Top 5 Low Price Companies For 2015: Mackinac Financial Corporation(MFNC)
Mackinac Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for mBank that engages in commercial banking business. It offers interest bearing and non-interest bearing deposit products, including commercial and retail checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, individual retirement accounts, regular interest-bearing statement savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company?s loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans; commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; one-to-four family residential real estate loans; construction loans; and consumer loans. It operates 6 branch offices in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and 4 branch offices in Michigan?s Lower Peninsula; and also operates 10 automated teller machines. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Manistique, Michigan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Michigan-based bank holding company Mackinac Financial (MFNC) raised its quarterly dividend 25% to 5 cents per share, payable on Jan. 8 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30.
MFNC Dividend Yield: 2.1%
5 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: Regency Energy Partners LP (RGP)
Regency Energy Partners LP (the Partnership), incorporated on September 8, 2005, is engaged in the gathering and processing, contract compression, treating and transportation of natural gas and the transportation, fractionation and storage of natural gas liquids (NGLs). The Partnership operates in five business segments: Gathering and Processing, Joint Ventures, Contract Compression, Contract Treating, and Corporate and Others. Its assets are primarily located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia and the mid-continent region of the United States, which includes Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma. In May 2013, Regency Energy Partners LP closed the acquisition of Southern Union Gathering Company, LLC from Southern Union Company. In February 2014, Regency Energy Partners LP closed its acquisition of the midstream business of Hoover Energy Partners LP.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, Lone Star NGL LLC (Lone Star), a newly formed joint venture that is owned 70% by Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP) and 30% by the Partnership, acquired all of the membership interest in LDH Energy Asset Holdings LLC (LDH), a wholly owned subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy LLC. The Partnership focuses on providing midstream services in some of the most prolific natural gas producing regions in the United States, including the Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Barnett, Fayetteville, Marcellus, Bone Spring, and Avalon shales as well as the Permian Delaware basin and the mid-continent region. The Partnership provides wellhead-to-market services to producers of natural gas, which include transporting raw natural gas from the wellhead through gathering systems, processing raw natural gas to separate NGLs and selling or delivering the pipeline natural gas and NGLs to various markets and pipeline systems.
The Partnership owns and operates a fleet of compressors used to provide turn-key natural gas compression services for customer specific syst! ems. The Partnership owns and operates a fleet of equipment used to provide treating services, such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide removal, natural gas cooling, dehydration and BTU management, to natural gas producers and midstream pipeline companies.
Gathering and Processing Operations
The Partnership operates gathering and processing assets in four geographic regions of the United States: north Louisiana, the mid-continent region of the United States, south Texas and west Texas. The Partnership�� north Louisiana assets gather, compress, treat and dehydrate natural gas in five Parishes (Claiborne, Union, DeSoto, Lincoln and Ouachita) of north Louisiana and Shelby County, Texas. Its assets also include two cryogenic natural gas processing facilities, a refrigeration plant located in Bossier Parish, a conditioning plant located in Webster Parish, an amine treating plant in DeSoto Parish, and an amine treating plant in Lincoln Parish. The Partnership�� south Texas assets gather, compress, treat and dehydrate natural gas in LaSalle, Webb, Karnes, Atascosa, McMullen, Frio and Dimmitt counties. The pipeline systems that gather this gas are connected to third-party processing plants and its treating facilities that include an acid gas reinjection well located in McMullen County, Texas.
One of the Partnership�� treating plants consists of inlet gas compression, a 60 one million cubic feet per day amine treating unit, a 55 one million cubic feet per day amine treating unit and a 40 ton (per day) liquid sulfur recovery unit. In January 2012, it completed an expansion of the treating plant, adding an incremental 20 one million cubic feet per day of treating capacity to the facility. The Partnership owns a 60% interest in ELG that includes a treating plant in Atascosa County with a 500 gallons per minute amine treater, pipeline interconnect facilities and approximately 13 miles of ten inch diameter pipeline. Talisman Energy USA Inc. and Statoil Texas Onshore Pro! perties L! P own the remaining 40% interest. It operates this plant and the pipeline for the joint venture while its joint venture partner operates a lean gas gathering system in the Edwards Lime natural gas trend that delivers to this system.
The Partnership�� west Texas gathering system assets offer wellhead-to-market services to producers in Ward, Winkler, Reeves, and Pecos counties, which surround the Waha Hub. The NGL market outlets include Lone Star's west Texas NGL pipeline. It offers producers four different levels of natural gas compression on the Waha gathering system. The Waha processing plant is a cryogenic natural gas processing plant that processes raw natural gas gathered in the Waha gathering system. The Waha processing plant also includes an amine treating facility, which removes carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide from raw natural gas gathered before moving the natural gas to the processing plant.
