Initial public offerings (IPOs) have skyrocketed so far in 2014, particularly for new biotech firms. According to the Financial Times, eight biotech firms raised a total of more than $500 million last week alone.
Here�� a look at two IPOs from last week that were not biotech firms and two of the biotechs��IPOs.
Ladder Capital Corp. (NYSE: LADR) priced its offering of 13.25 million shares on Wednesday night at $17, at the mid-point of its expected range of $16 to $18 a share. Underwriters have a 30-day option on an additional 1.99 million shares. Ladder raised approximately $226 million in the IPO. Shares opened Thursday at around $16.50 but finished the first day of trading at $16.99. They closed Friday at $17.30. Ladder is a commercial real-estate finance firm that uses a proprietary platform to originate conduit loans. It bundles the loans and sells them commercial backed mortgage securities (CMBS).
Continental Building Products Inc. (NYSE: CBPX) priced its IPO on Tuesday night at $14, below the expected range of $16 to $18 a share. Shares opened at $14.52 on Wednesday and hit an intraday high of $17.74 on Thursday. They closed on Friday at $17.30. The company raised $165.2 million on the offering of 11.8 million shares. The company makes and sells gypsum board to the construction industry.
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: First Cash Financial Services Inc (FCFS)
First Cash Financial Services, Inc., incorporated on April 24, 1994, is an operator of retail-based pawn and consumer finance stores in the United States and Mexico. As of February 18, 2013 , the Company had approximately 829 locations twelve states in United States and 24 states in Mexico. The Company's primary business is the operation of pawn stores, which engage in retail sales, purchasing of secondhand goods and consumer finance activities. The pawn stores generate retail sales from the merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures and over-the-counter purchases from customers. Pawn stores are also a convenient source for small consumer loans to help customers meet their short-term cash needs. Personal property, such as jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods and musical instruments are pledged as collateral for the loans. In addition, some of the Company's pawn stores offer consumer loans or credit services products.
In March 2012, the Company acquired three Dallas-area pawn stores. In June 2012, the Company acquired 24 pawn stores located in the states of Colorado (13), Kentucky (seven), Wyoming (three) and Nebraska (one). In June 2013, First Cash Financial Services Inc announced the acquisition of 19 format U.S. pawn stores located in Texas.
Pawn Merchandise Sales
The Company's pawn merchandise sales are primarily retail sales to the general public from its pawn stores. The items retailed are primarily used consumer electronics, jewelry, household appliances, tools, musical instruments, and sporting goods. The Company also melts down certain quantities of scrap jewelry and sells the gold, silver and diamonds in commodity markets.
The Company acquires pawn merchandise inventory primarily through forfeited pawn collateral and, to a lesser extent, through purchases of used goods directly from the general public. Merchandise acquired by the Company through forfeited pawn collateral is carried in inventory at the amount of the ! related pawn loan, exclusive of any accrued service fees. The Company does not provide financing to customers for the purchase of its merchandise, but does permit its customers to purchase merchandise on an interest-free layaway plan. Should the customer fail to make a required payment, the item is returned to inventory and previous payments are forfeited to the Company. Interim payments from customers on layaway sales are credited to deferred revenue and subsequently recorded as income in which final payment is received or when previous payments are forfeited to the Company.
Pawn Lending Activities
The Company's pawn stores make small loans to their customers in order to help them meet short-term cash needs. All pawn loans are collateralized by personal property such as jewelry, electronic equipment, household appliances, tools, sporting goods and musical instruments. Pawn loans are non-recourse loans and the pledged goods provide the only security to the Company for the repayment of the loan. At the time a pawn transaction is entered into, an agreement, commonly referred to as a pawn ticket, is delivered to the borrower for signature that sets forth, among other items, the name and address of the pawnshop, borrower's name, borrower's identification number from his/her driver's license or other identification, date, identification and description of the pledged goods, including applicable serial numbers, amount financed, pawn service fee, maturity date, total amount that must be paid to redeem the pledged goods on the maturity date, and the annual percentage rate. Pledged property is held through the term of the loan, unless the pawn is paid earlier or renewed. The typical loan term is generally one month plus an additional grace period (typically 30 to 90 days). The Company contracts for pawn loan fees and service charges as compensation for the use of the funds loaned and to cover direct operating expenses related to the transaction and holding the pledged property. These pa! wn loan f! ees and service charges accounted for approximately 26% of the Company's revenue from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2012 .
