Friday, July 18, 2014

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now

Procter & Gamble posted third-quarter earnings Wednesday of $1.04 a share, a 5% increase that topped analysts' estimates.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the company to report earnings of $1.01 a share on $20.68 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Net sales were $20.6 billion, which was unchanged from the same period last year.

CEO: P&G sees 'highly competitive environment'

The company's stock was down 1.6% to $80.61 in pre-market trading.

P&G said this month that it is selling its pet food brands-- IAMS, Eukanuba and Natura -- to Mars for $2.9 billion.

"We're making good progress on our productivity plans, with cost savings and enrollment reductions ahead of going-in targets for the year," CEO A.G. Lafley said in a statement. "We're confident that the cumulative benefits from these innovations and productivity improvements will lead, over time, to improved value creation for consumers, customers and shareholders."

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Invest In 2015: Constant Contact Inc.(CTCT)

Constant Contact, Inc. provides on-demand email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online survey products primarily in the United States. It offers email marketing products, which allow customers to create, send, and track professional and affordable permission-based email marketing campaigns; and social media marketing products that allow customers to manage and optimize their presence across multiple social media networks. The company also provides event marketing products, which enable its customers to promote and manage events, communicate with invitees and registrants, capture and track registrations, and collect online payments; and online survey products that enable its customers to create and send surveys, and analyze the responses. In addition, it offers customer support services to customers and trailers through phone, chat, email, and social media. Further, the company provides ancillary services, such as custom services to customers who lik e its email campaigns, event promotions, or surveys prepared for them; and online training programs to educate participants on email marketing and social media marketing best practices, as well as a workshop programs. It markets its products directly for small organizations, including retailers, restaurants, law and accounting firms, consultants, non-profits, religious organizations, and alumni associations. The company was formerly known as Roving Software Incorporated and changed its name to Constant Contact, Inc. in 2006. Constant Contact, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Technology sector was the leading decliner in the US market today. Top losers in the sector included Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT), off 8.1 percent, and Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV), down 9.1 percent.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Equities Trading UP
    Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT) was up on Friday's session, gaining 11.06 percent to $29.12 after the company's earnings report and guidance impressed the street.

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.(CBST)

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in the acute care environment. The company markets CUBICIN (daptomycin for injection), a once-daily, bactericidal, intravenous, antibiotic with activity against gram-positive organisms, including methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. Its clinical development product pipeline consists of CXA-201, which is in the phase III clinical trial for patients with complicated urinary tract infections; and in phase II clinical trial for patients with complicated abdominal infections. The company is also developing CXA-201 for the treatment of hospital acquired pneumonia. In addition, its product under development comprises CB-183,315, an oral, bactericidal lipopeptide with in vitro bactericidal activity against C. difficile, for the treatment of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). Further , the company?s pre-clinical programs include therapies to treat various bacterial infections and agents to treat acute pain. Additionally, it promotes MERREM I.V. (meropenem for injection), a carbapenem class intravenous antibiotic, in the United States under a commercial services agreement with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP; and DIFICID as the treatment for CDAD in adults under the co-promotion agreement with Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company also has collaborations with Forma Therapeutics, Inc. to discover and develop antibacterial compounds; an agreement with the Broad Institute to transform natural products discovery; a collaboration with Hydra Biosciences, Inc., to develop ion channel drugs; and a collaboration agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., for the development and commercialization of Alnylam's RNAi therapeutics as a therapy for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Lexington, Mas sachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink Swann.

    Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

  • [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

    Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.(CBST) said the Food and Drug Administration accepted for priority review the company’s new drug application for its investigational antibiotic for complicated urinary tract and complicated intra-abdominal infections. Shares rose 3.6% to $71 premarket.

  • [By Victor Selva]

    Forest Laboratories has a current ratio of 2.69% which is higher than the ones registered by Endo International Plc (ENDP), Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) and Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST). For investors looking for a higher ROE, Allergan Inc. (AGN) and Actelion Ltd. (ATLN.VX) are good options.

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Tribune Co (TRBAA)

Tribune Company, incorporated on March 19, 1968, is a media and entertainment company engaged in newspaper publishing, television and radio broadcasting and entertainment through its subsidiaries. The Company�� operations are divided into two industry segments: publishing and broadcasting and entertainment. In publishing, the Company�� daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. The company�� broadcasting group operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago�� WGN-AM.

Broadcasting

The Company�� broadcasting owns and operates 23 major-market television stations and reaches more than 80% of United States television households. The group is anchored by WGN America, which can be seen in more than 70 million United States households via cable and satellite services. 13 Tribune stations are affiliates of The CW. Seven are FOX affiliates.

Publishing

The Company�� newspapers include the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. Tribune Media Services specializes in entertainment listings and syndication, providing news and information for print, broadcast and interactive media.