The Partnership�� mid-continent region includes natural gas gathering systems located primarily in Kansas and Oklahoma. Its mid-continent gathering assets are extensive systems that gather, compress and dehydrate low-pressure gas from approximately 1,500 wells. These systems are geographically concentrated, with each central facility located within 90 miles of the others. The Partnership also owns the Hugoton gathering system that has approximately 1,875 miles of pipeline extending over nine counties in Kansas and Oklahoma. This system is operated by a third party. Its mid-continent systems are located in two natural gas producing regions in the United States, the Hugoton Basin in southwest Kansas and the Anadarko Basin in western Oklahoma.
Joint Ventures Operations
The Partnership owns investments in four joint ventures: a 49.99% general partner interest in RIGS Haynesville Partnership Co., a general partnership, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Regency Intrastate Gas LP (HPC); a 50% membership interest in MEP; a 30% membership interest in Lone St! ar, and a! 33.33% membership interest in Ranch JV. HPC owns RIGS, a 450-mile intrastate pipeline that delivers natural gas from northwest Louisiana to downstream pipelines and markets. MEP owns an interstate natural gas pipeline with approximately 500 miles stretching from southeast Oklahoma through northeast Texas, northern Louisiana and central Mississippi to an interconnect with the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line system in Butler, Alabama. Lone Star is an entity owning a diverse set of midstream energy assets, including NGL pipelines, storage, fractionation and processing facilities located in the states of Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Contract Compression Operations
The natural gas contract compression segment services include designing, sourcing, owning, installing, operating, servicing, repairing and maintaining compressors and related equipment. These field-wide applications include compression for natural gas gathering and natural gas processing. The Partnership�� contract compression operations are primarily located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and California.
Contract Treating Operations
The Partnership owns and operates a fleet of equipment used to provide treating services, such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide removal, natural gas cooling, dehydration and BTU management, to natural gas producers and midstream pipeline companies. Its contract treating operations are primarily located in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
The Company competes with PELICO Pipeline, LLC (Pelico), ETP, KMP, Chesapeake Midstream Partners, L.P., Enterprise Products Partners LP, DCP Midstream Partners, L.P., Copano Energy, L.L.C, Southern Union Gas Services, Targa Resources Partners L.P., ONEOK Partners L.P., Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P., CenterPoint Energy Transmission, Gulf South Pipeline, L.P., Texas Gas Transmission, LLC, Gulf Crossing Pipeline, Centerpoint Energy Gas Transmission and Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America, Ext! erran Hol! dings, Inc., Compressor Systems, Inc., USA Compression, Valerus Compression Services LP, J-W Energy Company, TransTex Gas Services, LP, Cardinal Midstream LLC, SouthTex Treaters, Interstate Treating Inc., Thomas Russell Co. and Spartan Energy Group.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier]
There were six MLP questions remaining at the end of the chat that required an extended answer, or a bit more research. This week I will answer three: one on the MLP Parity Act, another on Regency Energy Partners (NYSE: RGP) and Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE: SPH), and finally one on Golar LNG Partners (Nasdaq: GMLP).
5 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: Datalink Corporation(DTLK)
Datalink Corporation data center solutions and services to mid and large-size companies in the United States. It engages in assessing, designing, deploying, and supporting infrastructures, such as servers, storage, and networks; and reselling hardware and software from original equipment manufacturers. The company?s portfolio of solutions and services comprise consolidation and virtualization services; data storage and protection services, including local and remote backup, disaster recovery, archive, and compliance services; advanced network infrastructure services that includes assessment, design, and deployment of network infrastructures; and business continuity and disaster recovery solutions. It also offers a suite of practice-specific consulting, analysis, design, implementation, management, and support services. Datalink Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
Datalink Corp.(DTLK), a provider of data-center infrastructure and service, boosted its fourth-quarter earnings outlook amid expectations that its revenue will be stronger than previously anticipated. Shares surged 31% to $14.20 premarket.
