Top 5 Consumer Companies For 2014

The same item can cost as much as 55% more depending on which Walgreens location you choose, a new study found.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Shop at the wrong Walgreens and you could end up paying significantly more than if you'd bought the exact same items at a store on the other side of town, a recent study found.

While some price variation occurs at Rite Aid (RAD, Fortune 500) and CVS (CVS, Fortune 500), Walgreens (WAG, Fortune 500) was the worst offender, with a single item costing as much as 55% more depending on a store's location, according to a study of 485 drugstore locations in New York, Los Angeles, Orange County, Calif., and Dallas-Forth Worth by the National Consumers League and labor union coalition Change to Win.

The study was based on the listed prices for a basket of 25 items, ranging from Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice to Huggies "Little Movers" diapers. Depending on the city, the chain was up to five times more likely to have store locations in the same market that charged different prices.

Top Financial Stocks To Buy Right Now: Miller Industries Inc. (MLR)

Miller Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells vehicle towing and recovery equipment. The company offers wreckers, such as conventional tow trucks and recovery vehicles used to recover and tow disabled vehicles and other equipment; and car carriers, which are specialized flat-bed vehicles with hydraulic tilt mechanisms used to transport new or disabled vehicles and other equipment. It also provides transport trailers for moving multiple vehicles, auto auctions, car dealerships, leasing companies, and other similar applications. The company sells its products under the brand names of Century, Vulcan, Challenger, Holmes, Champion, Chevron, Eagle, Titan, Jige, and Boniface. Miller Industries offers its products through independent distributors and prime contractors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, South America, and Africa. The company was founded in 1994 and is based in Ooltewah, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  There's no foolproof way to know the future for Miller Industries (NYSE: MLR  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Vehicle towing and recovery equipment manufacturer Miller Industries (MLR) raised its quarterly dividend 7.1% to 15 cents per share, payable March 24 to shareholders of record as of March 17.
  MLR Dividend Yield: 3.11%

Top 5 Consumer Companies For 2014: Rite Aid Corp (RAD)

Rite Aid Corporation, incorporated in 1968, is a retail drugstore chain in the United States. As of March 3, 2012, the Company operated drugstores in 31 states across the country and in the District of Columbia. As of March 3, 2012, it operated 4,667 stores. In the Company�� stores, it sells prescription drugs and a range of other merchandise, which it calls front end products. During the fiscal year ended March 3, 2012 (fiscal 2012), prescription drug sales accounted for 68.1% of its total sales. The Company carries a range of front end products, which accounted for 31.9% of its total sales in fiscal 2012. Front end products include over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise and other everyday and convenience products, as well as photo processing. It offers a variety of products under its private brands, which contributed approximately 17% of its front end sales in the categories where private brand products were offered in fiscal 2012. As of March 3, 2012, the Company had opened over 2,100 GNC stores-within-Rite Aid-stores. During fiscal 2012, the Company sold two owned operating stores to independent third parties.

During fiscal 2012, its stores filled approximately 295 million prescriptions and served an average of 2.1 million customers per day. The overall average size of each store in its chain is approximately 12,600 square feet. As of March 3, 2012, 60% of its stores were freestanding; 51% of its stores included a drive-thru pharmacy; 24% included one-hour photo shops, and 46% included a GNC store-within-Rite Aid-store. The Company�� customers may also order prescription refills over the Internet through www.riteaid.com, or over the phone through its telephonic automated refill systems for pick up at a Rite Aid store. It has a strategic alliance with GNC, a retailer of vitamin and mineral supplements.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jack Kramer and Nick Martell]

  3. Rite Aid boasts healthy earnings
  Rite Aid is back and announced its second straight annual profit after six years of horrible losses. Rite Aid's� (NYSE: RAD  ) �stock climbed 8.4% after the company announced $55 million in earnings between December and March and a total profit of $249 million for the year.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  I went out on a limb last week, and now it's time to see how that decision played out.

