Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Top Retail Companies To Invest In Right Now

With shares of Nike (NYSE:NKE) trading around $61, is NKE 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 Movement

Nike is engaged in the design, development, and worldwide marketing and selling of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The company sells its products to retail accounts, through retail stores and Internet sales, and through a mix of independent distributors and licensees around the world. Nike focuses its product offerings in seven key categories: Running, Basketball, Soccer, Men�� Training, Women�� Training, Nike Sportswear and Action Sports. It also markets products designed for kids, as well as for other athletic and recreational uses. Looking around, many consumers and companies are advocating and opting for a lifestyle with increasing outdoor and physical activity time. As the staying active and fitness movement sees progress, Nike is a company that is poised to see rising profits.

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Invest In 2015: Mattress Firm Holding Corp (MFRM)

Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (Mattress Firm), incorporated on January 5, 2007, is a specialty retailer of mattresses and related products and accessories in the United States. The Company conducts its operations through its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, Mattress Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries. As of August 2, 2011, the Company and its franchisees operated 620 and 107 stores, respectively, primarily under the Mattress Firm name, in 60 markets across 25 states. The Company focuses on the national brands, but also offers its customers its Hampton and Rhodes private label mattresses. The Company has introduced its YuMe brand. On October 15, 2010, the Company acquired Peak Management, LLC. On December 1, 2010, the Company acquired Maggie's Enterprises, Inc. In May 2012, Mattress Firm announced the completion of its acquisition of regional bedding company, Mattress Giant Holding Corp. Effective September 9, 2013, Mattress Firm Holding Corp, a unit of JW Childs Associates LP, acquired Olejo Inc, a provider of ecommerce retail services.

The Company�� stores carry national mattress brands, with a range of styles, sizes, price points and features. The Company provides its customers with their choice of traditional mattresses, including Sealy and Simmons, as well as specialty mattresses, such as Tempur-Pedic. In addition to its mattress selection, the Company offers a range of bedding-related products and accessories.

Conventional Mattresses

Conventional mattresses, such as those of Sealy (including Sealy Posturepedic and Stearns and Foster) and Simmons (including Simmons Beautyrest), utilize steel-coil innersprings. During the fiscal year ended February 1, 2011, the conventional mattresses represented approximately 75% of bedding industry sales in the United States and approximately 60% of the Company�� total sales. In addition to these national brands, the Company also offers its Hampton and Rhodes private label mattresses.

Specialty Mattresses

Specialty mattresses, such as those manufactured by Tempur-Pedic and select comfort, utilize materials other than steel-coil innersprings to provide comfort and support. In fiscal 2010, the specialty mattresses represented approximately 30% of the Company�� total sales. The Company is expanding its assortments in the categories, including viscoelastic foam mattresses and yume sleep system. Viscoelastic foam, also referred to as memory foam or polyurethane foam, features a temperature sensitive foam core that reduces pressure points and tossing and turning by contouring to one's body. The Company has introduced a sleep system made of foam produced from coconut oil, utilizing a technology that uses ambient air to heat and cool the mattress surface.

Furniture and Accessories

During fiscal 2010, the Company was in the process of introducing new headboards and footboards, which complement its current bedding products. All of the Company�� stores carry an assortment of bedding-related accessories, including bed frames, mattress pads and pillows. In fiscal 2010, bedding-related products and accessories represented approximately 7% of the Company�� total sales from Company-operated stores.

The Company competes with Mattress Giant, American Mattress, Haverty's, Rooms-To-Go, Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, Walmart, Costco and Original Mattress.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rebecca McClay]

    In consumer stocks news, Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: MFRM) shares are down 15% as the company reported Q2 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43 versus consensus estimate of $0.51. Net sales were $302.5 million, compared to the $323 million the Street expected. Year-ago adjusted EPS was $0.42, on net sales of $262 million.

Top Retail Companies To Invest In Right Now: Dollar General Corporation(DG)

Dollar General Corporation operates as a discount retailer of general merchandise in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. The company offers consumables, including paper towels, bath tissue, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, laundry, and other home cleaning supplies; packaged food and perishables; beverages and snacks, such as candies, cookies, crackers, salty snacks, and carbonated beverages; over-the-counter medicines and personal care products; and pet supplies and pet food products. It also provides seasonal products consisting of decorations, toys, batteries, small electronics, greeting cards, stationery, prepaid cell phones and accessories, gardening supplies, hardware, and automotive and home office supplies; home products comprising kitchen supplies, cookware, small appliances, light bulbs, storage containers, frames, candles, craft supplies, and bed and bath soft goods; and apparel products, such as casual everyday apparel for infants, toddlers, girls, boys, women and men, as well as offers socks, underwear, disposable diapers, shoes, and accessories. In addition, the company holds a license to Bobbie Brooks clothing, as well as the Fisher Price brand for various items of children's clothing. As of May 25, 2011, it operates approximately 9,500 stores in 35 states. The company was formerly known as J.L. Turner & Son, Inc. and changed its name to Dollar General Corporation in 1968. Dollar General Corporation was founded in 1939 and is based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) remains a store that most Goldman Sachs clients would never visit, but the secular growth story remains for investors. Goldman Sachs raised the king of dollar stores to the Conviction Buy List on December 6. Unlike many other stocks where there was already a Buy rating, this upgrade was raised from a Neutral rating. The firm also raised its price target to $71 from $64, and the consensus price target is closer to $66 now. The highest analyst price target is up at $73.

