A well-worn investment strategy to begin the new year is to buy the "dogs of the Dow," that is, those shares that trailed their confreres in the Dow Jones Industrial index.� We think International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the shaggiest member of the pack in 2013, could well check out of the hound hotel this year.
IBM was the sole member of the 30-stock Dow Jones industrials with a negative return in 2013, a year in which the DJIA returned a robust 30%, the best performance since the 1990s.� Including dividends, IBM returned a negative 1.50% for the year.
Why the dismal performance in a year that was sterling for the market?� After all, earnings were strong, easily beating expectations in the third quarter.� Investors, however, focused on how those earnings were derived.� Revenue declined, and margins were juiced higher by cost-cutting measures.� Sales totaled $23.72 billion in the third quarter, down from $24.75 billion in the year-ago period and below the consensus estimate of $24.78 billion.� Earnings per share were $3.99 versus $3.62 in 2012 and four cents ahead of the consensus estimate.
Top Defensive Companies To Own In Right Now: Cencosud SA (CNCO)
Cencosud SA (Cencosud) is a Chile-based holding company primarily engaged in the retail sector. The Company�� activities include the management and operation of a network of supermarkets, home centers, department stores and shopping malls, which operate under such names as Jumbo, Disco & Vea, Santa Isabel, Easy, Paris, Blaisten and GBarbosa, among others. The Company�� business also comprises the provision of consumer financial services and insurance brokerage, as well as it operates family entertainment centers and a travel agency. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company has operations established in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. As of December 31, 2010, the Company was a 25.74%-owned affiliate of Inversiones Quinchamali Limitada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
In terms of growth, Asia is where the company is achieving its greatest success. Operating joint ventures in China, India and Japan, Aegon’s gross deposits in new markets grew 31% in fiscal 2013 to $19.8 billion. Its underlying earnings before tax have grown 28% over the last two fiscal years, with fee-based earnings representing a much bigger part of its business than in the past. That�� a good thing, because fee-based earnings don�� have nearly the same bite if things go south than assets on your own balance sheet. Its operations outside of Europe are getting stronger, providing the diversification necessary to survive financial hiccups. As far as insurers go, AEG is one of the best cheap stocks worth owning.
Cheap Stocks to Buy: Cencosud S.A. (CNCO)Cencosud is one of the largest retailers in Latin America. It operates grocery stores, home improvement stores and department stores in five countries including Chile, its home base. Its stock is down 51% over the past year for several reasons, including a deal falling through that would have seen it sell 51% of its credit card operations in Chile and Argentina to Itau Unibanco (ITUB) and using the proceeds to reduce its heavy debt load. Add to that a major devaluation of the peso in Argentina, where it generates a quarter of its overall revenue, and you have investors in a full-on panic.
Top 10 International Companies To Buy Right Now: AutoZone Inc.(AZO)
AutoZone, Inc. retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company?s stores offer various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its automotive hard parts product line includes A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, belts and hoses, carburetors, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition, lighting, mufflers, starters and alternators, water pumps, radiators, and thermostats. The company?s maintenance items include antifreeze and windshield washer fluid; brake drums, rotors, shoes, and pads; chemicals, including brake and power; steering fluid, oil, and fuel additives; oil and transmission fluids; oil, air, fuel, and transmission filters; oxygen sensors; paint and accessories; refrigerant and accessories; shock absorbers and struts; spark plugs and wires; and windshield wiper s. Its discretionary product line comprises air fresheners, cell phone accessories, drinks and snacks, floor mats and seat covers, mirrors, performance products, protectants and cleaners, sealants and adhesives, steering wheel covers, stereos and radios, tools, and wash and wax products. The company also offers commercial sales program that provides the delivery of parts and other products to local, regional, and national repair garages, dealers, service stations, and public sector accounts. In addition, it sells the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic and repair software through the Website, alldata.com; and automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through the Website, autozone.com. As of May 7, 2011, the company operated 4,467 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, and 261 stores in Mexico. AutoZone, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Trainer]
AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) is one of the stocks that earn my Very Attractive rating. AZO has grown after-tax profit (NOPAT) by 8% compounded annually over the past decade. Going with my theme of increasingly intelligent capital allocation, AZO has also increased its ROIC from 20% to 25% over the past five years. At its current valuation of ~$500/share, AZO stands out with a price to economic book value ratio of only 1, which implies that the company will never grow NOPAT from its current level. Given AZO’s strong track record of profitability and growth, I believe the market is significantly undervaluing this company. I expect strong short-term and long-term performance from AZO.
