Global investment firm KKR� (NYSE: KKR ) is acquiring global contract research organization PRA International from San Francisco-based private equity firm�Genstar Capital for an undisclosed sum, PRA announced today. The New York Times reports that a "person briefed on the matter" said the price was about $1.3 billion.
PRA is one of the world's biggest CROs with�more than 5,300 employees located in more than 50 offices worldwide, performing approximately 2,000 clinical trials in more than 80 countries for more than 300 clients since 2000.
That was underlined by KKR Health Care investing team member�Jim Momtazee, who was quoted as saying, "As one of the fastest growing companies in the CRO sector, PRA is known for its strong client relationships and differentiated therapeutic expertise."
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Autobytel Inc.(ABTL)
Autobytel Inc. operates as an automotive marketing services company in the United States. It assists automotive retail dealers and manufacturers to market and sell new and used vehicles to consumers through its online purchase request referrals, dealer marketing products and services, and online advertising programs and data products. The company provides vehicle purchase request programs, including new vehicle purchase request program, which allows consumers to submit requests for pricing and availability of specific makes and models; used vehicle purchase request program that allows consumers to search for used vehicles according to specific search parameters, such as the price, make, model, mileage, year, and location of the vehicle; and finance purchase request program designed to provide consumers the opportunity to obtain vehicle financing and other services from dealers or finance institutions. Its network of company-owned consumer-facing automotive Websites compris e Autobytel.com, which provide consumers the information and tools to aid them with their automotive purchase decisions and the ability to submit inquiries requesting dealers to contact the consumers for purchasing or leasing vehicles. In addition, the company provides products and services that assist dealers in connecting with in-market consumers and closing vehicle sales. The company, formerly known as Autobytel.com Inc., was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Monarch Cement Co(MCEM.OB)
The Monarch Cement Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of portland cement under the MONARCH brand name. It also offers ready-mixed concrete, concrete products, and sundry building materials that are used in residential, commercial, and governmental construction. The company sells its products primarily to contractors, ready-mixed concrete plants, concrete products plants, building materials dealers, and governmental agencies in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The Monarch Cement Company was founded in 1908 and is based in Humboldt, Kansas.
Top Stocks For 2014: Standard Parking Corporation(STAN)
Standard Parking Corporation provides parking management, ground transportation, and other ancillary services to commercial, institutional, and municipal clients in the United States and Canada. Its services include collection and deposit of parking revenues; daily housekeeping; restriping of the parking stalls; maintenance of parking equipment, such as ticket dispensing machines, parking gate arms, and fee computers; painting of walkways, curbs, ceilings, walls, and other facility surfaces; and snow removal from sidewalks and driveways. The company also provides shuttle bus vehicles and drivers to operate them in support of on-airport car rental operations, as well as private off-airport parking locations; and ancillary ground transportation services at airports, such as taxi and livery dispatch, concierge-type ground transportation information, and support services for arriving passengers. In addition, it offers shuttle bus services, on-street parking meter collection, a nd other parking enforcement services for municipalities; and valet parking and shuttle bus services for the medical center and hospital markets. The company serves private and public owners, municipalities, managers and developers of office buildings, residential properties, commercial properties, shopping centers and other retail properties, sports and special event complexes, hotels, and hospitals and medical centers. As of December 31, 2011, it managed approximately 2,200 parking facility locations containing approximately 1.2 million parking spaces in approximately 345 cities; operated 147 parking-related service centers serving 61 airports; and a fleet of approximately 550 shuttle buses. The company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Cache Inc.(CACH)
Cache, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall and Web based specialty retailer of women?s lifestyle sportswear and dresses in the United States. It offers eveningwear; casual and daytime sportswear, including tops, bottoms, and dresses; and accessories, such as jewelry, belts, and handbags under the Cache brand name. The company also provides its products online through its Web site, cache.com. As of March 22, 2012, it operated 267 stores in 43 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Cache, Inc. was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Noble Corp (NE)
Noble Corporation is an offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The Company performs contract drilling services with its fleet of 79 mobile offshore drilling units and one floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) located globally. As of December 31, 2011, its fleet consisted of 14 semisubmersibles, 14 drillships, 49 jackups and two submersibles. Its fleet includes 11 units under construction, which include five ultra-deepwater drillships, and six jackup rigs. As of February 15, 2012, approximately 84% of its fleet was located outside the United States in areas, which included Mexico, Brazil, the North Sea, the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Middle East, India and the Asian Pacific. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it completed construction on the Noble Bully I, a drillship, owned through a joint venture with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc; completed construction on the Noble Bully II, a drillship, and it completed construction of Globetrotter-class drillship. As of February 15, 2012, it had 10 rigs under contract in Mexico with Pemex Exploracion y Produccion (Pemex).
During 2011, the Company conducted offshore contract drilling operations, which accounted for over 98% of its operating revenues. It conducts its contract drilling operations in the United States Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Brazil, the North Sea, the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Middle East, India and the Asian Pacific. During 2011, revenues from Shell and its affiliates accounted for approximately 24% of its total operating revenues. During 2011, revenues from Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) accounted for approximately 18% and 19% of its total operating revenues. Revenues from Pemex accounted for approximately 15%, 20% and 23% of its total operating revenues.
