Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015

Investors are suddenly getting less brave as the recent selloff has tested their resolve, and fears that a correction could be coming get more real.

Skittish investors are skipping the exciting momentum stocks for now, instead jumping into the so-called defensive stocks ��those deemed less likely to react to swings in the markets and the economy.

Not wanting to see their gains on big winners disappear, investors are shifting into defensive stocks until the market's turbulence goes away, says Sam Stovall of S&P Capital IQ. "Investors are being no better than hyperactive first graders playing musical chairs and waiting for the music to stop," he says.

MORE STOCKS: Fed exit rattles markets yet again

Signs of investors rush to be seated in defensive areas of the market is clear from:

5 Best International Stocks To Own Right Now: Hancock Holding Company(HBHC)

Hancock Holding Company, a financial holding company, provides various banking and financial services in south Mississippi, Louisiana, South Alabama, and Florida. The company accepts various deposit products that include non-interest bearing demand deposits, NOW account deposits, money market deposits, savings deposits, and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises provision of commercial, consumer, commercial leasing, and real estate loans to consumers and small and middle market businesses. Hancock also offers various trust services that include operating as an executor, administrator, or guardian in administering estates; provision of investment custodial services for individuals, businesses, and charitable and religious organizations, as well as investment management services on an agency basis; and trustee services for pension plans, profit sharing plans, corporate and municipal bond issues, living trusts, life insurance trusts, and various other types of trusts cre ated for individuals, businesses, and charitable and religious organizations. In addition, it provides consumer financing services; owns, manages, and maintains real property; offers general insurance agency services; holds investment securities; markets credit life insurance; and engages in discount investment brokerage services, as well as owns approximately 3,700 acres of timber land in Hancock County, Mississippi. The company operates 182 banking and financial services offices and 161 automated teller machines. Hancock Holding Company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Hancock Holding (NASDAQ: HBHC  ) is resolutely sticking to its longtime dividend policy. Matching the same common stock payout it's distributed since September 2006, the financial services concern has declared a distribution of $0.24 per share. This is to be paid on September 16 to shareholders of record as of September 5.

  • [By Dividends4Life]

    Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

    1. Avg. High Yield Price
    2. 20-Year DCF Price
    3. Avg. P/E Price
    4. Graham Number

    CTBI is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 53.5% premium to its calculated fair value of $29.43. CTBI did not earn any Stars in this section.

    Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

    1. Free Cash Flow Payout
    2. Debt To Total Capital
    3. Key Metrics
    4. Dividend Growth Rate
    5. Years of Div. Growth
    6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%

    CTBI earned one Star in this section for 1.) above. A Star was earned since the Free Cash Flow payout ratio was less than 60% and there were no negative Free Cash Flows over the last 10 years. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1988 and has increased its dividend payments for 33 consecutive years.

    Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

    1. NPV MMA Diff.
    2. Years to > MMA

    The negative NPV MMA Diff. means that on a NPV basis the dividend earnings from an investment in CTBI would be less than a similar amount invested in MMA earning a 20-year average rate of 3.41%. If CTBI grows its dividend at 1.5% per year, it will never equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.41%.

    Memberships and Peers: CTBI is, a member of the Broad Dividend Achieve

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015: adidas AG (ADDDF)

adidas AG is a Germany-based holding company for the adidas Group, which is engaged in sports footwear, apparel and accessories. The Company diversifies its activities into three operating segments: Wholesale Business; Retail Business, and Other Businesses. The Wholesale Business segment comprises the adidas and Reebok business activities with retailers. The Retail Business segment comprises the own-retail and e-Commerce activities of the adidas and Rebook brands. The Other Businesses segment comprises the brands TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Rockport, Reebok-CCM Hockey and other centrally managed brands. Furthermore, the Company diversifies its activities by geographical regions into Western Europe, European Emerging Markets, North America, Greater China, Other Asian Markets and Latin America. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated a total of 177 subsidiaries and affiliated companies located in Germany and abroad. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Mark Thompson]

    World Cup winner Germany, and runner-up Argentina, both wore Adidas (ADDDF) in Sunday's final in Rio de Janeiro.

    Adidas also sponsored the three players who took top honors for individual performances during the tournament in Brazil.

  • [By Ben Rooney]

    Shares of Adidas (ADDDF), which trade in Frankfurt and also have a small listing in the U.S., are down 7% since the World Cup started on June 12, though they were bouncing back Friday. Nike shares are up more than 5% over the same period of time.

