With shares of J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) trading around $5, is JCP an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:
T = Trends for a Stock’s MovementJ.C. Penney is a retailer operating more than 1,000 department stores in just about every state in the United States and Puerto Rico. Its business consists of selling merchandise and services to consumers through its department stores and website. It sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products through Sephora, and home furnishings. The company has not done too well in recent years, but it is doing what it can to be a top provider of apparel and related products.
J.C. Penney, the department-store chain working to reverse more than two years of losses, posted its first quarterly same-store sales gain since 2011 after Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman increased discounts.�Sales at locations open at least a year rose 2 percent in the fiscal fourth-quarter, which runs through January, the Plano, Texas-based company said today in a statement. Same-store sales climbed 3.1 percent in the nine weeks through November and December, J.C. Penney said.�Ullman has halted the decline in J.C. Penney�� sales by reviving popular private-label brands and bringing back sales events that former CEO Ron Johnson had done away with. Same-store sales plunged 32 percent in the fourth-quarter a year earlier, and revenue by that measure hadn�� gained since the quarter ended in July 2011.
Top China Stocks To Invest In 2015: The Blackstone Group L.P.(BX)
The Blackstone Group, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides alternative asset management and financial advisory services worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund Solutions, Credit Businesses, and Financial Advisory. The Private Equity segment involves in private equity investing through five general private equity funds and one specialized fund focusing on communications-related investments. This segment engages in various transactions comprising leveraged buyout acquisitions of seasoned companies, transactions involving growth equity or start-up businesses in established industries, minority investments, corporate partnerships, distressed debt, structured securities, and industry consolidations. The Real Estate segment manages general opportunistic real estate funds and internationally focused opportunistic real estate funds. This segment also has debt investment funds targeting non-controlling real estate debt-rel ated investment opportunities in the public and private markets, primarily in the United States and Europe. The Hedge Fund Solutions segment manages funds of hedge funds, and Indian-focused and Asian-focused closed-end mutual funds. The Credit Businesses segment manages credit-oriented funds, CLOs, credit-focused separately managed accounts, and publicly registered debt-focused investment companies. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial and strategic advisory, including corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions advice; restructuring and reorganization advisory; and fund placement services for alternative investment funds. Blackstone Group Management L.L.C. operates as the general partner of the company. The Blackstone Group, L.P. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Getty Images/Scott Olson The demise of Crocs (CROX), it seems, may have been greatly exaggerated. Remember the company's signature product? Close to a decade ago, those colorful, clunky resin clogs were all the rage. The company that made them couldn't sell the things fast enough, at one point reaching sales of 50 million pairs in 2007. Then fashion moved on, as it always does, and the economic slowdown started to bite into sales. Crocs plunged from a $168 million net profit in 2007 to a $185 million loss in 2008. In 2009, the company nearly ran out of cash and had a hard time making payroll. But Crocs' fortunes have improved. In its most recent quarter, the firm posted a loss, but it was narrower than the market was expecting. And it's found an investor that believes in its future -- private equity giant Blackstone Group (BX), which recently provided a $200 million cash investment in return for a block of preferred shares eventually convertible into a stake of around 13 percent of the company. Perhaps the time has come to take those old clogs out of the closet, dust them off, and slip them on for a stroll. Stepping It Up Fashion is highly susceptible to consumer whim. The hot item is never hot for very long, and once consumers move on, it can be hard for the company to recover. In Crocs' case, this was exacerbated by its limited product line -- almost exclusively the clogs. The company learned from its mistakes. Since consumer tastes moved out of clog-land, Crocs has significantly broadened its product line to 300 styles. It now offers boots, flip-flops, deck shoes and slip-ons akin to the casuals from VF Corp.'s (VFC) Vans subsidiary. In terms of profitability, Crocs recovered quickly from its time in the fashion wilderness. From that 2008 bottom-line deficit of $185 million, the company sliced its loss to $42 million the following year, then stepped back into the black in 2010 (to the tune of $68 million). After two straight years of declines, revenue
