Hoosiers can skirt beer law with chill bags

INDIANAPOLIS -- Convenience stores, vexed by Indiana's unusual liquor laws,�may have found another way to offer customers cold beer��� sort of.�

Gas stations will be selling reusable "Chill Indiana bags" that will make beer cold "by the time that customer reaches their destination."

For years, Indiana's gas stations and supermarkets have been thwarted by a law that requires them to sell their beer at room temperature. Only liquor stores can refrigerate beer for sale. �

Convenience stores can't sell cold beer, so they're selling bags that can quickly make beer cold. (Photo: Kaitlin Lange/IndyStar)

Chill bags are�the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association attempt to draw attention to Indiana's laws and give customers a way to enjoy cold beer.

"Want cold beer? Then say, 'Goodbye' to Styrofoam coolers and bulky bags of ice, and thankfully goodbye to overpriced scary liquor stores," an advertisement for the new bag says.

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The suggested retail price is $6.99, and customers can bring the bags to any participating location to refill them with ice for free.�

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During the 2018 legislative session, lawmakers approved Sunday alcohol sales, a major change for a state that was often on the receiving end of jokes�for prohibiting them. However, a provision to allow gas stations to sell cold beer was quickly shut down.

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Expanding cold beer sales and allowing retail sales of alcohol on Sundays are something many Indiana residents have long wanted and an issue that could be gaining traction. But a complex set of forces has kept that from happening. Dwight Adams/IndyStar

Lawmakers will continue studying possible changes to Indiana's alcohol laws this summer and fall as part of a commission.

"This should not be viewed as a solution to our cold beer fight, as that battle continues. There remains no public policy reason to allow liquor stores to sell cold beer but deny that right to grocery and convenience stores," said�Scott Imus, executive director of IPCA.�"This innovative approach does not run afoul of the cold-eer prohibition because the customer will be chilling the beer after the point of purchase."

Chill bags are not the first attempt to get around the law.

In 2016, a gas station chain started selling burritos in a small restaurant area within their convenience stores. That enabled the chain, Ricker's, to purchase the type of liquor license that restaurants use to sell alcohol, including cold beer.

Once lawmakers found out, they drafted legislation to prevent Ricker's from selling cold beer, prompting a debate about Indiana's alcohol laws.�

During debates, convenience-store owners emphasized that cold beer sales were vital in order to stay competitive.

"Our business has evolved over the years and has had to to stay competitive," said Chuck Taylor Jr., whose family owns 22 convenience stores, under the Chuckles brand. "Why are Indiana beer laws stuck in the 1930s?"

Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) Raised to Buy at Zacks Investment Research

Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HST) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday. The firm currently has a $24.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Zacks Investment Research‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.68% from the stock’s previous close.

According to Zacks, “Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts have outperformed the industry it belongs to, in the past three months. Moreover, the stock has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year funds from operations (FFO) per share being revised upward in a month’s time. Further, the company’s first-quarter 2018 results reflect margin improvement through better productivity. It also raised outlook for full-year 2018. Gain from its solid portfolio of upscale hotels across potential markets, strategic capital-recycling program and a healthy balance sheet bode well for its long-term growth. Nevertheless, elevated supply in the company’s key markets is expected to reduce its pricing power. Further, geographical concentration of assets in upscale markets exposes it to the economic doldrums prevailing in the region.”

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Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 9th. Boenning Scattergood set a $21.00 price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.50 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $21.00 price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $23.00 price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Host Hotels & Resorts has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $21.67.

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts traded down $0.17, reaching $21.49, during mid-day trading on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The stock had a trading volume of 173,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,510,825. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $17.26 and a 52-week high of $21.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Host Hotels & Resorts’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. equities analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

In related news, EVP Elizabeth A. Abdoo sold 33,220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total transaction of $689,315.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 247,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,376.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian G. Macnamara sold 16,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total transaction of $322,825.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 69,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,395,620.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,832 shares of company stock worth $1,186,491 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HST. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 133.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Planning now owns 31,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 18,188 shares in the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,237,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,668,000 after buying an additional 362,582 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 695.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 8,668 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,529,208 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $91,401,000 after buying an additional 196,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lourd Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $570,000. 98.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 87 properties in the United States and six properties internationally totaling approximately 52,000 rooms.

