Best Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2014

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Safeway (NYSE: SWY  ) shares were taking their turn in the dunk today, falling as much as 19% after posting a disappointing quarter.

So what: The supermarket chain sacrificed profit during the quarter in order to hold on to customers, as competition from the likes of Wal-Mart�and Target�continues to rise. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.35, $0.01 below estimates, and revenue was off by about 1.5%. Same-store sales increased by 1.5%, which was due, in part, to a shift in the calendar.

Now what: Today's drop seemed to be less of a result of a terrible earnings report, and more of a slight miss coming after strong appreciation in the stock. Before today's drop, sales had nearly doubled since the summer, as the company has tried new strategies to increase sales and remain relevant in a changing industry, including personalized deals and lower prices. The momentum seemed to get ahead of itself, however, as profit growth would not seem to justify a share price of $30. For those who still have profits to take, now might be a good time.

Top 10 Food Stocks To Buy Right Now: Tractor Supply Company(TSCO)

Tractor Supply Company operates retail farm and ranch stores in the United States. Its stores offer a selection of merchandise, including equine, pet, and animal products, such as items required for their health, care, growth, and containment; hardware, truck, towing, and tool products; seasonal products, including lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys; maintenance products for agricultural and rural use; and work/recreational clothing and footwear. The company operates its retail stores under the Tractor Supply Company and Del?s Farm Supply names, as well as a Website under the TractorSupply.com name. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 1,085 retail farm and ranch stores in 44 states. The company serves recreational farmers and ranchers, as well as tradesmen and small businesses. Tractor Supply Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Retail Stocks to Watch No. 6: Tractor Supply Co. (Nasdaq: TSCO)
  One-year retail sales growth: 10.7%
  Total 2013 U.S. sales: $5.1 billion
  Tractor Supply had 1,276 retail farm and ranch stores in the United States as of 2013, which was an increase of about 9% from the stores it had the year before. In addition to the new stores, Tractor Supply also started selling more perishable items last year, such as vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees. Online retailers have had little impact on TSCO, as many of the company's products are difficult to ship. TSCO closed at $67.16.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2014: Banner Corporation(BANR)

Banner Corporation operates as the holding company for Banner Bank and Islanders Bank that provide commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities. It generates various deposit instruments, including demand checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, certificates of deposit, cash management services, and retirement savings plans. The company also originates commercial business and commercial real estate loans, agricultural business loans, construction and land development loans, one to four-family residential loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it engages in mortgage banking operations primarily through the origination and sale of one to four-family residential loans. As of December 31, 2010, Banner Bank operated 86 branch offices and 7 loan production offices in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; and Islanders Bank conducted business from 3 locations in San Juan County, Washington. The company was founded in 1890 and is based in Walla Walla, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Bank holding company Banner (BANR) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 18 cents per share, payable April 15 to shareholders or record as of April 7.
  BANR Dividend Yield: 1.75%

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Bank-holding company Banner Corp.(BANR) on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy Home Federal Bancorp Inc.(HFBL) (HOME) for $197 million in cash and stock. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, will result in a combined company with about $5.2 billion in assets, making it the fourth-largest bank in the Pacific Northwest by assets, the companies said.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2014: NetApp Inc.(NTAP)

NetApp, Inc. engages in the design, manufacturing, marketing, and technical support of networked storage solutions. It supplies enterprise storage and data management software, and hardware products and services. The company offers Data ONTAP, an operating system that supports storage area network (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS) environments; storage efficiency technologies, including FlexVol, FlexClone, and Deduplication technologies; storage management and application integration software, such as OnCommand management software; fabric-attached storage unified storage systems, which support a range of data for users on various platforms; and virtual storage tier; V-Series network-based virtualization solutions that provide SAN and NAS access to the data stored in heterogeneous storage arrays. It also provides data protection software products, including Snapshot, SnapRestore, SnapVault, and Open Systems SnapVault techologies; MetroCluster products; and SnapMirror data replication solution. In addition, the company offers data retention and archive products, and Flash Cache modules; and storage security products for data security and key management in IP SAN, NAS, and tape backup environments; StorageGRID that enables intelligent data management and secure content retention; and professional services, global support solutions, and customer education and training. It serves energy, financial services, government, high technology, Internet, life sciences and healthcare services, manufacturing, media, entertainment, animation and video postproduction, and telecommunications industries. It offers its products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company was formerly known as Network Appliance, Inc. and changed its name to NetApp, Inc. in March 2008. NetApp, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Brugger]

  NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP  ) has instituted an enhanced shareholder capital-return plan consisting of another $1.6 billion in stock repurchases over the next three years and a $0.15-per-share quarterly dividend, the company announced yesterday.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Network storage specialist NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP  ) , also held by this technology ETF, surged 38%. The company initiated a dividend this year, and it's yielding 1.6%. The company's operating system, ONTAP, has been rated well, and has gained market share, too. Some wonder whether NetApp might end up acquired by another major data player, such as Oracle, while others are hoping that an activist investor might help the company's prospects. Meanwhile, the stock is significantly shorted, and the company has announced layoffs, and boosted its share buyback plans. It still looks attractive to some, in part due to strong free cash flow.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  According to IDC estimates, EMC's share of the storage hardware segment is more than 30%. That's about two-and-a-half times that of its nearest competitor, NetApp Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP).

