Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of the Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI  ) were looking under the weather today, falling as much as 10% after a disappointing earnings report.

So what: The health-supplement chain actually beat earnings estimates by $0.03 with a per-share profit of $0.72 as revenue grew 12.5% to $279.1 million, slightly below expectations. Comparable sales were up 4.5% in the quarter. The retail chain also added 44 stores in the period, 31 via acquisition, bringing the total count to 621. Investors, however, seemed to be disappointed with the revenue miss and same-store sales expectations of low-to-mid-single digits for the year.

Now what: This was the second quarter in a row in which Vitamin Shoppe shares tumbled on its earnings report as the market seems to be saying that the stock is overvalued. Shares had climbed as high as $65 earlier in the year, but now they seem to be fairly valued at a price almost a third down from its peak. I would have avoided Vitamin Shoppe before but with an aggressive store expansion plan, and a modest same-store sales increase expected, shares look reasonably priced today.

Top Specialty Retail Companies To Watch In Right Now: Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD)

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. owns and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in six segments: Retirement Centers, Assisted Living, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs)�Rental, CCRCs-Entry Fee, Innovative Senior Care, and Management Services. The Retirement Centers segment owns or leases communities comprising independent living and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income senior citizens. The Assisted Living segment owns or leases communities consisting of freestanding, multi-story communities, and freestanding single story communities, which offer housing and 24-hour assistance to mid-acuity frail and elderly residents. This segment also operates memory care communities for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. The CCRCs-Rental segment owns or leases communities that offer various living arrangements and services to accommodate physical ability and health. The CCRCs-Entry Fee segment allows residents in the independent living apartment units to pay a one-time upfront entrance fee to use certain amenities and services. The Innovative Senior Care segment provides outpatient therapy, home health, and hospice services to residents of its communities and other senior living communities. The Management Services segment operates third party communities under the management agreements. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 76 retirement center communities with 14,528 units; 433 assisted living communities with 21,594 units; 27 rental CCRC communities with 6,748 units; 14 entry fee CCRC communities with 5,866 units; and 97 communities with 17,998 units for third parties. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Kell]

  Brookdale Senior Living Inc.(BKD) has agreed to merge with Emeritus Corp.(ESC) in a deal that values the operator of long-term, assisted-living facilities at about $1.4 billion, as the companies look to form a national senior-living-solutions company. Emeritus surged 34% to $28.75 premarket.

• [By Sean Williams]

  One company with seemingly limitless upside potential today was senior housing operator Emeritus (NYSE: ESC  ) , which gained 35.2% after agreeing to be purchased by Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD  ) for $1.4 billion, excluding debt. Under the terms of the deal, Emeritus shareholders will receive 0.95 shares of Brookdale, and would effectively own 23% of the outstanding shares of the company once the merger is complete. Brookdale anticipates the deal being EPS neutral in 2014, and forecasts it adding $0.40 in EPS by the third year. The move certainly makes sense on paper, as cost synergies will help these two senior housing companies fight back against the expectation of declining Medicare reimbursement rates. However, over the long run, the Medicare reimbursement picture is still very cloudy, making Brookdale a riskier buy at the moment following today's announcement.

• [By Tom Lydon]

  Top holdings based on the index include Acadia Healthcare Companies (ACHC), Amsurg Corporation (AMSG), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD), Clarcor (CLC) and Community Health Systems (CYH).

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now: NVR Inc.(NVR)

NVR, Inc. operates as a homebuilder in the United States. It engages in the construction and sale of single-family detached homes, townhomes, and condominium buildings under the trade names of Ryan Homes, NVHomes, Fox Ridge Homes, and Rymarc Homes primarily to first-time homeowners and first-time move-up buyers. The company markets its products in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, western and eastern Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, and Columbia. It also offers mortgage banking services to its homebuilding customers, including mortgage financing and brokerage of title insurance, as well as performs title searches in connection with mortgage loan closings. NVR, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  NVR (NYSE: NVR  ) reported earnings on July 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), NVR met expectations on revenues and whiffed on earnings per share.

