Pay-TV cable operator Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA ) , a spinoff from media conglomerate Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA ) , has done nothing but climb since its market debut less than a year ago. This past month, the company reported its first-quarter earnings for 2013, and while the numbers came up short of analyst expectations, there was plenty of encouraging news for the long-term viability of the company. Just this past week, it was announced that Berkshire Hathaway had amassed a nearly 5% position in the company, gained as a result of the firm's sizable Liberty Media stake. The question now is, does the stock still have room to run, or is this growth story coming to an end?
Earnings recap
Missing analyst estimates, revenue dipped about 1% for the company to $399.3 million. But with both its namesake Starz network, as well as Encore, the company now has 56.7 million paying subscribers -- by far the largest of any premium cable operator. One of Starz's new series, Da Vinci's Demons, debuted to a record high for opening-weekend numbers, and has been renewed for a second season.
Best Transportation Stocks To Watch Right Now: Steiner Leisure Limited(STNR)
Steiner Leisure Limited provides spa services and personal care products for men, women, and teenagers worldwide. The company offers beauty care products, including cleansers, toners, moisturizers, lotions, waxing products, cleansing accessories, and other skin care and body products, as well as aromatherapy oils and beauty tools; and hair care products, such as shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and related items. Its services include massages, facials, microdermabrasion, waxing, aromatherapy treatments, seaweed wraps, aerobic exercise, yoga, pilates, hair styling, manicures, pedicures, and teeth whitening, as well as various other beauty and body treatments and services; acupuncture; and medi-spa services comprising BOTOX Cosmetic, Dysport, Restylane, and Perlane. In addition, the company operates approximately 12 post-secondary schools, which provide education in massage therapy, beauty, skin care, and related areas at 30 campuses in 14 states. Further, it provid es procedures for the removal of unwanted facial and body hair in a clinical setting. The company offers its products and services under the Elemis, La Th�apie, Bliss, Rem�e, Laboratoire Rem�e, Mandara Spa, Mandara, Jou, and Chavana brands through department stores; third party retail outlets; distributors; salons; mail orders; and company owned Websites, including www.timetospa.com, www.timetospa.co.uk, www.blissworld.com, www.blisslondon.co.uk, and www.bodyworkmall.com, as well as through the QVC home shopping television channel. As of February 13, 2012, it served 152 cruise ships representing 19 cruise lines; and operated 54 resort spas, 11 urban hotel spas, 6 day spas, and 59 ideal image laser hair removal centers. Steiner Leisure Limited was founded in 1934 and is based in Nassau, the Bahamas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
On Thursday, small cap fitness club owner Life Time Fitness, Inc (NYSE: LTM) lost some weight for investors as analysts gave the stock a workout after its Analyst Day failed to ease their concerns, meanings its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of Town Sports International Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: CLUB)�and Steiner Leisure Ltd (NASDAQ: STNR).
- [By Vera Yuan]
��onsumer products and services company Steiner Leisure Ltd. (STNR) declined after the company reported its first quarter earnings. The company did not repurchase shares during the quarter despite declines in its stock price following the late 2013 announcement of a non-renewal by Celebrity Cruise Lines. In addition, the quarter reflected continued weakness in the company�� Ideal Image laser hair removal business. Later in the quarter, the company announced a 10b5-1 plan under which the company can repurchase shares according to a pre-set plan.
- [By Rick Munarriz]
Royal Caribbean,�NCL (NYSE: NCL ) , and ship spa services provider Steiner Leisure (NASDAQ: STNR ) all hit new 52-week highs earlier this month. Unlike Carnival (NYSE: CCL ) -- which has been sluggish in light of several mishaps at sea since last year -- everyone seemed to view the negative instances as Carnival-specific events. Now Royal Caribbean's fire may lead folks to question booking on any cruise line in the near future.
