Discover Financial follows an inorganic route to fortify its growth profile. The company regularly announces acquisitions and alliances to expand its business and boost earnings. So far in 2013, the company inked agreements with Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance, Japan Credit Bureau, Cadence Bank and Nigeria-based Interswitch Limited to boost card acceptances and transaction volume.
Discover Financial also reduced its fixed rate on student loans to attract more students, thus boosting the income of the Direct Banking segment. The company continues to launch new products tailored to specific customer needs in order to attract new customers.
Further, Discover Financial has implemented several capital bolstering initiatives, including equity and debt offerings, which have helped the company achieve a strong capital base. The healthy capital and cash position facilitates efficient deployment of excess capital.
Hot Freight Companies To Watch In Right Now: Otoc Ltd (OTC)
OTOC Limited through its wholly owned subsidiaries OTOC Group Pty Ltd and Whelans (WA) Pty Ltd (Whelans) provides construction and turnkey camp/ village installations, environmental, surveying, mapping, town planning, engineering, project delivery and specialist consulting services across the infrastructure, resources and energy sectors. The Company operates in two segments: OTOC Operations and Whelans Consulting Operations. OTOC Operations (OTOC) provides camp/village installations to the Western Australian resources and infrastructure sector. Whelans Consulting Operations (Whelans) provides surveying, mapping and town planning services throughout Western Australian. In July 2013, the Company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary OTOC Australia has expanded its Facilities Division through the acquisition of full ownership of a 700 person commercial kitchen/diner facility. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
Perrigo (PRGO) is a global manufacturer of over-the-counter (OTC) store brand and generic prescription pharmaceuticals, infant formulas, nutritional products and active pharma ingredients. The company is the dominant player in the OTC drug market with the largest distribution network and broadest range of product offerings. The OTC store brands have increased their market share by about 1-2% annually at the expense of national name product given their superior value proposition to both the consumer and retailers. Perrigo has numerous growth drivers over the next few years including the continued penetration of OTC store brands and introduction of new product categories. The stock sells at a reasonable valuation, in our opinion, given the company's strong management team, financial returns and long-term growth prospects.
Hot Services Companies To Watch In Right Now: Pinnacle Foods Inc (PF)
Pinnacle Foods Inc., incorporated on July 28, 2003, is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded food products in North America. The Company operates in three segments: the Birds Eye Frozen Division, the Duncan Hines Grocery Division and the Specialty Foods Division. The Birds Eye Frozen Division and the Duncan Hines Grocery Division, which collectively represent its North America Retail operations, include the brands. Its brand portfolio enjoys household penetration in the United States, where its products can be found in approximately 85% of U.S. households. Its products are sold through supermarkets, grocery wholesalers and distributors, mass merchandisers, super centers, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores and warehouse clubs in the United States and Canada, as well as in military channels and foodservice locations. On June 24, 2011, the Company completed the sale of its Watsonville, California facility which had been recorded as an asset held for sale.
Birds Eye Frozen Division
The Company�� Birds Eye Frozen Division includes its steamed and non-steamed product offerings, with a 27.0% market share, making Birds Eye the recognized frozen vegetables brand in the United States. Birds Eye was the Company to capture a nationwide market share with a product that enables consumers to conveniently steam vegetables in microwaveable packaging.
Duncan Hines Grocery Division
Duncan Hines is the division�� brand and includes cake mixes, ready-to-serve frostings, brownie mixes, muffin mixes, and cookie mixes. During the fiscal year ended September 23, 2012, the Company added two additional items to the line. In February 2012, the Company introduced a line of frosting products, Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, which uses a patent pending frosting system to allow consumers to customize their frosting into one of 12 different flavors. The Company also offers a complete line of shelf-stable pickle products that we market and distribute n! ationally, primarily under the Vlasic brand, and regionally under the Milwaukee�� and Wiejske Wyroby brands. In 2012, the Company introduced Vlasic Farmers Garden, artisan-quality pickle line.