Credit Services and Consumer Loan Activities
The Company has significantly reduced its U.S.-based consumer loan activities, primarily from payday lending, over the past several years. In September 2012, the Company closed seven of its consumer loan stores located in the Texas cities of Austin and Dallas. The Company offers a fee-based credit services organization program (CSO Program) to assist consumers, in Texas markets, in obtaining extensions of credit. The Company's consumer loan and pawn stores in Texas offer the CSO Program, and, in Texas, credit services are also offered via an Internet platform. Under the CSO Program, the Company assists customers in applying for a short-term extension of credit from an independent, non-bank, consumer lending company (the Independent Lender) and issues the Independent Lender a letter of credit to guarantee the repayment of the extension of credit.
The Company subsequently collects a percentage of these bad debts by redepositing the customers' checks, ACH collections or subsequent cash repayments by the customers. The profitability of the Company's credit services operations is dependent upon adequate collection of these returned items. The Company also offers an automobile title lending product under the CSO Program. These credit services fees accounted for approximately 8% of the Company's revenue from continuing operations during 2012 . In Mexico, the Company also offers an installment loan product with a term of 365 days and bears weekly service fees of 7% on the loan amount. These consumer loan fees accounted for less than 1% of the Company's revenue from continuing operations during 2012 .
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of First Cash Financial Services (NASDAQ: FCFS ) plunged as low as 14% today after the consumer finance company cut its short-term guidance outlook.
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Ply Gem Holdings Inc (PGEM)
Ply Gem Holdings, Inc. (Ply Gem Holdings), incorporated on January 23, 2004, is a manufacturer of residential exterior building products in North America. The Company operates in two segments: Siding, Fencing, and Stone and Windows and Doors. These two segments produce a product line of vinyl siding, designer accents, cellular polyvinyl chloride (PVC) trim, vinyl fencing, vinyl and composite railing, stone veneer and vinyl windows and doors used in both new construction and home repair and remodeling in the United States and Western Canada. It also manufactures vinyl and aluminum soffit and siding accessories, aluminum trim coil, wood windows, aluminum windows, vinyl and aluminum-clad windows and steel and fiberglass doors, enabling it to bundle complementary and color-matched products and accessories with its core products. The Company�� subsidiaries includes including Ply Gem Industries, MWM Holding, AWC Holding Company, MHE, and Pacific Windows. On July 30, 2012, Ply Gem acquired substantially all of the assets of Greendeck Products, LLC.
Siding, Fencing, and Stone Segment
In the Siding, Fencing, and Stone segment, its principal products include vinyl siding and skirting, vinyl and aluminum soffit, aluminum trim coil, J-channels, wide crown molding, window and door trim, F-channels, H-molds, fascia, undersill trims, outside/inside corner posts, rain removal systems, injection molded designer accents, such as shakes, shingles, scallops, shutters, vents and mounts, vinyl fence, vinyl and composite railing, and stone veneer. It sells its siding and accessories under its Variform, Napco, Mastic Home Exteriors, and Cellwood brand names and under the Georgia-Pacific brand name through a private label program. It also sells its Providence line of vinyl siding and accessories to Lowe�� under its Durabuilt private label brand name. Its vinyl and vinyl-composite fencing and railing products are sold under its Kroy and Kroy Express brand names. Ply Gem Holdings stone veneer produ! cts are sold under its United Stone Veneer brand name.
The Company sells the siding and accessories to specialty distributors (one-step distribution) and to wholesale distributors (two-step distribution). Its specialty distributors sell directly to remodeling contractors and builders. Its wholesale distributors sell to retail home centers and lumberyards who, in turn, sell to remodeling contractors, builders and consumers. In the specialty channel, it has developed a network of approximately 800 independent distributors, serving over 22,000 contractors and builders nationwide.