• [By Lee Jackson]

  NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) is the only hardware stock to be a top pick. The company commands a 14.9% market share in terms of revenue in the total data storage market, and it derives around 60% of its total revenue from its network attached storage segment. The virtual storage market is a pot of gold valued at $10 billion currently, with NetApp being one of the known players in this market. Deutsche Bank has placed a $50 target on the stock. The consensus stands at $45. Investors are paid a 1.4% dividend.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2014: Central Garden & Pet Company(CENT)

Central Garden & Pet Company produces and sells products for the pet, and lawn and garden supplies industries primarily in the United States. The company?s pet supplies products comprise products for dogs and cats, including edible bones, premium healthy edible and non-edible chews, dog and cat food and treats, leashes, collars, toys, pet carriers, grooming supplies, and other accessories; products for birds, small animals, and specialty pets, such as food, cages and habitats, toys, chews, and related accessories; animal and household health, and insect control products; products for fish, reptiles, and other aquarium-based pets comprising aquariums, furniture and lighting fixtures, pumps, filters, water conditioners, food and supplements, and information and knowledge resources; and products for horses and livestock. It sells its pet supplies products under the Adams, Altosid, Aqueon, Avoderm, BioSpot, Breeder?s Choice, Coralife, Farnam, Four Paws, Interpet, Kaytee, Ken t Marine, Nylabone, Oceanic Systems, Pet Select, Pre-Strike, Pinnacle, Super Pet, TFH, Zilla, and Zodiac brand names. The company?s lawn and garden supplies products include grass seed; wild bird feed, bird feeders, bird houses, and other birding accessories; weed, grass, ant and other herbicide, insecticide, and pesticide products; and decorative outdoor lifestyle and lighting products, such as pottery, trellises and other wood products, and holiday lighting products. It offers its lawn and garden supplies products under the AMDRO, GKI/Bethlehem Lighting, Grant?s, Ironite, Lilly Miller, Matthews Four Seasons, New England Pottery, Norcal Pottery, Pennington, Over?n Out, Sevin, Smart Seed, and The Rebels brand names. It sells its products principally to independent pet and garden distributors, national and regional retail chains, grocery stores, mass merchants, home improvement centers, nurseries, and garden supply retailers. The company was founded in 1955 and is based in Walnut Creek, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT) got a boost, shooting up 7.78 percent to $9.70 after Harbinger Group offered to buy Central Garden & Pet Co for $10 per share.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT) got a boost, shooting up 9.22 percent to $9.83 after Harbinger Group offered to buy Central Garden & Pet Co for $10 per share.

• [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 Central Garden & Pet (Nasdaq: CENT  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Green paw
  The month of May has been one to forget for shareholders of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT  ) (NASDAQ: CENTA  ) . The maker of pet products as well as seeds and herbicides for lawn care tumbled after it missed Wall Street's earnings estimates for a second straight quarter. The biggest downside pressure came from its lawn care segment, which saw expenses rise as fertilizer margins fell. However, now could be the time to consider jumping on board this interesting pet/lawn care hybrid company, as it has the potential to unlock shareholder value in a number of ways.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2014: KKR(KKR)

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, and mezzanine investments in large cap companies. The firm will consider investments in all industries globally, with a focus on financial services, infrastructure, and renewable energy. It seeks a board seat in its portfolio companies. The firm holds a controlling interest in its portfolio companies after they go public. It typically holds its investment for a period of five years and more and exits through initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and sales to strategic buyers. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. was founded in 1976 and is based at New York, New York with additional offices across United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Shanghai stocks edged up Wednesday in quiet trading, following overnight gains on Wall Street, while most other Asian markets were closed for the Christmas holiday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (CN:SHCOMP) rose 0.1% to 2093.92 in the morning session. Shares of cement companies advanced as China plans to start construction of more than 6 million affordable homes in 2014, according to state media Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday. Huaxin Cement (CN:600801) rose 1.3%, and Jidong Cement (CN:000401) advanced 1%. Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement (CN:000789) gained 0.5%. China's largest appliance maker Qingdao Haier (CN:600690) fell 0.5%, showing little reaction to the news that China's Commerce Ministry just approved the deal for U.S. private-equity giant KKR (KKR) to buy a 10% stake in the company for approximately $556 million. The transaction is still pending approval by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. China Railway Construction (CN:601186) edged up by 0.2%, after it announced Tuesday that it has won a Wuhan subway contract worth 7.1 billion yuan ($1.1 billion).

