February 17, 2012
Written by Ian Wyatt
“VeriFone Systems, Inc. (PAY 46.03 NYSE) provides retail electronic payment devices that process debit and credit cards. Next time you’re at a gas station or department store, take a look at the machine that reads your card. With 20 million locations globally, chances are that machine was provided by VeriFone. But VeriFone does more than put their name on the machine. VeriFone produces the systems, software, and services that enable the acceptance and processing of electronic payments for goods and services. In other words, your credit card would be as worthless as a used envelope without them. Read More »
Written by Andy Obermueller
“Sourcefire, Inc. (FIRE 36.19 Nasdaq) is a network defense company. Many are predicting strong growth in this sector as more and more companies seek to safeguard the data stored in their computers. Sourcefire has a nice top-line growth trend that amounts to a 30.5% compound annual growth rate. (And thus the smokin’ P/E.) The market for its services is large: According to Gartner, enterprise security was a $22.5 billion market in 2011. Read More »
February 10, 2012
Written by Timothy Lutts
“Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE – yield 4.60%) is a Canadian heavy-oil producer, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Until a year ago, it was structured as a trust. But because of changes in Canadian tax law, the company switched to a corporate structure, and the result is a growth and income company that pays a very healthy annual dividend of 4.5%, while promising decent growth as well. Read More »
Written by Richard Moroney, CFA
“Macy’s, Inc. (M – yield 2.20%) operates about 850 department stores under its namesake or Bloomingdale’s brands. During the holiday season (combining November and December) same-store sales climbed 5.7%, while online sales jumped 40%. As a result, the retailer raised its guidance for the January quarter. Also in January, Macy’s doubled its quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share, payable April 2. The shares have advanced 5% so far this year but trade at just 12 times trailing earnings, at least 21% below their own five-year average and the median for department-store stocks in the S&P 1500 Index. Read More »
February 3, 2012
Written by Russ Kaplan
“Although bank stocks still have some readjustments to make before I can add more to our Model Portfolio; other areas of the financial industry are showing promise. One of these is Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN), also known as Franklin Templeton Investments. It is currently trading at a little over $100 a share, which is down considerably from its 2007 high of $145.60. Franklin Resources is a financial services company. Its main products are insurance and a number of mutual funds. Read More »
Written by Nathan Slaughter
“Las Vegas is a poster child for the excesses of the real estate bubble. Land that was bid up to astronomical levels now sits vacant, strewn with half-finished projects that were abandoned when funding dried up. Overcapacity from the construction boom has made life difficult, even for experienced operators. Just look at Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), which owns the glitzy Venetian and Palazzo mega-resorts. The shares ran up to the exorbitant price of $148 in October 2007 amid unbridled optimism. But they plummeted 99% over the next 18 months. By March 2009, you could pick up LVS for about the price of a cup of coffee—$1.38 per share. Clearly, the market overcorrected to the downside. The stock has since clawed its way back to $47. Bargain hunters who invested just $1,380 to scoop up 1,000 shares at the bottom are now sitting on a cool $47,000. Read More »
January 27, 2012
Written by John Buckingham
“Total S.A. (TOT) is one of the world’s largest publicly-traded, integrated oil and gas companies. Its global businesses cover three segments: 1) upstream exploration and production, 2) downstream refining and marketing and 3) chemicals. We view Total as an attractive international major oil play due to its low cost structure, high profitability potential and solid balance sheet. Read More »
January 26, 2012
Written by David Dittman
“Investors remain on hair-trigger alert for any sign of weakness, anywhere. Fear is the dominant emotion, which makes trading in relatively volatile metals and other resources stocks a dicey business. But if you’re looking to establish a long-term position in a high-quality company with solid prospects for dividend growth, you could do worse than to pick up Rio Tinto (RIO) following a year like 2011, when it lost 28.3% on a total return basis. Read More »
January 20, 2012
Written by Stephen Quickel
“Insperity, Inc. (NSP)—In 2008 CEO-cofounder Paul Sarvadi’s 20-year-old Administaff, Inc. encountered serious growing pains. It provided staff outsourcing to small- and medium-sized companies like itself. With the economy and hiring beset by recession, revenues stopped growing at $1.6 billion and its earnings and stock price nose-dived. But Sarvadi had lots of cash and no debt. So he started shaking things up. Read More »
Written by Ingrid Hendershot
“Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) is a leading provider of payroll, human resource and benefits outsourcing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. With a strong brand, Paychex has more than 100 offices nationwide and serves more than 564,000 payroll clients. The company’s average client has 17 employees. Payroll processing is the bedrock of the company’s business and will continue to be so in the future. There are over 11 million businesses in the markets Paychex serves, with only a 15% penetration rate by the industry—providing plenty of future growth opportunities. Read More »
