Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Advanced Energy (NASDAQ: AEIS  ) have dropped today by as much as 14% after the company reported earnings.

So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $111.8 million, which translated into non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.29 by the time it reached the bottom line. Those figures were better than consensus estimates of $110.6 million in sales and $0.17 per share in adjusted profit. Guidance was also mostly positive.

Now what: Second-quarter sales are expected in the range of $132 million-$145 million, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.18-$0.28. The midpoints of both guidance ranges are above consensus. However, investors may be spooked by the "major restructuring" that Advanced Energy is undertaking to integrate the recent acquisition of REFUsol. Total planned restructuring charges are expected to be $30 million-$35 million, most of which is non-cash. The restructuring will eventually translate into cost savings and revenue growth.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Energy Recovery Inc (ERII)

Energy Recovery, Inc. incorporated in April 1992, is engaged in developing, manufacturing and selling of energy recovery devices and circulation pumps primarily for uses in seawater desalination plants that use reverse osmosis technology. The Company's products are sold under the trademarks AquaBold, AquaSpire, ERITM, PXT, Pressure Exchanger, PX Pressure Exchanger, PEIT, Pump Engineering and Quadribaric. The Company develops and sells two main lines of energy recovery devices: PX pressures Exchanger devices and turbochargers. Each line includes a range of models and sizes to address the breadth of required process flow rates, plant designs and sizes. The company has two wholly owned subsidiaries: Energy Recovery Iberia, S.L. and ERI Energy Recovery Ireland Ltd. During the year ended December 2011, the Company merged three subsidiaries including, Osmotic Power, Inc.; Energy Recovery, Inc. International and Pump Engineering, Inc. into the parent company, Energy Recovery, Inc.

Energy recovery devices

The Company's PX offering includes: the PX-300 and PX-Q300; the 65 series (the PX-260, PX-220 and PX-180); the 4S series (PX-140S, PX-90S, PX-70S, PX-45S and PX-30S) and brackish PX devices (for the desalination of water with a lower concentration of salt than seawater). The Company's turbocharger offering includes: the HTCAT series (HTCAT-1800, HTCAT-2400, HTCAT-3600, HTCAT-4800, HTCAT-7200 and HTCAT-9600); the HALO line (HALO-50, HALO-75, HALO-100, HALO-150, HALO-225, HALO-300, HALO-450, HALO-500, HALO-600, HALO-900 and HALO-1200) and the LPT series for brackish water desalination applications (LPT-63, LPT-125, LPT-250, LPT-500, LPT-1000, LPT-2000 and LPT-3200).

High-pressure and Circulation pumps.

The Company manufactures and sells high-pressure feed, circulation and booster pumps for uses with its energy recovery devices in reverse osmosis desalination plants. The Company's line of pumps includes the AquaBold series (AquaBold 2x3x5, AquaBold 3x4x7 and ! AquaBold 4x6x9); the AquaSpire series (AquaSpire-300, AquaSpire-450, AquaSpire-600, AquaSpire-900, AquaSpire-1200, AquaSpire-1800, AaquaSpire-2400, AquaSpire-3600, AquaSpire-4800, AquaSpire-7200 and AquaSpire-9600) and a line of small circulation pumps.

Technical support and Replacement parts

The Company provides engineering and technical support to customers during product installation and plants commissioning. The Company also offers replacement parts and services for its PX devices and turbochargers. The Company's PX devices and turbochargers are also used to retrofit or replace older energy recovery devices in existing desalination plants.

The Company Competes with Flowserve Corporation (Flowserve) based in Irving, Texas and Fluid Equipment Development Company, Clyde Union Ltd., Duchting Pumpen Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co KG, KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Torishima Pump Mfg. Co., Ltd. and Sulzer Pumps, Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ant贸nio Costa]

    Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) broke out of a small consolidation area with heavy volume and will likely have the attention of the swing-traders in the next days.

