Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now

Nearly three years ago, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) �CEO Reed Hastings angered many fans when he announced the company's DVD delivery business would be split from the video streaming segment into a service called Qwikster. Angry customers revolted, resulting in canceled memberships and a plummeting stock price. However, many astute investors jumped in and picked up a high-quality company at a discount.

What happened over the next three years was simply astounding. After Netflix briefly touched a low-water mark in the mid-$60s per share, it initiated a 600% upward climb to its current price, near $430. And while some of the initial drop was due to overly bearish investors, much was due to Netflix's operations themselves.�Moving forward, the next leg of growth will be provided by Netflix's international operations.�

International's short history
Netflix's international business has a rather short history. Starting by moving to Canada�in 2010,� the company quickly added a host of countries to its international�streaming roster: the U.K., Ireland, Norway, Denmark, and Mexico, among others. Today the company is in more than 40 countries, with more than 54 million paying members. Of those members, 24% are international streaming members.

Top 5 Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now: Hawaiian Holdings Inc.(HA)

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., engages in the scheduled air transportation of passengers and cargo. It offers daily service on transpacific routes between Hawaii and Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington, as well as daily service on its inter island routes among the four islands of the State of Hawaii. The company also provides scheduled service on its Pacific routes between Hawaii and Pago Pago, American Samoa; Papeete, Tahiti; Sydney, Australia; Manila, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea, as well as other ad hoc charters. As of December 31, 2010, its fleet consisted of 15 Boeing 717-200 aircraft for its interisland routes; 18 Boeing 767-300; and 3 Airbus A330-200 aircrafts for its transpacific, Pacific, and charter routes. Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Michele Lerner, The Motley Fool]

    Alan Diaz/APAmerican Airlines did better at staying on schedule last year than it did in 2012, when it accused pilots of a work slowdown. DALLAS -- A big drop in customer complaints helped U.S. airlines post their best ratings ever even though more flights were late and more bags were mishandled, according to a report released Monday by university researchers. Virgin America topped the ratings, and three regional airlines scored at the bottom. Among the four biggest airlines, Delta Air Lines (DAL) ranked best followed by Southwest (LUV), American (AAL) and United (UAL), according to researchers from Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The researchers have graded airlines since 1991 on government figures for on-time performance, mishandled bags, bumping passengers, and complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Their key findings: On-Time Performance: Airlines operated 78.4 percent of their flights on time in 2013, down from 81.8 percent in 2012. Best: Hawaiian Airlines (HA); worst: American Eagle. Only two airlines improved: American Airlines and United. Bag Handling: The rate of lost, stolen or delayed bags rose 5 percent. Best: Virgin America; worst: American Eagle. Bumping: The rate of bumping passengers from flights fell 8 percent. Best: JetBlue Airways (JBLU); worst: SkyWest (SKYW). Complaints: Consumer complaints to the government dropped 15 percent in 2013 after rising 20 percent the year before. Best: Southwest Airlines; worst: Frontier (RJET). One of the report's authors, Wichita State business professor Dean Headley, credited the drop in complaints partly to United Airlines. The company suffered several computer-network outages and grounded hundreds of flights in 2012 when it combined the United and Continental computer networks after a merger, but "got their act together" in 2013, he said. Headley said the drop in complaints might also reflect "a certain amount of resignation" that "it's neve

  • [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

    Earlier this month, Allegiant announced a new route that marks a significant shift in the company's philosophy. Beginning in late October, Allegiant will serve the busy Los Angeles-Honolulu route twice a week. This route is already served by all three major network carriers, as well as Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA  ) , with each carrier offering multiple daily flights. What is Allegiant up to? More importantly, will it work?

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Following up on January's announcement that Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA  ) is buying 16 new A321neo airliners from Airbus -- and optioning nine more -- airplane engine maker United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) said Thursday that it will be supplying the engines for all 25 airplanes.

