Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Earnings should be a key driver of any fundamental valuation. This week, a large number of companies will be releasing their quarterly earnings results. Here are three companies found to be undervalued by the ModernGraham valuation model and suitable for either the defensive investor (one who is not willing to undertake substantial research) or the enterprising investor (one who is willing to undertake substantial research).

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) is set to release its earnings premarket Thursday, and according to its latest ModernGraham valuation, the company does not pass the requirements of the defensive investor, as it has not consistently paid dividends over the last 10 years, and it has not shown earnings stability over the last 10 years. But it does pass the requirements of the enterprising investor, though it has a higher level of debt relative to current assets than the investor type likes to see.

From a valuation perspective, the ModernGraham valuation is affected significantly by the large earnings loss in 2008, which has caused the EPSmg (normalized earnings) -- EPSmg is a 5 year weighted average of the annual earnings per share figures -- figure for 2009 to be very low in relation to 2013. As it stands, the EPSmg have grown from  a loss of $1.67 to a gain of $3.48, indicating a high level of growth that would appear to significantly outpace the market's implied estimate of 0.45% earnings growth. This has led the model to return an intrinsic value estimate that is well above the market price, and the overall result that the company is undervalued is supported by the valuation based on only 3% growth. If the company can demonstrate earnings greater than cents for the first quarter, this valuation should be even better.

Hot Gold Companies To Buy Right Now: Hancock Holding Company(HBHC)

Hancock Holding Company, a financial holding company, provides various banking and financial services in south Mississippi, Louisiana, South Alabama, and Florida. The company accepts various deposit products that include non-interest bearing demand deposits, NOW account deposits, money market deposits, savings deposits, and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises provision of commercial, consumer, commercial leasing, and real estate loans to consumers and small and middle market businesses. Hancock also offers various trust services that include operating as an executor, administrator, or guardian in administering estates; provision of investment custodial services for individuals, businesses, and charitable and religious organizations, as well as investment management services on an agency basis; and trustee services for pension plans, profit sharing plans, corporate and municipal bond issues, living trusts, life insurance trusts, and various other types of trusts cre ated for individuals, businesses, and charitable and religious organizations. In addition, it provides consumer financing services; owns, manages, and maintains real property; offers general insurance agency services; holds investment securities; markets credit life insurance; and engages in discount investment brokerage services, as well as owns approximately 3,700 acres of timber land in Hancock County, Mississippi. The company operates 182 banking and financial services offices and 161 automated teller machines. Hancock Holding Company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. Avg. High Yield Price
  2. 20-Year DCF Price
  3. Avg. P/E Price
  4. Graham Number
  
  CTBI is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 53.5% premium to its calculated fair value of $29.43. CTBI did not earn any Stars in this section.
  
  Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. Free Cash Flow Payout
  2. Debt To Total Capital
  3. Key Metrics
  4. Dividend Growth Rate
  5. Years of Div. Growth
  6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%
  
  CTBI earned one Star in this section for 1.) above. A Star was earned since the Free Cash Flow payout ratio was less than 60% and there were no negative Free Cash Flows over the last 10 years. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1988 and has increased its dividend payments for 33 consecutive years.
  
  Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. NPV MMA Diff.
  2. Years to > MMA
  
  The negative NPV MMA Diff. means that on a NPV basis the dividend earnings from an investment in CTBI would be less than a similar amount invested in MMA earning a 20-year average rate of 3.41%. If CTBI grows its dividend at 1.5% per year, it will never equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.41%.
  
  Memberships and Peers: CTBI is, a member of the Broad Dividend Achieve

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Hancock Holding (NASDAQ: HBHC  ) is resolutely sticking to its longtime dividend policy. Matching the same common stock payout it's distributed since September 2006, the financial services concern has declared a distribution of $0.24 per share. This is to be paid on September 16 to shareholders of record as of September 5.

Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: KBB Resources Bhd (KBB)

KBB Resources Berhad is an investment holding company. The Company is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli), sago starch and related products. The Company�� product includes Rice Vermicelli, Instant Noodle, Instant Bihun, Laksa and Sago. The Company�� subsidiaries include Kilang Bihun Bersatu Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in Manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli); Rasayang Food Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of beehoon and beehoon laksa; Bersatu Noodles Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of noodles and related products, and Bersatu Biotechnology (Johore) Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of sago starch and related products. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Neha Marwah]

  LMC Automotive expects the annualized rate to be 16.1 million, the best in six years. This is a decent improvement from last year�� November, when the industry reported 15.3 million as the adjusted annualized rate. In comparison, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) expects the November 2013 SAAR to be around 15.6 million, while Edmunds.com estimates it to be 15.7 million.

Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Lakeland Industries Inc (LAKE)

Lakeland Industries, Inc. (Lakeland), incorporated on April 30, 1986, manufactures and sells a line of safety garments and accessories for the industrial protective clothing markets. Lakeland�� product categories include limited use/disposable protective clothing, chemical protective suits, fire fighting and heat protective apparel, fire fighting and heat protective apparel, reusable woven garments, high visibility clothing and glove and sleeves. The Company�� industrial customers include integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, utilities, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, munition plants, janitorial, pharmaceutical, mortuaries and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific and medical laboratories. In addition, Lakeland supplies federal, state and local governmental agencies and departments, such as fire and law enforcement, airport crash rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control.

Limited Use/Disposable Protective Clothing

Lakeland manufactures a line of limited use/disposable protective garments, including coveralls, laboratory coats, shirts, pants, hoods, aprons, sleeves, arm guards, caps and smocks. Limited use garments can also be coated or laminated to splash protection against harmful inorganic acids, bases and other hazardous liquid and dry chemicals. Limited use garments are made from several nonwoven fabrics, which are made of spunlaced polyester, polypropylene, laminates, micropourous films and derivatives. Lakeland incorporates many seaming, heat sealing and taping techniques depending on the level of protection needed in the end uses application.

The users of these garments include integrated oil/petrochemical refineries, chemical plants and related installations, automotive manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, construction companies, coal, gas and oil power generation utilities and telephone utility companies, laboratories, mortuarie! s and governmental entities. The Company warehouses and sells its limited use/disposable garments primarily at its Decatur, Alabama and China manufacturing facilities and secondarily from warehouses in Hull, United Kingdom; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Toronto, Canada; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Moscow, Russia; Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan; Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.

High-End Chemical Protective Suits

Lakeland manufactures and sells protective chemical suits and protective apparels from its CRFR, ChemMax 3, 4, Interceptor and other fabrics. These suits are worn by individuals on hazardous material teams and within general industry to provide protection from concentrated and lethal chemical and biological toxins, such as toxic wastes at super fund sites, toxic chemical spills or biological discharges, chemical or biological warfare weapons and chemicals and petro-chemicals present during the cleaning of refineries and nuclear facilities.

Lakeland has also introduced two garments approved by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) for varying levels of protection, which include Interceptor, two multilayer films laminated on either side of durable nonwoven substrate, and ChemMax 4 is a multilayer barrier film laminated to a durable nonwoven substrate. Lakeland manufactures chemical protective clothing at its facilities in Decatur, Alabama, Mexico and China. Using fabrics, such as ChemMax 1, ChemMax 2, ChemMax 3, ChemMax 4 and Interceptor, Lakeland designs, cut, glue and /or sews the materials to meet customer purchase orders.

Fire Fighting and Heat Protective Apparel

The Company manufactures a line of products to protect individuals who work in heat environments. Lakeland's heat protective aluminized fire suit product lines include kiln entry suit, proximity suits and approach suits. Lakeland manufactures fire fighter protective apparel for domestic and foreign fires departments. Lakeland developed the 32-! inch coat! high back bib style (Battalion) bunker gear.

Gloves and Sleeve Products

The Company manufactures and sell glove and sleeve protective products made from Kevlar, a cut and heats resistant fiber produced by DuPont; Spectra, a cut resistant fiber made by Honeywell and its engineered yarns. Lakeland manufactures these string knit gloves primarily at its Mexican facility.

Reusable Woven Garments

Lakeland manufactures and markets a line of reusable and washable woven garments. The Company's product lines include electrostatic dissipative apparel, clean room apparel, flame resistant Nomex/FR Cotton coveralls/pants/jackets and cotton and polycotton coveralls, lab coats, pants and shirts. Lakeland manufactures and sells woven cloth garments at its facilities in China, Mexico and Decatur, Alabama.

High Visibility Clothing

Lakeland Reflective manufactures and markets a line of reflective apparel. The line includes vests, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, coats, raingear, jumpsuits, hats and gloves. Lakeland's domestic vest production occurs at Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. Much of the manufacturing at this facility is focused on custom vest requirements. In addition to ANSI Reflective items, Lakeland Hi-Visibility manufactures Nomex and FR cotton garments which have reflective trim as a part of their design criteria. These garments are used in rescue operations, such as those encountered with a vehicular crash.

The Company competes with DuPont, Kimberly Clark, Ansell Edmont and Honeywell.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Egan]

  Shares of Lakeland Industries (LAKE) popped 8% on Wednesday. The company makes protective clothing, including Hazmat suits.

  "$TKMR traders $LAKE has a product to monetize right now," Stocktwits user aaoomomo wrote.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Did you miss the initial Ebola rally, led by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ:TKMR) and Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAKE)? Don't sweat it - you're not alone. And if you were thinking about diving into either of those names now, forget about it. Both LAKE and TKMR are overbought, and are guaranteed to be volatile (read "unpredictable") in the future. It's not too late to get in on Ebola-mania, however.

