Brokerages Set Ameresco Inc (AMRC) PT at $13.17

Ameresco Inc (NYSE:AMRC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.17.

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMRC. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Ameresco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 8th. Roth Capital set a $13.00 price target on Ameresco and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 7th. Canaccord Genuity set a $11.50 price target on Ameresco and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 4th. ValuEngine downgraded Ameresco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Ameresco from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 2nd.

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Shares of NYSE:AMRC traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.40. 101,326 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 126,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $542.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Ameresco has a 12-month low of $5.25 and a 12-month high of $13.20.

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.12. Ameresco had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $167.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. equities analysts anticipate that Ameresco will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, insider David Anderson sold 50,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.29, for a total transaction of $615,360.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 474,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,830,376. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph P. Demanche sold 13,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $135,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $547,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 378,240 shares of company stock valued at $4,455,921. 57.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Ameresco by 121.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 9,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Ameresco by 536.3% in the 1st quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 15,891 shares during the last quarter. A.R.T. Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameresco in the 1st quarter valued at about $287,000. ZPR Investment Management purchased a new position in Ameresco in the 1st quarter valued at about $336,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Ameresco by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 34,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 6,469 shares during the last quarter. 24.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameresco Company Profile

Ameresco, Inc provides comprehensive energy services for businesses and organizations in North America and Europe. It offers energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, energy security and resilience, asset sustainability, and renewable energy solutions. The company operates through U.S. Regions, U.S.

Johnson Controls Power Unit Draws Interest from KKR, Apollo

Johnson Controls International Plc is drawing interest from private equity firms KKR & Co. and Apollo Global Management LLC for its power solutions business that could value the unit at as much as $12 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

The firms were part of a select group of financial sponsors, which also included CVC Capital Partners and Advent International, that were invited to what’s known as a gold card meeting with Johnson Controls management last week to assess their interest in the unit, the people said.

A decision on whether to proceed with an auction is expected shortly, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The talks, which were preliminary, may not lead to a sale, they said.

Representatives for Johnson Controls, KKR, Apollo, CVC and Advent declined to comment.

Johnson Controls, which is based in Cork, Ireland, and also has offices in Milwaukee, announced in March that it had hired advisory firm Centerview Partners to explore strategic options for the unit with Chief Executive Officer George Oliver saying the company’s focus is on improving operational execution and realizing merger synergy. A $12 billion valuation would give the battery unit a multiple of about eight times earnings, based on a company statement that in 2017 the business generated $7.3 billion in revenue and $1.6 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The company is the world’s largest producer of automotive batteries, building one-third of all of those produced globally, according to its website. The power solutions unit employs 15,000 worldwide and manufactures and distributes batteries for almost every type of vehicle, according to its website.

Johnson Controls also operates a buildings technology and solutions business that makes safety and security products, a business which was strengthened through its 2016 merger with Tyco International.

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How Selim Bassoul Transformed Middleby Corp.

A maker of commercial and industrial kitchen equipment may seem like an unusual company for Tom and David Gardner to fall in love with -- no matter how how high-quality those ovens and food processors are -- but Middleby�(NASDAQ:MIDD) is a bit more than that. And the biggest reason why has a lot to do with its CEO, Selim Bassoul, who was brought in specifically to give the company a culture.

In this segment of the Rule Breaker Investing podcast, Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner talks with Bassoul about the ideas and mindset he brought to Middleby, as well as what he has learned over the years.

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on May 9, 2018.

David Gardner: One of my favorite people in business, Selim Bassoul is chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of The Middleby Corporation. As I mentioned earlier in the show, a leading developer and manufacturer of commercial cooking equipment, and food processing and packaging equipment.

Mr. Bassoul is responsible for the strategic direction of the company and leading the senior management team. And, as you'll find out from our interview, at least two more things. First of all, he's responsible, in many ways, for a hugely winning stock over the last decade plus and he's a gentleman with a really interesting backstory.

Without further ado, Selim Bassoul.

__

Gardner: It was, I'm going to say, February of 2013. My brother came back from an interview he'd done with a public company CEO and he insisted that all his executive team watch the full 60-plus minutes of this privately taped video interview that we eventually shared with our members. But Tom was so passionate about it. He said, "I insist that all of my direct reports watch this." It was an interview with Selim Bassoul, the CEO of Middleby.

