Louisiana-Pacific Corp. | nashvillepost.com

Analyst action: AmSurg, LP

Deutsche Bank yesterday raised its price target on shares of local ambulatory surgery center company AmSurg from $20 to $24. It has the stock rated 'hold.'

While AMSG trades at a discounted valuation and is favorably leveraged to a recovery in health care service volumes, DB continues to believe the fundamental outlook in the ASC space remains challenging due to excess capacity and weak pricing power.

Shares of AmSurg (Ticker: AMSG) closed at $21.87 on Tuesday. The company has struggled with low procedure volumes in recent quarters, but investors anticipate a turnaround this year from favorable provisions in the health reform law. Analyst Paul Quinn at RBC Capital Markets has downgraded shares of Louisiana-Pacific to 'sector perform' from 'outperform.' His price target of $10 leaves no upside — LP shares (Ticker: LPX) closed Tuesday trading at $10.01 — but is still a good bit more upbeat than UBS researcher Gail Glazerman's.

Jan 19, 2011 8:07 AM

Will LP, peers get an '11 lift from housing market?

Analysts and economists following the housing market haven't yet formed a consensus about where the single-family construction starts number will end up in 2011. One industry group sees growth of more than 20 percent, another expects less than 4 percent. Execs at Nashville-based Louisiana-Pacific Corp. — and their competitors — will be watching closely to see if they need to bring back some of the capacity they idled starting in late 2007. (Search here for 'Silsbee.')

Jan 14, 2011 7:09 AM

Analyst action: LP, Pinnacle

UBS analyst Gail Glazerman says the recent runup in the price of oriented strand board could help Louisiana-Pacific beat fourth-quarter profit expectations, but that the state of the construction industry won't support OSB prices or the shares of LP and its peers at their current levels. So she has downgraded LP shares (Ticker: LPX) to 'sell' from 'neutral' and set a price target that has the stock falling more than 10 percent. Guggenheim Securities analyst Jeff Davis has raised his price target for Pinnacle Financial shares to $12 from $10 based on the recent pickup in M&A activity. Davis, who is neutral on Pinnacle (Ticker: PNFP), also sees the largest bank headquartered in Nashville earning 4 cents in the fourth quarter, which is well above the 5-cent loss consensus estimate.

Our investment thesis assumes PNFP is at or near the peak of its credit cycle, as C&D has been cut to 11% of loans. NIM is modeled to be unchanged at 3.25%, while loans are projected by us to ease 2%.

Davis also is relatively upbeat on Tennessee Commerce Bancorp, which he rates a 'buy.' He sees the Franklin-based company posting a profit of 8 cents per share — double the consensus — and says the bank (Ticker: TNCC) should be in the black all year.

Jan 11, 2011 12:54 PM

Is homebuilding back on trend?

Several market watchers have been sharing their thoughts on the homebuilding sector in the last few days. Recent home sales data has been surprisingly strong, which has Ticonderoga Securities analysts thinking the country "is already back at that 3.5% trendline."

To us, there is just no way investors can ignore two straight months of significantly improved contracts in the teeth of what was thought to be a slowing economy and housing market. It has been extremely trendy lately for nearly all pundits to climb on the Double Dip Bandwagon. Could all these people be wrong? We don’t know, but we prefer to bet with data, not Roubini or Blitzer or Whitney.

A rebound with any strength will be a boon to Louisiana-Pacific. CNBC's Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers on Thursday that the Nashville-based company is "a great play on the comeback of housing."

Jan 7, 2011 7:55 AM

LP's Chile mills escape quake

The 7.1-magnitude quake that rattled Chile yesterday and brought back plenty of nasty memories from last February did not damage either of the nearby manufacturing facilities owned by Louisiana-Pacific. A company spokeswoman told Post Business this afternoon that the mills in Panguipulli and Lautaro have been given the all clear. SEE ALSO: Our recent piece on LP's Latin American growth strategy

Jan 3, 2011 3:07 PM

From the ground up

In part because of Chile's devastating earthquake, Louisiana-Pacific's patient push in Latin America is paying off [From our print edition featured in Monday's City Paper]

Dec 19, 2010 3:13 PM

Analyst action: LP, Healthways

Scotia Capital analyst Benoit Laprade has for the third time this year changed his rating on the shares of Louisiana-Pacific. He now rates them at 'sector underperform,' down two notches from his previous rating. LP shares (Ticker: LPX) have risen more than 30 percent this year. Looking for a 2011 best idea in the health care space? Well, look no further than Healthways, say the researchers at FBR Capital. Its role in the health care services/pharmacy sector will help drive results as insurance reform and economic recovery take hold. There is, of course, also a value-play element to picking Healthways: Its shares (Ticker: HWAY) are down more than 40 percent in 2010.

Dec 16, 2010 12:57 PM

Patent Patrol: 15 December 2010

In this week's batch of IP awarded to Tennessee residents and companies: A music-buying system, the latest Griffin mobile phone case, a fold-up scaffold, and more...

Dec 15, 2010 11:48 AM

Analyst action: LP, Emdeon

Barclays Capital analyst Peter Ruschmeier says now's the time for Louisiana-Pacific investors to build their positions ahead of a rebound in the manufacturer's numbers next spring. He sees the stock climbing to $11. Also at Barclays, Larry Marsh says the "ray of hope" he got from Emdeon in September didn't amount to much in the company's Q3 earnings. He has lowered his price target for Emdeon shares (Ticker: EM) to $17 — the stock is under pressure around $12.60 this morning — but is sticking to his 'overweight' rating. That's showing more faith than Raymond James' Alex Draper, who has cut his rating to 'market perform.'

Nov 10, 2010 10:21 AM