Specialty Foods Division
The Company�� snack products primarily consist of Tim�� Cascade, Snyder of Berlin and Husman��. These direct store delivery brands have local awareness and hold market share positions in their regional markets. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain products, mainly in the frozen breakfast, canned meat, and pie and pastry fruit filling categories, through food service channels. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain private label products in the canned meat, shelf-stable pickles and frozen seafood. As part of its ongoing strategic focus over the last several years, the Company has deemphasized the food service and private label businesses for the benefit of its higher margin branded food products.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Paul Sakuma/AP NEW YORK -- Hillshire Brands says it will hold separate talks with Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods, as the two meat processing heavyweights engage in a bidding war for the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs. The announcement by Hillshire (HSH) comes a day after Pilgrim's Pride raised its bid to $55 a share, or $6.8 billion, from $45 a share. That tops Tyson's offer of $50 a share, or $6.2 billion, made last week. Those values are based on Hillshire's 123 million shares outstanding. Pilgrim's Pride puts the total value of its new bid at $7.7 billion. Tyson Foods values its proposal at $6.8 billion, including debt. The takeover bids by Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) and Tyson Foods (TSN) are being driven by the desirability of brand-name, convenience products like Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches. Those types of products are more profitable than fresh meat, such as chicken breasts, where there isn't as much wiggle room to pad prices. While Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson both sell such products, their businesses have been more focused on supplying supermarkets and restaurant chains. Both offers are contingent on Hillshire abandoning its plan to acquire Pinnacle Foods (PF), which makes Birds Eye frozen vegetables and Wish-Bone salad dressings. Some investors had questioned the wisdom of that deal, given the outdated image of some of Pinnacle's brands and the differences in the two companies' product portfolios. In its statement issued Tuesday, Hillshire noted that it can't just scrap its deal with Pinnacle. But a term in Hillshire's deal with Pinnacle allows it to consider alternative proposals that would be superior for stockholders. Pilgrim's Pride has said it would pay the $163 million breakup fee to call off the deal between Hillshire and Pinnacle. Hillshire, based in Chicago, had been trying to diversify its own portfolio by moving into other areas of the supermarket with the $4.23 billion acquisition of Pinnacle. Based in Greeley,
- [By Eric Volkman]
Diamond's new hire was most recently CFO of privately held Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. Before that, he filled the same role with a number of firms, including Cott and Swift & Company. Silcock launched his career at Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB ) in 1979. He currently serves on the board of directors of Pinnacle Foods (NYSE: PF ) .
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Toby Talbot/AP NEW YORK -- Hillshire Brands is at the center of a barnyard brawl. Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat processor, has made a $6.2 billion offer for the maker Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs, topping a bid made two days earlier by rival poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride. Based in Greeley, Colorado, Pilgrim's Pride is owned by Brazilian meat giant JBS. The takeover bids for Hillshire Brands (HSH) by the two major meat processors are being driven by the desirability of brand-name processed products like Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches. The convenience foods are more profitable than fresh meat, such as chicken breasts, where there isn't as much wiggle room to pad prices. Selling more types of products also would give the companies a buffer from volatile price swings of fresh meat. When beef prices rise and shoppers turn to other meats, the companies can sell more chicken or bacon, for example. While both Tyson (TSN) and Pilgrim's (PPC) sell some prepared products like frozen fried chicken pieces, their main business has been as suppliers of fresh meat for supermarkets and restaurant chains. Both offers are contingent on Hillshire abandoning its plan to acquire Pinnacle Foods (PF), which makes Birds Eye frozen vegetables and Wish-Bone salad dressings. Hillshire had been trying to diversify its own portfolio by moving into other areas of the supermarket with the $4.23 billion acquisition. But some investors questioned whether combining with Pinnacle made sense, given the sharp differences in product categories and the outdated image of some Pinnacle brands, such as Hungry Man frozen dinners. Hillshire said earlier it strongly believes in its deal with Pinnacle Foods but would review Pilgrim's offer. In its latest statement Thursday, the Chicago-based company said it would review Tyson's offer as well and made no mention of its Pinnacle deal. Pilgrim's Pride said it is considering its options and will "update the markets in due cou
- [By Rich Duprey]
Shelf-stable and frozen food purveyor Pinnacle Foods (NYSE: PF ) is going to initiate a quarterly regular cash dividend, with the initial payment at $0.18 per share.
