LONDON -- Shares of cruise ship operator�Carnival� (LSE: CCL ) (NYSE: CUK ) have endured a torrid time in recent weeks, slipping 15% from mid-February's near-two-year high of 2,628 pence to current levels. The company has continued to endure tough press headlines following the�Costa Concordia�disaster in Jan. 2012, with an engine room fire and subsequent marooning of passengers on its�Carnival Triumph�ship in February once again denting investor interest in the company.
However, I view recent weakness as an excellent buying opportunity. Indeed, Liberum Capital has placed a 3,000 pence price target on the stock, illustrating the stock's excellent upside potential.
Carnival sails back into profit
Carnival announced in last month's first-quarter update that it swung into a net profit of $37 million from a net loss of $139 million during the corresponding period in 2012. However, the results were overshadowed by news of further mechanical failures at two of its other liners, raising fresh fears over hefty repair bills and effect on customer demand.
Top 5 Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: HollyFrontier Corp (HFC)
HollyFrontier Corporation (HollyFrontier), formerly Holly Corporation, incorporated in 1947, is a petroleum refiner, which produces light products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, specialty lubricant products, and specialty and modified asphalt. HollyFrontier operates in two segments: Refining and Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (HEP). The Refining segment includes the operations of its El Dorado, Tulsa, Navajo, Cheyenne and Woods Cross Refineries and NK Asphalt. The HEP segment involves all of the operations of HEP. The Company merged with Frontier Oil Corporation (Frontier), on July 1, 2011. On November 9, 2011, HEP acquired from the Company certain tankage, loading rack and crude receiving assets located at its El Dorado and Cheyenne Refineries.
Refinery Operations
The Company�� refinery operations serve the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. HollyFrontier owned and operated five refineries having an aggregate crude capacity of 443,000 barrels per day, as of December 31, 2011. During the year ended December 31, 2011, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and specialty lubricants represented 48%, 32%, 5% and 3%, respectively of its total refinery sales volumes. Its refineries are located in El Dorado, Kansas, (the El Dorado Refinery), Tulsa, Oklahoma (the Tulsa Refineries), which consists two production facilities, the Tulsa West and East facilities, a petroleum refinery in Artesia, New Mexico, which operates in conjunction with crude, vacuum distillation and other facilities situated 65 miles away in Lovington, New Mexico (the Navajo Refinery), Cheyenne, Wyoming (the Cheyenne Refinery) and Woods Cross, Utah (the Woods Cross Refinery). Light products are shipped by product pipelines or are made available at various points by exchanges with other parties and are made available to customers through truck loading facilities at the refinery and at terminals.
The Company�� principal customers for gasoline include other refin! ers, convenience store chains, independent marketers, and retailers. Diesel fuel is sold to other refiners, truck stop chains, wholesalers, and railroads. Jet fuel is sold for military and commercial airline use. Specialty lubricant products are sold in both commercial and specialty markets. LPG�� are sold to LPG wholesalers and LPG retailers. HollyFrontier produces and purchases asphalt products that are sold to governmental entities, paving contractors or manufacturers. Asphalt is also blended into fuel oil and is either sold locally or is shipped to the Gulf Coast. Tulsa West facility is 85,000 barrels per stream day refinery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It owns Tulsa East facility is 75,000 barrels per stream day refinery that is also located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In September 2011, HEP completed the Tulsa interconnecting pipeline project which facilitated a combined crude processing rate of 125,000 barrels per stream day. The El Dorado Refinery is a coking refinery.