Top 10 Managed Healthcare Stocks To Watch For 2014: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)
New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
One group of stocks not feeling the optimism today: Gold miners. With fewer concerns that a U.S. attack on Syria will be disruptive and more evidence that tapering will begin this month, the price of the precious metal has dropped 1.6% to $1,388.90 an ounce–and gold stocks are falling with it. New Gold (NGD), for one, has dropped 3% to $6.55, while Barrick Gold (ABX) has fallen 1.3% to $19.25.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Hamed singles out Goldcorp (GG) and Yamana Gold (AUY) as two companies that have strong production growth, falling costs, declining capital obligations and less debt than competitors. New Gold (NGD), meanwhile, should have the lowest all-on costs in the group at $731 an ounce, but its capital spending is likely to notes, Hamed says. Hamed rates Goldcorp and Yamana Overweight, while New Gold is rated Equal Weight.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Bridges favorite stocks include Goldcorp, Newmont, Eldorado Gold (EGO) and New Gold (NGD).
Note, however, that these recommendations are all qualified in one way or another. Investors should keep that in mind before going all in on the gold miners.
Top 10 Managed Healthcare Stocks To Watch For 2014: Apollo Investment Corporation(AINV)
Apollo Investment Corporation is business development company and operates as a closed-end management investment company. The company invests in middle market companies. It provides direct equity capital, mezzanine and senior secured loans, and subordinated debt and loans. It also seeks to invest in PIPES transactions. The company may also invest in public companies that are thinly traded and may acquire investments in the secondary market. It prefers to invest in warrants, makes equity co-investments, and may also invest in cash equivalents, U.S. government securities, high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less, high-yield bonds, distressed debt, non-U.S. investments, or securities of public companies that are not thinly traded. The company typically invests in building materials, business services, cable television, chemicals, consumer products, direct marketing, distribution, energy and utilities, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, media, publishing, retail and transportation. It primarily invests between $20 million and $250 million in its portfolio companies. The company seeks to make investments with stated maturities of five to ten years.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
Here are a couple private equity-powered dividend stocks on my radar right now:
Apollo Investment (AINV)Apollo Global Management (APO) is one of the world�� largest asset management and private equity firms with more than $100 billion under management. Its largest publicly offered vehicle is Apollo Investment (AINV), a business development company that invests in and ends to middle-market companies and pays out 90% of its net income to shareholders.
- [By Rich Bieglmeier]
Expensive or not, dividend investors might be interested in this week's highlighted insider buying candidate: Apollo Investment Corporation (AINV).
- [By MONEYMORNING]
He's much better off in "total return" holdings, like Apollo Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: AINV) which we covered right here, and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP), another long-term winner.
Top 10 Managed Healthcare Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ultra Petroleum Corp.(UPL)
Ultra Petroleum Corp., an independent oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and operation of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily focuses on developing a tight gas sand trend located in the Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming; and assessing, exploring, and developing its position in the Marcellus Shale and other horizons located in the north-central Pennsylvania area of the Appalachian Basin. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned interests in approximately 53,000 net acres in Wyoming covering approximately 190 square miles; 258,000 net acres in Pennsylvania; and 130,000 net acres in eastern Colorado?s Denver Julesburg Basin. Ultra Petroleum Corp. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
My first earnings short-squeeze play is oil and gas exploration player Ultra Petroleum (UPL), which is set to release numbers on Friday before the market open. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Ultra Petroleum to report revenue of $234.98 million on earnings of 42 cents per share.
During the last quarter, this company reported revenue of $225.6 million and GAAP reported sales were 0.2% lower than the prior-year quarter's $226.1 million. Also last quarter, this company reported non-GAAP EPS of 38 cents per share and GAAP EPS was 11 cents per share, which was 80% lower than the prior-year quarter's 55 cents per share.
The current short interest as a percentage of the float for Ultra Petroleum is extremely high at 22.8%. That means that out of the 149.85 million shares in the tradable float, 33.80 million shares are sold short by the bears. The bears have also been increasing their bets from the last reporting period by 3.6%, or by about 1.17 million shares. If the bears are caught pressing their bets into a bullish quarter, then shares of UPL could easily rip higher post-earnings as the shorts rush to cover some of those bets.
