5 Best Railroad Stocks To Own Right Now

On Tuesday, CSX (NYSE: CSX  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

As a major railroad company, CSX has benefited from high energy prices in recent years that have made rail transportation a more efficient way of moving goods over long distances. But the decline in demand for commodities like coal has crimped the railroad's results lately. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with CSX over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.

Stats on CSX

Analyst EPS Estimate

$0.40

Top 5 Services Companies To Buy For 2015: Delek US Holdings Inc. (DK)

Delek US Holdings, Inc. operates as an integrated downstream energy company that operates in petroleum refining, logistics, and convenience store retailing businesses. The company operates in three segments: Refining, Logistics, and Retail. The Refining segment owns and operates two refineries in Tyler, Texas, and El Dorado, Arkansas; and produces various petroleum-based products used in transportation and industrial markets. The Logistics segment gathers, transports, and stores crude oil, as well as markets, distributes, transports, and stores refined products. It also offers crude oil transportation services for terminalling and marketing services; and markets light products using third-party terminals. This segment owns approximately 400 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines, 123 miles of refined product pipelines, 600-mile crude oil gathering system, and associated crude oil storage tanks with an aggregate of approximately 2.6 million barrels of active shell capa city. The Logistics segment serves oil companies, independent refiners and marketers, jobbers, distributors, utility and transportation companies, and independent retail fuel operators. The Retail segment markets gasoline, diesel, and other refined petroleum products, as well as convenience merchandise. As of May 8, 2013, this segment operated 373 retail fuel and convenience stores under the MAPCO Express, MAPCO Mart, Discount Food Mart, Fast Food and Fuel, East Coast, Delta Express, and Favorite Markets brands. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Delek US Holdings, Inc. is a subsidiary of Delek Petroleum Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  After bouncing back yesterday from their oil-export related losses, refiners like Marathon Petroleum (MPC), HollyFrontier (HFC), Tesoro (TSO) and Delek US (DK) are falling once again.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  We believe capture rates [how much of the difference between the cost of oil and refined products a company can earn. Ed. ] troughed in 3Q13 and most US refiners will show a quarter-over-quarter improvement as differentials were widening and the WTI curve moved to contango from backwardation. Positive refining revisions will positively impact [Exxon Mobil] more than [Chevron], as�[Exxon Mobil] has significantly more absolute N. American refining capacity. Marketing margins [the margins from selling the finished product to the retail market. Ed.] also improved 17% q/q and 32% q/q on [West Coast] and [Gulf Coast] respectively, a positive indicator for refiners with retail operation [(Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Tesoro (TSO), Phillips 66 (PSX), Western Refining (WNR) & Delek US (DK))].

• [By Russ Fischer]

  Deltek US Holdings (DK)

  Energy, midstream, downstream. Delek US Holdings, Inc. operates as an integrated downstream energy company that operates in petroleum refining, logistics, and convenience store retailing businesses. The company owns 400 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines, 123 miles of refined product pipelines, 600-mile crude oil gathering system, and associated crude oil storage tanks with an aggregate of approximately 2.6 million barrels of active shell capacity. The company should benefit from the trend toward US energy independence without the exposure of exploration and production companies. Yield: 1.7%

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Westlake also finds Western Refining (WNR) and�Delek US (DK) interesting, while upgrading�Calumet Specialty Products to Neutral from Underperform as “the themes which drove expected underperformance have now become more visible.”

5 Best Railroad Stocks To Own Right Now: MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)

MFS Special Value Trust (the fund) is a closed-end fund and maintains a portfolio that includes investments in fixed income and equity securities. During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2007, the MFS Special Value Trust provided a total return of 5.11%, at net asset value. The fund's investment objective is to seek high current income, but may also consider capital appreciation.

MFS Special Value Trust normally invests the fund's assets primarily in debt instruments. MFS Special Value Trust normally invests the fund's assets in United States Government securities, foreign government securities, mortgage backed and other asset-backed securities of United States and foreign issuers, corporate bonds of United States and foreign issuers, debt instruments of issuers located in emerging market countries, and equity securities. MFS Special Value Trust�� investment advisor is Massachusetts Financial Services Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer

5 Best Railroad Stocks To Own Right Now: Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYK)

Liberty Global, Inc. provides video, broadband Internet, and telephony services primarily in Europe and Chile. The company offers broadband services over cable distribution systems, including video, broadband Internet, and telephony; and video services through direct-to-home satellite, or through multichannel multipoint distribution systems. Its analog video services comprise basic and expanded basic programming; and digital cable services include basic and premium programming, digital video recorders, and high definition programming, as well as pay-per-view programming, such as video-on-demand and near video-on-demand. In addition, the company offers voice-over-Internet-protocol and circuit-switched telephony services, as well as mobile telephony services using third-party networks. Further, it owns programming networks that provide video programming channels to multi-channel distribution systems owned by the company and the third parties. As of December 31, 2011, the com pany owned and operated networks that passed 33,262,100 homes; and served 18,405,500 video subscribers, 8,159,300 broadband Internet subscribers, and 6,225,300 telephony subscribers. Liberty Global, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is based in Englewood, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Liberty Global PLC (LBTYK)

  John Burbank upped his stake by 376.63% during the second quarter. The guru purchased a total of 402,991 shares in the second quarter price range of $64.57 to $73.78, with an estimated average price of $69.23 per share. Since then the price per share has increased approximately 4.9%.

• [By GuruFocus]

  Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) added to his holdings in Liberty Global PLC by 149.19%. His purchase prices were between $40.36 and $45.96, with an estimated average price of $43.34. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.17%. His holdings were 7,346,968 shares as of 03/31/2014.