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  NVR Inc. (NVR)

  Alan Fournier�� fourth largest holding is in NVR Inc where he maintains 259,302 shares. His position makes up 5.19% of the company�� shares outstanding and 4.4% of his total portfolio.

• [By Morgan Housel]

  This isn't surprising. The supply of existing homes for sale is at a seven-year low. Construction of new homes is still well below the rate of household formation. Prices will almost always rise in that situation. It's simple supply and demand. And it's pulled millions of homeowners out from being underwater on their mortgage and brought new hope to the housing industry, boosting shares of D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI  ) and NVR (NYSE: NVR  ) as the outlook for construction rises.�

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Toll Brothers' quarterly profit more than doubled as a recovering housing market allowed the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder to sell more homes at higher prices, sending its shares up 4 percent. The company, which sells homes that can cost more than $2 million, has been able to perform better during the past few quarters than most large U.S. homebuilders as its buyers were less affected by a recent rise in mortgage rates. Toll's average selling price rose about 22 percent to $706,000 in the second quarter ended April 30 -- a period well into the spring selling season, which is to homebuilders what the holiday shopping season is to retailers. Toll (TOL), which mainly builds single-family houses, handed over 1,218 homes in the quarter, up 36 percent from a year earlier. While the company's sales remain strong, it decided last year to build and rent apartments to cater to the demand for rentals as higher interest rates and slow income growth pushes home ownership out of reach for many Americans. Permits to build multifamily housing such as apartment blocks rose 19.5 percent in the United States last month, compared with a 0.3 percent rise in permits for single-family homes. Toll Brothers said Wednesday it had about 1,500 rental units under construction and that it controlled sites for another 3,800. Lennar (LEN), the second-largest U.S. homebuilder, is the only other builder that is offering apartment rental units. 'Impressive Results' Toll's net income soared to $65.2 million, or 35 cents a share, in the second quarter from $24.7 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 67 percent to $860.4 million. Orders stayed almost flat at 1,749 homes, compared with a 6 percent fall in the first quarter. "We are in a leveling period in the early stages of the housing recovery with significant pent-up demand building," Chief Executive Officer Douglas Yearley said in a statement. UBS analyst Davi

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now: Contango Oil & Gas Co (MCF)

Contango Oil & Gas Company (Contango) is an independent natural gas and oil company. The Company�� core business is to explore, develop, produce and acquire natural gas and oil properties onshore and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in water-depths of less than 300 feet. Contango Operators, Inc. (COI), its wholly owned subsidiary, acts as operator on its properties.

Offshore Gulf of Mexico Activities

Contango, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, COI and its partially owned affiliate, Republic Exploration LLC (REX), conducts exploration activities in the Gulf of Mexico. COI drills, and operates its wells in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as attends lease sales and acquires leasehold acreage. As of August 24, 2012, the Company's offshore production was approximately 83.5 million cubic feet equivalent per day, net to Contango, which consists of seven federal and five state of Louisiana wells in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. These 12 operated wells produce through the four platforms: Eugene Island 24 Platform, Eugene Island 11 Platform, Ship Shoal 263 Platform, Vermilion 170 Platform and Other Activities.

This third-party owned and operated production platform at Eugene Island 24 was designed with a capacity of 100 million cubic feet per day and 3,000 barrels of oil per day. This platform services production from the Company�� Dutch #1, #2 and #3 federal wells. From this platform, the gas flows through an American Midstream pipeline into a third-party owned and operated on-shore processing facility at Burns Point, Louisiana, and the condensate flows through an ExxonMobil pipeline to on-shore markets and multiple refineries. As of August 24, 2012, it was producing approximately 22.5 million cubic feet equivalent per day, net to Contango, from this platform. The Company finished laying six inches auxiliary flowlines from the Dutch #1, #2, and #3 wells to its Eugene Island 11 Platform and is in the process of redirecting production from the Eugene Island 24! Platform to the Eugene Island 11 Platform.