  I predicted that Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD  ) would close higher on the week. I thought the turnaround story at the drugstore chain has been validated with every passing quarter, and even though the stock was already at a five-year high, I believed that Thursday's quarterly report would be enough to push the retailer higher. Rite Aid did come through with better-than -xpected results, but it's hard to impress the market when the Dow is getting slammed. After closing higher on Monday, Rite Aid shares proceeded to head lower every single day after that. I was wrong. I predicted that the tech-heavy Nasdaq would outperform the Dow Jones Industrial Average. (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) . This has been a tricky call lately, so how did it play out this time? Well, the market closed sharply lower this week. The Nasdaq moved 1.9% lower, but the Dow managed to close just 1.8% lower. I was wrong. My final call was for Kroger (NYSE: KR  ) to beat Wall Street's income estimates in its latest quarter. The supermarket operator has been posting blowout quarterly results over the past year, and I was banking on seeing the trend continue. Analysts were looking for a profit of $0.88 a share during the quarter, and it came through with net income of $0.92 a share. I was right.

  One out of three? Bummer! I can do better than that.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  2013 has been a phenomenal year for shareholders in Rite Aid (RAD). Shares of the retail pharmacy chain have rallied more than 278% since the first trading session of the year. But that's not all. The setup in shares points to higher highs in store for this drugstore in the near-term.

  That's because RAD is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish price setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $5.50 and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as Rite Aid bounces in between those two technically-important price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $5.50 level. When the breakout happens, it's time to become a buyer.

  The descending triangle pattern is the bearish opposite of an ascending triangle. It's formed by a downtrending resistance level above shares, and horizontal support to the downside. A breakdown below support, currently right below $5, is the signal that it's time to sell or short shares.

  In the last few months, that $5 mark has acted as a last bastion of buying pressure for SAND. But if shares suddenly can't catch a bid below that level, then we'll likely see much lower levels before all is said and done.

  Don't try to call a bottom on SAND. That's a good way to get positioned on the wrong side of a falling stock.

• [By Reuters]

  Julio Cortez/AP NEW YORK -- Many U.S. retailers had to ramp up promotions last month as shoppers continued to watch their spending during the holiday season, hitting profits at several chains. L Brands (LB) cut its earnings forecast for the holiday quarter Thursday after reporting disappointing December sales at its Victoria Secret and La Senza chains. The company said it had to offer more deals than expected, the second month in a row it has had to do so. Family Dollar Stores (FDO) and teen retailer Zumiez (ZUMZ), which both reported sales declines for December, also slashed their profit forecasts. Even retailers that saw big sales gains, such as Kay Jewelers parent Signet Jewelers (SIG), weren't spared. "Additional discounting was necessary in a highly promotional retail environment," Signet Chief Executive Officer Mike Barnes said in a statement. A group of nine U.S. retailers in the Thomson Reuters same-store sales index are expected Thursday to report a sales rise of 1.9 percent in December at stores open at least a year, well below the 7.2 percent increase of a year earlier. Including drugstore chains Walgreen (WAG) and Rite Aid (RAD), analysts estimate the rise at 2.7 percent. Gap (GPS) will report after the markets close Thursday. Faced with reticent shoppers worried about their job prospects and modest economic growth, retailers offered more discounts during the holiday season than a year earlier. Between Nov. 3 and Jan. 4, eight retailers, including Walmart Stores (WMT), Target (T) and Macy's (M) , increased the number of circulars published by 6 percent and sent 57 percent more promotional emails, according to data prepared for Reuters by MarketTrack. Retailers also had to deal with shoppers who were less willing to go into stores: Data firm ShopperTrak this week said foot traffic had dropped 14.6 percent this holiday season. Walgreen, whose comparable sales of general merchandise rose 2.5 percent in December, said fewer shoppers had com

Top 5 Consumer Companies For 2014: Weyco Group Inc.(WEYS)