Tribune Digital

Tribune Digital manages the operations of Tribune�� daily newspapers and their associated Websites, plus all aspects of the Company�� classified advertising operations, as well as Websites for Tribune�� TV stations. Its national classified sites include CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Mitchell]

    Gannett (NYSE: GCI  ) and the Tribune Co. (NASDAQOTH: TRBAA  ) , two companies that publish daily newspapers, have announced combined layoffs of 1,000 positions (not all in the newsroom). News magazines are feeling the same pinch. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 9% of adults get their news from print sources, with news magazines scoring the lowest. The Pew news study as early as 2010 listed online news as the primary source for 39% of adults. �One of Time's biggest competitors, Newsweek, ended its paper publication in early 2013 in favor of an online edition only.

  • [By Tim Brugger]

    Murray McQueen has been named to the newly created position of president, real estate, to oversee Tribune's (NASDAQOTH: TRBAA  ) "valuable portfolio of more than seven million square feet of real estate assets," the company announced today. McQueen will take over his new role effective immediately.

  • [By Michael Lewis]

    The owner of the Los Angeles Times, and recent bankruptcy court emergent,�Tribune� (NASDAQOTH: TRBAA  ) �has made some interesting moves since its downfall in 2008, when the company drowned under the weight of its $13 billion debt load -- a parting gift from a leveraged buyout a year earlier. This week, the story got even more interesting, as management announced that the company would split its profitable operations (TV), and its less appealing businesses (papers), into two separate entities. While more details need to emerge before we can determine whether the company is a worthwhile investment, this unloved company could present an interesting opportunity to sophisticated investors.

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    This week, I'll highlight the nation's second largest integrated oil and gas company, Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) .

    Every Chevron shareholders' biggest nightmare
    The biggest concern for Chevron and its largest rival, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , is declining energy prices. Weakening global economies could send oil and natural gas prices significantly lower, which would dramatically affect both companies' bottom lines. Lower prices became a reality for both Chevron and ExxonMobil in their most recent quarters. Chevron's average realized price for a barrel of oil and natural gas liquids fell to $94 from $102 in the year prior. For ExxonMobil, lower oil price realizations coupled with higher natural gas price realization lowered year-over-year earnings by $230 million.�

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Powershares Dynamic Media Portfolio (PBS)

PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the Dynamic Media Intellidex Index (the Media Intellidex). The Media Intellidex consists of stocks of 30 United States media companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the development, production, sale and distribution of goods or services used in the media industry. These companies may include advertising, marketing and public relations companies; companies that own, operate or broadcast free or pay television, radio or cable stations; theaters; film studios; publishers or sellers of newspapers, magazines, books or video products; printing, cable television and video companies and equipment providers; pay-per-view television companies; companies involved in emerging technologies for the broadcast and media industries; cellular communications companies; companies involved in the development, syndication and transmission of television, movie programming, advertising and cellular communications; companies that distribute data-based information, and other companies involved in the ownership, operation or development of media products or services. Stocks are selected principally on the basis of their capital appreciation potential as identified by the AMEX (the Intellidex Provider) pursuant to its Intellidex methodology.

The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in common stocks of media companies. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Media Intellidex. The Media Intellidex is adjusted quarterly, and the Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate the performance of the Media Intellidex. The Fund�� investment advisor is PowerShares Capital Management LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Small cap media stock�LIN Media LLC (NYSE: LIN) might not be a household name, but there is a good chance you might be watching the company�� programs because like the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SBGI) and Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc (NASDAQ: NXST), its helping to consolidate the media industry plus its making investment in other forms of media like social media. The stock has also outperformed those two peers along with the�PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PBS).

  • [By John Udovich]

    On Monday, shares of small cap�Rocket Fuel Inc (NASDAQ: FUEL) took off like a rocket by surging 18.96% after plunging about 20% on Friday after earnings���meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock as well as benchmark it with the performance of�the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) and the PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PBS).

Top Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Middlesex Water Co (MSEX)

Middlesex Water Company (Middlesex), incorporated in 1897, is a water utility company. The Company owns and operates regulated water utility and wastewater systems in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Middlesex also operates water and wastewater systems under contract on behalf of municipal and private clients in New Jersey and Delaware. It operates in two segments: Regulated and Non-Regulated. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its Regulated segment contributed approximately 90% of total revenues. The Regulated segment consists of collecting, treating and distributing water on a retail and wholesale basis to residential, commercial, industrial and fire protection customers in parts of New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This segment also includes regulated wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware. The Non-Regulated segment consists of non-regulated contract services for the operation and maintenance of municipal and private water and wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware.

The Company�� subsidiaries include Tidewater Utilities, Inc. (Tidewater) and Tidewater�� wholly owned subsidiaries, Southern Shores Water Company, LLC (Southern Shores) and White Marsh Environmental Systems, Inc. (White Marsh). Its other subsidiaries are Pinelands Water Company (Pinelands Water) and Pinelands Wastewater Company (Pinelands Wastewater) (collectively, Pinelands), Utility Service Affiliates, Inc. (USA), Utility Service Affiliates (Perth Amboy) Inc., (USA-PA), Tidewater Environmental Services, Inc. (TESI) and Twin Lakes Utilities, Inc. (Twin Lakes).

Middlesex System

The Middlesex System in New Jersey provides water services to approximately 60,000 retail customers, primarily in eastern Middlesex County, New Jersey and provides water under wholesale contracts to the City of Rahway, Townships of Edison and Marlboro, the Boroughs of Highland Park and Sayreville and the Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority. The Middlesex System treats, stores and dis! tributes water for residential, commercial, industrial and fire prevention purposes. The Middlesex System also provides water treatment and pumping services to the Township of East Brunswick under contract. The Middlesex System produced approximately 64% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues.

The Middlesex System�� retail customers are located in an area of approximately 55 square miles in Woodbridge Township, the City of South Amboy, the Boroughs of Metuchen and Carteret, portions of the Township of Edison and the Borough of South Plainfield in Middlesex County and, to a minor extent, a portion of the Township of Clark in Union County. Retail customers include a mix of residential customers, industrial concerns and commercial and light industrial facilities.

The contract customers of the Middlesex System comprise an area of approximately 146 square miles with a population of approximately 303,000. Contract sales to Edison, Sayreville, Old Bridge, Marlboro and Rahway are supplemental to the existing water systems of these customers. The Middlesex System provides treated surface water under long-term agreements to East Brunswick, Marlboro, Old Bridge and Sayreville. Middlesex provides water service to approximately 300 customers in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Its Middlesex System, which produced approximately 15.6 billion gallons in 2011, obtains water from surface sources and wells, or groundwater sources.

Tidewater System

Tidewater, together with its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern Shores, provides water services to approximately 36,000 retail customers for domestic, commercial and fire protection purposes in over 300 separate community water systems in New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties, Delaware. White Marsh is an additional wholly owned subsidiary that is unregulated as to rates and operates water and wastewater systems under contract for approximately 4,700 residential customers. White Marsh also owns the office buildings that Tid! ewater us! es as its central business office campus. The Tidewater System produced approximately 25% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. Its Tidewater System produced approximately 2 billion gallons in 2011 from 159 wells.

Utility Service Affiliates-Perth Amboy

Utility Service Affiliates-Perth Amboy (USA-PA) operates the City of Perth Amboy, New Jersey�� water and wastewater systems under a 20-year agreement, which expires in 2018. USA-PA serves approximately 11,000 homes and businesses, most of which are served by both the water and wastewater systems. USA-PA produced approximately 9% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues.

Pinelands System

Pinelands Water provides water services to approximately 2,500 residential customers in Burlington County, New Jersey. Pinelands Water produced less than 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. Pinelands Water is not physically interconnected with the Middlesex System. Pinelands Wastewater provides wastewater services to approximately 2,400 residential customers. Under contract, it also services one municipal wastewater system in Burlington County, New Jersey with approximately 200 residential customers. Water supply to its Pinelands System is derived from four wells, which produced approximately 159.1 million gallons in 2011.

Utility Service Affiliates, Inc.

Utility Service Affiliates, Inc. (USA) offers residential customers in New Jersey and Delaware water service line and sewer lateral maintenance programs (LineCare). USA produced less than 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues.

TESI System

TESI provides wastewater services to approximately 2,200 residential retail customers in Delaware. TESI produced approximately 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. The TESI System treated approximately 76.8 million gallons in 2011. The TESI System consists of seven wastewater treatment systems in Southern Delaware.

Twin Lakes Sys! tem

Twin Lakes provides water services to approximately 120 residential customers in Shohola, Pennsylvania. Twin Lakes produced less than 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. Water supply to Twin Lakes��customers is derived from two wells, which delivered approximately 26.6 million gallons in 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lawrence Meyers]

    WGL serves about 170,000 customers in the Mid-Atlantic. So as you can see, it�� a broadly diversified dividend stock, and that�� one reason it has paid a dividend for 37 years. The dividend yield for WGL stock is presently at 4.4%.

    Middlesex Water Company (MSEX)

    Dividend yield: 3.7%

  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Utility operator Middlesex Water (MSEX) raised its quarterly dividend 1.3% to 18 cents per share, payable on Dec. 2 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15. The increase marks the 41st consecutive annual dividend increase.
    MSEX Dividend Yield:�3.53%

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