Windows and Doors Segment
In the Windows and Doors segment, its principal products include vinyl, aluminum, wood and clad-wood windows and patio doors, and steel, wood, and fiberglass entry doors that serve both the new home construction and the repair and remodeling sectors in the United States and Western Canada. Its products in its Windows and Doors segment are sold under the Ply Gem Windows, Great Lakes Mastic by Ply Gem, and Ply Gem Canada brands.
The Company competes with Alsco, Gentek, U.S. Fence, Homeland, Westech, Bufftech, Royal, Azek., Eldorado Stone, Coronado Stone, Jeld-Wen, Simonton, Pella and Andersen, MI Home Products, Atrium, Weathershield, Milgard, Jeld-Wen, Gienow, All Weather and Loewen.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt Jarzemsky]
Installed Building Products��debut follows mixed performance from shares of some newly public building-products companies. Through Tuesday, siding manufacturer Ply Gem Holdings Inc.(PGEM)�� shares were down 39% from the offer price in its $381 May debut. Wood-products maker Boise Cascade Co.(BCC) was up 46% from its $284 million February IPO.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Ply Gem Holdings (NYSE: PGEM) shares reached a new 52-week low of $11.48 after the company reported wider-than-expected Q4 loss and issued a weak Q1 revenue forecast.
Top 5 Defense Companies To Watch For 2015: Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD)
Lithia Motors, Inc. operates as an automotive franchisee and retailer of new and used vehicles in the United States. The company sells new and used cars, and trucks; offers replacement parts; provides vehicle maintenance, warranty, paint, and repair services; and arranges related financing, service contracts, protection products, and credit insurance. As of February 22, 2013, the company offered 27 brands of new vehicles and various brands of used vehicles in 87 stores, as well as online at Lithia.com. Lithia Motors, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is based in Medford, Oregon.
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 Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Tom Stoukas]
Ladbrokes (LAD) Plc plunged to its lowest price in almost a year after issuing a profit warning for its digital division. Thomas Cook Group Plc slid 6.6 percent after it said winter bookings have slowed. Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB), Europe�� second-biggest clothing retailer, rose to its highest price after posting third-quarter profit that beat analysts��estimates.
- [By Inyoung Hwang]
Ladbrokes (LAD) rallied 2.9 percent to 185 pence, posting the biggest two-day gain since April 2009. A mystery buyer, thought to be Sagi, bought a stake in the U.K. bookmaker, the Telegraph reported. The deal, through Shore Capital, was just below the 3 percent disclosure limit, according to the Telegraph. The purchase fueled speculation about a possible bid, the newspaper said.
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Verizon Communications Inc.(VZ)
Verizon Communications Inc. provides communication services. The company operates through two segments, Domestic Wireless and Wireline. The Domestic Wireless segment offers wireless voice and data services; and sells equipment in the United States. The Wireline segment provides voice, Internet access, broadband video and data, Internet protocol network, network access, long distance, and other services in the United States and internationally. The company serves consumer, business, and government customers, as well as carriers. As of December 31, 2010, its network covered a population of approximately 292 million and provided service to a customer base of approximately 94.1 million. The company was formerly known as Bell Atlantic Corporation and changed its name to Verizon Communications Inc. in June 2000. Verizon Communications Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Maxx Chatsko]
The greening of corporate America
Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD ) may give us the King of Beers, but it is also making a run at being the King of Green. The company's New York facilities, including its massive Baldwinsville brewery, receive 40% of their power from hydro sources, while a single 340-foot wind turbine provides up to 20% of the electricity for the Fairfield, Cali. brewery. Not to be outdone, the Houston brewery acquires 60% of its power from landfill gas. Why stop there? Anheuser maintains that anaerobic digesters provide 9% of the fuel needs of its 10 U.S. breweries by consuming wastewater alone.� The Maiden, California data center from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) produces enough electricity to power 17,600 American homes and represents the largest non-utility power generation site in the country. A 100-acre solar array will be complemented by an additional 20 MW solar farm being constructed with SunPower. Its corporate offices in Austin and Sacramento are fully supported by green energy, while the company utilizes renewable sources for 75% of its total energy needs.� Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) wants to cut its carbon intensity in half by 2020. How do you do that? The telecom giant just made a $100 million investment to convert 19 of its domestic sites to solar and fuel cell technology that will produce 90 million kWh annually. Bloom Energy, a growing favorite among corporate America, will supply enough solid oxide fuel cells to generate 16 million kWh of electricity, while ClearEdge Power will supply 400 fuel cells of its own. The balance will come from solar panels provided under a multi-year agreement with SunPower.� Walmart (NYSE: WMT ) generates enough gre
Google may be a corporate leader in renewable energy investment, but it's far from the only company priming itself for a carbon neutral, off-grid future. Here are renewable energy highlights from four of the country's biggest companies. - [By Andrew Tonner]
While the telecom space might not typically be the most interesting investment landscape, several telecom companies have been absolutely on fire lately. However, when looking at the two largest U.S. carriers --�Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ ) and�AT&T (NYSE: T ) �-- things aren't always as exciting. However, Verizon presents investors with a potentially lucrative opportunity over the next few months as it's likely to attempt a major transaction to create more value for shareholders. In this edition of our Ask a Fool series, Fool contributor Andrew Tonner explains why Verizon still has room to run.
