Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now

Join The Motley Fool for a conversation with author, investor and philanthropist, Whitney Tilson. In addition to managing Kase Capital, Whitney has coauthored More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times, Poor Charlie's Almanack, and most recently The Art of Value Investing, a collection of interviews with over 200 successful value investors.

In this video segment, Whitney draws a parallel between auto rentals today and the railroad industry a decade ago. Can consolidation and more rational competition spell good news for investors? Find out what's been going on at Hertz (NYSE: HTZ  ) and Avis (NASDAQ: CAR  ) and what it means to you. The�full version�of the interview can be found�here.

The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

Hot Income Companies To Watch For 2015: Astrotech Corporation(ASTC)

Astrotech Corporation operates as a commercial aerospace company in the United States. The company provides spacecraft payload processing and related services; designs and manufactures space hardware; and commercializes space technologies for use on the earth. It also offers satellite launch processing support to government and commercial customers for their communication, earth observation, and deep space satellites. The company?s processing activities consist of satellite ground transportation; pre-launch hardware integration and testing; satellite encapsulation, fueling, launch pad delivery; and communication linked launch control, as well as engineering services. In addition, it develops Miniature Chemical Detector, a chemical analyzer for use on international space station, as well as detects residues and vapors from a range of chemicals, including explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic chemicals, and volatile organic compounds. The company serves the United Stat es Government and commercial satellite and spacecraft customers. Astrotech Corporation was founded in 1984 is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Quick Pen]

  American aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin (LMT) recently announced its plans of acquiring the satellite wing of Astrotech Corp. (ASTC), Astrotech Space Operations. Lockheed expects to close the deal by the third quarter of the current year. After the deal closes, Astrotech Space Operations would become the wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin and would operate under the company�� Space Systems business segment.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Astrotech (ASTC) operates as a commercial aerospace company in the U.S. This stock closed up 7.2% to $3.26 a share in Thursday's trading session.

   

  Thursday's Range: $3.02-$3.31
  
  52-Week Range: $0.61-$4.05
  
  Thursday's Volume: 295,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 570,805

   

  From a technical perspective, ASTC spiked sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $2.96 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last four months, with shares moving higher from its low of 63 cents per share to its recent high of $4.05. During that uptrend, shares of ASTC have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. This spike on Thursday is now starting to push shares of ASTC within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ASTC manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.50 to $3.75 and then once it takes out its 52-week high at $4.05 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ASTC as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $2.66 or above more near-term support at $2.62 and then once it sustain a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 570,805 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ASTC will set up to enter new 52-week high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets of that breakout are $5 to $5.50.

   

Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: Village Super Market Inc.(VLGEA)

Village Super Market, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of supermarkets in the United States. The company?s superstores feature specialty departments, such as home meal replacement, on-site bakery, and expanded delicatessen that includes prepared food, natural and organic food, ethnic and international food, seafood sections, as well as pharmacies and salad bars. Its superstores also offer non-food items, including cut flowers, health and beauty aids, greeting cards, and small appliances. As of December 16, 2011, the company operated a chain of 28 supermarkets under the ShopRite name in New Jersey, Maryland, and eastern Pennsylvania. Village Super Market, Inc. was founded in 1933 and is based in Springfield, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  Line up the return on capital lines ��for the last 10 years ��for Arden, Village (VLGEA), Weis, Harris Teeter (HTSI), and Kroger and you��l see that the grocer this analyst thinks is unique clearly isn��. Other grocers earn their cost of capital. They just aren�� as well known.

• [By Geoff Gannon] strong>J&J Snack Foods (JJSF)

  Check out the performance numbers on those three stocks over the last 10-13 years (I bought them at different times). You��l notice that if I just never sold those stocks I wouldn�� need to do anything else. Those three stocks would��e made a fine portfolio for the next decade or so.

  Well, I did sell those stocks. And I did a lot else. And some of it worked very well and some of it worked very badly. But, almost without fail, the net result was never better than what would have happened if I�� kept those three stocks.

