Best International Companies For 2014

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Best Building Product Stocks To Own For 2015: Oxford Industries Inc.(OXM)

Oxford Industries, Inc. engages in designing, sourcing, and marketing apparel products primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company?s apparel products comprise a portfolio of company-owned lifestyle brands, as well as company-owned and licensed brands of tailored clothing and golf apparel. Its owned and licensed brands include Tommy Bahama, Lilly Pulitzer, Ben Sherman, Billy London, Oxford Golf, Nickelson, and Arnold Brant. The company also holds licenses to produce and sell various categories of apparel products under the Kenneth Cole, Dockers, and Geoffrey Beene brand names. Its primary product line includes the Tommy Bahama brand men's and women's sportswear and related products for affluent men and women with age of 35 and older; the Lilly Pulitzer brand women's and girl's dresses, sportswear, and other products for young women, young mothers and their daughters, and women; the Ben Sherman brand men's sportswear and related products for men ages 25 to 40; and branded and private label men's suits, sport coats, suit separates, and dress slacks. In addition, the company licenses its Tommy Bahama, Lilly Pulitzer, and Ben Sherman brand names for various products categories, including apparel, accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, luggage, rugs, wall coverings, fragrances and toiletries, shampoos and soaps, gift products, furniture, ceiling fans, stationery, bedding and home fashions, and table top accessories. Further, it operates restaurants under the Tommy Bahama brand name. It distributes company-owned lifestyle branded products through department stores, specialty stores, company-owned and licensed retail stores, and its e-commerce Websites; and branded and private label tailored clothing products through department stores, specialty stores, national chains, specialty catalogs, mass merchants, and Internet retailers. Oxford Industries, Inc. was founded in 1942 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One potential earnings short-squeeze candidate is men's apparel products player Oxford Industries (OXM), which is set to release numbers Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Oxford Industries to report revenue of $243.48 million on earnings of 98 cents per share.

  If this company can manage to beat or meet Wall Street's earnings estimates this quarter, then it would mark the biggest quarterly gain in the last six quarter.

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float for Oxford Industries is not able at 5.7%. That means that out of the 14.31 million shares in the tradable float, 817,000 shares are sold short by the bears. The bears have also been increasing their bets from the last reporting period by 3.8%, or by about 29,000 shares. If the bears are caught being too aggressive into a solid quarter, then shares of OXM could soar higher post-earnings as the bears rush to cover some of their bets.

  From a technical perspective, OXM is currently trending above its 200-day moving average and just below its 50-day moving average, which is neutral trendwise. This stock recently sold off hard from its August high of $69.29 to its low of $61.10 with higher-than-average volume flows. Shares of OXM have now started to rebound a bit off that low of $61.10 with strong upside volume flows. That move is quickly pushing shares of OXM within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade.

  If you're bullish on OXM, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above its 50-day moving average at $65.77 a share to more resistance at $65.93 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 103,286 shares. If that breakout triggers, then OXM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $69.28 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give OXM a chance t

• [By Mike Deane]

  After the bell on Tuesday, Oxford Industries (OXM) announced its second quarter earnings, posting a 14% increase in net sales from last year’s same quarter.

  The Atlanta, GA-based apparel company announced second quarter consolidated net sales of $235 million, which were up from last year’s Q2 figure of $206.9 million. The company’s EPS, on an adjusted basis, came in at $1.01, a 55% increase from last year’s 65 cents.

  Oxford Industries beat analysts’ Q2 EPS estimates of 98 cents, but missed the analyst revenue consensus of $243.5 million.

  Looking forward to full-year 2013, Oxford Industries lowered its EPS guidance to a range of $2.90 to $3.05. This comes in below the analysts’ consensus of $3.12.

  OXM shares were up 86 cents, or 1.33%, at the end of trading on Tuesday. YTD the stock is up more than 40%.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Oxford Industries Inc.'s(OXM) fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 70% despite continued sales growth at the apparel company’s Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer brands.

• [By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  Oxford Industries Inc.(OXM) said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings nearly tripled as the apparel company reported sales growth at its Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer brands.

