Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015

Given the overall lack of good news from companies going into the fourth quarter, the fact that this company has even the slightest bit of positive guidance is noteworthy, writes MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, also of Jubak's Picks.

I wouldn't exactly call it super enthusiastic guidance, but this quarter, when so few companies have anything good to say about their business for the fourth quarter, even Xylem's (XYL) tepid enthusiasm stands out.

On October 29, Xylem reported earnings of 39 cents a share for the third quarter. That was (barely) above last year's 38 cents a share for the quarter, and 3 cents a share above the Wall Street consensus. Taking out so-called one-time charges (for restructuring and the like), Xylem reported earnings of 49 cents a share. Revenue climbed 4% year to year to $965 million. Wall Street had projected revenue of $919 million.

And then came that tepid but positive guidance. Market conditions are modestly improving with higher sales in northern and central Europe, offsetting lower spending on water infrastructure in southern Europe. Emerging markets, such as China, are helping drive revenue growth, said CEO Steve Loranger. (That's the kindest thing I've heard about China this earnings season. The Chinese government has announced a big program to improve water quality that will result in more spending on the water treatment and water transportation gear that Xylem sells.) The company also sees continued cost cutting adding to earnings.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Rentrak Corporation(RENT)

Rentrak Corporation, an information management company, provides content measurement and analytical services to companies in the entertainment industry. The company delivers content performance data for various entertainment platforms and media technologies, including television, theatrical, home entertainment, mobile, and broadband video. It operates in two divisions, Home Entertainment, and Advanced Media and Information. The Home Entertainment division delivers home entertainment content products, such as DVDs and blue-ray discs; and offers related rental and sales information for the content to home video specialty stores and other retailers in the United States and Canada. It leases products from various suppliers, including motion picture studios; and retailers sublease and rent these products to consumers. This division also includes direct revenue sharing (DRS) services, which encompasses the collection, tracking, auditing, and reporting of transaction and revenue data generated by DRS retailers to its respective DRS clients. The AMI division offers Essentials Suite of business information services. This division?s Essentials Suite software and services provide data collection, management, analysis, and reporting functions. It also collects and process data from across 26 countries. This division has operations in California, New York, Florida, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and Russia. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon with additional offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Rentrak (Nasdaq: RENT  ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on June 13. 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 Rentrak's revenues will expand 12.1% and EPS will turn positive

• [By Sean Williams]

  On the wrong track
  Small-cap Rentrak (NASDAQ: RENT  ) has done quite well for itself and shareholders over the past 12 months. As a marketing and entertainment information provider to the TV, movie, and advertising industry, Rentrak has witnessed its share price rise as the outlook for the overall economy continues to improve. But beyond the surface, Rentrak looks like a brutally overpriced research and information company with few growth catalysts.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc.(UEPS)

Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides payment solutions and transaction processing services primarily in South Africa, Korea, and Europe. It offers universal electronic payment system (UEPS), a smart-card based alternative payment system for the unbanked and underbanked populations of developing economies. The company?s UEPS system uses secure smart cards that operate in real time but offline, which allows users to enter into transactions at any time with other card holders even in the remote areas; and can be used for banking, health care management, international money transfers, voting, and identification. It provides technology that is used in state pension and welfare payments by the South African government; processes debit and credit card payment transactions for retailers, utilities, medical-related claim service customers, and banks, as well as bill payments and prepaid electricity for bill issuers and local councils; and offers mobile telephone top-up transactions for mobile carriers. The company also offers transaction processing, and financial and clinical risk management solutions; an on-line real-time management system for healthcare transactions; smart card accounts, primarily social welfare grant beneficiaries; and short-term loans and life insurance products to card holders through its smart card delivery channel, as well as processes third-party payroll payments for employees. In addition, it markets, sells, and implements the UEPS; and develops and provides Prism secure transaction technology, solutions, and services, as well as involves in hardware sales and license of the DUET system. Further, the company undertakes smart card system implementation projects; offers hardware, SIM cards, point of sale terminals, cryptography services, and SIM card and other software licenses; and rents hardware to merchants. Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Johannes burg, South Africa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big earnings movers: Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) is down 12.9% at $18.90 after a decent earnings reports was spoiled by a weak outlook<<LINK>>. Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: UEPS) is up 46.6% at $10.69 after beating estimates on EPS and revenues, raising its outlook for the third quarter, and posting a new 52-week high of $11.20. Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) is down 20.2% at $8.76, following a new 52-week low of $8.66, after a big earnings miss.

