Best Information Technology Companies For 2014

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) may miss its fiscal 2014, and 2017 revenue goals, as the next phase of turnaround gets more difficult. The company's margin expansion and cost takeout has tracked ahead of the plan, but the topline has fallen short of expectations.

Falls Church, Virginia-based CSC offers information technology (IT) services to clients in the global commercial and government markets. The company's offerings include IT and business process outsourcing, and IT and professional services.

Although there is some upside remaining in margins over the next few quarters, CSC will soon need improve revenue growth to drive further upside rather than cost saves.

[Related -5 Key Takeaways From International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)Troubles]

Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Keane is more skeptical that CSC can accomplish a revenue turnaround near-term especially given with the recent significant amount of business model changes.

Best India Stocks To Watch For 2015: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)

Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:

  Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP  ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK  ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM  ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.

  When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

Best Information Technology Companies For 2014: Hillenbrand Industries Inc. (HRC)

Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. manufactures and provides medical technologies and related services for the health care industry worldwide. It offers patient support system, safe mobility and handling solutions, medical equipment rental services, surgical products, and information technology solutions, as well as non-invasive therapeutic products for acute and chronic medical conditions. The company rents and sells patient support systems, which include various bed systems, and integrated and non-integrated therapeutic bed surfaces for use in high, mid, and low acuity settings; and non-invasive therapeutic products and surfaces for the prevention and treatment of various acute and chronic medical conditions, including pulmonary, wound, and bariatric conditions. It also provides rentals and health care provider asset management services for moveable medical equipment, such as ventilators, defibrillators, intravenous pumps, and patient monitoring equipment; mobility solutions, inclu ding lifts and other devices used to move patients; architectural products comprising headwalls and power columns; and health care furniture solutions. In addition, the company develops and markets various communications technologies and software solutions primarily to improve patient safety at the point of care; and surgical products, including a range of positioning devices for use in shoulder, hip, spinal, and lithotomic surgeries, as well as platform-neutral positioning accessories for operating room tables. It sells its products primarily to acute and extended care health care facilities through direct sales force and distributors. The company was formerly known as Hillenbrand Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. in March 2008. Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Batesville, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]

  On the antennas side, PCTEL antennas can be used in a wide variety of applications from mobile radio to WiFi to GPS and machine-to-machine communication. PCTEL management defines the company's core addressable market as a 5% to 10% slice of a $30 billion market for process automation, smart grid, public safety, fleet management, and enterprise WLAN. Companies ranging from Harris (HRC) to Deere (DE) to Cisco (CSCO) have used PCTEL antennas, and Cisco incorporates the company's antennas into their higher-end wireless products.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC) dropped 14.43% to $37.74 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results and lowered its outlook. The company also announced its restructuring program.

Best Information Technology Companies For 2014: CTS Corporation (CTS)

CTS Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, assembly, and sale of electronic components and sensors, as well as the provision of electronics manufacturing services. It offers automotive sensors and actuators used in commercial or consumer vehicles; electronic components used in communications infrastructure and computer markets; components used in computer and other high-speed applications, switches, resistor networks, and potentiometers; and fabricated piezoelectric materials and substrates used primarily in medical, industrial, defense and aerospace, and computer markets. The company markets and sells its products through its sales engineers, independent manufacturers� representatives, and distributors. It has operations in China, Japan, Scotland, Singapore, India, Taiwan, and the United States. CTS Corporation was founded in 1896 and is based in Elkhart, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  CTS (NYSE: CTS  ) reported earnings on July 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), CTS missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Best Information Technology Companies For 2014: Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACUR)

Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical product candidates utilizing its proprietary Aversion and Impede technologies. Its Aversion Technology is a proprietary platform technology providing abuse deterrent features and benefits to orally administered pharmaceutical drug products containing abusable active ingredients, such as tranquillizers, stimulants, sedatives, and decongestants. The company offers OXECTA Tablets CII, which are oral formulations of oxycodone HCl for the management of acute and chronic moderate to severe pain; and Impede PSE, a pseudoephedrine hydrochloride tablet product candidate. It is also developing opioid analgesic product candidates, which would be used to relieve pain while discouraging common methods of opioid product misuse and abuse, including intravenous injection of dissolved tablets or capsules; nasal snorting of crushed tablets or capsules; and intentional swallowing of excess quantities of tablets or capsules. In addition, the company investigates and develops mechanisms to incorporate abuse deterrent features into abused and misused pharmaceutical products using its Impede Technology. Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a license, development, and commercialization agreement with King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development, Inc. to develop and commercialize certain opioid analgesic products utilizing the company?s proprietary Aversion Technology in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company was founded in 1935 and is based in Palatine, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  ALKS-7106 for the treatment of pain has big potential as it encompasses a broad audience, but it'll need to overcome the common stigma of pain drugs with regard to easy abuse potential. According to the press release, Alkermes will be introducing newer technology that will make its opioid-based drug more resistant to abuse. It should be curious to see how well this performs as there aren't many successful abuse-resistant drugs, or companies developing those drugs for that matter. Acura Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACUR  ) , for instance, successfully brought moderate-to-severe painkiller Oxecta to market in 2011 (which it subsequently licensed to Pfizer) and a bioequivalent version of decongestant pseudoephedrine to market last year, but sales of neither drug has exactly taken off. Like with its MMF prodrug, Alkermes anticipates a mid-2014 clinical trial launch date.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Thursday
  Acura Pharmaceuticas (NASDAQ: ACUR  ) checks in on Thursday. Drugmakers use Acura's Aversion and Impede technologies to create abuse-deterrent treatments. In short, if an abuser tries to extract the active ingredient of a drug to heighten addictive experiences, Acura's technologies kick in to make the whole dose unusable.