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015: Skullcandy Inc (SKUL)

Skullcandy, Inc., incorporated on May 20, 2005, is a designer, marketer and distributor of performance audio and gaming headphones and other accessory related products under the Skullcandy, Astro Gaming and 2XL by Skullcandy brands. The Company's products are sold and distributed through a variety of channels in the United States and approximately 80 countries worldwide. The Company is engaged in the distribution of headphones in specialty retailers focused on action sports and the youth lifestyle, such as Zumiez, Tilly�� and hundreds of independent snow, skate and surf retailers. It distributes through consumer electronics, mass, sporting goods and mobile phone retailers, such as Best Buy, Target, Dick�� Sporting Goods and AT&T Wireless. Skullcandy products are also sold through its Website.

The Company�� product line include dB Collecti; Mobility Collectio, which targets mobile channel with product features designed to work on cell phones and smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone, and 2XL, which represents traditional sports, motor sports and hip-hop and rock and roll music. The Company sponsors athletes, disc jockeys (DJs), musicians, artists and events within all areas of action sports and the indie and hip-hop music genres. Through its Websites, skullcandy.com, skullcandy.tv, ca.skullcandy.com, eu.skullcandy.com, uk.skullcandy.com, 2xl.com, astrogaming.com, astrogaming.co.uk and astrogaming.fr listen to music by its sponsored artists, read blog updates on events, athletes, DJs, musicians and artists, and shop for Skullcandy and Astro Gaming products.

The Company competes with Sony, JVC, Bose, Beats by Dr. Dre, Nixon, adidas, Incase, Urbanears, Monster Cable Products, Sol Republic, iFrogz,Nike and Sennheiser.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tom Taulli]

    The Skullcandy (SKUL) roller coaster is heading back up the hill today, and in a hurry. Thanks to impressive Skullcandy earnings for Q4, SKUL stock is up almost 30% in afternoon trading.

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Three weeks ago, audio specialist Skullcandy (NASDAQ: SKUL  ) hired itself a new chief executive officer, 37-year-old former Nike + Digital Sport general manager Hoby Darling. At the time, the company advised investors that it intends to pay Darling $450,000 in annual salary, a sizable annual cash bonus, and $2 million worth of stock options and restricted stock units.

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015: Cyren Ltd (CYRN)

Cyren Ltd, formerly Commtouch Software Ltd., incorporated on February 10, 1991, is a provider of messaging, antivirus and Web security solutions to a range of customers and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and service provider distribution partners. The Company�� messaging solutions include anti-spam, Outbound Spam Protection for service providers, Zero-Hour virus outbreak protection and GlobalView Mail Reputation services, as well as Command Antivirus and GlobalView URL Filtering services. It offers its solutions to network and security vendors offering content security gateways, unified threat management solutions (UTM), network routers and appliances, anti-virus solutions and to service providers, such as software-as-a-service vendors, Web hosting providers and Internet service providers. On October 1, 2012, it purchased FRISK Software International's antivirus business. On November 16, 2012, the Company acquired eleven GmbH.

Its messaging security offerings includes its Recurrent Pattern Detection (RPD) technology, which analyzes messages associated with mass e-mail outbreaks and directs the blocking of such e-mails, without the need to analyze individual messages. The Company�� Web security solutions includes its in the cloud infrastructure, which analyzes various feeds from worldwide sources, as well as data from its RPD pertaining to uniform resource locator (URL), and provides a classification of the URLs based on a set of categories. At the core of its Command Antivirus solutions is the Company�� detection and remediation technology and engine design based on a combination of heuristics, emulation and several types of signatures, as well as an in the cloud infrastructure. In February 2011, the Company announced the availability of all three of its service offerings, messaging, antivirus and Web security, in one, unified Software Development Kit (SDK). The unified SDK can be integrated into the products of security and networking vendors on an OEM basis, as well as into! service providers��infrastructure. The three service offerings, messaging, antivirus and Web security are available also in non-unified, individual SDKs for its OEM and service provider customers.

The Company offers an enterprise anti-spam and Zero-Hour virus outbreak detection solution, which allows the reseller�� customer to download an Enterprise Gateway, enabling the subject to its services to be provided in real time by the Company�� Detection Center. Through the Enterprise Gateway, messages are filtered at the customer organization�� entry point, before being distributed to recipients, with added user-level controls and a spam and virus detection services from the Detection Center, allowing for real-time reaction to worldwide attacks. Command Anti-Malware service (CSAM), offers anti-malware protection for consumers and small businesses, as well as enterprises.

The Company competes with Symantec, TrendMicro, Intel, Cisco, Cloudmark, Mailshell, Vade Retro, McAfee, Sophos, Kaspersky, Webroot, Symantec Corp, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, WebSense and Secure Computing.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James E. Brumley]

    If you don't have Cyren Ltd (NASDAQ:CYRN), Globalstar, Inc. (NYSEMKT:GSAT), or Ossen Innovation Co Ltd (NASDAQ:OSN) on your radar, put them on there quick. All three stocks are knocking on the door of bigger (read "trade-worthy") moves at a point in time where big moves are rare... not to mention a period on the calendar that slightly favors small cap stocks. To then end, here's a closer look at why GSAT, CYRN, and OSN may be better than average bets here.

