Zacks Bull & Bear of the Day Highlights: Sempra Energy, SLM Corp., The Royal Bank of Scotland, Wendy's/Arby's and Cosan Limi

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678

Bull of the Day

Looking ahead, a base of stable earnings, steady progress at Sempra
Energy's (NYSE: SRE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)
LNG terminals, regulatory approval of utility rate cases and the Sunrise
Powerlink transmission line, operational REX-West, and completion of its
first solar power project, collectively support the bullish outlook for
SRE.

Furthermore, given a discount in P/E multiples, we maintain our BUY
recommendation on SRE with a six-month target price of $45.50.

Price appreciation to our near-term valuation target coupled with a
sustainable and secure, recently increased quarterly dividend of $0.39
per share based on low projected earnings payouts represents annualized
total return potential of 23.9%.

Bear of the Day

The shares of SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM), also known as Sallie Mae,
sold off sharply on February 26, on the news of the budget proposal by
President Obama regarding the elimination of subsidies for student
lenders. Further, SLM's 4Q08 core net operating income came in at $0.14
per diluted share, substantially short of our estimate.

Higher funding costs were the primary reason for the lower-than-expected
results. However, the performance of the private credit portfolio was
better than expected. We expect funding costs to come down slightly once
the federally sponsored programs (TALF and Conduit Facility) become
operational.

But the proposal for the elimination of private lenders from the
student-loan market is a significant threat to the company. As such, we
maintain our Sell recommendation on shares of SLM.

We maintain our SELL rating with a lower six-month target price of $7.00.

Recent Analysis from the Analyst Blog

RBS Going Back to Its Roots

As pre-announced on January 19, The Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)
posted a 2008 full-year statutory loss of GBP 24.1 billion, including a
goodwill impairment charge of GBP 32.6 billion.

More importantly, the company announced a restructuring plan that will
cut GBP 2.5 billion out of its cost base and is aimed at taking RBS back to
its roots, centered in the UK with a more limited global operation. RBS
will shift primarily GBM assets, consisting of GBP 240 billion of
third-party assets, GBP 145 billion of derivative balances and GBP 155 billion
of risk-weighted assets, into a non-core division that will be run off
over the next 3-5 years, cutting the GBM by 45% of capital employed.

Wendy's: A Tale of Two Brands

It is the best of times and worst of times for Wendy's/Arby's
(NYSE: WEN).
Fourth quarter financial results indicate the sinking economy is driving
value-seeking consumers to Wendy's and away from Arby's. Wendy's/Arby's,
formed in September through the merger of Arby's parent, Triarc, and
Wendy's, reported that 4Q08 same-store sales at its Wendy's fast-food
hamburger chain rose 3.7%, but fell 8.5% at the pricier Arby's roast
beef take-out chain.

Excluding one-time charges, 4Q08 EPS was $0.05. Massive impairment
charges at Arby's and other non-recurring charges totaling $0.89 per
share after-tax pushed EPS to a loss of $0.84 for 4Q08.

Adjusted EBITDA grew 30% year-over-year to $74 million, and EBITDA
margin expanded by 270 basis points to 12.3% from 9.6% in 4Q07, as
management began to wring G&A overlap from the system post-merger and
squeeze labor savings at Wendy's through a new scheduling system.

Cosan a Sweet Brazil Play

We are changing our recommendation on Cosan Limited (NYSE: CZZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)
from Hold to Buy. The devaluation of the Brazilian real against the U.S.
dollar has helped the company in posting better operating results in the
2nd quarter.

Moreover, better sugar and ethanol prices are very encouraging. The
decrease in supply by India, the 2nd largest producer of sugar, will
certainly boost Brazil's sugar exports to the Middle East, where it has
faced strong competition.

Cosan is also benefiting from the increasing demand of ethanol
worldwide. We believe some kind of deal to boost exports of ethanol to
the U.S. is more likely during the Obama administration.

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About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that
are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over
the next 3-6 months.

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For full details on (BSLDF) BSLDF. (BSLDF) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (BSLDF) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

For full details on Cosan Limited Class A (CZZ) CZZ. Cosan Limited Class A (CZZ) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Cosan Limited Class A (CZZ) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

For full details on The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) RBS. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

For full details on Sempra Energy (SRE) SRE. Sempra Energy (SRE) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Sempra Energy (SRE) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

For full details on Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (WEN) WEN. Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (WEN) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (WEN) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

For full details on Slm Corp (SLM) SLM. Slm Corp (SLM) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Slm Corp (SLM) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.