  Added: Liberty Global PLC (LBTYK)

  Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) added to his holdings in Liberty Global PLC by 149.19%. His purchase prices were between $38.905 and $43.46, with an estimated average price of $41.33. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.17%. His holdings were 7,346,968 shares as of 03/31/2014.

5 Best Railroad Stocks To Own Right Now: LG Display Co Ltd (LPL)

LG Display Co., Ltd. (LG Display), incorporated in 1985, manufactures thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels in a range of sizes and specifications primarily for use in televisions, notebook computers and desktop monitors, and the Company is a suppliers of high-definition television panels. The Company also manufactures TFT-LCDs for other application products, such as mobile phones, certain types of tablet personal computers and industrial and other applications, including entertainment systems, automotives, portable navigation devices, e-books, digital photo displays and medical diagnostic equipment. During the year ended December 31, 2010, LG Display sold a total of 160.4 million large-size (nine-inch or larger) TFT-LCD panels. In addition to TFT-LCD panels, the Company also manufactures organic light-emitting diode (OLEDs) and flexible displays. As of March 31, 2011, the Company held a total of 15,049 patents, including 6,724 in Korea and 8,325 in other countries, including in the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain and Taiwan.

In May 2010, the Company purchased the liquid crystal display module division of LG Innotek Co., Ltd. (LG Innotek), a subsidiary of LG Electronics. In June 2010, the Company entered into a joint venture agreement with Iriver Ltd. to establish L&I Electronic Technology (Dongguan) Ltd. in Dongguan, China. In August 2010, the Company entered into a joint venture agreement with Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and AmTRAN Technology Co., Ltd., to establish Eralite Optoelectronics (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.

As of December 31, 2010, the Company operated 12 panel fabrication facilities (five in Paju, Korea and seven in Gumi, Korea, and including expansions of certain facilities) and a total of nine module facilities (three in Nanjing, China, two in Guangzhou, China and one each in Gumi and Paju, Korea, Yantai, China and Wroclaw, Poland). In 2010, its display panels were included in products sold by LG Electronics, Appl! e, Toshiba, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Philips Electronics.

Televisions

The Company�� television panels range from 15 inches to 72-inch wide-format in size. The Company�� product portfolio includes panels of various sizes, such as 17-inch, 19-inch, 20-inch, 22-inch, 26-inch, 32-inch, 37-inch, 42-inch, 47-inch and 55-inch panels.As of december 31, 2010, 32-inch, 37-inch, 42-inch and 47-inch wide-format panels consists of principal products in this category in terms of sales revenue and sales volume.

Desktop Monitors

The Company�� desktop monitor display panels range from 15 inches to 30-inch wide-format in size in a variety of display resolutions and formats. In 2010, 19-inch and 21.5-inch display panels were its principal products in terms of sales revenue and sales volume in this category.

Notebook Computers

The Company�� display panels for notebook computers range from seven inches to 20.1-inch wide-format in size in a variety of display formats. In 2010, 15.6-inch, 9.7-inch and 14-inch panels were its principal products in this category.

Mobile and Other Applications

The Company�� product portfolio also includes panels for mobile and other applications, which utilize a wide array of display panel sizes, including mobile phones, certain types of tablet personal computers and industrial and other applications, including entertainment systems, automotives, portable navigation devices, e-books, digital photo displays and medical diagnostic equipment. TFT-LCD panels that are nine inches and smaller are referred to as small and medium-size panels, with those smaller than four inches being considered small-size panels. In 2010, sales of small-size panels constituted a significant majority in terms of both sales revenue and sales volume in the mobile and other applications category. Some of the panels the Company produces for industrial products, such as medical diagnostic equipment.

T! he Compan! y competes with Samsung Electronics, Samsung Mobile Display and Hydis Technologies, AU Optronics, Chimei Innolux, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, HannStar, Sharp, Hitachi, TMDisplay, Mitsubishi, IPS-Alpha, SAVIC, Infovision and BOE-OT.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  A Bendable TV? A Bendable TV!:
  Earlier this week, we mentioned the 105-inch curved television from LG Display Co. (NYSE: LPL). That's pretty tame compared to Samsung's 85-inch bendable television.

• [By Steve Sechrist]

  No trouble with the curve
  The curved OLED screens in UHD are top-of-the-line, and LG� (NYSE: LPL  ) and rival Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF  ) are both expanding the line of spectacular display sets with a 65-inch and 77-inch size, respectively. LG's 77-inch television is a "bendable" version that can transform back to a flat screen when used for ambient viewing of art.�These UHD curved TVs, according to Dr. Ray Soneira of DisplayMate Labs, have marked advantages in that reduce glare and screen reflection from bright images behind the user. Curved displays "substantially" improve performance and are "no marketing gimmick," according to Soneira's technology review.�

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  iPad display supplier LG Display (NYSE: LPL  ) is expected to see total iPad panel shipments (including full-sized and Mini) fall sequentially from 5 million units last month to 3.5 million units in April. LG Display's volume may continue falling through the next two months. Investors have mostly wised up to speculative supply chain rumblings, but when combined with legitimately negative news from a major component supplier, those rumors carry a little more weight.

• [By Steve Symington]

  LG Display (NYSE: LPL  ) , for example, announced back in April that it will dedicate more than 50% of its 2014 capital expenditures not only to improving its utilization of OLED technology in exciting new products -- including flexible and transparent displays -- but also to building out its infrastructure to support mass production of the OLED displays.