Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now

Luxury luggage brand Tumi (NYSE: TUMI  ) , a little more than one year since its IPO, has failed to achieve much in the way of capital appreciation. The company came out of the gates with a rich valuation, heavily influenced by the then-recent success of other high-line brands such as Michael Kors. Tumi is growing, and will continue to grow -- much of its performance (or lack thereof) in the market has been the typical story of overvaluation and overhype. In the just-released earnings, there is plenty of evidence of a fundamentally strong company with a long runway for growth, even if Wall Street analysts were expecting a little more. With a long-term mind-set, is Tumi a good stock?

Earnings recap�
For the second quarter, Tumi brought in net sales of $108.2 million -- a near-13% increase from 2012's $95.8 million. Certainly not bad, considering the slowing economy in China and a still-tepid U.S. spending atmosphere. On the direct-to-consumer front, including outlets such as the website, comparable sales rose 4.6%, a deep discount from last year's 8%. In the international market, Tumi's comparables rose an impressive 13.3%, but still shy of last year's 16.2%.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (CHKR)

Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (the Trust) is a trust formed to own royalty interests for the benefit of Trust unitholders conveyed to the trust by Chesapeake Energy Corporation (Chesapeake). The royalty interests held by the Trust (Royalty Interests) are derived from Chesapeake�� interests in specified oil and natural gas properties located in the Colony Granite Wash play in Washita County in the Anadarko Basin of western Oklahoma. Chesapeake conveyed the Royalty Interests to the Trust from its interests in 69 existing horizontal wells (Producing Wells) and Chesapeake�� interests in 118 horizontal development wells (Development Wells) to be drilled on properties within the Area of Mutual Interest (AMI). The AMI is limited to only the Colony Granite Wash formation, where Chesapeake held approximately 45,400 gross acres (29,300 net acres) as of December 31, 2011. The Colony Granite Wash is located at the eastern end of a series of Des Moines-age granite wash fields that extend along the southern flank of the Anadarko Basin, approximately 60 miles into the Texas Panhandle. The Colony Granite Wash is a formation encountered at depths between approximately 11,500 feet and 13,000 feet that lies between the top of the Des Moines formation (or top of Colony Granite Wash A) and the top of the Prue formation (or base of Colony Granite Wash C). Colony Granite Wash is primarily a natural gas and natural gas condensate reservoir based on reserve volumes.

As of December 31, 2011, the all of the Producing Wells were completed, 66 Producing Wells were producing and approximately 11.5 Development Wells were completed and producing. As of December 31, 2011, the remaining three Producing Wells were temporarily offline. As of July 1, 2011, Chesapeake owned on average a 52.8% net revenue interest in the Producing Wells, and Trust received an average 47.5% net revenue interest in the Producing Wells, and Chesapeake on average owned a 52.0% net revenue interest in the Development Wells. As of March 15, 2012! , Chesapeake owned 61,100 net acres (of which 29,300 net acres are subject to the Royalty Interests). As of March 15, 2012, Chesapeake operated 95% of the Producing Wells and the completed Development Wells.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lawrence Meyers]

    CYS seems to be approaching the business carefully and is on top of things. That makes me feel a little bit more secure about its 15% dividend yield.

    Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (CHKR)

    Dividend Yield: 24.4%

  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR  )
    Created by Chesapeake Energy, the Granite Wash Trust owns royalty interests in 69 currently producing wells and 118 wells that are still to be drilled in Oklahoma in an area of mutual interest. The wells within the trust are producing out of the Granite Wash formation of the Anadarko Basin.�As you can see on the map below, the trust has a very focused area of interest.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Tesco PLC (TSCDY)

Tesco PLC, incorporated on November 27, 1947, is engaged in retailing and associated activities in the United Kingdom, China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, India, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey. The Company also provides retail banking and insurance services through its subsidiary, Tesco Bank. The Company�� operations in the United Kingdom is the within the Company, with over 3,000 stores. The Company�� in-store picking model is complemented by a small number of specialized dotcom-only stores, which allow the Company to respond to customer demand. The Company�� Click & Collect service is a part of its multichannel offering and enables customers to pick up their shopping when and where it suits them. It has over 1,500 Click & Collect collection points for general merchandise and over 150 Grocery Drive-thrus in the United Kingdom.