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aviv REIT Inc (AVIV)

Aviv REIT, Inc., incorporated on July 30, 2010, is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) , specializing in the ownership and triple-net leasing of post-acute and long-term cares skilled nursing facilities (SNF). The Company generates its cash rental stream by triple-net leasing its properties to third-party operators , including for all operating costs and expenses related to the property, maintenance and repair obligations and other required capital expenditures. The Company owns 316 properties that are triple-net leased to 38 operators in 28 states.

In May 2014, the Company acquired eight post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facilities in California and Texas. In June 2014, Aviv REIT Inc acquired a post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility (SNF) in Kentucky. In July 2014, Aviv REIT Inc acquired two assisted living facilities (ALFs) and one post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility (SNF). Effective September 03, 2014, Aviv REIT Inc acquired four nursing facilities.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jayson Derrick]

    Aviv REIT (NYSE: AVIV) has agreed to sell itself to Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) for $3 billion, or $34.97 per share. Omega Healthcare expects the deal to be accretive to its FFO and FAD in 2015. Shares of Aviv REIT hit new 52-week highs of $34.71 before closing the day at $33.73, up 12.06 percent. Shares of Omega Healthcare lost 1.78 percent, closinga t $38.16.

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Affymax Inc.(AFFY)

Affymax, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of drugs for the treatment of serious and life-threatening conditions. It develops peginesatide (Hematide), which has completed Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic renal failure. Hematide is a synthetic peptide-based erythropoiesis stimulating agent designed to stimulate production of red blood cells. The company has strategic alliance agreements with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Nektar Therapeutics AL, Corporation to develop and commercialize Hematide. Affymax, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is based in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Kanak Kanti De]

    Amgen needed an Onyx-like acquisition badly. For one, sales of Aranesp and Epogen, its flagship drugs for anemia, are dropping on concerns of safety, and loss of monopoly in 2012 to Affymax (AFFY), which received FDA approval for a rival anemia drug. (Note though, that after Omontys was recalled this year, that problem is resolved for Amgen.) Secondly, four of its top selling products go off patent in 2015.

  • [By Alpha Exposure]

    Investors in Affymax (AFFY) would like you to believe that Omontys will make a miraculous comeback and that Affymax will be a major winner. My belief is that the last AFFY article contained multiple factual errors that when refuted show that the future for Omontys is in fact dire. At the conclusion of this article all doubt should be removed regarding the low likelihood that Omontys returns to market.

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc.(PDM)

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. engages in the acquisition and ownership of commercial real estate properties in the United States. Its property portfolio primarily consists of office and industrial buildings, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities. As of December 31, 2007, the company owned interests in 83 properties that are wholly owned and controlled through consolidated joint ventures. It has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust and would not be subject to federal income tax, if it distributes approximately 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brad Thomas]

    Other REITs mentioned: (O), (NNN), (STAG), (DCT), (EGP), (PDM), (DRE), (LRY)

    Source: Chambers Street: More Liquidity Magic On The Way In REIT-Dom

    Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

  • [By alicet236]

    Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. (PDM) Reached the Five-Year Low of $16.73

    The prices of Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. (PDM) shares have declined to close to the 5-year low of $16.73, which is 32.6% off the five-year high of $21.32. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. is owned by one Guru we are tracking. Among them, 0 have added to their positions during the past quarter. One reduced their position. Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc., a Maryland corporation was incorporated in 1987. Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. has a market cap of $2.7 billion; its shares were traded at around $16.73 with a P/E ratio of 33.10 and P/S ratio of 5.02. The dividend yield of Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. stocks is 4.78%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 27.60% over the past five years.

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Drew Industries Inc (DW)

Drew Industries Incorporated, incorporated on March 20, 1984, is a supplier of components for recreational vehicle (RVs) and manufactured housing. The Company operates in two segments: the RV products segment (RV Segment), and the manufactured housing products segment (MH Segment). The Company�� operations are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Lippert Components, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Lippert) and Kinro, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Kinro), each of which has operations in both the RV Segment and the MH Segment. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the RV Segment accounted for 87% of net sales and the MH segment accounted for 13% of net sales. On February 21, 2012, the Company acquired the business and certain assets of the United States RV entry door operation of Euramax International, Inc. In February 2014, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Lippert Components, Inc has acquired Innovative Design Solutions, Inc. (IDS).