  That�� not an accident. It took me a very, very long time to buy stocks when I was a kid. I bought six stocks in my first five years as an investor. That�� not quite a 20 punches approach ��but it�� pretty close.

  Why did I only buy one stock a year?

  Because I didn�� know anything about stocks. And I didn�� think I knew anything about stocks.

  My investment style was formed from a combination of extreme ignorance and extreme confidence. I was totally ignorant about stocks. And I was totally confident that I could learn all I needed to know about the stocks I needed to know about.

  That combination led to focusing on a few very specific stocks. Stocks I was comfortable with.

  When I was 14, there were only two places my money went. Into my brokerage account. Or into video games. So it�� not a surprise I bought Activision. At the time the video game industry had a much clearer future than it does today. And there was no better CEO of a video game company than Bobby Kotick. The balance sheet was pristine. When you backed out cash, the stock was cheap relative to sales. I looked at everything I could about video game companies and I decided sales were pretty profitable and pretty cash generative in this industry. All you needed was sensible capital allocation. All you needed was management that was going to run the place like a business. And I thought you h

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  Okay. So my point is just that a business is a business ��it�� not an industry. Just because a company is categorized in an industry doesn�� mean it works like the other companies in the industry. For example, Amazon (AMZN) and Best Buy (BBY) and Walgreens (WAG) and Village Supermarket (VLGEA) are all retailers. But they are all really, really different retailers. Technology changes have vastly different influences on them. They have completely different business models. They are actually trying to do totally different things. And you would analyze them ��especially starting with customer habits ��totally differently.

• [By Geoff Gannon] the last 10 years ��population growth, inflation, and real output per person growth has been so low it�� hard to tell the difference between companies growing at the rate of inflation, along with the population, or along with the economy.

  You have to squint really hard to see any difference in the revenue growth records of DNB, Chuck E. Cheese, and Village.

  This will not be true in all countries and at all times.

  A literally no growth company like Earthlink is actually shrinking. It just happens to look like it�� staying perfectly flat because inflation is hiding the company�� real decay rate. In real terms, the company has been shrinking by about 3% a year for the last 10 years. So, Earthlink is not a no growth company. It�� shrinking.

  That�� a bad sign. And, frankly, I don�� know how to value Earthlink. You would need to evaluate it as a turnaround or something ��not as a business that�� simplly stuck in place. I don�� know how to do that.

  So, Earhtlink goes into the ��oo hard��pile.

  Dun & Bradstreet and CEC Entertainment are actual no growth businesses. This is hidden by their constant share buy backs. So, if you look at their earnings per share growth they look kind of like Peter Lynch�� idea of a ��low growth��company or even a ��talwart�� They aren��. They��e no growth businesses.

  The same is pretty much true with Village Supermarket. Although this is complicated. The nature of their business ��high volume, low cost groceries ��means they can appear to be a no growth business when they are actually just keeping prices down and increasing volume. You would need to check their sales numbers more carefully. Grocery stores often discuss inflation in their annual reports. Village Supermarket always does this.

  (The annual report is Exhibit 13 of the 10-K at EDGAR).

  So, in reality, Village Supermarket may be a slow grower, while CEC Entertainment and Dun & Bradstreet

Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: Acciona SA (ANA)

Acciona SA is a Spain-based holding company active in the construction and engineering industry. It is engaged in renewable energy, water services and infrastructure sectors.The Company operates through six business areas; Infrastructure involves the construction, engineering and transportation, as well as hospital concessions; Real Estate is active in the development of real estate properties and parking lot operations; Energy involves the generation, distribution and sale of energy; Transportation and Logistics Services provides integrated transport services for passengers and cargo; Environmental and Urban Services is engaged in activities related to services in the urban scope and environment protection, such as the execution of all types of activities in the water supply; Other Activities is engaged in the provision of services related to funds management and financial intermediation, as well as wine production, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Iberdrola SA (IBE), Spain�� biggest power company, fell 3.4 percent to 3.87 euros. Endesa SA (ELE) slumped 4.6 percent to 16 euros, while Acciona SA (ANA), which owns more than 4 gigawatts of wind farms in the country, tumbled 8.5 percent to 37.95 euros. Red Electrica Corp. slid 7.5 percent to 38.34 euros.

Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: SVB Financial Group(SIVB)

SVB Financial Group, a diversified financial services company, provides various banking and financial products and services. The company offers deposit products, such as traditional deposit and checking accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as lockbox and merchant services; and lending products and services, including traditional term loans, equipment loans, asset-based loans, revolving lines of credit, accounts-receivable-based lines of credits, capital call lines of credits, and credit cards. It also provides cash management products and services comprising wire transfer and automated clearing house payment services, collection services, disbursement services, electronic funds transfers, and online banking services. In addition, the company offers foreign exchange services; letters of credit, including export, import, and standby letters of credit; investment services and solutions; brokerage; asset management; investment a dvisory services, such as outsourced treasury services; and non-banking products and services, such as funds management, venture capital/private equity investment, and equity valuation services. Further, it provides private banking services comprising mortgages, home equity lines of credit, restricted stock purchase loans, and other secured and unsecured lending services. As of March 09, 2012, the company operated 26 offices in the United States and 7 offices internationally. It serves customers in the technology, venture capital/private equity, life science, wine, and clean tech industries. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  While airlines have their ups and downs, Copa is about the best I can think of to weather the storm.

  Best Stocks #4 (Midcap): SVB Financial (SIVB)
  

  I never would have thought one of my picks for the next 20 years would be a bank — let alone one that focuses on entrepreneurs — but here I am.

• [By Lisa Levin] Related ZU Benzinga's Top #PreMarket Losers Stocks Hitting 52-Week Lows Zulily Falls 30% on Earnings (Fox Business) Related SIVB SVB Financial Plans New Stock Offering - Analyst Blog Why SVB Financial (SIVB) Could Beat Earnings Estimates Again - Tale of the Tape

  zulily (NASDAQ: ZU) shares moved up 9.65% to $35.10. The volume of zulily shares traded was 1005% higher than normal. Zulily's trailing-twelve-month revenue is $806.58 million.

Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: Meredith Corp (MDP)

Meredith Corporation, incorporated on September 8, 1905, is a media and marketing company serving American women. The Company operates two business segments: national media and local media. The national media segment includes magazine publishing, brand licensing, digital and customer relationship marketing, digital and mobile media, database-related activities, and other related operations. The local media segment consists of the operations of network-affiliated television stations, related digital and mobile media, and video creation operations. In February 2014, Gannett Co Inc completes the sale of KMOV-TV in St. Louis, MO, to Meredith Corp.

National Media

The Company�� national media segment includes national consumer media brands delivered through multiple media platforms, brand licensing activities, and business-to-business marketing products and services. It focuses on the home and family market and is a publisher of magazines serving women. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013 (fiscal 2013) the Company published in print twenty subscription magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Parents, FamilyFun, American Baby, EveryDay with Rachael Ray, and Fitness, and approximately 120 special interest publications under approximately 75 titles primarily under the Better Homes and Gardens brand. 20 if the Company�� brands are also available as digital editions on various platforms. The Company�� national media segment's extensive digital media presence consists of over 40 Websites, almost 30 mobile-optimized Websites, and about 30 applications (apps). Of those websites and apps, the Allrecipes' brand accounts for 18 websites, 18 mobile sites serving 23 countries in 12 languages, and 11 mobile apps. The national media segment also includes digital and customer relationship marketing, which provides specialized marketing products and services to some of America's companies; a large consumer database; brand licensing activities! , and other related operations. National media segment represented 74 % of the Company�� revenues in fiscal 2013. The Company�� magazines offer regional and demographic editions that contain similar editorial content but allow advertisers to customize messages to specific markets or audiences. The Company sells two primary types of magazine advertising: display and direct-response. Advertisements are either run-of-press (printed along with the editorial portions of the magazine) or inserts (preprinted pages).

