Equity markets stumbled a bit to start the year but have since enjoyed a solid mid-winter rally, with the S&P 500 Index pushing out to new all-time highs.
The Dow Jones Utilities Average and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Utility Index have both enjoyed consistently strong runs this year. Earnings for electric utilities, as we detail in the March issue of Utility Forecaster, available at www.UtilityForecaster.com, have been solid at both the top and bottom lines.
Well-known economist David Rosenberg, formerly chief economist for Merrill Lynch and now with Toronto-based Gluskin Sheff + Associates, has argued in recent days that Canadian stocks are trading at an ��pic��discount to US stocks.
The S&P/Australian Securities Exchange 200 Index, meanwhile, has surged to five-and-a-half-year highs, and the aussie has found some traction as well.
As I do once every month (except December), on Feb. 27 I met up in a virtual forum with Australian Edge, Canadian Edge and UF subscribers to discuss these and other, more company-specific issues.
Top 10 Trucking Companies To Own For 2015: Encana Corporation(ECA)
Encana Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in the exploration for, development, production, and marketing of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids. The company owns interests in resource plays that primarily include the Greater Sierra, Cutbank Ridge, Bighorn, and Coalbed Methane resource plays located in British Columbia and Alberta, as well as the Deep Panuke natural gas project offshore Nova Scotia in Canada. It also holds interests in resource plays comprising the Jonah in southwest Wyoming, Piceance in northwest Colorado, Haynesville in Louisiana, and Texas resource play, including east Texas and north Texas. The company serves primarily local distribution companies, industrials, energy marketing companies, and other producers. Encana Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aaron Levitt]
Recently, Canada�� largest natural gas producer EnCana (ECA) highlighted one of the most ignored ways to profit from the energy sector; ECA announced that they will place around 5.2 million acres worth of oil and gas reserves/wells in Alberta, Canada into a new subsidy called PrairieSky Royalty. EnCana will sell shares of the firm in order to raise some much needed cash. PrairieSky should IPO by mid-June.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Nucor’s (NUE) side-bet on natural gas looks to be a loser, as the steel company called a halt to its natural-gas project with Encana (ECA) today.
Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Vanguard Natural Resources LLC(VNR)
Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition and development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Its properties are located in the southern portion of the Appalachian Basin, primarily in southeast Kentucky and northeast Tennessee; the Permian Basin, primarily in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico; and south Texas. As of December 31, 2010, the company had estimated proved reserves of 69.3 million barrels of oil equivalent, as well as working interests in 2,270 net productive wells. Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC was founded in 2006 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tyler Crowe]
If you're looking for income investments, then it's awfully hard to argue with the massive distribution payments from LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE ) (NASDAQ: LNCO ) , Breitburn Energy Partners (NASDAQ: BBEP ) , and Vanguard Natural Resources (NASDAQ: VNR ) . Thing is, though, income investments need both a decent yield and a level of certainty that it will keep that distribution going for many years to come. Other than being high-yielding investments, they are also all master limited partnerships, which means you need to look beyond just the operations to see how these companies will stand the test of time.
Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: CNH Global N.V. (CNH)
CNH Global N.V. manufactures, markets, and distributes a line of agricultural and construction equipment and parts worldwide. It operates in three segments: Agricultural Equipment, Construction Equipment, and Financial Services. The Agricultural Equipment segment provides tractors, combine harvesters, hay and forage equipment, seeding and planting equipment, tillage equipment, and sprayers, as well as cotton picker packagers, and sugar cane and grape harvesters primarily under the Case IH and New Holland brands. The Construction Equipment segment offers heavy construction equipment, such as crawler and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders, graders, dozers, and articulated haul trucks; and light construction equipment, including backhoe loaders, skid steer and tracked loaders, mini and midi excavators, compact wheel loaders, and telehandlers primarily under the Case and New Holland Construction brands. This segment serves construction companies, municipalities, local governmen ts, rental fleet owners, quarrying and aggregate mining companies, waste management companies, forestry-related concerns, contractors, residential builders, utilities, road construction companies, landscapers, logistics companies, and farmers. The Financial Services segment provides financial products and services, including retail financing for the purchase or lease of the company�s and other manufacturers� new and used products; and facilitates the sale of insurance products and other financing programs to retail customers. This segment also offers wholesale financing to its dealers and rental equipment operators, as well as financing options to dealers to finance working capital, real estate, and other fixed assets and maintenance equipment. CNH Global N.V. sells and distributes its products through dealers and distributors in approximately 170 countries. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. CNH Global N.V. is a subsidiary of Fiat Netherlands Holding N.V.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Kubota isn't the only company aggressively challenging Deere. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO ) has made aggressive expansion efforts in Africa, working with specialty agricultural lender Rabobank to try to help farmers on the continent buy more farming equipment. Moreover, both AGCO and CNH Global (NYSE: CNH ) have made emerging markets like Latin America a high priority, reaping benefits from the more rapidly expanding economies among Latin American nations. Deere has targeted Latin America as well, but it hasn't been as aggressive with its international efforts as its peers. Deere's stock price has reflected its lack of initiative in expanding globally:
- [By vaninaegea]
In august, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) published the mid-year review for the agricultural sector. Their findings point to a slowdown for the industry, highlighting a 9.5% decline on exports through the first half of 2013. Also, late soybean planting in the USA is expected to compound the industry�� slowdown. So, what are the prospects for AGCO (AGCO), CNH Global (CNH), and Deere & Co. (DE) under such conditions?