Best International Companies For 2014: Primoris Services Corporation(PRIM)

Primoris Services Corporation, a specialty contractor and infrastructure company, provides a range of construction, fabrication, maintenance, replacement, water and wastewater, and product engineering services in the United States and internationally. It offers construction services, including installation of underground pipeline, cable, and conduits for entities in the petroleum, petrochemical, and water industries; installation and maintenance of industrial facilities for petroleum, petrochemical, and water industries; installation of commercial and industrial cast-in-place structures; and construction of highways, as well as industrial and environmental constructions. The company also engages in designing, supplying, and installing high-performance furnaces, heaters, burner management systems, and related combustion and process technologies for clients in the oil refining, petrochemical, and power generation industries, as well as furnishes turnkey project management se rvices and delivers custom engineering solutions. It serves public utilities, petrochemical companies, energy companies, municipalities, state departments of transportation, and other customers. Primoris Services Corporation is based in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ris is a contractor and infrastructure company founded in 1946. It provides services related to construction fabrication, maintenance, replacement, water and wastewater and engineering to clients that are typically major public utilities, petrochemical companies, energy companies, municipalities and others. It doubled its size in 2009 and 2010 when it purchased the James Construction Group and Rockford Corporation, respectively. Primoris��predecessor company, Rhapsody acquisition Corp., had its IPO in 2006, and Primoris merged with Rhapsody in 2008.

  Joel Greenblatt bought 59,076 shares at an average price of $13.56 in the fourth quarter. After being relatively flat since its IPO, Primoris��stock price began to rise dramatically in 2011, and Greenblatt bought on a dip in the fourth quarter. In the last year it has appreciated 87 percent.

  Primoris��free cash flow and revenue in 2010 bounced back from a down year in 2009 and EBITDA grew each year in the same span of time. Return on equity and return on assets have both declined over the three years, but in the third quarter of 2011 came back strongly. ROE increased to 29.3 percent from 16.1 at year-end 2010, and ROA has increased to 11.4 percent from 4.8 percent at year-end 2010.

  The third quarter was good in other ways. The company reached its highest revenue and net income in its 60-year history. However, fluctuations in revenue and earnings may occur over the next several quarters as it completes several major projects. On November 30, it announced $181 million in new contracts.

  Primoris��P/E, P/S and P/B ratios:

  PRIM pe,ps,pb Interactive Chart

  Caribou Coffee (CBOU)

  Caribou Coffee is a gourmet coffee company that owns the second-largest number of coffeehouses in the U.S. After rising significantly in the second quarter of 2011, its stock price dropped in the fourth quarter, when Joel Greenblatt purchased it. He bought 52,794 shares at an average price of $13.27.

Best International Companies For 2014: Furmanite Corp (FRM)

Furmanite Corporation (Furmanite), incorporated on January 23, 1953, is an on-site industrial plant turnaround maintenance and on-line contractor engineered services. The Company operates in two segments: Technical Services and Engineering & Project Solutions. Technical Services provides specialized technical services, including on-line, off-line and other services. The Engineering & Project Solutions segment includes Furmanite Technical Solutions (FTS), provides project planning, professional engineering, downstream non-destructive testing and inspection, construction management, mechanical integrity, field support, quality assurance and plant asset management services, as well as certain other inspection and project management services. The Company provides on-line repairs of leaks (leak sealing) in valves, pipes and other components of piping systems and related equipment used in flow-process industries.

The Company�� Technical Services segment�� On-line services include leak sealing, hot tapping, line stopping, line isolation, composite repair, valve testing and certain non-destructive testing and inspection services, while off-line services include on-site machining, heat treatment, bolting, valve repair and other non-destructive testing and inspection services. Other services include smart shim services, concrete repair, engineering services, valves and other products and manufacturing. The Engineering & Project Solutions segment�� customers include refining and petrochemical operators, as well as maintenance, and engineering and construction contractors servicing the downstream and midstream oil and gas markets, substantially, all of which are in the Americas.

The Company provides off-line services, including on-site machining, bolting, valve repair, heat treating, ultrasonic, radiography, phased array, tube testing and repair on such systems and equipment. These services tend to complement leak sealing and other on-line services since these off-line services a! re usually performed while a plant or piping system is not operating. In addition, the Company provides concrete repair, engineering services, valve and other products and manufacturing. The Company�� on-line; leak sealing services are performed on a range of flow-process industry machinery, often in difficult situations. The Company�� customer base includes petroleum refineries, chemical plants, mining operations, offshore energy production platforms, subsea piping systems, steel mills, nuclear and conventional power stations, pulp and paper mills, food and beverage processing plants and other flow-process facilities in more than 50 countries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Furmanite (FRM), together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized technical services. This stock closed up 2.2% to $7.78 in Tuesday's trading session.