The Company�� Company-owned and operated platform at Eugene Island 11 was designed with a capacity of 500 million cubic feet equivalent per day and 6,000 barrels of oil per day. These platforms service production from the Company�� five Mary Rose wells, which are all located in state of Louisiana waters, as well as its Dutch #4 and Dutch #5 wells, which are both located in federal waters. From these platforms, it can flow its gas to an American Midstream pipeline through its eight inches pipeline and from there to a third-party owned and operated on-shore processing facility at Burns Point, Louisiana. It can flow its condensate through an ExxonMobil pipeline to on-shore markets and multiple refineries.

The Company�� gas and condensate can flow to its Eugene Island 63 auxiliary platform through its 20 inches pipeline, which has been designed with a capacity of 330 million cubic feet equivalent per day and 6,000 barrels of oil per day, and from there to third-party owned and operated on-shore processing facilities near Patterson, Louisiana, through an ANR pipeline. As of August 24, 2012, it was producing approximately 44.6 million cubic feet equivalent per day, net to Contango, from this platform.

The Company�� owned and operated platform at Ship Shoal 263 was designed with a capacity of 40 million cubic feet equivalent per day and 5,000 barrels of oil per day. This platform services natural gas and condensate production from our Nautilus well, which flows through the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline to onshore processing plants. As of August 24, 2012, it was producing approximately 3.0 million cubic feet equivalent per day, net to Contango, from this platform. As of June 30, 2012, the Company owed a 100% working interest and 80% net revenue interest in this well and platform.

The Company�� owned and operated platform at Vermilion 170 was designed with a capacity of 60 million cubic feet equivalent per ! day and 2! ,000 barrels of oil per day. This platform services natural gas and condensate production from its Swimmy well, which flows through the Sea Robin Pipeline to onshore processing plants. As of August 24, 2012, it was producing approximately 13.4 million cubic feet equivalent per day, net to Contango, from this platform.

On July 10, 2012, the Company spud its South Timbalier 75 prospect (Fang) with the Spartan 303 rig. It has a 100% working interest in this wildcat exploration prospect. On July 3, 2012, the Company spud its Ship Shoal 134 prospect (Eagle) with the Hercules 205 rig. The Company purchased the deep mineral rights on Ship Shoal 134 from an independent third-party. It has a 100% working interest in this wildcat exploration prospect. On December 21, 2011, the Company purchased an additional 3.66% working interest (2.67% net revenue interest) in Mary Rose #5 (previously Eloise North). The Company has a 47.05% working interest (38.1% net revenue interest) in Dutch #5.

Offshore Properties

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), State Lease 19396 expired and was returned to the state of Louisiana. As of August 24, 2012, the interests owned by Contango through its affiliated entities in the Gulf of Mexico, which were capable of producing natural gas or oil included Eugene Island 10 #D-1, Eugene Island 10 #E-1, Eugene Island 10 #F-1, Eugene Island 10 #G-1, Eugene Island 10 #I-1, S-L 18640 #1, S-L 19266 #1, S-L 19266 #2, S-L 18860 #1, S-L 19266 #3 and S-L 19261, Ship Shoal 263, Vermilion 170 and West Delta 36. As of August 24, 2012, interests owned by Contango through its related entities in leases in the Gulf of Mexico included Eugene Island 11, East Breaks 369, South Timbalier 97, Ship Shoal 121, Ship Shoal 122, Brazos Area 543, Ship Shoal 134 and South Timbalier 75.

Onshore Exploration and Properties

As of August 24, 2012, the Company had invested in Alta Energy Canada Partnership (Alta Energy) to purchase over! 60,000 a! cres in the Kaybob Duvernay. Contango has a 2% interest in Alta Energy and a 5% interest in the Kaybob Duvernay project. On April 9, 2012, the Company announced that through its wholly owned subsidiary, Contaro Company, it had entered into a Limited Liability Company Agreement (the LLC Agreement) to form Exaro Energy III LLC (Exaro). The Company owns approximately a 45% interest in Exaro. Exaro has entered into an Earning and Development Agreement (the EDA Agreement) with Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. (Encana) to provide funding to continue the development drilling program in a defined area of Encana�� Jonah field asset located in Sublette County, Wyoming.

