Sunday, October 12, 2014

Hot Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014

On the defensive side, we prefer pharma over the consumer stocks.

Prasun Gajri

CIO

HDFC Life

"Once that happens maybe we will get the next leg up purely because of money flowing in. But on a fundamental basis, we believe it�� pretty much a range bound market for the time being," he said.

Gajri suggested a mix of defensive and beta stocks while building one�� portfolio. While he prefers pharma shares to consumer stocks among the defensive plays, he said that it�� a more bottom-up stock picking strategy, and that one should diversify across sectors to balance the portfolio.

Best Tech Companies To Own For 2015: Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN)

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. operates as a vertically integrated non-hazardous solid waste management company in North America. It operates through three segments: Canada, the U.S. south, and the U.S. northeast. The company provides waste collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal, and residential customers in 13 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and 6 Canadian provinces. It also owns and operates a power generating plant fuelled by landfill gas; and generates and sells methane gas. The company was formerly known as IESI-BFC Ltd. and changed its name to Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. in May 2011. Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is based in Vaughan, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    Keep in mind, though, this is a sectorwide problem, not just one affecting Waste Management. Canada's Progressive Waste Solutions (NYSE: BIN  ) delivered an 11% increase in first-quarter revenue but succumbed to a decrease of 0.5% in recycling revenue because of lower realized metal prices. �

Hot Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014: Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT)

Alliant Energy Corporation operates in electric and gas utility businesses in the United States. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company, engages in the generation and distribution of electric energy; and the distribution and transportation of natural gas in Iowa and southern Minnesota. As of December 31, 2009, it supplied electric and gas service to approximately 525,334 and 233,841 retail customers. Alliant Energy Corporation also provides steam services, and various other energy-related products and services to customers in Iowa. The company, through its other subsidiary, Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL), involves in the generation and distribution of electric energy; and the distribution and transportation of natural gas primarily in south and central Wisconsin markets. As of December 31, 2009, WPL supplied electric and gas service to 453,573 and 177,968 retail customers. In addition, Alliant Energy Corporation has investments in environmental consulting, and engineering and renewable energy services businesses. It also engages in transportation business, which includes a short-line railway for the provision of freight services between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City in Iowa; barge terminal and hauling services on the Mississippi River; and other transfer and storage services. The company was founded in 1917 and is based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Alliant Energy (NYSE: LNT  ) is staying true to form and pumping out its usual reward for shareholders. The company has announced it will distribute a dividend of $0.47 per share of its common stock on May 15 to shareholders of record as of April 30. This matches the firm's previous distribution, which was dispensed at the end of January. Previous to that, Alliant had paid $0.45 per share.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Alliant Energy (NYSE: LNT  ) is expected to report Q1 earnings on May 3. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

    The 10-second takeaway
    Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Alliant Energy's revenues will contract 0.0% and EPS will grow 24.0%.

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    The lights of Alliant Energy (NYSE: LNT  ) are continuing to burn brightly, at least as far as the utility operator's shareholder payouts are concerned. The company has declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.47 per share, to be paid on Aug. 15 to holders of record as of July 31. That amount matches both of the firm's previous two disbursements, the most recent of which was paid in May. Before that, Alliant Energy handed out 2 cents less at $0.45 per share.

Hot Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014: Valiant Holding AG (VAT)

Valiant Holding AG is a Switzerland-based regional bank engaged in the provision of products and services in retail banking, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) banking, private banking and asset management. The Company�� products include operating loan, investment loan, collateral loan, lease, construction loan, variable mortgage, fixed rate mortgage, flexible mortgage, savings account, time deposit account, medium-term notes, pension fund management, current account, maestro card, business card, corporate card, travel cash, payment services and e-banking services. The Company operates through a network of branches and automated teller machines (ATMs). Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Nitish]

    The iPhone remains Apple's most important product by far, accounting for close to half of the company's value, according to our estimates. For this quarter, Apple shipped about 35 million iPhones, representing a 12.7% jump over the same quarter a year ago, although revenue growth was slightly lower at around 9% possibly due to a greater mix of lower-end handsets. Business remained healthy in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, where iPhone shipments grew by around 55% year-over-year. China turned out to be particularly strong market, with overall revenues (from all products) growing by roughly 28% year-over-year and iPhone sales growing twice as fast as the broader Chinese smartphone market. However, sales in Japan, which had been one of the iPhone's fastest growing markets in recent quarters, were impacted by an increase in value added taxes (VAT) and some changes to the regulatory environment for mobile carriers.

Hot Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014: Metals USA Holdings Corp. (MUSA)

Metals USA Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum and specialty metals, and manufactured metal components in the United States and Canada. It operates in three segments: Plates and Shapes, Flat Rolled and Non-Ferrous, and Building Products. The Plates and Shapes segment processes and sells steel plates and structural beams, bars, angles, and tubes. This segment provides processing services, such as cutting, cambering/leveling, punching, bending, shearing, cut-to-length, blast and paint, and tee-splitting. It serves customers in the the electrical and appliance manufacturing, fabrication, furniture, commercial construction, machinery and equipment, land and marine transportation, energy, and aerospace industries. The Flat Rolled and Non-Ferrous segment processes and sells flat rolled carbon and stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and copper in various alloy grades. This segment offers processing services, such as slitting, p recision blanking, leveling, cut-to-length, punching, and shearing. It serves customers in the electrical and appliance manufacturing, fabrication, furniture, machinery and equipment, transportation, and aerospace industries. The Building Products segment produces and distributes aluminum and steel building products consisting of covered canopies and walkways, awnings, sunrooms, solariums, and other products primarily for the commercial and residential building products industries. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By David Tristan Liu]

    Murphy USA (MUSA) first caught my attention after Southeastern Asset Management acquired a massive stake ($668mm) in its former parent company Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) in Q1 2013. One thing about Murphy Oil Corporation I noticed after an initial glance through their 10-K and annual report was its ownership of a valuable fuel and convenience retailer segment with high ROIC, valuable real estate, low CAPEX requirements, and relatively decent growth prospects that was under-followed and whose underlying value was concealed by the parent company's core production and exploration business.

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