RV Segment

The Company through its wholly owned subsidiaries manufactures and markets a variety of products used in the production of RVs, including steel chassis for towable RVs, axles and suspension solutions for towable RVs, slide-out mechanisms and solutions, thermoformed bath, kitchen and other products, manual, electric and hydraulic stabilizer and lifting systems, aluminum windows and screens, chassis components, furniture and mattresses, entry, baggage, patio and ramp doors, entry steps, awnings, and other accessories. The Company also supplies certain of these products to the RV aftermarket, and to adjacent industries, including manufacturers of truck caps, buses and trailers used to haul boats, livestock, equipment and other cargo. Operations of the Company's RV Segment consist primarily of fabricating, welding, painting and assembling components into finished products. The Company's RV Segment operations are conducted at 23 manufacturing and warehouse facilities throughout the United States, located in proximity to the cus! tomers they serve. Of these facilities, six also conduct operations in the Company's MH Segment. It markets extruded aluminum parts to manufacturers in other industries. The Company's RV Segment products are sold primarily to manufacturers of RVs such as Thor Industries Forest River (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and to distributors of aftermarket products.

MH Segment

The Company through its wholly owned subsidiaries manufactures and markets a variety of products used in the production of manufactured homes and to modular housing and mobile office units, including vinyl and aluminum windows and screens, steel chassis, steel chassis parts, axles, thermoformed bath and kitchen products, steel and fiberglass entry doors, and aluminum and vinyl patio doors. The Company also supplies windows, doors, and thermoformed bath products as replacement parts to the manufactured housing aftermarket, and to adjacent industries. MH Segment customers manufacture both manufactured homes and modular homes, and certain of the products manufactured by the Company are suitable for both types of homes. Operations of the Company's MH Segment consist primarily of fabricating, welding, thermoforming, painting and assembling components into finished products. The Company's MH Segment operations are conducted at 13 manufacturing and warehouse facilities throughout the United States, located in proximity to the customers they serve. Of these facilities, six also conduct operations in the Company's RV Segment. The Company's manufactured housing products are sold primarily to producers of manufactured homes such as Clayton Homes, Cavco Industries, Inc., Champion Home Builders, Inc., Skyline Corporation, and other OEMs, and to distributors of aftermarket products.

The Company competes with Kober Corporation and Dexter Axle Company.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    The CEO of recreation vehicle (RV) stock Winnebago Industries, Inc (NYSE: WGO) recently appeared on CNBC to say that the economy is improving for RV makers, meaning its time to take a closer look at the stock plus take a look at the performance of other small cap RV stocks like Drew Industries, Inc (NYSE: DW), Skyline Corporation (NYSEMKT: SKY) and Thor Industries, Inc (NYSE: THO).

  • [By Grace L. Williams]

    Shares of Winnebago have gained 4.4% to $28.47 today at 3pm. Thor Industries (THO), which also makes recreational vehicles, has ticked up 0.1% to $57.56, Drew Industries (DW) has risen 0.3% to $48.74, Arctic Cat (ACAT) has advanced 1% to $59.87 and Polaris Industries (PII) has fallen 0.3% to $132.08.