From a technical perspective, UPL is currently trending above its 200-day moving average and just below its 50-day moving average, which is neutral trendwise. This stock has been trending sideways for the last two months, with shares moving between $19.52 on the downside and $22.47 on the upside. A high-volume move above the upper end of its recent range post-earnings could trigger a big breakout trade for shares of UPL.
If you're bullish on UPL, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $21.96 to $22.47 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that registers near or above its three-month average volume of 3.10 million shares. If that breakout hits, then UPL will set up to r
- [By Matt DiLallo]
Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL ) also uses hedges to provide certainty to its cash flow. The company has hedged 81.4 billion cubic feet of production through the end of this year. That equates to about half of its production in the next two quarters, and about a quarter of its fourth-quarter production. Ultra is doing this in order to generate the cash flow that's required to meet its capital budget. That will enable the company to drill about 80 wells this year so that it can grow its overall production to between 228 Bcfe and 238 Bcfe, all while staying within the confines of its cash flow. If the company didn't secure its cash flow by hedging, it wouldn't be able to grow as fast if natural gas prices plummet this year.
Top 10 Managed Healthcare Stocks To Watch For 2014: Perficient Inc.(PRFT)
Perficient, Inc. provides information technology consulting services to various enterprise companies primarily in the United States. The company designs, builds, and delivers business-driven technology solutions using third party software products. Its solutions include business integration and service oriented architectures, enterprise portals and collaboration, custom applications, and technology platform implementations, as well as customer relationship management, enterprise performance management, enterprise content management, and business intelligence solutions. The company?s solutions enable its clients to operate a real-time enterprise that adapts business processes and the systems that support them to meet the changing demands of marketplace. Perficient, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap tech consulting firm Perficient, Inc (NASDAQ: PRFT) is getting deeper into the cloud computing space ��meaning it might be worth taking a closer look at it along with the performance of First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund (NASDAQ: SKYY). We have just added Perficient, Inc to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio because we believe the company is trading at a discount to that of its small cap peers in the cloud computing space plus the stock�� fundamentals and technical chart looks attractive.
Top 10 Managed Healthcare Stocks To Watch For 2014: CNOOC Limited(CEO)
CNOOC Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of crude oil, natural gas, and other petroleum products. The company?s oil and natural gas properties are located in offshore China, which include Bohai Bay, western south China Sea, eastern south China Sea, and east China Sea, as well as in Indonesia, Iraq, and other regions in Asia; and Oceania, Africa, North America, and South America. As of December 31, 2010, the company had net proved reserves of approximately 2.99 billion barrels-of-oil equivalent, including approximately 1.92 billion barrels of crude oil and 6,458.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It also provides bond issuance services; and has a joint venture with Bridas Energy Holdings. CNOOC Limited was founded in 1982. The company is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong, and is considered a Red Chip company due to its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CNOOC Limited is a subsidiary of China National Of fshore Oil Corporation.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MARKETWATCH]
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks opened higher on Tuesday, as global investors look ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's first public remarks later in the day. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) rose 0.7% to 21,722.66. Asia's largest oil and gas company -- PetroChina Co. Ltd (HK:857) (PTR) -- climbed 2%, after the company said it has found a large natural-gas reserve in China's southwestern Sichuan basin, with 308 cubic meters of technically recoverable gas. Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883) (CEO) , China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, jumped 3.3%, while top refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (HK:386) (SNP) also added 1.6%. Oilfield-equipment shares also benefited from the rally, as China Oilfield Services Ltd. (HK:2883) (CHOLF) gained 1.7%. Huadian Fuxin Energy Corp. Ltd. (HK:816) , the renewable-energy unit of Chinese state-owned power giant China Huadian Corp., jumped 3.2%, after the company said last week it had raised 1.18 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $152 million) through a sale of shares to institutional investors. Waste-management and energy company China Everbright International Ltd. (HK:257) (CHFFF) advanced 2.4%, and China Datang Renewable Power Co. Ltd. (HK:1798) tacked on
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
For instance, Chesapeake's 2010 agreement with China's largest energy company, CNOOC (NYSE: CEO ) , allowed CNOOC to purchase one-third undivided interest in a portion of Chesapeake's Eagle Ford assets in exchange for financing 75% of Chesapeake's drilling and completion expenses.
