Following U.S. Stocks were among the “Top Gainers” during Monday’s trade: LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO), Foot Locker, Inc (NYSE:FL), Ruckus Wireless Inc (NYSE:RKUS),Spansion Inc (NYSE:CODE)
Their insights are depicted underneath:
LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO)’s shares picked up 2.86%, and closed at $37.75.
Through BUSINESS WIRE, on February 18, LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO), declared results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2014.
Fourth Quarter Results and Activities:
- RevPAR: Room proceed per accessible room (“RevPAR”) for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 raised 7.7 percent to $181.49, as a result of a 5.7 percent raise in average daily rate (“ADR”) to $235.04 and a 1.8 percent improvement in occupancy to 77.2 percent.
- Hotel EBITDA Margin: The Corporation’s hotel EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter raised 163 basis points from the comparable preceding year period to 32.0 percent.
- Adjusted EBITDA: The Corporation’s adjusted EBITDA was $80.5 million, an raise of 10.4 percent over the fourth quarter of 2013.
- Adjusted FFO: The Corporation generated fourth quarter adjusted FFO of $63.0 million, or $0.59 per diluted share/unit, contrast to $55.8 million, or $0.55 per diluted share/unit, for the comparable preceding year period, a per share/unit raise of 7.3 percent.
- Dividend: On December 15, the Corporation declared a fourth quarter 2014 dividend of $0.375 per ordinary share of beneficial interest. The dividend represents an annual run rate of $1.50 per share and a 3.6 percent yield based on the closing share price on February 17, 2015.
- Capital Markets: During the fourth quarter 2014, the Corporation sold 8,740,000 ordinary shares of beneficial interest, counting the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, at a public offering price of $39.90 per share, resulting in net proceeds of $348.5 million.
- The Corporation did not sell any shares under its ATM program during the fourth quarter or to date in the first quarter of 2015.
- Capital Investments: The Corporation invested $40.0 million of capital in its hotels. The Corporation commenced renovations at Sofitel Washington, DC, The Grafton on Sunset in West Hollywood, Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, Villa Florence in San Francisco, Hyatt Boston Harbor and Westin Philadelphia.
LaSalle Hotel Properties is a leading multi-operator real estate investment trust. The Corporation owns 46 hotels. The properties are upscale, full-service hotels, totaling more than 11,900 guest rooms in 14 markets in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
Foot Locker, Inc (NYSE:FL), raised 2.85%, and closed at $61.06, hitting new 52-week high of $61.18.
Through PRNewswire, Foot Locker, Inc. (FL), stated financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended January 31, 2015.
Financial Position:
The Corporation’s merchandise inventory at January 31, 2015 was $1,250 million, which was $30 million, or 2.5 percent, higher than at the end of last year.
At year-end 2014, the Corporation’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $967 million, while the debt on its balance sheet was $134 million. During the fourth quarter of 2014, the Corporation repurchased 2.34 million shares of its ordinary stock for $131 million. For the full year, the Corporation repurchased 5.9 million shares for $305 million.
“As formerly declared in February, our Board of Directors approved a new $1 billion share repurchase program,” said Mr. Johnson, “with the previous $600 million program having been substantially accomplished. Our strong financial position also enabled the Board to authorize another double-digit percentage raise in our quarterly dividend, to 25 cents per share, and approve a $220 million capital expenditure program for 2015.”
Store Base Update:
The Corporation opened 86 new stores, remodeled/relocated 319 stores, and closed 136 stores during fiscal 2014. As of January 31, 2015, the Corporation operated 3,423 stores in 23 countries in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition, 51 franchised Foot Locker stores were operating in the Middle East and South Korea, in addition to 27 franchised Runners Point and Sidestep stores in Germany and Switzerland.
Foot Locker, Inc., together with its auxiliaries, operates as a retailer of athletic footwear and apparel. The corporation operates in two segments, Athletic Stores and Direct-to-Customers.
Ruckus Wireless Inc (NYSE:RKUS), enhanced 2.75%, and closed at $12.69.
Through PRNewswire, on March 2, Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (RKUS), declared that its 802.11ac technology is being integrated into Nokia Networks’ Flexi Zone Small cell indoor and outdoor solutions.
Ruckus has been working with Nokia Networks to integrate its 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology into selected Flexi Zone products to address the growing demand for more comprehensive solutions that assist operators more efficiently address the skyrocketing data capacity demands they face.
As the number of mobile Internet users and smart mobile devices continues to grow dramatically, advanced services like video streaming, multimedia-rich social media and VoIP are inflating traffic volumes. Adding conventional cellular macro base stations to address this challenge is typically time-consuming and often cost prohibitive. Consequently, mobile network operators (MNOs) are increasingly looking for cost-effective solutions and more flexible approaches using Small cells to ease this pressure on their existing infrastructures.
With Ruckus-powered technology integrated into Nokia Networks’ Flexi Zone solutions, service providers now have accessible a purpose-built, flexible and more cost-effective Small cell solution. It’s a solution engineered specifically for service providers looking to offload traffic from the macro network to an underlay network at a street and indoor level, both for individual subscribers and enterprises.
Ruckus Wireless, Inc. provides carrier-class Wi-Fi solutions to service providers and enterprises worldwide. It provides gateways, controllers, and access points with related software and services.
Spansion Inc (NYSE:CODE), rose 2.73%, and closed at $38.00, hitting new 52-week high of $38.50.
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY), and Spansion Inc. (CODE), declared that they webcasted a joint presentation at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 5, 2015. The conference was held at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California. Thad Trent, Cypress’s Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, and Rahul Mathur, Spansion’s Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, both presented on behalf of the companies.
Spansion, Inc. designs, manufactures, develops, and sells embedded systems semiconductors. The corporation offers flash memory, microcontrollers, and analog and mixed-signal products, and embedded system-on-chip solutions.
