Akorn, Inc. (ARKX) Shares Up on Rumor It’s a Takeover Target; The Company Confirms

Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX) investors are overwhelmingly excited today following an earlier report from Bloomberg, claiming that European health-care provider Kabi Fresenius is considering a bid for the drug maker. Akorn shares reacted to the news, jumping nearly 18% to $29.77.

Following the closing bell, Akorn confirmed that it’s currently in discussions with Fresenius concerning a potential acquisition of Akorn, triggering another rise in share prices.

On the ratings front, Akorn has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. In a report issued on April 4, Jefferies analyst David Steinberg reiterated a Buy rating on AKRX, with a price target of $24, which implies a downside of 19% from current levels. Separately, on March 6, Deutsche Bank’s Gregg Gilbert downgraded the stock to Hold and has a price target of $24.

According to TipRanks.com, which ranks over 7,500 financial analysts and bloggers to gauge the performance of their past recommendations, David Steinberg and Gregg Gilbert have a yearly average return of 0.4% and a loss of -2.3% respectively. Steinberg has a success rate of 45% and is ranked #2574 out of 4556 analysts, while Gilbert has a success rate of 46% and is ranked #3933.

Akorn, Inc. is a niche pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets generic and prescription pharmaceuticals, as well as, animal and consumer health products. It operates through the Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health segments. The Prescription Pharmaceuticals segment engages in the sales of generic and branded prescription pharmaceuticals including ophthalmics, injectables, oral liquids, otics, topicals, inhalants, and nasal sprays. The Consumer Health segment engages in the sales of animal health and over-the-counter products, both branded and private label.

Source: https://goo.gl/WQd5Jj

9 Top Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy for the Dividends

Big Pharma stocks aren't always just about creating growth by finding the next blockbuster drug

When investors are on the hunt for income-driving dividend stocks, they often gravitate toward utilities or consumer staples names. And well they should. Those businesses are essentially recession-proof, so the income — in the form of dividends — they pass along to shareholders is quite reliable.

Conversely, pharmaceutical stocks are rarely seen as effective dividend stocks. Although drugs are also relatively non-cyclical, these stocks are often impacted by an ever-changing regulatory environment and the ever-changing strength or weakness of a drugmaker’s portfolio and pipeline

As it turns out, however, some of the best-known Big Pharma names are also very solid dividend providers. These drugmakers dole out income to shareholders by leveraging their size to constantly refresh their drug portfolios. In fact, the average dividend yield for all the major pharma stocks right now (and bear in mind there are some that pay nothing) is a healthy 2.35%. That’s still less than the typical 4% payout utility stocks boast right now.

Given the potential for growth within the pharmaceutical sector versus very limited potential for capital appreciation among utility stocks, that’s not a bad yield at all.

Of course, the stocks that we will focus on today have substantially larger payouts.

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Here’s a closer look at the top nine pharmaceutical stocks that income hunters should consider at the moment.

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Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy for the Dividends: AbbVie (ABBV)

ABBV Dividend Yield: 4.2%

A year-and-a-half ago, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was sitting on top of the world. It had two of the best and most expensive hepatitis C treatments on the market. And it was pulling in money hand over fist.

Ironically though, Gilead arguably became a victim of its own success and its own greed, simultaneously ignoring the possibility that another competitor may come up with something better and/or more marketable.

It looks like that competitor is going to be AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV).

Earlier this month, the company announced the FDA had given in its Hep-C therapy glecaprevir (ABT-493)/pibrentasvir (ABT-530) a priority review. A priority review doesn’t guarantee approval, but it does indicate the Food and Drug Administration acknowledges there’s an urgent need for a strong solution to a problem. The hepatitis C market is undoubtedly significant.

Either way, with a yield of 4.2% and a strong history of increasing its payments, AbbVie rates as one of the top pharmaceutical dividend stocks out there.

Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy for the Dividends: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

GSK Dividend Yield: 5%

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK) dished out its fourth-quarter numbers earlier this month. Earnings were better than expected, but the drugmaker cautioned shareholders that 2017 could be rough thanks to a growing amount of generic drug competition — particularly generic asthma drugs, which pose a risk to Glaxo’s asthma drug Advair.

That weakness, however, may already be baked into the price of GSK, and then some.

This pharmaceutical stock was trading above $55 in early 2014. However, it has since moved back to a price of $40 on the concerns CEO Andrew Witty voiced. The end result of that ongoing pessimism is a stock that yields a very attractive 5%, backed by a company that continues to grow the bottom line despite all the naysaying.

• 10 Super-Safe Dividend Growth Stocks to Buy Today

Aside from Advair, GlaxoSmithKline makes Augmentin, Zofran and Paxil, as well as Aquafresh 

Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy for the Dividends: Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA)

TEVA Dividend Yield: 4%

Yes, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) is the stock that plunged more than 6% on Tuesday following news that CEO Erez Vigodman was stepping down. After settling bribery charges for an amount in excess of $500 million following the unanswered loss of several patents (including breadwinner drug Copaxone), something had to change.

But don’t all these headwinds paint a grim picture?

