Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:CDXS,GHM,JST,FSS,AMAT,

Making money over the last three years meant holding just five stocks, icons of the new internet revolution. Those five stocks -- Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google -- drove gains that averaged 177% over the three years through June compared to a modest return of 33% on the S&P 500.

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Big blue chips like these almost NEVER raise their dividend more than 5% or 6%. But one of these four shot it up 383%... turning a $1 dividend into $4.83. What's really crazy is how much higher it has to go. You need to see this.

But the thing about momentum trades is that investors rush en masse to the exits when that momentum slows. Nobody wants to be the last one holding terrifically-overpriced shares of a company that is no longer the darling of Wall Street and Main Street.

Over the past month, the FAANG portfolio has returned just 0.3% with heart-stopping, double-digit losses for both Netflix and Facebook. All this is as the S&P 500 bounced 3.7% in anticipation of Q2 earnings and solid economic growth.

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Codexis, Inc.(CDXS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Noonan, Daniel Miller, and Maxx Chatsko]

  Having even a few of these companies working in your favor over the long term can be a life-changing event. To help put readers on to some high-growth stocks that still have big potential, we asked three Motley Fool investors to profile a top growth investment. Read on to see why they identified Codexis�(NASDAQ:CDXS), Activision�Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), and Control4 Corporation (NASDAQ:CTRL) as top stocks for growth-seeking investors.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Growth stocks can deliver most of your portfolio's gains, and even make up for a few laggards. But they have a downside: One misstep can be all it takes for Wall Street to turn against them. That's exactly what's happened in 2018 to the world's top lithium producer,�Albemarle (NYSE:ALB), and the most reputable marijuana stock,�Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG).�That shouldn't scare investors from buying high-growth companies, however. For instance, it looks as if tiny biotech Codexis (NASDAQ:CDXS) will grow into its premium valuation (and then some) sooner rather than later.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Codexis (CDXS)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Graham Corporation(GHM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Graham Co. (NYSE:GHM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 30th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 13th will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, June 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Boston Partners cut its position in shares of Graham Co. (NYSE:GHM) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,215 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 1.17% of Graham worth $2,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of Graham Co. (NYSE:GHM) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.51 and last traded at $27.41, with a volume of 80000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.10.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Graham (NYSE: GHM) and Twin Disc (NASDAQ:TWIN) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Jinpan International Limited(JST)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of JOST Werke (ETR: JST) recently:

  5/25/2018 – JOST Werke was given a new €46.00 ($53.49) price target on by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/25/2018 – JOST Werke was given a new €46.00 ($53.49) price target on by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/25/2018 – JOST Werke was given a new €47.00 ($54.65) price target on by analysts at Warburg Research. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/24/2018 – JOST Werke was given a new €45.00 ($52.33) price target on by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. 5/8/2018 – JOST Werke was given a new €46.00 ($53.49) price target on by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 4/4/2018 – JOST Werke was given a new €47.00 ($54.65) price target on by analysts at Warburg Research. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

  Shares of JOST Werke traded down €0.15 ($0.17), hitting €38.10 ($44.30), during mid-day trading on Friday, according to MarketBeat. 8,510 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,469. JOST Werke AG has a 52 week low of €27.20 ($31.63) and a 52 week high of €47.50 ($55.23).

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Warburg Research set a €47.00 ($55.95) price target on JOST Werke (ETR:JST) in a report published on Friday. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Deutsche Bank set a €46.00 ($53.49) price target on JOST Werke (ETR:JST) in a research report sent to investors on Friday. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Federal Signal Corporation(FSS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) by 63.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 234,061 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,560 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Federal Signal were worth $5,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  OppenheimerFunds Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Federal Signal Co. (NYSE:FSS) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,592 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,741 shares during the period. OppenheimerFunds Inc.’s holdings in Federal Signal were worth $739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Federal Signal (FSS)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  News stories about Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) have trended somewhat positive recently, according to Accern. The research group identifies positive and negative news coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Federal Signal earned a news impact score of 0.07 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave press coverage about the conglomerate an impact score of 45.1967635640765 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near term.

