Top Insurance Stocks For 2014

In this video, health-care analyst David Williamson discusses manged-care company Aetna's first-quarter results. Although the earnings have been kind to insurers, what sets Aetna apart is that it raised its guidance for the year, unlike UnitedHealth Group, which talked down the top end of its 2013 range and wouldn't touch 2014 in recent comments.�

Watch and find out why there may be even more upside in Aetna's shares in the short term and what threats are looming for insurance investors in 2014.

When President Obama was re-elected, shares of UnitedHealth and other health insurers fell immediately. Is Obamacare a death knell for health insurers, or is the market missing out on some of the opportunities the law presents? In this brand-new premium report on UnitedHealth, The Motley Fool takes a long-term view, homing in on�prospects for UnitedHealth in an Obamacare world. So don't miss out ��simply�click here now�to claim your copy today.

Top Insurance Stocks For 2014: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)

Prudential Financial, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers various financial products and services in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The company operates through three divisions: The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management, The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance, and The International Insurance and Investments. The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management division provides individual variable and fixed annuity products, as well as offers retirement investment and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. This division also provides investment management and advisory services to the public and private marketplace. The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance division offers individual variable life, term life, and universal life insurance products; and group life, long-term and short-term group disability, long-term care, and group corporate-, bank-and trus t-owned life insurance products to institutional clients. This division also sells accidental death and dismemberment, and other ancillary coverages, as well as provides plan administrative services; and offers preferred provider and indemnity dental coverage plans to clients. The International Insurance and Investments division provides international individual life insurance products in Japan, Korea, and other foreign countries; and offers proprietary and non-proprietary asset management, investment advice, and services to retail and institutional clients internationally. In addition, the company engages in real estate brokerage franchise business, which involves marketing its franchises to the real estate companies. Further, it provides institutional clients and government agencies with various services in connection with the relocation of their employees. Prudential Financial, Inc. was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew Scott]

  Retiring Baby Boomers could make Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU) a strong performer for years to come. Insurance products like its line of guaranteed income annuities have given it an edge over rivals and it continues to make inroads into other areas of investing. Prudential’s stock price increased more than five times over the last two years, jumping from $11.20 on March 9, 2009 to $61.58 at the end of the first quarter.

Top Insurance Stocks For 2014: American International Group Inc.(AIG)

American International Group, Inc. is an international insurance organization. The company operates property and casualty insurance networks worldwide and conducts activities in the U.S. life insurance and retirement services industry. It also involves in commercial aircraft leasing and residential mortgage guaranty insurance businesses. The company, through Chartis Inc., provides various property and casualty insurance products under commercial and consumer categories worldwide. These products include surplus lines, executive liability/directors? and officers? liability, employment practices, excess casualty, and travel/assistance lines. American International Group, through SunAmerica Financial Group, offers a suite of life insurance and retirement products and services, including term life, universal life, accident and health, fixed and variable deferred annuities, fixed payout annuities, mutual funds, and financial planning products and services to individuals and grou ps in the United States. The company, through International Lease Finance Corporation, operates as an aircraft lessor that acquires commercial jet aircraft from various manufacturers and other parties, and leases those aircraft to airlines worldwide. It also sells aircraft from its fleet to other leasing companies, financial services companies, and airlines, as well as provides management services to third-party owners of aircraft portfolios. American International Group, through United Guaranty Corporation, issues residential mortgage guaranty insurance that covers mortgage lenders from the first loss for credit defaults on high loan-to-value conventional first-lien mortgages for the purchase or refinance of one- to four-family residences in the U.S. and internationally. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James K. Glassman]

  When American International Group (symbol: AIG) announced strong third-quarter results, CEO Robert Benmosche said the insurer might not buy back any more AIG shares held by the U.S., as it had earlier said it might. The stock sank on the news, but investors missed the bigger picture. AIG trades at about 50% of its book value of $69 per share, while its peers typically trade at about book value. AIG could eventually earn $6 per share and trade at, or close to, its rising book value.

• [By Andrew Feinberg]

  52-Week High: $37.67
  
  52-Week Low: $22.19
  
  Annual Revenue: $70.6 billion
  
  Projected 2013 Earnings Growth: -17.7% 
  
  When American International Group (symbol: AIG) announced strong third-quarter results, CEO Robert Benmosche said the insurer might not buy back any more AIG shares held by the U.S., as it had earlier said it might. The stock sank on the news, but investors missed the bigger picture. AIG trades at about 50% of its book value of $69 per share, while its peers typically trade at about book value. AIG could eventually earn $6 per share and trade at, or close to, its rising book value.

• [By Dennis Slothower]

  American International Group is starting to look dirt cheap to this humble investment pro on a price to book value and price to cash flow basis. It is nice to know that I am not alone in my view as FAIRX has a 10% weighting in the name. AIG has grown book value to over $85 billion today from around $55 billion in 2008 while sporting a market cap of just $65 billion. Morningstar lists AIG's forward P/E ratio at 10X and the stock makes up nearly 10% of Fairholme's flagship mutual fund run by Bruce Berkowitz, arguably the king of Value Investing in today's market.

  AIG covered calls are an interesting approach, as the May $35 calls can be sold against the stock for around 3.5% in monthly yield while allowing for meaningful appreciation in stock price over that period of time. Investors may also consider selling the January 2012 $35 put options instead of buying the stock directly for $5.2, although they will not be able to participate in the dividend yield. Personally, I think a "buy and hold", or a hedged position versus a short in the Russell 2000 makes a lot of sense given the margin of safety at AIG.

Top China Stocks To Buy Right Now: Citizens Inc (CIA)

Citizens, Inc. (Citizens), incorporated on November 8, 1977, is an insurance holding company serving the life insurance needs of individuals in the United States. The Company operates in three segments: Life Insurance, Home Service and Other Non-insurance Enterprises. Its core insurance operations include issuing and servicing the United States Dollar-denominated ordinary whole life insurance and endowment policies predominantly to high net worth, high income foreign residents, principally in Latin America and the Pacific Rim, through independent marketing consultants; ordinary whole life insurance policies to middle income households concentrated in the midwest and southern United States through independent marketing consultants, and final expense and limited liability property policies to middle and lower income households in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi through employee and independent agents in its home service distribution channel.

Life Insurance

The Company�� Life Insurance segment issues ordinary whole life insurance domestically and in United States Dollar-denominated amounts to foreign residents. These contracts are designed to provide a fixed amount of insurance coverage over the life of the insured. Additionally, endowment contracts are issued by the Company, which are principally accumulation contracts that incorporate an element of life insurance protection. The Company operates the segment through its subsidiaries: CICA Life Insurance Company of America (CICA) and Citizens National Life Insurance Company (CNLIC).

The Company offers several ordinary whole life insurance and endowment products designed to meet the needs of its non-United States policy owners. Its domestic life insurance products focus primarily on living needs and provide benefits focused toward accumulating money for the policyowner. The Company�� life insurance products are principally designed to address the insured�� concern about outliving his or her monthly income,! while at the same time providing death benefits. The primary purpose of its product portfolio is to help the insured create capital for needs, such as retirement income, children's higher education funds, business opportunities, emergencies and health care needs.