Top Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy Right Now: Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3)
Fibria Celulose SA, formerly Votorantim Celulose e Papel SA, is a Brazil-based company involved in the production and sale of short fiber pulp. The Company operates pulp manufacturing plants in Aracruz (Espirito Santo), Tres Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul), Jacarei (Sao Paulo) and Veracel (Bahia). Additionally, the Company is engaged in the cultivation of eucalyptus. It has plantations in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia and Espirito Santo. In 2011, the Company sold a business unit active in paper production. The Company has a number of subsidiaries in Brazil and abroad, including Normus Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, Fibria Overseas Finance Ltd and Fibria Celulose (USA) Inc, among others. On October, 2013, the Company announced merger by incorporation of Normus Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, in order to simplify the corporate structure. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Harry Suhartono]
The Ibovespa dropped 1.8 percent as iron-ore producer Vale SA (VALE5), whose main export market is China, snapped a two-day gain. Pulp producer Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3) retreated after posting quarterly earnings that trailed analysts��estimates. Brazil plans to sell dollar bonds due in 2025, creating a new benchmark security in international markets, and buy back notes maturing in as little as four years.
- [By Julia Leite]
Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3), the world�� largest pulp producer, climbed after settling a tax dispute with Brazil over profits at its foreign units. Iron-ore producer Vale SA (VALE5) gained before a report due this weekend forecast to show manufacturing is still expanding in China, the company�� main export market.
Top Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy Right Now: Utah Medical Products Inc.(UTMD)
Utah Medical Products, Inc. produces medical devices for the healthcare industry primarily in the United States and Europe. The company provides labor and delivery/obstetrics products, including fetal monitoring accessories, vacuum-assisted delivery systems, and other obstetrical tools, as well as neonatal intensive care products, such as DISPOSA-HOOD, an infant respiratory hood; DELTRAN PLUS, a blood pressure monitoring system; and GESCO, a biocompatible silicone catheter. It also offers umbilical vessel and artery, thermosensitive polyurethane, and peripherally inserted central venous catheters; enteral feeding devices; DIALY-NATE, a disposable peritoneal dialysis set; PALA-NATE, a silicone oral protection device; and MYELO-NATE for obtaining cerebral spinal fluid samples. In addition, the company provides gynecology/urology/electrosurgery products comprising LETZ System to excise cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; FINESSE electrosurgical generator; FILTRESSE evacuators ; EPITOME, an electrosurgical scalpel; PATHFINDER PLUS, an endoscopic irrigation device; LIBERTY system to treat and control urinary incontinence in women; ENDOCURETTE, a curette for uterine endometrial tissue sampling; TVUS/HSG-Cath to assess abnormal uterine bleeding; and LUMIN for manipulating the uterus. Further, it offers DELTRAN for blood pressure monitoring; and pressure monitoring accessories, components, and other molded parts. The company?s products are used in neonatal intensive care units, labor and delivery departments, and women?s health center in hospitals, as well as in outpatient clinics and physician's offices. It markets its products through direct sales representatives, independent manufacturers? representatives, specialty distributors, national hospital distribution companies, and other medical device manufacturers; and through other medical device companies and independent medical products distributors. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquar tered in Midvale, Utah.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon]
Utah Medical Products (UTMD)
There are some interesting stories on that list. Buffett watchers know The Washington Post. Ben Graham fans know National Presto. Anyone who follows net-nets is familiar with Micropac. If you��e a high ROC investor you��e probably come across Utah Medical Products (operating margins are over 30%). Atrion has one of the most interesting histories of value creation starting in the 1990s. And Arden is a grocer that earns a 15% return on equity in a bad year.
