Low customer confidence due to an adverse economic environment has affected supermarket operators, and tighter market competition over pricing has further eroded margins. However, as the economy slowly recovers, grocery stores are presented with an opportunity to improve performance and deliver profits. Let us look at the Safeway (SWY) and Kroger (KR), two supermarket operators, in order to discern which one offers better investment prospects.
Improvements Continue
The second largest supermarket operator in the U.S., Safeway, has sold its operations in Canada. To support its stores, the firm has developed an integrated network of manufacturing, processing and distribution network. The latest news indicates the firm has had a weak second quarter due to soft fuel sales, and ID sales remain weak.
Right now, Safeway has improved its performance thanks to the introduction of the loyalty program Just for U. The program has allowed the company to increase market share and total sales. Also, the firm has invested significant capital in the Lifestyle upgrade, given another push to market share growth. The upgrade means less capital investment and the opportunity to generate a higher cash flow. Additionally, the company has made increasing efforts to reduce cost with a focus on cost of goods sold and supply chain efficiencies, which is expected to improve its margins in the upcoming quarters.
Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: LSB Industries Inc (LXU)
LSB Industries, Inc., incorporated on January 21, 1977, is a diversified holding company involved in manufacturing and marketing operations through its subsidiaries. The Company together with its wholly owned subsidiaries owns Chemical Business and Climate Control Business. Chemical Business manufactures and sells nitrogen-based chemical products produced from four facilities located in El Dorado, Arkansas; Cherokee, Alabama; Pryor, Oklahoma, and Baytown, Texas for the agricultural, industrial, and mining markets. Climate Control Business manufactures and sells a range of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products in the niche markets the Company serves consisting of geothermal and water source heat pumps, hydronic fan coils, large custom air handlers, modular geothermal and other chillers and other related products used to control the environment in commercial/institutional and residential new building construction, renovation of existing buildings and replacement of existing systems. On October 31, 2012, Zena Energy LLC acquired working interests in certain natural gas properties located in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, within the Marcellus Shale.
Chemical Business
The Company�� products in the Chemical Business include high purity and commercial grade anhydrous ammonia for industrial and agricultural applications, industrial and fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate (AN), urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), sulfuric acids, nitric acids in various concentrations, nitrogen solutions, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and various other products. The Company�� Chemical Business is a supplier to chemical and industrial companies. Its other products include anhydrous ammonia, ammonium nitrate ammonia solution for agricultural applications, blended and regular nitric acid, mixed nitrating acids, and industrial grade AN and solutions for the mining industry. The Company sells hese agricultural products to farmers, ranchers, fertilizer dealers and distributors primarily in the ran! ch land and grain production markets in the United States. The Company�� Chemical Business establishes long-term relationships with wholesale agricultural distributors and retailers and also sells directly to agricultural end-users through its network of wholesale and retail distribution centers. The Company�� Chemical Business manufactures and sells industrial acids and other chemical products primarily to the polyurethane, paper, fibers, fuel additives, emission control, and electronics industries. Its Chemical Business is also a niche market supplier of industrial and high purity ammonia for many specialty applications, including the reduction of air emissions from power plants.
Climate Control Business
The Company�� Climate Control Business manufactures and sells a range of standard and custom designed geothermal and water source heat pumps and hydronic fan coils, as well as custom air handlers and modular chiller systems, including modular geothermal chillers and simultaneous heating and cooling modules. These products are for use in commercial/institutional and residential HVAC systems. Its products are installed in some of the commercial/institutional developments in the United States, including the Prudential Tower, Rockefeller Plaza, Trump Tower, Time Warner Center and many others. In addition, it has presence in the lodging sector with installations in numerous Hyatt, Marriott, Four Seasons, Starwood, Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotels, among others. Its Climate Control Business manufactures and distributes its products from seven facilities located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Company also provides geothermal heat pumps in residential and commercial/institutional applications. Its products are sold to the commercial/institutional markets, as well as single and multi-family residential new construction, renovation and replacements. The Company is a provider of hydronic fan coils targeting commercial and institutional markets. It manufactures its products in many! sizes an! d configurations, as required by the purchaser, to fit the space and capacity requirements of hotels, motels, schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, office buildings and other commercial/institutional or residential structures. The Climate Control Business sells its products primarily to mechanical contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors. Its Climate Control Business market includes commercial/institutional and residential new building construction, renovation of existing buildings and replacement of existing systems.