Hot Services Companies To Watch In Right Now: Kforce Inc.(KFRC)
Kforce Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional and technical staffing services and solutions in the United States. It operates in five segments: Technology, Finance and Accounting, Clinical Research, Health Information Management, and Government Solutions. The Technology segment offers temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its clients, focusing on information technology comprising systems/applications programmers and developers, senior-level project managers, systems analysts, enterprise data management, e-business, and networking technicians, as well as healthcare, financial services, and government integrators. The Finance and Accounting segment provides temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its customers in taxation, budget preparation and analysis, mortgage and loan processing, financial reporting, cost analysis, accounts payable, accounts receivable, professional administrative, credit and collections, general acco unting, audit services, and systems and controls analysis and documentation. The Clinical Research segment is involved in providing functional outsourcing solutions for monitoring clinical research site, contingent contract staffing, and permanent placement of clinical research personnel to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The Health Information Management segment offers temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its clients consisting of acute care facilities, physician clinics, software providers, and insurance companies, as well as in medical coding, the revenue life cycle, and health information technology areas. The Government Solutions segment provides technology, and finance and accounting professionals to the federal government; and integrated business solutions in the information technology, data and knowledge management, research and development, financial management, and accounting areas. Kforce Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of staffing service specialist Kforce (NASDAQ: KFRC ) plunged 16% today after its quarterly results missed 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.
Hot Services Companies To Watch In Right Now: C&C Group PLC (CCGGY)
C&C Group plc, incorporated on March 19, 2004, is engaged the production, marketing and selling of cider and beer. The Company operates in five segments: Republic of Ireland (ROI), Cider United Kingdom (Cider UK), Tennent�� United Kingdom (Tennent�� UK), International, and Third Party Brands United Kingdom (Third Party Brands UK). The Company�� cider brands include Bulmers, Magners, Gaymers Cider, Blackthorn Cider, Olde English, Addlestones, Woodchuck Hard Cider, Wyder�� Cider and Hornsby��. Its other cider brands include Bulmers Berry, Bulmers Pear, Magners Pear, Magners Specials, Special Vat, K, Natch and Diamond White.
ROI includes the results from sale of all products in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), including Bulmers, Tennent��, Caledonia Smooth and third party brands. Cider UK segment includes the results from sale of the Company�� cider products in the United Kingdom, with Magners, Gaymers and Blackthorn the principal brands. Tennent�� UK segment includes the results from sale of the Company�� owned beer brand Tennent�� in the United Kingdom and sales of Caledonia Best in the United Kingdom. International segment includes the results from sale of the Company�� cider and beer products, principally Magners, Blackthorn, Hornsby��, Woodchuck and Tennent�� in all territories outside of the ROI and the United Kingdom. Third Party Brands UK segment relates to the distribution of third party brands and the production and distribution of private label products in the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
At C&C Group's (NASDAQOTH: CCGGY ) annual meeting earlier this month, it was revealed that when it bought the Hornsby brand two years ago, it paid $25 million and got a 20% share of the market for its efforts. It paid more than 10 times that amount, or about $300 million, for Vermont Hard Cider and its top Woodchuck brand, and got another 42% share of the market. So C&C had almost two-thirds of the cider market all to itself.
- [By Rich Duprey]
While�Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD ) introduced some fruit-flavored margarita drinks and even Beam offered flavored bourbons to water down the market more,�the bigger threat may be coming from the explosive growth being witnessed in�hard cider.�Brewer Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM ) rolled out its Angry Orchard cider brand just last year and has already catapulted to the top of the market, surpassing C&C Group's (NASDAQOTH: CCGGY ) Vermont Hard Cider, the previous market leader.
- [By Rich Duprey]
The growth in 2012 follows the success of hard cider sales the year before, which saw a 40% increase. Yet the industry leader remains C&C Group's (NASDAQOTH: CCGGY ) Vermont Hard Cider, whose Woodchuck Hard Cider has a 41% share of the market, though analysts say Angry Orchard owns nearly half of the on-premises market at the end of the first quarter.
