Honda Cars : Honda Motor Co. Rating Increased to Outperform at Zacks (HMC) | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) was upgraded by Zacks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The firm currently has a $38.00 price target on the stock.

Zacks’ analyst wrote, “Honda expects to benefits from its global network and business expansion in Asia.
The automaker is well positioned to take advantage of stricter environment regulations given its long-term focus on hybrid vehicles. Given these factors and favorable model mix and effective cost reduction measures, the company anticipates a revival in sales and profits for fiscal 2013. Although it missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.14 per share, the company posted a steep 61% increase in profits to 71.6 billion ($871 million) in the fourth quarter of the fiscal 2012. As such, we have upgraded the recommendation on the shares of the company to Outperform from Neutral and set a target price of $38.00.”

Separately, analysts at Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) upgraded shares of Honda Motor Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, May 7th.

Honda Motor Co. traded down 0.87% on Monday, hitting $31.92. Honda Motor Co. has a 1-year low of $27.52 and a 1-year high of $41.23. The company has a market cap of $57.529 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86.

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. (Honda) develops, produces and manufactures a variety of motor products, ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.

Source;
http://zolmax.com/honda-motor-co-rating-increased-to-outperform-at-zacks-hmc/2910189/

Honda Cars : American Honda Finance Sells $1.75 Bln Deal In US Bond Market -Source | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--American Honda Finance Corp., a financing arm of Honda Motor Co. (HMC, 7267.TO), sold $1.75 billion in a two-part private placement in the U.S. credit markets Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The deal featured $1 billion of 1.45% coupon, three-year notes priced to yield 1.468%, or 103 basis points over Treasurys, and $750 million of 2.125% coupon, five-year notes priced to yield 2.126%, or 123 basis points over Treasurys. Each yield is two basis points tighter than original pricing guidance.

A banker familiar with the deal said it garnered about $4.25 billion of orders from investors, or more than two-and-a-half times the needed amount.

The notes are expected to be rated A1 by Moody's Investors Service, A-plus by Standard & Poor's, and A by Fitch Ratings.

Barclays Capital, J.P. Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland are lead underwriters on the sale.

-By Patrick McGee, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2382; patrick.mcgee@dowjones.com

Source;
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120221-717467.html

Honda Cars : Japanese Stocks Advance, Led by Honda, on Earnings Confidence | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By Anna Kitanaka
Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose for the first time in three days, led by automakers, after Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its rating on Honda Motor Co. to “buy,” and after General Electric Co. of the U.S. beat earnings estimates.

Honda climbed 3.8 percent. Elpida Memory Inc., the world’s third-largest maker of computer-memory chips, jumped 5.1 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its investment rating. Yaskawa Electric Corp., a maker of electronic controls, leapt 4.5 percent after the company swung to profit. Tokyo Tomin Bank Ltd., a regional lender based in Japan’s capital, tumbled 6.1 percent, leading a decline by banks.

“There are strong expectations that earnings will improve,” said Koichi Kurose, chief strategist in Tokyo at Resona Bank Ltd., which manages about $57 billion in assets. “As we’re seeing increasing earnings abroad, Japanese exporter shares are rising.”

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.7 percent to 10,345.11 at the close in Tokyo. The broader Topix index also gained 0.7 percent to 917.18, after earlier falling as much as 0.1 percent. About three shares rose for each that fell on the Topix.

The Topix has gained 2 percent this year, driving the average price of shares in the index to 15.8 times estimated earnings on average, close to the highest level since August.

General Electric
The gauge sank 1 percent in 2010 as the yen rose to its strongest annual average level against the dollar since currencies became freely traded in 1971, dimming the outlook for export earnings. Confidence in a global recovery was also damped by Europe’s debt crisis, China’s steps to curb inflation and concern U.S. growth will weaken.

In the U.S., the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.2 percent in New York on Jan. 21 after General Electric, the world’s biggest maker of jet engines, medical-imaging equipment and power turbines, reported fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of 36 cents a share, exceeding the average estimate from analysts of 32 cents. General Electric Co. is considered a proxy for world growth.

Automakers as a group were the biggest boost to the Topix among the index’s 33 industry groups.

Honda Leads Gains
Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, gained 3.8 percent to 3,400 yen, the biggest contributor to the Nikkei 225’s advance. The company was raised to “buy” from “neutral” by Nomura analyst Masataka Kunugimoto, who estimated the shares may reach 4,300 yen within the next 12 months. Honda’s U.S. sales are looking favorable, and earnings may increase, Kunugimoto wrote in a Jan. 21 report.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, gained 1.3 percent to 3,415 yen. Nissan Motor Co., the third-biggest automaker in Japan, climbed 0.7 percent to 830 yen.

