While Fools should generally take the opinion of Wall Street with a grain of salt, it's not a bad idea to take a closer look at particularly stock-shaking upgrades and downgrades -- just in case their reasoning behind the call makes sense.
What: Shares of Sotheby's (NYSE: BID ) climbed 2% in early trading after Citigroup upgraded the auction house to "buy" from "neutral."
So what: Along with the upgrade, analyst Oliver Chen boosted his price target on the stock to $55 per share (from $45), representing about 16% worth of upside to yesterday's close. Chen cited several potential catalysts for the call, including the potential sale of its headquarters, a return of capital to shareholders, and even a possible leveraged buyout.
Now what: At the very minimum, I expect management to make some strategic tweaks and start focusing on less expensive goods. "Sotheby's current focus on high-end property may leave the company vulnerable to competition on commission margins and sellers of high-end property could be more likely to leave the market during pullbacks which exposes Sotheby's to greater volatility," Chen said. So while the stock is hitting a new 52-week high today, Citigroup's price target doesn't seem all that unreasonable given the many number of potential�catalysts working in Sotheby's favor.�
Best Paper Companies To Buy For 2015: Ashley(l)
Laura Ashley Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, distribution, sale, and licensing of clothing, accessories, and home furnishings in the United Kingdom and internationally. It offers various furniture products, including beds, upholstered furniture, mirrors, and cabinet furniture; home accessories, such as lighting products, gifts, bed linen, rugs, throws, cushions, and children?s accessories; and decorative products comprising curtains, blinds, fabrics, paints, decorative accessories, and wall coverings. The company also offers fashion products, such as clothing that include dresses, knitwear, tops, blouses, skirts, trousers, leggings, coats, jackets, swimwear, and shoes, as well as accessories comprising bags, purses, jewellery, and scarves. In addition, it provides design services for homes; and licenses various products, such as stationery, wooden flooring, blinds, interior window shutters, carpets, nursery produ cts, fireplaces, garden products, eyewear, tiles, promotional gifting, toiletries, shoes, and Fairtrade clothing. The company sells its products through retail stores, online, and mail order. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 217 stores, including 138 mixed product stores, 55 home stores, 22 home concession stores, 1 gifts and accessories store, and 1 clearance outlet in the United Kingdom; and 240 franchised stores in 29 countries. The company is based in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
Big Earnings Movers: Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) is up 9.1% at $17.35 after reporting earnings and getting a ratings boost. Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is down 2.5% at $45.39 as the company struggles to boost revenues. Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) is up 5.8% at $20.91 as franchise revenues rose much faster than costs. Loews Corp. (NYSE: L) is down 0.2% at $48.70.
- [By Robert Rapier]
Meanwhile, sponsor�Loews�(NYSE: L) has added to the cash drain by converting its class B units into common that will cost Boardwalk an additional $25 million in distributions annually. The Bluegrass Pipeline Boardwalk is marketing in a partnership with Williams (NYSE: WMB) is looking more and more as a defensive measure to replace lost business than as a path to future glory. And it now faces competition that could drive expected returns lower.
Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: Cosan Ltd (CZZ)
Cosan Limited (Cosan), incorporated on April 30, 2007, is a holding company. The Company is engaged in the production of ethanol and sugar, the marketing and distribution of fuel and lubricants in Brazil, and logistics services in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Company imports, exports, produces and sells ethanol, sugar, sugarcane and other sugar by-products. It distributes and sells fuel and other fuel by-products. The Company produces and markets electricity, steam and other co-generation by-products. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), it operated 24 mills. On February 18, 2011, Cosan, through its subsidiary Cosan S.A. Acucar e Alcool acquired 100% of the voting corporate capital of Cosan Araraquara Acucar e Alcool Ltda., (Usina Zanin).
The Company operates in three in segments: sugar and ethanol (S&E), fuel distribution and lubricants (CCL) and sugar logistics (Rumo Logistica). The sugar and ethanol segment operates and produces a range of sugar products, including raw, organic, crystal and refined sugars and consumer products under the Da Barra and Uniao brands, which are sold to a range of customers in Brazil and abroad, as well as produces and sells hydrous, anhydrous and industrial ethanol, which are sold to the Brazilian market. The sugar and ethanol segment also includes energy co-generation activities and land development businesses. Its fuel distribution and lubricants segment includes the distribution and marketing of fuels, mainly through franchised network of service stations under the brand Esso throughout the national territory, and production, distribution and marketing of lubricants licensed from ExxonMobil International Holdings B.V.. Its sugar logistics segment provides logistics services for the transport, storage and port lifting of sugar.
