Friday, August 8, 2014

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now

In this segment of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss second-quarter earnings from Regions Financial (NYSE: RF  ) and give their takes on some other regional banks.

While Regions Financial and Huntington Bancshares seem to be stuck in neutral, PNC Financial Services appears to be well-positioned and poised to grab market share.

More outlook on the banking sector from The Motley Fool
Many investors are terrified about investing in big banking stocks after the crash, but the sector has one notable stand-out. In a sea of mismanaged and dangerous peers, it rises above as "The Only Big Bank Built to Last." You can uncover the top pick that Warren Buffett loves in The Motley Fool's�new report. It's free, so click here to access it now.

You can follow�David�and�Matt�on Twitter.

Top Japanese Companies To Invest In 2015: Santander Mexico Financial Group SAB de CV (BSMX)

Santander Mexico Financial Group SAB de CV, formerly Grupo Financiero Santander SAB de CV, is a Mexico-based financial institution. The Company is primarily engaged, through its subsidiaries, in the provision of multiple banking services, securities brokerage, financial advice services, as well as other related investment activities. The Company offers its services to both, individual and corporate clients. The Company owns such principal subsidiaries as Banco Santander (Mexico) SA, Casa de Bolsa Santander SA de CV and Zurich Santander Seguros Mexico S.A. In December, 2013, the Company concluded the sale of Gestion Santander SA de CV's shares, as a result of the agreement reached with its parent company, Banco Santander SA. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    ING's (NYSE: ING  ) Latin American operations will soon be one division lighter. The company announced it reached an agreement to sell its mortgage business in Mexico to�Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico (NYSE: BSMX  ) , the local presence of Spanish financial group Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN  ) . The price was 643 million pesos ($51 million), according to Mexico City newspaper La Cronica de Hoy.

  • [By Dan Burrows]

    The current economic and political environment makes it hard to see what possible catalyst could pull EBR stock out of negative territory any time soon. EBR’s payouts have been erratic, so the stock’s dividend yield is basically a roll of the dice. Worst of all, EBB still has no profits. For dividend stocks, that’s another dealbreaker.

    Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico (BSMX)

    Market Cap: $14.9 billion
    Dividend Yield: 11.4%
    YTD Price Performance: -20%

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT)

Chatham Lodging Trust is a hotel investment company. The Company was formed to invest in extended-stay, select-service and full-service hotels. The Company focuses on investing in select-service hotels, such as Courtyard by Marriott, Hampton Inn and Hampton Inn and Suites. In addition, Chatham Lodging Trust focuses on investing in branded full-service hotels. In October 2011, the Company and affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., acquired 64 hotels from affiliates of Innkeepers USA Trust. In June 2013, Chatham Lodging Trust announced that has completed its acquisition of the 178-room Hyatt Place Pittsburgh/North Shore in Pittsburgh, Pa. Effective August 13, 2013, Chatham Lodging Trust acquired Hampton Inn & Suites, an owner and operator of hotels. In October 2013, Chatham Lodging Trust acquired Hilton Garden Inn Denver Tech Center. In November 2013, Chatham Lodging Trust acquired the 231-room Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle Bellevue/Downtown. In December 2013, Chatham Lodging Trust acquired the 160-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott Savannah Downtown/Historic District.

The Company focuses on investing primarily in hotels in the metropolitan markets in the United States. The Company has not entered into any contracts to acquire hotel properties or other assets.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By , Zacks Investment Research]

    Here are five�stocks that made it through this week’s screen:

    AmTrust Financial (AFSI) Allied World Assurance (AWH) Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) Federated National Holding Co. (FNHC) Whitewave Foods (WWAV)

    Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start screening for these companies on your own.

  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Luxury, extended-stay hotel operator�Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT  ) announced this morning�its dividend for the month of June of $0.07 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past five months after switching over to a monthly payment schedule.�

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: Varian Medical Systems Inc.(VAR)

Varian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services equipment and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and brachytherapy worldwide. Its Oncology Systems segment offers products, such as linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment simulation and verification equipment, and accessories; and information management, treatment planning, and image processing software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, doctors? offices, and cancer care clinics. The company?s X-ray Products segment provides x-ray tubes for use in a range of applications, including computed tomography scanning, radiographic or fluoroscopic imaging, mammography, special procedures, and industrial applications; and flat panel digital image detectors for filmless x-ray imaging. It sells t hese products to imaging systems original equipment manufacturers that incorporate them into their medical diagnostic, dental, veterinary, and industrial imaging systems; independent service companies; and directly to end-users. The company also designs, manufactures, sells, and services Linatron x-ray accelerators, imaging processing software, and image detection products for security and inspection purposes, such as cargo screening at ports and borders, and nondestructive examination in various applications. In addition, it develops products and systems for delivering proton therapy; and technologies in the areas of digital X-ray imaging technology, volumetric and functional imaging, improved X-ray sources, and technology for security and cargo screening applications. The company was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto , California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.12 per share on revenue of $779.02 million.

    Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.28 per share on revenue of $3.18 billion.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Basic guidelines
    In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Varian Medical Systems doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, not so great. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 7.2%, and inventory increased 13.0%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks decent. Revenue grew 6.7%, and inventory increased 13.0%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks healthy. Revenue grew 13.3%, and inventory grew 0.6%.

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (CLV)

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. is an international mining and natural resources company. The Company is an iron ore producer and a producer of metallurgical coal. The Company�� operations are organized according to product category and geographic location: U.S. Iron Ore, Eastern Canadian Iron Ore, North American Coal, Asia Pacific Iron Ore, Asia Pacific Coal, Latin American Iron Ore, Ferroalloys, and its Global Exploration Group. The Company operates in four segments: U.S. Iron Ore, Eastern Canadian Iron Ore, North American Coal and Asia Pacific Iron Ore. In the United States, it operates five iron ore mines in Michigan and Minnesota, five metallurgical coal mines located in West Virginia and Alabama and one thermal coal mine located in West Virginia. It also operates two iron ore mines in Eastern Canada that primarily provide iron ore to the seaborne market for Asian steel producers. Its Asia Pacific operations include two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia, serving the Asian iron ore markets with direct-shipping fines and lump ore, and a 45% interest in a coking and thermal coal mine located in Queensland, Australia. In Latin America, it has a 30% interest in Amapa, a Brazilian iron ore project, and in Ontario, Canada, it has a chromite project in the pre-feasibility stage of exploration. On May 12, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mining Limited.

U.S. Iron Ore and Eastern Canadian Iron Ore

The Company is a global iron ore producer, primarily selling production from U.S. Iron Ore to integrated steel companies in the United States and Canada, and production from Eastern Canadian Iron Ore to the seaborne market for Asian steel producers. The Company manages and operates five iron ore mines located in Michigan and Minnesota and two iron ore mines in Eastern Canada. As of December 31, 2011, the United States-based mines and one of the mines in Eastern Canada had an annual rated capacity of 38.5 million gross tons of iron or! e pellet production. The second iron ore mine that the Company manages and operates in Eastern Canada had an annual rated capacity of 8.0 million gross tons of iron ore concentrate as of December 31, 2011. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced a total of 31.0 million tons of iron ore pellets at U.S. Iron Ore, including 23.7 million tons for its account and 7.3 million tons on behalf of steel company partners of the mines.

At Eastern Canadian Iron Ore, it produced a total of 6.9 million metric tons of iron ore pellets and concentrate during 2011, with concentrate production measured from the date of its acquisition of Consolidated Thompson in 2011. The Company produces various grades of iron ore pellets, including standard, fluxed and high manganese, for use in its customers��blast furnaces as part of the steelmaking process. As of December 31, 2011, it had approximately 1.2 million tons of pellets, respectively, in inventory at lower lakes or customers��facilities. During 2011, the Company sold 24.2 million tons of iron ore pellets, respectively, from its share of the production from the Company�� U.S. Iron Ore mines. Its Eastern Canadian Iron Ore revenues are derived from sales of iron ore pellets and concentrate to the seaborne market for Asian steel producers. The iron ore pellets produced by Eastern Canadian Iron Ore are sold to various customers. During 2011, the Company sold 7.4 million metric tons of iron ore pellets and concentrate, respectively, from its Eastern Canadian Iron Ore mines.

North American Coal

The Company owns and operates five metallurgical coal mines located in West Virginia and Alabama and one thermal coal mine located in West Virginia that had a rated capacity of 9.4 million tons of production annually in 2011. In 2011, the Company sold a total of 4.2 million tons. North American Coal�� metallurgical coal production is sold to global integrated steel and coke producers in Europe, Latin America and North Am! erica, an! d its thermal coal production is sold to energy companies and distributors in North America and Europe.

Asia Pacific Iron Ore

The Company�� Asia Pacific Iron Ore operations are located in Western Australia and include its wholly owned Koolyanobbing complex and its 50% interest in Cockatoo Island. Production in 2011, was 8.9 million metric tons. These two operations supply a total of three direct-shipping export products to Asia via the global seaborne trade market. Koolyanobbing produces a standard lump and fines product. Cockatoo Island produces a single premium fines product. The lump products are directly fed to blast furnaces, while the fines products are used as sinter feed. Koolyanobbing is a collective term for the operating deposits at Koolyanobbing, Mount Jackson and Windarling. There are approximately 60 miles separating the three mining areas. Cockatoo Island is located off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia, approximately 1,200 miles north of Perth Cockatoo Island produces a single high-grade iron ore product known as Cockatoo Island Premium Fines. During 2011, it sold 8.6 million metric tons of iron ore from its Western Australia mines.