Home Service Insurance

The Company operates in the Home Service market through its subsidiaries Security Plan Life Insurance Company (SPLIC) and Security Plan Fire Insurance Company (SPFIC), and focus on the life insurance needs of the middle and lower income markets, primarily in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Its home service insurance products consist primarily of small face amount ordinary whole life and pre-need policies, which are designed to fund final expenses for the insured, primarily consisting of funeral and burial costs.

Other Non-Insurance Enterprises

Other Non-insurance Enterprises includes Computing Technology, Inc., which provides data processing services to the Company, and Insurance Investors, Inc., which provides aviation transportation to the Company. This segment also includes the results of Citizens, Inc., the parent Company.

Top Insurance Stocks For 2014: W.R. Berkley Corporation(WRB)

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as commercial lines writers in the property casualty insurance business primarily in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Specialty, Regional, Alternative Markets, Reinsurance, and International. The Specialty segment underwrites third-party liability risks, primarily excess, and surplus lines, including premises operations, professional liability, commercial automobile, products liability, and property lines. The Regional segments provide commercial insurance products to small-to-mid-sized businesses, and state and local governmental entities primarily in the 45 states of the United States. The Alternative Markets segment develops, insures, reinsures, and administers self-insurance programs and other alternative risk transfer mechanisms. This segment offers its services to employers, employer groups, insurers, and alternative market funds, as well as provides a range of fee-based servic es, including consulting and administrative services. The Reinsurance segment engages in the underwriting property casualty reinsurance on a treaty and a facultative basis, including individual certificates and program facultative business; and specialty and standard reinsurance lines, and property and casualty reinsurance. The International segment offers personal and commercial property casualty insurance in South America; commercial property casualty insurance in the United Kingdom and continental Europe; and reinsurance in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Canada. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Top Insurance Stocks For 2014: Iamgold Corporation(IAG)

IAMGOLD Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties worldwide. It primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, copper, niobium, diamonds, and other metals. The company holds interests in eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty, and exploration and development projects located in Africa and the Americas. Its advanced exploration and development projects include the Westwood project in Canada; and the Quimsacocha project, which consists of 3 mining concessions covering an aggregate area of approximately 8,030 hectares in Ecuador. The company was formerly known as IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation and changed its name to IAMGOLD Corporation in June 1997. IAMGOLD Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Christopher Barker]

  Although I have not shed my long-standing contention that Yamana Gold offers one of the more deeply discounted vehicles for long-term gold exposure, lately my outlook for IAMGOLD has turned particularly bullish. With a looming spin-off of a 10% to 20% stake in the company's reliably profitable Niobec niobium mine, and the recent sale of its interest in a pair of high-cost gold operations in Ghana for $667 million, IAMGOLD finds itself in terrific financial shape to execute an aggressive $1.2 billion expansion imitative at existing operations.

  Considering the $1.6 billion net asset value (after tax) that IAMGOLD recently assessed for the Niobec mine alone, and a presumed hoard of more than $1.2 billion (in cash, cash equivalents, and gold bullion held for investment), at a market capitalization of $6.9 billion I find extreme comfort in the market's resulting valuation for IAMGOLD's 15.2 million ounces of attributable gold reserves.

Is Taper No Longer an Issue for Stocks? - Ahead of Wall ...

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Stocks are within striking distance of reclaiming the all-time high reached less than two months back, with the pullback resulting concerns that the Fed was getting ready to pare back its QE program. We will get more clarity on the Fed question this afternoon with the release of the minutes of the Fed's June meeting. Also at play in today's session are renewed concerns about China's growth outlook after another weak economic reading – this time about that country's exports.

The stock market's ability to claw back its losses over the last few weeks despite the persistent rise in benchmark treasury yields, is very impressive. My sense is that these gains will prove sustainable only if they reflect investors' collective judgment that an improved economic outlook trumps less Fed QE and somewhat higher interest rates. But if the market's gains reflect the hope that 'Tapering' was not imminent, then we may be at risk of giving all of these back in the coming days.

I continue to believe that U.S. economic outlook was stable enough to allow the Fed to start pulling back from its QE program later this year. A number of Fed officials went out of their way to dial back Bernanke's fairly explicit pronouncements on the 'Taper' question. But the bond market got it right from the get go, pushing 10-year treasury yields by almost 100 basis points since early May. This afternoon's minutes of the June FOMC meeting will likely confirm that Bernanke's comments were more in-line with the emerging majority on the committee.

With respect to China's growth outlook, Alcoa (AA) appeared to be reassuringly explicit in its earnings release on Monday, belying concerns raised by a host of weak economic readings in recent days. But today's official export numbers run counter to Alcoa's claims and raise further doubts about that country's picture. The decline in Chinese exports in June, the first in a non-holiday month since late 2009, is likel! y not a one-off event and likely reflective of some loss of competitiveness for China's export sector. Competitiveness has suffered to some extent relative to lower wage regional countries like Vietnam as a result of rising wages and unfavorable exchange rate movements. The continued economic problems in Europe also remain a headwind, as the more than 8% drop in exports to Europe reconfirm.

The China growth question magnifies similar concerns about the rest of the emerging world as the recent growth downgrade by the IMF shows. The China issue will figure prominently in the Yum Brand's (YUM) earnings release later today as well, though YUM is dealing with a number of company-specific issues that are not directly tied to China's growth outlook.

But the fact remains that a big part of the expected earnings growth in the second half of the 2013 and full year 2014 for the S&P 500 as a whole is contingent on improved economic growth beyond the U.S. borders. For context, keep in mind that consensus earnings expectations are looking for earnings growth to accelerate from the first-half 2013's less than +3% pace to more than +9% rate in the second half and accelerate even further to more than +11% in 2014. With more than 40% of S&P 500 earnings coming from international markets, those growth expectations will likely need to be scaled back.

Sheraz Mian
Director of Research



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Will the NAHB Survey Hammer Homebuilder Profits? - ...

Top 10 Gold Stocks To Own Right Now

Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will release its monthly survey. The survey will provide insight into the impact of higher mortgage rates on builder sentiment and housing activity. According to the Freddie Mac mortgage survey, the 30 year fixed mortgage rate has risen from 3.59% on May 23rd to 4.51% as of July 11th. The rise underscores the potential shock to housing demand. The survey tends to be an underrated indicator, but is a solid leading indicator of home sales and housing starts.

Inventories are lean and supporting home prices:

The main bullish dynamic for home builders is lean inventories. There was a 5.1 month supply of existing homes on the market in May compared to a 9.4 month supply in 2010, and at 2.220 mln units, inventories are back at levels seen in the early 2000's. The same story is present in the new home space. In May, there were 161,000 new homes for sale which is in record low territory. Inventory levels are supportive to building activity and builder profits. Low inventories have also helped support new home prices and builder margins. New home prices were up 10.3% year over year in May.

Drilling into the details:

The NAHB composite index jumped 8 to 52 in June, but the trade is looking for the July reading to dip just 1 to 51. The outlook seems buoyant given the vicious rise in mortgage rates and surge in the June reading. I am willing to take the under against the consensus. Below the surface, it may be worth monitoring the current sales and traffic flow indices. Current sales may be high as buyers rush to lock mortgage rates, but traffic could fall off if higher rates are discouraging new business. The combination of higher mortgage rates and rising home prices are a headwind to housing demand. The MBA purchase index has eased 8.5% from its May peak, but is within the range seen over! the past year. Recent dovish comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke may have been aimed at capping the rise in mortgage rates.