Hot Services Companies To Watch In Right Now: Halliburton Company(HAL)
Halliburton Company provides various products and services to the energy industry for the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas worldwide. It operates in two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services, completion tools and services, cementing services, and Boots & Coots. Its production enhancement services include stimulation and sand control services; completion tools and services comprise subsurface safety valves and flow control equipment, surface safety systems, packers and specialty completion equipment, intelligent completion systems, expandable liner hanger systems, sand control systems, well servicing tools, and reservoir performance services; cementing services consist of bonding the well and well casing, while isolating fluid zones and maximizing wellbore stability, and casing equipment; and Boots & Coots include well intervention services , pressure control, equipment rental tools and services, and pipeline and process services. The Drilling and Evaluation segment provides field and reservoir modeling, drilling, evaluation, and wellbore placement solutions that enable customers to model, measure, and optimize their well construction activities. Its services comprise fluid services, drilling services, drill bits, wireline and perforating services, testing and subsea services, software and asset solutions, and integrated project management and consulting services. The company serves independent, integrated, and national oil companies. Halliburton Company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Having repurchased 23 million shares, or $1 billion worth of company stock, in the second quarter, oil services giant Halliburton (NYSE: HAL ) announced today it had approved an increase to $5 billion in its buyback program.
- [By Matt DiLallo]
Safety record
While the economic benefits appear to be quite obvious, there are many who are concerned that we'd be paying much too high a price elsewhere. Among the areas of grave concern are the public health issues that are currently being studied. The fluids and chemicals used in fracking are among the areas of concern;however, this is an area where the industry is making great strides.�Halliburton� (NYSE: HAL ) , for example, has a whole suite of products it's moving forward on to clean up the process. The company's CleanStim Hydraulic Fracking Fluid System, for example, is made entirely with ingredients sourced from the food industry.� - [By Sue Chang]
Halliburton Co. (HAL) �is likely to report third-quarter earnings of 82 cents a share.
Hot Services Companies To Watch In Right Now: Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDS)
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (Cadence) develops electronic design automation (EDA), software, hardware, and silicon intellectual property (IP). Cadence licenses software and IP, sells or leases hardware technology and provides engineering and education services worldwide to help manage and accelerate electronics product development processes. The Company�� customers use its products and services to design and develop complex integrated circuits (ICs) and electronics systems. The Company combines its products and technologies into platforms for four design activities: Functional Verification; Digital IC Design and Implementation; Custom IC Design and Verification, and System Interconnect Design. It sells software using three license types: subscription, term and perpetual. It also offers a number of fee-based services, including engineering and education services. In June 2010, Cadence acquired Denali Software, Inc. (Denali). In May 2011, it acquired Altos Design Automation, Inc. On July 11, 2011, the Company acquired Azuro, Inc. In July 2012, the Company acquired Sigrity, Inc. In April 2013, Cadence Design Systems Inc announced the acquisition of Tensilica, Inc. In May 2013, the Company acquired Cosmic Circuits Pvt Ltd. In June 2013, Cadence Design Systems Inc announced that it has completed the acquisition of the IP business of Poland-based Evatronix, SA SKA. In February 2014, Cadence Design Systems Inc completed the acquisition of Forte Design Systems.
The four Cadence design platforms are branded as Incisive functional verification, Encounter digital IC design, Virtuoso custom design and Allegro system interconnect design. In addition, the Company augments these platform product offerings with a set of design for manufacturing (DFM), products that service both the digital and custom IC design flows. These solutions and their constituent elements are marketed to users who specialize in areas, such as system design and verification, functional verification, logic design, digital imple! mentation, custom IC design and printed circuit board (PCB), and IC package / SiP design.
Functional Verification
Cadence�� functional verification offerings consist of two categories: Logic Verification and System Design and Verification. Logic Verification offering consists of planning, property checking, testbench simulation, verification IP, and environment capabilities within the Incisive functional verification platform. This offering enables the Company�� customers to employ enterprise-level verification process automation, including metric-driven verification planning, process tracking and management. System Design and Verification offerings consist of hardware-assisted verification with emulation and acceleration, including the verification computing platform Palladium XP, Palladium and Xtreme platforms, system-level design capabilities, verification IP, estimation of system-on-chip (SoC), consulting services, and methodologies. The QuickCycles program allows customers access to its simulation acceleration and emulation products, either on their secure Internet site or remotely over a secure network connection. The products obtained through the acquisition of Denali include verification IP, memory models, and design IP.