The El Dorado Refinery is located on 1,100 acres south of El Dorado, Kansas and is a refinery. The principal process units at the El Dorado Refinery consists of crude and vacuum distillation; hydrodesulfurization of naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and gas oil streams; isomerization; catalytic reforming; aromatics recovery; catalytic cracking; alkylation; delayed coking; hydrogen production, and sulfur recovery. Supporting infrastructure includes maintenance shops, warehouses, office buildings, a laboratory, utility facilities, and a wastewater plant (Supporting Infrastructure) and logistics assets owned by HEP, which includes approximately 3.7 million barrels of tankage, a truck sales terminal, and a propane terminal. The facility processes approximately 135,000 barrels per stream day of crude oil with the capability. The Tulsa West facility is located on a 750-acre site in Tulsa, Oklahoma situated along the Arkansas River. The principal process units at the Tulsa West facility consists of crude distillation (with light ends recovery), n! aphtha hy! drodesulfurization, catalytic reforming, propane de-asphalting, lubes extraction, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) dewaxing, delayed coker and butane splitter units.
Tulsa West facility�� Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 3.2 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.4 million barrels of tankage is owned by Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (Plains), and an additional 1.2 million barrels of tank capacity was out of service, as of December 31, 2011. The Tulsa East facility is located on a 466-acre site also in Tulsa, Oklahoma situated along the Arkansas River. The principal process units at the Tulsa East facility consists of crude distillation, naphtha hydrodesulfurization, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), isomerization, catalytic reforming, alkylation, scanfiner, diesel hydrodesulfurization and sulfur units. The Tulsa East facility�� Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 3.75 million barrels of tankage capacity on the refinery�� premises, of which approximately 3.4 million barrels of tankage is owned by HEP. The primary markets for the El Dorado Refinery�� refined products are Colorado and the Plains States, which include the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The gasoline, diesel and jet fuel produced by the El Dorado Refinery are primarily shipped via pipeline to terminals for distribution by truck or rail. The Company ships product via the NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. Pipeline to the northern Plains States, via the Magellan Pipeline Company, L.P. (Magellan) mountain pipeline to Denver, Colorado, and on the Magellan mid-continent pipeline to the Plains States. The Tulsa Refineries��principal customers for conventional gasoline include Sinclair Oil Company (Sinclair), other refiners, convenience store chains, independent marketers and retailers. Sinclair and railroads are the primary diesel customers. Jet fuel is sold primarily for commercial use. The refinery�� asphalt and roofing flux products are sold via truck or! railcar ! directly from the refineries or to customers throughout the Mid-Continent region primarily to paving contractors and manufacturers of roofing products. HollyFrontier�� Tulsa West facility also produces specialty lubricant products sold in both commercial and specialty markets throughout the United States and to customers with operations in Central America and South America.
The El Dorado Refinery is located about 125 miles, and the Tulsa Refineries are located approximately 50 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma, a crude oil pipeline trading and storage hub. Both its Mid-Continent Refineries are connected via pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma. In addition, the Company has a transportation services agreement to transport up to 38,000 barrels per calendar day of crude oil on the Spearhead Pipeline from Flanagan, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma, enabling it to transport Canadian crude oil to Cushing for subsequent shipment to either of the Company�� Mid-Continent Refineries or to its Navajo Refinery. The Navajo Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 100,000 barrels per stream day.The Navajo Refinery�� Artesia, New Mexico facility is located on a 561-acre site and is a refinery with crude distillation, vacuum distillation, FCC, residuum oil supercritical extraction, (ROSE) (solvent deasphalter), hydrofluoric (HF) alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization, mild hydrocracking, isomerization, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 2 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP.
The Artesia facility is operated in conjunction with a refining facility located in Lovington, New Mexico, approximately 65 miles east of Artesia. The principal equipment at the Lovington facility consists of a crude distillation unit and associated vacuum distillation units. Supporting Infrastructure includes 1.1 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of! tankage ! are owned by HEP. The Lovington facility processes crude oil into intermediate products that are transported to Artesia by means of three intermediate pipelines owned by HEP. The Navajo Refinery primarily serves the southwestern United States market. The Navajo Refinery primarily serves the southwestern United States market. The Company�� products are shipped through HEP�� pipelines from Artesia, New Mexico to El Paso, Texas and from El Paso to Albuquerque and to Mexico via products pipeline systems owned by Plains and from El Paso to Tucson and Phoenix via a products pipeline system owned by Kinder Morgan�� subsidiary, SFPP, L.P. (SFPP). In addition, the Navajo Refinery transports petroleum products to markets in northwest New Mexico and to Moriarty, New Mexico, near Albuquerque, via HEP�� pipelines running from Artesia to San Juan County, New Mexico.