At last check, the Zacks Construction Industry sector was expected to post 46% earnings growth in Q2 2013. The table displays 2013 and 2014 earnings per share and changes over the past 30 days for a select group of homebuilders. Despite the recent rise in mortgage rates, EPS estimates have been biased upward. Lennar (LEN) and MDC Holdings(MDC) have posted the strongest upward revision in 2013 estimates in the past month. Notice that the homebuilders in the table are either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



Summing it up:

The NAHB survey could impact the outlook for homebuilder earnings. A firm survey could keep EPS estimates buoyant and support the outlook for continued profit growth by downplaying the recent rise in mortgage rates. However, a soft reading could dampen the favorable trend in upward earnings estimates, and cause the sector to focus more closely on the path of interest rates. Watch to see if EPS estimates move in the days following the NAHB survey.



Technically, the SPDR Homebuilders ETF XHB has a price gap below current levels at $29.92. This level may be monitored for support by chartists. The $31.65 high from June 18 and $31.78 low from May 16 may be watched for resistance and selling pressure. The ability of the XHB to work through these levels may be an indication of investor sentiment toward the sector.

Daily ETF Roundup: Stocks End Flat, PEJ Rallies After ...

A week of mixed earnings and economic reports had U.S. equities ending flat for the week, though stocks managed to eke out small gains during today's session. In corporate news, Expedia (EXPE) missed earnings and revenue forecasts, while Zynga (ZNGA) posted a bigger-than-expected third quarter loss. Online retail giant Amazon (AMZN) missed the mark, while Starbucks (SBUX) beat analyst forecasts. Meanwhile in economic news, Thomson-Reuters and University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index unexpectedly rose .



Global Market Overview: Stocks End Flat, PEJ Rallies After Starbucks' EarningsAfter a week of mixed earnings and economic reports, all three major U.S. equity indexes managed to close in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF closed 0.03% higher, after its underlying index plunged nearly 150 points at its session low. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ETF rose 0.52%, while the S&P 500 ETF gained 0.11%.

In Europe, markets were broadly lower; the Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.2%. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 3.0% on a stronger yen, and China's Shanghai Composite closed 0.5% lower.

Bond ETF Roundup

U.S. Treasuries rose once again today following a better-than-expected consumer sentiment report. Yields on 10-year notes fell 1.5 basis points, while 30-year bonds and 5-year note yields fell 3.5 and 1 basis points, respectively .

Commodity Roundup

Crude oil futures traded lower today, settling just above $103 a barrel to mark a two-week low on concerns of a slowdown in Chinese economic growth. In other energy trading, natural gas futures fell while gasoline rose 3 cents. Meanwhile, gold futures shed 0.5% to settle at $1,321.70 a troy ounce.

ETF Chart Of The Day #1: The Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment Portfolio was one of the best performers today, gaining 0.88% during the session. As Starbucks (SBUX) rallied following its stellar earnings results, this surged higher throughout the trading session! . PEJ eventually settled at $29.77 a share .

Click To Enlarge

ETF Fun Fact Of The DayThe best-performing retirement strategy over the trailing 4-week period has been the 30 Years Til Retirement Portfolio, which has gained 4.43%.



Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

Can Staples Recover After Recent News?

With shares of Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) trading around $14, is Staples an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Staples is an office products company that operates in three business segments: North American Stores & Online, North American Commercial, and International Operations. The company serves businesses of all sizes and consumers around the world. Business products and services are essential to consumers and producers for day to day operations. So long as companies and consumers continue to transact and interact, business opportunities will arise. Look for companies like Staples to see rising profits as consumers and businesses continue to grow across the globe.

Staples delivered a earnings and revenues that were short of Wall Street's expectations. The revenue miss is a not a good sign to shareholders who seek high growth out of the company.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Staples stock was moving higher in the current year. However, the stock has been heavily sold after a negative earnings release. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Staples is trading between its key averages which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Staples options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Staples Options	32.00%	Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks For 2014 66%	63%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
September Options	Steep	Average
October Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Decreasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Staples’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Staples look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-11.11%	-3.70%	-71.05%	-289.36%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-3.34%	-3.50%	3.04%	-1.97%
Earnings Reaction	-15.97%*	2.84%	-7.14%	2.57%

Staples has seen decreasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been disappointed with Staples’s recent earnings announcements.

*As of this writing

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Staples stock done relative to its peers, Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX), United Stationers (NASDAQ:USTR), and sector?

	Staples	Office Depot	OfficeMax	United Stationers	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	27.63%	22.26%	5.53%	34.66%	18.43%

Staples has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Staples provides essential business and consumer products to people operating in a large number of countries and industries. The company recently reported earnings that have not pleased investors. The stock is currently selling-off after its recent news. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been decreasing which has left investors in the company disappointed. Relative to its peers and sector, Staples has been a year-to-date performance leader. WAIT AND SEE what Staples does this coming quarter.

MSRB Warns Investors, BDs About Sequestration’s Impact on Direct-Pay Bonds

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned investors Wednesday to be aware of the terms of certain types of direct-pay municipal bonds to better understand if they are affected by the federal budget sequestration.

The alert also reminds broker-dealers and municipal securities dealers of their customer protection obligations under MSRB rules in connection with customer transactions relating to direct-pay bonds.

The MSRB notes that because the terms of direct-pay bonds "may vary considerably from issue to issue, investors, dealers and other market professionals should know the facts about their particular direct-pay bonds and should not make investment or pricing decisions based solely on other direct-pay bonds which may have dissimilar features or on generalized characterizations reported in the press or in other published reports."

As a result of the sequestration that took effect March 1, the Internal Revenue Service reduced refundable credits payable to issuers with respect to their Build America Bonds (BABs), Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCBs), Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs), New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (New CREBs) and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECBs) for which the issuer elected to receive a direct credit subsidy from the federal government, collectively known as “direct-pay bonds.”

“While reductions in subsidy payments resulting from sequestration directly affect the issuers of direct-pay bonds, these reductions also have the potential to affect investors buying, selling and holding direct-pay bonds for which such subsidy payments have been reduced,” MSRB says.

For example, the MSRB explains that in some cases, the bonds' terms may permit the issuer to exercise an extraordinary redemption at a price of par if the federal subsidy payment is cut, whereas the terms of other outstanding direct-pay bonds may permit extraordinary redemption only under a more limited set of circumstances (such as a change in law on such subsidy payments) or at a higher “make-whole” redemption price.

“The existence and specific terms of extraordinary redemption provisions, and the determination of whether the circumstances that can trigger the exercise of such extraordinary redemptions have occurred, has the potential of affecting the market value of the applicable direct-pay bond,” MSRB says.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014

The ruemaking board directs investors and BDs to its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website, where they can find free information on the basic terms of direct-pay bonds as described in the official statement produced by the issuer and submitted by the underwriter of the bonds.

---

Check out PIMCO’s Gross: Fed in a Corner, Will ‘Taper’ by Year’s End on AdvisorOne.

Advisors as Servant and Leader, Preventing Wire Fraud and More: August Investment Advisor—Slideshow

Charles Ellis, the best-selling author, consultant and Ivy League professor who founded Greenwich Associates, has some simple advice for advisors who want to grow strong firms that should be obvious but frequently isn’t: Be a good leader and serve your mission well.

Might sound easier said than done, but Ellis explains how to put that into action in this month’s cover story.