Top Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy Right Now: IZEA Inc (IZEA)
IZEA, Inc. (IZEA), formerly IZEA Holdings, Inc., incorporated in February 2006, is a marketplace for consumer generated advertising, connecting advertisers with social media publishers, such as bloggers, tweeters and others in order to develop and distribute content throughout the blogosphere and social networks. The Company is a social media sponsorship, operating multiple marketplaces, which include WeReward, SponsoredTweet, SocialSpark, PayPerPost and InPostLinks. It generates its revenue through the sale of social media sponsorships (SMS) to its customers. Each platform the Company operates is designed to facilitate SMS transactions. Each platform provides advertisers with access to a network of publishers, workflow management, content control, payment processing, performance tracking and legal compliance. It has more than 50,000 registered advertisers in 157 different countries. Its publishers publish sponsored content to blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare and reach other existing platforms, such as Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google and Bing through syndication of that content. On May 12, 2011, the Company acquired IZEA Innovations, Inc. In December 2012, the Company acquired Twitter marketing platform FeaturedUsers.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company derived 80% its revenue from advertisers for the use of its network of social media publishers to fulfill an advertiser sponsor requests for a blog post, tweet, click, purchase, or action. During 2011, it derived the remaining 20% revenue from various service fees charged to advertisers and publishers. Service fees to advertisers include fees charged for management of advertising campaigns through its platforms and inactivity fees for dormant accounts. Service fees to publishers include upgrade account fees for obtaining greater visibility to advertisers in advertiser searches in its platforms and inactivity fees for dormant accounts.
SocialSpark
SocialSpark is the Company�� blog marketing platf! orm. Through SocialSpark it provides robust targeting and detailed analytics to advertisers. The site allows advertisers to develop lists of blogs based on various criteria, such as relevancy, traffic and demographic data. The platform also enables advertisers to create social media campaigns with the click of a button and to observe campaign results in real time. SocialSpark is also used by brands interested in engaging in conversations with their consumer bases. This platform is an automated, scalable version of other blogger outreach services conducted by public relations agencies, such as Porter Novelli, Edelman and Ketchum.
SponsoredTweets
SponsoredTweets is an online marketplace, which allows consumers to connect directly with advertisers to engage in sponsored conversations through Twitter. Marketers pay for Twitter advertising campaigns on either a cost per tweet (CPT) or cost per click (CPC) basis. SponsoredTweets allows advertisers to hand pick individual tweeters, including celebrities, to participate in Twitter advertising campaigns.
WeReward
WeReward is a social-mobile incentive platform, which allows brands to drive purchases, reward loyalty and understand their customers. WeReward promotes businesses, consumer products and mobile applications through its application, which can be downloaded on iPhone and Android devices. Consumers are able to earn WeReward points at more than 15 million businesses in the United States. WeReward points act as a cash rebate through PayPal to create value for users. This platform is similar to CheckPoints.
PayPerPost and InPostLinks
PayPerPost and InPostLinks are online marketplaces designed to facilitate search engine and allow advertisers to connect directly with bloggers to develop relevant blog post content and place text link advertising within blog posts. Both systems allow advertisers to compensate bloggers with cash in exchange for content and links back to Websites.
! IZEAMedia and Staree
IZEAMedia (in Pilot) allows advertisers to place display advertising next to sponsored blog content. Staree (in Development) is an online platform designed to help celebrities better monetize multimedia content through SMS.
The Company competes with Facebook, Glam Media, Federated Media, BlogHer, Ad.ly, Mom Central, Foursquare and Groupon.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap tech, mobile or cloud computing stocks SofTech, Inc (OTCMKTS: SOFT), Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: FINW) and Izea Inc (OTCMKTS: IZEA) have been getting some extra attention lately in various investment newsletters or alerts. That�� because at least one of these stocks appears to be the subject of paid third party promotions while another is the focus of an apparent investor relations campaign. Keeping that in mind, are these three tech orientated stocks going to bring profits to investors and traders or bring out the luddite in them? Here is a closer look:
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