Top 10 International Companies To Buy Right Now: H&R Block Inc. (HRB)
H&R Block, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides tax preparation, retail banking, and various business advisory and consulting services. It operates in three segments: Tax Services, Business Services, and Corporate. The Tax Services segment offers H&R Block At Home, an income tax preparation software, as well as a range of online tax services, including tax advice, professional and do-it-yourself tax return preparation, and electronic filing services through its Web site at hrblock.com primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This segment also provides the H&R Block Prepaid Emerald MasterCard and Emerald Advance lines of credit through H&R Block Bank, as well as other retail banking services, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; and sells refund anticipation loans and refund anticipation checks offered by third-party lending institutions, as well as offers income tax return preparation course s to the public. The Business Services segment provides tax and consulting services, wealth management, and capital markets services to middle-market companies. The Corporate segment engages in various operations, which include interest income from the United States passive investments, interest expense on borrowings, net interest margin and gains or losses relating to mortgage loans held for investment, real estate owned, residual interests in securitizations and other corporate expenses principally related to finance, legal, and other support departments. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rebecca McClay]
In earnings news today, a few companies are reporting after the closing bell, including H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), which is up about 1%. Pike Electric Corp. (NYES: PIKE), Guidewire Software Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), and Sigma Designs Inc. (Nasdaq: SIGM) are also reporting quarterly earnings late this afternoon.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of H&R Block (HRB) have gained 4.1% to $31.99 after the tax-preparer beat earnings and revenue forecasts.
Boeing (BA) has dropped 0.9% to $136 after RBC downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform.
Top 10 International Companies To Buy Right Now: Benefitfocus Inc (BNFT)
Benefitfocus, Inc., incorporated on March 12, 2013, is a provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions for consumers, employers, insurance carriers, and brokers. The Benefitfocus platform provides an integrated suite of solutions that enables its employer and insurance carrier customers to more efficiently shop, enroll, manage, and exchange benefits information.
The Company�� solutions supports benefits plans, including healthcare, dental, life, and disability insurance, and voluntary benefits plans. The Company provide a multi-tenant cloud-based benefit platform to the employer and carrier markets.
The Company competes with SAP, Oracle, Infor, Aon/Hewitt, Towers Watson, ADP, Paychex, Trizetto and DST Health Solutions.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By GURUFOCUS]
Benefitfocus, Inc.'s (BNFT) shares soared over 80% from its IPO price during the third quarter. Benefitfocus is the leading provider of cloud-based benefits software for consumers, employers, insurance carriers, and brokers. The company offers an integrated suite of solutions to help customers more efficiently shop, enroll, manage, and exchange benefits information. We believe that the company serves an addressable market that is more than 100 times larger than its current business, which we expect will allow the company to compound revenue at more than 30% annually. (Neal Rosenberg)
- [By Matt Jarzemsky]
Several peers have seen huge gains after initial public offerings this year. Benefits-software firm Benefitfocus Inc.(BNFT) rallied 102% in its trading debut while cloud-based cybersecurity software maker FireEye Inc.(FEYE) jumped 80%.
Top 10 International Companies To Buy Right Now: Renaissance Oil Corp (ROE)
Renaissance Oil Corp, formerly San Antonio Ventures Inc., is developing a diversified shale and mature fields portfolio for development in Mexico and Spain. The Company is partnered with Grupo SAMCA, a diverse industrial with operations in energy, mining, industrial minerals, agriculture, environmental and various other business lines in Spain. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Mark Skousen]
Business is booming. In its most recent quarterly report, enrollment rose 12%, revenues jumped 25% to more than $1 billion, and operating income more than doubled. EDU enjoys a 17.7% profit margin and return on equity (ROE) of 21%. It has no debt and more than $1 billion cash in the bank.
- [By ovenerio]
In this article, let麓s see one of the most important financial ratios applying to stockholders, the best measure of performance for a firm's management: the Return on Equity (ROE), and we are going to analyze it in the case of Allergan Inc. (AGN)
- [By Chris Mydlo]
The macro view of the growth in electronic transactions and MasterCard�� high return on equity (ROE) support the rationale for buying the stock. ROE has averaged a high 38.25 percent over the past five years. Although the long-term prospects look good, the stock has climbed 269 percent over the past five years and has gotten ahead of itself and could lead to subpar performance over the next year. The stock has a high P/E of 27.7. According to the GuruFocus DCF Calculator, earnings will need to grow at a rate of 19.54 percent to justify its current price using a discount rate of 12 percent. The annualized 5-year growth rate in EPS has been 23.10 percent, but earnings growth has slowed to 14.5 percent over the past 12 months.
