Best Transportation Companies To Invest In Right Now

With shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) trading around $8, is AA an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework.

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Alcoa is engaged in the production and management of aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combined through its participation in technology, mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling. Alcoa�� products are used worldwide in aircraft, automobiles, commercial transportation, packaging, building and construction, oil and gas, defense, consumer electronics, and industrial applications. The company�� operations consist of four worldwide segments: Alumina, Primary Metals, Flat-Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions.

Alcoa kicked off earnings season after the bell on Monday, and Alcoa beat analyst expectations despite the falling price of aluminum due to cost-cutting measures and increased demand from automakers. Earnings per share came in at 11 cents, more than double analyst forecasts of 5 cents. Revenue came in at $5.8 billion. Alcoa posted a profit of $24 million versus a loss of $119 million a year ago and reaffirmed its guidance for the year.

Top Valued Companies For 2016: Nordic American Tanker Ltd (NAT)

Nordic American Tankers Limited is an international tanker company. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 20 Suezmax tankers. The Company�� vessels include Nordic Harrier, Nordic Hawk, Nordic Hunter, Nordic Voyager, Nordic Freedom, Nordic Fighter, Nordic Discovery, Nordic Saturn, Nordic Jupiter, Nordic Apollo and Nordic Moon. Its vessels also include Nordic Cosmos, Nordic Sprite, Nordic Grace, Nordic Mistral, Nordic Passat, Nordic Vega, Nordic Breeze, Nordic Aurora and Nordic Zenith. In September 2011, the Company acquired the vessel, Nordic Aurora. It chartered all of its vessels in the spot market pursuant to a cooperative arrangement with Gemini Tankers LLC until November 24, 2011. In November 2011, the Orion Tankers pool was established with Orion Tankers Ltd. as pool manager and its vessels were transferred from the Gemini Tankers LLC arrangement to the Orion Tankers pool. On December 17, 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest in Scandic American Shipping Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT) were down 10.08 percent to $7.98 after the company announced the pricing of follow-on offering.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT  ) is presenting a calm sea to its stockholders by keeping its upcoming dividend level with the previous payout. The company has declared a distribution of $0.16 per share of its common stock for its Q1, which its expects to hand out "on or about" May 14. It expects that the record date will be April 30.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Nordic American Tankers (NASDAQ: NAT) was also up, gaining 10.05 percent to $8.87 after the Dow Jones Global Shipping Index showed strength throughout the session on Wednesday.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another shipping player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is Nordic American Tankers (NAT), an international tanker company that owns approximately 20 modern double-hull Suezmax tankers, including four newbuilding vessels. This stock is off to a slow start in 2013, with shares off by 7.7%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Nordic American Tankers, you'll notice that this stock has been downtrending badly for the last month and change, with shares dropping from its high of $10.31 to its recent low of $7.65 a share. During that downtrend, shares of NAT have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of NAT have just started to bounce higher off that $7.65 low and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. This bounce could be signaling that the downside volatility for NAT is over at least in the near-term.

  Market players should now look for long-biased trades in NAT if it manages to break out above its 50-day moving average at $8.50 and then once it takes out its 200-day moving average at $8.63 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average volume of 1.01 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then NAT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $9.89 to $10.31 a share.

  Traders can look to buy NAT off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $7.65 a share. One can also buy NAT off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Best Transportation Companies To Invest In Right Now: Ryanair (RYAAY)

Ryanair Holdings plc (Ryanair Holdings), incorporated in 1996, is a holding company for Ryanair Limited (Ryanair). Ryanair operates a low-cost, scheduled-passenger airline serving short-haul, point-to-point routes between Ireland, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and Morocco. As of June 30, 2012, the Company offered approximately over 1,500 scheduled short-haul flights per day serving approximately 160 airports largely throughout Europe with an operating fleet of 294 aircraft flying approximately 1,500 routes. Ryanair sells seats on a one-way basis. The Company also holds a 29.8% interest in Aer Lingus Group plc. As of June 30, 2012, Ryanair�� operating fleet was composed of 294 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, each having 189 seats. Ryanair�� fleet totaled 294 Boeing 737-800s at March 31, 2012. As of June 30, 2012, Ryanair owned and operated four Boeing 737-800 full flight simulators for pilot training. Ryanair provides ancillary services and engages in other activities connected with its core air passenger service, including non-flight scheduled services, Internet-related services, and the in-flight sale of beverages, food, and merchandise. As part of its non-flight scheduled and Internet-related services Ryanair incentivizes ground service providers at airports it serves to levy correct excess baggage charges for any baggage, which exceeds Ryanair�� published baggage allowances. Excess baggage charges are recorded as non-flight scheduled revenue. Ryanair distributes accommodation services and travel insurance through its Website. For hotel services, Ryanair has a contract with Hotelscombined PTY Ltd. (Hotelscombined), which operates a price comparison Website, pursuant to which Hotelscombined handles all aspects of such services marketed through Ryanair�� Website and pays a fee to Ryanair. Ryanair also has contracts with other accommodation providers that enable Ryanair to offer hostel, bed-and-breakfast, guesthouse, villa and apartment accommodation to its customers. In addition Ryanair has a contract with Hertz, pursuant to which Hertz handles all car rental services marketed through Ryanair�� Website or telephone reservation system. Ryanair also sells bus and rail tickets onboard its aircraft and through its Website. Ryanair also sells attractions and activities on its Website. Ryanair sells gift vouchers on its Website, which are also redeemable online. The Company has an contract with Webloyalty International Ltd, which offers Ryanair�� customers who have a United Kingdom, German or French billing address a retail discount and cash-back program. Ryanair has agreements, pursuant to which the Company promotes Ryanair-branded credit cards issued by MBNA, GE Money, Access Prepaid and Banco Santander on its Internet site. The MBNA agreement relates to Irish residents only, the GE Money agreement relates to Swedish and Polish residents only and the Banco Santander agreement relates to United Kingdom residents only. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, Ryanair rolled out handheld Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) devices across its route network. These EPOS devices replaced manual and paper based systems on board the aircraft. The EPOS device enables cabin crew to sell and record their on-board sales transactions. The EPOS device also issues bus and rail tickets and tickets for tourist attractions. The Company also offers reserved seating in twenty-one extra legroom seats on each aircraft for a fee on certain routes. Ryanair provides its own aircraft and passenger handling and ticketing services at Dublin Airport. Third parties provide these services to Ryanair at other airports it serves. Servisair plc provides Ryanair�� ticketing, passenger and aircraft handling, and ground handling services at airports in Ireland and the United Kingdom(excluding London (Stansted) Airport where these services are provided by Swissport Ltd.), while similar services in continental Europe are provided by the local airport authorities, either directly or through sub-contractors. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GURUFOCUS]