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  In this segment from Thursday's episode of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson go through a rapid-fire round of three top headlines. The newsmakers included�KKR (NYSE: KKR  ) ,�Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) ,�Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS  ) ,�Lazard (NYSE: LAZ  ) , and�Evercore (NYSE: EVR  ) .

Best Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2014: McEwen Mining Inc (MUX)

McEwen Mining Inc. (McEwen Mining), formerly US Gold Corporation, is engaged in the exploration for and production of precious metals in the United States, Mexico and Argentina. McEwen Mining�� operating segments include USA and Mexico. The Company holds an interest in numerous exploration and development stage properties and projects in Nevada, Mexico and Argentina, as well as a 49% equity interest in the gold-silver San Jose Mine in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The Company holds interests in approximately 1,631 square miles of mineral concessions in west central Mexico. Its primary property in Mexico is the El Gallo Complex, located in Sinaloa state on the Sierra Madre Trend, a geological area of gold and silver mineralization. The Company holds interests in approximately 254 square miles in Nevada, United States. The Company�� Nevada properties, including its interests in the Gold Bar Project and Tonkin Complex, are located along the Cortez Trend, in north central Nevada. It also owns property, including the Limo Project, on the southern end of the Carlin Trend. On January 24, 2012, it acquired of Minera Andes Inc. (Minera Andes).

On January 24, 2012, the Company acquired a 49% interest in Minera Santa Cruz SA, owner of the San Jose Silver-Gold Mine in Santa Cruz, Argentina; a 100% interest in the Los Azules Copper Deposit in San Juan, Argentina, and a portfolio of exploration properties in Santa Cruz, Argentina. The San Jose Mine is operated by the majority owner of the joint venture, Hochschild Mining plc (Hochschild). The Company holds mineral rights and applications for mineral rights covering approximately 944 square miles in Argentina.

Tonkin Complex

The Tonkin Complex is divided functionally into five areas: the Mine Corridor, Tonkin North, Patty, Keystone and Tweed. The Tonkin Complex represents its holding in the State of Nevada at approximately 93 square miles (241 square kilometers). The Tonkin Complex is located on the Cortez Trend. During ! the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled one hole, and 2,190 feet reverse circulation drilling. The Tonkin Complex also includes the Patty Project. On October 18, 2011, Barrick Gold U.S. Inc. (Barrick), the former holder of a majority of the project and operator, entered into a joint venture agreement with Rye Patch Gold U.S. Inc. (Rye Patch) under which Rye Patch has the right to acquire a 60% undivided interest in the Patty Project. As of December 31, 2011, it held a non-operating minority interest (12%). The Patty Project is a property (approximately 18.1 square miles) located in the northeast portion of the Tonkin Complex and consists of 544 unpatented mining claims. The 372 claims (included in the 1,478 under US Gold's Historic Tonkin Property) covering the area of the property, Tonkin North were previously owned by unaffiliated parties and held by the Company under a lease agreement. The lease expired on January 1, 2011. In July 2011, it acquired these claims. The Company held an interest of in 106 claims (included in the 156 under Cornerstone) in the Cornerstone property. On July 19, 2011, it acquired the Tonkin North and Cornerstone claims.

Gold Bar Complex

The Gold Bar Complex is located south of the Tonkin Complex on the continuation of the Cortez Trend. In November 2011, the Company announced the completion of a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) by SRK Consulting for the Gold Bar Project. Exploration drilling at the Gold Bar Complex in 2011 totaled approximately 7,245 feet (2,208 meters) in 41 reverse circulation drill holes that were focused on extensions to the Gold Pick-Gold Ridge and Cabin Creek mineralization, as well as targets found by geologic mapping and sampling.

The Gold Pick-Gold Ridge area occurs on the Battle Mountain-Eureka mineral belt in a window of lower-plate carbonate rocks surrounded by upper-plate rocks. The lower-plate carbonates at Gold Pick-Gold Ridge consist of an east-dipping section of Silurian Lone Mountain Do! lomite, D! evonian McColley Canyon Formation, Devonian Denay Formation, and Devonian Devils Gate Limestone. Northwest-trending and northeast-trending structures cut the area; the Gold Pick mineralization is localized in an apparent northwest-trending horst of McColley Canyon Formation, which is cut by a series of northeast-trending structures.