And Selim Bassoul I'm very pleased to have with me here on Rule Breaker Investing. Selim, I watched that video, I loved it, and then I noticed that no Motley Fool service at that moment was actively recommending Middleby stock. Hidden Gems Tom had started, found your company early on, and had a great run with it; but, somebody had sold it, I think, at some point. And so, I said, "I'm going to recommend Middleby for Rule Breakers".

That was one month after, so it was March of 2013. The stock right then was around $49. Today it's around $125. It's been an awfully good five years. Selim, thank you for all that you've done [not just for investors and Rule Breaker members listening right now], but through your business for the world at large, and I want to try to talk about each of those three things as quickly as we can.

Let me start by asking. How did Middleby start?

Selim Bassoul: Well, it started in the '80s by Bill Whitman. It was a company that had good brands. They were selling everything to everybody. They had ovens, and refrigerators, and mixers. And it was a company like everybody, a "me too" company. Almost growing [...] Not a lot of innovation and there was a lot of turnover. We had a lot of turnover of employees. There were a lot of turnovers of customers. We did not have a process. There was no culture.

In fact, the smartest thing that Bill Whitman did was to hire me. He went and recruited me...

Gardner: [Laughs]

Bassoul: ...to come in and change his company and change the culture.

Gardner: What year was that, Selim?

Bassoul: It was in 1996. And he gave me free hand to set a new culture. And that's lesson No. 1. Lesson No. 1 is surround yourself with the best. When you are struggling and sinking, the best thing is to go find the best. At the time I was a rising star in the food equipment business. He approached me, and he said, "Selim, I want you. I want you to come in." Lesson No. 2 is to give full empowerment to your employees to do what they need to do. No. 3 is he said to me, "Selim, we do not have a culture. Create a culture."

Gardner: And Selim, you came as a rising star from another company. Did you borrow anything from that experience? What did you learn and what is the culture that you've now created? And the number I think is right -- 22 years later.

Bassoul: David, I learned from being in healthcare that you cannot survive without speed, agility, and innovation. You can't. In healthcare, those are the three major factors of being able to be relevant. And I adapted that in every one of our businesses. Speed -- speed of execution. Speed of innovation. Agility -- remaining lean and efficient and agile.

And No. 3 is just innovation. You have to innovate. You have to be ahead of your customers.

Gardner: Selim, as I think about the success that Middleby's had, you have been a master of acquiring other companies. You have great organic growth, and a wonderful vision. We're going to talk about your vision for the world at large in a little bit, but sticking with Middleby, here, you have grown the company through any number of acquisitions over years now. Integrating them.

And the way that I cast it -- as we wrote up your stock five years ago -- tell me if we have this right. We always have things a little wrong, so correct me here, Selim. I was saying that Bassoul has this wonderful story that he can tell talented, up-and-coming companies.

He said, "You're great. I like you. If I like you you'll stay on and be within the leadership, but two things we can offer you. No. 1, we can make you global. Many of you are smaller companies or regional companies. We can take you and make you much bigger. And No. 2, we are a technology company, ourselves. We can improve your technology, so we can make you better and bigger."

That, as it turns out, has been a siren song for dozens of companies that you've acquired over the years. Is that an accurate portrayal of the company? I know it's not fully accurate. What else needs to be said?

Bassoul: I think this is quite accurate. I will go back and tell you what we do not do. We do not buy markets or competitors. We buy technology innovation. If you aim to acquire a market or to take out a competitor, you will always fail, so that has never been our model. A lot of people come to me and say, "Selim, but if you buy this market, it's easy." I'd say, "We can grow in the market organically. We don't need to buy somebody."

No. 2: What we always do is find the people that fit us. They should be disruptive in their own world and they need to have a culture of winning.

And the third is a culture of empowerment. So, I look at lots of entrepreneurs and I find that a lot of them have technology, they have a winning culture, but they are not able to empower their people. They have such control that they become control freaks. And many times, I walk away from this, because then the culture doesn't work for us.