The Company competes with Agrium, CF Industries, Coffeyville Resources, Dyno Nobel, Koch, Potash Corporation, Yara International, Carrier, Trane, Nortek, McQuay, and Bosch.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
With a market cap of only $893 million, it's not like LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE:LXU) is the kind of company that garners a ton of attention. On the other hand, over the past several months, LXU has garnered far more attention than it likely wanted. The turbulence seems to be mostly behind it, however, and though the stock is now overbought thanks to the proverbial clearing of the dust, for long-haul investors, LSB Industries may be worth a closer look.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
LSB Industries (LXU) manufactures and sells geothermal and water source heat pumps and air handling products and chemical products. This stock closed up 4.6% at $33.72 in Friday's trading session.
Friday's Volume: 543,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 147,784
Volume % Change: 252%From a technical perspective, LXU ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $31.45 and back above its 50-day moving average of $32.51 with heavy upside volume. This stock also flirted with its 200-day moving average at $35.22, before closing just below that level at $33.72.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in LXU as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $32.51 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 200-day at $35.22 to Friday's high of $36 with volume that's near or above 147,784 shares. If we get that move soon, then LXU will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $40.37 to $42.79.
Top Supermarket Stocks To Watch Right Now: Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company(PHI)
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company provides telecommunication services in the Philippines. Its Wireless segment offers cellular mobile services; Internet broadband distribution and services; call center services; mobile applications development and services; software development and sale of maintenance and support services; mobile commerce solutions; mobile commerce platforms; mobile applications development and services; solutions and systems integration services; satellite communications services; and satellite information and messaging services. This segment also involves in the promotion of the sale and/or patronage of debit and/or charge cards; offshore financing and risk management activities for smart; international trade of satellites and global system for mobile communication, or GSM enabled global telecommunications; and delivery of GSM communication capability for the maritime sector, as well as operates as a content provider. The company?s Fixed Line s egment provides fixed line telecommunication services, such as local exchange, international long distance, national long distance, data and other network services, as well as infrastructure and related services. Its Information and Communications Technology segment offers integrated information and communications technology services focusing on infrastructure and solutions for Internet applications, Internet protocol based solutions, and multimedia content delivery. This segment also provides knowledge processing solutions, customer relationship management, Internet and online gaming services, and information technology consulting and professional services; and operates Internet data center under the Vitro brand name. As of December 31, 2010, the company had served approximately 49 million subscribers. It also resells software licenses, server solutions, networking products, storage products, and data security products. The company was founded in 1928 and is based in Makati City, the Philippines.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Yates]
The economy is also expected to recover quickly from the storm's devastation, making Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (NYSE: PHI) more attractive to long-term investors than other communications firms such as BCE (NYSE: BCE), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ).
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The mixed signals were apparent even among the S&P 500′s best performing stocks, including� Exelon (EXC), a utility that’s nearing completion of a merger with Pepco Holdings (PHI), and Priceline (PCLN), a high-flying internet stock that rose, well, because it could. Exelon gained 7.9% to $36.83 this week, while Priceline rose 6.8% to $1,278.63.
- [By David Dittman]
Question: What are your thoughts on Exelon Corp�� (NYSE: EXC) buyout of Pepco Holdings Inc (NYSE: PHI)?
Answer: It’s going to expand Exelon’s regulated operations, which is a good thing. And Pepco Holdings has been executing on a turnaround plan, with regulatory relations much improved.
