Top Railroad Stocks For 2014

Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. This article discusses the reasons to be bullish on Union Pacific after strong results in July 24, 2014.

Union Pacific has made a strong comeback after the financial crisis and the company�� fundamentals have improved significantly over the last five years. Union Pacific�� diluted earnings per share have increased from $3.74 in 2009 to $9.42 in 2013.

During the same period, the company�� dividend per share has surged to $2.96 from $1.08. Amidst an increase in dividends, the company�� operating cash flow has also increased to $6.8 billion in 2013 from $3.2 billion in 2009.

Union Pacific has also been successful in reducing the company�� debt to capital from 37% in 2009 to 31% in 2013. From a shareholder return perspective, the return on equity has surged to 21.4 in 2013 from 11.8 in 2009.

Top Gas Stocks To Buy For 2015: Vermillion Inc.(VRML)

Vermillion, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of diagnostics tests that help physicians to diagnose, treat, and improve outcomes for patients. It develops diagnostic tests in the fields of oncology, hematology, cardiology, and women?s health with the initial focus on ovarian cancer. The company?s lead product includes OVA1, an ovarian tumor triage test that enables pre-surgical identification of women who are at high risk of having a malignant ovarian tumor. It is also developing various programs in other clinical aspects of ovarian cancer, as well as in peripheral arterial disease. The company has strategic alliance agreement with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated; and collaborations with various academic and research institutions to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests. It serves clinical reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, and physician offices. The company was formerly known as Ciphergen B iosystems, Inc. and changed its name to Vermillion, Inc. in August 2007. Vermillion, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  It's not an uncommon situation. While investors are scouring the news (or lack thereof) from a company, they're not paying much attention to the stock itself. Big mistake, as stocks can and do have a life of their own, sometimes independently of the company. Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRML) is the most recent example of this alarming disconnect. While news from the company of late has been fairly benign and a little non-existent, shares of VRML has been inching towards a key technical line in the sand that if crossed under could spark a fairly rapid selloff.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Diagnostic Substances: The industry gained 2.79% by 10:30 am. The top performer in this industry was Vermillion (NASDAQ: VRML), which gained 4%. Vermillion shares have dropped 44.04% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 10.86% in the same period.

Top Railroad Stocks For 2014: Level 3 Communications Inc.(LVLT)

Level 3 Communications, Inc. engages in the communications business in North America and Europe. It offers network and Internet services, including transport services, high speed Internet protocol services, dedicated Internet access, virtual private network services, and dark fiber services, as well as managed modem, an outsourced, turn-key infrastructure solution; and colocation services. The company also provides various media services, comprising Vyvx services that provide audio and video feeds over fiber or satellite; content delivery network services; media delivery services to customers seeking to manage, protect, and monetize content delivered over the Internet; a range of local and long distance voice services, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and traditional circuit-switch based services; and VoIP Enhanced Local, a VoIP service that enables broadband cable operators, IXCs, VoIP providers, and other companies operating their own switching infrastructure to launch IP-based local and long-distance voice services through a broadband connection. Level 3 Communications? media services also consist of SIP Trunking, a VoIP-based local phone service; Local Inbound service that terminates traditional telephone network originated calls to Internet Protocol termination points; Primary Rate Interface, a TDM local phone service that could be configured in various ways; Long Distance services portfolio comprising local and long distance transport and termination services; and Toll Free services portfolio, which terminate toll free calls that are originated on the traditional telephone network. As of December 31, 2010, its network encompassed approximately 68,000 intercity route miles in North America and an intercity network covering approximately 13,000 miles across Europe. Further, it sells coal primarily through long-term contracts with public utilities. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) was also up, gaining 9.52 percent to $34.39 on Q4 results.

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) were down 14.04 percent to $65.14 after the company lowered its quarterly earnings outlook.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings on July 31. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Level 3 Communications's revenues will expand 0.2% and EPS will remain in the red.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) was also up, gaining 8.89 percent to $34.20 on Q4 results.

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) were down 18.35 percent to $61.86 after the company lowered its quarterly earnings outlook.

Top Railroad Stocks For 2014: Titan Company Ltd (TITAN)

Titan Company Limited, formerly Titan Industries Limited, is engaged in manufacturing of watches/accessories, jewelry, precision engineering and eyewear. The Company has four divisions: watches/accessories, jewelry, precision engineering and eyewear. As of March 31, 2012, the Company had 332 World of Titan stores. As of March 31, 2012, the Company had over three business units in Bangalore, India, a manufacturing unit at Hosur and three assembly plants located in the north of India. The brands under the watches/accessories division include: Titan, Sonata, Fastrack, Xylys and others. Tanishq is Titan�� line of jewelry with a range of jewelry, studded with diamonds or colored gems in 18-karat gold, 22-karat gold and platinum jewelry. Under eyewear division, there is a brand named Titan Eye plus. The precision engineering division includes machine building and automation solutions and tooling solutions. In March 2013, Titan Properties Ltd. was amalgamated with the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Miller Phd]

  Peers like Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) present strong competition in the could-based CRM market, and have been enhancing their companies through various acquisitions such as recently acquired Nimbula, Eloqua Inc., RightNow Technologies and Taleo Corp from Oracle, or MarketingPilot and Netbreeze from Microsoft. Competition is moreover expected to increase with the introduction of Microsoft Dynamics CRM software (Titan). Nevertheless, Salesforce has also been strengthening its product portfolio and expanding within the cloud based CRM services.

Top Railroad Stocks For 2014: Capstead Mortgage Corporation (CMO)

Capstead Mortgage Corporation operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust. It invests in leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting of adjustable-rate mortgage securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises or by an agency of the federal government. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Agency mortgage real estate investment trust�Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO  ) announced this morning�its second-quarter dividend of $0.31�per share, the same rate it paid last quarter.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  In a show of bravado, several mREITs have declared dividends within the past week, with nary a decrease in sight. Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO  ) just announced the continuation of its $0.31 per share�quarterly dividend, which was upped from $0.30 just this past March. CYS Investments (NYSE: CYS  ) revealed its intention to raise its own quarterly payout to $0.34�from $0.32 per share earlier this week, and Armour Residential (NYSE: ARR  ) has joined in, keeping its monthly $0.07 per share dividend firmly in place, even into the third quarter.