The Company competes with ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, U.S. Steel Canada Inc., Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., Patriot Coal Corporation, CONSOL Energy Inc., Arch Coal, Inc., Walter Energy, Inc., Peabody Energy Corp. Anglo, BHP and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Rio Tinto plc, Vale, BHP, Teck Resources Limited and Xstrata plc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Henry Nyce]

    Cliffs Natural Resources (CLV) closed at $18.55 yesterday. At that price CLV offers 10.5% per share. Originally offered at $25.00 per share, CLV can now be purchased well below the offering price. It is designed to pay distributions of 7.00% per annum ($1.75 per annum or $0.4375 per quarter) to be paid quarterly on 2/1, 5/1, 8/1 & 11/1 to holders of record on the immediately preceding 1/15, 4/15, 7/15 & 10/15 respectively.

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: Washington Real Estate Investment Trust(WRE)

Washington Real Estate Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust (REIT). The company engages in the ownership, operation, and development of real properties. The firm invests in real estate markets of the greater Washington D.C. metro region. It focuses on office, medical office, industrial/flex space, retail, and multifamily real estate investments. Washington Real Estate Investment Trust was founded in 1960 and is based in Rockville, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Commercial and residential income-producing property REIT�Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: WRE  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.30 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past four quarters.

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: On Assignment Inc.(ASGN)

On Assignment, Inc., a diversified professional staffing firm, provides flexible and permanent staffing solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company?s Life Sciences segment provides contract and permanent life science professionals to clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, personal care, chemical, medical device, automotive, municipal, education, and environmental industries. Its contract professionals include chemists, clinical research associates, clinical lab assistants, engineers, biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, molecular biologists, biostatisticians, drug safety specialists, SAS programmers, medical writers, food scientists, regulatory affairs specialists, lab assistants, and other skilled scientific professionals. The company?s Healthcare segment offers locally-based and traveling contract professionals that include nurses, specialty nurses, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, imaging technicians, X-ray technicians, medical technologists, medical assistants, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, respiratory therapists, phlebotomists, coders, billers, claims processors, and collections staff, as well as dental professionals. This segment serves hospitals, integrated delivery systems, imaging centers, clinics, physician offices, reference laboratories, universities, managed care organizations, and third-party administrators. Its Physician segment provides short and long-term locum tenens services, and full-service physician search and consulting services. The company?s IT and Engineering segment offers high-end contract and direct placement services of information technology and engineering professionals with expertise in specialized information technology; software and hardware engineering; and mechanical, electrical, validation, and telecommunications engineering fields. On Assignment, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Calabasas, Cali fornia.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    © 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

      Most Popular Are Massive Xbox One 'Titanfall' Sales To Blame For Xbox 360 Game Delay? Warren Buffett's Conflicting Bitcoin Views Marijuana Economy Has Plenty Of Room To Grow Fox On Stocks' 17-Year-Old Rachel Fox Teaches A New Generation How To Trade Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; FedEx Profit Misses Estimates Five Star Stock Watch: Herbalife Related Articles (ASBC + ASGN)
  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    What: Shares of professional staffing firm On Assignment (NYSE: ASGN  ) popped 11% today after its quarterly results and guidance topped Wall Street expectations.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Despite a lukewarm economy and jobs situation, the staffing industry along with small cap staffing stocks like On Assignment, Inc (NYSE: ASGN), Kforce Inc (NASDAQ: KFRC) and up and coming Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (OTCBB: STAF) have actually put in pretty decent performances since the end of the financial crisis. I should mention that globally, staffing companies generate about $280 billion in annual revenue and there�are approximately 70,000 private employment services agencies around the world with the top 10 companies accounting for about a third of total industry sales while in the USA there are an estimated 15,000 staffing companies generating less than $20 million in revenues. Overall, Europe is the largest regional staffing services market with 40% of annual revenue, followed by the United States.

  • [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 On Assignment (NYSE: ASGN  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: Middlesex Water Co (MSEX)

Middlesex Water Company (Middlesex), incorporated in 1897, is a water utility company. The Company owns and operates regulated water utility and wastewater systems in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Middlesex also operates water and wastewater systems under contract on behalf of municipal and private clients in New Jersey and Delaware. It operates in two segments: Regulated and Non-Regulated. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its Regulated segment contributed approximately 90% of total revenues. The Regulated segment consists of collecting, treating and distributing water on a retail and wholesale basis to residential, commercial, industrial and fire protection customers in parts of New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This segment also includes regulated wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware. The Non-Regulated segment consists of non-regulated contract services for the operation and maintenance of municipal and private water and wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware.