The Company�� operations in India include sourcing and its service centre, as well as a franchise arrangement with Tata Group. The Company�� Hindustan Service Centre (HSC) is the global services arm for Tesco worldwide, providing business services for Tesco operations globally. Tesco HSC is engaged in creating and executing strategic initiatives covering information technology (IT), Financial, Commercial and Property, among others. The Company also provides 80% of the stock sold by Star Bazaar, both food and non-food, sourced through its distribution centre in Mumbai. This distribution centre also provides wholesale products to traditional Indian retailers, kirana stores, restaurants and other businesses, providing small farmers and other suppliers with a way to sell their wares to the local market.

The Company has an online business and 22 of virtual stores in South Korean subways and bus stops, which help time-pressed customers, shop on-the-go using their smartphones. Tesco Lotus is its international business, serving over 11 million customers every week in over 1,400 stores. Tesco Bank! offer a range of simple personal banking products, principally-mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, and savings.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Alan Oscroft]

    Tesco
    Next Wednesday, April 17, brings us one of the most hotly awaited company announcements of 2013 so far -- full-year results from�Tesco� (LSE: TSCO  ) . (NASDAQOTH: TSCDY  ) After the U.K.'s biggest supermarket had a weak Christmas in 2011, and saw its share price slump as a result,�Warren Buffett�famously bought in big. And he's done well so far -- from a 52-week low of 295 pence back in June last year, Tesco shares are now back up 30%, to 385 pence.

  • [By Royston Wild]

    LONDON -- I am backing supermarket leviathan�Tesco� (LSE: TSCO  ) (NASDAQOTH: TSCDY  ) to put the difficulties of the past 12 months behind it and return to growth in the medium term. Shares in the firm have risen 15% since the start of 2013, and I am expecting them to gain traction as its strategy to rebuild its British operations comes to fruition.

  • [By Royston Wild]

    Today, I am looking at�Tesco� (LSE: TSCO  ) (NASDAQOTH: TSCDY  ) to see how it measures up.

    What are�Tesco's earnings expected to do?

Top 10 Tech Companies To Invest In 2015: Crosstex Energy Inc.(XTXI)

Crosstex Energy, Inc., through its partnership interests in Crosstex Energy, L.P., engages in the gathering, transmission, processing, and marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil in the United States. The company connects the wells of natural gas producers in its market areas to its gathering systems; processes natural gas for the removal of NGLs; fractionates NGLs; and markets and transports natural gas and NGLs. It also purchases natural gas from natural gas producers and other supply sources; and sells that natural gas to utilities, industrial consumers, other marketers, and pipelines. In addition, the company operates processing plants that process gas transported to the plants by interstate pipelines or from its own gathering systems. Further, it purchases natural gas from producers not connected to its gathering systems for resale, as well as sells natural gas on behalf of producers; and through its crude oil terminal facilities in south L ouisiana provides access for crude oil producers. As of February 8, 2012, the company operated approximately 3,300 miles of pipeline, 9 processing plants, and 3 fractionators. Crosstex Energy, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Crosstex Energy�� (XTXI) shares are up 59.4% at $32.84 after posting a new 52-week high of $34.21. Crosstex Energy LP�� (XTEX) shares are up 38% at $28.08 after putting up a new high of $29.50 earlier.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Stocks on the Move: Crosstex Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: XTXI) is up 71.5% at $35.33 on a merger with Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN). Crosstex Energy LP (NASDAQ: XTEX) is up 33.9% at $27.25 on the same news. Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) is up 22.7% at $35.34. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down 8.4% at $6.42, after posting another record low today.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Utilities sector was the only decliner in the US market today. Top losers in the sector included UIL Holdings (NYSE: UIL), off 2.1 percent, and Crosstex Energy (NASDAQ: XTXI), down 2.2 percent.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Utilities sector was the only decliner in the US market today. Top losers in the sector included UIL Holdings (NYSE: UIL), off 2.1 percent, and Crosstex Energy (NASDAQ: XTXI), down 2.2 percent.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: OMNOVA Solutions Inc.(OMN)

