Company earned $5.8 million, or 10 cents per share. That compared with $3.7 million, or 6 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. ULTA sales for the quarter grew 9.8% to $273.5 million from $249.1 million last year. Sales at stores open at least 14 months dipped 1.7%. The ULTA Q2 beat forecasts of a nickel a share on revenue of $271 million. ULTA opened 13 new stores during Q2, for a total of 333 stores.
... a little gu! idance . ..
ULTA plans to add another 35 stores by the end of this year and management forecasts Q3 earnings of 8 cents to 11 cents per share on sales of $270 million to $278 million.
ULTA (Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc.) is a beauty retailer, providing prestige, mass, and salon products; and salon services in the U.S. ULTA stores offer approximately 21,000 beauty products. As of January 31, 09, ULTA operated in 36 states.
At $14.31, ULTA is below its 52-week high of $14.95 set on 09-18-08 and above its 52-week low of $4.11 set on 03-06-09. At $14.31, ULTA is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. ULTA has trailing twelve month revenues of $1.11 billion and a trailing twelve month diluted EPS of $0.44. ULTA is widely held by both insiders and institutions. Its shares out versus float ratio is 57m/37m and I would like to see more share in the public float.
Gaining 15.40% ($0.83) today is Matrixx Initiatives (MTXX) http://www.matrixxinc.com/ currently trading in the $6.22 range on the Nasdaq. MTXX has a new market cap of $58 million. MTXX has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 1,712,790 shares and it easily tripled that in early trading surpassing 4,392,779 shares traded.�
MTXX shares are still riding high from an 8-k filed on Wednesday that noted during the Aug 26 shareholders meeting, the MTXX board appointed an insider, William Hemelt, the now-former COO as the Company's acting President and CEO. Mr. Hemelt, joined MTXX has its CFO in 1998.
At the meeting, the new CEO addressed the major concerns of the shareholders and said MTXX will work with the FDA on a warning letter and will address pending litigation utilizing the Federal Multidistrict Litigation program. MTXX estimates it has sufficient financial resources to defend itself against the claims that have been filed to date. The new CEO said that MTXX will discontinue its operations in Canada and will focus on rebuild! ing its sales in the U.S.
MTXX makes and sells over-the-counter (OTC) healthcare products. MTXX sells the �Zicam Cold Remedy nasal pump, Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs Zicam Cold Remedy Chewables, Zicam Cold Remedy RapidMelts, Zicam Cold Remedy Oral Mist, Zicam Cold Remedy RapidMelts + Vitamin C, and Zicam Cold Remedy RapidMelts + Vitamin C and Echinacea, which are oral cold remedy products that deliver a dose of ionic zinc to the oral mucosa. MTXX also makes and sells: Zicam Allergy Relief, Zicam Extreme Congestion Relief, Zicam Sinus Relief and various Zicam Cough Spray products.
At $6.22, MTXX is far below its 52-week high of $19.74 and above its 52-week low of $4.39 set on 06-23-09. At $6.22, MTXX is ahead of its 50-day moving average and behind its 200-day moving average. MTXX has trailing twelve month revenues of $110 million. MTXX is widely held by institutions. Its shares out versus float ratio is near-parity.
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