Best Casino Stocks To Watch For 2015: OraSure Technologies Inc.(OSUR)

OraSure Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and sells oral fluid diagnostic products and specimen collection devices in the United States and internationally. It also manufactures and sells medical devices used for the removal of benign skin lesions by cryosurgery or freezing. The company offers OraQuick ADVANCE HIV-1/2, a point-of-care qualitative test for antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and type 2; OraQuick HCV, a point-of-care qualitative test for antibodies to the hepatitis C virus; OraSure QuickFlu Rapid Flu A&B Test, a point-of-care qualitative test for antibodies to influenza Types A and B, including H1N1 infections; OraSure, an oral fluid collection device for the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 in an oral fluid sample in a laboratory setting; and Intercept, an oral fluid collection device for oral fluid drugs of abuse testing in a laboratory setting. In addition, it provides MICRO-PLATE DOA Assays that are used to detect the drugs in an oral fluid sample collected with intercept device; cryosurgical freezing systems for the removal of warts and other benign skin lesions; and cryosurgical systems for the removal of common and plantar warts. Further, OraSure Technologies sells immunoassay tests and reagents for insurance risk assessment, substance abuse testing, and forensic toxicology applications; an oral fluid Western blot HIV-1 confirmatory test for confirming positive HIV-1 test results obtained from the use of OraSure collection device; and Q.E.D., a point-of-care saliva alcohol test. The company sells its products through direct sales, strategic collaborations, and distributors to clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based and other public health organizations, distributors, government agencies, physicians? offices, and commercial and industrial entities. It has collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. OraSure Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is based in Beth lehem, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  Progress has also been made on the diagnostic front. The FDA approved OraSure Technologies' (NASDAQ: OSUR  ) OraQuick home HIV test in July 2012. OraQuick allows an individual to use a mouth swab and find out the results within 40 minutes. The test hasn't exactly leaped off store shelves as of yet, though. OraSure reported only $1.5 million in gross sales for the OraQuick home test during the most recent quarter.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  OraSure Technologies (Nasdaq: OSUR  ) reported earnings on May 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), OraSure Technologies beat slightly on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Sam Collins]

  OraSure Technologies (OSUR) — This small-cap company develops, manufactures and markets oral fluid diagnostic products and specimen collection devices using its proprietary oral fluid technologies.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: MicroStrategy Incorporated(MSTR)

MicroStrategy Incorporated provides enterprise software platforms for business intelligence (BI), and mobile and social intelligence applications worldwide. The company offers MicroStrategy 9, an integrated BI platform that enables businesses to make business decisions. The MicroStrategy 9 platform?s product components comprise Intelligence Server, a foundation for the BI platform; Report Services, a reporting engine delivering production and operational reports, managed metrics reports, and interactive dashboards; OLAP Services that allows Web and desktop users to manipulate Intelligent Cubes databases; Web, a Web interface providing query, reporting, and analysis; Distribution Services that offers automated report and dashboard distribution; Office, which enables Microsoft Office users to create, run, edit, and format MicroStrategy report; and Desktop that provide users access to data through analytical applications. The MicroStrategy 9 platform?s product components al so include Architect, whose data sources are modeled through an intuitive graphical user interface; SDK to integrate MicroStrategy 9 features and functionality into any application on multiple platforms; Integrity Manager to compare and verify reports? consistency; Command Manager that automates MicroStrategy administrative tasks; Enterprise Manager to provide prebuilt reports and dashboards; Object Manager that allows administrators to manage disparate and distributed environments; MultiSource Option allowing users to report, analyze, and monitor data; Transaction Services that provides write-back capabilities; and Clustering Option, a plug-and-play add-on to Intelligence Server. The company also offers technical support, consulting, education, and cloud-based solutions. It serves retail, communications, financial services, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, and public services industries. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers and Erin Miller]

  Importantly, the BI sector as a whole isn't seeing gains. MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR  ) fell as much as Qlik gained on a 6% decline in revenues in the most recent quarter. Qlik, by contrast, reported a 22% rise in revenue and told analysts to expect another 20% or better bump in the quarter.

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap business intelligence stock MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR) surged 18.44%�after reporting better-than-expected third quarter earnings ��meaning it might be a good idea to take a closer look at it�along with�small cap peers Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: BIRT) and Qlik Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: QLIK) to see what they might offer small cap investors. After all, everyone is being inundated with huge amounts of data from multiple sources, but its the following small cap stocks that provide software platforms to help customers try to make sense of it all:�

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: ViroPharma Incorporated(VPHM)

ViroPharma Incorporated, a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes therapeutic products that address serious diseases in the United States and internationally. It focuses on developing products used by physician specialists or in hospital settings. The company markets and sells Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor therapy for the routine prophylaxis against angioedema attacks in adolescent and adult patients with hereditary angioedema, a life-threatening genetic disorder; and Vancocin HCl capsule, an oral capsule formulation for the treatment of C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) and to treat enterocolitis caused by staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains. It also offers Plenadren, an orphan drug for treatment of adrenal insufficiency in adults; Buccolam, a oromucosal solution for treatment of prolonged, acute, and convulsive seizures in infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents; and maribavir, an antiviral compound for the treatment o f CMV disease through a license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline. The company?s primary development programs include Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor for management of hereditary angioedema; and VP 20621, a non-toxigenic strain of C. difficile. Its clinical stage drug candidate comprises VP-20629 for the treatment of Friedreich?s Ataxia. The company sells its products directly to wholesale drug distributors and specialty pharmacies/distributors. ViroPharma Incorporated was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sara Sjolin]