OMNOVA Solutions Inc. provides emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and decorative and functional surfaces for commercial, industrial, and residential end uses primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company operates in two segments, Performance Chemicals and Decorative Products. The Performance Chemicals segment offers a range of emulsion polymers and specialty chemicals based primarily on styrene butadiene, styrene butadiene acrylonitrile, styrene butadiene vinyl pyridine, nitrile butadiene, polyvinyl acetate, acrylic, styrene acrylic, vinyl acrylic, glyoxal, phenolic and diphenylamine antioxidants, hollow plastic pigment, fluorochemicals, and bio-based chemistries. Its custom-formulated products include tailored resins, binders, adhesives, specialty rubbers, antioxidants, and elastomeric modifiers, which are used in paper, specialty coatings, carpets, nonwovens, construction, oil/gas drilling, adhesives, tapes, tire cords, floor care, textiles, graphic arts , polymer stabilization, industrial rubbers and hoses, bio-based polymers, and various other applications. This segment primarily sells its products directly to manufacturers. The Decorative Products segment develops, designs, produces, and markets a line of functional and decorative surfacing products, including coated fabrics, vinyl, paper and specialty laminates, and performance films. Its products are used in various applications, such as commercial building refurbishment, remodeling, and new construction; residential cabinets, flooring, and furnishings; retail display; transportation markets; recreational vehicles; manufactured housing; medical devices and products; and various industrial film applications. This segment distributes its products primarily through a direct sales force; and agents to manufacturers of cabinets, furniture, seating, health care and medical components, and other products. OMNOVA Solutions Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Fairla wn, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    Chemical reaction
    The disappointments are starting to mount for investors in OMNOVA Solutions (NYSE: OMN  ) , an emulsion polymer and specialty chemicals maker that has missed the Street's estimates in worsening fashion for three straight quarters. Its first-quarter results, released earlier this month, showed a 9% decline in total revenue from the year-ago period because of lower volumes in Europe and India, and business seasonality. However, optimistic contentions could also be made based on this same earnings report.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Omnova Solutions (OMN) has fallen 3.8% to $8.36 after it said it earned 19 cents a share, missing forecasts of 22 cents.

    Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) has gained 1.6% to $425.84 after it was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight by Morgan Stanley, while Panera Bread (PNRA) has fallen 1.7% to $161.25 after the investment bank downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    OMNOVA Solutions (NYSE: OMN) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.12 per share on revenue of $226.00 million.

    CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.71 per share on revenue of $1.13 billion.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Markwest Energy Partners LP (MWE)

MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (MarkWest Energy) is a master limited partnership engaged in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of natural gas liquids (NGLs), and the gathering and transportation of crude oil. It provides services in the midstream sector of the natural gas industry. The Company also provides processing and fractionation services to crude oil refineries in the Corpus Christi, Texas area through its Javelina gas processing and fractionation facility. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated in four segments: Southwest, Northeast, Liberty and Gulf Coast. Effective December 31, 2011, the Company acquired the remaining 49% interest in MarkWest Liberty Midstream. On February 1, 2011, the Company acquired Langley processing plant.

Southwest Segment

The Company owns a system in East Texas that consists of natural gas gathering pipelines, centralized compressor stations, a natural gas processing facility and an NGL pipeline. The East Texas system is located in Panola, Harrison and Rusk Counties and services the Carthage Field. Producing formations in Panola County consist of the Cotton Valley, Pettit, Travis Peak and Haynesville formations. During the year ended December 31, 2011, approximately 77% of its natural gas volumes in the East Texas System result from contracts with six producers. The Company sells substantially all of the purchased and retained NGLs produced at its East Texas processing facility to Targa Resources Partners, L.P. (Targa) under a long-term contract. Such sales represent approximately 19.4% of its consolidated revenue in 2011.