The Company also possesses a marketing unit, Meredith 360掳, which provides clients and their agencies with access to a range of media products and services it has to offer, including many media platforms. Its subscription magazines, except American Baby, Ser Padres, and Successful Farming, are also sold by single copy. Single copies sold on newsstands are distributed primarily through magazine wholesalers, who have the right to receive credit from the Company for magazines returned to them by retailers. National media has 22 apps focused on food, parenthood, and health. National media's 30 websites and 10 mobile-optimized Websites provide ideas and inspiration. These branded websites focus on the topics that women care about most-food, home, entertaining, and meeting the needs of moms-and on delivering content geared toward lifestyle topics, such as health, beauty, style, and wellness.

Local Media

The Company�� local media segment consists of 12 network-affiliated television stations located across the United States. The television stations consist of six CBS affiliates, three FOX affiliates, two MyNetworkTV affiliates, and one NBC affiliate. Local media's digital presence includes 20 Websites and mobile Websites and 36 apps focused on news, sports, and weather-related information. Local media segment represented 26% of the Company�� revenues in fiscal 2013. The principal sources of the local media segment's revenues are local advertising focusing on ! the immed! iate geographic area of the stations, national advertising, retransmission of its television signal to satellite and cable systems, advertising on the stations' Websites and mobile Websites, station operation management fees, and payments by advertisers for other services, such as the production of advertising materials. The stations sell commercial time to both local/regional and national advertisers. The Company broadcasts local newscasts in high definition in six of its markets and in wide screen format in its other four markets. Meredith Video Studios (MVS) is its development, production, and multiplatform distribution company that produces video for use by the Company�� television stations and its local and national media Websites, and is producing custom video for clients as well.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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 K is trading at a discount to only 3.) above. Since K's tangible book value is not meaningful, a Graham number can not be calculated. The stock is trading at a 130.9% premium to its calculated fair value of $28.13. K 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% K earned no Stars in this section. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1923 and has increased its dividend payments for 10 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 NPV MMA Diff. of the $37 is below the $2,500 target I look for in a stock that has increased dividends as long as K has. If K grows its dividend at 2.2% per year, it will take 8 years to equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.31%.Memberships and Peers: K is a member of the S&P 500. The company�� peer group includes: Campbell Soup Company (CPB) with a 2.7% yield, General Mills, Inc. (GIS) with a 3.0% yield, and The Hershey Company (HSY) with a 1.9% yield.Conclusion: K did not earn any Stars in the Fair Value section, did not earn any Stars in the Divi

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Media and marketing company Meredith (MDP) raised its quarterly dividend 6.5% to 40.75 cents per share, payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 29. The increase marks the 20th consecutive increase in Meredith’s annual dividend.
  MDP Dividend Yield: 3.08%
  

• [By Dividends4Life]

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Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: GigaMedia Limited (GIGM)

Gigamedia Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the operation of online games for online game players in Asia. The company provides a portfolio of online games, including MahJong, a traditional Chinese tile game; MMORPG, an Internet-based computer game; advanced casual games; and card, chance-based, and simple casual games. It also develops and licenses online poker, casino, and sports betting gaming software solutions, as well as offers application services for the online poker and casino markets primarily in the continental European markets. The company has strategic alliances with SoftStar Entertainment Inc., Neostorm Holdings Limited, XLGames Inc., Access China Holding Limited, Gorilla Banana Entertainment Corp., JC Entertainment Corporation, Possibility Space Incorporated, East Gate Media Contents & Technology Fund, and BetClic. GigaMedia Limited was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  GigaMedia (NASDAQ: GIGM  ) results for the company's fiscal Q4 and 2012 have been released. For the quarter, revenue was $4.8 million, down by 34% from the $7.4 million in the same period the previous year. Attributable net loss, however, narrowed considerably to $15.4 million ($0.30 per diluted share) from Q4 2011's shortfall of $51.3 million ($1.01).