- [By Harold L. Vogel]
Moreover, the industry is no longer about video signal distribution. It's becoming more about provision of Internet broadband - quite a different business with significant capital costs similar to those in video but with much more competition and a dependency on wireless-service affiliates for an increasingly important side of the business that cable cannot itself provide without breaking its bank. More competition, such as from Google's (GOOG) Kansas City roll-out of ultra-fast (1Gbps) low-priced broadband and dependency on the kindness of mobile-phone strangers (Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Sprint (S)) signals an important, tectonic-type of shift in the relative competitive position of MSOs.
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Transglobe Energy Corp(TGA)
TransGlobe Energy Corporation operates as an exploration and production company with oil interests in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Yemen. It has interests in 9 international blocks comprising 5.5 million acres. The company was formerly known as Dusty Mac Mines, Ltd. and changed its name to TransGlobe Energy Corporation in April 1996 as a result of its business focus shift from mineral exploration and extraction to oil and gas business. TransGlobe Energy Corporation was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Overseas opportunity
I can't say I'm someone who particularly likes to push my luck in regions of the world where political upheaval can threaten my investments. One such example where I've bucked that trend is AngloGold Ashanti�in Africa, which dealt with a large labor strike that shut down two its mines for a significant amount of time. This came on top of the higher-than-normal labor costs African metal miners already deal with. The next such name I'd like to add to this short list of exceptions is independent oil and gas driller TransGlobe Energy (NASDAQ: TGA ) .
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Lumos Networks Corp (LMOS)
Lumos Networks Corp. is a fiber-based service provider in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Company provides data, broadband, voice and Internet protocol (IP) services over fiber optic network. The Company offers a range of data and voice products supported by approximately 5,800 fiber-route miles in Virginia, West Virginia, and portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky. Its products and services include metro Ethernet, IP services, business advantage bundle, managed router service, broadband, voice services and Web hosting. On October 14, 2011, NTELOS Holdings Corp. announced a distribution date of October 31, 2011, for the spin-off of Lumos Networks Corp.
The Company�� broadband services include Business DSL, Dedicated Business Service, Managed Router Services, Business Broadband XL, Business PC Services and Web Hosting. Its IP services include Integrated Access, IP Trunking, IP Centrex and IP Phones. Its voice service include Business Voice, Business Advantage Bundle, nTouch, Intelligent Messaging, Simultaneous Ring, Conference Calling and Long Distance. Its data services include Metro Ethernet and Quality of Service. Lumos Networks Business DSL provides up to six megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream. Its managed router support service equipment includes staging, installation, configuration, and maintenance while support provides around-the-clock monitoring, management and trouble resolution and direct access to networking experts. Its Business Broadband XL offers a selection of high download speeds. Lumos Networks' Integrated Access solution can integrate local voice, long distance, voicemail, and broadband Internet access. Lumos Networks nTouch brings voicemail linking IP Centrex and nTelos Wireless phone.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lee Jackson]
Lumos Networks Corp. (NASDAQ: LMOS) is a leading provider of fiber-based bandwidth infrastructure and IP services in key mid-Atlantic markets. It announced last month it had launched its cloud-based hosted call center solution, which provides best-in-class automated call distribution, integrated voice response and call reporting to help organizations manage call volumes more effectively and efficiently. The service operates over Lumos’s carrier-grade, premium optical network, which provides high-speed, resilient access to the call-center cloud service. The consensus price target for the stock is $20.50. Investors are paid a reasonable 2.7% dividend. Lumos closed Thursday at $20.77.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top losers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 5.8 percent, and Lumos Networks (NASDAQ: LMOS), down 2.9 percent.
