Strong insider activity has been registered at Yum! Brands (YUM) lately. Several people related to the company have purchased its stock following the third quarter earnings call, which took place last week. The acquisitions also coincided with the announcement of a quarterly dividend, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1 (applicable to investors of record on Friday, Oct. 11). The company will yield about 2% of the current stock price, rewarding those who bet on the company.
However, Oct. 11 is already past and thus, new stockholders will not receive the upcoming dividend. So, is Yum still a worthy investment for the long term? Are these insider purchases worth following? Or are there better choices in the restaurant industry?
International Expansion Is Key
Yum is the world麓s largest restaurant company and, as such, has attracted many investors over the years. However, the business麓 last quarterly results have failed to meet its expectations. Yum missed revenues and earnings consensus estimates last quarter, mainly due to weak results in China and a tax increase. Nevertheless, these problems should only impact on short-term results, as they can be mostly attributed to macro-related issues. So, one question remains: What about the long-term?
5 Best Value Stocks For 2015: Empire State Realty Trust Inc (ESRT)
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., incorporated on July 29, 2011, is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), which owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area. The Company operates in two segments: real estate and construction contracting. As of June 30, 2013, the Company owned 12 office properties (including one long-term ground leasehold interest) encompassing approximately 7.7 million rentable square feet of office space, which were approximately 83.5% leased (or 86.2% giving effect to leases signed but not yet commenced as of that date). Seven of these properties are located in the midtown Manhattan market and encompass in the aggregate approximately 5.9 million rentable square feet of office space, including the Empire State Building. Its Manhattan office properties also contain an aggregate of 440,615 rentable square feet of retail space on their ground floor and/or lower levels. Its remaining five office properties are located in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York, encompassing in the aggregate approximately 1.8 million rentable square feet.
The Company has entitled land at the Stamford Transportation Center in Stamford, Connecticut, adjacent to one of its office properties, that supports the development of an approximately 380,000 rentable square foot office building and garage, which refers to herein as Metro Tower. As of June 30, 2013, its portfolio also included four standalone retail properties located in Manhattan and two standalone retail properties located in the city center of Westport, Connecticut, encompassing 204,452 rentable square feet in the aggregate. As of June 30, 2013, its standalone retail properties were 100% leased in the aggregate. In addition, the Company has an option to acquire from affiliates of its predecessor two additional Manhattan office properties encompassing approximately 1.5 million rentable squar! e feet of office space and 153,209 rentable square feet of retail space at the base of the buildings.
The Empire State Building is the Company�� flagship property. The 102-story building consists of 2,701,938 rentable square feet of office space and 167,788 rentable square feet of retail space. The building also includes its observatory and broadcasting operations. The Company�� portfolio includes retail properties located in retail corridors in Manhattan and Westport, Connecticut. Tenants at 10 Union Square in Manhattan include Best Buy Mobile, Starbucks, A&P, Panera Bread, FedEx/Kinko��, Au Bon Pain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and GameStop. In the greater New York metropolitan area, its portfolio includes high quality suburban office properties in densely populated metropolitan communities in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. tenants of the greater New York metropolitan area flagship Metro Center (at the Transportation Center in Stamford, Connecticut) include Thomson Reuters, Jefferies Group, Columbus Circle Investors, Torm Shipping, Olympus Partners, BP Energy, Tweedy, Browne Company and Susquehanna International.
The Company approximately has 242 million square feet of rentable space, which are contained within Midtown�� multi-tenant office buildings. Downtown Chicago and the Washington, D.C. CBD combine has a total of 230 million square feet of office space. Three-quarters 75.3% of Midtown�� office stock is classified as Class A with total square footage of 182 million square feet. The Company approximately has 43.9 million square feet of Midtown office space is counted as Class B stock, accounting for 18.2% of the total market. The remaining 6.5% of Midtown office space (15.8 million square feet) is categorized as Class C space. The Grand Central submarket is a office submarket in Midtown Manhattan with 44 million square feet and is located on the east side of Midtown Manhattan, to the north of Murray Hill and to the south of the Park ! Avenue co! rridor.