The Company owns a natural gas gathering system in the Woodford Shale play in the Arkoma Basin of southeast Oklahoma. The liquids-rich natural gas gathered in the Woodford system is processed through Centrahoma Processing LLC (Centrahoma), its equity investment, or other third-party processors. In addition, it owns the Foss Lake! natural gas gathering system and the Western Oklahoma natural gas processing complex, all located in Roger Mills, Beckham, Custer and Ellis Counties of western Oklahoma. The gathering portion consists of a pipeline system that is connected to natural gas wells and associated compression facilities. The Company also owns a gathering system in the Granite Wash formation in Wheeler County in the Texas panhandle that is connected to its Western Oklahoma processing complex. The Company completed the expansion of the Western Oklahoma natural gas processing plant in October 2011.

Approximately 70% of its Oklahoma volumes result from contracts with three producers in 2011. The Company sells substantially all of the NGLs produced in the Western Oklahoma processing complex to ONEOK Hydrocarbon L.P. (ONEOK) under a long-term contract. Such sales represent approximately 13.2% of its consolidated revenue in 2011. The Company owns a number of natural gas gathering systems located in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico, including the Appleby gathering system in Nacogdoches County, Texas. It gathers a portion of the gas produced from fields adjacent to its gathering systems, including from wells targeting the Haynesville Shale. In addition, it owns four lateral pipelines in Texas and New Mexico.

Northeast Segment

The Company�� Northeast segment assets include the Kenova, Boldman, Cobb, Kermit and Langley natural gas processing plants, an NGL pipeline and the Siloam NGL fractionation plant. In addition, it has two caverns for storing propane at its Siloam facility and additional propane storage capacity under a long-term firm-capacity agreement with a third party. The Northeast segment operations include fractionation and marketing services on behalf of the Liberty segment. The Company owns and operates a crude oil pipeline in Michigan (Michigan Crude Pipeline) providing transportation service for three shippers.

Liberty Segment

The Company pr! ovides na! tural gas midstream services in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia through MarkWest Liberty Midstream. It is a processor of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, with gathering, processing, fractionation, storage and marketing operations.

Utica Segment

Effective January 1, 2012, the Company and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) formed MarkWest Utica EMG, a joint venture focused on the development of natural gas processing and NGL fractionation, transportation and marketing infrastructure to serve producers' drilling programs in the Utica shale in eastern Ohio. During 2011, the Utica Segment did not have any operations.

Gulf Coast Segment

The Company owns and operates the Javelina processing facility, a natural gas processing facility in Corpus Christi, Texas that treats and processes off-gas from six local refineries operated by three different refinery customers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 40% interest in Centrahoma Processing LLC (Centrahoma), a joint venture with Cardinal Midstream, LLC (Cardinal). Centrahoma owns certain processing plants in the Arkoma Basin and Cardinal operates an additional processing plant that is not owned by Centrahoma but is located adjacent to and operates in conjunction with the Centrahoma plants.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    Moving Marcellus gas
    In Summit's second deal it is purchasing the Mountaineer Midstream gas-gathering system in the Marcellus from MarkWest (NYSE: MWE  ) �for�$210 million.�The newly constructed 40-mile system leads into MarkWest's Sherwood Processing Complex which is currently being expanded from 400 million cubic feet per day to 800 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity. The system Summit is acquiring is secured by a long-term, fee-based contract with Antero Resources. Again, the company is picking up an asset that has secured revenue while providing MarkWest with capital so it can grow its processing capacity.

  • [By Dr. Kent Moors]

    From the Editor: Shares of MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) are up 63% since Kent recommended them in Energy Advantage. Genesis Energy LP (Nasdaq: GEL) is up 71%. But the MLP market is about to get much more interesting, according to Kent. That's why he's targeting the "clones" now...

  • [By Mike Deane]

    After the bell on Tuesday, Markwest Energy Partners LP (MWE) announced its third quarter earnings, with revenue rising substantially from last year’s third quarter.

    MWE Earnings in Brief

    -Markwest’s revenue for the quarter came in at $420.5 million, a huge gain from last year’s same quarter revenue of $280.6 million. This was still not enough to top analysts’ revenue estimates of $458.22 million
    -Even with much higher revenue, MWE still posted a loss for the quarter of $20.03 million, which was more than last year’s loss of $15.27 million.
    -The company posted an EPS loss of 17 cents, which was larger than last year’s Q3 loss of 13 cents, and far below the analysts’ estimate of 24 cents EPS profit.