5 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: UBS AG (UBS)
UBS AG, incorporated on February 28, 1978, is a client-focused financial services company that offers a combination of wealth management, asset management and investment banking services on a global and regional basis. UBS AG is the parent company of the UBS Group (Group).The operational structure of the Company consists of the Corporate Center and four business divisions: Wealth Management & Swiss Bank, Wealth Management Americas, Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated about 877 business and banking locations worldwide, of which about 42% were in Switzerland, 42% in the Americas, 11% in the rest of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and 5% in Asia-Pacific. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it completed acquisitions in Global Asset Management and in the equities business of the Investment Bank. In November 2011, investment management responsibility for a private equity fund of funds was transferred to Global Asset Management from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank. In October 2011, Global Asset Management acquired ING Investment Management Limited business in Australia. In July 2011, the infrastructure and private equity fund of funds businesses were transferred from its alternative and quantitative investment area to its infrastructure investment area. In January 2011, investment management responsibility for a multi-manager alternative fund was transferred to Global Asset Management from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank.
Wealth Management
Wealth Management provides wealthy private clients with financial advice, products and tools to fit their individual needs. As of December 31, 2011, Wealth Management had presence in over 40 countries and approximately 200 wealth management and representative offices, half of which are outside Switzerland, mostly in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. During 2011, the Company had CHF 750 billion of invested assets. The Company offers products and services to private! clients, focusing in particular on the ultra-high-net-worth (clients with investable assets of more than CHF 50 million) and high-net-worth client segments (clients with investable assets between CHF 2 million and CHF 50 million). In addition, it also provides wealth management solutions, products and services to financial intermediaries. Wealth Management has a presence in over 40 countries and approximately 200 wealth management and representative offices, half of which are outside Switzerland, mostly in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
The Company�� Global Financial Intermediaries (Global FIM) business serves approximately 1,700 asset managers. It provides its clients with the financial advice, products and tools. The Company�� clients can trade a range of financial instruments from single securities, such as equities and bonds, to various investment funds, structured products and alternative investments. Additionally, it offers structured lending, corporate finance and wealth planning advice on client needs, such as funding for education, inheritance and succession. For its ultra high net worth clients, it offers institutional-like servicing that provides access to its Investment Bank and Global Asset Management offerings. Wealth Management also gives clients access to the knowledge, and product and service offerings from Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank, complemented by an open product platform providing access to an array of products from third-party providers.
The Company competes with Credit Suisse, Julius Bar, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays and Unicredit.
Retail & Corporate
The Company delivers financial products and services to its retail, corporate and institutional clients. The Retail & Corporate unit is a core element of UBS Switzerland�� universal bank delivery model. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a network of around 300 branches, 1,250 automated teller machines! , self-se! rvice terminals and customer service centers, alongside e-banking and mobile banking. The Company�� retail clients have access to offering, including cash accounts, payments, savings and retirement solutions, investment fund products, residential mortgages, as well as life insurance and advisory services. It provides financing solutions to its corporate clients, offering access to capital markets (equity and debt capital), syndicated and structured credit, private placements, leasing and traditional financing. The Company�� transaction banking offers solutions for payments and cash management services, trade and export finance, receivable finance, as well as global custody solutions to institutional clients.
The Company competes with Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen and PostFinance.
Wealth Management Americas
Wealth Management Americas provides advice-based relationships through its financial advisors, who deliver a range of wealth management solutions. On December 31, 2011, the business division had CHF 709 billion in invested assets. Wealth Management Americas consisted of branch networks in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, with 6,967 financial advisors as of 31 December 2011. Most corporate and operational functions of the business division are located in the home office in Weehawken, New Jersey. In the United States and Puerto Rico, Wealth Management Americas operates through direct and indirect subsidiaries of UBS AG. Securities and operations activities are conducted primarily through two broker-dealers, UBS Financial Services Inc. and UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico. Its banking services in the United States include those conducted through the UBS AG branches and UBS Bank USA, a federally regulated Utah bank, which provides Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured deposit accounts. It includes the domestic US business, the domestic Canadian business and international business booked in the United States.
Ca! nadian we! alth management and banking operations are conducted through UBS Bank (Canada). The Company�� include wealth accumulation and preservation, income generation and portfolio diversification. The Company�� advisors work closely with internal consultants in areas, such as wealth planning, portfolio strategy, retirement and annuities, alternative investments, managed structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income accounts, structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income retirement and annuities, alternative investments, managed accounts, structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income. It also offers lending and cash management services, such as securities-backed lending, the resource management account, FDIC-insured deposits, mortgages and credit cards. For corporate and institutional clients, it offers a range of solutions, including equity compensation, administration, investment consulting, defined benefit and contribution programs and cash management services. It offers a range of equity and fixed income instruments.
