Small cap construction software stock Textura Corp (NYSE: TXTR) has been all over the place lately, meaning it might be time to take a look at it along with other small cap or mid cap construction, design or real estate software stocks like RealPage, Inc (NASDAQ: RP) and more well known Autodesk, Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK). After all, enterprise software stocks like these would offer a more indirect way to bet on a housing or construction ��ecovery,���ust like building materials stocks; plus earlier this summer,�a benchmark global study (sponsored by Textura Corp) called Global Construction 2025 predicted that the global construction market will grow by more than 70% to reach $15 trillion by 2025.�
With that in mind, here is a look at three�important software�players in the construction or real estate market: �
10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Watch Right Now: Koninklijke Ahold NV (AHONY)
Koninklijke Ahold N.V. (Ahold), incorporated on April 29, 1920, is engaged in the operation of retail food stores in the United States and Europe through subsidiaries and joint ventures. Ahold�� retail operations are presented in four segments: Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover, Giant-Carlisle, Albert Heijn and Albert/Hypernova. During the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010 (fiscal 2009), it operated 2,909 stores. On February 8, 2010, Ahold�� Giant-Carlisle acquired 25 stores from Ukrop�� Super Markets.
Franchisees operated 783 of the Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall stores, 463 of which were either owned by the franchisees or leased independently from Ahold. Of the 2,446 stores, 20% were company-owned and 80% were leased. Ahold�� stores range in size from 20 to over 10,000 square meters. Albert Heijn is a food retailer in the Netherlands. Etos is a health and beauty retailer in the Netherlands. Gall & Gall is a wine and liquor specialist in the Netherlands. Stop & Shop is a supermarket brand, operating in six states in the northeast United States. Giant-Landover is a supermarket brand, operating in four states in the mid-Atlantic United States. Peapod is an online grocery delivery service working in partnership with Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover. It also serves the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, and the northern areas of Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
As mentioned, Kroger is still swallowing Harris Teeter and has said it needs time to make more acquisitions. Royal Ahold (NASDAQOTH: AHONY ) is also said to be leery about doing large acquisitions these days, while Cerberus recently finished acquiring the Albertsons and Acme chains from SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU ) �for $3.3 billion.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2014: Spherix Inc (SPEX)
Spherix Incorporated (Spherix), incorporated on May 1, 1992, is a scientific research company. The Company is engaged in developing biopharmaceutical products and providing technical and regulatory consulting services to food, consumer products and pharmaceutical companies. The Company operates in two segments: Biospherics Incorporated (Biospherics), the Company's biotechnology research and development business, and Health Sciences, a technical and regulatory consulting business. The Company has created two wholly owned subsidiaries, Biospherics Incorporated and Spherix Consulting, Inc. (Spherix Consulting), for its two operating segments. The Company's Health Sciences contracts are in the name of Spherix Consulting, and the Company's patents are in the name of Biospherics Incorporated. Spherix provides management, strategic guidance, business development, marketing and other services to its subsidiaries. In September 2013, Spherix Incorporated closed on the acquisition of North South Holdings Inc.
Biospherics
The Company focuses its studies on treating high triglycerides and other dyslipidemias with a combination of D-tagatose and SPX-106, a licensed drug compound, which combination is referred to as SPX-106T. Spherix Consulting provides scientific and strategic support for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers of conventional foods, biotechnology-derived foods, medical foods, infant formulas, food ingredients, dietary supplements, food contact substances, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer products, and industrial chemicals and pesticides. Biospherics has also completed a global Phase III clinical trial investigating the use of D-Tagatose, a stereoisomer of fructose, as a treatment for glycemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Health Sciences
The Company's Health Sciences business provides technical and regulatory consulting services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as providing technical suppo! rt for its research and development activities. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Health Sciences provided services to 20 companies. The projects range from safety analyses of food ingredients to safety analyses of pharmaceutical manufacturing and dispensing equipment. Health Sciences is also monitoring and directing the clinical trials for Biospherics.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]
SPEX: Spherix Inc. (SPEX) �shares rose 5% after the intellectual property development company said it had completed a $20 million equity financing that involved selling 10 million shares of convertible preferred stock.
- [By Susan Decker]
In more than two decades as a publicly-traded company, Spherix Inc. (SPEX) developed diabetes treatments, marketed a low-calorie sweetener and handled campground reservations. Now it�� dealing in something completely different: patents.
- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap medical device or biotech related stocks Therapeutic Solutions International Inc (OTCMKTS: TSOI), diaDexus, Inc (OTCMKTS: DDXS) and Spherix Inc (NASDAQ: SPEX) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters with the good news being that it appears none are the subject of paid promotions from stock promoters. So why are these three stocks all of a sudden getting some attention and what else do you need to know about them before you make a short or a long term bet on one? Here is a closer look at the whole picture and what you might be missing:
Best Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2014: THL Credit Inc.(TCRD)
THL Credit, Inc. is a private equity and mezzanine firm specializing in mature, bridge, PIPES, industry consolidation, acquisition, recapitalization, change of control transactions, and growth capital investments in both sponsored and unsponsored middle-market companies. It provides junior debt and equity to both private and public companies. The firm also invests in privately negotiated subordinated debt securities such as warrants. It seeks to invest in outsourced business services, healthcare, financials, retailing, media, and consumer discretionary. The firm prefers to invest between $10 million and $50 million in the form of debt in companies that have annual revenues between $25 million and $500 million and with an EBITA of minimum $5 million. It prefers to be a lead or sole investor in a transaction. The firm also seeks board representation in its portfolio companies. THL Credit, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts with additional offices in Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
THL Credit (NASDAQ: TCRD ) stands to gross nearly $100 million in new financing if a fresh stock offering goes as planned. The company announced it's floating 6.6 million shares of its common stock at $14.62 apiece in an underwritten public offering. Additionally, its underwriters have been granted a 30-day purchase option for up to an additional 990,000 shares.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2014: Telephone and Data Systems Inc.(TDS)
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a diversified telecommunications service company, provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services in the United States. The company?s wireless services comprise postpaid and prepaid service plans, which consist of voice minutes, messaging, and data services; national consumer plans; business rate plans; smartphone messaging, data, and Internet services to access the Web, e-mail, social network sites, text, picture and video messages, and turn-by-turn GPS navigation, as well as to browse and download various applications; and data services, including news, weather, sports information, games, ring tones, and other services. It provides wireless devices, such as handsets, modems, and tablets; and a range of accessories comprising carrying cases, hands-free devices, batteries, battery chargers, and memory cards, as well as wireless device repair services. The company also offers voice services, including local and long-distance tel ephone service, voice over Internet protocol, voice mail, caller ID, and call forwarding services; broadband services comprising digital subscriber lines and other high-speed Internet data services; network access services; hosted and managed services consisting of co-location, hosting, hosted application management, and cloud computing services; and satellite and terrestrial video services to commercial and residential customers and carriers. In addition, it provides printing and distribution services. As of December 31, 2011, the company served approximately 5.9 million wireless customers and 1.1 million wireline equivalent access lines. It sells its products through retail sales and service centers, direct sales, and independent agents, as well as through Website and telesales. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE: TDS ) is phoning home another shareholder payout. The company has declared a dividend for its Q2, which will be $0.1275 per share of its common stock, paid on June 28 to shareholders of record as of June 14. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution that was disbursed at the end of March. Prior to that, the firm paid $0.1225 per share.
Best Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2014: Abbott Laboratories(ABT)
Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of health care products worldwide. The company offers adult and pediatric pharmaceuticals for rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, and Crohn's disease; dyslipidemia; HIV infection; prostate cancer, endometriosis and central precocious puberty, and anemia caused by uterine fibroids; respiratory syncytial virus; adult males who have low or no testosterone; secondary hyperparathyroidism; hypothyroidism; and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, as well as anesthesia products. It also provides diagnostic products, such as immunoassay systems; chemistry systems; assays used for screening and/or diagnosis for drugs of abuse, cancer, therapeutic drug monitoring, fertility, physiological, and infectious diseases; instruments that automate the extraction, purification, and preparation of DNA and RNA from patient samples, and detect and measure infections agents; genomic-b ased tests; hematology systems and reagents; and point-of-care diagnostic systems and tests for blood analysis. In addition, the company offers a line of pediatric and adult nutritional products. Further, it provides coronary, endovascular, vessel closure, and structural heart devices, such as drug-eluting stent systems, coronary metallic stents, balloon dilatation products, coronary guidewires, vessel closure devices, carotid stent systems, percutaneous valve repair systems, and drug eluting bioresorbable vascular products. Additionally, the company provides blood glucose monitoring meters, test strips, data management software, and accessories for people with diabetes; and medical devices for the eye, including cataract surgery, lasik surgery, contact lens, and dry eye products, as well as branded generic pharmaceutical products. Abbott primarily serves retailers, wholesalers, hospitals, and health care facilities. Abbott was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Victor Selva]
As we can see, the firm has a lower ROE than Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) and CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS).
Final Comment
- [By Dan Carroll]
Picking the best dividend stocks isn't just a matter of finding the highest-yielding picks. Top dividend stocks mix stable, profitable companies with dividends that will pay rewards for the long run. Two well-recognized diversified health care companies certainly meet the criteria for stability and profitability: Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT ) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ) . These are two of the biggest names in health care, and each sports a compelling reason for picking its dividend.
- [By Rich Smith]
Don't look now, but Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT ) is about to buy itself a bit more growth.
Simultaneous with its announcement of a $310 million acquisition in the vascular stent space Monday, Abbott also announced that it will be spending a further $250 million -- and perhaps as much as $400 million with subsequent milestone payments -- to acquire privately held cataract surgical equipment maker OptiMedica.
- [By Sean Williams]
The other two I'd throw into the sustainable column are Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT ) . J&J, as I noted, is a pharmaceutical and personal-products behemoth as well, so it can offer an investor a lot more diversification beyond just medical devices. But for the sake of argument, I'm focusing strictly on medical devices here. The same goes for Abbott Labs, which can offer investors the opportunity of mitigating some of their investing risk with the security of generic-pharmaceutical sales. In the fourth quarter of 2012, for example, the company's pharmaceutical and nutritional operations contributed to 76% of total sales, leaving its diagnostic and device business on the back burner.
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