Top Supermarket Stocks To Watch Right Now: Banner Corporation(BANR)
Banner Corporation operates as the holding company for Banner Bank and Islanders Bank that provide commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities. It generates various deposit instruments, including demand checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, certificates of deposit, cash management services, and retirement savings plans. The company also originates commercial business and commercial real estate loans, agricultural business loans, construction and land development loans, one to four-family residential loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it engages in mortgage banking operations primarily through the origination and sale of one to four-family residential loans. As of December 31, 2010, Banner Bank operated 86 branch offices and 7 loan production offices in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; and Islanders Bank conducted business from 3 locations in San Juan County, Washington. The company was founded in 1890 and is based in Walla Walla, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
Bank-holding company Banner Corp.(BANR) on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy Home Federal Bancorp Inc.(HFBL) (HOME) for $197 million in cash and stock. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, will result in a combined company with about $5.2 billion in assets, making it the fourth-largest bank in the Pacific Northwest by assets, the companies said.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Bank holding company Banner (BANR) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 18 cents per share, payable April 15 to shareholders or record as of April 7.
BANR Dividend Yield: 1.75%
Top Supermarket Stocks To Watch Right Now: Electro Rent Corporation(ELRC)
Electro Rent Corporation engages in the rental, lease, and sale of new and used electronic test and measurement equipment. Its equipment portfolio consists of general purpose test and measurement instruments; personal computers, workstations, and servers; and electrical test equipment and inspection equipment. The company rents or leases its equipment primarily to companies operating in the aerospace, defense, telecommunications, electronics, and semiconductor industries. Electro Rent Corporation serves its customers through sales offices, and calibration and service centers in the United States, Canada, China, and Europe. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Van Nuys, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Electro Rent (Nasdaq: ELRC ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top Supermarket Stocks To Watch Right Now: Agility Public Warehousing Co KSC (AGLTY)
Agility Public Warehousing Company KSC is a Kuwait-based company engaged, along with its subsidiaries, in the provision of global integrated logistics solutions. The Company is organized into two business segments: the Logistic and Related services segment provides logistics offering to its clients, including freight forwarding, transportation, contract logistics, project logistics and fairs and events logistics, and the Infrastructure segment provides other services, which include industrial real estate airport and airplane ground handling and cleaning services, customs consulting, private equity and waste recycling. The Company operates under the brand name of Agility. The Company�� subsidiaries include Global Express Transport Co. WLL, PWC Transport Company WLL, Agility DGS Logistics Services KSCC and Gulf Catering Company for General, among others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Fiona MacDonald]
The Kuwait SE Price Index rose for a sixth day, climbing 0.5 percent to 6,851.17 at the close. Kuwait Real Estate Co. (KRE) climbed to the highest level in a month. Agility (AGLTY) advanced 1.7 percent after winning a $190 million UN contract in Sudan�� Darfur region. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the biggest 200 companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, fell 0.1 percent.
Top Supermarket Stocks To Watch Right Now: Alvarion Ltd.(ALVR)
Alvarion Ltd. supplies top-tier carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), and private network operators with solutions based on the worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standard, as well as other wireless broadband solutions. The company provides WiMAX and non-WiMAX wireless broadband systems, and launched 250 commercial WiMAX deployments worldwide. Its solutions are designed to cover a range of frequency bands with fixed, portable, and mobile applications to enable the delivery of personal broadband services, business and residential broadband access, corporate virtual private network (VPN), toll quality telephony, mobile base station feeding, hotspot coverage extension, and services for various vertical markets, such as municipalities, public safety, mining, utilities, video surveillance, and border control. The company?s business mainly focuses on solutions, based on the WiMAX standard, that are used for primary wireless broadband access. In addit ion, Alvarion sells its non-WiMAX products, which address point-to-point and point-to-multipoint architectures for various end-user profiles, including residential, small office/home office, small/medium enterprises, multi-tenant/multi-dwelling units, and large enterprises, as well as provides network management solutions for its wireless solutions. Its solutions provide high-speed wireless ?last mile? connection to the Internet for homes and businesses in both developed and emerging markets. The company was formerly known as BreezeCOM Ltd. and changed its name to Alvarion Ltd. as result of merger with Floware Wireless Systems Ltd. in August 2001. Alvarion Ltd. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Alvarion (NASDAQ: ALVR ) is now on the hunt for a new chief executive. Hezi Lapid has resigned as CEO, although he will stay in the position until "such time that a smooth transition is completed," the company said in a press release announcing the move.
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