• [By John Udovich]

  On Tuesday, small cap specialty pharmaceutical company�Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ACUR) surged 27.52% to $1.90 on no apparent news beyond a speculative Seeking Alpha article that talked about certain catalysts����meaning its worth taking a closer look at the company to see what�� going on and whether shares could move higher.�

Best Information Technology Companies For 2014: USG Corporation(USG)

USG Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and distribution of building materials worldwide. The company offers gypsum and related products, including gypsum wallboard, joint compounds used for finishing wallboard joints, cement boards, glass mat sheathing, gypsum fiber panels, poured gypsum underlayments, ultra light panels, and various construction plaster products. Its gypsum products are used in various building applications to finish the interior walls, ceilings, and floors in residential, commercial, and institutional constructions, and repair and remodel constructions. The company also produces gypsum-based products for agricultural and industrial customers to use in various applications, including soil conditioning, road repair, fireproofing, and ceramics. In addition, it manufactures ceiling grid and acoustical ceiling tile for electrical and mechanical systems, and air distribution and maintenance applications. USG Corporation distribut es its gypsum products through specialty wallboard distributors, building materials dealers, home improvement centers and other retailers, contractors, and a network of distributors. Further, it distributes other manufacturers? gypsum wallboard, joint compound and other gypsum products, as well as drywall metal, insulation, and roofing products and accessories. The company sells its products under SHEETROCK, DUROCK, FIBEROCK, SECUROCK, LEVELROCK, RED TOP, IMPERIAL, DIAMOND, SUPREMO, AURATONE, ACOUSTONE, DONN, DX, FINELINE, CENTRICITEE, CURVATURA, and COMPASSO brands. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Jarzemsky]

  While economists attributed some of the downtick to cold and snowy weather, some are wondering if the Federal Reserve�� plan to dial back its stimulus program this year could lead to a rise in interest rates, putting the brakes on the housing recovery. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders exchange-traded fund��hich tracks a broad basket of housing-related stocks from builders to Sheetrock maker USG Corp.(USG)��s down about 3.6% year-to-date.

Best Information Technology Companies For 2014: Galectin Therapeutics Inc (GALT)

Galectin Therapeutics Inc., formerly Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on January 26, 2001, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in drug development to create therapies for cancer and fibrotic disease. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has two compounds in development, one is to be used in cancer therapy and the other intended to be used in the treatment of liver fibrosis and fatty liver disease. These two compounds are produced from different natural starting materials, both possessing the property, which lends itself to binding to and inhibiting galectin proteins. GM-CT-01, the Company's product candidate for cancer therapy, is a linear polysaccharide polymer consisted of mannose and galactose that has a defined chemical structure and is derived from a plant source. GR-MD-02, the Company's product for treatment of liver fibrosis and fatty liver disease with inflammation and fibrosis, is a polysaccharide polymer possessing both linear and globular structures, which also is derived from a plant source.

GM-CT-01 has in development for the therapy of colorectal cancer and is in a Phase I/II clinical trial as a combination therapy with a tumor vaccine in patients with advanced melanoma. Based on the completed Phase I and partially completed Phase II clinical trials, the Company is exploring two additional potential indicia for the use of GM-CT-01 in combination with cancer chemotherapy. There are two additional pathways for the development of GM-CT-01 for use in treatment of cancer. GM-CT-01 was found to be generally safe when studied in a Phase I clinical trial in end-stage cancer patients with multiple tumor types alone and in combination with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), which is an Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved chemotherapy used for treatment of various types of cancer.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Galectin Therapeutics (GALT) offers drug research and development to create new therapies for fibrotic disease and cancer. This stock closed up 9.6% to $12.06 in Monday's trading session.

   

  Monday's Volume: 674,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 222,171
  
  Volume % Change: 149%

   

  Shares of GALT jumped higher on Monday after Ascendiant initiated coverage on the stock with a buy recommendation.

   

   

  From a technical perspective, GALT spiked sharply higher here with strong upside volume. This stock has been uptrending for the last three months, with shares ripping higher from its low of $3.95 to its recent high of $13.21. During that move, shares of GALT have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of GALT within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if GALT manages to take out Monday's high of $12.44 and then once it clears its 52-week high at $13.21 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GALT as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $11 or at $10 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 222,171 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then GALT will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $13.21, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $15 to $16.