Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now

The Q1 2014 Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP) earnings report is due after the market closes on Tuesday, May 6th, with investors and traders alike who follow either the stock or large cap Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ: PCLN), mid cap Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) and small caps Travelzoo Inc (NASDAQ: TZOO) and Orbitz Worldwide, Inc (NYSE: OWW) should be paying attention to it. Aside from the Tripadvisor Inc earnings report, it should be said that Travelzoo Inc released 1Q 2014 earnings on April 17th and Expedia Inc released earnings last Thursday while the Q1 2014 Orbitz Worldwide earnings report is due today before the market opens and the Priceline Group Inc earnings report is due out on Thursday, May 8, at 9:30AM EDT. However, Tripadvisor Inc is a little different from these other travel booking companies as its main focus is to provide travel advice or reviews written by real travelers (which obviously leads to travel bookings that they make money on).

Top Machinery Stocks To Own For 2015: Lowe's Companies Inc.(LOW)

Lowe's Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company offers a range of products for maintenance, repair, remodeling, home decorating, and property maintenance. It provides home improvement products in the categories of appliances, lumber, paint, millwork, building materials, lawn and landscape products, flooring, rough plumbing, seasonal living, tools, hardware, fashion plumbing, lighting, nursery, outdoor power equipment, cabinets and countertops, home organization, rough electrical, and home fashion, as well as boards, panel products, irrigation pipes, vinyl sidings, and ladders. The company also offers installation services through independent contractors in various product categories. Lowe's Companies serves homeowners and renters primarily consisting of do-it-yourself customers and do-it-for-me customers; and commercial business customers, who work in the construction, rep air/remodel, commercial and residential property management, or business maintenance professions. As of August 15, 2011, it operated approximately 1,725 home improvement stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company also offers its products through electronic product catalogs and Lowes.com. Lowe's Companies, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Signs of strength from consumers
  Housing, and rising consumer sentiment, have dominated talk around the economic recovery this year, and the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer confidence�report for May showed a better-than-expected reading of 84.1 for the month, down only slightly from April's score. That combination of economic strength has done wonders for Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) , today's Dow leader with shares up 1.8%. Home Depot's pulled ahead�of rival Lowe's (NYSE: LOW  ) , particularly after last quarter's earnings report, where the former�raised its guidance, but the latter missed projections. That separation for leadership in the industry has Home Depot poised to continue soaring as the economy's rebound picks up.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Lumber Liquidators (LL) found it a lot harder to liquidate its lumber during the second quarter–and its weakness is hitting shares of Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) today as well.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Shares of Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) also declined by 1.89% today. Since the home-improvement store no longer has locations in China, we can't blame that country's poor GDP growth on the stock's decline. But what we can blame is the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index, which fell to 42, while analysts expected a reading of 45 after March's 44. Anything over 50 indicates positive sentiment from homebuilders. Home Depot's largest competitor Lowe's (NYSE: LOW  ) saw its shares fall 2.6% on the news, while shares of the publicly traded homesbuilders fell even further than that. �

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  Home-improvement retailer Lowe's (NYSE: LOW  ) wasn't as lucky as its shares fell 6.2% on a weaker-than-expected outlook. Overall, it was a strong report for the Home Depot rival as same-store sales grew 6.2%, and earnings per share jumped 34.3% to $0.47, but that missed the Street's expectations of $0.48. Lowe's also raised its full-year EPS guidance to $2.15 from $2.10, but that was below the analyst mark at $2.19. The housing sector has boomed this year, lifting retailers and homebuilders alike, and Lowe's shares are still up 30% year to date. Today's drop seems to be more of a valuation-based correction rather than a long-term sign.

Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (BCEI)

Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc., incorporated in December 2010, is an oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of onshore oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas in the United States. The Company�� assets and operations were focused primarily in southern Arkansas (Mid-Continent region) and the Denver Julesburg (DJ) and North Park Basins in Colorado (Rocky Mountain region) during the year ended December 31, 2010. In addition, it owns and operates oil producing assets in the San Joaquin Basin (California region). It operated approximately 99.4% and held an average working interest of approximately 85.8% of its proved reserves as of December 31, 2010. As of December 31, 2010, its net proved reserves was 32,860 million barrels of oil equivalent (MBoe).

The Company�� proved reserves and its drilling locations in its Mid-Continent acreage are located in the Dorcheat Macedonia field and the McKamie Patton field. In the Dorcheat Macedonia field the Company averages a 83.3% working interest and 68.5% net revenue interest, and all of the Company�� acreage is held by production. It had approximately 78 gross (65.0 net) producing wells and its average net daily production during April 2011, was approximately 1,249 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d) from a proved reserves base of 15,247 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which about 64.5% was oil and natural gas liquids. As of April 30, 2011, the Company had drilled 13 gross (10.2 net) wells. Immediately northwest of the Dorcheat Macedonia field, it owns and operates the McKamie gas processing facility, which processes all of the gas from the field. It owns additional interests in the Mid-Continent region near the Dorcheat Macedonia field. These include interests in the McKamie-Patton, Atlanta and Beach Creek fields. Its estimated proved reserves in these fields as of December 31, 2010, were approximately 1,947.8 million barrels of oil equivalent, and average net daily production du! ring April 2011, was approximately 239 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The McKamie processing facility is located in Lafayette County, Arkansas and is located to serve its production in the region. The Company�� facility has a processing capacity of 15 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas and 30,000 gallons per day of natural gas liquids. The facility processes natural gas and natural gas liquids, fractionates liquids into three components for sale, and sells four products at the facility's tailgate: propane, butane, natural gasolines and natural gas. It also owns approximately 150 miles of natural gas gathering pipeline that serves the facility and surrounding field areas and 32 miles of right-of-way crossing Lafayette County that can be utilized to connect the facility to other gas fields or future sales outlets. Natural gas is sold at the tailgate of the facility into a CenterPoint pipeline connection. Fractionated natural gas liquids are held on site and trucked out by the buyer, Dufour Petroleum. The McKamie processing facility had an average net output of 749 barrels of oil equivalent per day based on the facility contracts in April, 2011.

The two main areas in which the Company operates in the Rocky Mountain region include the DJ Basin in Weld County, Colorado and the North Park Basin in Jackson County, Colorado. The DJ Basin is a structural basin centered in eastern Colorado that extends into southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and western Kansas. Its operations in the DJ Basin are in the oil window of the Niobrara and as of December 31, 2010, consisted of approximately 42,698 gross (29,742 net) total acres. The Company�� estimated proved reserves in the DJ Basin were 8,402 million barrels of oil equivalent at December 31, 2010. As of April 30, 2011, it had a total of 141 gross (133.6 net) producing wells and its net average daily production during April 2011, was approximately 1,124 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Company�� working inter! est for a! ll producing wells averages is 94.8% and its net revenue interest was approximately 76.5% in 2010. The Codell sandstone and Niobrara oil shale are blanket deposits in the DJ Basin.

The Company controls 47,003 gross (39,030 net) acres in the North Park Basin in northern Jackson County, Colorado. The Basin is divided into three principal opportunities: the North and South McCallum units and the non-unit acreage. The Company operates the North and South McCallum fields. The McCallum field covers 10,277 gross (8,606 net) acres of federal land with the majority of the oil production coming from a waterflood in the Pierre B formation and the carbon dioxide production coming from naturally flowing Dakota wells. Oil production is trucked to the market while carbon dioxide production is sent to a Praxair plant for processing and delivery to the market. In the North Park Basin, its estimated proved reserves as of December 31, 2010, were approximately 696.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 100% were oil. Its average net production during April 2011, was approximately 140 barrels of oil equivalent per day. All of the Company�� 47,003 gross (39,030 net) acres in the North Park Basin are prospective for the Niobrara oil shale.

In California the Company owns acreage in four fields: Kern River, Midway Sunset and Greeley, which the Company operates, and Sargent, which it does not. Its estimated proved reserves in California were 886 million barrels of oil equivalent at December 31, 2010. As of April 30, 2011, we had a total of 57 gross (48.7 net) producing wells and its average net daily production was approximately 218 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Its working interest for all producing wells averages 85.4% and its net revenue interest is approximately 71.9%. As of December 31, 2010, it had identified approximately 18 gross (13.6 net) PUD locations in California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Not all stocks are created equal, however, and the analysts expect some stocks to handily outperform others, and their top picks “are poised to deliver long-term, capital-efficient growth…while trading at attractive valuations that currently provide 20%+ upside to our price targets.” Their winners?�Oasis Petroleum (OAS),�Approach Resources (AREX),�Bonanza Creek Energy�(BCEI) and Gulfport Energy�(GPOR), all of which are rated Buy with Oasis also added to Goldman’s conviction list. Investors, however, should avoid �WPX Energy�(WPX), which the analysts rate a Sell. They explain why:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (BCEI) is an independent exploration and production company that is most active in the Niobrara Shale play in Northeast Colorado. The stock has performed well this quarter following improving drilling results from projects designed to fully understand the potential prospectivity of its acreage position in the Niobrara play. The stock also has benefited from management's decision to increase capital spending and accelerate the net present value of its resource base.

