Best Clean Energy Companies To Invest In 2014

Stocks finished the week on the plus side, as the Dow hit a new high, and the broader market held its own against more bearish investors who are arguing more forcefully that the long bull market has to come to an end at some point. Several stocks helped to build some excitement for market participants, and Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE  ) , Universal Display (NASDAQ: OLED  ) , and Nuverra Environmental Solutions (NYSE: NES  ) were among the best-performing stocks in the market Friday.

Source: Clean Energy Fuels.

Clean Energy Fuels jumped 12% as the natural-gas fueling station network operator reported much better conditions in its business than investors had expected. A 24% jump in gallons delivered helped reverse sluggishness in earlier quarters, and even though gains in dollar-value revenue were limited, adjusted sales soared 43% once you take out one-time items from the previous year. The expiration of crucial tax credits had a big impact on Clean Energy Fuels' income statement, reversing a year-ago profit, and raising questions about whether the company can get back to break-even levels quickly. For now, though, investors seem satisfied with Clean Energy Fuels' strategy to emphasize rising volume and station expansion.

Best Clean Energy Companies To Invest In 2014: Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS)

Universal Health Services, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, behavioral health centers, surgical hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and radiation oncology centers. The company�s hospitals offer various services comprising general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services. As of February 24, 2012, it owned and/or operated 25 acute care hospitals and 198 behavioral health centers located in 36 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Washington, D.C. The company also operates six surgical hospitals, and surgery and radiation oncology centers located in four states and Puerto Rico. Universal Health Services, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  UnitedHealth�(UNH), Aetna�(AET) and WellPoint�(WLP) — the three largest managed-care insurers, as measured by market capitalization — are all up more than 30% year-to-date to outperform the S&P 500. And hospital operators like Health Management Associates (HMA) and Universal Health Services (UHS) are up big this year, too.

Best Clean Energy Companies To Invest In 2014: Biomerieux SA (BIM)

Biomerieux SA is a France-based company that specializes in the field of in-vitro diagnostics for medical and industrial applications. The Company designs, develops, manufactures and sells systems used in clinical applications, such as for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, respiratory infections, among others and industrial applications, such as for the analysis of industrial or environmental samples. The Company also provides its customers with related services for the installation and maintenance of instruments, and training for product users. BioMerieux SA operates through its numerous subsidiaries in various countires, such as bioMerieux Deutschland GmbH, bioMerieux Austria GmbH, bioMerieux Benelux SA/NV, among others. In January 2014, it acquired 100% stake in BioFire Diagnostics Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  BioMerieux (BIM) jumped 3.8 percent to 76.53 euros, the largest gain in eight months. The French maker of tests for HIV and hepatitis reported sales for the first half of 754 million euros and confirmed its revenue-growth forecast.

Hot Sliver Stocks To Buy For 2015: Ishares Ftse Kld 400 Social Index Fund (DSI)

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares FTSE KLD 400 Social Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index (the Index). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the equity performance of the United States companies. The Index consists of approximately 400 companies identified by MSCI from the universe of companies included in the MSCI USA IMI Index, which consists of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ Stock Market LLC listed United States equities. The Fund�� investment advisor is BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Efficiency measures at Schlumberger have included faster maintenance, better transportation set ups, and increases in asset turns. The company reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)—a measure of how long it takes to get paid after a sale—to 91 in the quarter, from 96 in the first quarter of 2013. Days Sales of Inventory (DSI)—a measure of how much inventory a company carries to support its sales activities—fell to 55 days from 57 days. That helped produce operating cash flow of $10 billion for Schlumberger in 2013, a record for the company.

• [By Editor , ETFChannel.com]

  According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, Weyerhaeuser Co. is a member of the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social Index Fund ETF (DSI), making up 0.25% of the underlying holdings of the fund, which owns $861,262 worth of WY shares.

Best Clean Energy Companies To Invest In 2014: The Blackstone Group L.P.(BX)

The Blackstone Group, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides alternative asset management and financial advisory services worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund Solutions, Credit Businesses, and Financial Advisory. The Private Equity segment involves in private equity investing through five general private equity funds and one specialized fund focusing on communications-related investments. This segment engages in various transactions comprising leveraged buyout acquisitions of seasoned companies, transactions involving growth equity or start-up businesses in established industries, minority investments, corporate partnerships, distressed debt, structured securities, and industry consolidations. The Real Estate segment manages general opportunistic real estate funds and internationally focused opportunistic real estate funds. This segment also has debt investment funds targeting non-controlling real estate debt-rel ated investment opportunities in the public and private markets, primarily in the United States and Europe. The Hedge Fund Solutions segment manages funds of hedge funds, and Indian-focused and Asian-focused closed-end mutual funds. The Credit Businesses segment manages credit-oriented funds, CLOs, credit-focused separately managed accounts, and publicly registered debt-focused investment companies. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial and strategic advisory, including corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions advice; restructuring and reorganization advisory; and fund placement services for alternative investment funds. Blackstone Group Management L.L.C. operates as the general partner of the company. The Blackstone Group, L.P. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Morgan Housel]

  Stephen Schwarzman, CEO, Blackstone� (NYSE: BX  ) :

  So you're seeing a lot of strength in housing, and it's coming from almost every place geographically ... So that's sort of the big winner. Auto and that whole complex is a big winner. They're doing over 15 million cars this year, up from 8.5 at the bottom. And then you have the energy complex, which is really, really a revolution. This is hard to underestimate the impact of energy and all the natural gas that's being produced and all the subsidiary types of things that come from that activity. And if you add on top of that, technology which is still a very big pocket of strength and quite robust in the United States, you've got some really good stuff happening.

• [By Will Ashworth]

  If you look at the major publicly traded investment managers who invest in private equity ��Blackstone Group (BX), KKR (KKR), Apollo Global Management (APO) and Carlyle Group (CG) ��you��l notice that all but Fortress have stock prices in the $20s and $30s. FIG is one of those cheap stocks that�� traded below $10 since September 2008. It went public at $18.50 in February of that year, hitting its all-time high of $37 in its first day of trading. It�� been downhill ever since.

• [By Dan Burrows]

  Indeed, while other energy majors are scaling back and selling assets, TOT is investing in its upstream portfolio, with new or accelerating efforts everywhere from Africa to Canada. That should keep Total’s total returns flowing.

  Blackstone (BX)

  Dividend Yield: 7.4%
  1-Year Total Return: 58%

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Private-equity firm Blackstone Group L.P(BX). plans to trim its ownership stake in SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.(SEAS) by 15 million shares, following the theme-park operator’s public listing in April. The stock sale would cut Blackstone’s ownership to 46%, not including an underwriter option, resulting in SeaWorld no longer being a “controlled company” under New York Stock Exchange governing standards.