Best Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) may have just telegraphed the peak of the growth trends in organic and high-priced groceries. For years we have argued that investors need to think of Whole foods as a luxury goods destination rather than being in an industry dominated by low-margin supermarket stores. Now Whole Foods is finding again that growing pains come in measured steps, and the trends elsewhere may have even started catching up to the company.

In the latest quarterly earnings report, Whole Foods showed that same-store sales were up a mere 5.9%. That is great for other chains, but investors demand more of this luxury food giant.

The latest quarterly earnings came to $121 million, or $0.32 per share. Revenue growth was only 2% to $2.98 billion. We had estimates pegged at $0.31 in earnings per share, but the revenue expectations were $3.04 billion. That 2% sales growth was represented as being from the 13-week period last year and an increase of 11% on a comparative 12-week basis, so growth is perhaps better than it sounds on the surface.

Hot Chemical Companies To Own In Right Now: Aerosonic Corporation(AIM)

Aerosonic Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aircraft instruments worldwide. It offers mechanical and digital altimeters, airspeed indicators, rate of climb indicators, microprocessor controlled air data test sets, and other flight instruments. The company also produces mechanical and electro-mechanical cockpit instruments, angle of attack stall warning systems, digital cockpit instruments, integrated flight display systems, aircraft sensors and monitoring systems, and integrated multifunction probes, such as integrated air data sensors. It markets its products to manufacturers of corporate and private jets, contractors of military jets, the United States government, and private aircraft owners. The company sells its products directly through its sales personnel, as well as through distributors and commissioned sales representatives who resell to aircraft operators. Aerosonic Corporation was founded in 1953 and is b ased in Clearwater, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katia Dmitrieva]

  Aimia (AIM) Inc.�� decision to move its Aeroplan reward-partnership to Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank is a blow to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which stands to lose customers and as much as C$3 billion ($2.9 billion) in credit-card balances.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Conn's Inc.(CONN)

Conn?s, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of home appliances, consumer electronics, home office equipment, lawn and garden products, mattresses, and furniture in the United States. Its home appliances products include refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers, ranges, and room air conditioners; consumer electronics products consist of LED, LCD, plasma, DLP and 3-D televisions, camcorders, digital cameras, Blu-ray and DVD players, video game equipment, portable audio, MP3 players, GPS devices, and home theater products; and furniture and mattresses include living room, bedroom, and dining room furniture. The company's products also comprise lawn and garden equipment, which includes lawn mowers, lawn tractors, and handheld equipment; and home office equipment, including computers, notebooks, and computer accessories. It also offers repair service agreements and customer credit programs, including installment and revolving credit account programs, and various credit insurance products. In addition, the company sells its products online. As of January 20, 2012, it operated 70 retail locations in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Beaumont, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy Legend has it that there's a list separating the naughty and nice kids this time of year. The same thing can be said about retailers, and only some are expected to be on Santa's good list this year. Let's go over some of the merchants that analysts predict will see double-digit revenue growth during retail's most important quarter. Michael Kors (KORS) -- Holiday quarter sales expected to rise 35 percent The hot name in designer handbags and accessories isn't Coach (COH) anymore. In fact, Coach saw sales and earnings dip slightly in its latest quarter. The luxury brand that folks clamor for these days is Kors. The average Kors store sold 23 percent more in its latest quarter than it did a year earlier, and that's exactly the kind of momentum that investors like to see heading into the critical holiday shopping season. Between expansion and store-level performance, Kors should be one of the biggest retail winners this quarter. Five Below (FIVE) -- Holiday quarter sales expected to rise 25 percent There are plenty of dollar stores out there, but this "cheap chic" hub sets the bar at $5 or less. The extra pricing wiggle room gives it more room to offer clothing, gadgets, and house wares that folks can actually use. Five Below's appeal stems largely from its fashion-forward focus. It's the "dollar" store that teens and young adults don't mind shopping at, and with just 276 stores out there Five Below still has plenty of expansion room to tackle. Conn's (CONN) -- Holiday quarter sales expected to rise 37 percent Consumer electronics isn't the growth industry that we many imagined it would be in this era of smartphones and tablets. Market leader Best Buy (BBY) isn't expected to grow holiday sales at all this quarter. Folks buying smartphones, tablets, and new video game consoles were the same ones buying pricier TVs and laptops in prior years. Conn's is different. Consumer electronics is just one of the many things that it's known for since it's a big pl

• [By Anna Prior]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Thursday’s session are Conn's Inc.(CONN), Francesca's Holdings Corp.(FRAN) and Aeropostale Inc.(ARO)

• [By Victor Nguyen]

  (c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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  Conn's Inc.(CONN) said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 57% behind sales growth in all the specialty retailer’s categories. The results fell short of expectations, but the specialty retailer said credit portfolio performance has improved since the quarter ended with delinquency declining. Shares rose 8.9% to $37.58 premarket.