As of June 30, 2012, the Exaro-Encana venture had three rigs drilling, has completed five wells and achieved first production. As of August 24, 2012, the Company had invested to lease approximately 25,000 acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), a shale play in central Louisiana and Mississippi.

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 Peter Krauth]

  But the dynamic is suddenly changing. This is a pricing game—a global one. You see, while North Americans currently enjoy natural gas at close to $3.40 per million cubic feet (Mcf), Europeans are paying three times as much, between $10 and $11 per Mcf.

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now: America's Car-Mart Inc.(CRMT)

America?s Car-Mart, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It primarily sells older model used vehicles and provides financing for its customers. As of February 3, 2012, the company operated 112 automotive dealerships in 9 states. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By tonyg34]

  In a recent interview right here on GuruFocus, Tom Gayner of Markel (MKL) had a few things to say about CarMax (KMX). This prompted me to give the company a closer look. What follows is a business analysis. We will save considerations of stock analysis, such as price, for a later discussion.
  
  I think that is a business that will continue to grow. I don't see any reason why you can't have a Carmax in a lot of towns way beyond what they're talking about right now. I think being the number one dealer, and having the number one market share in used car arena gives you great information on what transaction prices are. Then you work on the process to be as quick and as cost efficient in fixing the car and getting it sold, and have the confidence from customers when you offer warranties on the products. Those factors create a virtuous cycle. The more you do, the more you can do, the better the pricing is, the more the customers like you, the more your brand matters. The company will be around for a good long time. The management has done a very good job of creating the system and executing it.
  CarMax was formed as a unit of Circuit City in 1993 and was spun off in 2002. Used-car sales account for about 80% of revenue. Competitors include, but certainly are not limited to, AutoNation (AN) and America's Car-Mart (CRMT) as well as private party sellers.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  However, that growth is 20% in FY13, 15% in FY14 and 9% in the long term. PAG stock trades at $41, or about 13x FY14 estimates. It has the least leverage of all, at about $1 billion, and while it has positive FCF, that figure is weaker than our other options. PAG isn’t the worst of the car stocks, but AN stock is in better condition. I��l pass on PAG.

  America�� Car-Mart (CRMT)

  America�� Car-Mart (CRMT) is the last of our used car stocks.

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now: OncoSec Medical Inc (ONCS)

OncoSec Medical Incorporated, incorporated on February 8, 2008, is an emerging drug-medical device company. The Company focused on designing, developing and commercializing medical approaches for the treatment of solid cancers. In March 2011, the Company acquired from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Inovio) certain assets related to the use of drug-medical device combination products for the treatment of different cancers.

The Company�� acquired assets relate to certain non-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) vaccine technology and property relating to selective tumor ablation technologies, which it refers to as the OncoSec Medical System (OMS), a therapy which uses an electroporation device to facilitate delivery of chemotherapy agents, or nucleic acids encoding cytokines, into tumors and/or surrounding tissue for the treatment and diagnosis of various cancers. As of January 24, 2012, the Company had not generated any revenue from operations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap biotech stocks AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: AVEO), OncoSec Medical Inc (OTCMKTS: ONCS) and MetaStat Inc (OTCBB: MTST) are focused on or are developing treatments or diagnostic technologies for metastatic cancers. In case you aren�� familiar with the term metastasis or metastatic, it�� the�spread of cancer from its primary site to other places in the body as cancer cells break away from a primary tumor, penetrate into lymphatic and blood vessels, circulate through the bloodstream and then grow in a new focus (metastasize) in normal tissues elsewhere in the body. In other words, it�� a dangerous form of cancer, but there are some small cap biotech stocks targeting it for diagnostics or treatment:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  How does the old saying go? Beggars can't be choosers? Two weeks ago, yours truly penned some bullish comments regarding OncoSec Medical Inc. (OTCMKTS:ONCS). The long and short of it was, if ONCS could clear a technical ceiling around $0.36, then life would get much easier for the bulls.