“Earnings in the U.S. are improving,” said Kazuhiro Takahashi, a general manager at Tokyo-based Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. In Japan, “there are expectations that domestic companies will also post good results.”

Elpida rose 5.1 percent to 1,134 yen. Goldman Sachs increased its investment rating to “buy” from “neutral” and boosted its share-price estimate to 1,350 yen from 950 yen.

Yaskawa Electric Corp., a Japanese machinery maker, jumped 4.5 percent to 867 yen. The company turned to a nine-month net income of 4.32 billion yen from a year-earlier loss on a 41 percent surge in sales.

Banks Decline
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru-brand cars, advanced 1.3 percent to 690 yen. The company’s operating profit for the fiscal year to March 31 will likely triple to about 80 billion yen, the Nikkei newspaper reported. That compares with the company’s earlier forecast of 70 billion yen, Nikkei said.

The Topix Banks Index fell 0.4 percent today, the biggest decline among the Topix’s industry groups.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s biggest bank, dropped 0.5 percent to 441 yen. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the No. 3, declined 1.2 percent to 164 yen.

Tokyo Tomin Bank tumbled 6.1 percent to 1,168 yen. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its investment rating on the stock to “underweight” from “neutral.”

The Topix bank index rose 2.7 percent this year through Jan. 21, double the broader Topix index’s 1.3 percent gain in the same period. The bank sub-group’s relative-strength index, a measure of price momentum, was at 71.27 on Jan. 19, above the 70 threshold that some traders use as an indicator to sell.

“Bank shares have been on a steady climb, so now people are cautious about the price and want to capture their earnings,” said Hideyuki Ishiguro, assistant manager at the investment strategy department at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.

-- With assistance from Kotaro Tsunetomi. Editors: Sam Waite, John McCluskey.

Source;
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-24/japanese-stocks-advance-led-by-honda-on-earnings-confidence.html

Honda Cars : Honda shares pass Toyota's on emerging market hope | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By Daiki Iga
TOKYO, Sept 2 Thu Sep 2, 2010 5:34am EDT

TOKYO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co's (7267.T) shares closed higher than those of rival Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Thursday for the first time since 1976, as investors anticipated faster growth in emerging markets for Japan's No.2 automaker.

Honda's shares, marking a 34-year milestone once a two-for-one split in 2006 is stripped out, gained 1.9 percent to 2,859 yen, while Toyota ended down 0.3 percent at 2,850 yen, stalling as the overall Tokyo market rose.

Shares of Toyota, the world's most valuable car maker with a market capitalisation of nearly $120 billion, have been in a steady decline for the past six months, erasing the mild gains made after its worst-ever quality crisis that blew up in January prompted investors to dump its shares.

Toyota has recalled close to 10 million vehicles worldwide in the past year for problems related to unintended acceleration.

With a slower earnings recovery compared with Japanese rivals Honda and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), Toyota's shares are hardly 10 percent above a post-Lehman crisis low, against a more than 70 percent rebound for Honda.

The business environment has turned tough for Toyota and Honda alike, with the yen hitting multi-year highs against the dollar and the United States car market -- the most important for both companies -- proving weaker than expected.

In August, Toyota and Honda both fared worse than average with a more than 30 percent decline in U.S. sales from the year before, when they benefited the most from government incentive-fuelled demand.

Market participants said the main factor behind the divergence in their shares' performance was the anticipated pace of growth in Asia's emerging markets, which have been the engine of many automakers' profit recovery.

"In Indonesia and other Asian markets that are expanding, the most popular vehicles are motorcycles and small cars," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"Honda also has power products that give it a favourable portfolio in developing markets," he added.

Toyota is also enjoying robust growth in Asia, more than tripling its profits in the region to a record high in the April-June quarter.

"Because Toyota is so big, the fast-growing parts of the business are less noticeable," a trader at a Japanese brokerage said. "When the global economy or auto market expands, people buy Toyota shares. Now we're in the opposite situation."

Shares of other automakers known for their strength in Asia such as truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd (7202.T) and minivehicle maker Daihatsu Motor Co (7262.T) have also fared well, defying a 15 percent slide in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225.

In the year to date, Isuzu has gained 65 percent, while Daihatsu has put on 22 percent. Toyota is down 26 percent, while Honda has lost 10 percent.

"There appears to be a move to sell Toyota and buy Honda among institutional investors," the trader said.

"The market values of Isuzu and Daihatsu are too small to trade Toyota's shares for them. Honda is more comparable so it's easy to make that shift."

Honda is the world's second-biggest automaker by market cap, valued at $60 billion. (Writing and additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Michael Watson)

Source;
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE68106020100902