Somewhat Positive Media Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect Axon (AAXN) Share Price

Media headlines about Axon (NASDAQ:AAXN) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern reports. The research group identifies negative and positive media coverage by reviewing more than 20 million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Axon earned a news impact score of 0.21 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news stories about the industrial products company an impact score of 47.3248366279318 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern Sentiment Analysis’s scoring:

Get Axon alerts: Axon Investors Approve Tesla-Like Moonshot Award for CEO Smith (bloomberg.com) Looking for a Growth Stock? Why It is Time to Focus on Axon Enterprise (AAXN) (finance.yahoo.com) Record Number of Attendees Expected at Axon Accelerate, the Third Annual Tech Conference for Public Safety (finance.yahoo.com) The Latest Musk-Like Moonshot CEO Pay Deal (bloomberg.com) Axon: Long-Term Potential Remains Strong Despite 175% Surge (seekingalpha.com)

AAXN opened at $62.08 on Friday. Axon has a one year low of $20.57 and a one year high of $62.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 229.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.76.

Axon (NASDAQ:AAXN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.20. Axon had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business had revenue of $101.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. Axon’s revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. equities analysts anticipate that Axon will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AAXN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Northland Securities initiated coverage on shares of Axon in a report on Thursday, March 29th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. BidaskClub raised shares of Axon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Axon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 2nd. Dougherty & Co reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Axon in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Craig Hallum set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Axon and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.14.

In other Axon news, CEO Patrick W. Smith sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $15,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 862,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,722,252. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Joshua Isner sold 9,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $337,998.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 345,406 shares of company stock worth $17,560,163 over the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Axon

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) worldwide. The company operates through two segments, TASER Weapons, and Software and Sensors. It offers TASER X26P and TASER X2 smart weapons for law enforcement; consumer CEWs; and replacement cartridges and consumables, as well as performance power magazines.

BT��s U.K. Fixed Network Openreach Draws Buyer Interest

BT Group Plc, the former phone monopoly under pressure to return to growth, is considering options for its U.K. fixed network after getting informal interest from private equity and infrastructure investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The British firm is evaluating inbound proposals including minority and majority stake purchases in Openreach, the national phone and broadband grid it still controls, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. The deliberations are early stage and the company may decide against pursuing any of the ideas, they said.

Openreach, BT’s most profitable business, could be valued at 12.4 billion pounds to 24.9 billion pounds ($33 billion), according to recent estimates from Berenberg and RBC Capital Markets, respectively. The wide range for Openreach reflects the vulnerability to regulatory decisions that affect prices it can charge customers.

Hurdles to any potential deal include BT’s preference to retain control of the grid, differences over valuation as well as risks related to regulation and Britain’s planned exit from the European Union, the people said.

Asset sales could help raise money for investments and preempt any moves from activist investors, with its shares languishing near the lowest in six years, said the people. BT is also looking at the possible sale of its mobile towers, two of the people said.

A spokesman for BT declined to comment.

Win Back Support

A sale of the grid would be a bold move for a telecom carrier struggling to win back support from investors, after a strategy update this month flopped as BT predicted that profits won’t grow again until 2021. Chief Executive Officer Gavin Patterson is cutting thousands of jobs as he seeks to shrink costs, while also contending with rising competition in a mature market. The London-based company also has competing demands for its cash, as politicians and regulators demand investment in fiber broadband and the carrier faces large pension deficit payments.

Openreach is central to BT’s current strategy: responding to government, regulator and customer pressure, the division accelerated its fiber building commitments in February, upping capital expenditures in a pledge to connect 10 million U.K. premises by 2025. And earlier this month it launched new products which meld the fixed network’s connectivity with wireless broadband from EE, the mobile carrier it bought in 2016. Patterson said BT is the only U.K. operator that can do this because none of its rivals also own both fixed and mobile assets of the same scale.

Companies across Europe are reviewing businesses and streamlining operations as activist investors turn their focus to the continent. U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. has taken a stake in Telecom Italia SpA and is pushing for changes including improved corporate governance and the sale of assets, including a part of the network, to cut debt.

Openreach brought in 2.5 billion pounds of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization last year, almost double the EE mobile unit. The regulated business generates regular returns that could be attractive to infrastructure, pension, sovereign wealth and buyout funds, the people said.

Infrastructure Assets

Private equity investors have been drawn to telecommunications infrastructure in recent years, striking multibillion-dollar deals for mobile towers businesses that carriers have been willing to offload. In the U.K., alternative network providers to Openreach have drawn interest, including the $750 million purchase of CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings Plc in April by funds including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s West Street Global Infrastructure Partners and Antin Infrastructure Partners.

Any deal for Openreach could also be complicated, given its current arm’s-length relationship with BT. The firm owns and controls the budget of Openreach, which sells wholesale broadband to communication providers including Sky Plc, Vodafone Group Plc and its own consumer business, but doesn’t have sway over day-to-day operations after regulators forced a legal separation of the network last year. That separation was seen by some analysts as a precursor to an eventual spinoff or sale.

