The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JPMorgan Chase, Altria, ConocoPhillips, The Travelers Companies And Twitter

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) , Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) , ConocoPhillips Co. (NYSE:COP) , The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) and Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for JPMorgan, Altria Group and ConocoPhillips

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Altria Group, Inc. and ConocoPhillips Co.. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>

JPMorgan’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Banks - Major Regional industry year to date (+33.8% vs. 29.3%). The Zacks analyst believes that the company recorded impressive bond trading and underwriting business performance in third-quarter 2019. Also, decent loan growth, acquisition of InstaMed, opening of new branches and focus on strengthening credit card business will aid financials amid the Fed’s accommodative policy.

But, the company’s significant dependence on capital markets revenues makes us apprehensive, given the several geopolitical concerns. Also, the bank is likely to face challenges in expanding mortgage operations. Thus, these matters are expected to hamper fee revenue growth.

Shares of Altria Group have lost 7.6% in the past six months against the Zacks Tobacco industry’s decline of 3.2%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company’s shares have declined primarily due to headwinds surrounding the cigarette unit.

Management expects volumes at the domestic cigarette industry to decline 5-6% in 2019. In this context, tight regulations surrounding sales and marketing of cigarettes along with consumers’ rising health awareness are deterrents.

Nonetheless, prudent pricing strategies have been aiding Altria to boost revenues in its smokeable and smokeless units as witnessed during the third quarter of 2019. During the quarter, earnings and revenues improved year on year.

Shares of ConocoPhillips have lost 9.2% in the past six months against S&P 500’s rise of 9.6%. The Zacks analyst believes that ConocoPhillips’ expectations for higher production costs and operating expenses are concerning.

For third-quarter 2019, ConocoPhillips projects production in the range of 1,290-1,330 MBoe/D, suggesting a sequential reduction in volumes from 1,332 MBoe/d. The company expects this underperformance owing to planned turnarounds in Alaska, Asia Pacific and Europe. Moreover, the firm projects total production and operating expenses of $5.4 billion, higher than $5.2 billion for 2018.

On the positive side, the balance sheet of ConocoPhillips is significantly less leveraged than the industry it belongs to, reflecting strong financials.

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) and Twitter, Inc. (TWTR).

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