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Better Buy: Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. vs. bluebird bio

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BLCM) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) are both clinical-stage biotechs that are developing cutting-edge therapies to treat cancer and other diseases. But the fortunes of these two biotechs have been very different over the last 12 months. Bellicum stock is down 37% during the period, while Bluebird's share price has soared more than 125%.

What do each of these biotech stocks have to offer investors now? And which is the smarter pick? Here's how Bellicum and Bluebird compare.

Image source: Getty Images.

The case for Bellicum

With a clinical-stage biotech like Bellicum, the investing thesis for the stock boils down to what the potential is for the company's pipeline candidates. Bellicum's lead candidate is BPX-501, a T-cell therapy that is given to patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from another donor.

Stem cell transplants can be a lifesaver for some patients with blood cancer and other diseases, but they also come with the risk of infections and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), where donor stem cells attack the patient's cells. BPX-501 includes T-cells that help fight blood disorders but are genetically modified with a "safety switch" that shut down the T-cells if GvHD or other complications occur.

Bellicum is evaluating BPX-501 in a phase 3 clinical study being conducted in Europe with pediatric patients undergoing HSCT. The biotech expects to report data from this study by late 2018 and plans to file for regulatory approval in Europe next year, assuming the results are positive.

In January, the FDA placed a clinical hold on Bellicum's clinical study of BPX-501 in the U.S. This clinical hold came after three cases of�abnormal brain function were reported in patients taking BPX-501. However, the FDA lifted the clinical hold in April after Bellicum agreed to implement�an amended study protocol for patient monitoring for potential adverse neurological events.

Bellicum's pipeline also includes three other programs. BPX-601 is a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy targeting solid tumors expressing prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), which is a cancer antigen expressed in prostate, pancreatic, bladder, esophagus, and gastric cancers.�BPX-701 is a T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy for treating several blood�diseases. The company also has a CAR-T program targeting CD19, an antigen expressed by B-cells.

All of these other programs, though, are in early-stage clinical studies. For now, Bellicum's fortunes rest largely on BPX-501.

The biotech completed a stock offering in April that raised $69 million before commissions and other expenses. This amount combined with Bellicum's cash stockpile of $88 million at the end of Q1 should allow the company to fund operations through the end of 2019.

The case for Bluebird

How does Bluebird's pipeline stack up against Bellicum's? The biotech's lead candidate is gene therapy LentiGlobin. Bluebird plans to file for European approval of the drug in the second half of this year for treating transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, a rare blood disorder.�

With LentiGlobin, a functional human beta-globin gene is inserted into a patient's hematopoietic stem cells outside the body. These modified stem cells are then transplanted back into the patient's blood via infusion.�

Another promising gene therapy in Bluebird's pipeline is Lenti-D, which is being evaluated in a phase 2/3 clinical study targeting treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), a rare genetic metabolic disorder. Lenti-D works in a similar fashion as LentiGlobin, except instead of the beta-globin gene, a�functioning copy of the ABCD1 gene is inserted into stem cells.

Bluebird also claims a couple of promising CAR-T therapies targeting treatment of multiple myeloma -- bb2121 and bb21217. Celgene�is partnering with the biotech on both programs. The big biotech exercised its option in March to co-market bb2121 in the U.S. and exclusively market the drug outside of the U.S., pending approval down the road.

Thanks in large part to funds received from Celgene, Bluebird is sitting pretty when it comes to cash. The biotech reported a whopping $1.57 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities in its first-quarter update.�

Better buy

One of these clinical-stage biotechs is closer to potentially winning approval for its lead candidate. This same biotech also has a deeper pipeline. It claims a tight relationship with a much larger partner. And it's loaded with cash.

That biotech, obviously, is Bluebird. However, with a market cap topping $9 billion, there's a lot of growth baked into Bluebird's share price. Bellicum's market cap is less than $340 million. Good news for Bellicum should provide a bigger catalyst than Bluebird would experience.

So which is the better buy? My view is that Bluebird has the edge, even with its steep valuation. I think that LentiGlobin, Lenti-D, and bb2121 have blockbuster sales potential. Bluebird could stumble if it experiences any pipeline setbacks, but I think the stock should be a winner over the long run.

��

Axalta Coating Systems (AXTA) Receives News Sentiment Rating of 0.08

News stories about Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) have trended somewhat positive recently, Accern reports. The research group identifies positive and negative press coverage by reviewing more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Axalta Coating Systems earned a news impact score of 0.08 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned headlines about the specialty chemicals company an impact score of 46.0856144575059 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the immediate future.