HollyFrontier has refined product storage through its pipelines and terminals agreement with HEP at terminals in El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Artesia, Moriarty and Bloomfield, New Mexico. The Company uses a common carrier pipeline out of El Paso to serve the Albuquerque market. In addition, HEP leases from Mid-America Pipeline Company, L.L.C., a pipeline between White Lakes, New Mexico and the Albuquerque vicinity and Bloomfield, New Mexico. HEP owns and operates a 12-inch pipeline from the Navajo Refinery to the leased pipeline, as well as terminalling facilities in Bloomfield, New Mexico, which is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, and in Moriarty, which is 40 miles east of Albuquerque. The Navajo Refinery is situated near the Permian Basin. The Company purchases crude oil from independent producers in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, as well as from oil companies.
HollyFrontier also purchases volumes of isobutane, natural gasoline and other feedstocks to supply the Navajo Refinery from sources in Texas and the Mid-Continent area that are delivered to its region on a common carrier pipeline ! owned by ! Enterprise Products, L.P. The Cheyenne Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 52,000 barrels per stream day and the Woods Cross Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 31,000 barrels per stream day. The Cheyenne Refinery processes Canadian crudes, as well as local sweet crudes, such as that produced from the Bakken shale and similar resources. The Woods Cross Refinery processes regional sweet and black wax crude, as well as Canadian sour crude oils into light products. The Cheyenne Refinery facility is located on a 255- acre site and is a refinery with crude distillation, vacuum distillation, coking, FCCU, HF alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization of naphtha and distillates, butane isomerization, hydrogen production, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 1.6 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 1.5 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP.
The Woods Cross Refinery facility is located on a 200-acre site and is a fully integrated refinery with crude distillation, solvent deasphalter, FCC, HF alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization, isomerization, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 1.5 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP. The facility processes or blends an additional 2,000 barrels per stream day of natural gasoline, butane and gas oil over its 31,000 barrels per stream day capacity. The Company owns and operates four miles of hydrogen pipeline that connects the Woods Cross Refinery to a hydrogen plant located at Chevron�� Salt Lake City Refinery. The Cheyenne Refinery primarily markets its products in eastern Colorado, including metropolitan Denver, eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. Crude oil is transported to the Cheyenne Refinery from suppliers in Canada, Nebraska, North Dakota and Montana via common carrier pipelines owned by Kinder Morgan, Plains All Am! erican Pi! peline and Suncor Energy, as well as by truck.
The Woods Cross Refinery obtains its supply of crude oil from suppliers in Canada, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado as delivered via common carrier pipelines that originate in Canada, Wyoming and Colorado. HollyFrontier manufactures and markets commodity and modified asphalt products in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and northern Mexico. The Company has three manufacturing facilities located in Glendale, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Artesia, New Mexico. The Company's Albuquerque and Artesia facilities manufacture modified hot asphalt products and commodity emulsions from base asphalt materials provided by its refineries and third-party suppliers. The Company�� Glendale facility manufactures modified hot asphalt products from base asphalt materials provided by its refineries and third-party suppliers. HollyFrontier�� products are shipped via third-party trucking companies to commercial customers that provide asphalt based materials for commercial and government projects.
The Company owns Ethanol Management Company, is 25,000 barrels per calendar day products terminal and blending facility located near Denver, Colorado. It also owns a 50% joint venture interest in Sabine Biofuels II, LLC, a 30 million gallon per year biodiesel production facility located near Port Arthur, Texas. The Company owns a 75% joint venture interest in the UNEV Pipeline, a 400 mile 12-inch refined products pipeline from Salt Lake City, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada, together with terminal and ethanol blending facilities in the Cedar City, Utah and North Las Vegas areas and storage facilities at the Cedar City terminal with Sinclair, its joint venture partner, owning the remaining 25% interest. The pipeline has a capacity of 62,000 barrels per calendar day (based on gasoline equivalents). The pipeline was mechanically completed in November 2011.