Top Headline
Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Citigroup's quarterly profit surged to $3.94 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.81 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.23. Excluding one-time items, its earnings rose to $1.30 versus $1.29. Its revenue declined to $20.12 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.14 per share on revenue of $19.37 billion. - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top losers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 5.8 percent, and Lumos Networks (NASDAQ: LMOS), down 2.9 percent.
Top Headline
Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Citigroup's quarterly profit surged to $3.94 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.81 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.23. Excluding one-time items, its earnings rose to $1.30 versus $1.29. Its revenue declined to $20.12 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.14 per share on revenue of $19.37 billion.
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS)
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS), incorporated on March 2, 2001, is a global provider of banking and payments technologies. The Company operates in four segments: Financial Solutions Group (FSG), Payment Solutions Group (PSG), International Solutions Group (ISG) and Corporate and Other Segment. The Company is engaged in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology. The Company offers financial institution core processing, card issuer and transaction processing services, including the NYCE Network, a national electronic funds transfer (EFT) network. FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. In February 2011, FIS acquired GIFTS Software, Inc., a provider of integrated funds transfer, Web-based cash management systems and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions. In April 2012, it acquired ICS Risk Advisors and Memento, Inc. In August 2012, the Company completed the sale of its Healthcare Solutions business to an investment fund affiliated with Lightyear Capital LLC. In March 2013, it announced the acquisition of mFoundry.
Financial Solutions Group
FSG is to provide the software and services for the core processing, customer channel, treasury, cash management, wealth management and capital market operations of its financial institution customers in North America. The Company services the core and related ancillary processing needs of North American banks, credit unions, automotive financial companies, commercial lenders, and independent community and savings institutions. FIS offers a selection of in-house and outsourced solutions to banking customers that span the range of asset sizes. Its solutions in this segment include Core Processing and Ancillary Applications, Channel Solutions, Decision and Risk Management Solutions, Syndicated Loan Applications, Global Commercial Services and Strategic Consulting Services.
The Company�� processing software applications are de! signed to run banking processes for its financial institution clients, including deposit and lending systems, customer management, and other central management systems. The Company also offers a number of services that are ancillary to the primary applications listed above, including branch automation, back office support systems and compliance support. In addition, its wealth management services offer a set of Internet-enabled services to financial services providers that address the specific needs of markets, as well as commercial clients. These solutions address asset and liability aggregation, trust and investment account management, client and regulatory reporting, and employee retirement benefit services. The Company also offers an application suite that assists automotive finance institutions in evaluating loan applications and credit risk, and allows automotive finance institutions to manage their loan and lease portfolios.
The Company�� suite of retail delivery applications enables financial institutions to integrate customer-facing operations and back-office processes, thereby improving customer interaction across all channels (branch offices, Internet, automated teller machine (ATM), call centers). Its Consumer Electronic Banking and Business Internet Banking both provide a set of cash management capabilities, enabling customers to manage banking and payments through the Internet, mobile devices, accounting software and telephone. Corporate Electronic Banking solutions provide commercial treasury capabilities, including cash management services and multi-bank collection and disbursement services that address the specialized needs of corporate customers. FIS systems provide accounting and reconciliation for such transactions, serving as the system of record and providing regulatory compliance, risk assessment and fraud management tools.