These are some of the news headlines that may have impacted Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

Get Axalta Coating Systems alerts: Joseph F. Mcdougall Sells 34,008 Shares of Axalta Coating Systems (AXTA) Stock (americanbankingnews.com) Global Smart Coatings Market 2018 �� AkzoNobel, PPG Industries, Axalta Coatings Systems, The Sherwin-Williams … (heavyjoystick.com) Global Acrylic Based Waterborne Coatings Market: Detailed Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 2018 … (bittstreet.com) Is P/E & PEG The Same Thing �� Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) (nasdaqjournal.com) Ducks Unlimited helps fund improvements at Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge (sussexcountian.com)

Axalta Coating Systems stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.00. 617,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,853,452. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. Axalta Coating Systems has a fifty-two week low of $27.77 and a fifty-two week high of $38.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.32.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 0.94% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Axalta Coating Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Tuesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Global Securities lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Axalta Coating Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.13.

In other Axalta Coating Systems news, EVP Joseph F. Mcdougall sold 34,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total transaction of $1,098,458.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,588,408.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Cash sold 64,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.59, for a total transaction of $2,115,025.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 242,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,888,605.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 747,324 shares of company stock worth $23,406,148 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Axalta Coating Systems Company Profile

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high performance coatings primarily for the transportation industry. It operates in two segments, Performance Coatings and Transportation Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers various specially-formulated water and solvent borne products and systems that are used to refinish damaged vehicles for independent body shops, multi-shop operators, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dealership body shops.

Hot Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2018

tags:CNR,ACHN,PQ,FCEL,

Small cap camera stock and new media company�GoPro Inc (NASDAQ: GPRO) reported Q2 2017 earnings after the market closed Thursday. Revenue grew 34% year-over-year and 36% quarter-over-quarter to $297 million with more than 50% of�revenue generated in markets outside of the U.S.�The net loss was $30.536 million versus a net loss of $91.767 million.�Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman commented:

"GoPro is building momentum. Strong demand combined with our cost management and margin initiatives contributed to GoPro's EBITDA positive performance in the second quarter.� HERO6 and Fusion, our 5.2K spherical camera, are on course to launch later this year and we continue to track toward our goal of full-year, non-GAAP profitability in 2017."

In the earnings call, the CEO added: ��We expect margins to continue to improve throughout 2017, with the introduction of new products.��

Hot Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2018: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Cormark raised their Q3 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Canadian National Railway in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 10th. Cormark analyst D. Tyerman now expects that the transportation company will post earnings per share of $1.15 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.14.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Wall Street analysts expect that Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) will announce $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Seven analysts have provided estimates for Canadian National Railway’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $1.06 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.97. Canadian National Railway reported earnings per share of $1.00 in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 2%. The company is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 24th.

Hot Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2018: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACHN) – Research analysts at B. Riley reduced their FY2018 EPS estimates for shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 2nd. B. Riley analyst M. Kumar now anticipates that the biopharmaceutical company will earn ($0.58) per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of ($0.55). B. Riley has a “Neutral” rating and a $3.50 price objective on the stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Achillion Pharmaceuticals’ FY2019 earnings at ($0.64) EPS, FY2020 earnings at ($0.71) EPS, FY2021 earnings at ($0.70) EPS and FY2022 earnings at ($0.84) EPS.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACHN) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.20.

Hot Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2018: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  News headlines about Petroquest Energy (NYSE:PQ) have been trending somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern identifies negative and positive news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Petroquest Energy earned a coverage optimism score of 0.05 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news stories about the energy company an impact score of 47.638327846877 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near future.

Hot Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2018: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap fuel cell stock�FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL) reported Q4 and fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 earnings�with�Q4 total revenues�being $47.9 million versus $24.5 million:����

• [By Paul Ausick]

  FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) posted a decrease of 25.7% in short interest during the period. Some 5.86 million shares were short as of April 30. The stock closed at $1.93 on Wednesday, up about 1.6% for the day, in a 52-week range of $0.80 to $2.49. Shares traded down about 7.8% in the short interest period, and days to cover rose from six to eight.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) is one of 25 public companies in the “Miscellaneous electrical machinery, equipment, & supplies” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare FuelCell Energy to related companies based on the strength of its risk, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) and HRG Group (NYSE:HRG) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.