Hot Gas Utility Companies To Invest In 2014

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Best Clean Energy Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Bemis Company Inc (BMS)

Bemis Company, Inc., incorporated on May 18, 1885, is a manufacturer of packaging products and pressure sensitive materials. The Company's business activities are organized around its three reportable business segments, U.S. Packaging , Global Packaging and Pressure Sensitive Materials. The majority of the Company�� products are sold to customers in the food industry. Other customers include companies businesses, such as chemical, agribusiness, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, electronics, automotive, construction, graphic industries and other consumer goods. In July 2013, Bemis Company Inc acquired all of the common stock of Foshan New Changsheng Plastics Films Co., LTD.

The Company�� flexible packaging businesses has a technical base in polymer chemistry, film extrusion, coating, laminating, printing, and converting. The Company�� pressure sensitive materials business specializes in adhesive technologies. On August 22, 2012, the Company acquired two flexible packaging businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

U.S. Packaging segment

The U.S. Packaging segment represents all food, consumer, and industrial products packaging-related manufacturing operations located in the United States. This segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for food and personal care product applications as well as non-food applications. Additional products include custom thermoformed packaging, and multiwall paper bags. Markets for these products include processed and fresh meat, liquids, frozen foods, cereals, snacks, cheese, coffee, condiments, candy, pet food, bakery, seed, lawn and garden, tissue, fresh produce, personal care and hygiene, disposable diapers, agribusiness, and minerals. This segment has 35 manufacturing plants located in 16 states, of which 32 are owned directly by the Company or its subsidiaries and three are leased from outside parties.

Global Packaging segment

The ! Global Packaging segment includes all packaging-related manufacturing operations located outside of the United States as well as global medical device and pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing operations. This segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for a variety of food, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, and industrial applications. Additional products include injection molded plastic and folding carton packaging. Markets for these products include processed and fresh meat, liquids, snacks, cheese, coffee, condiments, candy, bakery, tissue, fresh produce, personal care and hygiene, disposable diapers, agribusiness, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. This segment has 32 manufacturing plants located in three United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and ten non-United States countries, of which 26 are owned directly by the Company or its subsidiaries and six are leased from outside parties.

Pressure Sensitive Materials segment

The Pressure Sensitive Materials segment is a global manufacturer of pressure sensitive adhesive coated paper and film substrates sold into label, graphic, and technical product markets. Products for label markets include narrow-Web rolls of pressure sensitive paper, film, and metalized film printing stocks used in high-speed printing and die-cutting. Products for graphic markets include pressure sensitive films used for decorative signage through computer-aided plotters, digital and screen printers, and photographic overlaminate and mounting materials including optically clear films with built-in ultraviolet (UV) inhibitors. Products for technical markets include micro-thin film adhesives used in delicate electronic parts assembly and pressure sensitive applications utilizing foam and tape based stocks to perform fastening and mounting functions. This segment has seven manufacturing plants located in three states and two non-United States countries, all of which are owned directly b! y the Com! pany or its subsidiaries.

The Company competes with Amcor Limited, Berry Plastics Corporation, Bryce Corporation, Exopack Company, Hood Packaging Corporation, Printpack, Inc., Sealed Air Corporation, Sonoco Products Company, Wihuri OY, Winpak ltd, 3M, Acucote, Inc., Avery Dennison Corporation, FLEXcon Corporation, Green Bay Packaging Inc., Ricoh Company, Ltd., Ritrama Inc., Spinnaker Industries, Inc., Technicote Inc., UPM-Kymmene Corporation, and Wausau Coated Products Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Part-time Investor]

  The following stocks met the criteria in January of 2008 and were put into the initial portfolio:

  Abbot Labs (ABT)Advanced data processing (ADP)Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)Bank of America (BAC)BB&T Corp. (BBT)Bemis Company (BMS)Anheuser Busch (BUD)The Chubb Corporation (CB)Clorox (CLX)Comerica Inc. (CMA)Diebold Inc. (DBD)Emerson Electronics (EMR)First Dollar Corp. (FDO)First Third BanCorp. (FITB)Gannett Co, Inc. (GCI)General Electric (GE)Hershey (HSY)Illinois Tools Works (ITW)Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)Leggett and Platt (LEG)Eli Lilly (LLY)La-Z-Boy (LZB)McDonald's (MCD)Marsh and Ilsley (MI)M&T Bancorp (MTB)PepsiCo (PEP)Pfizer (PFE)Procter & Gamble (PG)Pentair Ltd. (PNR)Regions Financial Corp. (RF)Rohm and Haas (ROH)RPM International (RPM)Sherwin Williams (SHW)Sysco Corp. (SYY)UDR Inc. (UDR)

  Historical quotes were taken from Yahoo Finance. $10,000 was put into each position, to the nearest whole share, so a total of $349,262.89 was invested. From 1/15/08 through 5/16/13 all dividends were reinvested back into the stock that paid them. If a dividend cut was announced, that stock was sold on the ex-div date of the new, lower dividend.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Leaders and laggards
  Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) is at the top of the class this morning with a 5.19% gain following some extremely encouraging news about its latest experimental drug,�lambrolizumab. Aimed at unleashing the powers of a patient's own immune system, the drug disables the immune system cells' prevention method that curbs its attack on cancer cells -- a protein called the programmed death 1 receptor, or PD-1. Merck's drug has shown a 38% rate in tumor reduction in patients with advanced melanoma, and up to 52% in patients who received the highest dosage of the drug. Though the patients have not undergone the trial for a long enough period yet, the results are attracting attention for matching the current treatments from two Bristol-Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMS  ) drugs, Yervoy and nivolumab, with potentially milder side effects. The news is great for Merck investors, as the company has only played a small part in oncology treatments to date.

Hot Gas Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Linn Energy LLC (LINE)

Linn Energy, LLC (LINN Energy) is an independent oil and natural gas company. The Company�� properties are located in the United States, primarily in the Mid-Continent, the Permian Basin, Michigan, California and the Williston Basin. Mid-Continent Deep includes the Texas Panhandle Deep Granite Wash formation and deep formations in Oklahoma and Kansas. Mid-Continent Shallow includes the Texas Panhandle Brown Dolomite formation and shallow formations in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois. Permian Basin includes areas in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. Michigan includes the Antrim Shale formation in the northern part of the state. California includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. Williston Basin includes the Bakken formation in North Dakota. On December 15, 2011, the Company acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located primarily in the Granite Wash of Texas and Oklahoma from Plains Exploration & Production Company (Plains).

On November 1, 2011, and November 18, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On June 1, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties in the Cleveland play, located in the Texas Panhandle, from Panther Energy Company, LLC and Red Willow Mid-Continent, LLC (collectively Panther). On May 2, 2011, and May 11, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin. On April 1, 2011, and April 5, 2011, the Company completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On March 31, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin from an affiliate of Concho Resources Inc. (Concho). During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company completed other smaller acquisitions of oil and natural gas properties located in its various operating regions. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 7,759 or 69% of its 11,230 gross productiv! e wells.

Mid-Continent Deep

The Mid-Continent Deep region includes properties in the Deep Granite Wash formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths ranging from 10,000 feet to 16,000 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma and Kansas, which produce at depths of more than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Deep proved reserves represented approximately 47% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 49% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 285 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.

Mid-Continent Shallow

The Mid-Continent Shallow region includes properties producing from the Brown Dolomite formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths of approximately 3,200 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois, which produce at depths of less than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Shallow proved reserves represented approximately 20% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 70% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 665 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.

Permian Basin

The Permian Basin is an oil and natural gas basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico and produce at depths ranging from 2,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Permian Basin proved reserves represented approximately 16% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 56% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Michigan

The Michigan region includes properties producing from the Antrim Shale formation in the northern ! part of t! he state, which produces at depths ranging from 600 feet to 2,200 feet. Michigan proved reserves represented approximately 9% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 90% were classified as proved developed reserves.