- [By Mike the PhD]
Historically the stock prices of Deere (DE) and other agricultural equipment firms and retailers like Case-New Holland (CNH), Titan Machinery (TITN), AGCO (AGCO), Tractor Supply (TSCO), Valmont (VAL), and Lindsay (LNN) have tended to closely track the price of corn. When corn prices go up, farmers tend to make more money, and they spend that money on new equipment from Deere and other firms. This relationship is especially strong for Deere and Corn, but it holds true for all of the stocks above to some extent. (Correlation coefficients between all of the stock prices above and corn are statistically significant to at least the 5% level, see my blog here for more details.)
Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust(PMT)
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is based in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMT), a REIT involved in mortgages and mortgage-related assets, raised its quarterly dividend 4% to 59 cents per share, payable Jan. 28 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 14. At more than 10%, PMT is the highest yielder of this week’s list of dividend stocks.
PMT Stock Dividend Yield: 10.15% - [By Jon C. Ogg]
Sterne Agee’s team said, “We continue to prefer credit risk oriented Mortgage REITs over their Agency-only focused counterparts. Among the larger cap names in our coverage, our top picks are MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE: MFA) and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT).”
- [By Sally Jones] ng>Current Shares: 3,570,000
Value: $80,968,000
Weighting: 19.8%
Down 9% over 12 months, PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, a residential REIT, has a market cap of $1.61 billion; its shares were traded at around $22.94 with a P/E of 7.30. The dividend yield is 10%.
PMT is not ranked for business predictability.
Track historical data:
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Kyle Bass made a new buy of 3,570,000 shares at an average price of $21.84 per share, for a gain of 4.3%.
The GuruFocus analysis of PMT shows five warning signs.
Vodafone Group PLC (VOD)
Current Shares: 1,349,200
Value: $47,465,000
Weighting: 11.6%
Up 55% over 12 months, Vodafone Group PLC has a market cap of $189.2 billion; its shares were traded at around $39.14 with a P/E of 273.80. The dividend yield is 4.00%.
Vodafone Group PLC is a provider of mobile communications services and products in Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Europe, India and Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific.
GuruFocus ranked VOD with one out of five stars for business predictability.
Track historical data:
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Kyle Bass made a new buy of 1,349,200 shares at an average price of $31.01 per share, for a gain of 25.9%.
The GuruFocus analysis of VOD shows nine warning signs.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Current Shares: 1,500,000
Value: $49,920,000
Weighting: 12.2%
Up 38% over 12 months, Microsoft Corporation has a market cap of $309.54 billion; its shares were traded at around $37.45 with a P/E of 13.70. The dividend yield is 2.60%.
GuruFocus ranked MSFT with three out of five stars for business predictability.
Track historical data:
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Kyle Bass made a new buy of 1,500,000 shares at an average price of $32.90 per share, for a gain of 12.7%.
The GuruFocus analysis of MSFT shows two go
Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.(CMG)
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. develops and operates fast-casual, fresh Mexican food restaurants in the United States, Canada, and England. Its restaurants primarily offer burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 1,230 restaurants, which includes 1 ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Denver, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [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.
- [By Sean Williams]
In terms of healthier eating options, McDonald's is finding increased competition from the likes of Starbucks and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG ) . Although McDonald's is doing an admirable job of bringing salads and wraps to fast-food consumers, Starbucks and Chipotle can offer conveniently quick, organic, natural, and/or antibiotic-free sources of meat, fruits, and veggies to customers. With McDonald's content to stay the course and both Starbucks and Chipotle stepping up their game, a younger crowd of eaters has made the move away from the Golden Arches toward these two brands.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
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 Jonas Elmerraji]
There's no question about it -- Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is the most attractive name in the most attractive corner of the restaurant business. Chipotle operates 1,500 restaurant locations in 43 states, Canada, the UK, France, and Germany. CMG's positioning in the fast-casual category has been a huge driver of its success -- as consumers look for quick, non-fast food options, the Mexican food chain has been there to take their dollars.
In the last few years, Chipotle has been one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the country. A focus on quality is a big differentiating factor -- while rumors abound about what's actually in fast food chains' burger patties, CMG happily advertises its use of naturally-raised meats, hormone-free dairy, and organic produce. Yes, quality ingredients are expensive to source, but they're one of the only factors that truly differentiates Chipotle from the competitors who have sprung onto the scene in the last decade. A look at CMG's earnings show that those costs aren't exactly hurting profitability; net margins are consistently in the double-digits.
That quality focus extends to Chipotle's balance sheet. Chipotle has primarily financed its growth with cash from operations, keeping its debt load at zero with around $840 million in cash and investments on its balance sheet. There's no question that this isn't a cheap stock right now, but with plenty of expansion opportunities in the years ahead, the premium on shares still looks justified. The momentum is certainly still intact.
Best Canadian Stocks To Watch Right Now: Gildan Activewear Inc.(GIL)
Gildan Activewear Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of apparel products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells T-shirts, fleece, and sport shirts to wholesale distributors under the Gildan brand name. The company also provides its activewear products for work and school uniforms and athletic team wear, and other purposes to convey individual, group, and team identity. In addition, it offers undecorated products to branded apparel companies and retailers; and underwear products. Further, the company markets its sock products under the various brands, including Gold Toe, PowerSox, SilverToe, Auro, All Pro, GT, and the Gildan brand. The company was formerly known as Textiles Gildan Inc. and changed its name to Gildan Activewear Inc. in March 1995. Gildan Activewear Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tom Stoukas]
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) and Allianz SE (ALV) led airlines and insurers lower, retreating at least 1.5 percent. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) slid 1.6 percent. Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) rose after JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its recommendation on the shares. Gildemeister AG (GIL) added 3.4 percent after Deutsche Bank upgraded the maker of cutting tools.
- [By Eric Volkman]
Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL ) just bought itself a new wardrobe. The company announced it has acquired "substantially all of the assets" of privately held screen printing and apparel decoration specialist New Buffalo Shirt Factory for around $7 million.
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