Top 10 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: USA Compression Partners LP (USAC)

USA Compression Partners, LP, incorporated on June 07, 2011, through its wholly owned subsidiary USA Compression Partners, LLC (Operating Subsidiary) and Operating Subsidiary�� wholly owned subsidiary USAC Leasing LLC, primarily provides natural gas compression services under term contracts with customers in the oil and gas industry, using natural gas compressor packages that it designs, engineers, operates and maintains. As of September 30, 2013, the Company had approximately 1,162,353 of fleet horsepower.

The Company provides compression services for a monthly service fee. As part of its services, the Company engineers, designs, operates service and repair its fleet of compression units and maintain related support inventory and equipment. The fleet of compression units that it owns and uses to provide compression services consists of engineered compression units that utilize standardized components, principally engines manufactured by Caterpillar, Inc. and compressor frames and cylinders manufactured by Ariel Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Traders Reserve]

  For USA Compression Partners (USAC), it is all in the name ��the company provides natural gas compression services to the extraction industry.

  This is a volume-dependent business and volume is booming. USA Compression Partners��revenue was up 20% in 2012 and will be up that much or more when final numbers from 2014 come in. Third=quarter results were terrific: revenue was up almost 24% year over year and adjusted cash flow, the basis of the dividend, was up more than 29% year over year. The yield is currently 6.7% and will probably go higher. Ignore the P/E. This is a growth and dividend story. Take a look.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  USA Compression Partners (NYSE: USAC) was the first MLP IPO of 2013, debuting on Jan. 15, and advancing 36 percent since. USAC is unique in the MLP space in providing compression services for the oil and gas industry. The way this works is that a natural gas producer, for example, will contract with USAC on a long-term fixed-fee basis to compress the natural gas so that it can be delivered via pipeline to customers. USAC installs compression equipment to move the gas from the well to its destination. Its customer base is scattered across the important natural gas-bearing shales like the Barnett and the Marcellus. At the current price, units yield 7.3 percent. Coverage for the second quarter distribution was 90 percent[1] , but the partnership expects full year DCF coverage of 110 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  USA Compression Partners LP (NYSE: USAC) shares tumbled 6.80 percent to $24.95 after the company priced 6.6 million units at $25.59 per unit.

  Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) was down, falling 3.32 percent to $19.95 after the company issued a weak outlook. For the first quarter, the company expected an adjusted loss of $0.35 to $0.25 per share on revenue of $120 million to $125 million. However, analysts expected a loss of $0.12 per share on revenue of $209.6 million.

• [By Robert Rapier] There were a half a dozen initial public offerings (IPOs) by master limited partnerships in the first half of the year, and all but one are now in the green while one has nearly doubled in value.
  
  The first MLP IPO of 2013 debuted on Jan. 15. USA Compression Partners (NYSE: USAC), which I mentioned in last week’s issue, provides compression services for the oil and gas industry. Units have advanced 36 percent since the IPO, and at the current price yield 7.3 percent.
  
  The day after the USA Compression Partners IPO, CVR Refining (NYSE: CVRR) made its debut.  CVRR was spun off from CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI), and both companies remain majority-owned by Carl Icahn. CVR Refining’s primary assets are two refineries located in Kansas and Oklahoma with a combined processing capacity of approximately 185,000 barrels per day (bpd). These refineries are strategically located near the major Cushing, Oklahoma shipment and storage hub, with easy access to discounted feedstock from the nearby Permian basin, as well as the Bakken shale and Canadian oil sands.
  
  But refiners have struggled with diminished margins in 2013 because of a much lower Brent-WTI differential. After the recently concluded second quarter, CVRR declared a distribution of $1.35 per unit, bringing its per-unit distributions for the first half of the year to $2.93. At the same time, CVR Refining lowered its annual distribution target to a range of $4.10 to $4.80 per unit. This was lower than the outlook issued in March, when it foresaw annual distributions of $5.50 to $6.50. CVRR units slid on the news, and are presently trading slightly below the $25 IPO price. The lower end of the revised forecast implies distributions of $1.17 per unit in the second half of the year, for a forward annualized yield of 10 percent based on the recent $23.50 unit price.
  
  SunCoke Energy Partners (NYSE: SXCP) was the third IPO to debut during a very busy third week of January. SXCP is the first M