Top 5 Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014

Getty Images

Even though Merck doesn’t plan an international marriage to cut its tax bill, its shares are rallying today on solid results in the latest quarter.

Merck�(MRK) stock is up 2% today after�Merck reported second-quarter earnings per share of 85 cents, better than the 81 cents analysts expected, according to Thomson I/B/E/S data.

Here are insights on the conference call that ensued, from�ISI’s biotech and pharmaceutical industry analyst�Mark Schoenbaum,�paraphrased:

Merck wants “bolt-ons” acquisitions (like Idenix Pharmaceuticals (IDIX)) versus big purchases. Moreover, it is not interested in a deal primarily or solely for tax inversion purposes … �[That's not ruling out the possibility of buying a foreign company to avoid U.S. taxes, but the language seems contrary to the foreign-merger possibilities for other healthcare companies, including�Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), Actavis (ACT), Pfizer (PFE), AbbVie (ABBV), Medtronic (MDT) and even�Walgreen (WAG).] Merck sees a “high likelihood” of success for the four-week Hepatitis C regimen from C-SWIFT when presented at a medical conference this fall. (The combo treatment includes Gilead’s Sovaldi, already on the market, and a Merck regimen.) The company sees “lots of opportunities” to possibly accelerate Food & Drug Administration filings for an experimental immuno-oncology drug for lung cancer patients. It’s excited about the expected Aug. 14 FDA decision on insomnia drug Suvorexant. (Wall Street is bearish on commercial prospects.) Merck expects U.S. volume growth for diabetes drug Januvia (which is roughly 25% of earnings) in the second half of 2014.

For healthcare investing ideas and insight on so-called tax inversions, see the Barrons.com Q&A with Andy Acker, manager of the Janus Global Life Sciences Fund (JAGLX): “Undervalued Biotech Stocks Help Fund Beat the Index,” July 29. (Subscription required) One insight from Acker:

Best Building Product Stocks For 2015: AutoCanada Inc (ACQ)

AutoCanada Inc. (AutoCanada) is a multi-location automobile dealership groups. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 24 franchised dealerships in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its dealerships sold approximately 28,000 vehicles and processed approximately 300,000 service and collision repair orders in its 333 service bays. As of December 31, 2011, it was authorized to sell through its dealerships the vehicle brands, which include Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, Hyundai, Nissan, Infiniti, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Subaru. In addition, it sells a range of used vehicles. In November 2011, the Company acquired assets of two dealerships. In January 2013, the Company purchased the assets of a Volkswagen dealership known as People's Automotive Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Greg Quinn]

  AutoCanada Inc. (ACQ), the country�� largest publicly traded chain of car dealerships, is using sales of trucks to Alberta oil workers to fund higher dividends and buy out competitors.

Top 5 Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014: Darling International Inc. (DAR)

Darling International Inc. provides rendering, recycling, and recovery solutions to the food industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Rendering and Restaurant Services. The Rendering segment engages in collecting and processing animal by-products and converting these into useable oils and proteins utilized by the agricultural, leather, and oleo-chemical industries. This segment offers various products, such as meat and bone meal, and bleachable fancy tallow. The Restaurant Services segment involves in the collection of used cooking oils from food service establishments and recycling them into similar products, such as high-energy animal feed ingredients and industrial oils. This segment provides grease trap servicing; and schedules services, such as fat and bone, and used cooking oil collection, as well as trap cleaning services for contracted customers. The company primarily sells its products to producers of oleo-chemicals, soaps, pet foods, leather goods, livest ock feed, and bio-fuels through commodities brokers, company agents, and directly. It was formerly known as Darling-Delaware Company, Inc. and changed its name to Darling International Inc. in December 1993. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Darling International (NYSE: DAR  ) is expected to report Q1 earnings around May 7. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Darling International's revenues will grow 6.1% and EPS will grow 8.3%.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Darling International (NYSE: DAR) was down, falling 5.05 percent to $18.99 after the company priced public offering of 40 million shares of its common stock at $19.00 per share.

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Darling International (NYSE: DAR  ) were looking sweeter today, gaining as much as 15% after acquiring the Rothsay rendering business from Maple Leaf Foods for $614 million.

• [By Steve Symington]

  On March 5, I suggested it would be a great idea for investors to buy shares of�Darling International (NYSE: DAR  ) before the company commissioned its Diamond Green Diesel joint venture with oil giant�Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO  ) .

Top 5 Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014: BG Group PLC (BRGXF.PK)

BG Group plc (BG Group) is a natural gas company. The Company is engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil. It operates in three business segments: Exploration and Production (E&P), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Transmission and Distribution (T&D). Effective January 1, 2012, the Company was managed across three regions: Americas and Europe; Africa, Central and South Asia, and Australia and East Asia, supported by Global Energy Marketing and Shipping (GEMS) and BG Advance. The Company has interests in 25 countries on five continents. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired an interest in, and operatorship of, offshore blocks L10A (BG Group 40%) and L10B (BG Group 45%) in Kenya. During 2011, the Company acquired additional Marcellus shale properties in partnership with EXCO Resources, Inc. (EXCO). In June 2013, BG Group PLC announced that it has completed the sale of its 65.12% holding in Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Heather Ingrassia]

  On Thursday, August 15, GasLog (GLOG) announced that it had ordered two new 174K cbm Tri-Fuel Diesel Electric LNG carriers from Samsung Heavy Industries. These carriers are expected to be delivered in 2016 which is the same year the company will begin seven-year charters with BG Group (BRGYY.PK) (BRGXF.PK).

Top 5 Life Sciences Companies To Invest In 2014: Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(AEGR)

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat debilitating and fatal rare diseases. The company focuses on therapeutics to treat severe inherited lipid disorders. Lipids are naturally occurring molecules, such as cholesterol and triglycerides that are transported in the blood. Its lead product, lomitapide has completed pivotal Phase III clinical trial to treat patients with a rare inherited lipid disorder called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, or HoFH. The company also plans to develop lomitapide for the treatment of adult patients with a severe genetic form of hypertriglyceridemia called familial chylomicronemia. Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Williamson]

  It looks like the CHMP, Europe's version of the FDA advisory committee, didn't want the month to end without two big positive opinions, giving investors a nice little present heading into the weekend.�Celgene's (NASDAQ: CELG  ) relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma drug pomalidomide, and Aegerion's (NASDAQ: AEGR  ) HoFH drug Juxtapid, are now likely to be approved in the EU.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Wednesday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from ZELTIQ Aesthetics (NASDAQ: ZLTQ) and Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR).