Best Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now

tags:KRO,UL,ETE,

As this article pertains mainly to Advaxis, Inc. (ADXS), I think it's very important to state from the outset that, unlike most of the stocks that I write and have written about, I do own shares in this company, and I likely will acquire more in the near future. I don't intend that statement as an endorsement of ADXS, and it is not because I think other companies are necessarily a worse investment. Please take this potential for bias into account as you read this article. Thank you.

Introduction

ADXS is a developmental-stage biotech focused on the development of attenuated listeria-based immunotherapy for the treatment of solid tumors. Most notably, the company is in late-stage clinical development for cervical cancer.

In 2017, ADXS has had a lot of ups and downs. Clinically, it has yet to have any sort of bad news, in stark contrast with, say, 2015, when the FDA placed a clinical hold on its trials due to potential safety concerns (later deemed unfounded, and the trials restarted). But on the business end of things, ADXS has had some challenges.

Best Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Kronos Worldwide Inc(KRO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Shares of�Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) plunged on Wednesday after the company announced first-quarter 2018 results. The titanium dioxide manufacturer reported strong growth compared to the year-ago period thanks to the continued surge in selling prices. Revenue was up 16% and net income nearly doubled relative to the first quarter of 2017. How can Wall Street be displeased with that?�

Best Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Unilever PLC(UL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

  Losers Aceto Corporation (NASDAQ: ACET) fell 41.9 percent to $4.30 in pre-market trading. ACETO board disclosed that it is taking proactive steps to address business and financial challenges. Canaccord Genuity downgraded Aceto from Buy to Sell. Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: HMNY) fell 25.3 percent to $2.86 in pre-market trading after reporting an ATM offering of $150 million. Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) fell 17.4 percent to $2.86 in pre-market trading after reporting a fourth quarter sales miss. Comps were down 7.5 percent in the quarter. Sleep Number Corporation (NASDAQ: SNBR) fell 12.4 percent to $32.00 in pre-market trading following a first quarter earnings miss. Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTK) fell 10.2 percent to $11.90 in pre-market trading on news of $125 million convertible debt offering. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACK) shares fell 8 percent to $8.02 in pre-market trading after dropping 2.02 percent on Wednesday. Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPO) shares fell 5.6 percent to $80 in pre-market trading. Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) shares fell 4.8 percent to $60.00 in pre-market trading after rising 1.78 percent on Wednesday. vTv Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VTVT) fell 4.6 percent to $2.10 in pre-market trading after surging 84.87 percent on Wednesday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM) shares fell 4.5 percent to $40.07 in pre-market trading after the company reported Q1 results. Align Technology, Inc.. (NASDAQ: ALGN) fell 3.5 percent to $267.40 in pre-market trading after rising 1.61 percent on Wednesday. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) shares fell 3.5 percent to $12 in pre-market trading after the company issued quarterly fleet status report. GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) fell 3.2 percent to $4.90 in pre-market trading. Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) fell 2.6 percent to $54.73 in pre-market
• [By Max Byerly]

  News coverage about Unilever (NYSE:UL) has been trending somewhat positive on Tuesday, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. The research firm scores the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than 20 million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Unilever earned a news impact score of 0.12 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the company an impact score of 47.0118624662366 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near future.

• [By Isaac Pino, CPA]

  Dollar Shave Club, bought by Unilever (NYSE:UL) in 2016, offers membership as low as $5. Again, the margins may be thin on the products -- just like at Costco -- but that's made up by what hopefully becomes a longer, deeper relationship with the customer.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) and Unilever (NYSE:UL) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in shares of Unilever plc (NYSE:UL) by 627.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,820 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,295 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Unilever were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Best Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.(ETE)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  One reason investors are worried that Energy Transfer might need to reduce its distribution is that the company barely generates enough cash flow to support it without the help of its parent Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE). In 2017, Energy Transfer Partners produced $4.19 billion in distributable cash flow and would have paid out $4.15 billion to investors if it wasn't for the fact that Energy Transfer Equity relinquished its rights to $656 million of that cash. While that support boosted the distribution coverage ratio from a tight 1.0 times to a more comfortable 1.2 times, it was only a temporary fix since Energy Transfer Equity's support will diminish significantly in 2018 before declining further in 2019 and 2020.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Management teams tend to be very coy about what they're working on behind closed doors. Energy Transfer Equity's (NYSE:ETE) leadership, on the other hand, was very transparent about what's going on behind the scenes during the company's first-quarter conference call. They openly answered analysts' questions, which provided investors with an interesting glimpse into what's ahead.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Like last quarter, Energy Transfer Partners delivered strong earnings and cash flow growth. Because of that, the company was able to cover its jaw-dropping 12.4%-yielding distribution by a healthy 1.15 times. That slight decline from the year-ago quarter was caused by parent company�Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE)�significantly reducing its support. For a better comparison, the coverage ratio would have still been a solid 1.1 in this year's first quarter without any assistance from Energy Transfer Equity, while it would have been a worrisome 0.98 in the year-ago period without the parent company's help. That improvement is�exactly what investors wanted to see this quarter.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,328 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,550 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Energy Transfer Equity were worth $658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.