Top Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014

W.W. Grainger (GWW) was ahead more than 1% on Wednesday as its first-quarter earnings per share were a penny ahead of expectations.

The industrial goods company said it earned $216.7 million, or $3.07 a share, up from $2.94 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue grew 4.6% to $2.39 billion. Analysts were looking for a per-share profit of $2.97 on revenue of $2.39 billion. Grainger also reiterated its full-year forecast.

The quarter was helped by domestic sales, which jumped 6.9% to $1.9 billion, while overseas sales climbed 11% to $274.9 million.

On the conference call, Grainger noted forex pressure was a drag on Canadian business, but said that online and U.S. sales strength more than overcame the headwind.

Wunderlich Securities��Brent Raker reiterated a Buy rating and $320 price target on the stock ahead of the earnings, and sees overseas sales continuing their strong pace throughout the year: ��e continue to believe Grainger�� other businesses (outside U.S./Canada) will produce a material operating profit recovery in 2014 (from $30.3mm in 2013 to $55.2mm in 2014). We expect the following factors will be drivers: significant sales/profit boost from Zoro, favorable currency movement in Japan/Europe, a bounce-back in Mexican profit contribution, steady global economic gains, minimized losses in certain Asian/Latin American countries, and positive impact from restructurings in Europe/China.��/p>

Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In 2015: Tenet Healthcare Corporation(THC)

Tenet Healthcare Corporation, an investor-owned health care services company, operates acute care hospitals and related health care facilities. The company?s general hospitals offer acute care services, operating and recovery rooms, radiology services, respiratory therapy services, clinical laboratories, and pharmacies. It also provides intensive care, critical care and/or coronary care units, physical therapy; and orthopedic, oncology, and outpatient services; tertiary care services, such as open-heart surgery, neonatal intensive care, and neuroscience; quaternary care in areas, including heart, liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplants for children; gamma-knife brain surgery; and cyberknife surgery for tumors and lesions in the brain, lung, neck, and spine. As of June 30, 2011, it operated 49 acute care hospitals, and a critical access hospital with a combined total of 13,420 licensed beds primarily serving urban and suburban communities in 11 states of the United State s. The company also owns an interest in a health maintenance organization and operate various related health care facilities, including a long-term acute care hospital and various medical office buildings; revenue cycle management and patient communications services businesses; physician practices; captive insurance companies; and other ancillary health care businesses, such as including ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers, and occupational and rural health care clinics. In addition, Tenet Healthcare Corporation owns an interest in a management services subsidiary that provides network development, utilization management, claims processing, and contract negotiation services to physician organizations and hospitals that assume managed care risk. Tenet Healthcare Corporation was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC  ) has agreed to pay $1.63 billion for Vanguard Health Systems (NYSE: VHS  ) , a 70% premium to Vanguard's close on Friday. The deal will diversify Tenet's offerings in acute care and specialty hospitals and give it a wider geographic reach as well. Tenet is up 8.4% in premarket trading, while Vanguard has skyrocketed 64%.�

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tenet Healthcare (THC) has dropped 2.3% to $47.23 after the hospital operator missed earnings forecasts and offered lower-than-expected guidance.

  Haverty Furniture�(HVT) has gained 3.9% to $28.20 after the furniture retailer beat analyst forecasts.

Top Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: First Financial Northwest Inc.(FFNW)

First Financial Northwest, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Savings Bank Northwest that provides community-based savings bank services in Washington. Its deposit products include noninterest bearing accounts, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, statement savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company?s loan products portfolio comprises one-to-four family residential loans, multifamily loans, commercial real estate loans, construction/land development loans, and business loans, as well as consumer loans, including home equity loans, personal lines of credit, second mortgage loans, and savings account loans. First Financial Northwest, Inc., through another subsidiary, First Financial Diversified, Inc., offers escrow services. The company primarily serves customers in the King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties of Washington through a full-service banking office in Renton, Washington. First Financial Northwest, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is based in Renton, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Royal]

  The special situation
  For those of you following my Special Situations portfolio, Investors Bancorp is in a spot similar to First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ: FFNW  ) and TFS Financial (NASDAQ: TFSL  ) , both of which are featured substantially in the portfolio. While Investors Bancorp is still only a partially demutualized thrift (like TFS Financial today), it will soon become a fully public institution, like First Financial.

Top Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: Northstar Realty Finance Corp. (NRF)

NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in real estate debt business, which acquires, originates, and structures debt investments secured primarily by income-producing real estate properties; real estate securities business that invests in commercial real estate debt securities, including commercial mortgage backed securities, REIT unsecured debt, and credit tenant loans; and net lease properties business, which acquires properties that are primarily net leased to corporate tenants. The company has elected to be taxed as a REIT and it would not be subject to federal income tax, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. NorthStar Realty Finance was founded in 1997 and is based in New York City.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Northstar Realty Finance (NRF) is a REIT that acquires, originates, and structures debt investments secured primarily by income-producing real estate properties. Northstar also invests in commercial real estate debt securities, including commercial mortgage backed securities, REIT unsecured debt, and credit tenant loans and has a portfolio of properties that are net leased to commercial tenants.