Mark Tibergien uncovers a serious issue that could knock the wind out of a firm that isn’t paying attention: wire fraud. It’s a big problem and one advisors need to take seriously. Tibergien, with comments from resident compliance expert Tom Giachetti, explains how advisors can protect themselves.

For our Overlooked Managers feature, we talked to Pioneer Investment’s Charles Melchreit about growth in the ultra-short fund space. Investors have shied away from it since 2008, but now the space is turning around.

We also present the final installment of the 2012 Growth by Design series from FA Insight. What do firms need to grow at each stage of their life cycle? Eliza De Pardo and Dan Inveen explain.

Mission to Serve: How Great Leaders Take a Firm to the Next Level

A word of advice if you ever plan on speaking professionally with Charles Ellis: Be prepared.

The best-selling author, consultant and Ivy League professor swatted away a number of our carefully crafted questions, and it was only after his explanation of why that we understood our mistaken premise. Ellis (who goes by Charley) had something to say and, alternating between genial and intense, he was going to say it. It was a refreshing change from so many interview subjects who fear to contradict in the belief it will make them “look good” in the eyes of the interviewer, and by extension, the reader.

Ellis spoke with Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan to explain what it takes for advisory firms to be great.

Read the Full Article.

Risky Business: How to Protect Your Firm From Wire Fraud

Advisors often mistakenly believe that their broker-dealer or custodian is responsible for preventing fraud. While such firms play a role, providing surveillance and tripwires that stymie illegal transactions, the ultimate responsibility lies with advisors, particularly those serving in a fiduciary capacity.

Mark Tibergien explains why it's so important for advisors to take responsibility for preventing fraud and shares some examples of ways fraudsters might try to compromise advisors’ practices.

Read the Full Article.

An Ultra-Strong Case for Ultra-Short Funds

It’s been a tough road in the ultra-short mutual fund space. The category blew up in 2008 along with everything else, and yields proved little better than money market funds in the recovery that followed. However, modest inflows since the beginning of the recovery are bringing life back to the space. Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan spoke with Pioneer Investments’ Charles Melchreit to learn why investors have no need to fear the ultra-short space.

Read the Full Article.

Growing Strong: The 2012 Growth by Design Study

In the final installment of the 2012 Growth by Design series, Eliza De Pardo and Dan Inveen compare a firm’s growth needs to vitamins: “As the years progress, so do our dietary needs—Flintstones vitamins make way for Centrum Silver.”

The authors break down data from the annual FA Insight study to show what vitamins a firm needs at each stage.

Read the full article.

Bayer Initiates Phase III Study - Analyst Blog

Bayer (BAYRY) recently initiated a phase III study on BAY 94-9027 in children (up to 12 years of age) for the treatment of hemophilia A.

The phase III PROTECT VIII study (PROphylaxis in hemophilia A patienTs via directly pEgylated long-aCTing rFVIII) will evaluate whether the candidate can be used prophylactically to prolong the duration of protection from bleeding for up to one week, while also being used to treat acute bleeds.

The study will be a multicenter, multinational, partially randomized, open-label trial. Bayer intends to enroll around 50 previously treated children from across the world for the phase III study. These children suffering from severe hemophilia A have a history of at least 50 exposure days (ED) with any FVIII product. These children will also be given an option to participate in an optional extension study.

Bayer is also conducting the PROTECT VIII study in adults suffering from hemophilia A. The company has already completed enrolment in this trial.

We remind investors that in May 2013, Bayer had discontinued the phase II/III TRUST (TReatment with Unique recombinant rFVIIa STudy) study on BAY 86-6150. The study was evaluating the efficacy and safety of the candidate in patients suffering from hemophilia A or hemophilia B with inhibitors.

A neutralizing antibody was detected during the course of the study. Since patient safety was the primary objective of the study, Bayer discontinued the BAY 86-6150 trial as a precautionary measure.

Bayer already has Kogenate in its product portfolio for the treatment of haemophilia. We note that companies like Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) are also developing therapies targeting the hemophilia market.

Bayer, a large-cap pharma company, presently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Meanwhile, other large-cap stocks such as Novo Nordisk (NVO) currently look more attractive with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other pharma stocks such as Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014

LONDON -- I'm always searching for shares that can help ordinary investors like you make money from the stock market.

So right now, I am trawling through the FTSE 100,�and giving my verdict on every member of the blue-chip index. Simply put, I'm hoping to pinpoint the very best buying opportunities in today's uncertain market.

Today, I am looking at�Standard Chartered� (LSE: STAN  ) (NASDAQOTH: SCBFF  ) to determine whether you should consider buying the shares at 1,635 pence.

I am assessing each company on several ratios:

Price-to-earnings (P/E):�Does the share look good value when compared against its competitors?

Price/earnings growth (PEG):�Does the share look good value factoring in predicted growth?

Yield:�Does the share provide a solid income for investors?

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By McWillams]

  Wall Street is expecting Thoratec’s (THOR: 30.70 0.00%) growth rate to accelerate to 15% next year with earnings growth of over 20%. That type of growth has Wall Street analysts bullish on the medical device stock. The stock has a consensus price target of $38 and some analysts think THOR could go to $50.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Sara Lee Corporation(SLE)

Sara Lee Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of a range of branded packaged meat, bakery, and beverage products worldwide. Its packaged meat products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages, sandwiches and bowls, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, beef, turkey, and cooked ham. It also offers frozen baked products, which comprise frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes, pastries, and other desserts. In addition, Sara Lee provides roast, ground, and liquid coffee; cappuccinos; lattes; and hot and iced teas, as well as refrigerated dough products. The company sells its products under Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, State Fair, Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Maison du Caf Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Carlson]

  Director of Sara Lee Corp., James S Crown, bought 37,500 shares on 9/12/2011 at an average price of $17.5. Sara Lee Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, brand-name products for consumers throughout the world. Sara Lee Corp. has a market cap of $10.24 billion; its shares were traded at around $17.5 with a P/E ratio of 19.9 and P/S ratio of 1.2. The dividend yield of Sara Lee Corp. stocks is 2.7%.
  
  On August 11, Sara Lee Corp. reported earnings for the fourth quarter 2011. The fourth quarter included an 8% increase in adjusted net sales from continuing operations to $2.3 billion; 9% reported net sales increase, 40% increase in adjusted operating income to $189 million; and reported operating income increase of 19%.
  
  Last week, Director James S Crown bought 37,500 shares of SLE stock. Executive Chairman Jan Bennink bought 58,400 shares in August.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Buy Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] Medifast produces, distributes and sells weight and health management products with the brand names Medifast, Take Shape for Life, Hi-Energy Weight Control Centers and Woman�� Wellbeing.
  
  Its return on assets in the third quarter of 2011 was 19.6%, which has been increasing in the past several years. The average return on assets for the specialty retail industry is 10.48% for the trailing 12 months.
  