The West Side office submarket, located to the south and west of Central Park and including the area around Columbus Circle, consists of 25.8 million square feet of office space. Westchester County contains approximately 28.9 million square feet of office space and is split into six submarkets: White Plains CBD and non-CBD, Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern. The White Plains CBD is situated in south central Westchester County, along the Cross-Westchester Expressway (Interstate 287) corridor between the Sprain Brook Parkway and the Hutchinson River Parkway. The submarket consists of approximately 6.3 million square feet of office space and is defined to include the area south of Barker Avenue, north of Quinby Avenue, east of the Bronx River Parkway and west of South Broadway/Post Road. Westchester�� Eastern office submarket consists of 6.5 million square feet of space and is located to the east of White Plains, between New Rochelle and the Connecticut state border.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Reuters]
John Moore/Getty Images NEW YORK -- Investors in the Empire State Building have filed a lawsuit accusing the real estate magnates who took it public of short-changing them $300 million by refusing to sell the iconic skyscraper at a premium price. According to a complaint filed Tuesday in a New York state court in Manhattan, Peter Malkin and his son Anthony put their own interests ahead of the building's investors by spurning all-cash offers of as much as $2.3 billion for the building and $1.4 billion for Empire State Building Associates, which held the title and master lease. Instead, the Malkins put the landmark building and 17 other properties into Empire State Realty Trust Inc., whose Oct. 1 IPO valued the property at just $1.89 billion and ESBA at just $1.1 billion, according to the complaint. The lawsuit by plaintiff Marc Postelnek seeks class-action status on behalf of more than 2,800 investors who hold shares in ESBA, which was created in 1961 and was supervised by a Malkin company, Malkin Holdings. It claimed the Malkins acted in bad faith by aborting a "bidding war" for the building, and instead enriched themselves by hundreds of millions of dollars through an IPO. "Given their positions of control and authority over the fate of the Empire State Building, the Malkins had a duty to act in the best interests of their investors," the plaintiffs' lawyer, John Rizio-Hamilton, a partner at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, representing Postelnek, told Reuters. "By failing to properly consider offers to maximize the building's value, the Malkins breached that duty." The lawsuit seeks to recover profit that building investors allegedly lost because of the Malkins' refusal to sell. Empire State Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust, is a successor to Malkin Holdings. "These claims are wholly without merit and we will respond to them in court," a spokeswoman for the REIT said Thursday. ESBA had been created by Lawrence Wien, the father
Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Buy For 2014: Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (BWP)
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP is a limited partnership company. The Company owns and operates three interstate natural gas pipeline systems including integrated storage facilities. Its business is conducted by its primary subsidiary, Boardwalk Pipelines, LP (Boardwalk Pipelines) and its subsidiaries, Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC (Gulf Crossing), Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP (Gulf South) and Texas Gas Transmission, LLC (Texas Gas) (together, the operating subsidiaries), which consist of integrated natural gas pipeline and storage systems. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it formed Boardwalk Midstream, LP (Midstream), and its operating subsidiary, Boardwalk Field Services, LLC (Field Services), which is engaged in the natural gas gathering and processing business. In December 2011, Boardwalk HP Storage Company, LLC (HP Storage), a joint venture between Boardwalk Pipelines and Boardwalk Pipelines Holding Corp. (BPHC) acquired Petal Gas Storage, L.L.C. (Petal), Hattiesburg Gas Storage Company (Hattiesburg). In December 2011, it acquired a 20% equity interest in HP Storage.