    CEO Commentary

    Frank Semple, Markwest’s chairman, president and CEO, had the following comments about the quarterly results: ��ur results reflect the continued success of our producers��as they rapidly develop their acreage positions in high-quality unconventional resource plays, as well as several short-term operational constraints that we have recently experienced in the Northeast. Development of the Marcellus and Utica Shales continues to provide us with significant future growth opportunities for the expansion of critical midstream infrastructure. We are committed to providing our producers with exceptional customer service and unique solutions that will support their ongoing success.��/p>

    Dividend

    Markwest made no mention of a dividend change in its earnings report, which was not a surprise, as the company just raised its quarterly dividend by 1 cent at the end of October. The quarterly dividend of 85 cents went ex-dividend on November 5 and will be paid this Thursday. Markwest has raised its dividend every quarter for the past three years.

    Stock Performance

    MWE stock was up 39 cents, or 0.52%, at Tuesday’s market close. YTD, the company’s s

  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    MarkWest Energy� (NYSE: MWE  ) �has taken this as a challenge and will soon be the top infrastructure provider in the region. During the year it plans on bringing a 100,000 barrel per day fractionation facility on line with truck, rail, and pipeline access. This facility will also have access to fractionation facilities in the Marcellus Shale. This addition broadens a portfolio that already houses multiple facilities capable of refrigeration, cryogenic processing, and fractionation. As you can see from the following slide, the company has a number of projects under construction to meet the growing needs of producers in the region. �

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO)

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the oil exploration and production sub-sector of the United States equity market. The Index includes companies that are engaged in the exploration for and extraction, production, refining and supply of oil and gas products.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated. Since all of the securities included in the Index are issued by companies in the oil exploration and production sub-sector, the Fund will be concentrated in the exploration and production industry. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some gas and oil stocks to your portfolio, the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil and Gas Exploration Index ETF (NYSEMKT: IEO  ) could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this gas and oil ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.

    The basics
    ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The gas and oil ETF's expense ratio -- its annual fee -- is a relatively low 0.47%. The fund is on the small side, too, so if you're thinking of buying, beware of possibly large spreads between its bid and ask prices. Consider using a limit order if you want to buy in to this gas and oil ETF.

  • [By John Udovich]

    At first glance, you might think it strange that we have both the ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Crude Oil ETF (NYSEARCA: SCO), a bearish bet on oil, and the iShares Dow Jones US Oil & Gas Ex Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IEO), a more bullish bet on both domestic oil and gas, in our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio. But there is a method to our apparent madness as one can be both bearish and bullish on oil and/or gas at the same time.

  • [By Michael Burnick]

    The big E&P (exploration and production) and major integrated oil stocks see profits rise and fall with the price of crude. The iShares US Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO) is one way to play this part of the oil patch.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Windstream Corporation(WIN)

Windstream Corporation provides communications and technology solutions in the United States. The company offers various solutions, including IP-based voice and data services, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) networking, data center and managed services, hosting services, and communications systems to businesses and government agencies. It also provides high-speed Internet, voice, and digital television services to residential customers primarily located in rural areas. The company?s data services include data center and managed hosting, MPLS networking, and dedicated access, as well as high-speed Internet to business customers; integrated solutions consist of multiple voice and data services delivered over an IP connection; voice services comprise local and long distance, call waiting, caller identification, and voicemail; and special access services include point-to-point switching arrangements for voice and data traffic. In addition, it provides wholesale services, which primarily include voice and data services on a wholesale basis to other carriers; usage sensitive services to long distance companies; and other local exchange carriers for access to the network in connection with the completion of long-distance calls, as well as reciprocal compensation received from wireless and other local connecting carriers for the use of its facilities. As of June 30, 2011, the company served approximately 3.3 million access lines, 1.3 million high-speed Internet customers, and operated approximately 60,000 fiber route miles. Windstream Corporation is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Windstream Holdings (NASDAQ: WIN) shares gained 0.43% to touch a new 52-week high of $9.24. Windstream's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 22.79%.

    The WhiteWave Foods Company (NYSE: WWAV) surged 1.57% to reach a new 52-week high of $31.07. WhiteWave Foods shares have jumped 61.25% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 14.97% in the same period.