- [By Jim Jubak]
The auction news isn't good for investors in Brazil's Petrobras (PBR), but it could well be a boon for China and Chinese oil companies such as PetroChina (PTR) and CNOOC (CEO).
Top 10 Managed Healthcare Stocks To Watch For 2014: BankUnited Inc (BKU)
BankUnited, Inc. (BKU), incorporated on April 28, 2009, is a bank holding company with three wholly owned subsidiaries: BankUnited, National Association (the Bank) Herald National Bank (Herald), and BankUnited Investment Services, Inc. (BUIS), collectively, the Company. As of December 31, 2012, it provides a range of banking services to individual and corporate customers through 98 branches located in 15 Florida counties. Herald is a national banking association with 2 branch locations in the New York metropolitan area. BUIS is a Florida insurance agency providing wealth management and financial planning services. As of December 31, 2012, its distribution network also includes 97 automated teller machines (ATMs), online banking and a telephone banking service. As of December 31, 2011, the Bank had 98 branches in 15 counties. On February 29, 2012, the Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Herald National Bank (Herald).
Lending Activities
The Company�� primary lending focus is to serve consumers, commercial and middle-market businesses and their executives with a range of financial products and services. It offers a range of lending products, including small business loans, residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate loans, equipment loans and leases, term loans, asset-backed loans, municipal leases, letters of credit and commercial lines of credit. As part of the Company�� loan activities, it also purchases performing residential loans on a national basis.
The Company�� commercial loans, which are generally made to small and middle-market businesses, include equipment loans, lines of credit, acquisition finance credit facilities and an array of Small Business Administration product offerings, and typically have maturities of five years or less. It also offers term financing for the acquisition or refinancing of properties, primarily rental apartments, industrial properties, retail shopping centers and free-standing buildings, office! buildings and hotels located primarily in Florida. Other products that it provides include secured lines of credit, acquisition, development and construction loan facilities and construction financing.
The Company provides one- to four-single family residential real estate loans with terms ranging from 10 to 40 years, with either fixed or adjustable interest rates. Loans are offered to customers primarily in Florida through its branches and loan officers. The majority of its loans are owner occupied, full documentation loans. The Company offers consumer loans to its customers primarily in Florida for personal, family and household purposes, including home equity loans, auto, boat and personal installment loans.
Sources of Funds
The Company offers traditional deposit products, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit with a variety of rates. Demand deposits comprised 22% of total deposits as of December 31, 2012. The Company also utilizes Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances to finance its operations.
Wealth Management
Through financial consultants and bankers, BankUnited Investment Services provides a range of wealth management product offering that includes mutual funds, annuities, life insurance and individual securities. It also provides succession planning, estate planning, and financial planning to individuals and business owners. It uses a third-party financial services company to provide its trading platform, administrative and back office support, and provides its customers with around-the-clock access to account balances and summaries, positions and portfolio views, transaction detail, portfolio view, and online statements.
The Company competes with Bank of America, BankAtlantic, BB&T, JPMorgan Chase, Regions Bank, SunTrust Banks, TD Bank and Wells Fargo.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MONEYMORNING.COM]
Just last week the investor group, in the last of a series of secondary offerings, said goodbye to BankUnited (NYSE: BKU) and cashed out, having more than doubled their money.
- [By Eric Volkman]
BankUnited (NYSE: BKU ) is reaching into its vault for another shareholder payout. The company has declared its latest quarterly common stock dividend, which is to be $0.21 per share paid on July 19 to shareholders of record as of July 5. That amount matches both of the firm's previous distributions, the most recent of which was paid in April. Prior to that, BankUnited dispensed $0.17 per share.
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