2008-07-15 17:54:09 -

- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Marriott International

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Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Eyeing Loans at Bank of Ireland

We are maintaining our Hold on The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (BOI, or Bank of Ireland), (NYSE: IRE). In its first quarter interim statement, BOI stated that lending growth has slowed, particularly in its retail businesses in Ireland and credit quality has slipped, as expected. BOI's focus remains on managing its capital and funding positions and on containing costs.

BOI is clearly benefiting from an upturn in the Irish economy. We are also encouraged by the company's strong overall financial position. Credit quality metrics of BOI are very solid, with low levels of non-performing loans and net charge-offs relative to those of global peers. Finally, we view positively the recent 5% increase in the BOI's 2008 full-year dividend to 63.6 cents per share.

Turbulence at Royal Dutch Shell

We are maintaining our Hold recommendation on Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A) ahead of the company's quarterly results. Strong performance from its exploration and production arm, aided by high oil and gas prices, is expected to continue driving results. While we continue to believe that the group should benefit from the upstream momentum and restructuring initiatives in 2008, we see better investment opportunities in this space.

Royal Dutch Shell does not compare favorably with its peer group in terms of upstream growth prospects, returns, and costs. The group also remains exposed to continued instability in Nigeria and political interference in Russia. As such we do not foresee much upside from current levels.

For Freddie, No Good Way Out

The shares of Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) have declined sharply this week based on reports about a possible Government takeover of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) to prevent a collapse. There are increasing concerns that these companies do not have enough capital to withstand losses on their portfolio.

Valuation remains a messy exercise in the absence of good financial information for both FRE and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) (its closest peer). Our ultimate goal is to value FRE based on a core version of operating earnings (avoiding the numerous mark-to-market adjustments for hedge instruments that fail to qualify for hedge accounting treatment), but as yet we have none to use.

Guidance Lowered for Marriott

We continue to rate the shares of Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) a Hold following the release of second-quarter results. The operating environment in the lodging sector has changed substantially in recent quarters. Additionally, the company's timeshare segment is experiencing weakness, with sales down considerably.

We note that the company lowered its 2008 EPS guidance, from a range of $1.98 to $2.08 to a range of $1.77 to $1.88. The management expects to report worldwide comparable 2008 RevPAR growth between 0% and 2%. Marriott's low-end properties have experienced the greatest level of operating challenges to this point of the current downturn.

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