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Luminex Corporation(LMNX)

Luminex Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of proprietary biological testing technologies and products for the life sciences and diagnostic industries. It offers xMAP technology, an open architecture and multiplexing technology that allows simultaneous analysis of approximately 500 bioassays from a drop of fluid by reading biological tests on the surface of microscopic polystyrene beads called microspheres. The company?s xMAP technology is used in various segments of the life sciences industry, such as the fields of drug discovery and development, clinical diagnostics, genetic analysis, bio-defense, food safety, and biomedical research. It operates in two segments, Technology and Strategic Partnerships; and Assays and Related Products. The Technology and Strategic Partnerships segment provides Luminex LX 100/200 that integrates fluidics, optics, and digital signal processing; FLEXMAP 3D system for use as a general laboratory instrument; and MAGP IX system, a multiplexing analyzer for qualitative and quantitative analysis of proteins and nucleic acids. This segment also offers consumables comprising dyed polystyrene microspheres and sheath fluids. The Assays and Related Products segment develops and sells assays on xMAP technology for use on its installed base of systems. This segment?s products are focused on the human genetics, personalized medicine, and infectious disease segments of the genetic testing market. This segment provides various assay products, which consist of a combination of chemical and biological reagents, and company?s proprietary bead technology used to perform diagnostic and research assays on samples. It serves pharmaceutical companies, clinical laboratories, research institutions, and medical institutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Garrett Cook]

    In trading on Tuesday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.27 percent. Top losers in the sector includedLuminex (NASDAQ: LMNX), down 11.4 percent, and Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), off 10 percent.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    Now what: Normally, a $5 million haircut isn't a big deal. However, if a company is losing money and that $5 million is a clean 14% below its original forecasts, then it's certainly going to garner a negative reaction. It also doesn't help that Natural Molecular Testing Corporation -- that aforementioned "large customer" -- recently entered in a multi-year collaboration with Luminex (NASDAQ: LMNX  ) earlier this month, casting a gray cloud over GenMark's future revenue stream with NMTC. Until we get better visibility from GenMark's management team and see the company moving toward profitability, this is a name I'd suggest keeping your distance from.

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Impax Laboratories Inc.(IPXL)

Impax Laboratories, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of bioequivalent pharmaceutical products. The company operates in two divisions, Global Pharmaceuticals and Impax Pharmaceuticals. The Global Pharmaceuticals division develops, manufactures, sells, and distributes generic pharmaceutical products. It provides its generic pharmaceutical prescription products directly to wholesalers and retail drug chains; and generic pharmaceutical over-the-counter and prescription products through unrelated third-party pharmaceutical entities. The Impax Pharmaceutical division develops proprietary brand pharmaceutical products that address central nervous system disorders, including Alzheimer?s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, epilepsy, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson?s disease, and schizophrenia, as well as promotes third-party branded pharmaceutical products. As of May 2, 2011, the com pany marketed 101 generic pharmaceuticals, which represent dosage variations of 29 different pharmaceutical compounds; and another 16 of its generic pharmaceuticals representing dosage variations of 4 different pharmaceutical compounds. It markets and sells its generic pharmaceutical prescription drug products in the continental United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The company has a strategic alliance agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals Curacao N.V. Impax Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Hayward, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Keith Speights]

    Impax Laboratories (NASDAQ: IPXL  ) could be watching more closely than Sanofi. The two companies reached a deal last year that allows Impax to begin marketing a generic version of Renvela in 2014. If approved, Zerenex could take away some of the profits that Impax expected to gain.�

  • [By Alex Planes]

    What: Shares of Impax Laboratories (NASDAQ: IPXL  ) traded nearly 12% higher on Thursday -- reaching a new all-time high -- following news that the FDA has approved the company's Parkinson's disease treatment, Rytary.

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: MedCAREERS Group Inc (MCGI)

MedCareers Group, Inc., incorporated on December 30, 2004, focus is to develop and build value through its wholly owned subsidiary Nurses Lounge (www.nurseslounge.com), an online professional network and communication source for nurses and organizations connected to the nursing community. On August 10, 2010, MedCareers acquired the workabroad.com Website from Steve Elisberg (Workabroad.com Website).