  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    Pay attention to payout ratios
    It's smart to examine a company's payout ratio, too. That measures the percentage of its earnings that it's paying out in dividends. Clearly, a company paying out more than 100% of its earnings for a protracted period is not in a sustainable situation. Telecom company Windstream (NASDAQ: WIN  ) , for example, sports a fetching dividend yield above 11%, but its actual annual dividend of $1.00 annually is worrisome, given its trailing 12 months of earnings per share of just $0.28. Sure, earnings can rise and make this less worrisome, but it's definitely a red flag worth considering. Bulls are hopeful about its acquisitions, but it also carries a lot of debt.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN  ) reported earnings on May 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Windstream missed slightly on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    What to seek and avoid
    When you're seeking dividend investments, go ahead and favor hefty dividend yields, but be wary when they're really hefty, because they might be unsustainable. Seek healthy and growing companies, too, and ones that are not paying out more in dividends than they're actually earning. For a sobering lesson, check out an article from October of last year by my colleague Brian Stoffel, who wrote about "3 Extremely Dangerous Dividends," discussing rural telecom specialist Windstream (NASDAQ: WIN  ) , supermarket concern Roundy's (NYSE: RNDY  ) , and electronics retailer RadioShack (NYSE: RSH  ) . It hasn't been much more than five months since the article was published, and while Windstream's payout is intact, RadioShack's has disappeared, and Roundy's has roughly been cut in half. Windstream may have low profit margins and a lot of debt, but it's been investing in new directions and growing its revenue. Roundy's is also saddled with debt and low margins, and operates in a tough industry. Still, it's at least free-cash-flow positive. RadioShack has long been struggling and recently posted shrinking quarterly revenue and widening losses. One ray of hope is its new CEO, turnaround specialist Joseph Magnacca.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Rentech Inc (RTK)

Rentech, Inc. (Rentech), incorporated in 1981, is a provider of clean energy solutions. The Company owns and operates a nitrogen fertilizer plant in East Dubuque, Illinois, that manufactures and sells natural gas-based nitrogen fertilizer products within the corn-belt region in the United States. It is developing energy projects to produce certified synthetic fuels and electric power from carbon-containing materials, such as biomass, waste and fossil resources. Its technologies can produce synthesis gas (syngas) from biomass and waste materials, and convert syngas from its own or other gasification technologies into complex hydrocarbons (the Rentech Process) that are then upgraded into fuels using refining technology that it licenses. In addition to developing projects using these technologies, it is pursuing the licensing of its technologies to developers of projects that are expected to produce fuels and/or power. In May 2011, it acquired majority interest in ClearFuels Technology Inc. In May 2013, Rentech Inc acquired the entire share capital of Fulghum Fibres Inc. In August 2013, Rentech Inc announced that a subsidiary of the Company closed the sale of approximately 450 acres in Natchez, Mississippi to Adams County, Mississippi.

The Rentech Process is a technology based on Fischer-Tropsch (FT) chemistry, which converts syngas that can be produced from a range of biomass, waste and fossil resources into hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons can be processed and upgraded into synthetic fuels, such as military and commercial jet fuels and low sulfur diesel fuel, as well as waxes and chemicals. Unlike some other alternative transportation fuels, such as ethanol, fuels produced from the Rentech Process can be transported and used in existing infrastructure, including pipelines and engines without blending restrictions. Its technology portfolio also includes the Rentech-SilvaGas biomass gasification technology (the Rentech-SilvaGas Technology), which enables it to offer integrated technologies t! hat can convert biomass and wastes to syngas and into clean fuels and electric power.

The Rentech Process can produce synthetic diesel fuels (RenDiesel1 fuels), which are clean burning having lower emissions of regulated pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter, than traditional petroleum-based diesel fuels. The Rentech Process also can produce synthetic jet fuel (RenJet fuel), which when blended with conventional jet fuel meet jet fuel specifications for military jet fuel and commercial Jet A and Jet A-1 fuels. It is developing a proposed project near Natchez, Mississippi (the Natchez Project) designed to produce approximately 30,000 barrels per day of synthetic fuels and chemicals and approximately 120 megawatts of power. It is evaluating alternative configurations for the Natchez site, which would initially be smaller in scale. The alternate configurations may use various feed-stocks alone or in various combinations, and include proportions of waxes and chemicals as products.

