Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014

Our latest featured stock is recommended based on its low price to book value ratio; the company recommendation is a leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide energy industry, explains J. Royden Ward, editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Investor.

Based in Houston and founded in 1969, Bristow Group (BRS) has major transportation operations in the US Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.

Bristow also operates in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and Trinidad.

Additionally, the company is a leading provider of production management services for oil and gas production facilities in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Revenues climbed 11% and EPS surged 58% during the 12 months ended December 31, 2013. Demand for helicopter services in the Gulf of Mexico is picking up and sales in Europe and West Africa are becoming strong.

Fourth quarter earnings were hurt by delayed orders, which spilled over into the 2014 first quarter. The company has begun a huge new contract with the United Kingdom where it will conduct all search and rescue operations.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sport Chalet Inc.(SPCHB)

Sport Chalet, Inc. operates specialty sporting goods stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Its stores offer traditional sporting goods merchandise, including footwear, apparel, and other general athletic products; and core specialty merchandise, such as snowboarding, skateboarding, mountaineering, and scuba. The company?s stores also offer various services for the sports enthusiast, including backpacking, canyoneering and kayaking instruction, custom golf club fitting, snowboard and ski rental and repair, scuba training and certification, scuba boat charters, team sales, racquet stringing, and bicycle tune-up and repair. As of July 3, 2011, it operated 54 store locations; and an online store at sportchalet.com. The company was founded in 1959 and is based in La Ca�da, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Sport Chalet (NASDAQ: SPCHB) is projected to post its quarterly earnings.

  Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: IRET) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $67.73 million.

Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014: Intercontinentalexchange Group Inc (ICE)

IntercontinentalExchange Group, Inc., incorporated on March 6, 2013, is a network of regulated exchanges and clearing houses for financial and commodity markets. The Company delivers transparent and accessible data, technology and risk management services to markets around the world through its portfolio of exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, ICE Futures, Liffe and Euronext. In February 2014, Intercontinentalexchange Group Inc completed the acquisition of Singapore Mercantile Exchange.

In November 2013, the Company announced the acquisition of NYSE Euronext. In November 2013, Financial Technologies (India) Ltd announced that Financial Technologies Singapore Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd., sold its ownership in SMX (together with its wholly owned subsidiary SMX CC) to ICE Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., an entity owned by the Intercontinentalexchange Group Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  As the company behind the prestigious New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX  ) makes money when people trade any stock. Yet for its own part, NYSE Euronext stock has soared in anticipation of its pending $8.2 billion acquisition by rival IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE  ) . With European regulators having approved the deal earlier this week, the transaction appears to be on track to close during the second half of the year, although the SEC and other regulators have yet to weigh in. Let's take a closer look at the exchange industry and what shareholders in NYSE Euronext can expect going forward.

Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014: Watsco Inc.(WSO)

Watsco, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment in the United States. It distributes residential central air conditioners; gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment and systems; and other specialized equipments. The company also distributes various parts, including replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors, and other component parts; and supplies comprising thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tape, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies. It serves approximately 50,000 contractors and dealers that service the replacement and new construction markets. The company also exports its products to Latin America and the Caribbean. Watsco, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Flannelly]

  Watsco Inc (WSO), a distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment, announced early on Wednesday that it is raising its quarterly dividend payout by 60%.

  The company will now pay a quarterly dividend of 40 cents per share, up from the previous payout of 25 cents per share. This dividend will be paid on October 31 to shareholders of record on October 15, with an ex-dividend date of October 10.

  Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer stated, “Our philosophy of sharing cash flow through dividends continues. As we have stated many times in the past, our goal over the long-term is to pay increasing dividends while maintaining a conservative balance sheet with capacity to make investments in our business and build our network. We will consider future increases in light of such investment opportunities, cash flow, general economic conditions and our overall financial condition.��/p>

  Watsco shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Wednesday. The stock is up 25.49% year-to-date.

Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014: Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (HLX)

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc.( Helix), incorporated on November 17,1983, is an international offshore energy company that provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on its growing well intervention and robotics operations. The Company had had two business segments: Contracting Services and Production Facilities. Its Contracting Services seek to provide services and methodologies which it believes are critical to developing offshore reservoirs and maximizing production economi regions. Its Production Facilities segment consists of its majority ownership of a dynamically positioned floating production vessel ( Helix Producer I or HP I). In June 2013, Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc closed the previously announced sale of its pipelay vessel, the Caesar, to Trevaskis Ltd.