— With assistance by Sarah Syed

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Five things that could move the markets in the Fed's minutes release today

The Federal Reserve will release minutes Wednesday of its meeting in early May that did not see an interest rate increase but apparently did feature some important in-depth discussion about the future of monetary policy.

That may not sound very exciting on the surface, but market participants will be poring through the Federal Open Market Committee meeting summary for clues about where the central bank is heading.

In Fedspeak, what seems like an innocuous add or drop in verbiage from one statement to the next can unlock a torrent of new information.

Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy Evercore ISI, offers a helpful guide on what will gather investor attention:

1. The economy, specifically the FOMC's drop of the phrase that the outlook "has strengthened." Guha thinks Fed officials still are optimistic "though they might have pared back their assessment a bit between the March and May meetings on weaker Q1 growth ex-US and possible drag from trade-related uncertainty."

2. Including the word "symmetric" in the Fed's approach to its 2 percent inflation target jarred some who thought it meant the committee might let inflation go beyond the target and allow the economy to rev a little hotter than normal. In Guha's view, "to the extent that the minutes take even a baby step forward in clarifying this it will have important implications for the likely path of inflation and rates."

3. In the same vein, investors will be looking to confirm that the new-look Fed is one that will be more comfortable with above-target inflation. "We think that many, perhaps most FOMC participants actually hold this view though it is unclear whether Chair [Jerome] Powell would be comfortable making even a modest deliberate inflation overshoot official Fed policy."

4. Some long-standing characterizations of policy, specifically that it "remains accommodative" and that the fed funds rate likely will stay "below levels that are expected to prevail in the longer run," are likely on their way out. The importance there will be whether officials indicate that a new policy regime is coming. However, Guha said incoming committee members could take a more dovish policy view, setting up possible conflicts ahead.

5. Similarly, there's likely to be a debate ahead about how far the Fed has to go to get to a "neutral rate" where policy is neither restrictive nor overly accommodative. If the minutes indicate that the neutral rate is close, the market will see that as dovish.

As things stand, the Fed has indicated two more rate hikes are on the way this year with three more on the way for 2019. Traders in the fed funds market largely agree, though the probability of an additional rate hike before the end of the year recently went over 50 percent. As of Wednesday morning, though, the chance of a total of four hikes this year had fallen to 44 percent, according to the CME.

10 Vehicles with the Highest (and Lowest) Recall Rates

When an automaker recalls a vehicle, owners at least have to put up with some amount of lost time they’ll never get back in order to take the vehicle into a dealer and waiting for the repair work to be done. Recalls for safety issues essentially demand that we get the work done as quickly as possible. That’s a good thing.

The more often this happens, though, the less inclined we are to think well of our choice of vehicle. That’s why auto research firm iSeeCars.com looked at recall campaigns for the past five model years (2013 through 2017) and calculated the average recall rate per 100,000 new vehicles sold per year for all models sold in the United States.

The researchers combed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall database to calculate the recall rate and compared the rate to the Used Car reliability ratings compiled by Consumer Reports magazine.

The researchers found that the 10 vehicles with the highest recall rates were nearly 3.5-times more likely to be recalled while the 10 vehicles with the lowest recall rates were about 5-times less likely to be recalled. The average recall rate for all cars was 0.79 recall campaigns per year per 100,000 vehicles sold and the average Used Car reliability for all cars was 3.4 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Here are the 10 vehicles with the highest recall rates listed in order of average recall rates along with a comparison to the overall average and the Consumer Reports reliability rating.

Mercedes-Benz C-class
Average recall rate: 5.77 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 7.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 3.0

GMC Sierra
Average recall rate: 3.25 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 4.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.4

BMW 3/4 Series
Average recall rate: 2.95 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 3.7-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 3.6

Dodge Durango
Average recall rate: 2.71 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 3.4-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.0

Nissan Pathfinder
Average recall rate: 2.0 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.5-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.4

Ram Pickup
Average recall rate: 1.99 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.5-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.2

Toyota 4Runner
Average recall rate: 1.98 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.5-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 5.0

Dodge Charger
Average recall rate: 1.74 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 2.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: n/a

Chrysler 300
Average recall rate: 5.77 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 7.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 3.0

Chevrolet Tahoe
Average recall rate: 1.52 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 1.9-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 2.4

Here’s the list of the 10 vehicles with the lowest recall rates.

Hyundai Accent
Average recall rate: 0.1 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: n/a

Chevrolet Equinox
Average recall rate: 0.11 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

Toyota Corolla
Average recall rate: 0.12 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.1-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.8

Honda Civic
Average recall rate: 0.14 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

Honda CR-V
Average recall rate: 0.14 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.6

Honda Accord
Average recall rate: 0.16 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.23-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 5

Subaru Crosstrek
Average recall rate: 0.18 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.2-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.0

Toyota Camry
Average recall rate: 0.23 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 5.0

Hyundai Elantra
Average recall rate: 0.23 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

GMC Terrain
Average recall rate: 0.26 campaigns per 100,000 units sold
Comparison to overall average: 0.3-times higher
Consumer Reports reliability rating: 4.2

