On Monday, Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), lost -0.96% to $55.51.
Small business owners stated being less optimistic in the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, due to small declines in how they regard their business financial situation, most notably current revenues. The modest decline in optimism follows a noteworthy jump in small business optimism at the end of 2014 and early 2015.
In a quarterly small business survey conducted April 6-10, the overall Index score, which measures small business owner optimism, dipped from 71 in January to 64 in April, representing the first noteworthy decrease since November 2012. The second-quarter Index score is still considerably higher than it was in the second quarter of 2014 when the score was 47 and 2013, when the score was 16.
Several factors contributed to the decrease in optimism this quarter, counting:
- Lower revenue – In the April survey, 42 percent of small business owners stated that their company’s revenues raised over the past 12 months, down from 49 percent in January. However, the percent of business owners indicating revenue had raised is up from a year ago when it was 36 percent.
- Slight drop in credit expectations – When asked about access to credit, almost a third (30 percent) of small business owners said it was very or somewhat easy to obtain credit when they needed it, down slightly from 34 percent in January. Another 25 percent said credit was very or somewhat difficult to obtain in April, up from 20 percent in January and relatively unchanged from a year ago when it was 24 percent.
In a few areas, small business owners stated incremental improvements in their business, counting:
- Highest Cash Flow in Seven Years – Fifty-eight percent of small business owners stated that their company’s cash flow was very or somewhat good over the past 12 months, up from 54 percent in January and 50 percent a year ago. The percentage of business owners reporting good current cash flow is the highest since the first quarter of 2008.
- Improved Financial Situation – Sixty-five percent of small business owners rate their company’s financial situation as very or somewhat good, unchanged from the January survey and up from 57 percent a year ago.
Wells Fargo & Company provides retail, commercial, and corporate banking services to individuals, businesses, and institutions. Its Community Banking segment offers checking, savings, market rate, individual retirement, and health savings accounts, in addition to time deposits and remittances; and lines of credit, auto floor plan lines, equity lines and loans, equipment and transportation loans, education and residential mortgage loans, and debit and credit cards.
Shares of Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW), declined -0.05% to $73.22, during its last trading session.
Lowe’s Canada declared it has reached agreement to acquire the leases of 13 former Target Canada locations and to purchase Target’s Milton, Ontario distribution centre for a total purchase price of about C$151 million. This acquisition came as part of a real estate auction following Target’s decision to cease operations in Canada.
The store sites are located across Canada, many in markets where Lowe’s is underpenetrated. The distribution centre in Milton, Ontario is planned ally located to serve Lowe’s current and future stores. As a result of the transaction, about 2,000 jobs will be created in Canada.
The projected acquisitions are subject to court approval in Target Canada’s proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and certain other customary conditions. The court run process is predictable to be accomplished by June 30, 2015.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. operates as a home improvement retailer. The company offers products for maintenance, repair, remodeling, and home decorating. It provides home improvement products under the categories of kitchens and appliances; lumber and building materials; tools and hardware; fashion fixtures; rough plumbing and electrical; lawn and garden; seasonal living; paint; home fashions; storage and cleaning; flooring; millwork; and outdoor power equipment.
At the end of Monday’s trade, Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM), gained 0.20% to $49.43.
Waste Management, declared the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.385 per share payable June 19, 2015 to stockholders of record on June 5, 2015.
Waste Administration, Inc., through its auxiliaries, provides various waste administration environmental services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offer collection services, counting picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, and material recovery facility, or disposal site, in addition to develops and operates landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.
Finally, H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB), ended its last trade with 1.97% gain, and closed at $31.63.
H&R Block, surprised Michigan High School senior with $120,000 Scholarship.
Seventeen-year-old Sean Lawrence earned a $120,000 college scholarship through the H&R Block Budget Challenge — a financial literacy program that rewards high school students for mastering personal finance. The St. Clair, Michigan, senior was deemed “most real-world ready” out of more than 93,000 high school students — from 5,621 U.S. classrooms — that competed in the budgeting simulation during this school year.
The scholarship was presented at St. Clair High School during a school celebration. It came as a surprise to Lawrence, who thought he was receiving just one of the 133 $20,000 scholarships H&R Block awarded to financially savvy teens nationwide. After his $20,000 scholarship was presented, Lawrence got a shock when he learned he was actually the competition’s top winner, receiving a grand total of $120,000. Lawrence’s mastery of personal finance knowledge, behavior and skills during the simulation earned him the honor.
H&R Block, Inc., through its auxiliaries, provides tax preparation and related services to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or by franchisees; and online tax services, such as tax advice, professional and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation, and electronic filing services through its Website hrblock.com.
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