In January 2012, it sold its oil and gas properties within the Main Pass area of the Gulf of Mexico. On September 26, 2012, the Company sold its pipelay vessel, Intrepid, to Stabbert Maritime Holdings, LLC. On February 6, 2013, it sold Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc. (ERT), a former wholly-owned United States subsidiary that conducted its oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Contracting Services Operations

The Company provides services and methodologies which it believes are critical to developing offshore reservoirs and maximizing production economics. Its life of field services are segregated into four disciplines: well intervention, robotics, subsea construction and production facilities. It provides a full range of contracting services primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Asia Pacific and West Africa regions primarily in deepwater.

The Company's services include production, which includes inspection, repair and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines and subsea equipment, well intervention, life of field support and intervention engineering; reclamation and remediation services include pluggin! g and abandonment services, pipeline abandonment services and site inspections; installation of subsea pipelines, flowlines, control umbilicals, manifold assemblies and risers, pipelay and burial, installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly, commissioning, testing and inspection, and cable and umbilical lay and connection. It provides oil and natural gas processing services to oil and natural gas companies, primarily those operating in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico using its HP I vessel. The HP I is being utilized to process production from the Phoenix.

The Company engineers, manages and conducts well construction, intervention and asset retirement operations in water depths ranging from 200 to 10,000 feet. Three of its vessels serve as work platforms for well intervention services at costs that are typically significantly less than offshore drilling rigs. In the Gulf of Mexico, its multi-service semi-submersible vessel, the Q4000, has set a series of well intervention firsts in increasingly deeper water without the use of a traditional drilling rig. In August 2012, it acquired the Discoverer 534 drillship from a subsidiary of Transocean Ltd.

The Company operates remotely operated vehicles ( ROVs), trenchers and ROVDrills designed for offshore construction and well intervention services. As global marine construction support moves to deeper water. Its chartered vessels add value by supporting deployment of its ROVs. It provides its customers with vessel availability and schedule flexibility to meet the technological challenges of their subsea activities worldwide. Its robotics assets include 49 ROVs, four trencher systems and two ROVDrills. It operate in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Asia Pacific and West Africa regions. It charters four vessels to support its robotics operations and it has engaged additional vessels on short-term (spot) charters as needed. In 2012, its robotics operations had 377 vessel utilization days and 16% of global revenues derived from! alternat! ive energy contracts. Subsea construction services include the use of umbilical lay and pipelay vessels and ROVs to develop fields in the deepwater.

The Company owns interests in two production facilities in hub locations where there is potential for subsea tieback activity. It has invested in two over-sized facilities that allow the operators of these fields to tie back without burdening the operator of the hub reservoir. It owns a 50% interest in Deepwater Gateway, which owns the Marco Polo TLP located in 4,300 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico. It also owns a 20% interest in Independence Hub which owns the Independence Hub platform, a 105-foot deep draft, semi-submersible platform located in a water depth of 8,000 feet that serves as a regional hub for up to one billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas production per day from multiple ultra-deepwater fields in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The Company competes with Oceaneering International, Inc., Saipem S.p.A., Fugro N.V., DOF ASA, Aker Solutions ASA, Subsea 7 S.A., Technip, McDermott International, Inc., Island Offshore and Edison Chouest Offshore Companies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (HLX): PRESIDENT & CEO Owen E Kratz Bought 50,000 Shares PRESIDENT & CEO of Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (HLX) Owen E Kratz bought 50,000 shares on 10/24/2013 at an average price of $24.03. Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc has a market cap of $2.54 billion; its shares were traded at around $24.03 with and P/S ratio of 2.96.

• [By David Smith]

  Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE: HLX  )
  At $2.70 billion in market capitalization, Helix is equidistant between Flotek and Superior from a size perspective. The company operates through two segments: contracting services and production facilities.

Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014: United Rentals Inc.(URI)

United Rentals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It offers approximately 3,000 classes of equipment for rent to customers comprising construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities. The company?s fleet of rental equipment includes general construction and industrial equipment, such as backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms consisting of boom lifts and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment, including pressure washers, water pumps, generators, heaters, and power tools. Its fleet also comprise trench safety equipment, such as trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; and power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, which consists of portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment, including heating and cooling equipment. In addition, the company sells new and used equipment, as well as related contractor supplies, parts, and service; and offers repair, maintenance, and rental protection services. Further, it develops and markets RENTALMAN, an enterprise resource planning application for equipment rental companies; and INFOMANAGER, which offers solution for creating a business intelligence system. As of January 1, 2012, the company had an integrated network of 529 rental locations in the United States and Canada. United Rentals, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Moroney]

  United Rentals (URI)

  Equipment-rental leader United Rentals is leveraged to the US economy, which we see improving this year. The firm seems capable of generating excess cash to reduce balance sheet leverage and also fund its plans to repurchase $450 million in shares, or about 6% of the total outstanding.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  United Rentals (NYSE: URI  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings around July 16. 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 United Rentals's revenues will expand 23.3% and EPS will expand 57.6%.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  United Rentals (URI), one of RSC�� largest competitors, had a rental revenue increase of 18.5% in the fourth quarter compared to last year, which included a 6.7% increase in rental rates.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  I went out on a limb last week, and now it's time to see how that decision played out.

