Natural gas guru Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK - 30.82), deepwater drilling divaTransocean Ltd. (RIG - 68.60), and satellite media mogul Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI - 2.08) were all on analysts' radar today. However, to put today's fresh brokerage attention into perspective, we have to consider each stock's technical and sentiment backdrops.
Jumping right in... Despite its disappointing earnings showing on Tuesday, CHK has scored a couple of upbeat analyst endorsements, with CapitalOne Southcoast upgrading the stock to "add" from "hold," and Howard Weil upping its opinion to "market outperform" from "market perform" and lifting its price target to $39 from $34. On the flip side, Global Hunter Securities downgraded the security to "accumulate" from "buy."
The mixed brokerage attention is practically par for the course for CHK, though, with Zacks reporting 15 "buy" or better ratings, compared to 16 "hold" or worse recommendations. However, the equity's consensus 12-month price target of $39.22 -- as calculated by Thomson Reuters -- represents a premium of 25% to CHK's settlement price of $31.33 on Tuesday.
Thanks to yesterday's gap lower, the shares of CHK are now struggling to maintain a perch in the $31 neighborhood, which hasn't been violated on a weekly closing basis since mid-February. Furthermore, the stock is clinging to support at its 20-week moving average, which -- along with its 10-week cohort -- has contained all but three of CHK's weekly pullbacks since late August 2010. Should the security forfeit its foothold, the bullish holdouts among the brokerage bunch could come back to bite the stock in the form of downgrades and/or price-target reductions.
Moving on, Global Hunter Securities also offered its two cents on RIG, upgrading the equity to "neutral" from "reduce" just hours before the company's turn in the earnings spotlight.
From a broader sentiment standpoint, the bullish note is nothing new for RIG, with Zacks reporting 20 "buy" or better endorsements, compared to 14 "holds" and just three "sell" or worse ratings. Likewise, Thomson Reuters pegs the average 12-month price target at $87.63, implying expected upside of about 27% to the stock's closing price of $69.12 on Tuesday.
Technically speaking, RIG has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 20% during the past 40 sessions, ushered lower beneath its 10-day moving average. Now, the stock is attempting to maintain its footing atop its 200-day trendline, which hasn't been compromised on a daily closing basis since early November. As a result of its downturn, the shares' Relative Strength Index (RSI) now rests at 31 -- on the verge of oversold territory, suggesting a short-term bounce could be in the cards.
From an historical perspective, however, Transocean has fallen short of the Street's per-share profit projections in two of the past four quarters. Should the company once again miss estimates, an unwinding of optimism among the analyst community could exacerbate RIG's recent challenges on the charts.
Finally, after besting analysts' first-quarter earnings expectations -- and soaring to a new high as a result -- SIRI has earned some love from the brokerage bunch. Just hours after Tuesday's earnings report hit the Street, S&P Equity Research lifted its price target by 50 cents to $2.50 and underscored its "buy" recommendation. Meanwhile, analysts at Maxim Group this morning upped their price target by 30 cents to $2.50 and reiterated their "buy" opinion.
However, the stock's bullish bandwagon is far from crowded, with four out of nine analysts maintaining a tepid "hold" suggestion. Plus, Thomson Reuters deems the average 12-month price target at $1.90, representing a discount to SIRI's settlement price of $2.07 on Tuesday.
In the same vein, short interest on the stock rocketed 5.8% higher during the past month, and now accounts for about 7% of the equity's float. In fact, at SIRI's average daily trading volume, it would take more than a week to repurchase all of these pessimistic positions.
On the charts, the shares of SIRI have extended their quest for multi-year highs today, tagging a fresh peak of $2.12 right out of the gate. As such, the security is now on pace to notch its first weekly finish north of $2 since July 2008. Should the stock continue its post-earnings climb, a flood of fresh upgrades and/or upward price-target revisions, or a notable short-covering situation, could translate into additional upside for the communications concern.
Jumping right in... Despite its disappointing earnings showing on Tuesday, CHK has scored a couple of upbeat analyst endorsements, with CapitalOne Southcoast upgrading the stock to "add" from "hold," and Howard Weil upping its opinion to "market outperform" from "market perform" and lifting its price target to $39 from $34. On the flip side, Global Hunter Securities downgraded the security to "accumulate" from "buy."
The mixed brokerage attention is practically par for the course for CHK, though, with Zacks reporting 15 "buy" or better ratings, compared to 16 "hold" or worse recommendations. However, the equity's consensus 12-month price target of $39.22 -- as calculated by Thomson Reuters -- represents a premium of 25% to CHK's settlement price of $31.33 on Tuesday.
Thanks to yesterday's gap lower, the shares of CHK are now struggling to maintain a perch in the $31 neighborhood, which hasn't been violated on a weekly closing basis since mid-February. Furthermore, the stock is clinging to support at its 20-week moving average, which -- along with its 10-week cohort -- has contained all but three of CHK's weekly pullbacks since late August 2010. Should the security forfeit its foothold, the bullish holdouts among the brokerage bunch could come back to bite the stock in the form of downgrades and/or price-target reductions.
Moving on, Global Hunter Securities also offered its two cents on RIG, upgrading the equity to "neutral" from "reduce" just hours before the company's turn in the earnings spotlight.
From a broader sentiment standpoint, the bullish note is nothing new for RIG, with Zacks reporting 20 "buy" or better endorsements, compared to 14 "holds" and just three "sell" or worse ratings. Likewise, Thomson Reuters pegs the average 12-month price target at $87.63, implying expected upside of about 27% to the stock's closing price of $69.12 on Tuesday.
Technically speaking, RIG has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 20% during the past 40 sessions, ushered lower beneath its 10-day moving average. Now, the stock is attempting to maintain its footing atop its 200-day trendline, which hasn't been compromised on a daily closing basis since early November. As a result of its downturn, the shares' Relative Strength Index (RSI) now rests at 31 -- on the verge of oversold territory, suggesting a short-term bounce could be in the cards.
From an historical perspective, however, Transocean has fallen short of the Street's per-share profit projections in two of the past four quarters. Should the company once again miss estimates, an unwinding of optimism among the analyst community could exacerbate RIG's recent challenges on the charts.
Finally, after besting analysts' first-quarter earnings expectations -- and soaring to a new high as a result -- SIRI has earned some love from the brokerage bunch. Just hours after Tuesday's earnings report hit the Street, S&P Equity Research lifted its price target by 50 cents to $2.50 and underscored its "buy" recommendation. Meanwhile, analysts at Maxim Group this morning upped their price target by 30 cents to $2.50 and reiterated their "buy" opinion.
However, the stock's bullish bandwagon is far from crowded, with four out of nine analysts maintaining a tepid "hold" suggestion. Plus, Thomson Reuters deems the average 12-month price target at $1.90, representing a discount to SIRI's settlement price of $2.07 on Tuesday.
On the charts, the shares of SIRI have extended their quest for multi-year highs today, tagging a fresh peak of $2.12 right out of the gate. As such, the security is now on pace to notch its first weekly finish north of $2 since July 2008. Should the stock continue its post-earnings climb, a flood of fresh upgrades and/or upward price-target revisions, or a notable short-covering situation, could translate into additional upside for the communications concern.