  
  
  The company�� total assets amounted to $94 million in 2010, which increased from $62.8 million in 2009. Net income also increased to $19.6 million in 2010 from $12 million in 2009.
• [By Mark]

  Revenues are expected to grow 27% next year and yet MEDIFAST (MED: 15.68 0.00%) trades at only 16x consensus 2011 earnings. The company continues to gain market share in the competitive weight management sector and provides investors with the double benefit of both a growth stock and a potential acquisition target.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Crocs Inc.(CROX)

Crocs, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company primarily offers casual and athletic shoes, and shoe charms. It also designs and sells a range of footwear and accessories that utilize its proprietary closed cell-resin, called Croslite. The company?s footwear products include boots, sandals, sneakers, mules, and flats. In addition, it provides footwear products for the hospital, restaurant, hotel, and hospitality markets, as well as general foot care and diabetic-needs markets. Further, the company offers leather and ethylene vinyl acetate based footwear, sandals, and printed apparels principally for the beach, adventure, and action sports markets; and accessories comprising snap-on charms. The company sells its products through the United States and international retailers and distributors, as well as directly to end-user consumers th rough its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks, and Web stores primarily under the Crocs Work, Crocs Rx, Jibbitz, Ocean Minded, and YOU by Crocs brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 164 retail kiosks located in malls and other high foot traffic areas; 138 retail stores; 76 outlet stores; and 46 Web stores. Crocs, Inc. operates in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was formerly known as Western Brands, LLC and changed its name to Crocs, Inc. in January 2005. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Niwot, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul]  

  They’re back! Two years ago everyone was convinced that Crocs (CROX: 23.33 0.00%) was just a fad, but their stock price exploded in 2010 gaining 206%. Revenues are expected to climb 20% this year and analysts are looking for 27% earnings growth in 2011. That type of growth could make Crocs a hot item again in 2011, especially if they can continue to top Wall Street’s estimates each quarter.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] Intuitive Surgical is the maker of the da Vinci Surgical System, a breakthrough in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. It provides technology and procedural innovation across cardiac, thoracic, urology, gynecologic, colorectal, pediatric and general surgical disciplines and allows patients to recover in record time.
  
  In the last year, this fast-growing company�� stock has surged 66% to $529.54. Its revenue over the last ten years has grown at a rate of 38%, and it grew 24.5% last year with 72.5% gross profit and 39.5% operating margin. The company expects fiscal 2012 revenue growth of 17-19%.
  
  The da Vinci System is new technology first introduced to market in July 2000 after the US FDA approved it for laparoscopic surgery. Its new S model was released in April 2009. Already there are more than 1,933 systems installed in over 1,560 hospitals worldwide.
  
  Apple Inc. (AAPL)
  
  Apple Inc. is the maker of popular consumer products such as the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Its stock has famously increased 569% over the past five years to hit a record of $600 per share last week. Apple has split its stock 2 for 1 three times in the past on June 15, 1987, June 21, 2000 and February 28, 2005. CEO Tim Cook said as recently as this morning that the company saw little reason to that a split would help the stock but if it was in the best interest of shareholder the company would have one. The company also announced this morning that it would initiate a $2.65 per share quarterly dividend and buy back up to $10 billion of its common stock.
  
  In the last ten years, Apple�� annual growth rate for revenue was 34.5%, EBITDA 112.4% and book value 36.3%. Free cash flow increased 11% in the last five years and 58% in the last year. The rapidly growing company still has a relatively low P/E ratio of 16.68.
  
  Google Inc. Cl A (GOOG)
  
  Google Inc. is the search engine company founded in 1998 that has expanded to offer dozens of advertising and web services. Since going public i! n 2004, its stock has increased 485% to $633.98 per share on Monday. It has never had a stock split or paid a dividend.
  
  Google has also grown rapidly. Its revenue per share over the last 10 years has increased at an annual rate of 52.3%, EBITDA at 51.9%, free cash flow at 64.8% and book value at 74.8%.Its P/E ratio is 20.
  
  The company is also launching its 7-inch Nexus table in May to compete with Apple�� iPad and Amazon�� Kind Fire and is in the process of the biggest revamp of its Internet search formula in company history.
  
  Google has an expressed long-term focus in its business, rather than quarter-to-quarter goals, as stated in its IPO letter which quotes Warren Buffett. The company�� higher stock price may help discourage frequent trading and encourage high-quality shareholders, as Buffett has mentioned in the past.
  
  Priceline.com (PCLN)
  
  Priceline.com Inc. is an online travel booking company that debuted on the Nasdaq in 1999. In the last five years its stock increased 1,248%. Priceline.com�� stock price cratered to under $10 after the dot-com bubble and driven it up to almost $1,000. In 2003 it announced a 1 for 6 reverse stock split.
  
  "This reverse stock split enhances our position by expanding investor interest, reducing transaction costs for trading our stock, making our results more comparable to peer companies with far fewer outstanding shares, and allowing priceline.com's earnings per share on a post-split basis to more precisely reflect the Company's operating results," said priceline.com President and CEO Jeffery H. Boyd.
  
  On Monday it had climbed to $696.93 per share and its financial results have been strong and growing once again. Revenue in 2011 was $4.4 billion from $3 billion in 2010, earnings increased to $1.1 billion from $528 billion and free cash flow increased to $1.3 billion from $755 million. The company also has over $2.7 billion in cash, $164 in long-term liabilities and no debt.
  
  The stock has become expensive ! in the la! st several years and has a P/E of 30.3.
  
  NVR Inc. (NVR)
  
  NVR Inc. consists of two operating segments: homebuilding and mortgage banking. The homebuilding unit makes homes under the trade names Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Fox Ridge Homes, and NVR Mortgage primarily focuses on serving NVR homebuyers.
  
  NVR�� is older than most of the other companies on the over-$500 share-price list, having gone public in 1993. Since then its stock price has increased 7,219% to $741 per share on Monday. It has never split its stock.
  
  Seaboard Corp. (SEB)
  
  Seaboard is also an older company founded more than 90 years ago and has focused on grain and agriculturally derived products. In the last 10 years its stock has appreciated 543%, and on Monday one share costs $1,955. It has never split its stock.
  
  Seaboard is still a growing company. In the last ten years it increased revenue per share at an average rate of 12.5%, EBITDA at 9.8%, and book value at 18.2%. It also has a low P/E of 6.8, its lowest since about 2007.
  
  Berkshire Hathaway-A (BRK.A)
  
  Berkshire Hathaway is the multinational conglomerate founded by Warren Buffett and is the eighth largest company in the world. They are the highest priced shares on the New York Stock Exchange, partially due to never splitting their stock or paying a dividend. Rather, they reinvest corporate earnings to continue growth.
  
  In the last 10 years, Berkshire Hathaway stock has increased 67%. On Monday, one share of BRK.A cost $122,115.
  
  Berkshire management has grown book value at an annual rate of 20.3% for the last 44 years. Growth has been continuing in recent history. In the last 10 years, revenue per share increased at a rate of 11.4%, EBITDA at 7.5% and free cash flow at 3.3%. Its P/E is 17.1.
  
  These stocks are not necessarily expensive or not expensive based on how much one share costs but are subject to the same va
• [By Jim Lowell]

  Intuitive Surgical (ISRG: 329.49 0.00%) is an expensive stock and their stock price is currently well below the $400 level that it flirted with in April. However, the stock is a compelling growth story with revenues and earnings expected to climb 19% in 2011. The company faces little competitive pressure and 2011 is likely the year that consumers opt for procedures that they delayed in 2009-10. That could produce some blowout earnings results for ISRG in 2011.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael]

  OK, so Checkpoint (CKP: 13.80 0.00%) probably isn’t going to see its stock price double in 2011. However, the stock gained 35% in 2010 with earnings expected to climb 13%. Next year, Wall Street sees earnings growth accelerating to 25%. Despite the impressive growth rate, the stock trades at only 16x next year’s earnings estimates and analysts have a $25 price target for CKP.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) is an owner, operator and franchiser of restaurants featuring a variety of boldly-flavored, craveable menu items. This stock closed up 6% to $103.58 in Wednesday's trading session.