Holly Energy Partners, L.P.
As of December 31, 2011, the Compa! ny owned ! a 42% interest in HEP, including the 2% general partner interest. HEP owns and operates logistic assets consisting of petroleum product and crude oil pipelines and terminal, tankage and loading rack facilities in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Revenues are generated by charging tariffs for transporting petroleum products and crude oil through its pipelines and by charging fees for terminalling petroleum products and other hydrocarbons, and storing and providing other services at its storage tanks and terminals. In additioin, HEP owns a 25% interest in the SLC Pipeline LLC (SLC Pipeline) that serves refineries in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Revenues from the HEP segment are earned through transactions with unaffiliated parties for pipeline transportation, rental and terminalling operations, as well as revenues relating to pipeline transportation services provided for its refining operations. HEP has a 15-year pipelines and terminals agreement with Alon USA, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Claudia Assis]
The stock got a downgrade from analysts at Oppenheimer, which also downgraded HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC) �and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) �
- [By Dennis Slothower]
Several of the stocks in our portfolio have become even more attractive while the stock market discounts their future growth:
Delek Holdings (DK), a petroleum refiner, has a P/E ratio of 4, pays a 2% dividend, and has a 30%+ return on equity.
HollyFrontier (HFC), also a petroleum refiner, has a P/E ratio of 5.5, pays a 3% dividend, and is growing revenue by more than 40%.
CF Holdings (CF), one of the largest fertilizer companies in the world, has a P/E ratio of 8 and a rock-solid balance sheet.
We are in a point in the economic cycle where it is crucial to own stocks currently trading below the underlying worth of the business.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of refining stocks have had a tough week–so tough that Citigroup picked today to become more bullish on the group and upgrading HollyFrontier (HFC) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC).
- [By Robert Rapier]
Our recommended stocks in the camp are HollyFrontier (HFC), Valero (VLO), and Western Refining (WNR).
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10 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Pengrowth Energy Corp (PGH)
Pengrowth Energy Corporation (Pengrowth) is engaged in the development, production and acquisition of, and the exploration for, oil and natural gas reserves in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The Company�� producing properties include Lindbergh, Swan Hills Area, Greater Olds/Garrington Area and Southeast Saskatchewan. In February 2012, the Company commenced the injection of steam at its Lindbergh pilot project. On May 31, 2012, the Company acquired NAL Energy Corporation. In November 2012, the Company acquired additional Lochend Cardium assets with production capability of approximately 650 barrels of oil equivalent, weighted 95% to light oil. In March 2013, the Company completed the divestiture of its non-core Weyburn asset. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Canada's Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH ) continues to shower dividends from north of the border. The company has set the date for its next monthly common stock distribution of C$0.04 ($0.04) per share, which will be August 15 for shareholders of record as of July 22. That amount matches each of the firm's previous distributions stretching back to December of last year. Prior to that, Pengrowth Energy paid $0.07 per share.
10 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Gentherm Inc (THRM)
Gentherm Inc, formerly Amerigon Incorporated, doing business as Gentherm, incorporated in 1991, is a global developer and marketer of thermal management technologies for a range of heating and cooling and temperature control applications. Automotive products include actively heated and cooled seat systems and cup holders, heated and ventilated seat systems, thermal storage bins, heated seat and steering wheel systems, cable systems and other electronic devices. The Company is developing materials for thermoelectrics and systems for waste heat recovery and electrical power generation for the automotive market that may have applications for consumer products, as well as industrial and technology markets. Gentherm has facilities in the United States, Germany, Mexico, China, Canada, Japan, England, Korea, Malta, Hungary and the Ukraine. In February 2013, it announced the closing of the acquisition of W.E.T. Automotive Systems AG (W.E.T.).