  Shares of Shire (UK:SHP) �climbed 0.9% after the drug maker said it is buying rare-disease company ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) �for $4.2 billion, or $50 a share. ViroPharma jumped 25% in the U.S.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap orphan drug stocks Zalicus Inc (NASDAQ: ZLCS), Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ: OMER) and Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ: VPHM) have been active lately thanks to good news about their orphan drug treatments. In case you aren�� familiar with the term, orphan drug designation by the FDA is granted for drugs targeting conditions affecting 200,000 or fewer US patients annually that are expected to provide significant therapeutic advantage over existing treatments. The designation will also qualify companies for benefits across all stages of drug development, such as�accelerated approval processes, seven years of market exclusivity�after marketing approval, tax credits on�any US�clinical trials, grants and waiver of certain administrative fees.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Ixia(XXIA)

Ixia supplies converged network and application performance testing solutions in the United States and internationally. It designs and validates a range of Internet protocol (IP) and third generation/long-term evolution networking equipment. The company?s solutions generate realistic traffic to stress routers, switches, and converged network appliances. It provides converged IP test systems and services for wireless and wired infrastructures and services. Ixia serves network equipment manufacturers, service providers, enterprises, and government agencies. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Calabasas, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA  ) got crushed today, down by 25% at the low, after the company announced preliminary results.

  So what: Revenue in the second quarter is expected in the range of $114 million to $116 million, shy of Ixia's previous guidance that was calling for $119 million to $122 million. The silver lining was that revenue from recent acquisitions is expected at the high end of guidance of $28 million to $32 million.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Rainmaker Mining Corp (RMG.V)

Rainmaker Mining Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration, development, and exploitation of mineral and energy related resource properties primarily in Canada. It holds interests in 7 uranium claims covering an area of 21,291 hectares located along the southern margin of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan; and 100% interest in the Pilot Harbour Property comprising 42 claims located in the Sault St. Marie Mining Division of Ontario. The company was formerly known as Thunder Sword Resources Inc. and changed its name to Rainmaker Mining Corp. on November 20, 2009. Rainmaker Mining Corp. was founded in 1979 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Grid Petroleum Corp (GRPR)

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Rollins Inc. (ROL)

Rollins, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides pest and termite control services to residential and commercial customers in North America. It offers pest control services, and protection against termite damage, rodents, and insects to homes and businesses, including hotels, food service establishments, food manufacturers, retailers, and transportation companies. The company also provides pest management and sanitation services and products to the food and commodity industries. It operates under the brand names of Orkin and PCO Services brand names, as well as under the Acurid service mark. The company also offers its services in Central America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe. As of December 31, 2010, it had 56 domestic franchises and 16 international franchises. The company, formerly known as Rollins Broadcasting, Inc., was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  A new kind of buyout
  The first leveraged buyout in American history �took place on June 19, 1964, when Rollins Broadcasting (NYSE: ROL  ) made a $62.4 million bid to acquire nationwide exterminator Orkin. The deal, later called "Jonah swallowing the whale" by BusinessWeek, saw a company with $7.9 million in annual revenue and $600,000 in annual net income put up virtually none of its own money to acquire a company with $37.3 million in annual revenue and $3 million in annual net income. Rollins/Orkin (the pairing has worked out for nearly five decades) quotes the particulars of the deal on its website:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Pest control service provider�Rollins (NYSE: ROL  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.09 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 12.5% from $0.08 per share.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Onstream Media Corporation(ONSM)

Onstream Media Corporation provides online services of live and on-demand corporate audio and Web communications, virtual event technology, and social media marketing primarily to corporate, education, and government customers in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Digital Media Services Group, and Audio and Web Conferencing Services Group. The Digital Media Services Group segment provides corporate-oriented and Web-based media services to the corporate market, including live audio and video Webcasting, and on-demand audio and video streaming for any business, government, and educational entities; and online subscription based service that comprises access to enabling technologies and features for clients to acquire, store, index, secure, manage, distribute, and transform digital assets into saleable commodities. This segment also offers a video ingestion and flash encoder that could be used by its clients on a stand-alone basis or in conjunction with the Digital Media Services Platform; and automated and manual encoding and editorial services for processing digital media, using technologies and processes that allow online search, retrieval, and streaming of media, including photos, videos, audio, engineering specs, architectural plans, and Web pages. The Audio and Web Conferencing Services Group segment provides reservationless and operator-assisted audio and Web conferencing services; and connectivity within the entertainment and advertising industries through its managed network, which encompasses production and post-production companies, advertisers, producers, directors, and talent. Onstream Media Corporation was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Buy For 2015: Homeloans Ltd (HOM.AX)

Homeloans Limited engages in the mortgage origination and management of home loans in Australia. The company originates residential mortgages through external mortgage brokers, satellite offices, and internal consultants. It is also involved in the securitization of mortgages through the residential mortgage trust, a special purpose vehicle used to issue residential mortgage backed securities. In addition, the company offers various types of home loans, including variable rate, fixed rate, split, lo doc, bridging, interest only, standard, and line of credit home loans. Further, it provides home loans for building and renovating, refinancing and debt consolidating, and investing activities, as well as for first home buyers and self employed borrowers. Additionally, the company offers various insurance policies comprising home and contents, motor vehicle, landlords, and life insurance policies. Homeloans Limited was founded in 1985 and is based in Sydney, Australia.