  Wednesday's Volume: 1.55 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 402,120
  
  Volume % Change: 319%

  From a technical perspective, BWLD ripped higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $98.38 with heavy upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of BWLD within range of triggering major breakout trade. That trade will hit if BWLD manages to take out its intraday high on Wednesday of $105.32 and then once it clears is 52-week high at $106.03 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BWLD as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $98.38 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 402,120 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then BWLD will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $110 to $120.

• [By Fabian]  

  While Chipotle has captured most of the attention among the restaurant stocks, Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD: 56.62 0.00%) could be 2011’s big winner. Wall Street is expecting 19% earnings growth from Buffalo Wild Wings in 2011 which is only slightly lower than Chipotle’s 20% growth rate. However, BWLD trades at only 18x consensus 2011 estimates while CMG trades at a pricey 40x. On an EBITDA basis, Chipotle trades at over 20x, while Buffalo Wild Wings trades at less than 9x.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)

CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, marketing, and administration of health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. The company markets and distributes Medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive and traditional life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance products; Medicare advantage plans through a distribution arrangement with Humana Inc.; and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through a distribution and reinsurance arrangement with Coventry Health Care. It also markets and distributes supplemental health, including specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance products; and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and the worksite through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies. In addition, the company markets primarily graded benefit and simplified issue life insurance products directly to customers through television advertising, direct mail, Internet, and telemarketing. It sells its products through career agents, independent producers, direct marketing, and sales managers. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has strategic alliances with Coventry and Humana. The company was formerly known as Conseco, Inc. and changed its name to CNO Financial Group, Inc. in May 2010. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kevin1977]

  Director of Nordstrom Inc., Felicia D Thornton, bought 1,140 shares on 9/09/2011 at an average price of $47.89. Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's fashion specialty retailers, with stores located in a number of states, including full-line stores, Nordstrom Racks, Faconnable boutiques, and free-standing shoe stores. Nordstrom Inc. has a market cap of $10.44 billion; its shares were traded at around $47.89 with a P/E ratio of 15.7 and P/S ratio of 1.1. The dividend yield of Nordstrom Inc. stocks is 2% Nordstrom Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 27.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Nordstrom Inc. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.
  
  On August 11, Nordstrom Inc. reported net earnings of $175 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended July 30, 2011. This represented an increase of 20 percent compared with net earnings of $146 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, for the same quarter last year.Second quarter same-store sales increased 7.3 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2010. Net sales in the second quarter were $2.72 billion, an increase of 12.4 percent compared with net sales of $2.42 billion during the same period in fiscal 2010.
  
  Last week, Director Felicia D Thornton bought 1,140 shares of JWN stock.
  
  Executive Vice President Ken Worzel and Director Philip G Satre bought shares in August.

Noble Energy Looks Great, But Is The Valuation Too Filling?

In what has been an extremely iffy year for the E&P sector, Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) is an outlier in many respects. Not only has the stock done quite well over the past year, but that's even with a gas-heavy reserve base and exposure to the Gulf of Mexico – two things that the market has really soured on in general.

Clearly this is a situation where digging a little deeper is warranted. Noble Energy is doing so well in part because of its very successful drilling program in northern Colorado, it's large gas discoveries off the coast of Israel, and a very compelling outlook for debt-adjusted production growth over the next three to five years. Honestly, the question today doesn't seem to be so much about whether Noble is a top-notch emerging mid-tier energy company, but rather what to pay for all of that.

SEE: Oil And Gas Industry Primer

Oil And Gas, In The Right Places
Noble is still on the smaller side of the "large independent E&P" space, with its 1.2 billion (oil-equivalent) barrels of reserves putting it well behind the likes of Apache (NYSE:APA), Chesapeake (NYSE:CHK), Anadarko (NYSE:APC), and EOG (NYSE:EOG). What's more, it's a gassy company with a lot of development work still to do – about 70% of the booked reserves are natural gas and only about 40% are developed.

But I'm going to argue that this is a case where the numbers don't necessarily tell the full story, or at least not without more digging.

A large chunk of those reserves (nearly 30%) are in the Wattenberg part of the DJ Basin (Colorado), and this has already been shown to be a very high-quality oil formation. Not only has Noble seen good results here so far, it appears as though the resource potential for Noble's acreage could be six times the booked reserves figure (or 2.1B barrels BOE).

Noble has also made major discoveries off the coast of Israel, where it has nearly 400M barrels BOE (or 2.2Tcf) of natural gas reserves across multiple fields. Although U.S. natural gas is none too popular today because of its low price, these fields can send gas to the much higher-value markets of Europe and Asia, and a recent decision by the Israeli government will allow Noble and its partners to export up to 40% of the gas they produce from these fields.

SEE: A Guide To Investing In Oil Markets

Cash Flow Coming, And It Will Be Reinvested At Least In Part In Growth
Between the Wattenberg properties and the Israeli gas fields, Noble is looking at some major production and cash flow growth in the coming years. At least some of this is likely to be reinvested in the business. Noble has exploratory assets in areas like the Faulklands and Western Africa that are worth drilling and should further expand the company's reserve base. What's more, I believe further development and exploration around existing properties in Colorado and Israel is likely to significantly grow the reserve base over the coming years.

A Smart Player
It's not just Noble's reserves and debt-adjusted growth potential that appeal to me. I also like how management structures the company with respect to risk and return maximization.

The company's Wattenberg resources require more expensive drilling procedures (fracking and so on), but experience has generally shown that you get what you pay for – skimping on stages or proppant hurts overall returns. So here is a case where they need to spend money to make money.

On the other hand, the company has de-risked both its Israel and Marcellus assets. Through its Marcellus joint venture with CONSOL (NYSE:CNX), Noble's obligation to help pay for drilling (the "carry payments") are suspended when natural gas prices are below $4. In Israel, Noble has sold part of its interest to Woodside to not only reduce its capital commitment and diversify risk, but also bring in a company with significant experience in the natural gas world.

The Bottom Line
The only hang-up for me with Noble is what the proper multiple to pay may be. Noble clearly trades at an EV/EBTIDA premium to its comp group, which seems reasonable given its above-average growth potential. Still, it's a question of degree – if Apache is trading below 4x its forward EBITDA and Anadarko and EOG around 5x, what's the right number for Noble? Based on the history of the sector, I'd say 6.5x is about as far as it should go (which suggests a $67 fair value), but then Noble is clearly on the very high end of "above average" in terms of its prospects.

In any case, I would point out that investors may also want to check out high-quality names like Apache, Anadarko, EOG, and Whiting (NYSE:WLL) alongside Noble (with the second and fourth names also exposed to the Wattenberg). I do like Noble and I suspect this could be a case where loosening up on price/value discipline could pay off, but perhaps the shares need to cool off a bit first.

Budget 2013: Will gold shine brighter?

Budget this year would be very crucial not only for the commodities markets, but also for other financial markets and for the economy as whole as it is a last budget before 2014 elections. It is expected to be the most rigorous budget this time as India is trying to reduce its fiscal deficit and trying to skip the major credit downgrade. The prime target is to focus on reducing the spending by the government which has already been started and has reached almost 9 percent from the initial target. 