Sugar and Ethanol segment
As of March 31, 2011 the Company leased 437,698 hectares, through 2,128 land lease contracts with an average term of five years. During fiscal 2011,! it harvested from owned or leased lands 27.4 million tons, of the sugarcane and purchased from third-party growers the 26.8 million tons of sugarcane. During fiscal 2011, its accumulated sugar extraction was 139.0 kilograms of total sugar recovered (TSR) per ton of sugarcane and its agricultural yield was 91.4 tons of sugarcane per hectare. It produces ethanol through a chemical process called yeasting. It produces and sells three types of ethanol: hydrous ethanol and anhydrous ethanol for fuel and industrial ethanol. It sells ethanol through gasoline distributors in Brazil mainly at the mill that sell it to retailers that then sell it at the pump to customers.
During fiscal year 2011, the Company sold 4.3 million tons of sugar. The Company produces a range of standard sugars, including raw sugar, crystal sugar and organic sugar, and refined sugars, including granulated refined white sugar, amorphous refined sugar, refined sucrose liquid sugar and refined inverted liquid sugar. Its Sao Francisco mill and the Da Barra mill produce refined sugar. It also sells industrial alcohol, which is used in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. It sells sugar to a range of customers in Brazil and in the international markets. Its customers in Brazil include retail supermarkets, foodservice distributors and food manufacturers, for which it sells refined and liquid sugar.
Fuel distribution and lubricants
The Company�� fuel distribution business is engaged in sourcing, storing, blending and distributing primarily gasoline, ethanol, diesel and fuel oil through its retail network of approximately 4,500 Esso and Shell-branded stations. During fiscal 2011, it sold approximately 1.03 billion liters of fuels, consisting of 96.0% diesel and 4.0% gasoline, ethanol and other fuels to its industrial and wholesale clients. During fiscal 2011, Cosan Combustiveise Lubrificantes S.A. (CCL) sold a total of 166.4 million liters of lubricants. Its lubricant operations consist of a wholly o! wned Lubr! icants Oil Blending Plant (LOBP), located in Rio de Janeiro, with annual production capacity of 1.4 million barrels of lubricants per year, including 48,000 barrels of grease per year.
Sugar Logistics
The Company owns and operates a sugar-loading terminal at the Port of Santos in the State of Sao Paulo through its subsidiary Rumo Logistica. It offers logistics solution to sugar producers located in the Center South of Brazil by transporting sugar from the mill by truck or rail to be loaded at its bulk sugar port terminal in Santos. It also offer sugar storage services.
The Company competes with Copersucar, Sudzucker AG, Petrobras, Ultrapar S.A., Shell Brasil Ltda. and AleSat Combustiveis S.A.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Partnership outlook
I am still hoping that Codexis will be tapped by Raizen, a joint venture between Shell and sugar giant Cosan (NYSE: CZZ ) , as its exclusive cellulase enzyme provider. Raizen has not been shy about its cellulosic ethanol ambitions -- planning a 10 million gallon per year facility -- but has yet to choose an enzyme technology. Investors should be careful not to assume that Codexis is a lock for the partnership (Raizen is the largest investor in Codexis), but with more than 580 million gallons of first-generation ethanol capacity the opportunity is enormous. - [By Maxx Chatsko]
Lesson learned
The financial situation at Amyris is less than enviable. Whereas fellow industrial biotech company Solazyme has hit every major milestone and had no problem raising funds, Amyris has had to take the more dilutive route for shareholders. Still, large commercial partners Total (NYSE: TOT ) and Cosan (NYSE: CZZ ) haven't backed down in their support of the company. Total upped its investment in Amyris during several rough patches in the past year after incurring significant paper losses on the roughly 20% stake in the company. Total even has its own webpage for the partnership, which speaks to its long-term vision for Amyris' platform, especially in renewable diesel.
Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: Glacier Water Services Inc (GWSV)
Glacier Water Services, Inc. (Glacier) is primarily engaged in the operation of self-service vending machines that dispense drinking water to consumers. The machines are placed at supermarkets and other retail outlets under commission arrangements with the retailers. The Company�� machines are primarily located throughout the Sunbelt and Midwest regions of the United States.
As of January 2, 2011, the Company operated approximately 19, 100 machines in 42 states and Canada. Glacier�� indoor water vending machine was introduced especially for inside the retail store. In addition to having the same multi-stage filtration/treatment system as the outdoor machine, many retailers make available a supply of empty containers near the indoor machine. Glacier also operates a line of PureFill and Water Island equipment.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap OTC drinking water stocks Glacier Water Services, Inc (OTCMKTS: GWSV), AWG International Water Corp (OTCBB: AWGI) and Alkaline Water Company Inc (OTCBB: WTER) all offer a product that many consumer, investors and traders alike might take for granted, but everyone needs to have. However, you can build a better mouse trap when it comes to drinking water or at least that what these three small caps are attempting to do with their own unique strategies:
Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: ChannelAdvisor Corp (ECOM)
Channeladvisor Corporation, incorporated on June 18, 2001, is a provider of software-as-a-service, or SaaS, solutions that enables retailers and manufacturer customers to integrate, manage and optimize their merchandise sales across hundreds of online channels. Through the Company�� platform, the Company enables its customers to connect with new and existing sources of demand for their products, including e-commerce marketplaces, such as eBay, Amazon and Newegg, search engines and comparison shopping websites, such as Google, Microsoft�� Bing, and Nextag, and emerging channels, such as Facebook and Groupon.
The Company serves customers across a range of industries and geographies. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had over 1,900 customers worldwide. Its customers include both traditional and online retailers, such as Ann Taylor, eBags.com, J&R Electronics and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, as well as manufacturers of consumer goods, such as Dell, Dooney and Bourke, Lenovo, Sony and Under Armour.
The Company�� suite of SaaS solutions allows its customers to more easily integrate, manage and optimize their online sales across hundreds of available channels through a single, integrated platform. Its suite solutions includes a number of individual offerings, or modules. Each module integrates with a particular type of channel, such as third-party marketplaces, paid search or comparison shopping websites, or supports specific online functionality, such as creating webstores or employing rich media solutions on their websites. The Company provides its customers with a single Web-based interface as the central location for them to control, analyze and manage their online sales across hundreds of available channels and multiple geographies. It provides its customers with actionable insights across the latest channel and consumer trends and general product performance, which enables them to evaluate and, if necessary, improve the efficiency of their business rules on existing or new! channels.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
Cloud software provider ChannelAdvisor (ECOM) has enjoyed a stellar run since its IPO earlier this year. In the months since ECOM started trading at the beginning of the summer, shares have nearly doubled. But this stock could be headed for even higher ground before the calendar flips over to 2014.
That's because ECOM is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish price setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $40 and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as ECOM bounces in between those two technically significant price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above resistance. When that happens, we've got a buy signal in shares.
ChannelAdvisor has shown investors excellent relative strength all the way up this year, but it's worth noting that the uptrend in ECOM's relative strength line has remained intact even while the ascending triangle has been forming – that's a big sign of strength in this market. I'd recommend buying on a move through $40, from there, keep a protective stop at the 200-day moving average.
- [By Garrett Cook]
ChannelAdvisor (NYSE: ECOM) shares shot up 4.40 percent to $24.18. Deutsche Bank upgraded Channel Advisor from Hold to Buy. ChannelAdvisor is expected to release its Q2 financial results on August 4, 2014.
Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS)
Hydrogenics Corporation, incorporated on June 10, 2009, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops and provides hydrogen generation and fuel cell products based on water electrolysis technology and proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. The Company conducts its business through two business units: OnSite Generation, which focuses on hydrogen generation products for renewable energy, industrial and transportation customers, and Power Systems, which focuses on fuel cell products for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) systems integrators and end users for stationary applications, including backup power, and motive applications, such as forklift trucks. The Company�� products include HySTAT hydrogen generation equipment in its OnSite Generation business and HyPM fuel cell products in its Power Systems business.