  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    "Following a 17 percent price cut at Target (NYSE: TGT) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Tide is now being advertised for a meaningfully steeper discount of 40 percent off  at Dollar General (NYSE: DG) to $6 ($7.50 shelf price, plus a $1.50 coupon) from $10. This follows channel checks at Target and Walmart showing regular liquid Tide for $9.97/$9.99 vs. $11.97/11.99 in the last two weeks," the company said. "We would note DG SKUs are 69-75oz while TGT/WMT SKUs are 92-100 oz, making absolute dollar prices not comparable. That being said, this follows yesterday’s U.S. Nielsen data showing an 8 percent increase in the percent of Tide sales sold on promotion in the 4-week period ended July 5 vs. flat YoY for the last 12 weeks.”

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    Dollar General (NYSE: DG) was down, falling 4.44 percent to $58.94 after the company’s CEO Rick Dreiling announced his plans to retire.

    Commodities

Top Retail Companies To Invest In Right Now: Walgreen Co (WAG)

Walgreen Co. (Walgreens), incorporated on February 15, 1909, together with its subsidiaries, operates the drugstore chain in the United States. The Company provides its customers with access to consumer goods and services, pharmacy, and health and wellness services in communities across America. The Company offers its products and services through drugstores, as well as through mails, by telephone and online. The Company sells prescription and non-prescription drugs, as well as general merchandises, including household items, convenience and fresh foods, personal care, beauty care, photofinishing and candy. On August 2, 2012, it acquired 45% interest in Alliance Boots GmbH (Alliance Boots). In September 2012, the Company completed the purchase of a regional drugstore chain in the mid-South region of the United States that included 144 stores operated under the USA Drug, Super D Drug, May��, Med-X and Drug Warehouse names. In September 2012, WP Carey & Co LLC acquired five retail stores leased to Walgreen Co. In December 2012, the Company completed a transaction giving company a ownership stake in Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Pharmacy LLC.

The Company's pharmacy, health and wellness services include retail, specialty, infusion and respiratory services, mail service, convenient care clinics and worksite health and wellness centers. These services help improve health outcomes and manage costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The Company's Take Care Health Systems subsidiary is a manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the United States.

As of August 31, 2012, Walgreens operated 8,385 locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. In 2012, the Company opened or acquired 266 locations for a net increase of 175 locations after relocations and closings. As of August 31, 2012, the Com! pany had 7,930 of Drugstores, 366 of Worksite Health and Wellness Centers, 76 of Infusion and Respiratory Services Facilities, 11 of Specialty Pharmacies and two of Mail Service Facilities. The Company's drugstores are engaged in the retail sale of prescription and non-prescription drugs and general merchandise. General merchandise includes, among other things, household items, convenience and fresh foods, personal care, beauty care, photofinishing and candy.

The Company offers specialty pharmacy services that provide customers nationwide access to a variety of medications, services and programs for managing complex and chronic health conditions. In addition, the Company offers its customers infusion therapy services, including the administration of intravenous (IV) medications for cancer treatments, chronic pain, heart failure, and other infections and disorders which must be treated by IV. Walgreens provides these infusion services at home, at the workplace, in a physician's office or at a Walgreens alternate treatment site. The Company also provides clinical services, such as laboratory monitoring, medication profile review, nutritional assessments and patient and caregiver education.

Customers can also access the Company's e-commerce solutions, which extend the convenience to purchase most products available within its drugstores, as well as additional products sold exclusively online through its walgreens.com and drugstore.com Websites, including beauty.com and visiondirect.com. The Company's Websites allow consumers to purchase general merchandise including beauty, personal care, home medical equipment, contact lenses, vitamins and supplements and other health and wellness solutions. The Company's mobile applications also allow customers to refill prescriptions through their mobile device, download weekly promotions and find the nearest Walgreens drugstore. The Company also offers services through Take Care Health Systems, which manages its Take Care Clinics at select Wa! lgreens d! rugstores throughout the country.

Alliance Boots is a pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution business. As of March 31, 2012, its fiscal year end, Alliance Boots had, together with its associates and joint ventures, pharmacy-led health and beauty retail businesses in 11 countries and operated more than 3,330 health and beauty retail stores, of which over 3,200 had a pharmacy. In addition, Alliance Boots had approximately 625 optical practices, approximately 185 of which operated on a franchise basis. Its pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution businesses, including its associates and joint ventures, supplied medicines, other healthcare products and related services to more than 170,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centers and hospitals from over 370 distribution centers in 21 countries.