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Applied Materials, Inc.(AMAT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Breaking news

  Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter, but issued weak sales outlook for the third quarter. Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) reported upbeat results for its first quarter. Comparable-store sales rose 0.6 percent. Boot Barn Holdings Inc (NYSE: BOOT) disclosed a 7.2 million common stock offering.

• [By Chris Neiger]

  Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) tumbled 10.7% last month,�according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after reports surfaced that China may speed up its plans to increase local production of semiconductors.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Ostrum Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 214.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,386 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,857 shares during the period. Ostrum Asset Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Emerge Energy Services Says the Frack Sand Market is Softening, but It's the Only One

Wall Street wasn't impressed with Emerge Energy Services (NYSE:EMES) second-quarter results: Traders sent the stock down more than 10% on Wednesday after it�announced earnings. Not only did the company�miss expectations, management indicated that it was seeing a minor slowdown in the frack sand market. Funny thing, though: There aren't many other frack sand suppliers echoing that sentiment.

Let's take a look at what happened this past quarter, and why Emerge seems to be hitting a soft spot when others aren't.��

By the numbers Metric Q2 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018

Revenue	$101.8 million	$106.7 million	$82.6 million
EBITDA	$21.5 million	$16.9 million	$7.3 million
Diluted�EPS	$0.30	$0.05	($0.20)
Distributable cash flow	$17.3 million	$8.7 million	$2.6 million

DATA SOURCE: EMERGE ENERGY SERVICES EARNINGS RELEASE. EPS = EARNINGS PER SHARE.

Emerge's revenue and earnings seem to be stalling out a bit lately. Revenue for this quarter was actually down compared to six months ago even though volumes are up considerably. While management said that rail disruptions were to blame for lower margins and weak cash flow numbers in Q1, the issue this time was that fewer sales originated from its own terminals -- 26%, compared to 39% in Q1 -- and that sales through other terminals carry lower margins.

The one upbeat point in the report was that facility costs were down. That's partly because Emerge is getting some production from its new sand mine near San Antonio, and partly because its Wisconsin facilities are running at full capacity, which lowers per unit costs.�

Image source: Getty Images.

What management had to say

If Emerge's lower-than-expected earnings weren't enough of a concern, Chairman Ted Beneski's press release statement on the company's outlook suggested that the frack sand market is weakening.�

The demand for frack sand remains healthy, but we experienced a minor slowdown to finish the second quarter, and the softness has partially continued into early third quarter. Conversations with our customers indicate that the conditions are temporary given the Permian takeaway constraints. However, we acknowledge that the frack sand industry faces a state of transition with the utilization of new in-basin plants increasing throughout the year. As a top-five producer in the frack sand industry in�the United States, we believe we are at the forefront of diversifying our business model to meet the new needs of the industry with both northern white and in-basin capabilities.

Here's the strange part about this statement: None of Emerge's competition mentioned anything about a slowdown in demand. Instead, they were talking about how strong demand is in places like the Permian Basin. Hi-Crush Partners just last week announced a supply contract that will require it to construct a new 3 million ton per year facility in the Permian just to meet demand.�

EMES data by YCharts

Not in the best competitive position

Over the past 18 months, every frack sand supplier has benefited from the same macro trends. Drilling activity is up on higher oil prices, and the amount of sand used per well is way up because producers have found that using more improves well economics. Now that those trends have played out, and the frack sand market is becoming more competitive� again, the wheat is getting separated from the chaff.�

Unfortunately, Emerge's position is weaker than many of its peers. It doesn't have any in-basin supply in the Permian Basin, it doesn't offer the last-mile logistics services that attract long-term supply agreements and wider margins, and its current operations still aren't generating enough cash to distribute to shareholders.�

Management is trying to be clever by focusing its efforts outside the Permian, as an in-basin supplier for other shale regions such the Eagle Ford in South Texas and the Anadarko in Oklahoma. Management has struggled to get its Eagle Ford facility up and running, though, which isn't a great sign.

It may have been worth deferring judgment on Emerge while it brought these new facilities on line, but it's looking more and more like its operations just don't hold a candle to those of its competitors.