ALSO READ: Pickup Truck Fuel-Economy Battle Heats Up

Top High Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:ERJ,FBP,CHSCL,VEEV,CCK, &l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-951853642&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/951853642/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Hundreds of people utilize their smartphones to film live events with Facebook Live (Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images)

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;Cast your mind back a few years to a time when you weren&a;rsquo;t constantly glued to your cell phone. Do you remember actually making eye contact with folks on the subway, or giving your loved ones 100 percent of your attention? If you go back a little further, you may even recall an era in which agreeing to meet someone at 10 a.m. meant meeting them at 10 a.m. Not texting to say you&a;rsquo;ll be late or changing the destination last minute. &l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400;&q;&g;You had to be punctual and you had to stick to the plan or your date would end up going home. Flash forward to 2018 and smartphones and social networks have changed our lives beyond recognition.&l;/span&g;

Top High Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now: Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica(ERJ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  Last December, shares of Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) spiked following reports that it might sell itself to aerospace giant Boeing (NYSE:BA). Since then, the Brazilian government has ruled out a full takeover of Embraer but signaled its interest in facilitating a partnership between the two companies in the commercial aviation business.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The week began for Boeing with reports that it had struck a deal with Brazil’s Embraer S.A. (NYSE: ERJ) to form a joint venture controlled by Boeing to build the Brazilian company’s commercial jets. Boeing had no comment, and neither did Embraer nor the Brazilian government.

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  Last quarter, Alaska Airlines began taking concrete steps to align its fleet plan with its new target of 4% annual growth and $750 million of annual capital expenditures for 2019 and 2020. The carrier restructured its orders with Boeing (NYSE:BA), Airbus (NASDAQOTH:EADSY), and Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) to better fit its projected needs.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Embraer (ERJ)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  There are two key reasons why Spirit Airlines may be willing to deal with the complications of adding a second fleet type. First, small and midsize markets are more likely to be underserved than the highest-traffic routes. The CSeries jet family -- developed by Bombardier but soon to be under Airbus' control -- and Embraer's (NYSE:ERJ) E2-series E-Jets are better-suited to low traffic markets than any of the Airbus A320-family offerings.

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  Shares of Brazilian aerospace company Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) surged in late 2017 after Boeing (NYSE:BA) confirmed its interest in buying its smaller rival. However, Embraer stock has retreated in recent weeks, based on reports that negotiators for the two companies are having trouble agreeing on the finer points of a deal.

Top High Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now: First BanCorp.(FBP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Press coverage about First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP) has trended somewhat positive this week, according to Accern. The research firm ranks the sentiment of media coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. First BanCorp earned a daily sentiment score of 0.17 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news headlines about the bank an impact score of 47.5369094230747 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near term.

Top High Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now: CHS Inc(CHSCL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  CHS (NASDAQ:CHSCL) was upgraded by analysts at BidaskClub from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Top High Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now: Veeva Systems Inc.(VEEV)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Veeva Systems (NYSE:VEEV) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,741 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Matt Wallach is the co-founder and president of Veeva Systems�(NYSE:VEEV), a cloud-based software company that found success catering to the life-sciences industry. But the company isn't stopping there.

• [By Kristine Harjes]

  In this week's episode of Industry Focus: Healthcare, host Kristine Harjes interviews Matt Wallach, the co-founder and president of cloud computing company�Veeva Systems�(NYSE:VEEV). Veeva serves healthcare companies across the board, from fledgling biotechs to massive stalwarts like Johnson & Johnson, and many investors see big potential for sustainable, long-term growth in the future.

Top High Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now: Crown Holdings, Inc.(CCK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.64.

Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America Increases Stake in NorthStar Realty Europe

Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America increased its holdings in NorthStar Realty Europe (NYSE:NRE) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America owned approximately 0.13% of NorthStar Realty Europe worth $931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in NorthStar Realty Europe by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 131,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after buying an additional 15,644 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in NorthStar Realty Europe by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 718,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,209,000 after buying an additional 48,406 shares during the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in NorthStar Realty Europe by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 599,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,057,000 after buying an additional 38,825 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in NorthStar Realty Europe by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,004,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,925,000 after buying an additional 82,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in NorthStar Realty Europe during the 4th quarter valued at $282,000. 71.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get NorthStar Realty Europe alerts:

NYSE:NRE opened at $13.87 on Friday. NorthStar Realty Europe has a 52 week low of $14.00 and a 52 week high of $14.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

NorthStar Realty Europe (NYSE:NRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). NorthStar Realty Europe had a negative net margin of 12.85% and a positive return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $33.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.86 million. equities research analysts expect that NorthStar Realty Europe will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

NorthStar Realty Europe declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 21st will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NRE shares. B. Riley set a $18.00 price target on shares of NorthStar Realty Europe and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 15th. ValuEngine lowered shares of NorthStar Realty Europe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of NorthStar Realty Europe from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.38.

About NorthStar Realty Europe

NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. is a European focused commercial real estate company with predominately prime office properties within key cities in Germany, the United Kingdom and France, organized as a REIT and managed by an affiliate of Colony NorthStar, Inc (NYSE: CLNS), a leading global equity REIT with an embedded investment management platform.

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