The Company designs, develops and markets products based on its thermoelectric device (TED) technologies for a range of global markets and heating and cooling applications. As of December 31, 2011, its principal product was its Climate Control Seat (CCS), which it sells to automobile and light truck original equipment manufacturers or their tier one suppliers. The Company�� CCS product is offered as an optional or standard feature on automobile models produced by Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan, Tata Motors, Ltd. and Hyundai. On May 16, 2011 the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Amerigon Europe, GmbH (Amerigon Europe), acquired a majority interest in W.E.T. Automotive Systems AG. (W.E.T.).
Thermoelectric device
The Company�� products are primarily based upon its TED technology. A TED is a solid state circuit that has the capability to produce both a hot and cold thermal condition. TEDs also have a capability known as the Seebeck effect that is reciprocal to the Peltier effect.
Climate Control Seat
The Company�� CCS product uses one or more TEDs, which generate heating or cooling depending upon the direction of the current applied to the device. If a manufacturer wishes to integrate its CCS product into a seat, it provides the Company with automotive seats to be modified so that it can install a unit in a prototype. The seat is then returned to the manufacturer for evaluation and testing. If a manufacturer accepts the Company�� CCS product, a program can then be launched for a particular model on a production basis.
Heated and Ventilated Seat
The Company sells a heated and ventilated only variant of the CCS. This product works in a similar fashion to its CCS, only there is no active cooling capability and no TED. In the cooling mode, the vent only system will use the ambient cabin air to provide a degree of cooling comfort to the seat occupant. In the heating mode, the vent only system is supplemented with more traditional resistive heating elements. Similarly, W.E.T.�� core seat comfort product uses a resistive element heater mat to generate heat when the seat is in heating mode and ambient cabin air for cooling.
Heated and Cooled Cup Holder
The heated and cooled cup holder represents an adaptation of the technology found in its CCS, including the use of a TED and other key elements. The dual cup holder provides separate temperature settings in each holder allowing the driver and passenger to individually maintain a heated or cooled beverage. The vehicles that feature the heated and cooled cup holder was the 2011 Dodge Charger and 2011 Chrysler 300 during the year ended December 31, 2011.
Heated and Cooled Mattress
The Company�� heated and cooled mattress incorporates its Climate Control Sleep System (CCSS) technology. The mattress is sold in the United States by its retail partner, Mattress Firm, under its YuMe brand. Mattress Firm has over 800 retail stores located a! cross 26 ! states. There are five available settings in each of the heat and cool modes, as well as an ambient setting. The bed can be controlled using either the Master Control Unit (MCU) or one of two remotes provided for each zone.
Automotive Cable Systems
W.E.T. produces automotive cable systems to be used to connect automotive components to sources of power. W.E.T.�� cable systems include both ready-made individual cables and ready-to-install cable networks.
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 Gentherm (Nasdaq: THRM ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
10 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBAUF)
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Bank) is engaged in the provision of a range of banking and financial products and services to retail, small business, corporate and institutional clients. The Bank is a provider of integrated financial services, including retail, business and institutional banking, superannuation, life insurance, general insurance, funds management, broking services and finance company activities. Its operating segments include Retail Banking Services, Business and Private Banking, Institutional Banking and Markets, Wealth Management, New Zealand, Bankwest and Other. Its retail banking services include home loans, consumer finance, retail deposits and distribution. In December 2013, the Bank and its related bodies corporate had ceased to be the substantial holder of Reject Shop Ltd. In January 2014, the Bank and its related bodies corporate had ceased to be the substantial holder of Southern Cross Media Group Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:- [By MARKETWATCH]
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks started Monday trade higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) up 0.8% at 5,206.40 after a strong finish for Wall Street at the end of last week. Resource shares got a lift from gains for commodities prices since the previous trading session, with strong advances for gold and copper and a more than 2% rise for New York-traded crude-oil futures. Among the leading gainers, Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) added 1.2%, Oil Search Ltd. (AU:OSH) (OISHF) climbed 1.3%, and gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) and Evolution Mining Ltd. (AU:EVN) (CAHPF) improved by 3.9% and 6.4%, respectively. The heavily weighted banking sector also enjoyed solid gains, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) up 1%, Westpac Banking Corp. (AU:WBC) (WEBNF) trading 1.3% higher, and National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) rising 1.1% as the U.K.'s Sunday Times reported the lender is considering a 拢2 billion ($3.3 billion) float of its British operations, which the report said had dragged on NAB's results in recent years.
