Honda Motor Co. Rating Increased to Outperform at Zacks (HMC)

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/

American Honda Finance Sells $1.75 Bln Deal In US Bond Market -Source

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 investing $97 million at Lincoln

TALLADEGA COUNTY — Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln is investing $97 million in its facility creating 20 new jobs.

The announcement of the investment came during the County Commission meeting Monday night. The commission approved a tax abatement for HMA for the investment.

Warren Mathews, an attorney from Burr & Foreman, a law firm that represents HMA, presented the request for tax abatement to the commission.

The overall project will consist of new investments that will increase current production capacity and support the transfer of the Acura MDX luxury sport utility vehicle to Alabama in 2013.

According to Mark Morrison, manager of HMA’s Corporate Affairs and Communication, at the conclusion of the project, and combined with the previous project HMA announced in March, HMA’s total capital investment in Lincoln will grow to more than $1.7 billion.

In another matter, Edward Jennings, a longtime resident of Hindman Lane in Talladega, paid another visit to the commission in regards to the immobility he believes the commission has taken with his previous concerns.

Source;
http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/13187827/article-Honda-investing--97-million-at-Lincoln?instance=home_right

Pioneer Dumps Honda And Launches New Auto Gear

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I was under the impression that Honda was coming to the aid of Pioneer....
Pioneer Electronics who last week launched new automotive entertainment and navigation gear has said that it has terminated the issuing of shares to the Honda Motor Company as their shares rise on the Tokyo stock exchange.

In Australia the struggling electronics Company is banking on premium Hi Fi, Digital Radio sales in partnership with Pure and automotive gear to drive sales.

Last week Pioneer unveiled four new in-dash navigation models that include iPhone capability and built-in Bluetooth on all models.

With the new Pioneer navigation devices users can now input a navigation destination by voice and conduct point-of-interest (POI) searches, such as "Find the nearest McDonalds." In iPod mode, users can browse through songs via voice command while continuing to listen to a song that is playing. Most of these improvements are software rather than hardware based, said Pioneer. Users also have "conversational" voice control over songs on an iPhone or iPod and over switching sources from an SD card, USB or iPod Users can also ask the unit to play, pause, shuffle and go to the next track and previous track.

For the rest of the article;
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Automotive/Navigation/Q4N6F5X6

The Nation's Best Car Company Is Not in Detroit

It’s a little bewildering that taxpayers have been forced to shuffle billions of dollars into Chrysler and General Motors (GM: 1.14*, +0.00, +0.00%) when there are profitable, innovative and successful car companies out there — ones that don’t simply make better investments but also better cars.

With a market capitalization of $50 billion dollars, roughly 50 times the size of GM, I believe the best car maker — and car stock — is undoubtedly Honda (HMC: 29.11*, +0.57, +1.99%), whose Accord was the top-selling U.S. vehicle in April.

Before the flag wavers start griping about the importance of “buying American,” consider that Honda was the first Japanese firm to build cars in the U.S. starting 50 years ago. The impact has been overwhelmingly positive: According to a study from the Center for Automotive Research, more than 367,000 private sector jobs and $17 billion in annual wages are generated thanks to Honda’s U.S. operations.

Nobody makes a fuss about buying televisions made in Korea or coats sewn in Mexico. And if you lament the decline of the big three domestic auto makers, remember that, like Wal-Mart, it's American consumers who’ve made Honda a success in America. The automotive space is extremely competitive. Honda’s success is based on the company’s brand, high-quality production and diversity of products, precisely why there’s a good chance one of them is sitting in your driveway right now. Of course, Honda’s business is bigger than cars. The company also makes motorcycles, engines, robots…and even airplanes.

That’s why the president’s recent suggestion that, “If you are considering buying a car, I hope it will be an American car,” misses the wholly-beneficial reality of free trade. Honda’s success in selling cars in America has enriched the Honda Corporation but also the consumers who’ve bought them, employees who’ve made them and shareholders who’ve invested in them. Unlike a bailout or subsidy, trade is not a zero-sum game.

Last year, the company broadcast an inspiring, first-of-a-kind three minute advertisement on British television that showed a skydiving team forming the letters “H-O-N-D-A” live as they plummeted over Spain.

Just months later, Chrysler was reduced to taking out stark, black, full-page ads in major newspapers thanking America for its “investment” (read: involuntary bailout) in the company, which, as we pointed out last week, is essentially already gone.

An innovative and outstanding company, Honda’s soaring success should be commended. And for a long-term investor looking a few years out, I consider the stock an unequivocal “buy.”

Source;
http://www.smartmoney.com/Investing/Stocks/The-Nations-Best-Car-Company-Its-not-in-Detroit/