The Company�� decision solutions offers a spectrum of options that cover the account lifecycle from helping to identify qualified! account ! applicants to managing mature customer accounts and fraud. Its applications include know-your-customer, new account decisioning, new account opening, account and transaction management, fraud management and collections. Its risk management services utilize its risk management models and data sources to assist in detecting fraud and assessing the risk of opening a new account or accepting a check at either the point-of-sale, a physical branch location, or through the Internet. Its systems utilize a combination of advanced authentication procedures, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence modeling and shared databases to assess and detect fraud risk for deposit transactions for financial institutions.
The Company�� syndicated loan applications are designed to support wholesale and commercial banking requirements necessary for all aspects of syndicated commercial loan origination and management. Its global commercial services include solutions, both onshore and offshore, designed to meet the technology challenges facing principally Unites States based clients, large or small. Its technology solutions range in scope from consulting engagements to application development projects and from operations support for a single application to management of information technology infrastructures. The Company also provides outsourcing teams todeliver customer service. With the The Capital Markets Company NV (Capco) acquisition, it provides integrated consulting, technology and transformation services. Capco specializes in banking; capital markets; wealth and investment management; finance, risk and compliance, and technology. Capco's North American operations are included in FSG.
Payment Solutions Group
PSG provides a set of software and services for the EFT, card processing, item processing, bill payment, and government and healthcare payments processing needs of its customers in North America. PSG is focused on servicing the payment and electronic funds transfer needs o! f North A! merican headquartered banks and credit unions, commercial lenders, independent community and savings institutions and healthcare and government institutions. Its solutions in this segment include Electronic Funds Transfer, Item Processing and Output Services, Credit Card Solutions, Government and Healthcare Payments Solutions, ePayment Solutions and Check Authorization.
The Company�� electronic funds transfer and debit card processing businesses offer settlement and card management solutions for financial institution card issuers. It provides traditional ATM- and personal identification number (PIN)-based debit network access and emerging real-time payment alternatives through NYCE. It is also a provider of prepaid card services, which include gift cards and reloadable cards, with end-to-end solutions for development, processing and administration of stored-value programs.
The Company�� item processing services furnish financial institutions with the equipment needed to capture data from checks, transaction tickets and other items; image and sort items; process exceptions through keying, and perform balancing, archiving and the production of statements. Its item processing services are utilized by more than 1,500 financial institutions. Its solutions include distributed ( non-centralized) data capture, check and remittance processing, fraud detection, and document and report management. Its Endpoint Exchange Network enables United States financial institutions to clear their check-based transactions by allowing for the exchange of check images between member institutions. The Company offers a number of output services that are ancillary to the primary solutions it provide, including print and mail capabilities and card personalization fulfillment services. Its CSF Designer document composition software is used by many clients in various industries to furnish printed or electronically produced invoices and statements for customized customer communication. Its print and mail! services! offers computer output solutions for the creation, management and delivery of print and fulfillment needs. The Company provides its card personalization fulfillment services for branded credit cards and branded and non-branded debit and prepaid cards. More than 5,200 financial institutions utilize a combination of its technology and/or services to issue VISA, MasterCard or American Express branded credit and debit cards or other electronic payment cards for use by both consumer and business accounts. Its services range from card production and activation to a range of fraud management services to value-added loyalty programs designed to increase card usage and fee-based revenues.
FIS healthcare payments solutions facilitate the exchange of information and funds among patients, payers, providers and financial institutions. With Web-enabled tools, a Health Savings Account (HSA) platform, multi-purse benefit debit cards that cover multiple spending accounts with a single card and combined eligibility/payment cards, FIS enables consumers and third-party benefits administrators to have integrated benefit account management of HSAs, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Reimbursement Agreements (HRA) and dependent care and transportation accounts. It also provides customized electronic service applications for government agencies, including Internal Revenue Service (IRS) payment services. It also facilitates the collection of state income taxes, real estate taxes, utility bills, vehicle registration fees, driver�� license renewal fees, parking tickets, traffic citations, tuition payments, court fees and fines, hunting and fishing license fees, as well as various business licenses.
