Investors Bid Up Homebuilders, Energy Stocks — Monday’s IP Market Recap
by Kyle Woodley | February 27, 2012 4:46 pm
[1]U.S. housing market data continued a strong 2012 showing Monday, sending homebuilder stocks up on an otherwise flat day.
The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index rose 2% to 97 in January[2], a high not seen since April 2010, when it hit 111.3. Pending sales are considered an early (though not wholly accurate) indicator of home sales, and several homebuilding stocks rose as a result.
Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV[3]) finished up 4.6% Monday, NVR (NYSE:NVR[4]) gained 2.1%, D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI[5]) was up 1.9% and KB Home (NYSE:KBH[6]) was up 1.1%.
Home improvement company Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW[7]) also recorded a modest gain after better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Fourth-quarter earnings per share of 29 cents topped Zacks estimates for 23 cents and were up almost 40% from the year-ago period. Sales of $11.6 billion were up a Street-beating 11%. Lowe’s, like Home Depot (NYSE:HD[8]), credited a warm winter for the surge, and LOW shares popped on the news before dwindling down to a gain of less than 1%.
Energy stocks also were trending higher Monday. Driller Transocean (NYSE:RIG[9]) was up more than 5%, thanks to positive developments in its lawsuit over the Macondo oil spill that helped the company overcome weak fourth-quarter earnings. BP (NYSE:BP[10]) also gained 1% as it discussed settlements around the spill. Meanwhile, a host of other energy stocks were recording strong gains, including ATP Oil & Gas (NASDAQ:ATPG[11], +19%), Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG[12], +11.8%) and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI[13], +4.6%).
Three Up
- Cooper Tire & Rubber (NYSE:CTB[14]), Up 13.8% ($2.16) to $17.82.
- Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OREX[15]): Up 10.6% (40 cents) to $4.16.
- Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU[16]): Up 7.7% (61 cents) to $8.56.
Three Down
- Dendreon (NASDAQ:DNDN[17]): Down 20.5% ($3.05) to $11.81.
- Smart Balance (NASDAQ:SMBL[18]): Down 9.2% (62 cents) to $6.11.
- Novartis (NYSE:NVS[19]): Down 4.3% ($2.46) to $55.05.
Kyle Woodley[20] is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com[21]. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here[22].
Endnotes:
- [Image]: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/investorplace-market-recap/
- pending home sales index rose 2% to 97 in January: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/pending-home-sales-popped-in-january/
- HOV: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=HOV
- NVR: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NVR
- DHI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=DHI
- KBH: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=KBH
- LOW: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=LOW
- HD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=HD
- RIG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=RIG
- BP: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BP
- ATPG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ATPG
- LNG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=LNG
- KMI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=KMI
- CTB: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=CTB
- OREX: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=OREX
- MU: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MU
- DNDN: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=DNDN
- SMBL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SMBL
- NVS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NVS
- Kyle Woodley: https://investorplace.com/author/kyle-woodley/
- InvestorPlace.com: https://investorplace.com/
- here: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/investorplace-market-recap/
Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/homebuilder-energy-stocks-nov-nvr-dhi-kbh-low-bp-rig/