We do not embrace control freaks. It doesn't work. When you have only three layers of separation between me and the lowest-ranking employees, you have to create a lot of autonomy, otherwise we cannot do our job. We cannot grow.

Gardner: Maybe the hardest thing to do in business is to acquire something else. A different culture. Even if it's a like-minded culture, ultimately, it's a separate group of people. You've not met them before. All of a sudden, they're part of you. And so, this is not a fair question, but why would we ask fair questions on Rule Breaker Investing? Selim, could you give a 90-second or so short course, maybe with three points? A master class for those of us who would like to do our acquisitions better. How have you made it work? Ninety seconds or so.

Bassoul: No. 1 is to make sure that you are able to get a return on your investment. That's No. 1. It's not how much you pay. It's how much you get back in terms of return. Our format is simple. We like to get back our cash in five years or less. Including synergy and everything else, if I pay $100 million for an acquisition, I want to get back all my cash in five years or less.

No. 2, I want to be able to know that this company I can take globally. We do not buy regional players. At the end, this is not what we need. We need scale.

No. 3, we need to make sure that the management team can stay with us; not only the founder or the family that owned it or the owner, but deep in the organization, because we want to have people on the bench. If we cannot keep that management team, we'll not buy that company irrespective of how good they are.

Gardner: That's really interesting. And many people take an opposite approach. I remember John Mackey of Whole Foods often says it's very hard for us as an acquisitive company [Whole Foods, over the course of a few decades], to let those CEOs in place. Usually when he buys, he lets them know that's going to be their last day on the job for that company.

Of course, Warren Buffett, sounding a lot more like Selim Bassoul, here, prefers to find those great managers and put them in place. I guess it can work either way. We each need to find what is the music, what is the rhythm that works for us, and that's a brilliant master class in 90 seconds. Thank you, Selim.

Why Dycom Stock Dropped Today

What happened

Shares of telecommunications infrastructure provider Dycom (NYSE:DY)�stock are diving -- down 16% as of 10:35 a.m. EDT after reporting a swing and a miss on both sales and earnings for its fiscal Q1 2019. (And no that's not a typo. Dycom is about a year ahead of everyone else when it comes to its fiscal calendar).

Looking�to report Q1 sales of $736.1 million, Dycom delivered $731.4 million this morning instead. Expected to report a pro forma profit of at least $0.68 per share, Dycom said its adjusted earnings were only $0.63 -- and its GAAP profit a mere $0.53 per share.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Sales declined 7% year over year in Q1, and organic sales "growth" was negative 10%. (Revenues from "storm restoration services" and "contract revenues from acquired businesses" helped to minimize the decline in organic sales).

Diluted earnings per share, meanwhile, declined a much steeper 57% year over year, falling to the aforementioned $0.53 per share.

Now what

Still, Dycom remains profitable, and its guidance for the rest of this year suggests that's not going to change in the near term -- if not quite so profitable as investors had hoped. For fiscal Q2 2019 (that's the quarter we are in now), Dycom says it expects to earn between $1.02 and $1.17 per share, GAAP, on sales of between $830 million and $860 million. For the full year, Dycom's guidance calls for $3.81 to $4.70 per share in profit on sales between $3.23 billion to $3.42 billion.

These numbers are below what Dycom had previously promised, however, and below Wall Street's expectations. The full year guidance, for example, is roughly $1 below previous guidance, and a full $1 below what Wall Street had been telling investors to expect.

Hence the sell-off.

Match Downplays Facebook and Produces Stunning Growth

There were a lot of questions going into Match Group's (NASDAQ:MTCH) earnings release. Just a week before, reports emerged that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) planned on adding dating features to its ubiquitous social media site, causing Match's stock to dive 25%.

Facebook has had success at poaching ideas from competitors before, like its development of Instagram Stories, which offered features similar to those found on Snapchat. With more than 2.2 billion monthly active users, it was feared that Facebook could emerge as a major competitor to Match's dating apps, which include Tinder, OkCupid, Match, PlentyOfFish, and many others.

Couples continue to "heart" Match Group. Image source: Getty Images.