The Company competes with Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
Global Asset Management
The Company serves third-party institutional and wholesale clients and the clients of UBS�� wealth management businesses. The Company�� fund services unit, a global fund administration business, provides professional services, including legal fund set-up, accounting and reporting. Invested assets totaled CHF 574 billion and assets under administration were CHF 375 billion on December 31, 2011. Global Asset Management serves third-party institutional and wholesale clients, and the clients of UBS�� wealth management businesses. Global Asset Management�� business lines include traditional investments (equities, fixed income and global investment solutions); alternative and quantitative investments; global real estate; infrastructure and private equity, and fund services.
Global ! investment solutions offer asset allocation, currency, multi-manager, structured solutions, risk advisory and strategic investment advisory services. Alternative and quantitative investments has two primary business lines-Alternative Investment Solutions (AIS) and O��onnor. AIS offers a range of hedge fund solutions and advisory services, including multi-manager strategies. O��onnor is a provider of single-manager global hedge funds. Global real estate manages real estate investments globally and regionally within Asia, Europe, Switzerland and the United States. Infrastructure and private equity manages direct infrastructure investment and multi-manager infrastructure and private equity strategies for both institutional and high net worth investors. Infrastructure asset management manages direct investments in core infrastructure assets worldwide. Fund services, the global fund administration business, provides professional services, including legal set-up, reporting and accounting for retail and institutional investment funds, hedge funds and other alternative products.The Company competes with Fidelity Investments, AllianceBernstein Investments, BlackRock, JP Morgan Asset Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Investment Bank
The Investment Bank provides a range of products and services in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities to corporate and institutional clients, sovereign and government bodies, financial intermediaries, alternative asset managers and UBS�� wealth management clients. The Investment Bank has three business areas: equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC), and the investment banking department. The Company operates through branches and subsidiaries of UBS AG. Securities activities in the United States are conducted through UBS Securities LLC, a broker-dealer. Securities research provides investment analysis across a range of asset classes of more than 3,400 companies worldwide.
The ! Company p! articipates in the primary and secondary markets for cash equity and equity-related products, including listed options, structured products, equity-linked securities, swaps, futures and over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts. Cash equities provide clients with liquidity, investment advisory, trade execution and related consultancy services. It offers trade execution for single stocks and portfolios, including capital commitment, block trading, small-cap execution and commission management services. In addition, it also provides clients with a range of electronic trading algorithms and analytical tools. Derivatives and equity-linked provides a range of flow, structured, synthetic and equity-linked products with worldwide access to primary and secondary markets.
Prime services offer brokerage business, including clearing and custody, capital consultancy, financing, securities lending and equity swaps execution. The FICC business area delivers products and solutions to corporate, institutional and public-sector clients in all markets, as well as to private clients via targeted intermediaries. Macro consists of the foreign exchange, money market and interest rate sales and trading businesses, as well as cash and collateral trading. It provides a range of foreign exchange, precious metals, treasury, and liquidity management solutions to institutional and private clients via targeted intermediaries. Credit sales and trading consists of the origination, underwriting, trading and distribution of cash and synthetic products across the credit spectrum - bonds, derivatives, notes and loans.
The investment banking department provides advice and a range of capital markets execution services to corporate clients, financial institutions, financial sponsors, sovereign clients and hedge funds. The Company also provides liquidity in local markets across foreign exchange, credit, rates and structured products. The advisory group assists in acquisitions and sale processes, and also advises on! reviews ! and corporate restructuring solutions. Global capital markets is a joint venture with the securities business. It offers financing and advisory services that cover all forms of capital raising, as well as risk management solutions. Global leveraged finance provides event-driven (acquisition, leveraged buyout) loans, and bond and mezzanine leveraged finance to corporate clients and financial sponsors.
The Company competes with Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]
UBS, a financial services firm, provides wealth management, asset management, and investment banking products and services worldwide. The company might not reach its profit goals in 2015 since Swiss authorities demanded that they set aside more funds for litigation. The stock has been in a range over the last five years, however, it’s currently near highs for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been decreasing while revenues have been increasing, which has produced mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, USB has been a relative performance leader year-to-date. Look for UBS to OUTPERFORM.
- [By Mark Thompson]
The vote means that Swiss-based executives at companies such as UBS, (UBS) Credit Suisse (CREDIT SUISSE AG), Novartis (NVS)or Glencore Xstrata (GLCNF), will still be able to earn salaries worth more in a month than their lowest paid workers make in a year.
- [By Jayson Derrick]
U.S. authorities are investigating UBS (NYSE: UBS) over possible money laundering and tax fraud in France. Shares gained 1.32 percent, closing at $18.48.
- [By Alanna Petroff]
"There's a fundamental earnings recovery story in Europe that U.S. investors find quite compelling," said Gareth McCartney, a London-based managing director at UBS (UBS).
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