10 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: eBay Inc.(EBAY)
eBay Inc. provides online platforms, services, and tools to help individuals and merchants in online and mobile commerce and payments in the United States and internationally. Its Marketplaces segment operates ecommerce platform eBay.com; vertical shopping sites, such as StubHub, Fashion, Motors, and Half.com; and classifieds Websites, including Den Bl�Avis, BilBasen, Gumtree, Kijiji, LoQUo, Marktplaats.nl, mobile.de, Alamaula, Rent.com, eBay Anuncios, eBay Kleinanzeigen, and eBay Annunci, as well as provides advertising services. The company?s Payments segment offers payment and settlement services for consumers and merchants on and off eBay Websites and other merchant Websites. This segment operates PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to send and receive payments online and through mobile devices; Bill Me Later that enables the United States merchants to offer, the United States consumers to obtain, credit at the point of sale for ecommerce and mobile tra nsactions; Zong, which allows users with mobile phones to purchase digital goods and have the transactions charged to their phone bill; and BillSAFE that enables customers pay for purchases upon receipt of an invoice. Its GSI segment offers an ecommerce services suite for enterprise clients that operate in general merchandise categories, including apparel, sporting goods, toys and baby, health and beauty, and home; and marketing services comprising full-service digital agency, enterprise email marketing, mobile advertising, affiliate marketing, advertisement retargeting, and in-depth analytics services. The company also offers X.commerce platform that provides software developers access to the company?s applications programming interfaces to develop functionality for various merchants; and Magento Connect, which allows developers to market and sell add-on functionality and solutions to merchants that use a Magento storefront. eBay Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquarter ed in San Jose, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Adam Levy]
With payments competition mounting, eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY ) has finally decided to spin off PayPal, and a split looks like a good thing for both the payments and the marketplace businesses.
10 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Laclede Group Inc (LG)
The Laclede Group, Inc. (Laclede Group), incorporated on October 18, 2000, is a utility holding company. The Company operates in two segments: Regulated Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company (Laclede Gas or the Utility), Laclede Group's subsidiary and core business unit. Laclede Gas is a public utility engaged in the retail distribution and sale of natural gas. Laclede Gas is the natural gas distribution utility in Missouri, serving more than 1.13 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The Gas Marketing segment includes Laclede Energy Resources, Inc. (LER), a wholly owned subsidiary is engaged in the marketing of natural gas and related activities on a non-regulated basis. Effective September1, 2013, Laclede Group Inc through its newly formed subsidiary acquired Missouri Gas Energy, a provider of natural gas distribution services.
Gas Utility
The Utility focuses its gas supply portfolio around a number of natural gas suppliers with equity ownership or control of assets strategically situated to complement its regionally diverse firm transportation arrangements. During fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 (fiscal 2013), the Utility purchased natural gas from 35 different suppliers to meet current gas sales and storage injection requirements. Natural gas purchased by the Laclede Gas for delivery to its service area through the Enable Mississippi River Transmission LLC (MRT) system totaled 55.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Laclede Gase also holds firm transportation on several other interstate pipeline systems that provide access to gas supplies upstream of MRT. In addition to deliveries from MRT, 8.6 Bcf of gas was purchased on MO Gas, 13.4 Bcf on the Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star Central), 0.03 Bcf on the Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company system, and 0.1 BCF on the Postrock system. Some of the Utility�� commercial and industrial customers purchased their own! gas with the Utility transporting 17.0 Bcf to them through the Utility�� distribution system.