The Nurses Lounge is a professional network for nursing professionals providing relevant content and information and professional networking. Nurses can subscribe to Lounges created by nursing schools, nurse associations, employers, specialties and more to receive email updates of relevant news, events and other info. Professional networking is a place for nurses to connect with colleagues and network on a professional level.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    While small cap green or renewable energy type of stocks have been the flavor of the month for many stock promoters (and sometimes still are), small cap health care stocks like PPJ Enterprise (OTCMKTS: PPJE), Plantation Development Corp (OTCMKTS: BRMA) and MedCAREERS Group Inc (OTCMKTS: MCGI) have also started to get some notice lately ��perhaps because Obamacare has been topping the news lately. However, are these small cap health care stocks a better bet for investors or for their promoters? Here is a quick reality check and a checkup:

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Luxottica Group SpA (LUX)

Luxottica Group S.p.A. (Luxottica), incorporated in 1961, is an Italy-based company engaged in the design, manufacture and distribution of prescription frames and sunglasses in the mid-and premium-price categories. It operates in two segments: manufacturing and wholesale distribution and retail distribution. Through its manufacturing and wholesale distribution segment, it is engaged in the design, manufacture, wholesale distribution and marketing of house and designer lines of mid-to premium-priced prescription frames and sunglasses. The Company operates its retail segment principally through its retail brands, which include, among others, LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical and its Licensed Brands (Sears Optical and Target Optical), as well as through the retail brands of its business, Oakley, which include, among others, Oakley O Stores and Vaults, David Clulow e nel segmento Licensed Brand. Among its subsidiaries there are: Air Sun, Bazooka Inc, David Clulow Brighton Ltd and Ecotop Pty Ltd.

In May 2010, the Company acquired a 35.16% interest held by minority stockholders in Luxottica Gozluk Endustri ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, (Luxottica Turkey). On July 30, 2010, Luxottica acquired a 34% interest held by minority stockholders in Sunglass Hut (UK) Limited. On November 26, 2010, it acquired the Optifashion Australia Pty Limited group from HAL Optical Investments B.V. The acquisition included 47 corporate stores (40 optical and seven sun) and nine franchises, trading under brands including Just Spectacles. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of the David Clulow chain, bringing its ownership in the subsidiary to 100%. Luxottica�� house brands include Ray-Ban, Oakley, Arnette, Persol, REVO, Vogue, Oliver Peoples, K&L, Luxottica, Mosley Tribes, Sferoflex and Eye Safety Systems (ESS). Its licensed designer brands include Anne Klein, Brooks Brothers, Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, D&G, Donna Karan, DKNY, Fox, Miu ! Miu, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Stella McCartney, Tiffany & Co, Tory Burch and Versace. Polo Ralph Lauren includes Chaps, Polo, Ralph and Ralph Lauren Purple Label. Product design, development and manufacturing takes place in six production facilities in Italy, two wholly owned factories in China and two sports sunglasses production facilities in the United States. Luxottica also has a small plant in India serving the local market.

During 2010, the Company produced approximately 56.6 million units. In North America, the Company operates the points of sale for its Licensed Brands, with over 1,140 stores under the Sears Optical and Target Optical brands. During 2010, it distributed approximately 20.4 million prescription frames and approximately 38.4 million sunglasses, in approximately 5,900 different styles. During 2010, it announced the signing of a license agreement with Coach, Inc. (Coach) for the design, manufacturing and global distribution of sun and prescription eyewear under the Coach, Coach Poppy and Reed Krakoff brands. Essilor S.A. (Essilor) is the supplier of the Company�� retail operations.