• [By Robert Rapier] For those who are unaware, each month there is a joint web chat for subscribers of The Energy Strategist (TES) and MLP Profits. The chat is conducted by Igor Greenwald, managing editor for TES and chief investment strategist for MLP Profits, and myself. This month’s chat took place on Sept. 10.
  
  We place a priority on answering questions about portfolio holdings and recommendations during the chat, but often we get questions about companies we don’t currently recommend. Or, we sometimes get questions or comments about a company that require an extended answer. In these cases we push those questions to the end, and attempt to answer them if time allows. For this past chat there were several questions remaining at the end, which I will address here today. For each company, a brief background is presented for readers who may not be familiar with the company.
  
  Q: What is your view of BCEI at the present price?
  
  Bonanza Creek Energy (NYSE: BCEI) is a Denver-based oil and gas company with operations in Colorado and southern Arkansas. While the Bakken Formation in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas get more press, oil and gas plays in the Denver-Julesburg Basin have helped turn Colorado into one of the fastest growing energy producing states in the country and the fastest growing oil producer in the Rocky Mountains. Since 2008 oil production in Colorado has risen by an impressive 63 percent to a 50-year high.
  
  BCEI is well-positioned with acreage in the Wattenberg Gas Field north of Denver. The field is one of the largest natural gas plays in the US. Wattenberg represents 60 percent of BCEI’s proved reserves, with 59 percent of those reserves classified as liquid. Of the company’s remaining reserves, 39 percent are located in the oil-bearing Cotton Valley Sands in Southern Arkansas (68 percent liquids) and 1 percent in Colorado’s North Park Basin (100 percent liquids).
  
  BCEI has grown reserves at a 45
• [By Holly LaFon]

  Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive developments are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rural areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee

Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: (ARM)

ARM Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design of microprocessors, physical IP, and related technology and software; and sale of development tools to enhance the performance of high-volume embedded applications. Its products include microprocessors cores, such as specific functions comprising video and graphics IP, fabric IP, embedded software, and configurable digital signal processing IP; physical IP components for the design and manufacture of integrated circuits, which comprise embedded memory, standard cell, and input/output components; software development tools that help software design engineers in the design and deployment of code, from applications running on open operating systems to low-level firmware. The company also offers support, maintenance, and training services, as well as design consulting services. ARM Holdings plc licenses and sells its technology and products to electronics companies, which in turn manufacture, market, and s ell microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, and application-specific standard processors to systems companies for incorporation into various end products, as well as licenses and sells development tools directly to systems companies and provides support services to licensees, systems companies, and other systems designers. It operates in Europe, the United States, and the Asia Pacific. The company was formerly known as Advanced RISC Machines Holdings Limited and changed its name to ARM Holdings plc in March 1998. ARM Holdings plc was founded in 1990 and is based in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  ARM Holdings Plc (ARM), whose chip designs power Apple Inc.�� iPhone and iPad, plunged 5.2 percent to 995 pence. Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the shares to neutral from outperform, saying that Intel Corp.�� new platform may enable it to outperform ARM�� designs.

Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Johnson Controls Inc.(JCI)

Johnson Controls, Inc. engages in building efficiency, automotive experience, and power solutions businesses worldwide. Its building efficiency business designs, produces, markets, and installs integrated heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems, as well as building management systems, controls, and security and mechanical equipment. This business also provides technical services, energy management consulting, and operations of real estate portfolios for the non-residential buildings market. In addition, this business offers residential air conditioning and heating systems, and industrial refrigeration products. The company?s automotive experience business designs and manufactures interior products and systems for passenger cars and light trucks, including vans, pick-up trucks, and sport/crossover utility vehicles. It offers seating systems and components; cockpit systems comprising instrument panels and clusters, information displays, and body controllers; overh ead systems, such as headliners and electronic convenience features; floor consoles; and door systems. This business also produces automotive interior systems for original equipment manufacturers. Its power solutions business produces lead-acid automotive batteries serving automotive original equipment manufacturers and the general vehicle battery aftermarket. This business produces lead-acid batteries, as well as offers absorbent glass mat and lithium-ion battery technologies to power hybrid vehicles. The company was formerly known as Johnson Electric Service Company and changed its name to Johnson Controls, Inc. in 1974. Johnson Controls, Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Gentex (NASDAQ: GNTX  ) is accelerating its efforts in the vehicle-based remote control segment. The company announced it has signed a definitive agreement with car-parts supplier Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI  ) to acquire the latter's HomeLink unit. This is described by Gentex as "a vehicle-based control system that enables drivers to remotely activate garage door openers, entry door locks, home lighting, security systems, entry gates, and other radio frequency convenience products." According to Gentex, it can function with nearly all automatic garage door openers.

Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3)

Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA, formerly Mehir Holdings SA, is a Brazil-based holding company engaged in the education sector. The Company provides higher graduate and postgraduate education through full time and distance learning programs. It is also engaged in the provision of preparatory courses for public competition and other specialization courses. The Company offers the academic programs, such as full time graduate, distance graduate and post-graduate courses. Additionally, the Company provides selected courses through the methodology of distance learning, including graduate, post-graduate and continuous education courses. Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA offers its services for working adults and operates in approximately 71 campuses and around 500 learning centers located throughout each of around the 26 Brazilian states. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ney Hayashi]

  Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3) tumbled after Brazil�� antitrust regulator signaled it may limit the education company�� merger with competitor Kroton Educacional SA. (KROT3) Lojas Renner SA (LREN3) led retailers higher after a report showed Brazil�� industrial production expanded faster than expected in October, easing concern that growth is faltering.

Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: RealPage Inc.(RP)

RealPage, Inc. provides on demand software solutions for the rental housing industry in North America. It offers property management systems, including OneSite to manage leasing and rents, facilities, purchasing, accounting, budgeting, and living of multi-family, housing and urban development (HUD), tax credit, privatized military housing, and student housing; and Propertyware for accounting, maintenance and work order management, marketing spend management, and portal services, as well as screening, renter?s insurance, and payment solutions. The company also provides on premise property management systems that include RentRoll for small conventional apartment communities; HUD Manager for small HUD, rural housing services, and tax credit subsidized apartment communities; Tenant Pro for small conventional properties; Spectra, an apartment and commercial modular property management system; and i-CAM and Management Plus property management software that automates and streaml ines rental activities. In addition, it offers software-enabled value-added services, such as LeaseStar, a system that manage marketing and leasing operations and enable owners and managers to originate, capture, track, manage, and close leads; YieldStar, a scientific yield management system, which enables owners and managers to optimize rents; LeasingDesk, a risk mitigation system to reduce delinquency, liability, and property damage risk; and Velocity that offers billing and utility management services; OpsTechnology that offers spend management systems that enable owners and managers to control costs; shared cloud services, which are integrated with property management systems and software-enabled valued added services; and RealPage Senior Living, an integrated care management, community management, and marketing management platform. The company sells its software and services directly through its sales force. RealPage, Inc. is headquartered in Carrollton, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  RealPage Inc. (NYSE: RP) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $23.40 close) at Credit Suisse.

  Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) was raised to Buy from Sell with a $71 price target (versus a $65.88 close) at Goldman Sachs.

• [By Sean Williams]

  For this week's round of "Better Know a Stock," I'm going to take a closer look at RealPage (NASDAQ: RP  ) .

  What RealPage does
  RealPage is a software-as-a-service applications provider to apartment communities and single-family housing developments. The company has a portfolio of cloud-based software products that allow apartment communities to automate leasing, renting, management, and accounting activities. It also provides software capable of helping apartments originate and find new leads, as well as optimize rent yields.

• [By Alex Planes]

  What: Shares of RealPage (NASDAQ: RP  ) have been rising since an early morning plunge that shaved more than 11% off their value, and now seem to have stabilized at a loss of about 4% from the previous trading day. Investors seem somewhat displeased that the company's financial results and forward guidance were all so average.

• [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 RealPage (Nasdaq: RP  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO)

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. operates as an offshore oil and gas drilling contractor worldwide. It provides offshore drilling services in both the floater market, such as ultra-deepwater, deepwater, and mid-water; and in the non-floater and jack-up markets. The company operates a fleet of 44 offshore drilling rigs, consisting of 32 semisubmersibles, 7 jack-ups, and 5 dynamically positioned drillships, of which 4 are under construction. It serves independent oil and gas companies, and government-owned oil companies. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. is a subsidiary of Loews Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Brugger]

  In addition to a regular $0.125-per-share quarterly dividend,�Diamond Offshore Drilling� (NYSE: DO  ) �has once again declared a special cash dividend of $0.75 a share, the company�announced�today.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The beatings that Seadrill (SDRL),�Transocean�(RIG),�Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO),�Atwood Oceanics (ATW) and Rowan (RDC) have taken this year has left them looking attractive to some value investors. Barclays, however, doesn’t think the stocks are as cheap as they look.

• [By GuruFocus]

  Arnold van den Berg did bought heavily into good miners and oil producers heavily during the first quarter. These companies include Apache (APA), Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO), Randgold (GOLD), Yamada gold (AUY), Hecla Mining (HL) etc. You can see the complete list of his new buys here.