The Utility has a contractual right to store 23.1 Bcf of gas in MRT�� storage facility located in Unionville, Louisiana, 16.3 Bcf of gas storage in Southern Star Central system storage facilities located in Kansas and Oklahoma, and 1.4 Bcf of firm storage on Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company�� system storage. In addition, the Utility supplements flowing pipeline gas with natural gas withdrawn from its own underground storage field located in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties in Missouri.
Gas Marketing
LER is engaged in the marketing of natural gas and providing energy services to both on-system utility transportation customers and customers outside of the Utility�� traditional service area. During fiscal year 2013, LER utilized 12 interstate pipelines and 93 suppliers to market natural gas to its customers primarily in the Midwest. LER served more than 205 retail customers and 100 wholesale customers. Through its retail operations, LER offers natural gas marketing services to large industrial customers, while its wholesale business consists of buying and selling natural gas to other marketers, producers, utilities, power generators, pipelines, and municipalities. LER also serves power plants that use natural gas to generate electricity.
OTHER
Laclede Pipeline Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates a propane pipeline under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction. This pipeline connects the propane storage and vaporization facilities of the Utility to third-party propane supply terminal facilities located in Illinois, which allows the Utility to receive propane that is vaporized to supplement its natural gas supply and meet peak demands on its distribution system. Laclede Pipeline Company also provides transportation services to third parties. Other also includes Laclede Group�� subsidiaries that are engaged in,! among ot! her activities, oil production, real estate development, compression of natural gas, and financial investments in other enterprises. These operations are conducted through seven subsidiaries.
The Other category also includes the Utility�� non-regulated propane services business which involves providing propane-related services and storage to third parties and its affiliate, Laclede Pipeline Company. Beginning July 1, 2013, propane-related services are included within Gas Utility operations pursuant to the Utility's new rate case.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ahmed A. Namatalla]
Egypt�� biggest publicly traded company agreed to pay about 7 billion Egyptian pounds ($1 billion) over five years to settle the tax dispute on the sale of its cement unit to Lafarge SA (LG) in 2007, Amsterdam-based parent OCI NV said yesterday. The payments will start in May and end in 2017. OCI NV shares had the biggest increase since the company�� Dutch public offering in January.
10 Best Managed Healthcare Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Healthways Inc.(HWAY)
Healthways, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides specialized, comprehensive solutions to assist people to maintain and enhance their health and well-being. The company?s evidence-based programs provide specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age, or health status; and delivers to consumers by phone, mail, Internet, and face-to-face interactions. It also offers wellness and disease prevention solutions through total population screening, well-being assessments, and supportive interventions; access to health improvement programs, such as fitness solutions, weight management, chiropractic, and complementary and alternative medicine; and educational materials and personal interactions with trained nurses and other healthcare professionals to create and sustain healthier behaviors for individuals who are in the early stages of chronic conditions. In addition, the company operates care enhancement and coaching centers; fi tness centers; and provides health improvement programs and services in Brazil, Australia, and France. Healthways, Inc. delivers its programs to various customers, including health plans, employers, integrated healthcare systems, hospitals, physicians, and government entities in the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.
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 Healthways (Nasdaq: HWAY ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Lauren Pollock]
Healthways Inc.'s(HWAY) profit fell 64%, hurt by shrinking margins and flat revenue. Shares of Healthways fell as the company lowered its guidance for the year, while issuing downbeat estimates for the fourth quarter and 2014.
- [By Holly LaFon]
The last company I want to mention is HealthWays (HWAY), which was once a small-cap growth stock favorite. Due to increasing changes in the U.S. healthcare industry, as well as confusion around the implementation of ObamaCare, the company recently expanded its business to not just physical wellness but to social and emotional wellness, health, and nutrition.
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