• [By Bio-Wire]

  Another company that has benefitted from Inovio�� newfound attention is OncoSec Medical (OTC: ONCS) ��a newer ��ffshoot�� company that uses a similar but distinctly different electroporation device known as the OncoSec Medical System (OMS) that is based on Inovio�� technology. The specific amplitude and frequency of the OMS electroporation is calibrated such that plasmid delivery into solid tumor masses is fully optimized, while CELLECTRA electroporation is less specialized and focus more on the vaccination of skin cells. The cross-license agreement made between Inovio and Oncosec also covers the two devices for their distinctly different applications.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  If you're looking for the next big biotech breakout stock, then OncoSec Medical Inc. (OTCMKTS:ONCS) deserves a place on your watchlist. This volatile cancer play has been down more than up 2011, but if you look closely at a long-term chart of ONCS, you may find it's already wiggled its way into a new uptrend. And, it may be only a matter of time before the bullish fireworks start to go off.

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now: Artesian Resources Corporation(ARTNA)

Artesian Resources Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides water, wastewater, and engineering services on the Delmarva Peninsula. It distributes and sells water to residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, and utility customers in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The company also offers water for public and private fire protection to customers in its service territories. In addition, it provides contract water and wastewater services, water and sewer service line protection plans, and wastewater management services, as well as design, construction, and engineering services. As of December 31, 2011, the company served approximately 78,600 metered water customers through 1,148 miles of transmission and distribution mains. Artesian Resources Corporation was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Artesian Resources Corporation (ARTNA) provides water, wastewater, and other services on the Delmarva Peninsula. Sept. 17, the company increased its quarterly dividend 1.5% to $0.2088. The dividend is payable Nov. 22, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 8, 2013. The yield based on the new payout is 3.8%.

• [By Mike Deane]

  On Tuesday, Artesian Resources (ARTNA) declared a quarterly dividend of 20.88 cents per share, a 1.5% increase from the company’s previous quarterly payout.

  The Newark, Delaware-based water distribution company previously had a yearly payout of 82.28 cents, and will now pay 83.52 cents per year.

  The dividend will be payable on November 22nd, 2013 to all shareholders of record on November 8th, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 6th, 2013.

  ARTNA shares were up 6 cents, or .27%, at Tuesday’s market close. The company’s stock is down just over 3% YTD.

Hot Industrial Disributor Companies To Buy Right Now: EarthLink Inc.(ELNK)

EarthLink, Inc. provides communications services to individual and business customers in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Services and Business Services. The Consumer Services segment offers Internet access and related value-added services. It provides dial-up Internet and narrowband access, broadband access, and voice-over-Internet-protocol services, as well as value-added services that include products for protection, communication, and performance, such as security products, premium email only, home networking, email storage, and Internet call waiting. This segment offer its products and services primarily through its call centers, search engine marketing, affinity marketing partners, resellers, and marketing alliances. The Business Services segment offers integrated communications services, such as secure IP-based networks, virtual private networks, Internet access, local telephone and long distance services, enhanced services, access trunks, pr ivate line services, asynchronous transfer mode/frame relay services, and mobile data and voice services, as well as installation, managed network, remote access, and disaster recovery services. It also provides wholesale services comprising broadband transport services, including private line, Ethernet private line, and wavelength services; local communications and local dial tone communications services; live and automated operator, and directory assistance services; and dedicated Internet access services and direct connectivity. In addition, this segment leases server space and provides Web hosting services that enable customers to build and maintain an online presence, including domain names, storage, mailboxes, software tools to build Web sites, e-commerce applications, and 24/7 customer support. This segment offers its services through direct sales, and independent dealers and sales agents. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon] nflation growth: Dun & Bradstreet (DNB)

  路 Inflation plus population growth: CEC Entertainment (CEC)

  路 Nominal 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 t