M10 BARRON’S March1,2021
ResearchReports
HowAnalystsSizeUpCompanies
These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron’s, were issued recently by investment
andresearchfirms.Thereportsareasamplingofanalysts’thinking;theyshouldnot
beconsideredtheviewsorrecommendationsofBarron’s.Someofthereports’issuers
have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the
companies being analyzed.
To be considered for this section, material
should be sent [email protected].
Caterpillar•CAT- NYSE
Overweight•Price $222.47 on Feb. 24
by J.P. Morgan
We are raising our CAT estimates on improv-
ing equipment fundamentals, particularly in
construction, mining, and energy. We view the
unprecedented winter storm in Texas as a
catalyst for near-term construction and back-
up power-equipment demand (rental initially,
sales thereafter) while also strengthening bi-
partisan support for a broad-based [national]
infrastructure package. Additionally, U.S. oil/
gas production is likely to accelerate, albeit
off a relatively low base. Separately, we be-
lieve that mining capex is entering a sus-
tained, demand-driven upcycle as hard com-
modity prices continue to rally and equipment
replacement is likely to continue to acceler-
ate. We raise our December 2021 price target
to $237 from $205.
Redfin•RDFN-Nasdaq
Outperform•Price $91.63 on Feb. 25
by Wedbush
Redfin reported strong fourth-quarter re-
sults, plus first-quarter guidance well ahead
of expectations, on both the top and bottom
line. Guidance implies results in the core
real estate services segment well ahead of
our expectations (we raise our 1Q growth
estimate for this business to 53% from 31%).
The strength in the housing market is con-
tinuing to drive material benefits to Redfin.
It is having trouble keeping up with de-
mand, even after making changes to its site
that discourage customers from requesting
tours when an agent is unlikely to be avail-
able. Redfin still doesn’t have nearly the
number of agents it needs for the level of
demand it is seeing and is hiring aggres-
sively to get there. Redfin is also seeing in-
creasing repeat rates and referrals, which
can support longer growth. We continue to
see Redfin as exceptionally well positioned
to [benefit from the] real estate tech evolu-
tion. Our $109 price target is six times our
2022 enterprise value/revenue estimate.
Agree Realty•ADC-NYSE
Outperform•Price $64.56 on Feb. 23
by Baird
Our $77 price target is derived from applying
about a 30% premium to our one-year for-
ward net-asset-value per share estimate of
$58.49. The premium is due to ADC’s exter-
nal growth opportunities, favorable access to
capital markets, active portfolio management,
and the high quality of its existing proper-
ties. Around 68% of ADC’s rent is derived
from tenants [or their parent companies]
with an investment-grade rating. The strong
tenant profile has translated into top-tier
rent collections during the Covid-19 pan-
demic. The low cost of capital, combined with
Agree’s existing tenant relationships, should
yield above-average deal volume, with the
pipeline skewed toward lower-risk invest-
ments.
PennNationalGaming•PENN-Nasdaq
Overweight•Price $117.70 on Feb. 22
by J.P. Morgan
We view PENN as a catalyst-filled stock, su-
percharged to benefit from a post-Covid-19
recovery. We don’t see any need for investors
to be cautious and wait for a pullback to add
here, and the same could be said for most re-
gional/land-based/online-sports betting/iGam-
ing operators. We think this subsector will
continue to work through midyear before one
reasonably has to reassess the risk-reward
balance. We are raising our December 2021
price target to $142 from $134.
Cars.com•CARS-NYSE
Buy•Price $14.30 on Feb. 25
by BTIG
CARS beat fourth-quarter expectations on
both revenue and adjusted Ebitda [earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation, and
amortization]. Total revenue came in at $153
million versus our $147 million estimate,
which is also where the Street was. Average
revenue per dealer was $2,264, up 6%, year
over year. Management cited FUEL [a sys-
tem that allows car dealers to target online
consumers who are shopping for a car] as a
key contributor. While FUEL has low mar-
gins, that didn’t stop Cars.com from deliver-
ing a gross margin in line with our 82% esti-
mate. Overall, adjusted Ebitda came in at $49
million, versus our $42 million estimate,
helped by lower marketing spending. How-
ever, all three car listings companies expect
higher marketing expense in 2021 as the mar-
ket becomes more competitive. Despite this,
CARS guided to a 1Q adjusted Ebitda mar-
gin of 27% to 30%, bracketing the consensus
of 28%. Overall, we view this as a solid report
that supports our thesis that CARS is rein-
vigorating its top line. Our price target: $16.
