Company Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont layoffs before merger a credit negative for Delaware -Moody’s

[Reuters] – Layoffs at chemical maker DuPont Co announced in late December, in preparation for its merger with Dow Chemical Co, create negative credit conditions for communities in Delaware and the state overall, a report said on Friday. Moody’s Investors Service said the 1,700 jobs being cut in Delaware by DuPont represents a “significant” 24 percent of all company employees in the state. This event is credit negative for New Castle County (Aaa stable), the City of Wilmington (Aa2 stable) and the State of Delaware (Aaa stable),” Moody’s said in a research note. Read more on this. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DD) , currently valued at $47.67B, started the session at $55.71. Looking at today’s market, DD one day range is $54.35 to $56.38 with a one year range of $47.11 to $76.59. DuPont (DD) shares are currently priced at 21.23x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 15.27x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $1.52 per share in dividend income per year, for a current yield of 2.48%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 18 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.25 per share, which would be $0.32 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.04 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $2.76, which would be a $0.60 setback when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $5.39 Billion. If reported, that would be a 26.96% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Bernstein upgraded DD from Mkt Perform to Outperform (Jan 8, 2016). Previously, Citigroup downgraded DD from Buy to Neutral. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $71.75, which is 28.79% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:DD) Similar Articles: Company Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont to cut 1,700 jobs from US headquarters Market Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont Names Timothy P. Glenn as President, DuPont Crop Protection Market Update: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) – DuPont Names New DuPont Fellows