Digital IC Design and Implementation
Cadence�� Digital IC offerings are used by its customers to create logical representations of a digital circuit or IC. The Company�� Digital IC offerings include two categories: Logic Design and Physical Implementation. Logic Design offering consists of formal verification, equivalency checking, synthesis and test capabilities within the Encounter digital IC design platform and property checking, simulation, and environment capabilities within the Incisive functional verification platform. This offering provides chip planning, design, verification and test technologies and services to customers across all digital design end markets. Physical Implementation offering consists of a ra! nge of th! e Encounter digital IC design platform capabilities. The Physical Implementation offering includes timing analysis, signal integrity, power analysis, extraction, physical verification, and place and route capabilities within the Encounter digital IC design platform. It enables the customers to create a physical representation of logic models, analyze electrical and physical characteristics of a design and prepare a design for manufacturing.
Custom IC Design and Verification
Cadence�� Custom IC Design and Verification offerings are used by its customers to create schematic representations of circuits down to the transistor level for analog, mixed-signal, custom digital, memory and radio frequency (RF) designs. These logical representations are verified using simulation tools optimized for each type of design. The offering includes the environment, IC layout and simulation capabilities within the Virtuoso custom design platform. Other tools in the Custom IC portfolio are used to prepare the designs for manufacturing.
System Interconnect Design
Cadence�� System Interconnect Design offerings are used by its customers to develop printed circuit board (PCBs), and IC packages. The offerings include the capabilities within the Allegro system interconnect design platform: PCB, IC package, SiP, design management and collaboration. The Company�� offerings also include the simulation capability within the Virtuoso custom design platform. These offerings enable engineers who are responsible for the capture, layout and analysis of advanced PCB and IC packages to design electronic products across the domains of IC, IC package and PCB. For PCB customers, the Company provides the OrCAD family of offerings that is marketed worldwide through a network of resellers.
The Company competes with Synopsys, Inc., Mentor Graphics Corporation and Magma Design Automation, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By cody56]
The top contributors to performance during the period were Trimble Navigation (TRMB), Sensata Technologies�(ST) and Cadence Design Systems (CDS).
Trimble Navigation provides location-based solutions to its customers that enhance their productivity and profitability. The recovery in construction end markets and continued strong demand from the farm economy resulted in strong overall financial results for the company and a strong stock price. We trimmed the position as it began to exceed the upper end of the market cap range that we invest in. Sensata Technologies develops, manufactures and sells sensors and controls. We are attracted to the company�� large growth opportunity, which is driven by increased sensor penetration in industries such as automobiles and general industrial opportunities. We find Sensata�� business model to be attractive given the stability of its revenues, strong operating leverage and excellent management team. During the period, the company benefited from a rebound in European automobile sales and deployed capital in several small accretive acquisitions. We have been trimming the position modestly as the stock approaches our price target.Meridian Growth Fund performance
Hot Services Companies To Watch In Right Now: Premier Exhibitions Inc.(PRXI)
Premier Exhibitions, Inc. provides museum quality touring exhibitions worldwide. It develops, deploys, and operates exhibition products; sells apparel, posters, and Titanic-related jewelry; publishes exhibition catalogs; and provides ancillary services, such as audio tours and photographs for public in the exhibition centers, museums, and non-traditional venues. The company operates and promotes various exhibitions, including Bodies Revealed and Bodies, The Exhibition, that display multiple human anatomy sets, which contain a collection of whole human body specimens, single human organs, and body parts; Titanic, the artifact exhibition, which features the artifacts recovered from the wreck site; and Dialog in the Dark that is intended to provide insight and experience to the paradox of learning to see without the use of sight. Premier Exhibitions, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) is projected to post its Q2 earnings.
Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE) is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.72 per share on revenue of $292.15 million.
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