The Company provides bill publishing and bill consolidation technology for its customers, generating millions of monthly bills and servicing both billers and financial institution customers. Online bill payment functionality includes credit and debit card-based expedited payments. Its end-to-end prese! ntment an! d payment solution provides an all-in-one solution to meet billers��needs for the distribution and collection of bills and other customer documents. FIS also provides automated clearing house (ACH) processing. Its check authorization business provides check risk management and related services to businesses accepting or cashing checks. Its services assess the likelihood (and often provide a guarantee) that a check will clear.
International Solutions Group
The Company provides core banking applications, channel solutions, card and merchant services, item processing and check risk management solutions to financial institutions, card issuers and retailers. Its international operations leverage existing applications and provide services for the specific business needs of its customers in targeted international markets. Services are delivered from 28 operations centers around the world. Its payment solutions services include outsourced card-issuer services and customer support, payment processing and switching services, prepaid and debit card processing, item processing, software licensing and maintenance, outsourced ATM management and retail point-of-sale check warranty services. Its financial solutions services include fully outsourced core bank processing arrangements, application management, software licensing and maintenance, facilities management and consulting services, including Capco's international operations.
Corporate and Other Segment
The Corporate and Other segment consists of the corporate overhead costs that are not allocated to operating segments. These include costs related to human resources, finance, legal, accounting, domestic sales and marketing, merger and acquisition activity and amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and other costs that are not considered when management evaluates operating segment performance.
The Company competes with Fiserv, Inc., Jack Henry and Associates, Inc., Open Solutions, Inc., In! ternation! al Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Accenture Ltd., Alliance Data Systems Corporation, DST Systems, Harland Financial Solutions, Inc., SEI Investments Company, S1Corporation, SunGard Data Systems, Inc., Alnova Technologies Corporation, Oracle Financial Services Software Limited, Misys plc, Infosys Technologies Limited, Temenos Group AG, MasterCard Incorporated, Visa Inc., First Data Corporation, Total System Services, Inc., HP Enterprise Services, Payment Systems for Credit Unions (PSCU), Heartland Payments Systems, Inc. and Global Payments, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Banking and payments services and support company Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) raised its quarterly dividend 9% to 24 cents per share, payable on Mar. 31 to shareholders of record as of Mar. 17.
FIS Dividend Yield: 1.90%
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Alkaline Water Company Inc (WTER)
The Alkaline Water Company Inc., formerly Global Lines Inc, incorporated on June 6, 2011, is a developer of electrolysis beverage process, packaged and branded as Alkaline84. Alkaline84 is the Company's flagship product designed to encourage daily consumption of Alkaline Water through a consumer oriented bulk delivery system. The Company is engaged in the development of a national retail bulk distribution network delivering Electrochemically Activated Water (ECA) to consumers everywhere. The Company is focused on the business of distributing and marketing the retail sale of its packaged Alkaline84 branded beverage products.
Alkaline84 is available in two sizes: three liters and one gallon. Alkaline84 is a pH balanced bottled alkaline drinking water enhanced with 84 trace minerals and electrolytes. Alkaline84 is available for consumer sales at a number of major retail locations across the southwestern United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
If you've lost count of how many distributors Alkaline Water Company Inc. (OTCBB:WTER) has working for it now, you're not alone. Ditto for the number of grocers that are offering its flagship produce... one-gallon bottles of Alkaline84 water (some of the best-tasting and healthiest spring water you could ever drink). So many distributors and grocery store chains have just started carrying Alkaline84 within the past two months that it's been nearly impossible to keep up with how quickly WTER has gotten its ball rolling. There is one thing that's clear though - Alkaline Water Company has a LOT of momentum right now, up from none at the beginning of July. Take a look at all the doors the company has opened since it actually began marketing its bottled water:
- [By CRWE]
Today, WTER has shed (-4.26%) down -0.020 at $.450 with 2,336,294 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:28PM EDT September 17, 2013).
The Alkaline Water Company Inc. previously reported that Ms. Brande Roderick has agreed to join the Company’s Advisory Board and will undertake an active role in upcoming public relations and awareness campaigns.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
Look out Primo Water Corporation (NASDAQ:PRMW), there's a serious threat nipping out your heels, and there way of "doing bottled water" may be a heck of a lot easier for consumers to swallow than your way. The name of that budding competition? Alkaline Water Company Inc. (OTCBB:WTER). In fact, WTER became just a little more competitive on Tuesday thanks to widening its reach.... again.