The Company owns, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Rentech Energy Midwest Corporation (REMC), a nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing plant that uses natural gas as its feedstock to produce syngas and then nitrogen fertilizer products. The products, the Company can produce include renewable synthetic diesel and jet fuels, naphtha and power from biomass resources; synthetic diesel and jet fuels, naphtha and power from fossil or fossil and biomass resources, and paraffinic waxes, solvents and specialty chemicals.

The Company competes with ExxonMobil, the Royal Dutch/Shell group, Statoil, BP and Sasol.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Travis Hoium]

    What: Shares of fertilizer and renewable energy company Rentech (NASDAQ: RTK  ) jumped 17% today after the company announced an acquisition.

  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Alternative energy specialist�Rentech� (NASDAQ: RTK  ) �will be�buying back�up to $25 million worth of company stock through the rest of the year, the board of directors announced Monday.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: ICON plc(ICLR)

ICON Public Limited Company, a contract research organization, provides outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in Ireland, the United States, and rest of Europe. It specializes in strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I to IV clinical studies. The company?s clinical research services include investigator recruitment, study monitoring and data collection, case report form preparation, patient safety monitoring, clinical data management, interactive voice response, electronic patient reported outcomes, medical reporting, patient registries, outcomes research, and health economics. Its clinical research services also comprise marker access and commercialization services, strategic analysis and data operation, clinical pharmacology, bioanalysis, immunoassay development, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynam ic analysis, study protocol preparation, regulatory consulting, product development planning, strategic consulting, medical imaging, contract staffing, and electronic endpoint adjudication. In addition, the company offers various laboratory services, such as sample analyses, safety testing, microbiology, custom flow cytometry, electronic transmission of test results, and biomarker development. ICON Public Limited Company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Louis Navellier]

    European Stocks to Buy: ICON Public Limited (ICLR)

    ICON Public Limited Company (ICLR) is a contract research organization, provides outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in Ireland, the United States, and Europe. They provide management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I to IV clinical studies as well as lab services for companies conducting trials. The company has posted triple digit earnings gains and posted four consecutive positive earnings surprises in the past year. Analysts have been raising their estimates for the Irish company and Portfolio Grader raised the stock to an A last month. The stock is a strong buy at today�� price.

Top 10 Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Websense Inc. (WBSN)

Websense, Inc. provides unified Web, data, and email content security solutions to protect data and users from cyber-threats, information leaks, legal liability, and productivity loss. The company?s Web security solutions include Web Filter that enables employers to proactively analyze, report, and manage employee access to Web sites; Web Security, which enables organizations to manage, as well as block access to sites associated with spyware, phishing, keylogging, and other threats; Web Security Gateway, a network-based Web security solution; and Web Security Gateway Anywhere, and data loss prevention technology and hybrid deployment options to protect against data leaks via the Web, and allow IT administrators to create unified policies throughout the organization, as well as offers V-Series Appliances as standard server hardware platforms optimized for its software products. Its Data Security solutions include Data Security Suite, Data Discover, Data Monitor, Data Prote ct, and Data Endpoint to protect against the loss of confidential information and data due to internal threats, such as inadequate business process controls, employee error and malfeasance, and theft, including undetected malicious code embedded in the networks. The company?s email security technologies include Hosted Email Security and Email Security to provide protection from spam and email-borne viruses, as well as basic inbound and outbound content filtering. In addition, it offers TRITON Enterprise solutions that provide Web, data, and email security across the enterprise; and technical support and professional services. The company offers its products and services to public sector entities, enterprise customers, small and medium sized businesses, and Internet service providers through a network of value-added resellers and original equipment manufacturers worldwide. Websense, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN  ) shareholders have until June 25 to decide on a $24.75-a-share acquisition offer by Vista Equity Partners.

    The board of cyber attack security specialist Websense has agreed to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners in the $903 million deal announced earlier this month. This morning, the companies announced that the�tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Websense common stock has begun.

No comments:

Post a Comment