They did, but in many ways, the Vigodman news is also something of a catharsis — things can only get better from here. See, TEVA shares are down more than 50% since the middle of 2015, as all the possible worst-case scenarios were factored in.

From here, all you’re left with is a company that’s likely reached something of a bottom, and is paying out 4%. Recently reported top- and bottom-line beats for the fourth quarter are a promising development, too.

Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy for the Dividends: Sanofi (SNY)

SNY Dividend Yield: 3.9%

Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) may be the most overlooked of the major pharmaceutical stocks.

That’s possibly because it’s based in France and doesn’t get the same kind of media traction names like Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) get. Or perhaps it’s just the fact that Sanofi doesn’t have any show-stopping drugs, and rather focuses on what it knows it can sell.

Whatever the case, Sanofi yields a respectable 3.9%, and has been a reliable payer to boot.

One thing to watch if you do tiptoe in: The injunction that prevented Sanofi from selling cholesterol drug Praluent has been lifted, but only temporarily. It needs to prove in a courtroom that it did not violate a patent currently held by Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN). Given that the court action has been all overridden in Sanofi’s favor, however, bodes well.

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If nothing else, owning SNY offers geographical diversity, which is a worthwhile trait to chase if you hold several pharmaceutical stocks.

3 Mid-Cap Pharmaceutical Companies to Add to Your Portfolio

YORK (TheStreet) - With Merck  (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE) reporting earnings today, we decided to check Quant Ratings to see what pharmaceutical companies are good investments. And while you might already know about big pharma companies to buy, there are mid-cap pharma companies that are a bit more under-the-radar and worth taking a look at, too.
Pharmaceutical companies can be risky investments. Drugs in development might flop, the FDA might not approve them, and even if they are approved, there's a chance those drugs won't sell. Mid-cap companies can also be risky, although the upside is that they have potentially higher returns. Compared to large-cap companies, they have less capital and resources to cope with economic shocks, but that shouldn't stop you from investing in them.
The plus side to investing in pharmaceuticals is that they are protected by patents, which allows them to recoup their high research and development investments should they produce a blockbuster drug. Also, the industry has been busy with mergers and acquisitions, which can potentially benefit investors.
So what are the best mid-cap pharmaceutical companies investors should buy? Here are the top three, according to TheStreet Ratings,TheStreet's proprietary ratings tool.
TheStreet Ratings projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period including both price appreciation and dividends. Based on 32 major data points,TheStreet Ratings uses a quantitative approach to rating over 4,300 stocks to predict return potential for the next year. The model is both objective, using elements such as volatility of past operating revenues, financial strength, and company cash flows, and subjective, including expected equities market returns, future interest rates, implied industry outlook and forecasted company earnings.
Buying an S&P 500 stock that TheStreet Ratings rated a "buy" yielded a 16.56% return in 2014 beating the S&P 500 Total Return Index by 304 basis points. Buying a Russell 2000 stock that TheStreet Ratings rated a "buy" yielded a 9.5% return in 2014, beating the Russell 2000 index, including dividends reinvested, by 460 basis points last year.
Check out which three mid-cap pharmaceutical companies made the list. And when you're done be sure to read about which large-cap pharmaceutical companies to buy now. Year-to-date returns are based on April 27, 2015 closing prices. The highest-rated stock appears last -- read more to see which one is No. 1.IPXL data by YCharts
3. Impax Laboratories, Inc. (IPXL - Get Report) 
Rating: Buy, B
Market Cap: $3.4 billion
Year-to-date return: 47.2%


Impax Laboratories, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and markets bioequivalent pharmaceutical products. It operates in two segments, Global Pharmaceuticals Division and Impax Pharmaceuticals Division.
"We rate IMPAX LABORATORIES INC (IPXL) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, increase in net income, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity."
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 11.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 30.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• IPXL has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 3.54, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Pharmaceuticals industry. The net income increased by 101.2% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$9.62 million to $0.12 million.
• The gross profit margin for IMPAX LABORATORIES INC is rather high; currently it is at 53.06%. It has increased significantly from the same period last year. Despite the strong results of the gross profit margin, IPXL's net profit margin of 0.09% significantly trails the industry average.
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 100.00% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 90.63% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Looking ahead, the stock's sharp rise over the last year has already helped drive it to a level which is relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels.

• You can view the full analysis from the report here: IPXL Ratings Report

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PBH data by YCharts
2. Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc.  (PBH - Get Report) 
Rating: Buy, A-
Market Cap: $2.2 billion
Year-to-date return: 21%

Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the marketing, sale, and distribution of over-the-counter (OTC) healthcare and household cleaning products in North America and internationally.
"We rate PRESTIGE BRANDS HOLDINGS (PBH) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels, solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated."
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 11.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 36.4%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 566.66% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 55.04% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, PBH should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• PRESTIGE BRANDS HOLDINGS reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, PRESTIGE BRANDS HOLDINGS increased its bottom line by earning $1.39 versus $1.28 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.85 versus $1.39).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Pharmaceuticals industry. The net income increased by 580.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $3.13 million to $21.29 million.

• You can view the full analysis from the report here: PBH Ratings Report

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