Alliance Boots�� stores located in the United Kingdom, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Thailand and Lithuania and through its associates and joint ventures in Switzerland, China, Italy, Russia and Croatia. In addition, as of March 31, 2012, there were 58 Boots stores operated in the Middle East on a franchised basis. In its Health & Beauty Division, Alliance Boots has product brands such as No7, Soltan and Botanics, together with other brands, such as Boots Pharmaceuticals and Boots Laboratories. Through its Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division and several of its associates, Alliance Boots sells Almus, its line of generic medicines, in five countries and Alvita, its line of patient care products, in six countries.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By DAILYFINANCE]

    Russel A. Daniels/AP Walgreen Co.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings soared 86 percent, as the nation's largest drugstore chain booked gains from its method of inventory accounting and its acquisition of a stake in European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots. The Deerfield, Ill., company said Tuesday that it earned $657 million, or 69 cents a share, in the quarter that ended Aug. 31. That compares with earnings of $353 million, or 39 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue climbed 5 percent to $17.94 billion. Adjusted earnings totaled 73 cents a share, excluding acquisition-related costs among other items. Analysts forecast earnings of 72 cents a share on $17.96 billion in revenue, according to FactSet. Walgreen (WAG) shares slipped 15 cents to $53.65 Tuesday before markets opened and after the company announced results. Walgreen recorded an $8 million "last-in-first-out" inventory benefit in this year's quarter, compared with a $132 million charge last year. LIFO is a method of accounting for inventory that assumes a company sells its newest inventory first. The company takes a credit or charge each quarter according to the anticipated inflation rate for the year. The company attributed the big swing to lower-than-anticipated prescription drug inventory ahead of a transition it made to AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC). Walgreen had announced earlier this year that it and Alliance Boots were buying an ownership stake in drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. Walgreen also entered into a supply agreement with AmerisourceBergen for its drugstores, mail order and specialty pharmacy businesses. Last year, Walgreen acquired a 45 percent stake in Swiss-based Alliance Boots for about $4 billion in cash plus 83.4 million Walgreen shares. Walgreen then booked $124 million in equity earnings from its stake in this year's quarter. Walgreen runs the nation's largest chain of drugstores, with 8,116 locations nationwide. The company said an influx of generic drugs a

  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Next week investors will be waiting for several key earnings reports including�Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG), Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI), and Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON)

  • [By Caroline Bennett]

    Pharmacy chain Walgreen (NYSE: WAG  ) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Justice have reached a settlement agreement over civil charges that the company had practiced improper distribution of prescription painkillers, the company announced yesterday.

  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Stocks moving in the Premarket included:

    Walgreen Co.�(NYSE: WAG) gained 0.60 percent in premarket trade after losing 2.86 percent over the past week. Walt Disney Co.�(NYSE: DIS) was up 0.56 percent in premarket trade after falling 1.12 percent on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc�(NYSE: FCX) lost 1.01 percent in premarket trade after falling 9.44 percent over the past five days. Motorola Solutions Inc�(NYSE: MSI) was down 0.85 percent in premarket trade after losing 0.53 percent on Tuesday.

    Earnings

Top Retail Companies To Invest In Right Now: Group 1 Automotive Inc. (GPI)

Group 1 Automotive, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the marketing and sale of automotive products and services. It sells new and used cars, light trucks, and vehicle parts. The company also provides vehicle financing services; service and insurance contract services; and automotive maintenance and repair services. The company has operations located in metropolitan areas in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas in the United States; and in the towns of Brighton, Hailsham, and Worthing in the United Kingdom. As of October 25, 2012, it owned and operated 121 automotive dealerships, 158 franchises, and 30 collision centers in the United States and the United Kingdom that offer 32 brands of automobiles. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ning Jia]

    In 2001, Advance Auto Parts acquires Carport Auto Parts, a regional retail chain with 29 stores in Alabama and Mississippi. The combination of Advance and Carport locations establishes Advance Auto Parts as the market leader in Alabama and Mississippi. In November of 2011, Advance acquires 671 Discount Auto Parts, Inc., a regional auto parts chain in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. The acquisition strengthens the company's position as the market leader in Florida. Upon completion of this merger, Advance Auto Parts becomes a publicly traded company, listed as a common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AAP. After the Company went public in 2001, AAP continued to expand both organically and through acquisition. On October 16th 2013, Advance Auto Parts entered into a definitive agreement to acquire General Parts International, Inc. (GPI), a leading privately held distributor and supplier of original equipment and aftermarket replacement products for commercial markets operating under the CARQUEST and WORLDPAC brands, in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of $2.04 billion. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors for both companies. The deal creates the largest automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America, with annual sales of more than $9.2 billion and more than 70,000 employees.

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