Match Group results: The raw numbers

Metric

Q1 2019

Q1 2018

Year-Over-Year Change

Revenue	$407.37 million	$298.76 million	36%
Operating income	$112.23 million	$58.87 million	91%
GAAP earnings per share	$0.33	$0.08	313%

Data source: Match Group First-Quarter 2018 Financial Release. Chart by author.

What happened at Match Group this quarter?

For the just completed first quarter, Match Group said its revenue of $407 million, which increased 36% year over year, was the highest quarter-over-quarter revenue growth since the company went public in November 2015. Earnings per share of $0.33 tripled compared to the prior-year quarter, and the results beat analysts' expectations for revenue of $386 million and earnings per share of $0.19.

Tinder continued to be the main growth driver, with members increasing sequentially by 368,000, and adding 1.6 million over the previous year. The increase drove Tinder's revenue, which increased 150% compared to the prior-year quarter.�Members are also spending more, with average revenue per user (ARPU) up 37% year over year as a result of user adoption of Tinder Gold, the premium version of the app.

Match's total subscribers hit 7.43 million, up 26% year over year, while ARPU of $0.58 grew 8% compared to the prior-year quarter.

"We continue to deliver innovative products that customers across our portfolio of brands find valuable, and we are not slowing down anytime soon," commented Mandy Ginsberg, Match's CEO. "I am highly confident that our product roadmap, particularly at Tinder, will allow us to remain the clear leader in this category and deliver continued growth for Match Group shareholders."

The biggest question, of course, was whether Facebook's move into the dating space would have an adverse impact on the company's business. During the conference call, Ginsberg said, "I don't think that people are going to be comfortable mixing their dating lives with Facebook." She went on to say that most people on Facebook didn't want to share details of their love life, or be contacted by strangers on a site that is primarily used for connecting with friends and family.

Looking ahead

Given the company's impressive results, Match raised its full-year forecast and provided the following guidance:

Total revenue in a range of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion, up from the $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion it forecast just last quarter, which would represent 24% year-over-year growth at the midpoint of its guidance.� Adjusted EBITDA between $600 million and $650 million -- up from the $550 million to $600 million in its previous forecast, which would represent 33% year-over-year growth at the midpoint of its guidance.

It remains to be seen if Facebook's move into the space will have any meaningful impact on the company's future results. Match is banking on its 20-year head start and innovative products to maintain its significant lead in the space.

Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Stake in Idacorp (IDA)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Idacorp (NYSE:IDA) by 71.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 216,366 shares of the coal producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,270 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Idacorp worth $19,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its stake in Idacorp by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 32,890 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. ETRADE Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Idacorp by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. ETRADE Capital Management LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. OppenheimerFunds Inc. boosted its stake in Idacorp by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. OppenheimerFunds Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. First National Bank of Omaha boosted its stake in Idacorp by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 24,546 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Meadow Creek Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Idacorp by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Meadow Creek Investment Management LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the coal producer’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.39% of the company’s stock.

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In other Idacorp news, CFO Steven R. Keen sold 3,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.72, for a total value of $312,020.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,292.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Tessia Park sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total value of $25,620.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Idacorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 5th. Williams Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down previously from $86.00) on shares of Idacorp in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded Idacorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.00.

Shares of NYSE IDA opened at $87.90 on Monday. Idacorp has a 52 week low of $79.59 and a 52 week high of $100.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.39.

Idacorp (NYSE:IDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The coal producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Idacorp had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 15.88%. The firm had revenue of $310.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. equities analysts forecast that Idacorp will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 7th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 4th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Idacorp’s payout ratio is currently 56.06%.

Idacorp Company Profile

IDACORP, Inc, through its subsidiary, Idaho Power Company, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electric energy in the United States. It operates 17 hydroelectric generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, as well as 3 natural gas-fired plants in southern Idaho; and owns interests in 3 coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming, Nevada, and Oregon.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IDA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Idacorp (NYSE:IDA).

Tax cut sparks record-setting $178 billion buyback boom

1. It's raining buybacks: Corporate America is throwing a record-setting party for shareholders.

S&P 500 companies showered Wall Street with at least $178 billion of stock buybacks during the first three months of 2018, according to Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices.