• [By Geoff Gannon] ADDvantage (AEY). How you feel about how those companies use working capital has a lot to do with whether or not you like those stocks long-term.

  Then there are companies that have increased working capital very, very fast over the last decade or so ��but they��e also increased sales at a startling clip.

  That�� Carbo.

  Let�� look at where the difference between EBITDA and operating cash flow is coming from.

  Cash flow from others as shown on GuruFocus�� 10-year financials page for Carbo ��I��l use this as a proxy for working capital changes ��was positive in only two years. And not by much. Usually, it�� been negative. Over the 10 years, that single line has added up to a negative $173 million. Wow.

  Okay. Then there�� the difference between free cash flow and owner earnings. Owner earnings as you��l remember is Warren Buffett�� calculation of what a business could pay out to owners in cash at the end of the year ��if it stopped growing. But didn�� shrink. More on that later. For now, let�� look at the difference between Carbo�� depreciation and Carbo�� spending on property, plant and equipment.

  Over the last 10 years, cap-ex has been: $546 million (or $425 million if you allow cap-ex to provide cash flow in certain years, this is a weird issue I don�� want to touch right now)

  And over the last 10 years, depreciation has been: $201.52 million

  That�� a big gap. We��e got some combination of Carbo underreporting economic depreciation by anywhere from $225 million to $350 million or so ��or we��e got Carbo investing something like $225 million to $350 million in growth.

  Which is it?

  Let�� check the growth angle first.

  Over the last 10 years, Carbo has grown total sales by just under 18% a year. Now, I happen to know their new product development record had not been so hot during the 1990s or earlier part of the 2000s. For about 15 years they spent on R&D without

Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Alpha Pro Tech Ltd (APT)

ALPHA PRO TECH, LTD. (Alpha Pro Tech), incorporated on June 15, 1994, is in the business of protecting people, products and environments. The Company also manufactures a line of building supply construction weatherization products through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alpha ProTech Engineered Products, Inc. Its products are sold under the Alpha Pro Tech brand name, as well as under private label. The Company's products are grouped into three business segments: the Building Supply segment, which consists of construction weatherization products, such as housewrap and synthetic roof underlayment, the Disposable Protective Apparel segment, which consists of disposable protective apparel, such as shoecovers, bouffant caps, gowns, coveralls, lab coats, frocks and other miscellaneous products and the Infection Control segment, which consists of face masks and eye shields.

Building Supply

The Building Supply segment consists of a line of construction supply weatherization products, namely housewrap and synthetic roof underlayment. This line of products is a natural extension of the Company's core capabilities: creating products designed to protect people and environments. The housewrap, under the trademark REX, offers a weather resistant barrier and, to the homeowner, years of lower energy consumption. REX Wrap and REX Wrap Plus are woven and coated polypropylene micro perforated weather resistant barriers, and REX Wrap Fortis is an engineered composite made up of a woven fabric, a monolithic breather film and a non-woven sheet, offering a non-perforated membrane.

Disposable Protective Apparel

The Disposable Protective Apparel segment includes many different styles of disposable products, such as shoecovers, bouffant caps, gowns, coveralls, lab coats, frocks and other miscellaneous products. The products are manufactured by subcontractors in Asia and, to a much lesser extent, a subcontractor in Mexico. Certain products are made using materials supplied by th! e Company.

Infection Control

The Infection Control segment includes face masks and eye shields. The Company's face masks come in a range of filtration efficiencies and styles. The Company's Positive Facial Locka feature provides a custom fit to the face to prevent blow-by for better protection. The Company's Magic Arch feature holds the mask away from the nose and mouth, creating a comfortable breathing chamber.

Kimberly Clark, 3M Company, Johnson & Johnson, White Knight/Precept, Cardinal Health, Inc., Medline Industries Inc., VWR International, LLC, Kimberly Clark, 3M Company, Kappler USA, DuPont and Allegiance Health Care.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Cindy Bowser]

  Alpha Pro Tech (APT) is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Ontario. APT was our ��ompany of the Month��feature in August 2000 at $1.31 per share.

• [By Ben Rooney]

  Alpha Pro Tech (APT) also makes protective equipment for healthcare workers. Its stock jumped 5% on Friday alone.

  Some investors believe the airline industry is also vulnerable to the outbreak. Concerns about air travel rose this month after a Dallas nurse, who treated an Ebola patient, flew round trip between Dallas and Cleveland before being diagnosed with the virus.

Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Valero Energy Corporation(VLO)

Valero Energy Corporation operates as an independent petroleum refining and marketing company. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Ethanol, and Retail. The Refining segment engages in refining, wholesale marketing, product supply and distribution, and transportation operations. It produces conventional gasoline, distillates, jet fuel, asphalt, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined products. This segment also offers conventional blendstock for oxygenate blending, reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending, gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), CARB diesel fuel, low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. The Ethanol segment produces ethanol and distillers grains. The Retail segment sells transportation fuels at retail stores and unattended self-service cardlocks; convenience store merchandise and services in retail stores; and home heating oil to residential customers. Valero Energy Corpora tion markets its refined products through bulk and rack marketing network; and sells refined products through a network of approximately 6,800 retail and wholesale branded outlets under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Beacon, and Texaco names in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Aruba, and Ireland. As of December 31, 2011, it owned 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.0 million barrels per day; and operated 10 ethanol plants with a combined nameplate production capacity of approximately 1.1 billion gallons per year. The company was formerly known as Valero Refining and Marketing Company and changed its name to Valero Energy Corporation in August 1997. Valero Energy Corporation was founded in 1955 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  U.S. imports will never go away
  At the peak of U.S. oil imports in 2005, we were importing from 86 different countries. The varying characteristics of all these different types of oil made American refineries extremely adept at processing crude. In particular, refineries in the Gulf of Mexico have become particularly good at refining heavy, sour crudes from Venezuela and Mexico. Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) , the largest independent Gulf Coast refiner with a capacity of 1.7 million barrels per day, sources over 53% of its Gulf Coast refining capacity from heavy, sour crudes.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The tragedy of exports
  With new calls for energy independence in the U.S., many Americans don't understand why gas prices remain so high. The reason is simple: With prices for refined products largely set by international markets, it has become more lucrative to export gasoline than to keep it for domestic consumption and reduce local prices. Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX  ) are massive exporters of gasoline and other refined products, and the differential between U.S. crude prices and those in international oil markets has only made those exports grow.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big Earnings Movers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 2.4% at $517.02 after reporting solid earnings that just weren�� good enough for investors. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is up 1.7% at $31.27�on positive earnings. 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) is up 4.3% at $59.45 after investors decided that lower EPS guidance was not a bad thing. Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is up 1.9% at $40.21 after beating low expectations and offering some encouraging words on margins. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is up 10.4% at $7.45 on better-than-expected earnings.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Oppenheimer’s Fadel Gheit and Robert Du Boff have become the latest analysts to offer their opinion of refining stocks, when they downgraded Holly Frontier (HFC), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Phillips 66 (PSX), Tesoro (TSO) and Valero (VLO) to Perform from Outperform today.

Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation(SMI)

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, an investment holding company, engages in the computer-aided design, manufacture, packaging, testing, and trade of integrated circuits. It offers a range of technologies from 0.35μm to 65nm with capabilities that include logic, mixed signal/RF CMOS, high voltage, embedded, flash, EEPROM, and CIS technology. The company also provides portfolio of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) blocks from 0.35um to 65nm to support the design needs of customers; ASIC design services; reference flows; mixed-signal/RF PDKs; and multi-project wafer services. In addition, it involves in the design and manufacture of semiconductor masks; and provides assembly and testing, wafer bumping, and wafer probing/testing services. Further, the company offers marketing related activities; operates convenience stores; and manufactures and trades in solar cell related semiconductor products. Its products are used primarily in mobile, network ing, and wireless local area network applications, as well as in consumer and communications products, including digital television, set-top box, mobile, portable media player, and personal digital assistant applications. The company serves integrated device manufacturers, fables semiconductor companies, and system companies principally in the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  The SMI (SMI) declined 0.1 percent to 8,161.14 at 10:05 a.m. in Zurich. The gauge fell 1.4 percent last week, its first retreat in five weeks. The broader Swiss Performance Index also decreased 0.1 percent today.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Nestle decreased 2.6 percent to 63 francs, contributing the most to the SMI (SMI)�� drop. Revenue in the first half increased 4.1 percent, excluding acquisitions, divestments and currency shifts. That missed the median estimate of 4.5 percent growth.

• [By Pato Kehoe]

  In an attempt to trim costs and increase its operational efficiencies, Estee Lauder�� business strategy last year focused on centralizing its core operating functions, as well as reducing non-profitable stock keeping units. The cost reduction program, Strategic Modernization Initiative (SMI), proved highly efficient, saving the company $781 million in 2013. Furthermore, while the program will continue throughout 2014, management announced that it would be reinvesting a large amount of the cost savings in marketing for its core brands, along with product innovation. In this regard, decentralizing innovation to better adjust to its global customer preferences, is and will continue to be a key strategy in further propelling the beauty giant�� growth.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  National benchmark indexes advanced in 13 of the 18 western European markets this week. France�� CAC 40 Index climbed 1.2 percent and Germany�� DAX Index increased 0.6 percent. The U.K.�� FTSE 100 Index sank 1.3 percent, while the Swiss Market Index (SMI) retreated 0.2 percent.