   

  Tuesday's Range: $7.52-$7.83
  
  52-Week Range: $6.90-$12.70
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 639,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 150,022

   

  From a technical perspective, FRM trended higher here right above some near-term support at $7.21 with heavy upside volume flows. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last three months, with shares plunging lower from its high of $12 to its new 52-week low of $6.90. During that downtrend, shares of FRM have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of FRM have now started to rebound higher off that $6.90 low and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if FRM manages to take out Tuesday's intraday high of $7.83 to some more near-term overhead resistance at around $8 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FRM as long as it's trending above some key near-term support at $7.21 or above its 52-week low of $6.90 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 150,022 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then FRM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $8.50 to its 50-day moving average of $9.16, or even $9.50.

   

Best International Companies For 2014: Accenture plc. (ACN)

Accenture plc provides management consulting, technology, and business process outsourcing services worldwide. It offers various management consulting services in the areas of finance and enterprise performance, operations, risk management, sales and customer service, strategy, sustainability, and talent and organization management, as well as provides industry-specific management consulting services. The company also offers system integration consulting services and solutions, including enterprise solutions and enterprise resource planning, industry and functional solutions, information management services, custom solutions, and Microsoft solutions; and technology consulting services and solutions comprising information technology (IT) strategy, infrastructure consulting, IT security consulting, and application modernization and optimization. In addition, it provides technology outsourcing services, which include application outsourcing services; infrastructure outsourcin g services in service desk, workplace, data-center, network, security, and IT spend management service areas; cloud computing services; and mobility and embedded software services. Further, the company provides business process outsourcing (BPO) services for business functions and/or processes, including finance and accounting, human resources, learning and procurement, and others, as well as industry-specific BPO services, such as credit services. It serves communications, electronics and high technology, media and entertainment, banking, capital markets, insurance, health, public service, airlines, freight and logistics, automotive, consumer goods and service, industrial equipment, infrastructure and transportation service, life sciences, retail, chemical, energy, natural resources, and utility industries. Accenture plc has a strategic collaboration with Marriott International, Inc. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike Deane]

  Along with reporting its earnings on Thursday after the bell, Accenture plc (ACN) also announced a 14.8% increase to its semi-annual dividend and added $5 billion to its share repurchase plan.

  The management consulting company will now pay a semi-annual dividend of 93 cents, which is a 12 cent increase from its previous dividend. Annually, the company will pay $1.86. The dividend will be paid on November 15 to all shareholders on record as of October 8. The ex-dividend date is October 4.

  In addition to its dividend boost, the company also added an additional $5 billion to it share buyback plan, which brings the total amount of planned repurchases to $7 billion.

  ACN shares were down 25 cents, or .33%, at market close on Thursday, and were trading substantially lower in after-hours trading. The company’s stock is up over 10% YTD.

• [By John Divine]

  IT giant Accenture (NYSE: ACN  ) fell the most in the 500-stock index, slumping 10.3% after posting massively disappointing quarterly sales. Accenture seems to be suffering from a strange phenomenon: namely, the company's services are extremely reliable. That means that customers are booking longer-term deals as opposed to short-term contracts, which results in revenue taking more time to show up materially on the books. There are worse problems to have, but still, Wall Street wasn't impressed.�

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Accenture (NYSE: ACN  ) have plunged today by as much as 14% after the company reported fiscal third quarter earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the quarter totaled $7.2 billion, with earnings per share of $1.14. Sales were short of the $7.4 billion consensus estimate, although Accenture beat the bottom-line forecast of $1.13 per share. The company said consulting revenues were below internal expectations.

Best International Companies For 2014: Finisar Corporation(FNSR)

Finisar Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets optical subsystems and components that are used to interconnect equipment in short-distance local area networks (LANs), storage area networks (SANs), longer distance metropolitan area networks (MANs), fiber-to-the-home networks, cable television networks, and wide area networks. Its optical subsystems primarily include transmitters, receivers, transceivers, and transponders. The company?s optical subsystems provides the fundamental optical-electrical interface for connecting the equipment used in building networks comprising switches, routers, and file servers in wireline networks, as well as antennas and base stations for wireless networks. It also offers products for switching network traffic from one optical wavelength to another across multiple wavelengths, known as reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers. The company?s line of optical components principally comprises packaged lasers and photodetec tors used in transceivers for LAN and SAN applications; and passive optical components used in building MANs. It sells its optical products to manufacturers of storage system, networking equipment, and telecommunication equipment or their contract manufacturers through direct sales force and distribution channels in the United States, Malaysia, the People?s Republic of China, and internationally. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  JDS Uniphase stock is losing ground
  When you stack up JDS Uniphase stock up against two of its rivals�-- Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO  ) and Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR  ) , some interesting dynamics become apparent. First and foremost, of the three, JDS Uniphase stock is the only one �that has no P/E ratio ... because it has no "E" -- earnings -- to weigh its "P" -- price -- against.

• [By Rex Crum]

  One of the day�� biggest decliners was Finisar Corp. (FNSR) , which fell almost 22% to $19.71 a share. Late Thursday, the optical-communications equipment maker gave a weaker-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, of 30 cents to 34 cents a share. Wall Street analysts had forecast Finisar to earn 41 cents a share.

Best International Companies For 2014: Scorpio Tankers Inc.(STNG)

Scorpio Tankers Inc. provides marine transportation of crude oil and refined petroleum products worldwide. As of April 26, 2011, it owned one LR2 tanker, four LR1 tankers, four Handymax tankers, and one post-Panamax tanker, as well as chartered one LR1 and four Handymax product tankers. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Monaco, Monaco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG  ) reported earnings on April 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Scorpio Tankers missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG  ) reported earnings on July 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Scorpio Tankers missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Best International Companies For 2014: Libbey Inc (LBY)

Libbey Inc. (Libbey), incorporated in 1987, is a producer of glass tableware products in the Western Hemisphere, in addition to supplying to key markets throughout the world. The Company produces glass tableware in five countries and sells to over 100 countries. It operates in two segments: Glass Operations and Other Operations. Glass Operations includes worldwide sales of manufactured and sourced glass tableware and other glass products from domestic and international subsidiaries. Other Operations includes worldwide sales of sourced ceramic dinnerware, metal tableware, hollowware and serveware and plastic items. It design and market, under its Libbey, Crisa, Royal Leerdam, World Tableware, Syracuse China and Crisal Glass brand names. The Company�� import and market ceramic dinnerware under the Syracuse China brand name through its subsidiary Syracuse China Company (Syracuse China).

Through its subsidiary B.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Glasfabriek Leerdam (Royal Leerdam), the Company manufactures glass stemware under the Royal Leerdam brand name. Through its subsidiary Crisal-Cristalaria Automatica S.A. (Crisal), the Company manufactures glass tableware in Portugal for its worldwide customer base. Through its World Tableware Inc. (World Tableware) subsidiary, the Company imports metal flatware, hollowware, serveware and ceramic dinnerware for resale.

The Company�� glass tableware includes tumblers, stemware, including wine glasses, mugs, bowls, ashtrays, bud vases, salt and pepper shakers, shot glasses, canisters, candleholders and various other items. Libbey Holland produces stemware. Libbey Portugal produces glass tableware, mainly tumblers, stemware and glassware accessories. Libbey Mexico's glass tableware product assortment also includes glass bakeware and handmade glass tableware. In addition, Libbey Mexico's products include blender jars, washing machine windows and other glass products sold principally to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Through its Syrac! use China and World Tableware subsidiaries, the Company offers a range of ceramic dinnerware products. These include plates, bowls, platters, cups, saucers and other tableware accessories. Its World Tableware subsidiary provides an selection of metal flatware, including knives, forks, spoons and serving utensils. In addition, World Tableware sells metal hollowware, including serving trays, pitchers and other metal tableware accessories, as well as a line of dinnerware.

The customers for Libbey�� tableware products include approximately 500 foodservice distributors in the United States and Canada. In the retail channel, the Company sells to mass merchants, department stores, retail distributors, national retail chains and specialty housewares stores. In addition, the Company�� business-to-business channel primarily includes customers that use glass containers for candle and floral applications, gourmet food packaging companies, and various OEM applications. In Mexico, it sells to retail mass merchants and wholesale distributors, as well as candle and food packers, and various OEM users of custom molded glass. In Europe, it market glassware to retailers, distributors and decorators that service the retail, foodservice and developed business-to-business channel, which includes breweries and distilleries. In China, Libbey sells to distributors and wholesalers.

The Company competes with Arc International, Pasabahce, Anchor Hocking Company, Bormioli Rocco Group, Homer Laughlin, Oneida Ltd., Steelite and Walco, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  On Wednesday, small cap kitchen stock Everyware Global Inc (NASDAQ: EVRY) surged 52.94% after announcing an amendment to extend its forbearance agreement with lenders until July 15 that could give the company�time to find a long-term financing solution���meanings its worth taking as closer look at the stock along with potential peers Libbey Inc (NYSEMKT: LBY) and Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ: LCUT).

• [By John Udovich]

  Everyone is familiar with�the Tupperware brand from�consumer products stock Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) and you are probably familiar with the brands�of mid cap stock Jarden Corp (NYSE: JAH) along with small cap stocks Libbey Inc (NYSEMKT: LBY) and Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ: LCUT); but what about the stocks themselves? Chances are, their brands or products are right under your nose at home and you probably don�� know anything about the mid cap or small cap stock behind them.