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015: Ingles Markets Incorporated(IMKTA)

Ingles Markets, Incorporated operates a supermarket chain in the southeast United States. Its supermarkets offer food products, including grocery, meat and dairy products, produce, frozen foods, and other perishables; and non-food products, such as fuel, pharmacy products, health and beauty care products, and general merchandise, as well as provides private label items. The company?s stores also offer products and services, such as home meal replacement items, delicatessens, bakeries, floral departments, video rental departments, and greeting cards, as well as a selection of organic, beverage, and health-related items. In addition, it engages in the fluid dairy processing and shopping center rental businesses. The company operates 203 supermarkets, including 74 in Georgia, 69 in North Carolina, 36 in South Carolina, 21 in Tennessee, 2 in Virginia, and 1 in Alabama. As of September 24, 2011, it operated 74 in-store pharmacies and 70 fuel centers; owned and operated 70 shop ping centers of which 58 contain an Ingles supermarket; and owned 94 additional properties that contain a free-standing Ingles store; and owned 13 undeveloped sites. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Ingles Markets (NASDAQ: IMKTA  ) will release its quarterly report on Monday, and investors have been pleased to see shares of the regional grocery-store chain rise to levels not seen since before the financial crisis. Yet from its vantage in the Southeastern U.S., Ingles Markets has to be concerned about the impact that Kroger's (NYSE: KR  ) proposed buyout of Harris Teeter (NYSE: HTSI  ) might have on the competitive landscape in the region, with a potential threat to Ingles' future prospects looming over the company's stock.

  • [By Geoff Gannon]

    To understand a grocer ��any grocer ��it helps to have an understanding of the industry. Of all the real life ways different species of grocers differ. It helps to be able to look at Arden and Village and Ingles (IMKTA). It helps to see three different approaches. And see which elements of each work and which don��.

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015: CA Inc.(CA)

CA Technologies, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, delivers, licenses, and supports information technology (IT) management software products that operate on a range of hardware platforms and operating systems. It offers enterprise IT management software for organizations that addresses components of the computing environment, including people, information, processes, systems, networks, applications, and databases. The company provides a portfolio of mainframe and distributed software products with a focus on mainframe, service assurance, security (identity and access management), project and portfolio management, service management, virtualization and service automation, and cloud computing. It serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions worldwide. CA Technologies offers its solutions through its d irect sales force and indirectly through global systems integrators, technology partners, managed service providers, solution providers, distributors and volume partners, and exclusive representatives. The company was formerly known as CA, Inc. and changed its name to CA Technologies in May 2010. CA Technologies was founded in 1974 and is based in Islandia, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Traders Reserve]

    Most impressive about CA Technologies (CA)� is that its net income for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 rose 42% to $335 million. Perhaps Michael Gregoire taking over as CEO and cutting costs had something to do with the growth.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.71 per share on revenue of $1.13 billion.

    Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.54 per share on revenue of $600.61 million.

  • [By James E. Brumley]

    It's certainly not on par with International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), at least in terms of size. But, shares of CA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CA) do offer something that ORCL and IBM shares may not offer at this point... a lot of upside opportunity. In fact, if history is any indication, CA may be on the cusp of 40% pop, and maybe even more.

Top 10 Defensive Companies To Watch For 2015: Global Digital Creations Holdings Ltd (GDC)

Global Digital Creations Holdings Limited is an investment holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the Company operates in three segments: computer graphics (CG) and production segment, which includes CG creation, production and exhibition of motion pictures and production of television series and movies, as well as property rental income; CG training courses segment, engaged in the provision of CG and animation training, and cultural park segment, engaged in the media entertainment and related commercial property development. The Company�� subsidiaries include GDC Holdings Limited, GDC Asset Management Limited, GDC China Limited, GDC Digital Cinema Network Limited, GDC Digital Cinema Network Limited, GDC International Limited and GDC Management Services Limited, among others. On September 6, 2011, it completed the disposal of interests in GDC Technology Limited and GDC Digital Cinema Network Limited. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Barel Karsan]

    If you follow Genesis Land (GDC), your head may be spinning by now. It's almost every day now that the current board and the activists trying to take it over are claiming some sort of injustice permeated by the other side. (To watch this battle in real-time, sign up for filing notifications for GDC here.) But surely, behind all the "Our directors are superior to yours" puffery, there are some differences in how each group would run the company differently.

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