On Wednesday, Shares of Wolverine World Wide Inc. (NYSE:WWW), dropped -2.17% to $30.69.
Wolverine World Wide, stated financial results for its first quarter ended March 28, 2015. Adjusted financial results exclude restructuring and acquisition-related integration costs.
FIRST-QUARTER 2015 REVIEW
- Merged revenue raised to $631.4 million, representing growth of 0.6% as compared to preceding year revenue of $627.6 million. Mid single-digit growth from the Heritage Group and low single-digit growth from the Lifestyle Group were partially offset by a low single-digit revenue decline from the Performance Group. On a constant currency basis, revenue grew 3.4%. Retail store closures associated with the Company’s realignment plan and the exit of the Patagonia Footwear license had a negative 170 basis point impact on stated revenue growth.
- Gross margin was 41.4%, a solid enhance of 60 basis points as compared to the preceding year’s stated and adjusted gross margin. The gross margin expansion was driven primarily by price enhances and lower close out sales, partially offset by product cost enhances.
- As predictable, adjusted operating margin reduced 60 basis points to 9.9% due to raised brand investment and higher pension expense. Stated operating margin was flat contrast to the preceding year at 10.1%.
- Adjusted diluted earnings per share reduced 2.6% to $0.37, contrast to an adjusted $0.38 per share in the preceding year. On a constant currency basis, adjusted diluted earnings per share raised 2.6% to $0.39. Stated diluted earnings per share were $0.39, contrast to $0.36 per share in the preceding year.
- The Company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $121.3 million and net debt of $736.0 million, a reduction of $271.5 million from the same period last year.
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. designs, manufactures, sources, markets, licenses, and distributes footwear, apparel, and accessories. The company operates through Lifestyle Group, Performance Group, and Heritage Group segments.
Shares of Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET), declined -2.15% to $108.01, during its last trading session.
Aetna, and CHI Health declared Nebraska’s first commercial, product-based accountable care organization (ACO) that will offer Omaha employers a health care model designed to improve quality, outcomes, efficiency and the patient experience. The health care savings will be specific to each employer, with the potential to save up to 15 percent over comparable Aetna full network products.
The new commercial health care product, known as Aetna Whole HealthSM – CHI Health Accountable Care Network, will provide Aetna members with highly coordinated care through UniNet, CHI Health’s clinically integrated network. The overall network contains about 500 primary care physicians, 2,000 specialists and 13 hospitals in the Aetna Whole Health - CHI Health Network. The new ACO further builds on Aetna and CHI’s growing relationship.
The value-based, patient-centric model of health care focuses on keeping people healthy rather than just treating them when they are sick.
Aetna is working with health care organizations nationwide to develop products and services that support value-driven, patient-centered care for health care consumers. Nationally recently, about 3.2 million Aetna members receive care from doctors committed to the value-based approach, with 30 percent of Aetna claims payments going to doctors and providers who practice value-based care. Aetna has committed to increasing that number to 50 percent by 2018 and 75 percent by 2020.
In Nebraska, Aetna has 16 percent of its members served through value-based collaborative arrangements with the intent to reach over 25 percent of its members in 2015. Aetna has more value-based networks in Nebraska than any other carrier.
Aetna Inc. operates as a health care benefits company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Health Care, Group Insurance, and Large Case Pensions. The Health Care segment offers medical, pharmacy benefit administration services, dental, behavioral health, and vision plans on an insured basis, and an employer-funded or administrative basis.
At the end of Wednesday’s trade, Shares of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. (NYSE:WDR), dwindled -2.14% to $49.84.
Waddell & Reed Financial, stated first quarter 2015 net income of $67.1 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, contrast to net income of $80.9 million, or $0.97 per diluted share, during the previous quarter. The fourth quarter results comprised of dividend and capital gain income of $6.1 million. Net income for the first quarter of 2014 was $74.9 million, or $0.88 per diluted share.
Operating revenues of $385 million declined 3% sequentially. Lower average assets under administration and two fewer days during the quarter were the primary reasons for the decline in revenues. Contrast to the same period last year, operating revenues declined 1%, due primarily to a decline in average assets under administration. The operating margin during the quarter was 27.1% contrast to 30.0% during the previous quarter and 29.9% during the same period last year.
Assets under administration ended the first quarter at $123 billion, down less than 1% sequentially as market appreciation of $2.8 billion assisted to offset $3.6 billion in net outflows. Contrast to the first quarter of 2014, assets under administration declined 6%. The decline in asset levels over the past 12 months was due to net outflows, which were partly offset by positive market action. Average assets under administration were $123 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
Sales during the quarter were $5.4 billion, or 35% higher than the preceding quarter. Sales rose 8%, adjusting fourth quarter 2014 sales to exclude the about $1.0 billion of capital gain and dividend distributions by our funds that were not reinvested by clients and were recorded as a reduction to sales. Contrast to the record-setting first quarter of 2014, sales declined 46%. Net outflows declined to $3.6 billion from $6.4 billion during the fourth quarter of 2014. The first quarter of 2014 had net inflows of $4.7 billion.
Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., through its auxiliaries, provides investment administration and advisory, investment product underwriting and distribution, and shareholder services administration to mutual funds, and institutional and separately managed accounts in the United States.
Finally, Juno Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:JUNO), ended its last trade with -2.14% loss, and closed at $46.29.
MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Juno Therapeutics, declared that they have reached a new partnership to conduct combination clinical trials in immuno-oncology with one of Juno’s investigational CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell candidates and MedImmune’s investigational programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitor, MEDI4736. Under the initial development plan, both companies will explore the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of the combination therapy as a potential treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Under the terms of the non-exclusive collaboration, MedImmune and Juno will jointly co-fund the initial Phase Ib study, which is predictable to start later in 2015. The companies will also explore the combination of MEDI4736 with a next-generation, Juno-developed fully human CD19-directed CAR T cell candidate.
Juno Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies. The company develops cell-based cancer immunotherapies based on its chimeric antigen receptor and T cell receptor technologies to genetically engineer T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells.
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