Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Cummins, Enzon Pharma, NextEra Energy, Bank of America and Progress Energy

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – June 15, 2011 – Zacks Equity Research highlights: Cummins Inc. (CMI - Analyst Report) as the Bull of the Day and Enzon Pharma (ENZN - Analyst Report), as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE - Analyst Report), Bank of America Corporation (BAC - Analyst Report) and Progress Energy Inc. (PGN - Analyst Report).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Cummins Inc. (CMI - Analyst Report) is set to benefit from fuel economy improvements, new emission standards and increased prices. The company's results improved significantly in the most recent quarter, driven by the truck market recovery in North America and continued strength in non-U.S. markets.

Earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.31 per share during the quarter. Furthermore, Cummins raised its EBIT guidance for 2011 based on higher profits in the first quarter of 2011.

These factors have led us to maintain our Outperform recommendation. Shares of Cummins are currently trading at 13.1X our 2011 EPS estimate of $7.87. Our $132 target price, 16.8X 2011 EPS, reflects this recommendation.

Bear of the Day:

Enzon Pharma's (ENZN - Analyst Report) first quarter 2011 net loss of $0.07 per share was narrower than the year-ago loss of $0.20 due to substantial cost cutting by management. The discontinuation of the development of PEG-SN38 for mCRC was a major blow to Enzon, leaving it with just one clinical program in mid-stage development and all other programs in early stages of development.

Moreover, royalties from the sales of PegIntron, comprising a substantial part of revenues, have been declining. Recent FDA approval of Incivek and Victrelis can pose strong competition to PegIntron, which could further decline royalties from PegIntron sales.

We have, therefore, downgraded our rating on the stock from Neutral to Underperform. At the end of the first quarter, P/B multiple of the stock was approximately 2.1. Our price target of $9.50 corresponds to a P/B multiple of approximately 1.9.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

NextEra Gets Wind Project Funding

NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE - Analyst Report) said Bank of America Corporation (BAC - Analyst Report), the largest U.S. lender, has agreed to invest $177 million in a tax-equity transaction linked to a wind farm project of its business unit, NextEra Energy Resources LLC.

As part of the transaction, NextEra Energy sold Class B membership interests in White Oak Energy Funding LLC, a 150 megawatt wind energy project located in Illinois, to the bank. The company said the transaction will comprise of two fundings.

The White Oak project is expected to qualify for a cash grant under section 1603 of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. This is NextEra Energy's first tax-equity transaction which includes cash grant as a component.

Based in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy Inc. through its subsidiaries engages in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric energy in Florida. The company competes with Progress Energy Inc. (PGN - Analyst Report).

NextEra reported 2011 operating earnings of 94 cents per share, at par with the year-ago quarter. The results of the company lay below the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

As of March 31, 2011, NextEra had $425 million in cash and cash equivalents, up 40.7% from $302 million as of December 31, 2010. Long-term debts of the company were $18.3 billion with a debt-to-equity ratio of 47%.

NextEra Energy expects its 2011 earnings to be in the range of $4.35 to $4.65 per share. The company also expects earnings to grow at an average rate of 5% to 7% from 2011 through 2014. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for second-quarter 2011, fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012 are $1.07 per share, $4.47 per share and $4.74 per share, respectively.

We maintain our Neutral recommendation on NextEra Energy. The quantitative Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Neutral rating) for the company indicates no clear directional pressure on the stock over the near term.

Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2649.

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

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Read the full analyst report on CMI

Read the full analyst report on ENZN

Read the full analyst report on NEE

Read the full analyst report on BAC

Read the full analyst report on PGV