  In the world of publicly-owned businesses, we try to invest with the same sort of individuals. In our opinion, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's Chairman and CEO, is one such example of a talented, driven executive. Michael was born on a farm in Ireland, the second oldest of six siblings. Although his beginnings were not remarkable, Michael figured out how to get the best education he could by attending the best schools he could. After attending a Jesuit boarding school as a young boy, he graduated from Trinity College with an accounting degree; began his career working for KPMG, a large public accounting firm; and, soon afterwards, became a financial advisor to Tony Ryan, Ryanair's founder. In 1986, Michael was hired to work for Ryan and initially advised him to close the airline immediately since it was losing so much money! In 1989, when Ryanair (RYAAY) was on the brink of insolvency, Ryan offered Michael the job of Deputy CEO of the airline and in 1994 as its CEO. Michael accepted, on the condition that if he couldn't make it profitable, he would be allowed to shut it down! He also chose to work for a percentage of profits rather than for a salary from the money losing business.

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) shares were up nearly 6.97 percent into the close to $54.53 after the company reported full-year results. Ryanair's net profit for the year ended March 31 slipped to 522.8 million euros ($716 million), versus a year-ago profit of 569.3 million euros.

Best Transportation Companies To Invest In Right Now: QEP Midstream Partners LP (QEPM)

QEP Midstream Partners, LP (QEP), incorporated on April 19, 2013, is a limited partnership formed by QEP Resources, Inc. to owns, operates, acquires and develops midstream energy assets. The Company�� primary assets consist of ownership interests in four gathering systems and two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-regulated pipelines, through which it provides natural gas and crude oil gathering and transportation services. The Company�� assets are located in, or are within close proximity to, the Green River Basin located in Wyoming and Colorado, the Uinta Basin located in eastern Utah, and the portion of the Williston Basin located in North Dakota. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� gathering systems had 1,475 miles of pipeline and an average gross throughput of 1.8 million british thermal units per hour of natural gas and 18,224 barrels of crude oil.

Green River System

The Company�� Green River System, located in western Wyoming, consists of three complimentary systems owned by Green River Gathering, Rendezvous Gas and Rendezvous Pipeline and gathers natural gas production from the Pinedale, Jonah and Moxa Arch fields. In addition to gathering natural gas, the system also gathers and stabilizes crude oil production from the Pinedale Field, transports the stabilized crude oil to an interstate pipeline interconnect, and gathers and handles produced and flowback water associated with well completion activities in the Pinedale Field. The Green River Gathering assets are comprised of 405 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, 61 miles of crude oil gathering pipelines, 81 miles of water gathering pipelines and a 60-mile, FERC-regulated crude oil pipeline located in the Green River Basin. The Rendezvous Gas assets consist of three parallel, 103-mile high-pressure natural gas pipelines, with 1,032 million cubic feet per day of throughput capacity and 7,800 basic hydrogen peroxide of gas compression. Rendezvous Pipeline�� sole asset is a 21-mile, FERC-regu! lated natural gas transmission pipeline that provides gas transportation services from QEP�� Blacks Fork processing complex in southwest Wyoming to an interconnect with the Kern River Pipeline.