Limo Property

The Limo Property is located in east-central Nevada. The Limo Property position totals approximately 44.5 square miles (115 square kilometers). Gold mineralization has been identified in numerous places along the 15 mile (24 kilometers) length of the property. Exploration drilling at the Limo Property in 2011 totaled approximately 59,157 ft. (18,031 meters) in 10 diamond drill core holes and 70 reverse circulation drill holes. The drilling was focused on two targets, Cadillac and Continental, outside the existing mineralization. The mineral interests controlled by the Company at the Limo property consist of 1,392 contiguous claims that cover approximately 44.5 square miles (115 square kilometers), plus 15 claims (for a total of 1,407) near the southern boundary of the property that were acquired through a lease in August 2011. Its land package extends for about 15 miles (24 kilometers), and covers the western side of the southern Cherry Creek Range.

Battle Mountain Complex

The Battle Mountain Complex is located within Humboldt and Lander Counties in the valleys and on the flanks of the mountains surrounding Battle Mountain on the Cortez Trend north of our Tonkin complex. Battle Mountain, Nevada. In 2011, exploration drilling in the Battle Mountain Complex totaled 2,205 feet (672 meters). Work during 2011, also included geologic mapping, soil and rock sampling. Results of this work identified two target areas, Medea and Lucky Strike, on its BMX property. Three holes were drilled on the Medea prospect during 2011.

Other United States Properties

The Company acquired additional mineral! properti! es in Nevada. The mineral properties included in the acquisition of Tone (Roberts Creek, Kobeh, Gold Bar North, South Keystone, Big Antelope Springs, Red Ridge, Fish Creek and Kent Springs) are generally subject to a 1% net smelter return royalty interest in favor of KM Exploration Ltd. Certain properties (Roberts Creek, Kobeh, Gold Bar North, South Keystone and Big Antelope Springs) are also subject to earn-in rights in favor of Teck Cominco American Incorporated (Teck).

Alaska

On July 1, 2011, its Company and Select Resources Corporation, Inc. (Select) signed a four-year Exploration Lease and Purchase Option Definitive Agreement (the Definitive Agreement) with respect to the Richardson Mineral Project (Richardson) in the Tintina Gold Belt of Alaska. Under the terms of the Definitive Agreement, it acquired an exploration lease for the Richardson project, and an exclusive option to purchase a 60% interest in the project and enter into a joint venture with Select. The Richardson project is located 70 miles (115 kilometers) southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and covers an area of approximately 52 square miles (136 square kilometers). Extensive field sampling and mapping, airborne geophysics, and three core holes were completed in 2011. Drilling at the Richardson Project in Alaska during 2011, included three holes and 2, 863 feet core drilling.

Mexican Properties

The Company has a property in Mexico, called the El Gallo Complex, which includes the El Gallo, Magistral, and Palmarito deposits in Sinaloa state. The Company control mineral concessions of approximately 1,631 square miles (4,224 square kilometers) located in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Nayarit. It holds its interests through ownership of Pangea Resources Inc., which in turn holds 100% ownership of Compania Minera Pangea S.A. de C.V. (Minera Pangea). The El Gallo Complex is located in Sinaloa state, northwestern Mexico in Mocorito Municipality. The El Gallo Complex is being developed in tw! o phases.! The El Gallo Project lies within two of its controlled concessions, Rocio Fraccion A and Pangea. These concessions have an area of 86,764 acres and 3,946 acres respectively. It controls the properties immediately surrounding El Gallo. Exploration work completed in 2011 at El Gallo consisted of core and conventional rotary drilling. The mineralization at the Magistral Mine Property is classified as a low-sulfidation epithermal gold-silver mineral system. During 2011, 203 core holes were drilled for a total of 88,891 feet (26,088 meters).

Other Exploration Areas

During 2011, it drill-tested a number of prospective exploration targets throughout the El Gallo district, which resulted in the discovery of four new veins. Three veins, Los Mautos, Mina Grande, and Haciendita were all located six miles (10 kilometers) north of El Gallo, and the fourth vein, San Dimas, is located 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of El Gallo.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX  ) slid 52%, and has also been cutting costs at Mexico-based mines. Management has suggested that the price of gold may be near a bottom, and it's looking into strategic partnerships, too. In its second quarter, McEwen upped its gold production by 30% over year-ago levels. Still, it's not yet turning a profit and is free-cash-flow negative.

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX) closed down, falling 5.14 percent to $2.40 following a Seeking Alpha article commenting on news of an Argentinian taxation raid on mining companies.