The Company�� pipeline systems originate in the Gulf Coast region, Oklahoma and Arkansas and extend north and east to the midwestern states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. It serves a mix of customers, including producers, local distribution companies (LDCs), marketers, electric power generators, direct industrial users and interstate and intrastate pipelines. The Company provides a portion of its pipeline transportation and storage services, through firm contracts, under which the Company�� customers pay monthly capacity reservation charges. Other charges are based on actual utilization of the capacity under firm contracts and contracts for interruptible services. During 2011, approximately 82% of its revenues were derived from capacity reservation charges under firm contracts; approximately 14% of its revenues were derived from charges-based on actual utilization under firm contr! acts, and approximately 4% of its revenues were derived from interruptible transportation, interruptible storage, parking and lending (PAL) and other services. Its expansion projects include South Texas Eagle Ford Expansionand Marcellus Gathering System and HP Storage.
Pipeline and Storage Systems
The Company�� operating subsidiaries own and operate approximately 14,200 miles of pipelines, directly serving customers in twelve states and indirectly serving customers throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States through numerous interconnections with unaffiliated pipelines. In 2011, its pipeline systems transported approximately 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Average daily throughput on its pipeline systems during 2011 was approximately 7.3 billion cubic feet. Its natural gas storage facilities are comprised of eleven underground storage fields located in four states with aggregate working gas capacity of approximately 167.0 billion cubic feet. the Company operates the assets of HP Storage on behalf of the joint venture.
The principal sources of supply for our pipeline systems are regional supply hubs and market centers located in the Gulf Coast region, including offshore Louisiana, the Perryville, Louisiana area, the Henry Hub in Louisiana and the Carthage, Texas area. Its pipelines in the Carthage, Texas area provide access to natural gas supplies from the Bossier Sands, Barnett Shale, Haynesville Shale and other gas producing regions in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana. The Henry Hub serves as the designated delivery point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Its pipeline systems also have access to unconventional mid-continent supplies, such as the Woodford Shale in southeastern Oklahoma and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. The Company also accesses the Eagle Ford Shale in southern Texas; wellhead supplies in northern and southern Louisiana and Mississippi; and Canadian natural gas through an unaffil! iated pip! eline interconnect at Whitesville, Kentucky.
Gulf Crossing
The Company�� Gulf Crossing pipeline system originates near Sherman, Texas, and proceeds to the Perryville, Louisiana area. The market areas are in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Florida through interconnections with Gulf South, Texas Gas and unaffiliated pipelines.
Gulf South
The Company�� Gulf South pipeline system is located along the Gulf Coast in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The on-system markets directly served by the Gulf South system are generally located in eastern Texas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. These markets include LDCs and municipalities located across the system, including New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida, and other end-users located across the system, including the Baton Rouge to New Orleans industrial corridor and Lake Charles, Louisiana. Gulf South also has indirect access to off-system markets through numerous interconnections with unaffiliated interstate and intrastate pipelines and storage facilities. These pipeline interconnections provide access to markets throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States.
Gulf South has two natural gas storage facilities. The gas storage facility located in Bistineau, Louisiana, has approximately 78 billion cubic feet of working gas storage capacity from which Gulf South offers firm and interruptible storage service, including no-notice service. Gulf South�� Jackson, Mississippi, gas storage facility has approximately five billion cubic feet of working gas storage capacity, which is used for operational purposes and is not offered for sale to the market.
Texas Gas
The Company�� Texas Gas pipeline system originates in Louisiana, East Texas and Arkansas and runs north and east through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, K! entucky, ! Indiana, and into Ohio, with smaller diameter lines extending into Illinois. Texas Gas directly serves LDCs, municipalities and power generators in its market area, which encompasses eight states in the South and Midwest and includes the Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, and Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan areas. Texas Gas also has indirect market access to the Northeast through interconnections with unaffiliated pipelines. Texas Gas owns nine natural gas storage fields, of which it owns the majority of the working and base gas. Texas Gas uses this gas to meet the operational requirements of its transportation and storage customers and the requirements of its no-notice service customers.