The Company�� subsidiaries include Tidewater Utilities, Inc. (Tidewater) and Tidewater�� wholly owned subsidiaries, Southern Shores Water Company, LLC (Southern Shores) and White Marsh Environmental Systems, Inc. (White Marsh). Its other subsidiaries are Pinelands Water Company (Pinelands Water) and Pinelands Wastewater Company (Pinelands Wastewater) (collectively, Pinelands), Utility Service Affiliates, Inc. (USA), Utility Service Affiliates (Perth Amboy) Inc., (USA-PA), Tidewater Environmental Services, Inc. (TESI) and Twin Lakes Utilities, Inc. (Twin Lakes).

Middlesex System

The Middlesex System in New Jersey provides water services to approximately 60,000 retail customers, primarily in eastern Middlesex County, New Jersey and provides water under wholesale contracts to the City of Rahway, Townships of Edison and Marlboro, the Boroughs of Highland Park and Sayreville and the Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority. The Middlesex System treats, stores and dis! tributes water for residential, commercial, industrial and fire prevention purposes. The Middlesex System also provides water treatment and pumping services to the Township of East Brunswick under contract. The Middlesex System produced approximately 64% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues.

The Middlesex System�� retail customers are located in an area of approximately 55 square miles in Woodbridge Township, the City of South Amboy, the Boroughs of Metuchen and Carteret, portions of the Township of Edison and the Borough of South Plainfield in Middlesex County and, to a minor extent, a portion of the Township of Clark in Union County. Retail customers include a mix of residential customers, industrial concerns and commercial and light industrial facilities.

The contract customers of the Middlesex System comprise an area of approximately 146 square miles with a population of approximately 303,000. Contract sales to Edison, Sayreville, Old Bridge, Marlboro and Rahway are supplemental to the existing water systems of these customers. The Middlesex System provides treated surface water under long-term agreements to East Brunswick, Marlboro, Old Bridge and Sayreville. Middlesex provides water service to approximately 300 customers in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Its Middlesex System, which produced approximately 15.6 billion gallons in 2011, obtains water from surface sources and wells, or groundwater sources.

Tidewater System

Tidewater, together with its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern Shores, provides water services to approximately 36,000 retail customers for domestic, commercial and fire protection purposes in over 300 separate community water systems in New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties, Delaware. White Marsh is an additional wholly owned subsidiary that is unregulated as to rates and operates water and wastewater systems under contract for approximately 4,700 residential customers. White Marsh also owns the office buildings that Tid! ewater us! es as its central business office campus. The Tidewater System produced approximately 25% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. Its Tidewater System produced approximately 2 billion gallons in 2011 from 159 wells.

Utility Service Affiliates-Perth Amboy

Utility Service Affiliates-Perth Amboy (USA-PA) operates the City of Perth Amboy, New Jersey�� water and wastewater systems under a 20-year agreement, which expires in 2018. USA-PA serves approximately 11,000 homes and businesses, most of which are served by both the water and wastewater systems. USA-PA produced approximately 9% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues.

Pinelands System

Pinelands Water provides water services to approximately 2,500 residential customers in Burlington County, New Jersey. Pinelands Water produced less than 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. Pinelands Water is not physically interconnected with the Middlesex System. Pinelands Wastewater provides wastewater services to approximately 2,400 residential customers. Under contract, it also services one municipal wastewater system in Burlington County, New Jersey with approximately 200 residential customers. Water supply to its Pinelands System is derived from four wells, which produced approximately 159.1 million gallons in 2011.

Utility Service Affiliates, Inc.

Utility Service Affiliates, Inc. (USA) offers residential customers in New Jersey and Delaware water service line and sewer lateral maintenance programs (LineCare). USA produced less than 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues.

TESI System

TESI provides wastewater services to approximately 2,200 residential retail customers in Delaware. TESI produced approximately 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. The TESI System treated approximately 76.8 million gallons in 2011. The TESI System consists of seven wastewater treatment systems in Southern Delaware.

Twin Lakes Sys! tem

Twin Lakes provides water services to approximately 120 residential customers in Shohola, Pennsylvania. Twin Lakes produced less than 1% of its 2011 consolidated operating revenues. Water supply to Twin Lakes��customers is derived from two wells, which delivered approximately 26.6 million gallons in 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lawrence Meyers]

    WGL serves about 170,000 customers in the Mid-Atlantic. So as you can see, it�� a broadly diversified dividend stock, and that�� one reason it has paid a dividend for 37 years. The dividend yield for WGL stock is presently at 4.4%.

    Middlesex Water Company (MSEX)

    Dividend yield: 3.7%

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