Out of these spending cuts the prime focus would be to reduce the imports of Gold and Oil which has been increasing the Fiscal deficit of the country tremendously. Already steps have been taken to reduce the imports of Gold and Oil, however the major factor which will play role to determine the direction of gold prices would be the fluctuation in Indian rupee after reforms announcements and demand for Gold in India, checking its safe haven appeal and inflation hedge appeal.

The rupee fluctuation has always been a crucial factor in determining Gold prices and it is well known that a weaker rupee can support the gold prices and vice versa. As expected if there are more spending cuts and reforms taken to boost the equity markets and debt markets we would see a possibility of rupee strengthening and pushing gold prices down.

Recently after a series of reforms taken by the government on gold import duty, rate cut and partial deregulation of diesel prices we saw a good fall in gold prices along with the strengthening of Indian rupee. The reforms opted to reduce the Fiscal Deficit will make INR stronger and gold prices weaker; at the same time the level and ways of reforms will also form a crucial part in deciding the fate of gold. In pre-budget discussion among the party the finance minister assured that by the spending cuts and other reforms economy can see a growth level of 6-7% in the coming fiscal year. Also, FinMin has already committed to a fiscal deficit of 4.8 percent of GDP in 2013-14 which indicates lesser spending and tightening of imports and stronger rupee. This means, more open markets for investors abroad, reduced spending, reduced fiscal deficit and stronger rupee. As this fiscal consolidation can improve the outlook of the economy it will also reduce the safe haven appeal for gold and reducing the demand for gold.

A positive outlook for an economy is always been an eye for an investors to go for riskier assets. Investors will focus more on open markets and will go with the flow. This means that an investor who was more prone to safe investment such as gold before would then opt for riskier assets such as equities, derivatives etc. to increase their disposable income. Gold's inflation hedge appeal and safe haven appeal would be dull marginally due to which prices can be moving down.

However, in India gold buying is a tradition. So buying will be seen in the later weeks when prices reach to an optimum level. So does this mean we should buy gold now? The clear answer would be, No. As budget is expected to be not Bullion friendly we recommend being on selling side rather than buying. Stronger rupee, lesser demand, reduced safe haven appeal, improving economy, expected controlled inflation and more open markets is expected to come from FinMin in the budget which can surely dent the gold prices. Adding fuel to the fire could be introduction of Commodity Transaction Tax(CTT), it will increase the cost to transact in commodities and reduce the demand for major commodities. At the same time we do not expect a boost in the gold demand as physical demand of gold in India and abroad is in slack. The demand for gold in 2012 was stagnant due to overall economic slowdown and in 2013 the demand for gold isn't looking that great either.

So our recommendation would be to Sell gold before budget at the price range of around INR30,450-30,500 and wait till prices reach near INR30,000-29,800. A possible buying can be seen at these levels post budget. As bargain hunters can support the prices at these levels along with the international gold price pressure. However if prices go beyond INR30,800 fresh buying can emerge.

The writer is a CEO at Emkay Commotrade

Why CVR Partners Is Poised to Bounce Back

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, nitrogen fertilizer producer CVR Partners (NYSE: UAN  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at CVR and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

CVR facts

Headquarters (founded)	Sugar Land, Texas (2007)
Market Cap	$1.8 billion
Hot Warren Buffett Companies To Watch For 2014 Industry	Fertilizers and agricultural chemicals
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$305.4 million
Management	CEO Byron Kelley (since 2011) CFO Susan Ball (since 2012)
Trailing-12-Month Return on Equity	24.8%
Cash/Debt	$153.2 million / $127.5 million
Dividend Yield	10%
Competitors	Agrium CF Industries Terra Nitrogen

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 99% of the 341 members who have rated CVR believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, All-Star PsychoDr, succinctly summed up the CVR bull case for our community:

I like the potential of this company. Their stock took a bit of a hit recently, but it had nothing to do with fundamentals. In fact recent earnings were depressed as company built out capacity to refine more [urea ammonium nitrate] than they had in the past. This is important because [urea ammonium nitrate] is the next step in fertilizer production and has significantly higher profit margin. I also like their dividend policy which I will leave for you to research.   

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a perfect five-star rating, CVR may not be your top choice.

If that's the case, we've compiled a special free report for investors called "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need," which uncovers a few other juicy income opportunities. The report is 100% free, but it won't be around forever, so click here to access it now.

4 Dividend Stocks Showing You the Money

Dividend checks continue to get fatter in Corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates. Readers of the Income Investor newsletter service can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking. Let's take a closer look at some of the companies that inched their payouts higher these past few days.

We can start with Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) . The world's leading PC maker surprised investors with a better-than-expected quarterly report, and it's sharing the wealth. HP's new rate of $0.1452 a share is a 10% increase to its earlier rate.

HP had come through with springtime increases in the two prior years, but it seemed as if the streak would end, given the sluggish state of global PC sales lately. HP came through for its patient stakeholders.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT  ) is also flowing more freely with its distributions. The trust's new rate of $0.088488 per unit may seem to be a numerical stretch, but it's a healthy 45% pop from its prior monthly payout. Increased oil production and higher oil prices helped the company generate more money that it passes on to its investors.

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV  ) , a maker of oil and gas drilling and oilfield services equipment, doubled its quarterly dividend to $0.26 a share.

"This dividend increase reflects the company's strong financial condition and our confidence in our business going forward," its CEO states. Yes, payout increases -- even the ones less dramatic than National Oilwell Varco's outright doubling -- are strong signs of near-term confidence.

Finally we have American Tower (NYSE: AMT  ) connecting with its investors. The company builds antenna towers and then leases them out to wireless carriers and broadcasters. It reorganized as a REIT last year, and it has declared higher distributions every single quarter since. Things weren't any different this past week, as American Tower's new quarterly rate of $0.27 a share is 4% ahead of what it shelled out just three months earlier.

Checks and balances
Income Investor subscribers pay attention when companies send more and more money to their investors. The newsletter service specializes in identifying companies that are committed to growing their distributions with market-thumping results. A 30-day trial subscription will let you see whether the service is right for you.

If you're an investor who prefers returns to rhetoric, you'll want to read The Motley Fool's new free report "5 Dividend Myths ... Busted!" In it, you'll learn which stocks provide premium growth and whether bigger dividends are better. Click here to keep reading.

3 Useless Stock Statistics You Need to Avoid

Studies show that 75% of all stock market statistics are useless at best -- and dangerous at worst. Sifting through analysis can be tough for individual investors, and more information can be an enemy of level-headed investing decisions. Here are three stock statistics that should always be taken with a grain of salt and a pinch of perspective.

3. Gross margins
Gross margins are the easiest answer to the question: How much did it cost a company to sell its product? Gross margins don't take into account overhead, variable costs, depreciation, taxes, or a variety of other expenses that add up (or really subtract down) to calculate net profit.

For a networking and communications company like Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU  ) , its gross profit margin clocks in at 30%. That means Alcatel spends $0.70 of every dollar in sales on selling its product. But while the company's gross margins have slumped around 3% in the last year, operating margins have dropped nearly 10%, and profit margins are down almost 25%.

ALU Gross Profit Margin TTM data by YCharts.