- [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:
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: 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 Paul McWilliams]
Paul McWilliams: Oh, yeah. Let's touch on just a couple of them really quickly. First off, there's Finisar (FNSR). Finisar is a world leader in fiber optic components and substances. It's not as big as JDSU in revenue, but half of JDSU is capital equipment. So, it doesn't compete with Finisar.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Friday gave stock market investors some respite from losses earlier in the week, as major-market benchmarks managed to recover by around a quarter of a percent. Merger and acquisition activity helped bolster stocks in many different parts of the market, but concerns about the sustainability of the economic recovery held others back. Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR ) , InterDigital (NASDAQ: IDCC ) , and GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC ) were among the worst performers of the day.
Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch For 2015: Energy Recovery Inc (ERII)
Energy Recovery, Inc. incorporated in April 1992, is engaged in developing, manufacturing and selling of energy recovery devices and circulation pumps primarily for uses in seawater desalination plants that use reverse osmosis technology. The Company's products are sold under the trademarks AquaBold, AquaSpire, ERITM, PXT, Pressure Exchanger, PX Pressure Exchanger, PEIT, Pump Engineering and Quadribaric. The Company develops and sells two main lines of energy recovery devices: PX pressures Exchanger devices and turbochargers. Each line includes a range of models and sizes to address the breadth of required process flow rates, plant designs and sizes. The company has two wholly owned subsidiaries: Energy Recovery Iberia, S.L. and ERI Energy Recovery Ireland Ltd. During the year ended December 2011, the Company merged three subsidiaries including, Osmotic Power, Inc.; Energy Recovery, Inc. International and Pump Engineering, Inc. into the parent company, Energy Recovery, Inc.
Energy recovery devices
The Company's PX offering includes: the PX-300 and PX-Q300; the 65 series (the PX-260, PX-220 and PX-180); the 4S series (PX-140S, PX-90S, PX-70S, PX-45S and PX-30S) and brackish PX devices (for the desalination of water with a lower concentration of salt than seawater). The Company's turbocharger offering includes: the HTCAT series (HTCAT-1800, HTCAT-2400, HTCAT-3600, HTCAT-4800, HTCAT-7200 and HTCAT-9600); the HALO line (HALO-50, HALO-75, HALO-100, HALO-150, HALO-225, HALO-300, HALO-450, HALO-500, HALO-600, HALO-900 and HALO-1200) and the LPT series for brackish water desalination applications (LPT-63, LPT-125, LPT-250, LPT-500, LPT-1000, LPT-2000 and LPT-3200).
High-pressure and Circulation pumps.
The Company manufactures and sells high-pressure feed, circulation and booster pumps for uses with its energy recovery devices in reverse osmosis desalination plants. The Company's line of pumps includes the AquaBold series (AquaBold 2x3x5, AquaBold 3x4x7 and ! AquaBold 4x6x9); the AquaSpire series (AquaSpire-300, AquaSpire-450, AquaSpire-600, AquaSpire-900, AquaSpire-1200, AquaSpire-1800, AaquaSpire-2400, AquaSpire-3600, AquaSpire-4800, AquaSpire-7200 and AquaSpire-9600) and a line of small circulation pumps.
Technical support and Replacement parts
The Company provides engineering and technical support to customers during product installation and plants commissioning. The Company also offers replacement parts and services for its PX devices and turbochargers. The Company's PX devices and turbochargers are also used to retrofit or replace older energy recovery devices in existing desalination plants.
The Company Competes with Flowserve Corporation (Flowserve) based in Irving, Texas and Fluid Equipment Development Company, Clyde Union Ltd., Duchting Pumpen Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co KG, KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Torishima Pump Mfg. Co., Ltd. and Sulzer Pumps, Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ant贸nio Costa]
Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) broke out of a small consolidation area with heavy volume and will likely have the attention of the swing-traders in the next days.
No comments:
Post a Comment