California

The California region consists of the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. California proved reserves represented approximately 6% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 93% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Williston Basin

The Williston Basin is one of the premier oil basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in North Dakota and produce at depths ranging from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Williston Basin proved reserves represented approximately 2% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 48% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  It's been quite the roller-coaster year for investors in LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  ) . The company has made its share of headlines this year, which started with the announcement of a $4.3 billion joint bid with its affiliate LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO  ) for Berry Petroleum (NYSE: BRY  ) �Most of its other headlines have come from the mounting pressure from short sellers, which have been questioning the company's hedging and accounting practices. Now, this news flow has caught the eye of the SEC which has commenced an informal inquiry to look into the company's practices.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Let's start with MLPs like Linn Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  ) or BreitBurn Energy Partners (NASDAQ: BBEP  ) . These are oil and gas exploration and production partnerships, and though this type of MLP is extremely exposed to commodity risk, commodity prices are tied to inflation, which in turn poses little threat to the partnerships.

Hot Gas Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Zhone Technologies Inc.(ZHNE)

Zhone Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and manufactures communications network equipment for telecommunications, wireless, and cable operators worldwide. It offers single line multi-service (SLMS) architecture, which provides support for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and IP entertainment by integrating access, transport, customer premises equipment, and management functions in a standards-based system. Its SLMS products include broadband aggregation and service products that are deployed in central offices, remote offices, points of presence, curbsides, data and co-location centers, and enterprises to aggregate, concentrate, and optimize communications traffic from copper and fiber networks; customer premise equipment, which offers solution for combining analog voice and data services to the subscriber?s premises over a single platform; and Zhone Management System that provides optional software tools to manage aggregation and c ustomer premises network hardware. These products deliver voice, data, and video interface connectivity for broadcast and subscription television, Internet routers, and telephony equipment. The company also offers products that are deployed by service providers to support various voice and data services; and provides technical support, product repair, and education and support services. It sells its products to network service providers that offer voice, data, and video services to businesses, governments, utilities, and residential consumers; and telecommunications carriers through channel partners, which include distributors, resellers, system integrators, and service providers. Zhone Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Zhone Technologies (NASDAQ: ZHNE) dropped 20.94% to $4.91 on Q4 results.

  Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC) dropped 14.43% to $37.74 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results and lowered its outlook. The company also announced its restructuring program.

Hot Gas Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica(ERJ)

Embraer S.A. engages in the development, production, and sale of jet and turboprop aircraft for civil and defense aviation markets. It also offers aircrafts for agricultural use; structural components, mechanical and hydraulic systems, and technical activities related to the production and maintenance of aerospace material. The company?s Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, and manufactures various commercial aircraft for regional, low-cost, and mainline airlines primarily in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Its Defense and Security segment provides a range of integrated solutions for the defense and security market, including training/light attack aircraft, aerial surveillance platforms, military transport aircraft, and government transport aircraft; command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; and maintenance and material solutions. The company?s Executive Aviation segment develops a line of executive jets for fractional ownership companies, charter companies and air-taxi companies, and high-net-worth individuals. Its Aviation Services segment offers after-sales customer support services for the fleets of its commercial, executive, and defense customers. This segment also provides spare parts, maintenance and repair, training, and other product support services. The company?s Other segment involves in selling and leasing used aircraft; and offers structural parts, and mechanical and hydraulic systems for the production of helicopters. This segment also manufactures landing gear, and general aviation propeller aircraft, such as executive planes and crop dusters. It has a strategic alliance with European Aerospace and Defense Group. The company was formerly known as Embraer - Empresa Brasileira de Aeron Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  SkyWest also recently won a 12-year contract to operate 40 Embraer (NYSE: ERJ  ) E175 76-seat regional jets for United. Moreover, United ordered another 30 E175 aircraft in April, which it plans to assign to one of its regional partners. Since SkyWest will already be flying E175s for United, the company may have a leg up vis-�-vis competitors in the bidding process for that additional work.