Top 10 International Companies To Buy Right Now: EverBank Financial Corp (EVER)
EverBank Financial Corp, incorporated in 2004, is an unitary savings and loan holding company. The Company provides a range of financial products and services directly to customers through multiple business channels. Its operating subsidiary is EverBank. As of December 31, 2011, EverBank had $ 10.3 billion deposits. EverBank offers a range of banking, lending and investing products to consumers and businesses. EverBank provides services to customers through Websites, over the phone, through the mail and at 14 Florida-based Financial Centers. The Company operates in two operating business segments: Banking and Wealth Management, and Mortgage Banking. Its Banking and Wealth Management segment includes earnings generated by and activities related to deposit and investment products and services and portfolio lending and leasing activities. Its Mortgage Banking segment consists of activities related to the origination and servicing of residential mortgage loans. In April 2012, the Company acquired MetLife Bank�� warehouse finance business. In October 2012, it acquired Business Property Lending, Inc.
Asset Origination and Fee Income Businesses
The Company has a range of asset origination and fee income businesses. The Company generates generate fee income from its mortgage banking activities, which consist of originating and servicing one-to-four family residential mortgage loans. It originates prime residential mortgage loans using a centrally controlled underwriting, processing and fulfillment infrastructure through financial intermediaries (including community banks, credit unions, mortgage bankers and brokers), consumer direct channels and financial centers. Its mortgage origination activities include originating, underwriting, closing, warehousing and selling to investors prime conforming and jumbo residential mortgage loans. From its mortgage origination activities, it earns fee-based income on fees charged to borrowers and other noninterest income from gains on sales from ! mortgage loans and servicing rights. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it originated six billion dollars of residential loans. It generates mortgage servicing business through the retention of servicing from its origination activities, acquisition of bulk mortgage servicing rights (MSR) and related servicing activities.
The Company�� mortgage servicing business includes collecting loan payments, remitting principal and interest payments to investors, managing escrow funds for the payment of mortgage-related expenses, such as taxes and insurance, responding to customer inquiries, counseling delinquent mortgagors, supervising foreclosures and liquidations of foreclosure properties and otherwise administering its mortgage loan servicing portfolio. It earns mortgage servicing fees and other ancillary fee-based income in connection with these activities. It services a portfolio by both product and investor, including agency and private pools of mortgages secured by properties throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2011, its mortgage servicing business, which services mortgage loans for itself and others, managed loan servicing administrative functions for loans with unpaid principal balance (UPB) of $54.8 billion.
The Company originates originate equipment leases nationwide through relationships with approximately 280 equipment vendors with networks of creditworthy borrowers and provide asset-backed loan facilities to other leasing companies. Its equipment leases and loans finance essential-use health care, office product, technology and other equipment. Its commercial financings range from approximately $25,000 to $1.0 million per transaction, with typical lease terms ranging from 36 to 60 months. Its commercial finance activities provide it with access to approximately 25,000 small business customers nationwide, which creates opportunities to cross-sell its deposit, lending and wealth management products. It focuses to offer warehouse loans, which are short-ter! m revolvi! ng facilities, primarily securitized by agency and government collateral. It provides financial advisory, planning, brokerage, trust and other wealth management services to its mass-affluent and high-net-worth customers through its registered broker dealer and recently-formed registered investment advisor subsidiaries.
Interest-Earning Asset Portfolio
As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� interest-earning assets were $11.7 billion. As of December 31, 2011, its loan and lease held for investment portfolio was $6.5 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the carrying values of its interest-earning assets are: residential, government-insured (residential), securities, commercial and commercial real estate, Bank of Florida (covered), lease financing receivables, and other.
Residential includes primarily prime loans originated and retained from its mortgage banking activities, acquired from third parties or held for sale to other investors. government-insured (residential) includes Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) pool buyouts with government insurance, sourced from its mortgage banking segment and third-party sources. Securities include non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) purchased at significant discounts. This portfolio includes protection against credit losses from purchase discounts, subordination in the securities structures and borrower equity. Commercial and commercial real estate includes a range of commercial loans, including owner-occupied commercial real estate, commercial investment property and small business commercial loans. As of December 31, 2011, Bank of Florida (Covered) includes commercial, multi-family and commercial real estate loans with $71.3 million of purchase discounts. Lease financing receivables include covered lease financing receivables. As of December 31, 2011, the lease portfolio had $64.7 million of total discounts. Other includes home equity loans and lines ! of credit! , consumer and credit card loans and other investments.
