Lakeland Bancorp (LBAI) is a very cost efficient, well-capitalized small-cap bank that operates 46 offices throughout northern New Jersey. With $2.9 billion in assets, $2.388 billion in deposits and $2.17 billion in loans, Lakeland has established itself as the third largest commercial bank headquartered in the state. Recently, Lakeland closed its acquisition of Somerset Hills Bancorp which added $368.9 million in assets in a deal worth $65.7 million (1.52X Somerset's tangible book value).
Since loan growth has been extremely hard for some regional banks, I think this deal is great for shareholders because it comes during a time when Lakeland has already been growing loans organically, and at a price lower than LBAI's own P/TBV. Since this new addition has yet to hit the reported books, below I have provided a review of Lakeland to help assess the banks pre-acquisition financial position and current valuation.
Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own For 2015: Compliance Energy Corp (CEC)
Compliance Energy Corporation (Compliance) is an exploration and development company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties. Compliance�� main projects are its freehold coal holdings on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and four non-coal exploration properties on Vancouver Island. Through the Comox Joint Venture (CJV), CEC owns 60% of the Raven Underground Coal project. The Company�� main properties are its approximately 29,000 hectares of freehold coal and mineral interests and 2,046 hectares of Crown Coal licenses in the Comox Coal Basin on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Through the Comox Joint Venture agreement, Compliance owns 60% of interests and Itochu International and LG International own 20% respectively. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon] tal, Oracle (ORCL) etc. may also count ��you are imagining yourself as a shareholder and silent partner in a business that will continue to be controlled by the current management team ��or similar successors ��and in which they will decide what your dividends are each year, they will decide how much stock is issued or bought back, etc.
Buy and hold investments should be analyzed on a free cash flow basis. Not an EV/EBIT basis. "Value" investments in the Ben Graham sense of the word ��think cigar butts ��should be analyzed on an enterprise value.
Simply put, make your Ben Graham investments on an EV/EBIT basis. And make your Warren Buffett investments on a price-to-free-cash-flow basis.
We can think of this as a public owner versus private owner choice. Are you buying the company because you think it is cheap relative to its intrinsic value and you expect to receive your investment gain in the forms of capital gains caused by a rising share price that will close the gap between price and value ��some sort of merger, takeover, etc. ��or do you imagine being invested in the company the way Warren Buffett is invested in Wells Fargo (WFC), Coca-Cola (KO), the Washington Post (WPO), etc.?
Enterprise value and operating income (��BIT�� should be used when analyzing an investment as a private owner. This is how Joel Greenblatt seems to work. At least that is how he talks in "You Can Be a Stock Market Genius" and how he designed the magic formula (enterprise value and pre-tax ear
- [By Roberto Pedone]
CEC Entertainment (CEC) and its subsidiaries develop, operate and franchise family dining and entertainment centers under the name Chuck E. Cheese's in 47 states and eight foreign countries and territories. This stock closed up 2.2% at $42.95 in Friday's trading session.
Friday's Volume: 452,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 102,668
Volume % Change: 414%Shares of CEC popped higher on Friday after the company beat Wall Street's earnings estimates by 9 cents per share, reported in-line revenue and guided fiscal-year 2013 EPS estimates above consensus.
From a technical perspective, CEC trended up here right off its 50-day moving average of $41.98 with strong upside volume flows. This move is starting to push shares of CEC within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if CEC manages to take out Friday's high of $44.30 to its 52-week high of $45.66 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CEC as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $41.98 or above more near-term support at $41.48 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 102,668 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then CEC will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $50 to $55.
- [By Geoff Gannon] ominal GDP Growth: Village Supermarket (VLGEA)
Over 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
Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch For 2014: Vitacost.com Inc (VITC)
Vitacost.com, Inc. (Vitacost), incorporated in May 20, 1994, is an online retailer of health and wellness products, including dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbs and other botanicals, amino acids and metabolites, as well as cosmetics, natural personal care products, pet products, sports nutrition and health foods. The Company sells these products directly to consumers primarily through its Website, www.vitacost.com. It offers its customers the selection of healthy living products. It offers its customers a selection of approximately 40,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), from over 2,000 third-party brands, such as New Chapter, Nature�� Way, Twinlab, Source Naturals, Jarrow Formulas, Jason, Desert Essence, Atkins, Bob�� Red Mill, BSN, Optimum Nutrition, USP Labs and MuscleTech in addition to its own brands: Vitacost, Cosmeceutical Sciences Institute (CSI), Best of All, and Smart Basics. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had approximately 2.1 million customers.
The Company offers products in a range of potency levels and dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, vegi-capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids and powders. It offers products that encompass four main categories: Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Supplements; Sports Nutrition; Beauty; and Natural and Organic Food.
Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Supplements (VMHS)
VMHS products are taken to maintain or improve health and address specific health conditions. In its dietary supplements category, the Company offers its offer its Vitacost branded products as well as third-party brands such as Nature�� Way, Twinlab, Jarrow, Carlson and Rainbow Light. Vitamin and mineral products include multi-vitamins, lettered vitamins, such as Vitamin A, C, D, E and B-complex, along with minerals such as calcium, magnesium, chromium and zinc.
Herbal products include whole herbs, standardized extracts, herb combination formulas and teas. Supplements include essential fatty acids, probiotics, anti-o! xidants, phytonutrients and condition-specific formulas.
Sports Nutrition
Sports nutrition products are used in conjunction with cardiovascular conditioning, weight training and sports activities. Major categories in sports nutrition include protein and weight gain powders, meal replacements, nutrition bars, sport drinks and pre and post-workout supplements. The Company offers bodybuilding and sports products from third parties, such as Optimum Nutrition, CytoSport and BSN as well as our Vitacost branded sports nutrition products.
Beauty
Natural care products consist of a variety of natural products for skin, body, hair and oral health. The Company offers hundreds of natural personal-care products from companies, such as JASON, and Kiss My Face, as well as its CSI-branded products. These products appeal to allergen-conscious and environmentally-conscious consumers seeking products that are made without harsh chemicals and additives.
Natural and Organic Food
Natural and organic food products consist of organic and specialty products such as organic peanut butter, gluten free foods and low mercury tuna and salmon. The Company offers third-party brands, such as Kashi, Eden Foods and Amy�� Organic, as well as its Best of All natural food products.
Under its Vitacost brand, the Company offers over 900 products including multivitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, anti-oxidants and others. Under its CSI brand, it markets and sells health and beauty products such as facial cleanser, facial and body moisturizing creams and lotions, and other beauty and skincare products. Under its Best of All brand, it markets and sells organic food products such as banana chips, trail mix, almonds, cashews and more. Under its Smart Basics brand, it markets and sells organic fruit juices and extracts and related dietary supplements. Under its Walker Diet brand, it markets and sells low carb powders used to assist in weight loss and ! managemen! t.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Vitacost.com (Nasdaq: VITC ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Seth Jayson]
Margins matter. The more Vitacost.com (Nasdaq: VITC ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Vitacost.com's competitive position could be.
Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ishares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB)
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (the Index). The Index consists of securities of NASDAQ-listed companies that are classified according to the Industry Classification Benchmark as either biotechnology or pharmaceuticals, and which also meet other eligibility criteria. The Index is one of the eight sub-indices of the NASDAQ Composite, which measures all common stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.
The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
On Wednesday, small cap biopharmaceutical stock CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) soared 68.2% after reporting positive results from a Phase 2B cancer drug trial, meaning its probably time to figure out what investors should do next plus take a look at the performance of biotech ETF benchmarks like the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA: XBI).
- [By Mark Salzinger]
The best has been iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund (IBB). IBB has gained 63.4%, so far, in 2013 (through November 30), after gaining 32.1% in 2012.
- [By Benjamin Shepherd] While the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (NSDQ: IBB) has gained more than 50 percent over the trailing year and nearly doubled over the past two, it�� not immune from the occasional sell-off. Since last Friday, the index is down by more than 8 percent following Congressional concern about high drug costs.
- [By John Udovich]
Yesterday, small cap Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: OXBT) surged 87.33% to $2.81 after published results showed that its levosimendan was associated with reduced mortality, meaning its probably time to do a reality check about the stock as well as look at its performance against that of industry benchmarks like the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA: XBI).
Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch For 2014: Zinco Do Brasil Inc (ZNBR)
Zinco do Brasil Inc., formerly TurkPower Corporation, incorporated on November 4, 2004, has been a Turkish-American consulting and service operations firm and junior mining company. TurkPower offered its domestic and international clients consulting services and plans to act as a full service operator for wind, hydro, solar, coal and geothermal energy parks in Turkey.