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Calpine Corp (CPN)

Calpine Corporation (Calpine) is an independent wholesale power producer in the United States. The Company owns and operates primarily natural gas-fired and geothermal power plants in North America and has presence in wholesale power markets in California, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The Company has invested in clean power generation. It is developing, constructing, owning and operating an environmentally responsible portfolio of power plants. Its portfolio is primarily consists of two types of power generation technologies: natural gas-fired combustion turbines, which are combined-cycle plants, and renewable geothermal conventional steam turbines. The Company is a owner and operator of industrial gas turbines, as well as cogeneration power plants. The Company sells wholesale power, steam, capacity, renewable energy credits and ancillary services to its customers, including utilities, independent electric system operators, industrial and agricultural companies, retail power providers, municipalities and power marketers. It purchases natural gas and fuel oil as fuel for its power plants and engage in related natural gas transportation and storage transactions. The Company also purchases electric transmission rights to deliver power to its customers. In February 2014, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant located in Guadalupe County, 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, Texas.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 93 power plants, including two under construction, with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 28,155 megawatts and 584 megawatts under construction. Its generation capacity includes 77 natural gas-fired power plants, 15 geothermal plants and one photovoltaic solar plant. The Company is a consumer of natural gas in North America. The Company sells a substantial portion of its power and other products under power purchase agreements (PPAs) with a duration greater than ! one year.. The contracted sale of power, steam and capacity from its cogeneration power plants, combustion turbine power plants and geothermal power plants, as well as the sale of renewable energy credits (RECs), from its geothermal and solar power plants, provide a stable source of revenue. The Company produces power for sale to utilities, municipalities, retail power providers, independent electric system operators, large end-use industrial or agricultural customers or power marketers. Its cogeneration power plants produce steam for sale to customers for use in industrial or heating, ventilation and air conditioning operations. The Company provides capacity for sale to retail power providers. It provides ancillary service products to wholesale power markets. It sells RECs from its Geysers Assets in northern California, as well as from its small solar power plant in New Jersey.

The Company�� natural gas-fired power plants primarily utilize two types of design: 3,515 megawatts of simple-cycle combustion turbines and 23,043 megawatts of combined-cycle combustion turbines and a small portion from natural gas-fired steam turbines. Its Geysers Assets are a 725 megawatts fleet of 15 operating power plants in northern California. It leases the geothermal steam fields from which it extracts steam for its Geysers Assets. The Company has leasehold mineral interests in 110 leases comprising approximately 29,019 acres of federal, state and private geothermal resource lands in The Geysers region of northern California. Its leases cover one contiguous area of property that comprises approximately 45 square miles in the northwest corner of Sonoma County and southeast corner of Lake County. Across the fleet, it also has a variety of technologies, including approximately 868 megawatts of capacity from its power plants acquired in the Conectiv Acquisition which have conventional steam turbine technology. The Company also has approximately four megawatts of capacity from solar power generation technology a! t its Vine! land Solar Energy Center in New Jersey.

The Company has 24 natural gas-fired power plants, including two under construction, with the capacity to generate a total of 6,194 megawatts in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) region, which extends from the Rocky Mountains westward. In addition, it owns and operate 15 geothermal power plants located in northern California capable of producing a total of 725 megawatts. The majority of these power plants are located in California, in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) region; the Company also owns a power plant in Arizona and one in Oregon. The Company has 12 natural gas-fired power plants in the TRE NERC region with the capacity to generate a total of 7,239 megawatts, all of which are physically located in the ERCOT market. It has a total of 31 power plants with 7,914 megawatts of peaking capacity located in the RFC, Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) and Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) NERC regions. The Company has 19 operating power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 4,491 megawatts in Eastern PJM. In addition, it has one operating power plant, with the capacity to generate 503 megawatts, located in Western PJM. The company has a total of eight natural gas-fired power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 1,439 megawatts in the NPCC NERC region. Five of these power plants are located in New York.