Luxottica�� distribution system is globally integrated and supplied by a centralized manufacturing programming platform. The network linking the logistics and sales centers to the production facilities in Italy and China also provides daily monitoring of global sales performance and inventory levels so that manufacturing resources can be programmed and warehouse stocks re-allocated to meet local market demand. This integrated system serves both the retail and wholesale businesses with 18 distribution centers worldwide, of which eight are in the Americas, seven are in the Asia-Pacific region and three are in the rest of the world. It has three main distribution centers (hubs) in locations serving its markets: Sedico in Europe, Atlanta in the Americas and Dongguan in the Asia-Pacific region. They operate as centralized facilities, offering custo! mers a au! tomated order management system. During 2010, it managed over 13,500 orders per day, including eyeglasses and spare parts. Sedico ships over 170,000 units daily to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and to its distribution centers in the rest of the world, from which they are then shipped to local customers.

Wholesale Distribution

The Company�� wholesale distribution network, covering 130 countries across five continents, has 18 logistics centers and 42 commercial subsidiaries providing direct operations in key markets. Luxottica also distributes certain brands, including Oakley, to sporting goods stores and specialty sports stores, including bike, surf, snow, skate, golf and motor sports stores.

Retail Distribution

The retail portfolio offers a range of differentiation points for consumers, including the latest in designer and sun frames, lens options, eye care and everyday vision care health benefits. As of March 31, 2011, the Company�� retail business consisted of 5,911 corporate stores and 514 franchised or licensed locations. In its retail sun business, Luxottica operates over 2,480 retail locations in North America, Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Europe and the Middle East, mainly through the Sunglass Hut brand. Luxottica�� retail stores sells not only prescription frames and sunglasses that it manufactures but also a range of prescription frames, lenses and other ophthalmic products manufactured by other companies. During 2010, units manufactured with its brand names or its licensed brands represented approximately 80.2% of the total sales of frames based on units sold by the retail division.

Luxottica�� optical retail operations are anchored by brands, such as LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, and OPSM, Laubman & Pank and Budget Eyewear, which are available in Australia and New Zealand. It also has a retail presence in China, where the Company operates in the eyewear market with LensCrafters. As of ! March 31,! 2011, the Company�� optical retail business consisted of approximately 3,650 retail locations globally. As of March 31, 2011, it operated a retail network of 1,191 LensCrafters stores, of which 989 are in North America and 202 stores are in China and Hong Kong. LensCrafters stores offer a range of selection of prescription frames and sunglasses, mostly made by Luxottica, in addition to a range of lenses and optical products made by other suppliers. LensCrafters' products include lenses, such as FeatherWates (lightweight, thin and impact-resistant lenses), DURALENS (super scratch-resistant lenses), Advanced View Progressive (free-form, digitally surfaced progressive lenses), Invisibles (anti-reflective lenses) and MVP Maximum View Progressives (multi-focal lenses without visible lines).

Pearle Vision is a optical retail chain in North America. As of March 31, 2011, Pearle Vision operated 330 corporate stores and had 350 franchise locations throughout North America. The Company also operates a network of retail locations in North America operating as Sears Optical and Target Optical, its Licensed Brands, which uses the brand names of their respective American department store. As of March 31, 2011, it operated 828 Sears Optical and 323 Target Optical locations throughout North America. OPSM includes three optical chains that it operates in Australia and New Zealand. In July 2010, the brand launched its new flagship store OPSM Eye Hub and in September 2010, the brand launched its new OPSM Loves Eyes marketing campaign. As of March 31, 2011, the Company owned 357 OPSM corporate stores throughout Australia. OPSM also has 43 corporate-owned stores in New Zealand, mainly in large urban areas.