Field Services
In 2011, the Company formed its Field Services subsidiary and transferred to it approximately 100 miles of gathering and transmission pipeline. In 2012, the Company transferred to Field Services an additional 240 miles of pipeline and two compressor stations. Field Services is developing gathering and processing capabilities in south Texas and Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Stone Fox Capital]
Another major project announced back in March includes plans with Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (BWP) to create the Bluegrass Pipeline. The proposed design would provide producers with 200K barrels per day of mixed NGLs take-away capacity in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania with the possibility to increase it to 400K barrels per day. The pipeline would deliver the NGLs to new fractionation and storage facilities, which would have connectivity to pipelines along the U.S Gulf Coast. The project should be sanctioned this year with a plan of going into service in the second half of 2015. See the below slide:
- [By Aimee Duffy]
Winners
Buckeye Partners (NYSE: BPL ) �trounced analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines, and recorded a distribution coverage ratio of 1.21 times payouts, allowing the partnership to boost its distribution. DCP Midstream Partners' (NYSE: DCP ) �distributable cash flow popped 40% year over year, and the partnership completed its Eagle Ford dropdown transaction with parent company DCP Midstream, boosting its stake in the lucrative South Texas shale play. Boardwalk Energy Partners' (NYSE: BWP ) �operating revenue and net income increased 5% and 10% year over year. More importantly, distributable cash flow popped 24%, though the partnership elected to hold the distribution flat quarter over quarter. Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP ) �had no distribution increase either, but things are looking better than they have in a while. Production in the Eagle Ford Shale is driving growth at ETP, and the partnership is reorganizing into an operation that is stronger and more diverse than ever before.
Given the current state of U.S. energy production, most midstream companies are winners these days. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP ) got things started off on the right foot, reporting in mid-April and beating expectations on revenue and EPS. Here are some highlights from around the industry:Very strong results here, now let's take a look at some midstream companies that didn't perform as well.
Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Buy For 2014: Agilysys Inc.(AGYS)
Agilysys, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions to corporate and public-sector customers primarily in North America. It operates in three segments: Hospitality Solutions Group (HSG), Retail Solutions Group (RSG), and Technology Solutions Group (TSG). The HSG segment offers application software and services that streamline management of operations, property, and inventory for customers in the gaming, hotel and resort, cruise lines, food management services, and sports and entertainment markets. The RSG segment provides solutions for retailers to enhance productivity, operational efficiency, technology utilization, customer satisfaction, and in-store profitability that comprise customized pricing, inventory, and customer relationship management systems. This segment also offers implementation plans and supplies the hardware package required to operate the systems, including servers, receipt printers, point-of-sale terminals, and wireless devices for in-store use by retail store associates. The TSG segment provides various solutions that comprise enterprise architecture, infrastructure optimization, storage and resource management, identity management, and business continuity for the finance, government, healthcare, telecommunications, education, and other industries. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Solon, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of Agilysys (NASDAQ: AGYS ) have soared today by as much as 11% after the company reported earnings.
So what: Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter rose 21% to $63 million, with the company's retail segment driving nearly all of those gains. Non-GAAP net income per share came in at $0.15, swinging into the black relative to the $0.16 per share adjusted loss a year ago. CEO James Dennedy said the company outperformed its expectations for the year.
- [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 Agilysys (Nasdaq: AGYS ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Buy For 2014: Source Capital Inc.(SOR)
Source Capital, Inc. is a close-ended equity fund launched and managed by First Pacific Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It makes its investments in the stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Russell 2500 Index, the S&P 500 Index, and the Nasdaq Index. Source Capital, Inc. was formed in 1968 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Closed-end investment company�Source Capital (NYSE: SOR ) announced�today�its third-quarter dividend of $0.75 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters.
Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Buy For 2014: Glatfelter (GLT)
P. H. Glatfelter Company manufactures and sells specialty papers and fiber-based engineered materials in the United States and internationally. It offers carbonless and forms papers for credit card receipts, multi-part forms, security papers, and other end-user applications; book publishing papers for the production of hardbound books and other book publishing needs; envelope and converting papers for the direct mail market, shopping bags, and other converting applications; and engineered products for digital imaging, transfer, casting, release, postal, playing card, and other niche specialty applications. The company also provides food and beverage paper used for tea bags and single serve coffee products; metallized products used in the labeling of beer bottles, innerliners, gift wrap, self-adhesive labels, and other consumer products applications; and composite laminates papers used in production of decorative laminates, furniture, and flooring applications, as well as a line of paper products used in batteries, medical masks, and other engineered applications. In addition, it offers airlaid non-woven fabric-like materials used in feminine hygiene products, adult incontinence products, cleaning pads and wipes, food pads, napkins and tablecloths, and baby wipes. The company markets its products directly, as well as through wholesale paper merchants, brokers, and agents. P. H. Glatfelter Company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in York, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Glatfelter (NYSE:GLT) reported that the previously announced presentation by Dante C. Parrini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, at the Deutsche Bank Global Industrials and Basic Materials Conference on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 will be available via a live web cast.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Specialty papers and and fiber-based materials manufacturer P.H. Glatfelter (GLT) raised its quarterly dividend 10% to 11 cents per share, payable May 1 to shareholders of record as of April 3.
GLT Dividend Yield: 1.44% - [By Eric Volkman]
Glatfelter (NYSE: GLT ) has a new asset in its portfolio. The company announced it has finalized the acquisition of Germany-based Dresden Papier, which according to the American firm is "the leading global supplier of nonwoven wallpaper base materials."
Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Buy For 2014: Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL)
EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The company�s operations primarily focuses on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shelf on state and federal waters offshore Louisiana. As of December 31, 2012, it had estimated proved reserves of 77.4 million barrels of oil equivalent, as well as interests in 37 producing fields located in the Gulf of Mexico shelf region. The company was formerly known as Energy Partners, Ltd. and changed its name to EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. in September 2012. EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Yesterday, small cap Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ: EXXI)�announced a deal to acquire�EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE: EPL) to create the largest publicly held independent oil producer on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, meaning it might be a good idea to look at other small cap Gulf oil stocks like W&T Offshore, Inc (NYSE: WTI), Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE: SGY) and Contango Oil & Gas Company (NYSEMKT: MCF). Energy XXI�� CEO John Schiller has talked about the details of the acquisition�with Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" and he noted that��EPL Oil & Gas offers areas of expertise that EXXI currently lacks. However, investors who missed out on�yesterday�� 29% surge for EPL Oil & Gas�may want to check out these other small cap Gulf Oil stocks:
- [By CRWE]
EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE:EPL) will present at the New Frontiers in Energy Conference 2012 hosted by Westlake Securities on September 25, 2012 at 8:45 a.m. Central time in Austin, Texas. Gary C. Hanna, EPL’s President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide a financial and operational overview on the Company during the presentation.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Breaking news
Energy XXI (NASDAQ: EXXI) and EPL Oil & Gas (NYSE: EPL) today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Energy XXI will acquire all of EPL's outstanding shares for total consideration of $2.3 billion, including the assumption of debt. To read the full news, click here. Achaogen (NASDAQ: AKAO) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $12.00 per share. To read the full news, click here. Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) announced today that the company has received verbal notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for imetelstat has been placed on full clinical hold, affecting all ongoing company-sponsored clinical trials. To read the full news, click here. VeriFone (NYSE: PAY) jumped 9.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported its first quarter results. The firm reported a Q1 EPS of $0.31 versus the Street estimate of $0.27. To read the full news, click here.Posted-In: Credit Suisse US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets
Top 10 Long Term Stocks To Buy For 2014: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)
Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
In China, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) is doing a better job transitioning to Japan and project development than most, and it would be a much better pick than most. But still, there are risks, and this Fool's choice is to stick with high-quality U.S. companies for which you don't have to depend on government banks for survival.�
- [By Travis Hoium]
By some measures, Chinese solar manufacturers are improving. Yesterday, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) reported higher-than-expected revenue, a lower loss, and a respectable gross margin of 9.7%. But by others, the market is deteriorating, like Trina Solar's� (NYSE: TSL ) first quarter, when net loss more than doubled from a year ago to $63.7 million.
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