The Company has 50% ownership interests in two Canadian power plants, with the total capacity to generate 1,088 MW (544 megawatts net attributable to Calpine), located in the NPCC NERC region in Ontario, Canada. The Whitby cogeneration facility is a 50 megawatts facility located in Whitby, Ontario and the Greenfield Energy Centre is a 1,038 megawatts facility located in Courtright, Ontario. The Company has three natural gas-fired power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 1,481 megawatts operating within the M! RO NERC r! egion. The Company has one operating natural gas-fired power plant with the capacity to generate 1,134 megawatts located in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) NERC region. SPP is an RTO approved by FERC that provides independent administration of the electric power grid. SPP manages an energy-only location based real-time wholesale energy market. The Company has 10 natural gas-fired power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 4,949 megawatts operating within the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC) and the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC) NERC regions.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Calpine Corp.(CPN) agreed to buy a gas-fired, 1,050-megawatt power plant in Texas for $625 million, as part of the wholesale power company’s effort to increase its presence in the Texas market. Calpine is purchasing the plant from MinnTex Power Holdings LLC, a portfolio company owned by a private investment fund managed by Wayzata Investment Partners LLC.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Yesterday, small cap geothermal stock U.S. Geothermal Inc (NYSEMKT: HTM) produced a geyser of a return when it surged 26.79%, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock verses the performance of other geothermal stocks like small cap Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and mid cap Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN).�First of all, I should mention there are some other geothermal stocks out there like Alterra Power Corp (CVE: AXY) and Ram Power Corp (TSE: RPG) who have their primary listing on Canadian exchanges with secondary ones on the OTC���meaning they may not be a good deal for American investors or easy to invest in. Second, U.S. Geothermal Inc itself is a good geothermal proxy as its�focused on developing, owning, and operating clean, sustainable electric power from geothermal energy resources and its�operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon; San Emidio, Nevada; and Raft River, Idaho plus El Ceibillo, an advanced stage, geothermal prospect located within a 24,710 acre energy rights concession area near Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    It’s not all bad news, however. Two utilities should benefit from this trend, Calpine (CPN) and Dominion Resources (D), although the advantage may already be priced into Dominion’s shares, Byrd says.

Top 10 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Greatbatch Inc. (GB)

Greatbatch, Inc. provides technology solutions for medical and industrial applications. The company operates in two segments, Greatbatch Medical and Electrochem Solutions. The Greatbatch Medical segment designs and manufactures systems, components, and devices for the cardiac rhythm management, neuromodulation, vascular access, and orthopaedic markets. Its products include batteries, capacitors, filtered and unfiltered feedthroughs, engineered components, and enclosures used in implantable medical devices; instruments and delivery systems used in hip and knee replacement, and trauma and spine surgeries, as well as in hip, knee, and shoulder implants; and introducers, catheters, steerable sheaths, and implantable stimulation leads. This segment also offers value-added assembly and design engineering services for medical systems and devices. It serves primarily multi-national original equipment manufacturers. The Electrochem Solutions segment provides technology solutions fo r critical industrial applications, including customized battery power and wireless sensing systems. This segment?s products comprise cells, primary and rechargeable battery packs, and wireless sensors. It serves companies involved in energy, security, portable medical, and environmental monitoring markets. This segment sells its products directly to end users and original equipment manufactures. Greatbatch, Inc. sells its products primarily in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Belgium. The company was founded in 1970 and is based in Clarence, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By mitu77]

    Various chip manufacturers are now focused on their flash drive storage portfolio to leverage their top and bottom lines. EMC (EMC) is one such company that is a market leader in storage solution providers with global foot prints. Not just the storage, but EMC also provides various solutions like security, big data and hybrid cloud solution. The company�� emerging business is its storage business with high end solutions and performance. The size of data has been exponentially growing and this growth has enabled companies like EMC to flourish. IDC ( Market research company) and EMC had jointly estimated global data size to be around 2,837 Exabytes (EB) in 2012, and it is estimated to reach 40,000 EB by 2020. As the digital world continues to expand it is further anticipated that by 2020, average storage requirement would be around 5200 Gigabytes (GB) per person. 1 Exabytes (EB) = 1000 Petabytes (PB) = 1 million Terabytes (TB) =1 billion Gigabytes (GB)

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Calling all cash flows
    When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Greatbatch (NYSE: GB  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

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