Hot Performing Companies To Own In Right Now

LONDON -- Alliance Trust (LSE: ATST  ) , a self-managed investment firm, has just had its best first-quarter performance in 15 years. Shares are up 1.7% late in London trading.

Alliance announced today that the shareholder return for the quarter ending in March was 15.2%, while its net asset value increased 13.6%. These results, it says, owed to strong performance from global equities.

The company said that over the quarter, the best-performing sectors were health care, with a 22.3% increase; consumer staples, up 19.5%; and consumer discretionary, lifting 16.4%. Alliance said the weakening of the sterling had a positive impact on its portfolio.

Alliance said its portfolio activity in the quarter was a reflection of management's decision to increase exposure to equities. There have been a number of significant changes to the equity portfolio over the first quarter: Notable new additions (140 million pounds of the 220 million pounds initiated last quarter) include positions in Walt Disney, Zurich Insurance, Barclays, and Infineon Technology.

Hot Performing Companies To Own In Right Now: Dole Food Company Inc(DOLE)

Dole Food Company, Inc. engages in sourcing, growing, processing, marketing, and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables, and food products to wholesale, retail, and institutional customers worldwide. It operates in three segments: Fresh Fruit, Fresh Vegetables, and Packaged Foods. The Fresh Fruit segment involves in growing and selling bananas under the DOLE brand name primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia; ripening and distributing DOLE and non-DOLE branded fresh produce in Europe; growing, sourcing, and selling fresh pineapples under the DOLE TROPICAL GOLD label; and exporting Chilean fruits, including grapes, apples, pears, stone fruits, and kiwifruits primarily to North America, Latin America, and Europe. The Fresh Vegetables segment engages in sourcing, harvesting, cooling, distributing, and marketing various fresh and fresh-cut vegetables, including iceberg lettuce, red and green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, c arrots, Brussels sprouts, green onions, asparagus, snow peas, artichokes, and radishes, as well as fresh strawberries and raspberries. This segment also processes and markets value-added vegetable products, such as packaged salads and packaged fresh-cut vegetables. The Packaged Foods segment produces and markets canned pineapples, canned pineapple juice, fruit juice concentrate, fruit parfaits, snack foods, and frozen fruits, as well as fruits in plastic cups, jars, and pouches. Its principal customers include mass merchandisers and supermarkets. Dole Food Company, Inc. was founded in 1851 and is based in Westlake Village, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Portfolio Grader]

  Dole Food (NYSE:DOLE) is bettering its rating of C (“hold”) from last week to a B (“buy”) this week. Dole Food is engaged in producing, marketing and distributing of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, including an expanding line of value-added products. In Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategory of Cash Flow, DOLE also gets an A. The stock price has risen 15.2% over the past month, better than the 3.3% increase the S&P 500 has seen over the same period of time. 

• [By Quickel]

  Dole Food(DOLE) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its generally weak debt management, disappointing return on equity and poor profit margins.

  Dole Food Company, Inc. engages in sourcing, growing, processing, marketing, and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables, and food products to wholesale, retail, and institutional customers worldwide. It operates in three segments: Fresh Fruit, Fresh Vegetables, and Packaged Foods. Dole Food Co has a market cap of $889.6 million and is part of the consumer goods sector and food & beverage industry. Shares are down 27.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

Hot Performing Companies To Own In Right Now: Dow Treasuries(DV)

DeVry Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides educational services worldwide. The company operates various institutions, including Advanced Academics, American University of the Caribbean, Becker Professional Education, Carrington College and Carrington College California, Chamberlain College of Nursing, DeVry Brasil, DeVry University, and Ross University. These institutions offer an array of programs in business, healthcare, and technology, as well as serve students in middle school through postsecondary education, and accounting and finance professionals. It offers career-oriented associate, bachelor?s, and master?s degree programs in technology, science, business, arts, and nursing; medical and veterinary medical education; and undergraduate and graduate programs focused in business management, nursing, law, and engineering, as well as online learning solutions for middle and high school education. The company also prepares students for careers in healthcare th rough certificate, associate, and bachelor?s degree programs; and candidates for the certified public accountant examination, chartered financial analyst professional certification examinations, and the project management professional certification examination, as well as provides continuing professional education programs and seminars in accounting and finance. DeVry Inc. was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kevin1977]

  DeVry(DV) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and attractive valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

  DeVry Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides educational services worldwide. It owns and operates Advanced Academics, Becker Professional Education, Carrington College and Carrington College California, Chamberlain College of Nursing, DeVry Brasil, DeVry University, and Ross University. The company has a P/E ratio of 9.1, equal to the average diversified services industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. DeVry has a market cap of $2.9 billion and is part of the services sector and diversified services industry. Shares are down 14.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

Top Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: Appleton Exploration Inc (AEX.V)

Cornerstone Metals Inc. operates in the mining industry. It owns the Dora gold project that is located near Merritt, British Columbia. The company was formerly known as Appleton Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Cornerstone Metals Inc. in May 2012. Cornerstone Metals Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Hot Performing Companies To Own In Right Now: Singapore Shipping Corp Ltd (S19.SI)

Singapore Shipping Corporation Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the ownership and management of ships in Sweden, Japan, and Singapore. It owns a fleet of four car carriers for charter. The company offers ships management services in various areas comprising technical management, dry docking, procurement, crew procurement and management, and certification and audits, as well as ship inspection and new construction consultancy services. The company is based in Singapore.