Weyco Group, Inc. engages in the distribution of men?s foot wear primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia, and South Africa. It offers casual, dress, and fashion shoes. The company offers its products under the brand names of Florsheim, Nunn Bush, Stacy Adams, Umi, Brass Boot, and Nunn Bush NXXT. Weyco Group sells its products to shoe specialty stores, department stores, and clothing retailers. As of December 31, 2010, it owned 35 retail stores in the United States and an Internet business. The company was formerly known as Weyenberg Shoe Manufacturing Company and changed its name to Weyco Group, Inc. in April 1990. Weyco Group, Inc. was founded in 1896 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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 Weyco Group (Nasdaq: WEYS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 5 Consumer Companies For 2014: SLM Corp (ISM)

SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae), incorporated on February 3, 1997, is a holding company. It operates in three business segments: Consumer Lending, Business Services and FFELP Loans. The fourth segment includes Other. The Company�� primary business is to originate, service and collect loans it makes to students and their families to finance the cost of their education. It uses Private Education Loans to mean education loans to students or their families that are non-federal loans and loans not insured or guaranteed under the previously existing Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). It also provides servicing, loan default aversion and defaulted loan collection services for loans owned by other institutions, including the United States Department of Education (ED), as well as processing capabilities to educational institutions and 529 college-savings plan programs. It also operates a consumer savings network that provides financial rewards on everyday purchases to help families save for college. On May 7, 2013, Higher One Holdings, Inc. acquired Sallie Mae�� Campus Solutions business.

The Company is a holder, servicer and collector of loans made under the previously existing FFELP. The majority of its income continues to be derived, directly or indirectly, from its portfolio of FFELP Loans and servicing it provides for FFELP Loans.

Consumer Lending Segment

The Company originates, acquires, finances and services Private Education Loans. In this segment, the Company earns net interest income on the Private Education Loan portfolio, as well as servicing fees, consisting primarily of late fees. The Bank is also a key component of its Upromise Rewards and college-savings product businesses.

Business Services Segment

The Company�� Business Services segment generates the majority of its revenue from servicing its FFELP Loan portfolio and from performing servicing, default aversion and contingency collections work on behalf of Guaranto! rs of FFELP Loans and other institutions. During the year ended December 31, 2012, its FFELP-related revenues accounted for 76% of total Business Services segment revenues. Since 1997, the Company has provided collection services on defaulted student loans to ED. Upromise generates revenue by providing program management services for 529 college-savings plans with assets in 31 college-savings plans in 16 states, as of December 31, 2012. It also generates transaction fees through its Upromise consumer savings network; through December 31, 2012, members have earned rewards by purchasing products at hundreds of online retailers, booking travel, purchasing a home, dining out, buying gas and groceries, using the Upromise World MasterCard, or completing other qualified transactions. It earns a fee for the marketing and administrative services it provides to companies that participate in the Upromise savings network.

FFELP Loans Segment

The Company�� FFELP Loans segment consists of its FFELP Loan portfolio and the underlying debt and capital funding the loans. It seeks to acquire FFELP Loan portfolios.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Much like the first three months of the year, the second quarter served up a mixture of good and bad economic news. On April 3, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) announced its nonmanufacturing index fell to 54.4, a seven month low. Higher taxes and federal budget cuts were purported to blame for the slowdown. Two days later on the first Friday of the month, the Labor Department released disappointing March employment numbers: Employers added only 88,000 new jobs, fewer than any month in the past year (though the number was later revised up to 142,000). The unemployment rate dropped to 7.6%, but only because an estimated almost half million people left the workforce in March. On a more encouraging note, housing starts in March rose 7.0% to an annual rate of 1,036,000 (later revised to 1,005,000) and new home sales climbed 1.5% (revised to 1.3%) to 417,000 annualized (revised to 451,000), the second highest jump in three years. Despite the mixed signals, the U.S. equity market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, rose a modest 1.9% in April.