Under Armour•UAA-NYSE
Outperform•Price $22.28 on Feb. 19
by Oppenheimer
We are establishing a 12- to 18-month stock-
price target of $30. Over the past several
years, Under Armour and its once enviable
brand have suffered, owing to significant
mismanagement and heightened competition
in the global athleisure marketplace. UAA is
not yet out of the woods, but we are increas-
ingly confident that a much more targeted
consumer focus and improved operational
controls should gradually facilitate a return
to outsize top-line expansion and unlock sig-
nificant profit potential.
INSIDERTRANSACTIONSRATIO
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
M A M J J A S O N D J F
Ratio of Insiders Sales to Buys. Readings under 12:1 are Bullish. Those over 20:1 are Bearish.
The total top20 sales and buys are 676, 180 ,232 and 34, 441 ,261 respectively; Source: Thomson Reuters
Bearish
Bullish
Ratio=20
INSIDERTRANSACTIONS:RecentFilings
Purchases
$ Val
Company/Symbol Insiders Shares (000's)
OncorusONCR 1 300,000 5,700
CorvusPharmaceuticalsCRVS 2 1,385,714 4,850
AmericanAssetsTrustAAT 1 117,998 3,480
SignifyHealthSGFY 8 88,900 3,215
SonosSONO 1 53,666 2,004
NuSkinEnterprisesNUS 2 40,870 2,004
FranklinStreetPropertiesFSP 3 369,552 1,553
BridgebioPharmaBBIO 2 24,000 1,500
Kkr&CoKKR 1 26,000 1,251
ZoetisZTS 1 7,590 1,250
AgreeRealtyADC 1 19,525 1,242
AvisBudgetCAR 1 23,735 1,089
FiservFISV 1 9,100 1,010
IncyteINCY 1 12,925 1,000
QuidelQDEL 1 5,000 827
CernerCERN 1 10,655 750
FirstBank(Hamilton)FRBA 1 51,345 549
BumbleBMBL 1 6,535 498
TwoHarborsInvestmentTWO 2 55,000 363
ChevronCVX 1 3,200 305
Sales
$ Val
Company/Symbol Insiders Shares (000's)
PelotonInteractivePTON 6 401,670 59,667
CarvanaCVNA 4 190,301 56,834
Leslie'SLESL 6 2,219,167 55,967
PalantirTechnologiesPLTR 3 1,479,629 39,607
PinterestPINS 3 451,185 38,791
SchrodingerSDGR 3 357,559 36,806
TwilioTWLO 6 84,131 36,233
MarathonPatentMARA 1 700,000 34,055
JfrogFROG 6 507,478 33,663
SonosSONO 1 895,285 32,038
CheggCHGG 1 300,000 29,866
ZoetisZTS 4 165,955 26,913
PacificBiosciencesOfCaliforniaPACB 4 549,937 26,904
RaymondJamesFinancialRJF 2 230,000 26,834
CrisprTherapeuticsCRSP 1 171,003 25,498
CloudflareNET 4 300,080 24,897
LovesacLOVE 1 400,000 23,017
DuckCreekTechnologiesDCT 4 427,668 22,953
TeConnectivityTEL 2 175,045 22,880
SeerSEER 1 354,741 22,757
Aninsiderisanyofficer,directororownerof10%ormoreofaclassofacompany'ssecurities.Inmostcases,aninsidermustreportanytradeto
theSECwithintwobusinessdays.ThetableshighlightcompaniesthatfiledwiththeSECthroughlastWednesday.Thetablesdonotinclude
pension-planoremployeestock-optionactivity,tradesbybeneficialownersof10%ormore,tradesunder$2pershareortradesunder100
shares.The"Purchases"columnincludesonlyopen-marketandprivatepurchases;the"Sales"columnincludesonlyopen-marketandprivatesales,
andexcludestradesprecededbyoptionexerciseinthe12monthspriortothereportedevent. Source:ThomsonReuters