Best Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Express-1 Expedited Solutions Inc.(XPO)

XPO Logistics, Inc. provides third-party logistics services using a network of relationships with ground, sea, and air carriers in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It operates in three segments: Express-1, Concert Group Logistics, and Bounce Logistics. The Express-1 segment offers ground expedited surface transportation services for freight. It operates a fleet ranging from cargo vans to semi tractor trailer units. The Concert Group Logistics segment provides domestic and international freight forwarding services through a network of independently owned stations. Its domestic freight forwarding services include air charter, expedites, and time sensitive services, as well as cost sensitive services comprising deferred delivery, less than truckload, and full truck load services; and international freight forwarding services consist of on-board courier and air charters, time sensitive services, less-than-container and full-container-loads, and vessel charters. This segm ent also offers documentation on international shipments, customs clearance and banking, trade show shipment management, time definite and customized product distributions, reverse logistics and on site asset recovery projects, installation coordination, freight optimization, and diversity compliance support services. The Bounce Logistics segment provides premium freight brokerage services for truckload shipments. The company serves approximately 4,000 retail, commercial, manufacturing, and industrial customers through 6 U.S. operations centers and 22 agent locations. It offers its services to the automotive manufacturing, automotive components and supplies, commercial printing, durable goods manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food and consumer products, and high tech sectors. The company was formerly known as Express-1 Expedited Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to XPO Logistics, Inc. in September 2011. XPO Logistics, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in Buchanan, Michi gan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO) shot up 7.06 percent to $30.01 after the company announced its plans to acquire Pacer International (NASDAQ: PACR) in a deal valued at $335 million.

• [By Vera Yuan]

  We initiated a new position in Aircastle Ltd. (AYR), an aircraft leasing company with a flexible business model and a rational capital allocation philosophy. We took advantage of an opportunity to purchase shares in the heavily capitalized Georgia bank State Bank Financial Corp. (STBZ) as the depressed stock price reflected investors��lack of patience with a slower than expected pace of capital deployment. We like State Bank�� management team led by Georgia banker Joe Evans. This management team has experience successfully building and selling other Georgia banks. We also received shares of transportation infrastructure company XPO Logistics, Inc. (XPO) as a result of its acquisition of holding Pacer International, Inc.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO  ) jumped 13% today after announcing an acquisition.

  So what: The company will pay $365 million for logistics provider 3PD, consisting of $357 million in cash an $8 million in XPO restricted stock. Is will use its own cash and borrow $195 million from Credit Suisse Group for the remainder of the purchase. �

Best Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: JMP Group Inc (JMP)

JMP Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an investment banking, asset management, and corporate credit management company in the United States. The company provides various investment banking products and services, such as capital raising, mergers and acquisitions transaction, and other strategic advisory services to corporate clients. It also offers sales and trading services, which include distributing equity research products, communicating proprietary investment recommendations, executing equity trades on behalf of institutional clients, and marketing the securities of companies, as well as related brokerage services to institutional investors. In addition, the company provides proprietary equity research in five industries, including consumer, financial services, healthcare, real estate, and technology industries. Further, it provides asset management products and services to institutional investors, and high net-worth individuals; and involves in the man agement of collateralized loan obligations. JMP Group Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California with additional offices in New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; and Alpharetta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Full-service investment banking, asset management and corporate credit management firm JMP Group (JMP) raised its quarterly dividend 13% to 4.5 cents per share, payable April 11 to shareholders of record as of March 28.
  JMP Dividend Yield: 2.41%

Best Supermarket Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rare Element Resources Ltd (REE)

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (Rare Element) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. The Company�� principal property is the Bear Lodge Property located in northeastern Wyoming, United States of America. The Bear Lodge Property consists of two projects: Bear Lodge Rare Earth Element Project (Bear Lodge REE Project) and the Sundance Gold Project. The Bear Lodge REE Project consists of the Bull Hill mine deposit, the Whitetail Ridge resource area, and the East Taylor and Carbon exploration targets. The Company holds interest in the Bear Lodge Property through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rare Element Resources, Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  Rare-earth materials have been in a slump and the companies in that sector are no different. Molycorp (NYSE: MCP  ) is down roughly 40% year to date, so the question remains: Is the stock finally cheap enough to buy. Furthermore, with the potential of a new rare-earth deposit in Wyoming going to competitor Rare Element Resources (NYSEMKT: REE  ) , Molycorp faces several challenges.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Not the time to bet on rare-earth materials
  There's no question that the rare-earth mineral space has peaked, and that it has a lot of questions to surmount. Despite Wall Street's euphoria over the stock, I'd be cautious about Molycorp and would definitely stay away from speculative rare-earth plays Rare Element Resources (NYSEMKT: REE  ) and Avalon Rare Metals (NYSEMKT: AVL  ) , who don't even have the revenue Molycorp is generating.