Semisubmersibles
Semisubmersibles are floating platforms which, by means of a water ballasting system, can be submerged to a predetermined depth so that a substantial portion of the hull is b! elow the water surface during drilling operations. As of December 31, 2011, the semisubmersible fleet consisted of 14 units, including five Noble EVA-4000 semisubmersibles; three Friede & Goldman 9500 Enhanced Pacesetter semisubmersibles; two Pentagone 85 semisubmersibles; two Bingo 9000 design unit submersibles; one Aker H-3 Twin Hull S1289 Column semisubmersible, and one Offshore Co. SCP III Mark 2 semisubmersible.
Drillships
The Company�� drillships are self-propelled vessels. These units maintain their position over the well through the use of either a fixed mooring system or a computer controlled dynamic positioning system. Its drillships are capable of drilling in water depths from 1,000 to 12,000 feet. The maximum drilling depth of its drillships ranges from 20,000 feet to 40,000 feet. As of December 31, 2011, the drillship fleet consisted of 14 units, including four drillships under construction with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (HHI); three Gusto Engineering Pelican Class drillships; two Bully-class drillships to be operated by it through a 50% joint venture with a subsidiary of Shell; one dynamically positioned Globetrotter-class drillship that left the shipyard during the fourth quarter of 2011; one Globetrotter-class drillship under construction; one moored Sonat Discoverer Class drillship capable of drilling in Arctic environments; one NAM Nedlloyd-C drillship, and one moored conversion class drillship.
Jackups
As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 49 jackups in its fleet, including six jackups under construction. The rig hull includes the drilling rig, jacking system, crew quarters, loading and unloading facilities, storage areas for bulk and liquid materials, helicopter landing deck and other related equipment. All of its jackups are independent leg and cantilevered. Its jackups are capable of drilling to a maximum depth of 30,000 feet in water depths up to 400 feet.
Submersibles
The Company has two su! bmersible! s in the fleet, which are cold-stacked. Submersibles are mobile drilling platforms, which are towed to the drill site and submerged to drilling position by flooding the lower hull until it rests on the sea floor, with the upper deck above the water surface. Its submersibles are capable of drilling to a depth of 25,000 feet in water depths up to 70 feet.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Northeast Utilities(NU)
Northeast Utilities, a public utility holding company, provides electric and natural gas energy delivery services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts. The company engages in the purchase, delivery, and sale of electricity; and owns and operates approximately 1,200 megawatts of primarily fossil-fueled electricity generation assets. As of December 31, 2010, it served approximately 1.2 million customers in 149 cities and towns in Connecticut; 497,000 retail customers in 211 cities and towns in New Hampshire; and 206,000 retail customers in 59 cities and towns in western Massachusetts. The company also operates a natural gas distribution system in Connecticut and serves approximately 206,000 customers in 71 cities and towns. It offers gas supply to commercial and industrial customers; and to residential customers for heating, hot water, and cooking needs, as well as provides gas transportation services t o commercial and industrial customers. In addition, the company offers electric transmission services. Northeast Utilities was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Summit Financial Group Inc.(SMMF)
Summit Financial Group, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for Summit Community Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services primarily in the eastern Panhandle and south central regions of West Virginia, and the northern region of Virginia. It offers a range of community banking services, including demand, savings, and time deposits; commercial, commercial real estate, construction and development, residential real estate, and consumer loans; letters of credit; and cash management services. The company also operates Summit Insurance Services, LLC, an insurance agency, which offers commercial and personal lines of insurance, including group health, life, and disability benefit plans. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 15 banking offices in West Virginia and Virginia, as well as an insurance agency. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Moorefield, West Virginia.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Xpress Holdings Ltd (I04.SI)
Xpress Holdings Ltd, an investment holding company, provides print management services. Its services include conceptualization, design, copywriting, translation, typesetting, and color proofing; printing; post-press packaging; and global distribution and delivery. The company�s products comprise financial research reports, annual reports, asset management reports, IPO prospectuses, corporate brochures, year books, magazines, and other commercial publications and collaterals. It operates primarily in China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, and Singapore. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Singapore.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: China Auto Logistics Inc.(CALI)
China Auto Logistics Inc. primarily engages in the sale and trading of imported automobiles in the People?s Republic of China. It also offers financing services, including letter of credit issuance, purchase deposit financing, and import duty advances, as well as automobile value-added services, including customs clearance, storage, and nationwide delivery services to automobile dealers and agents. In addition, the company operates Websites that provide subscribers with sales and trading information for imported and domestically manufactured automobiles. Its Websites include cali.com.cn, which provides auto living public with information about auto and auto-related products and services; at188.com that provides sales and trading information about imported automobiles, as well as parts and components information; at160.com, which provides sales and trading information about domestically manufactured automobiles; and goodcar.cn that provides information relating to automoti ve products and services, including discounted gas, car washes, emergency roadside assistance, body-shop repairs, and car maintenance. The company sells automobiles to authorized dealers, free traders or wholesalers, government agencies, and individual customers. China Auto Logistics Inc. is based in Tianjin, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
One under-$10 stock that's trending very close to trigger a major breakout trade is China Auto Logistics (CALI), which trades and sells imported automobiles in the People's Republic of China and also offers financing services. This stock has been on a tear during the last six months, with shares up sharply by 65%.
If you take a look at the chart for China Auto Logistics, you'll notice that this stock recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $2.77 to $2.80 a share. That bottom formed right above its 200-day moving average of $2.69 a share. Shares of CALI are now starting to bounce off those near-term support levels and the stock is quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CALI if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.27 to $3.31 a share and then once it clears its 50-day moving average at $3.39 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 159,787 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then CALI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.50 to $5.50 a share.
Traders can look to buy CALI off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right around its 200-day at $2.69 a share. One can also buy CALI off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop right below $3 a share.
Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)
Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.
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