5 Best Restaurant Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Waste Management Inc.(WM)
Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Waste Management (NYSE: WM) was down, falling 4.71 percent to $41.62 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.14 percent to $101.49, while gold traded up 1.68 percent to $1,322.00. - [By Selena Maranjian]
It can be good, though, with kids, to add a few individual company stocks to the mix, to keep things more interesting. A solid, dividend-paying blue chip such as Waste Management (NYSE: WM ) can be a smart choice, in part because it's relatively easy to understand. It's reliable because garbage collection is likely to be in great demand for a long time, and the company has become a major recycler, too, even generating energy from some waste.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sue Chang]
Biotechnology stocks which also have had a strong run-up in recent months��uch as Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) �and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) ��ere also some of the biggest losers.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) posted a 14% drop in its Q3 net income. Its revenue fell 7% year-over-year. Intuitive Surgical shares tumbled 7.77% to $368.13 in the after-hours trading session.
- [By Keith Speights]
At least one medical-device maker actually had a good first quarter. Robotic surgical systems maker Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) grew its revenue by more than 23% year over year. First-quarter revenue of $611 million beat what analysts were expecting by $30 million. And Intuitive was shackled with the same medical-device tax that all the other aforementioned companies bore.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
The Q1 2014 earnings report for troubled J.C. Penney Company, Inc (NYSE: JCP), a peer of other department store stocks like Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS), The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: BONT) and Nordstrom, Inc (NYSE: JWN), is scheduled for after the market closes on Thursday. Aside from the J.C. Penney Company's earnings report, it should be said that�Kohl's Corporation will report Q1 2014 when the market opens on Thursday; Nordstrom will report earnings after the market closes on Thursday; and The Bon-Ton Stores will report Q1 2014 earnings on Thursday, May 22nd before the market opens. However, all eyes will be on the J.C. Penney Company earnings report to see if there are any signs the company has turned itself around from the ill-fated�leadership of CEO Ron Johnson���who ironically was also trying to turn things around��/p>
- [By Ben Levisohn]
They also drove up the share prices of its suppliers and department store rivals. Nordstrom (JWN) and Kohl�� Corp. (KSS ), both reporting Thursday, rose more than 2% each. Its suppliers Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL) and Calvin Klein parent PVH Corp. (PVH) saw their shares up 2% and 4% each.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Crocs Inc.(CROX)
Crocs, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company primarily offers casual and athletic shoes, and shoe charms. It also designs and sells a range of footwear and accessories that utilize its proprietary closed cell-resin, called Croslite. The company?s footwear products include boots, sandals, sneakers, mules, and flats. In addition, it provides footwear products for the hospital, restaurant, hotel, and hospitality markets, as well as general foot care and diabetic-needs markets. Further, the company offers leather and ethylene vinyl acetate based footwear, sandals, and printed apparels principally for the beach, adventure, and action sports markets; and accessories comprising snap-on charms. The company sells its products through the United States and international retailers and distributors, as well as directly to end-user consumers th rough its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks, and Web stores primarily under the Crocs Work, Crocs Rx, Jibbitz, Ocean Minded, and YOU by Crocs brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 164 retail kiosks located in malls and other high foot traffic areas; 138 retail stores; 76 outlet stores; and 46 Web stores. Crocs, Inc. operates in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was formerly known as Western Brands, LLC and changed its name to Crocs, Inc. in January 2005. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Niwot, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Crocs (CROX) has dropped 5.5% to $12.93 after it was cut to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
CF Industries�(CF) has gained 3.6% to $$217.51 after it sold its phosphate business to�Mosaic�(MOS) for $1.4 billion. Mosaic edged up 0.1% to $45.98.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Crocs (CROX) announced a number of moves–including an investment by Blackstone Group (BX) that could restore the bounce to its shares.
AFPBloomberg has the details on Crocs:
Crocs Inc. rose as much as 14 percent in early trading after saying Chief Executive Officer John McCarvel will retire and�Blackstone Group LP will invest $200 million in the maker of colorful plastic clogs…
The shoemaker said in a statement yesterday that it will use the funds from Blackstone�� investment in convertible preferred stock to increase share repurchases to $350 million. McCarvel will step down on or about April 30…
Blackstone, based in New York, will be restricted from acquiring more than 25 percent of Crocs common shares until a time frame expires for appointing board directors, the shoe manufacturer said in a filing. Crocs said it will pay $2 million as a closing fee and reimburse as much as $4 million of Blackstone�� transaction fees and expenses once the preferred-stock sale is concluded.