Deposit Generation
As of December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately $10.3 billion in deposits. Its market-based deposit products, consisting of its WorldCurrency, MarketSafe and EverBank Metals Select products, provide investment capabilities for customers seeking portfolio diversification with respect to foreign currencies, commodities and other indices. Its financial portal includes online bill-pay, account aggregation, direct deposit, single sign-on for all customer accounts and other features. Its Website and mobile device applications provide information on its product offerings, financial tools and calculators, newsletters, financial reporting services and other applications for customers to interact with it and manages all of their EverBank accounts on a single integrated platform. Its new mobile applications allow customers using iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry devices to view account balances, conduct real time balance transfers between EverBank accounts, administer billpay, review account activity detail and remotely deposit checks.
The Company generates deposit customer relationships through its consumer direct, financial center and financial intermediary distribution channels. Its consumer direct channel includes Internet, e-mail, telephone and mobile device access to product and customer support offerings. Its direct distribution with a network of 14 financial centers in Florida metropolitan areas, include Jacksonville, Naples, Ft. Myers, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa Bay and Clearwater. As of December 31, 2011, its financial centers had average deposits of $130.5 million, which is approximately double the industry average. In addition, it generates noninterest-bearing escrow deposits from its mortgage servicing business.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Nicole Seghetti]
3. Build your savings account
Take this opportunity to bolster your savings such that you have at least three months' worth of living expenses socked away. Money market or savings accounts will provide you with the best rates. For example, American Express' (NYSE: AXP ) high-yield savings account pays 0.85%, and Capital One Financial's (NYSE: COF ) Capital One 360 offers a 0.75% APY. Both accounts boast no minimum balances and no fees. Meanwhile, EverBank Financial (NYSE: EVER ) pays an attractive 1.01% money market rate but requires a $1,500 minimum opening balance. �
Top 10 International Companies To Buy Right Now: Higher One Holdings Inc.(ONE)
Higher One Holdings, Inc. provides technology and payment services in the United States. It offers a suite of disbursement and payment solutions for higher education institutions and their students. The company provides OneDisburse Refund Management product that offers higher education institutional clients with a technology service for streamlining the student refund disbursement process. It also offers CASHNet Payment suite that includes software-as-a-service products and services, such as ePayment to securely accept online payments for tuition, charges, and fees from students through credit card, pinless debit, and ACH; eBill to automate payer billing and processing functions; MyPaymentPlan to personalize students? payment plans; eMarket that allows academic, athletic, and other departments to take alumni donations, sell event tickets and other merchandise, and accept payments of event and conference registration fees; and Cashiering to operate and manage cashiering fu nctions, back office payments, and campus-wide departmental deposits. In addition, the company provides OneDisburse ID, which offers an option to combine the company?s debit card with the institution?s ID cards; OneDisburse Payroll to distribute payroll and other employee-related payments; OneDisburse PLUS product to distribute Parent PLUS loan refunds to parents on behalf of the school; and Financial Intelligence to students with an online class. Further, it provides student-oriented banking services to campus communities. Additionally, the company offers OneAccount product for students, as well as faculty, staff, and alumni, with an FDIC-insured online checking account and a debit MasterCard ATM card. Higher One Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Steve Symington]
What:�Shares of Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE: ONE ) rose as much as 10% early Thursday, then settled to close up around 6% after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
One under-$10 business services player that looks poised for a run higher is Higher One (ONE), which provides technology-based refund disbursement, payment processing and data analytics services to higher education institutions and students. It also provides banking services to campus communities. This stock has been hit hard by the bears so far in 2013, with shares down by 26%.
If you take a look at the chart for Higher One, you'll notice that this stock has been downtrending badly for the last three months, with shares plunging from its high of $11.93 to its recent low of $6.97 a share. During that downtrend, shares of ONE were consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of ONE have recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $7.05 to $6.97 a share. This stock has now started to rebound sharply off that double bottom and move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ONE if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $7.85 a share and then once it clears its 50-day moving average at $8.11 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 196,360 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ONE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $9 to its 200-day moving average of $9.77 a share. This stock could even tag $11 a share if that 200-day gets taken out with volume.
Traders can look to buy ONE off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $7.39 a share, or below $7 a share. One can also buy ONE off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Higher One Holdings (NYSE: ONE ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
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