That's a 34% bump from last year and tops the prior record of $172 billion set in 2007, just prior to the start of the Great Recession. Apple (AAPL) rewarded shareholders with $22.8 billion in buybacks -- the most of any company in any quarter ever.

Total S&P 500 shareholder payouts -- buybacks plus dividends -- for the past 12 months could top $1 trillion for the first time ever, Silverblatt said.

The buyback bonanza occurred during the first full quarter after President Donald Trump signed into law a massive corporate tax cut that was supposed to lift business spending on job-creating investments.

The tax law reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% and gave companies a break on taxes owed when returning foreign profits. That one-two punch allowed companies to reap huge profits, a sizable chunk of which have been returned to shareholders. Profits had already been on the rise thanks to the accelerating economy.

Buybacks are clearly booming, more than 5.5 million employees received a tax cut bonus, pay raises or 401(k) hikes, according to the White House. But business spending -- the stated goal of the tax law -- has not significantly accelerated, at least not yet.

One broad measure of business spending, real nonresidential fixed investment, rose by 6.1% during the first quarter. That's solid growth signaling a strong economy. However, it was roughly in-line with the past several quarters. It even marked a slight deceleration from the final three months of 2017.

That means companies have not significantly boosted spending on equipment, factories and other investments that create jobs and boost wages.

Some economists aren't surprised that the early windfall of the tax cuts is going to Wall Street, instead of Main Street. They note that companies have long had access to tons of cash.

"If they had plenty of cash, you shouldn't really expect having access to more would lead them to invest," said Alan Auerbach, director of Berkeley's Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance.

2. Mark Zuckerberg faces the European Union: Facebook's CEO will meet senior members of the European Parliament as soon as next week to discuss how Facebook uses personal data.

Antonio Tajani, the parliament's president, said he hopes Zuckerberg can restore the confidence of Facebook's European regulators and customers.

The parliament will also organize a series of committee hearings with Facebook representatives and other tech companies, though Zuckerberg is not expected to attend.

Facebook (FB) faces scrutiny around the world following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Zuckerberg testified before the US House of Representatives and the Senate in April, but he has refused to testify before the United Kingdom's parliament.

3. Rollback of Dodd-Frank: The House is set to vote next week on a Senate bill that would cut Obama-era regulations for thousands of community banks and regional lenders, including State Street (STT), BB&T (BBT) and SunTrust (STI).

The bill would raise the threshold at which banks are considered "too big to fail." More than two dozen midsize US banks would be shielded from some Federal Reserve oversight.

They would no longer have to hold as much capital to cover losses on their balance sheets. They would not be required to have plans in place to be safely dismantled if they failed. And they would have to take the Fed's bank health test only periodically, not once a year.

4. Home sales: The economy is booming, inflation is picking up, interest rates are rising, and people are scrambling to buy the limited supply of homes available on the market.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department will report the number of new homes sold in April. New home sales surged to a four-month high in March.

But existing home sales have only been inching higher. Homeowners are reluctant to sell as home prices and mortgage rates soar. They worry that their next homes will be more expensive than the ones they live in now �� even if they can get a lot more money for their current homes. The National Association of Realtors will report Thursday how many homeowners sold their homes last month.

Mortgage rates hit a seven-year high this month. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has jumped to 4.61%, according to Freddie Mac.

5. Europe's new data protection law: On Friday, the European Union will start to enforce a sweeping new data protection law that will give consumers much more control over how their personal details are used.

Regulators say the rules are necessary to protect consumers in an era of huge cyberattacks and data leaks, highlighted by Facebook's admission that the personal details of millions of its users were improperly harvested.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation applies to any organization that holds or uses data on people inside the European Union. Google (GOOGL), Facebook and other tech companies must comply. You've probably already seen emails from tech companies explaining their new privacy policies as businesses scramble to get up to code before the rules go into effect.

6. Coming this week:

Tuesday �� Kohl's (KSS) reports earnings

Wednesday �� New home sales report; Lowe's (LOW), Tiffany (TIF) and Target (TGT) and L Brands (LB) report earnings

Thursday �� Existing home sales report; Best Buy (BBY) and Gap (GPS) report earnings

Friday �� EU General Data Protection Regulation goes into effect