Sterne Agee’s Sam Poser and Ben Shamsian upgrade Croc’s shares to Neutral from Underperform. They explain why:
The retirement of John McCarvel from his CEO post and from the board of Directors removes a large road block to success. Blackstone�� involvement (13% ownership upon conversion) may serve as a catalyst for positive change, including closing underperforming stores and limiting future store openings. While increased share repurchases should help EPS growth, fixing the fundamentals of the business will require more extensive efforts.
Wedbush’s Corinna Freedman explains how Blackstone’s involvement helps� Crocs find a McCarvel’s replacement:
We expect the shares to react positively to the announcement as we believe that a regime change and a shift of balance of power in the Board (with Blackstone having 2 board seats with veto power and presumably, a significant say regar
- [By Lisa Levin]
Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) surged 5.40% to $16.78. The volume of Crocs shares traded was 191% higher than normal. Monness Crespi Hardt upgraded Crocs from Neutral to Buy.
- [By Matt Brownell]
AOL When we spoke to Crocs (CROX) CEO John McCarvel back in January, we couldn't help but notice his choice of footwear: He wasn't wearing Crocs. But we couldn't really hold it against him. McCarvel was in town to accept an innovator award from the National Retail Federation, and Crocs didn't really make anything appropriate for the occasion. You can't wear Crocs with a suit, right? Well, that's not entirely true. As it turns out, Crocs now offers a number of shoes that are a bit more on the dressy side. They've got loafers, for instance, which could work at the country club. And for the office they've got the "Tummler" shoe, which combines the molded rubber clogs with a black leather slip-on dress shoe. As the website explains, it's meant to be a "work shoe you can live with." Around the same time we came across the Crocs dress shoe, we also became aware of another product that tries to combine stay-at-home comfort with office-appropriate wear: Dress pants-style sweatpants. These have all the comfort and warmth of a pair of sweatpants, but are designed like a pair of dress slacks, complete with back pockets, belt loops and pinstripes. Together, the Crocs dress shoes and sweatpants dress pants suggest a new paradigm for office wear: Dressy enough to pass muster with your boss, but comfortable enough that you can feel like you're having a pajama day working from home. But could you really pull this off in an office environment? To find out, I got a pair of each, then put them on and headed down to the offices of StyleList, Aol's fashion experts. I modeled my office wear for a panel of three StyleList editors: Ellen Thomas, Logan Sowa and Abby Silverman. Their first reaction was telling -- two of them didn't realize that I'd actually changed into the sweatpants. That, I thought, meant that I could get away with wearing sweatpants without anyone noticing. But on closer inspection, doubts started to emerge. "I don't think I'll ever be inclined to think this is
Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)
Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anna Prior]
Medical device company Thoratec Corp.(THOR) has purchased Apica Cardiovascular Ltd., in a deal that includes $35 million in cash upfront and potential milestone payments of up to $40 million.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Rooney]
Stocks to watch -- Buffalo Wild Wings, Carnival, Walgreens: The World Cup has been good for business at Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), according to one analyst. Shares of the sports-themed restaurant chain jumped 6% Monday after an analyst at Wunderlich Securities increased his price target for shares after seeing all the demand for the flagship wings for soccer games. But the stock was down in trading Tuesday as the enthusiasm waned a bit.
- [By Anh HOANG]
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG ) has long been considered the fastest-growing quick-service restaurant chain on the market. Chipotle has risen from $49 per share in 2009 to $517 per share at the time of writing. Because of its high-growth status, Chipotle's stock demands a high valuation--at $517 per share, Chipotle is valued at 40 times its forward earnings. Chipotle's valuation is higher than those of its peers�Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD ) and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM ) , which have forward earnings valuations of 30.5 and 20.1, respectively.
- [By abirk]
There lies an intense competition between YUM and McDonald�� (MCD). Health consciousness amongst the people has given a serious threat to this Oak Brook based company, as McDonald�� is heavily exposed to the US market. Other threats include poor product positioning. To compete with KFC and Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), McDonald�� introduced chicken wings (Mighty Wings). At the same restaurant that sells double cheeseburgers for a dollar, premium chicken wings don't work. The company purchased approximately 50 million pounds of chicken wings and is stuck with 10 million pounds of unsold stock.
- [By Traders Reserve]
While the usual suspects like Chipotle (CMG) and Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) soared after solid earnings reports, the rest of the industry may not be so fortunate.
Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)
Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.
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