Laubman & Pank focuses on the independent optical shopper looking for eyecare and service. As of March 31, 2011, Luxottica owned 65 Laubman & Pank corporate stores throughout Australia. As of March 31, 2011, the Company owned 92 Budget Eyewear corporate stores throughout Australia and had nine! franchis! e locations. Budget Eyewear also has 14 corporate stores in New Zealand. EyeMed Vision Care is a managed vision care operators in the United States, serving over 28.5 million members in large and medium size companies and government entities and through insurance companies. EyeMed has a network of over 24,000 locations, including opticians, ophthalmologists, optometrists and chains operated by Luxottica. Together with LensCrafters' over 900 in-store labs, Luxottica operates five central lens finishing labs in North America. In addition, it operates Oakley optical lens laboratories in the United States, Ireland and Japan. As of March 31, 2011, Sunglass Hut had 2,385 stores worldwide, of which 2,329 are corporate stores and 56 are franchise locations. As of March 31, 2011, the Company operated approximately 590 Sunglass Hut departments in Macy's.

ILORI is Luxottica's fashion sunwear retail brand, with 24 stores in North America, as of March 31, 2011, including flagship stores in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City and in Beverly Hills, California. As of March 31, 2011, the Company operated 24 Optical Shop of Aspen stores in locations throughout the United States. Luxottica operates six luxury retail stores under the Oliver Peoples brand. The Oliver Peoples brand retail stores only offer Oliver Peoples, Mosley Tribes and Paul Smith branded optical products. Two additional Oliver Peoples retail locations are operated under license in Tokyo and Los Angeles. In Europe, it operates David Clulow, an optical retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. As of March 31, 2011, David Clulow operated 39 corporate-owned locations (including nine joint ventures), four franchise locations and 36 sun stores/concessions. As of March 31, 2011, Bright Eyes operated 51 corporate store locations and 73 franchise locations. As of March 31, 2011, the Company operated 159 Oakley O Stores and Vaults worldwide, offering a range of Oakley products, including sunglasses, apparel, footwear and accessories. An! other sal! es channel is e-commerce, including the Oakley and the Ray-Ban Websites (www.oakley.com, www.Ray-Ban.com).

The Company competes with De Rigo S.p.A., Marchon Eyewear, Inc., Marcolin S.p.A., Safilo Group S.p.A., Silhouette International Schmied AG, Maui Jim, Inc., Wal-Mart, Eye Care Centers of America, Vision Service Plan (VSP), Davis Vision and Spectera.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    First up is $25 billion eyewear stock Luxottica Group (LUX). Luxottica has posted some solid performance year-to-date, rallying more than 28% since the calendar flipped over to January. But this stock looks downright toxic right now. Here's why.

    Luxottica is currently forming a bearish price setup called a descending triangle. The pattern is formed by a horizontal support level below shares at $51 and downtrending resistance to the topside. As shares bounce between those two technically significant price levels, LUX is getting squeezed closer to a breakdown below that $51 price floor. When that happens, we've got our sell signal in this fashion stock.

    Declining volume over the course of the setup in LUX adds some confirmation to the trade, but the downtrend in relative strength is the real problem in this chart. LUX has been underperforming the broad market horrifically in the last quarter, and a move through the $51 level would sap a lot more buying pressure from shares.

    If you still own LUX, look for that sell signal as your exit.

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: PokerTek Inc.(PTEK)

PokerTek, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of electronic table games and related products for casinos, cruise lines, racinos, card clubs, and lotteries worldwide. Its products include PokerPro system, an automated 10-seated poker table with electronic components that allows players to play live poker against one another in a brick and mortar environment using electronic cards and chips by supporting poker, cash games, tournaments, and various languages; and Blackjack Pro, which offers the traditional game of Blackjack on the new ProCore automated table game platform, as well as allows operators to configure the game rules and payouts to meet their needs. The company distributes its gaming products using internal sales force and select distributors. PokerTek, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James Brumley]

    With the stock down more than 13% since early March, it would be easy to assume Multimedia Games Holding Company (MGAM) was headed for a nasty earnings report at the end of April. The market was wrong, however. MGAM posted a 25% increase in revenue for the quarter, and a 28% improvement in earnings … and that was before the acquisition of PokerTek (PTEK). Bringing PokertTek into the fold will almost assure a fourth straight year of revenue and income growth.

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