Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Spectra Energy, Citi Trends, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, BASF SE and The Dow Chemical

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 13, 2011 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Spectra Energy Corp. (SE - Analyst Report) as the Bull of the Day and Citi Trends, Inc. (CTRN - Analyst Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DD - Analyst Report), BASF SE (BASFY - Analyst Report) and The Dow Chemical Company (DOW - 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:

We maintain our Outperform recommendation for Spectra Energy Corp. (SE - Analyst Report) shares following better-than-expected third quarter 2011 results. The outperformance was driven by strong growth from expansion projects, higher commodity prices and a stronger Canadian dollar.

With third-quarter results showing an improvement, management remains optimistic about the company's performance going forward and looks to deliver or exceed its full-year earnings per share forecast of $1.65. It also remains focused on investing more than $5 billion in expansion capital over the next five years.

With a market-leading position and strong investment opportunities, we expect Spectra to sustain its growth momentum. Our $35 price objective reflects a 2012 P/E multiple of 18.4x, which is trading at the upper end of the historical range.

Bear of the Day:

Citi Trends, Inc. (CTRN - Analyst Report) falling comparable store sales, coupled with rising operating expenses battered the third-quarter 2011 results. The company incurred a quarterly loss of $0.38 per share that broadened from the prior-period loss of $0.03. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter was a loss of $0.37 per share.

Further, due to uncertainty hovering around sales given the global economic unrest, the company rolled back its earnings guidance range of $1.25 to $1.35 per share for fiscal 2011. The company decided not to provide any guidelines unless it finds any near-term catalysts to drive sales.

Intense competition from other retailers, seasonal nature of business and risks associated with sourcing merchandise from developing countries may further undermine the company's future growth prospects. Currently, we are maintaining a long-term Underperform recommendation on the stock.

Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:

DuPont Trims 2011 Outlook

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DD - Analyst Report) has slashed its full-year 2011 outlook citing slower growth in some of its businesses due to weakness in the company's end markets.

For 2011, DuPont forecasts earnings in the range of $3.87-$3.95, down from its earlier forecast of $3.97-$4.05. The company’s lowering of outlook reflects destocking in some industrial supply chains that has sped up in the current quarter, due to softening demand in consumer electronics and continued weakness in housing and construction markets.

As per the company, it is seeing slower growth in certain segments driven by global economic uncertainty, which contributed to the ongoing conservative cash management in some supply chains.

However, not all of DuPont’s businesses are suffering. As per the company, demand in its agriculture and food segment continues to be strong, due to solid volume growth during the current summer months in Latin America.

Recently, DuPont released its third-quarter results; reporting a net income of $452 million or 69 cents per share in the third quarter of 2011 from $367 million or 40 cents per share in the same quarter of 2010. The profit exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents per share.

The improvement in profit was attributable to higher selling prices, increased sales volume and currency benefit, partly offset by higher raw material, energy, and freight costs.

Sales in the quarter grew 32% to $9.2 billion, up from the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.9 billion. The increase in sales reflected a rise of 1% in sales volume, a hike of 15% in local price, 4% currency benefit and 12% net increase from portfolio changes. Sales in the developing markets rose 38%.

DuPont is a global chemical and life sciences company, employing more than 60,000 people worldwide with a diverse array of product offerings. With over 21,000 patents and 15,000 patent applications worldwide, DuPont sells its products in diverse markets, such as transportation, construction, apparel, agriculture, nutrition and health, packaging and electronics markets.

DuPont faces stiff competition from BASF SE (BASFY - Analyst Report) and The Dow Chemical Company (DOW - Analyst Report).

The company currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating. In addition, we reiterate our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock

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 SE

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