Different products renders cross-sector comparison useless, and sector-specific investing decisions should ultimately have little do to with gross margins. Although they give investors an idea of each corporations' selling "starting point," Alcatel clearly shows that operating margins or net profit margins ultimately provide a clearer picture of a company's trending value proposition.

2. Employee-to-sales ratio
Every day of our lives, we see examples of inefficient labor. From loitering construction workers to extra-long coffee breaks at the office, investors know that people's productivity matters.

But unless a company's profits are nearly exclusively labor-dependent (think massage parlor -- no, not that type of massage parlor), there are better stats to rattle off than how many sales an employee accounted for.

Take SUPERVALU  (NYSE: SVU  ) and Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM  ) . Both corporations are consumer-facing retail grocery stores, offering similar products through similar sales models. SUPERVALU has 35,000 full time employees, while Whole Foods employs 74,000 people, more than double that of its competitor. Yet Whole Foods' $11.7 billion in 2012 revenue put sales at $158,108 per head, while SUPERVALU's $17.1 billion equates to $488,571 per employee.

And for the same year, Whole Foods pulled in $466 million in net profit while SUPERVALU reported a not-so-super $1.47 billion loss. That means Whole Foods ended up making $6,297 per worker, while SUPERVALU lost $41,996 per employee.

Many businesses have moved beyond employee-driven models. Herbalife's (NYSE: HLF  ) sales model allows 2.5 million independent distributors to market its products across 80 countries, but the company has only 6,200 full-time employees on its books. With $4 billion in 2012 revenue, that puts sales per employee at either $1,629 per distributor or $656,827 per full-time worker -- depending on your calculation.

1. Share price
It's not a typo: Share price means absolutely nothing to investors -- by itself. A company's value in the stock market is determined by two key factors -- share price and number of shares – and neither number means anything without the other.

Consider the two most valuable corporations in the world: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and ExxonMobil. Exxon's $405 billion market cap beats out Apple by $3 billion, but shares of the oil company trade at just $90 compared with Apple's $430. But value evens out when you account for the fact that Exxon investors collectively own 4.45 billion shares, while Apple's allotted just 940 million.

Apple's latest earnings report points to an additional share-price flaw. CEO Tim Cook announced that the company will devote $60 billion to share buybacks, the equivalent of 15% of Apple's current market cap. Shareholders will also enjoy larger dividend distributions, another value add that's disconnected from share price.

All information is not created equal
There's a lot of information out there, and it's up to individual investors to use it wisely. Don't be swayed by skewed statistics, and don't be afraid to fall back on the fundamentals of investing. At the core of every purchase, we should be putting our money behind fairly priced companies with value-adding business models. If you can do that, you'll be well on your way to pulling sizable and sustainable profits for your portfolio.

Analysts are in a stock statistic stalemate over Apple's future. There's no doubt that Apple is at the center of technology's largest revolution ever and that longtime shareholders have been handsomely rewarded, with more than 1,000% gains. However, there is a debate raging as to whether Apple remains a buy. The Motley Fool's senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric Bleeker, is prepared to fill you in on reasons to buy and reasons to sell Apple and what opportunities are left for the company (and your portfolio) going forward. To get instant access to his latest thinking on Apple, simply click here now.

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More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool

The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock in our brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." I invite you to take a copy, free for a limited time. Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

4 Stocks Under $10 in Breakout Territory

 DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside today.

Empresas ICA

Empresas ICA (ICA) is engaged in a range of construction and related activities, including the construction of infrastructure facilities as well as industrial, urban and housing construction. This stock closed up 6.2% to $8.12 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $7.66-$8.24

52-Week Range: $6.14-$13.73

Tuesday's Volume: 965,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 719,832

From a technical perspective, ICA ripped higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $7.48 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $6.14 to its intraday high of $8.24. During that move, shares of ICA have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of ICA into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7.93 to $8.08.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ICA as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $7.48 and then once it sustains a move or close above Tuesday's high of $8.24 with volume that hits near or above 719,832 shares. If we get that move soon, then ICA will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $9 to its 200-day moving average at $10.05. Any high-volume move above its 200-day will then put $11 to $11.77 into range for shares of ICA.

Intevac

Intevac (IVAC) provides process manufacturing equipment solutions to the hard disk drive industry and high-productivity process manufacturing equipment and inspection solutions to the photovoltaic industry. This stock closed up 8.5% to $6.74 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $6.23-$6.75

52-Week Range: $4.06-$6.80

Tuesday's Volume: 263,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 140,032

From a technical perspective, IVAC soared higher here right off some near-term support at $6.25 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares moving higher from its low of $4.31 to its recent high of $6.80. During that move, shares of IVAC have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of IVAC within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if IVAC manages to take out its 52-week high at $6.80 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IVAC as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $6.25 or at $5.92 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 52-week high at $6.80 with volume that hits near or above 140,032 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then IVAC will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at $8 to $8.37. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put $9 to $9.36 within range for shares of IVAC.

National Bank of Greece

National Bank of Greece (NBG) is engaged in providing financial services, including retail and commercial banking, global investment management, investment banking, insurance, investment activities and securities trading. This stock closed up 2.5% to $3.61 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $3.49-$3.70

52-Week Range: $2.85-$32.50

Tuesday's Volume: 3.59 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 3.59 million

From a technical perspective, NBG bounced modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $3.20 with solid upside volume. This stock has been crushed over the last two months, with shares drooping from over $8 to its low of $2.85. Since that drop, the stock has started to stabilize and it's now moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if NBG manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $3.88 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NBG as long as it's trending above $3.20 and then once it sustains a move or close above $3.88 with volume that hits near or above 3.59 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then NBG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.47 to $5.63

Box Ships

Box Ships (TEU) is a shipping company focused on pursuing growth opportunities in the container shipping industry. This stock closed up 1.2% to $4.02 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $3.98-$4.05

52-Week Range: $3.51-$7.44

Thursday's Volume: 120,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 145,186

From a technical perspective, TEU trended modestly higher here right above its 50-day moving average at $3.91 with decent upside volume. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last six months, with shares dropping sharply from its high of $6 to its recent low of $3.51. The downside volatility for TEU recently stopped after it hit that $3.51 low and the stock has now started to spike higher and move back above its 50-day. Shares of TEU are now quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if TEU manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $4.19 to $4.50 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TEU as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $3.90 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 145,186 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then TEU will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.75 to $5.03. Any high-volume move above $5.03 will then put its next major overhead resistance levels at $5.71 to $5.84 within range for shares of TEU.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher today, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

Will These Numbers from Darling International Be Good Enough for You?

Darling International (NYSE: DAR  ) is expected to report Q1 earnings around May 7. 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 Darling International's revenues will grow 6.1% and EPS will grow 8.3%.

The average estimate for revenue is $410.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.26.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Darling International reported revenue of $424.9 million. GAAP reported sales were 1.4% lower than the prior-year quarter's $430.9 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.24. GAAP EPS of $0.24 for Q4 were 4.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.25 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 26.1%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 11.6%, 210 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.8%, much about the same as the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $1.69 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.16.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,200 members out of 1,227 rating the stock outperform, and 27 members rating it underperform. Among 273 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 268 give Darling International a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Darling International is outperform, with an average price target of $18.25.

Selling to fickle consumers is a tough business for Darling International or anyone else in the space. But some companies are better equipped to face the future than others. In a new report, we'll give you the rundown on three companies that are setting themselves up to dominate retail. Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add Darling International to My Watchlist.