Vermillion Gathering System

The Vermillion Gathering System consists of gas gathering and compression assets located in southern Wyoming, northwest Colorado and northeast Utah, which, when combined, include 454 miles of low-pressure, gas gathering pipelines and 23,197 basic hydrogen peroxide of gas compression. The Vermillion Gathering System is primarily supported by life-of-reserves and long-term, fee-based gas gathering agreements with minimum volume commitments, which are designed to ensure that it will generate a certain amount of revenue over the life of the gathering agreement by collecting either gathering fees for actual throughput or payments to cover any shortfall. The primary customers on our Vermillion Gathering System include Questar, Samson Resources Corporation (Samson Resources), QEP and Chevron USA, Inc. (Chevron).

Three Rivers Gathering System

Three Rivers Gathering is a joint venture between QEP and Ute Energy Midstream Holdings, LLC (Ute Energy) that was formed to transport natural gas gathered by Uintah Basin Field Services, L.L.C., an indirectly owned subsidiary of QEP (Uintah Basin Field Services), and other third-party volumes to gas processing facilities owned by QEP and third parties. The Three Rivers Gathering System consists of gas gathering assets located in the Uinta Basin in northeast Utah, including approximately 50 miles of gathering pipeline and 4,735 basic hydrogen peroxide of gas compression.

Williston Gathering System

The Williston Gathering System is a crude oil and natural gas gathering system located in the Williston Basin in McLean County, North Dakota. The Williston Gathering System includes 17 miles of gas gathering pipelines, 17 miles of oil gathering pipelines 239 basic hydrogen peroxide o! f gas com! pression, and a crude oil and natural gas handling facility, located primarily on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

The Company competes with Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., Western Gas and The Williams Companies, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  QEP Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: QEPM) was started as Buy at Janney Capital, and note that four other firms started coverage earlier this week.

  ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started as Buy with a $55 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

Best Transportation Companies To Invest In Right Now: Phillips 66 Partners LP (PSXP)

Phillips 66 Partners LP, incorporated on February 20, 2013, owns, operates, develops and acquires primarily fee-based crude oil, refined petroleum product and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines and terminals and other transportation and midstream assets. The Company�� initial assets consist of the three systems, which include Clifton Ridge crude system, Sweeny to Pasadena products system and Hartford Connector products system. A refined petroleum product pipeline, terminal and storage system extending from Phillips 66�� Sweeny refinery in Old Ocean, Texas, to its refined petroleum product terminal in Pasadena, Texas, and ultimately connecting to the Explorer and Colonial refined petroleum product pipeline systems and other third-party pipeline and terminal systems.

A crude oil pipeline, terminal and storage system located in Sulphur, Louisiana, that is the primary source for delivery of crude oil to Phillips 66�� Lake Charles refinery. A refined petroleum product pipeline, terminal and storage system located in Hartford, Illinois, that distributes diesel and gasoline produced at the Wood River refinery (a refinery owned by a joint venture between Phillips 66 and Cenovus Energy Inc.) to third-party pipeline and terminal systems, including the Explorer refined petroleum product pipeline system.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Investors in master limited partnerships (MLPs) tend to keep a close eye on interest rates, and for good reason. Yield-seeking investors are generally looking to minimize their risk to capital, and as interest rates rise other options may present themselves for generating yield at a lower risk. The cost of doing business may also rise for an MLP when interest rates are rising, cutting into the distributable cash flow (DCF). Thus, a low-yielding MLP may find itself especially vulnerable to a decline in price if interest rates rise.

  One example I sometimes use to highlight the risk in a rising interest rate environment is the low-yielding MLP Phillips 66 Partners (NYSE: PSXP), which was one of the most highly-anticipated initial public offerings of 2013. PSXP owns some of the midstream logistics assets of its sponsor, the refiner Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). The IPO was initially intended to be 15 million shares at an indicated range of $19 to $21. According to the IPO prospectus the minimum yield was to be $0.85 per unit on an annualized basis, which translates into a 4.25 percent annual yield at the initial midrange IPO price. This yield is pretty typical for a midstream MLP.

  Demand for PSXP units proved to be very strong, so the deal was upsized to 16.4 million shares and the price increased to $23 a unit. But demand outstripped even the expanded offering, and units opened on July 23, 2013 at nearly $29, and traded as high as $36 in subsequent days before finally settling down in a range of $30 to $31. Then in the fourth quarter PSXP units raced forward, exceeding $38 at one point and presently trading at $37.16.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX  ) and its master limited partnership Phillips 66 Partners (NYSE: PSXP  ) have made the headlines recently, because of how high PSXP climbed during its first day of trading. It isn't the first refiner to find success with an MLP spinoff -- Marathon Petroleum's (NYSE: MPC  ) spinoff�MPLX (NYSE: MPLX  ) is up more than 16% year to date -- and it doesn't look as if it will be the last. In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy looks at Valero's (NYSE: VLO  ) recent affirmation of its plan to convert its logistics assets into an MLP.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Consider�Phillips 66 Partners (NYSE: PSXP), which owns some of the midstream logistics assets of its sponsor, the refiner�Phillips 66�(NYSE: PSX). Ordinarily we might consider such a midstream MLP to be a fairly conservative investment, but PSXP exploded out of the gate after its IPO and has continued to be one of the most lucrative MLPs since its IPO. In just the first half of this year, the unit price rose 110%. As the unit price rose and the yield continued to shrink, price targets were raised again and again by brokerage houses.