The Company maintains operations in Belgium, Canada and Germany. Its OnSite Generation business segment is based in Oevel, Belgium and develops products for industrial gas, hydrogen fueling and renewable energy storage markets. The Company�� Power Systems business segment is based in Mississauga, Canada, with a satellite facility in Gladbeck, Germany, and develops products for energy storage, stationary and motive power applications.
OnSite Generation
The Company�� OnSite Generation business segment, is based on water electrolysis technology, which includes the decomposition of water into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) by passing an electric current through a liquid electrolyte. Its brand includes HySTAT electrolyzer products, which is configured for both indoor and outdoor applications. Its OnSite Generation products are sold to merchant gas companies, such as Air Liquide and Linde Gas and end-users requiring hydrogen produced on-site for industrial applications. The Company also sells and services products for oil and gas companies, such as Shell Hydrogen, requiring hydrogen fueling stations for transportation applications.
Power Systems
The Company�� Power Systems business segment is based on PEM fuel cell technology, which transforms chemical energy liberated during the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy. It also develops and delivers hydrogen generation products based on PEM water electrolysis, which can also be used to serve the energy storage markets. Its target markets include backup power for telecom and data centre installations and motive power applications, such as buses, trucks and utility vehicles. The Company�� Power Systems products are sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as CommScope, Inc. (CommScope) to provide backup power applications for telecom installations and vehicle and other integrators for motive power, direct current (DC) and alternative current (AC) backup. In addition, its products are sold for prototype field tests. The Company also sells its Power Systems products to the military.
HySTAT Hydrogen Stations
HySTAT Hydrogen Stations offer an on-site supply of hydrogen for a range of hydrogen applications, including vehicle fuelling, distributed power, and a variety of industrial processes. It also provides spare parts and service for its entire installed base.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company offered its HySTAT Hydrogen Station in multiple configurations based on the amount of hydrogen required. This product is suitable for producing continuous or batch supplies of hydrogen for industrial processing applications and generates between 10 - 60 normal cubic meters per hour (Nm3/hr) of hydrogen.
HyPM Fuel Cell Products
The Company�� HyPM fuel cell products provide electrical power from clean hydrogen fuel. Its HyPM fuel cell products include HyPM Fuel Cell Power Modules, HyPX Fuel Cell Power Pack, Integrated Fuel Cell Systems and Engineering Development Services. Its HyPM power module runs on hydrogen and produces direct current (DC) power. This product! is suita! ble for a range of stationary, mobile and portable power applications. The HyPM XR model is targeted at backup power applications and the HyPMHD model is targeted at motive power applications. The Company�� HyPX Power Pack includes a HyPM power module integrated with hydrogen storage tanks and ultracapacitors that provide higher power in short bursts. Its integrated fuel cell systems are built around its HyPM power modules and used for portable and stationary applications, including portable and auxiliary power units for military applications and DC backup power system for cellular tower sites. The Company also enters into engineering development contracts with certain customers for new or custom products.
The Company competes with Air Liquide and Linde Gas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap hydrogen fuel stocks Hydrogenics Corporation (NASDAQ: HYGS), FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL), HyperSolar Inc (OTCMKTS: HYSR) and HydroPhi Technologies Group, Inc (OTCMKTS: HPTG) are some of the lesser known small caps that are�working with hydrogen fuel or hydrogen fuel cell related technology. I should say that small cap hydrogen stocks are not for risk adverse investors as there are considerable unanswered questions about hydrogen fuel related technology and whether it can be a viable green technology given the fueling infrastructure needed along with the�energy and expense involved in creating hydrogen�(Note: None of these small cap�stocks are profitable at ). But any new technology will pose the same types of risks for early stage investors���especially if its so-called green technology.�
- [By Paul Ausick]
Peers Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP), and Hydrogenics Corp. (NASDAQ: HYGS) have also shared in the stock price run-up. Any investor expecting more from FuelCell�� results was, perhaps, being irrationally exuberant.
Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: CDW Corp (CDW)
CDW Corporation (CDW), incorporated on May 25, 2007, is a provider of integrated information technology (IT) solutions in the United States and Canada. Its range of offerings range from discrete hardware and software products to integrated IT solutions, such as mobility, security, data center optimization, cloud computing, virtualization and collaboration. The Company has two segments: Corporate and Public. Corporate segment consists of primarily of private sector business customers. Public segment consists of government agencies and education and healthcare institutions. CDW also has two other operating segments, CDW Advanced Services and Canada (combined together as Other). The Company is a sales channel partner for many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and software publishers (collectively, its vendor partners), whose products it sells or include in the solutions CDW offers. The Company helps its customer base of more than 250,000 small, medium and large business, government, education and healthcare customers by delivering solutions to their IT needs.
The Company�� Corporate segment is divided into a medium-large business customer channel, primarily serving customers with more than 100 employees, and a small business customer channel, primarily serving customers with up to 100 employees. The CDW Advanced Services business consists primarily of customized engineering services delivered by technology specialists and engineers and managed services that include infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offerings. The Company�� product portfolio includes more than 100,000 products from more than 1,000 brands. Revenues from the sale of hardware, software, custom configuration and third-party provided services are recorded within its Corporate and Public segments.
The Company�� revenue from professional services is either recognized as incurred for services billed at an hourly rate or recognized using a proportional performance model for services provided at a fixed fee.! Revenue from software as a service (SaaS) arrangements, IaaS arrangements, and data center services, including Internet connectivity, Web hosting, server co-location and managed services, is recognized over the period service is provided. The Company also sells certain products for which it acts as an agent. Products in this category include the sale of third-party services, warranties or software assurance (SA) or third-party-hosted SaaS and IaaS arrangements. The Company offer over 1,000 brands, from companies, such as APC, Apple, Cisco, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, NetApp, Symantec and VMware, to vendor partners, such as Drobo, Fusion-io, Meraki, Nimble Storage, Salesforce.com, Sophos and Splunk.
The Company competes with Dimension Data, ePlus, Insight Enterprises, PC Connection, PCM, Presidio, Softchoice, World Wide Technology, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect.com, Buy.com, IBM, Accenture, Staples, Office Depot and Office Max.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Just over six years after leaving the public stock markets in a $7.3 billion leveraged buyout, IT equipment supplier CDW (NASDAQ: CDW ) is back on the Nasdaq again!
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Before you consider this just to be a bit of IPO pondering, take a step back and understand that some of this list membership already has�filed to come public or actually has�made it public recently. Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC), CDW Corp. (NASDAQ: CDW), Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY), Global Brass and Copper Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BRSS), Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS), Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH), Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) and many others are on the list and have made it to the post-IPO stage in the stock market.
Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In 2014: CA Inc.(CA)
CA Technologies, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, delivers, licenses, and supports information technology (IT) management software products that operate on a range of hardware platforms and operating systems. It offers enterprise IT management software for organizations that addresses components of the computing environment, including people, information, processes, systems, networks, applications, and databases. The company provides a portfolio of mainframe and distributed software products with a focus on mainframe, service assurance, security (identity and access management), project and portfolio management, service management, virtualization and service automation, and cloud computing. It serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions worldwide. CA Technologies offers its solutions through its d irect sales force and indirectly through global systems integrators, technology partners, managed service providers, solution providers, distributors and volume partners, and exclusive representatives. The company was formerly known as CA, Inc. and changed its name to CA Technologies in May 2010. CA Technologies was founded in 1974 and is based in Islandia, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dividend]
CA (CA) has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion. The company employs 13,600 people, generates revenue of $4.643 billion and has a net income of $955.00 million. CA�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $1.924 billion. The EBITDA margin is 41.44 percent (the operating margin is 29.33 percent and the net profit margin 20.57 percent).
- [By Sean Williams]
Finally, mail logistics software solutions company Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI ) jumped 3.7% after announcing the appointment of Roger Pilc as executive vice president and chief innovation officer. Pilc will be a welcome face for Pitney Bowes, which has struggled under the weight of lower physical mail volume and increasing competition. Pilc, who comes over from CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA ) , helped head CA's cloud development segment, which may transform CA back into a high-growth company over the next few years as it invests heavily in R&D. Pitney Bowes certainly needs as many ideas as it can get to stem a precipitous downtrend in sales, so we'll have to see how this move works out for all parties involved.
- [By Traders Reserve]
Most impressive about CA Technologies (CA)� is that its net income for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 rose 42% to $335 million. Perhaps Michael Gregoire taking over as CEO and cutting costs had something to do with the growth.
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