  I predicted that People's United Financial (NASDAQ: PBCT  ) would close higher on the week. The regional banker had come up short on the bottom line in its two previous quarters, and the prior week closed with uninspiring earnings news out of the banking behemoths. People's United managed to match expectations on an operating basis, but the market was skeptical of financial services institutions this week. People's United Financial shares closed lower on the week. I was right. I predicted that the tech-heavy Nasdaq would outperform the Dow Jones Industrial Average. (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) . This has been a tricky call lately, so how did it play out this time? Well, the market was rocked hard this week, and secondary stocks led the way down. The Nasdaq fell 2.7% on the week. The Dow managed to close just 2.1% lower. I was wrong. My final call was for United Rentals (NYSE: URI  ) to beat Wall Street's quarterly profit target. The provider of equipment rentals with 836 outlets across the country has been beating Wall Street estimates consistently over the past year. Why should that end? Analysts were looking for a profit of $0.47 a share during the quarter, and it came through with adjusted net income of $0.58. I was right.

  Two out of three? I can do better than that.

Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014: 51job Inc.(JOBS)

51job, Inc. provides integrated human resource services primarily in the People?s Republic of China. . The company provides recruitment related advertising services, including print advertising services through 51job Weekly, which is a city-specific recruitment advertising publication that is published once a week and is distributed as an insert in local newspapers and/or on a stand-alone basis; and online recruitment services through its Website, www.51job.com. It also offers other human resource related services, such as business process outsourcing, which consist of social insurance and welfare payment processing, regulatory compliance, and payroll processing; and executive search services, as well as conducts training seminars in the areas of business management, leadership, sales and marketing, human resource, negotiation skills, financial planning and analysis, public administration, manufacturing, secretarial, and other skills for the general public and corporate cl ients. In addition, the company provides campus recruitment services; conducts salary, employee retention, and other human resource related surveys; organize and host annual human resource conferences and events, which include lectures, seminars, workshops, and networking opportunities for human resource professionals; and provides assessment tools to assist human resource departments in evaluating capabilities and dispositions of job candidates and existing employees, aiding employee placement, and allocating employee resources, as well as hiring and support services to employers on select recruitment projects. It provides recruitment and other human resource related services to employers through its sales offices, as well as through its sales and customer service call center. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Rooney]

  51job (JOBS), an online job search website similar to Monster.com (MWW), has surged more 60% this year.

  But there is one notable Chinese dot-com stock that's sitting out the big rally. Shares of Renren (RENN), the social network known as China's Facebook (FB, Fortune 500), are down 3% for the year.

• [By John Udovich]

  As US and global economies recover, hiring should increase with overlooked recruitment related stocks like Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc (NASDAQ: CSOD), 51job, Inc (NASDAQ: JOBS) and Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (OTCBB: STAF) being among the first to benefit aside from those who have found employment:

Top Services Stocks To Buy For 2014: Tim Participacoes SA (TIMP3)

TIM Participacoes SA (TIM) is a Brazil-based holding company engaged in the telecommunications segment. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, TIM Celular SA (TIM Celular) and Intelig Telecomunicacoes Ltda (Intelig), it provides telecommunication services throughout Brazil. TIM Celular and Intelig are active as Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) providers in the local and national and international long-distance modalities in all Brazilian states. Additionally, the Company provides multimedia communication services and personal mobile services, mobile data services and a third generation (3G) network, as well as international roaming agreements, multimedia messaging services, blackberry services and sale of related equipment. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Zahra Hankir]

  Brazil�� Ibovespa extended its weekly decline to 3.3 percent. Mobile carrier Tim Participacoes SA (TIMP3) sank after parent Telecom Italia SpA (TIT)�� chief executive officer said its Brazilian assets are strategic, damping speculation the local unit will be sold.

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  Telecom Italia SpA (TIT) jumped 6.2 percent to 65.6 euro cents. The phone company that was stripped of its investment-grade rating is seeking at least 9 billion euros for its controlling stake in Brazilian wireless carrier Tim Participacoes SA (TIMP3), according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.