In November 2011, the Company ceased all operations in Turkey. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012) the Company impaired its entire mining company investment.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap mining stocks Discovery Minerals Ltd (OTCMKTS: DSCR), Zinco Do Brasil Inc (OTCMKTS: ZNBR) and Amalgamated Gold and Silver Inc (OTCMKTS: BCHS) have been getting some extra attention lately as one stock surged last Friday while the other two are or have been in the past, the subject of paid promotions. It goes without saying though that small cap mining stocks tend to be riskier than your average stock. But do these three small cap mining stocks have what it takes to produce a mother lode for investors? Here is a deeper dig into all three:
Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch For 2014: On Assignment Inc.(ASGN)
On Assignment, Inc., a diversified professional staffing firm, provides flexible and permanent staffing solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company?s Life Sciences segment provides contract and permanent life science professionals to clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, personal care, chemical, medical device, automotive, municipal, education, and environmental industries. Its contract professionals include chemists, clinical research associates, clinical lab assistants, engineers, biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, molecular biologists, biostatisticians, drug safety specialists, SAS programmers, medical writers, food scientists, regulatory affairs specialists, lab assistants, and other skilled scientific professionals. The company?s Healthcare segment offers locally-based and traveling contract professionals that include nurses, specialty nurses, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, imaging technicians, X-ray technicians, medical technologists, medical assistants, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, respiratory therapists, phlebotomists, coders, billers, claims processors, and collections staff, as well as dental professionals. This segment serves hospitals, integrated delivery systems, imaging centers, clinics, physician offices, reference laboratories, universities, managed care organizations, and third-party administrators. Its Physician segment provides short and long-term locum tenens services, and full-service physician search and consulting services. The company?s IT and Engineering segment offers high-end contract and direct placement services of information technology and engineering professionals with expertise in specialized information technology; software and hardware engineering; and mechanical, electrical, validation, and telecommunications engineering fields. On Assignment, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Calabasas, Cali fornia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on On Assignment (NYSE: ASGN ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of professional staffing firm On Assignment (NYSE: ASGN ) popped 11% today after its quarterly results and guidance topped Wall Street expectations.
- [By Monica Gerson]
© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch For 2014: Cadus Corp (KDUS)
Cadus Corporation (Cadus), incorporated in January 23, 1992, has a wholly owned subsidiary, Cadus Technologies, Inc. (the Subsidiary), which holds all patents, patent applications, know how, licenses and drug discovery technologies of the Company. The Company maintains all its strains, as well as a biological database that catalogues its collection of cells, cell lines, yeast strains and genetic engineering tools. This database has approximately 30,000 entries, which include the phenotype and the genotype of the cell or yeast strain and its storage site. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had no internal or external drug discovery operations.
Yeast
The Company has developed technologies based on yeast that are useful in identifying drug discovery candidates targeted at G Protein-coupled receptors. Yeast is a single-celled microorganism that is used to make bread, beer and wine. Both yeast and human cells consist of a membrane, an intracellular region and a nucleus containing genes. The genes in yeast express proteins, including cell-surface receptors, such as G Protein-coupled receptors and signaling molecules, such as protein kinases, that are similar to human proteins.
Hybrid Yeast Cells
The Company developed a technology to insert human genes into yeast cells to create hybrid yeast cells. Its scientists created hybrid yeast cells by replacing yeast G Protein-coupled receptor genes and certain signaling molecules with their human equivalents. As a result, these hybrid yeast cells express a human G Protein-coupled receptor and a portion of its signaling pathway. These hybrid yeast cells can be used to identify those compounds that act as agonists or antagonists to that receptor or a molecule that is in its signaling pathway. The Company designed and developed more than 25 thousand genetically different yeast strains that can be used to build hybrid yeast cells (the Yeast System).
The Company competes with Glaxo Smith Kline, Plc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon] cash producing business like ADDvantage (AEY) that happens to be overcapitalized. I'd much rather own a business with real earnings rather than wait for something to happen with a pile of cash.
My question is this: How cheap is cheap enough? Clearly (to me), George Risk (RSKIA) is cheap at or even just above book value. It's a darn good business so I'm getting high quality assets and earnings power. That gets less clear when looking at lower quality businesses.
For example:
Solitron (SODI) sells at 74% of NCAV, has decent z- and f-scores, a FCF margin of 5.3% and an ROA of 12%.
Hot Regional Bank Stocks To Watch For 2014: Taylor Capital Group Inc.(TAYC)
Taylor Capital Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Cole Taylor Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products and services primarily to closely-held commercial customers and their owner operators in the Chicago area. It offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, and other deposit and credit services to commercial clients and community-based customers, including individuals and small local businesses. The company?s commercial lending activities primarily consist of providing loans for working capital and business expansion or acquisition; owner-occupied commercial real estate financing; revolving lines of credit; and stand-by and commercial letters of credit. It also originates and sells mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides treasury cash management services, including repurchase agreements, Internet balance reporting, remote deposit capture, positive pay, automa ted clearing house products, imaged lock-box processing, controlled disbursement, and account reconciliation services to commercial clients; and investment management and brokerage services. Further, it offers asset-based financing, including revolving lines of credit supported by receivables and inventory; and term loans supported by equipment and real estate. The company?s target commercial lending customers include businesses engaged in various industries, such as manufacturing, wholesale and retail distribution, transportation, construction contracting, and professional services. It operates through nine banking centers in the Chicago area. The company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Looking to expand its banking business in the Windy City, MB Financial (NASDAQ: MBFI ) jointly announced with Taylor Capital (NASDAQ: TAYC ) that it was buying the�holding company of�Cole Taylor�Bank, a Chicago-based commercial bank with $5.9 billion in assets, $3.3 billion in loans, and $3.7 billion in deposits.
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