Top Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: LifePoint Hospitals Inc.(LPNT)

LifePoint Hospitals Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities in the United States. The company?s hospitals provide a range of medical and surgical services comprising general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, rehabilitation services, and pediatric services, as well as specialized services, such as open-heart surgery, skilled nursing, psychiatric care, and neuro-surgery. Its hospitals also offer outpatient services, including one-day surgery, laboratory, x-ray, respiratory therapy, imaging, sports medicine, and lithotripsy. As of December 31, 2009, LifePoint Hospitals owned or leased 47 hospitals with a total of 5,552 licensed beds in 17 states. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LPNT) operates independently of HCA Inc. as of May 11, 1999.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  The fun wasn't just limited to the big three hospital operators. Lifepoint Hospitals (NASDAQ: LPNT  ) stock jumped 5% on the CMS news, reflecting a $109 million market cap expansion. Likewise, Vanguard Health Systems (NYSE: VHS  ) shares climbed 5%, bumping its market cap up by�$55 million.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Yesterday afternoon, Pennsylvania announced that it would use federal dollars to pay private insurers to cover eligible Pennsylvanians. UBS analysts A.J. Rice and Jailendra Singh think Community Health Systems (CYH), Tenet Healthcare (THC) and LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT) stand to benefit the most from the deal:

Top Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: Stein Mart Inc.(SMRT)

Stein Mart, Inc. operates retail stores that offer fashion merchandise for women and men in the United States. The company?s stores provide fashion apparel, accessories, shoes, and home fashions. As of April 19, 2011, it operated a chain of 263 retail stores. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) reported a 3.8% rise in same-store sales for August, above the 3% estimate from Retail Metrics. In August of last year, sales rose 5.6%.

• [By David Trainer]

  Unfortunately, FVL's holdings don't look likely to out-perform. 67% of its capital is in stocks with a Dangerous-or-worse rating. Only 12% of its assets are in Attractive-or-better rated stocks. Its holdings include recent Danger Zone picks Rite Aid (RAD), Citigroup (C), and Stein Mart (SMRT). FVL's holdings get their worst scores on valuation.

• [By CRWE]

  Stein Mart, Inc. (Nasdaq:SMRT) reported comparable store sales for the four-week period ended August 25, 2012 increased 5.6 percent. Total sales for the period were $79.0 million, an increase of 6.9 percent from $73.9 million in the same period in 2011.

Top Penny Stocks To Invest In 2014: NET Servicos de Comunicacao S.A.(NETC)

Net Servicos de Comunicacao S.A., through its subsidiaries, provides cable television, Internet access, and voice services in Brazil. It offers cable television services under the ?NET? brand name through various cable networks located in the largest cities of Brazil. The company also offers broadband Internet access services under the ?NET VIRTUA? brand name by using Embratel's IP backbone infrastructure. In addition, it provides voice services under the ?NET FONE VIA EMBRATEL? brand name jointly with Embratel. Further, the company offers integrated video, broadband, and voice services. Net Servicos de Comunicacao S.A. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vanina Egea] offers bundled services and has aggressively expanded its Internet and TV subscriber base in the state.

  Investing for Long-term Growth

  Looking forward, Telef贸nica Brasil is investing in technology and network expansion to further empower its competitive position. The firm is expanding its 3G network based on CDMA EV-DO and HSPA technologies, which provide a great advantage over its peers. Further, it expects to benefit from the growth opportunities in the 4G market. Consequently, it has signed a deal with Ceragon Networks Ltd. (CRNT) to deploy the superfast 4G network nationwide.

  A Valuable Stock

  Telef贸nica Brasil has a healthy balance sheet with strong cash flow generation (up to 9,576 million in 2013 from 3,488 million in 2011) and reasonable debt levels. Its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is of 0.17 times and it has a debt- to-equity ratio of 0.2 against its peers��average of 0.9. Its financial strength and a robust dividend have attracted investment gurus like Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio) and David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), who have recently incorporated the company to its portfolio.

  Considering the stock�� trading price of 14.6x its trailing earnings compared to the peer group average of 16.90x, and a compelling dividend yield of 7.30 with a payout ratio of 1.1 (against its competitors��median of 3.53 and 0.62, respectively), I believe this stock is a worthy investment opportunity with excellent growth potential.

  Disclosure: Vanina Egea holds no position in any stocks mentioned.

  Also check out: Charles Brandes Undervalued Stocks Charles Brandes Top Growth Companies Charles Brandes High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Charles Brandes keeps buyingAbout the author:Vanina EgeaA fundamental analyst at Lone Tree Analytics

  Visit Vanina Egea's Website

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