Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015

Given that you clicked on this article, it seems safe to assume you either own stock in City National Corp. (NYSE: CYN  ) or are considering buying shares in the near future. If so, then you've come to the right place. The table below reveals the nine most critical numbers that investors need to know about City National stock before deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold it.

But before getting to that, a brief introduction is in order. While City National could easily be lumped together with regional banks, it more closely resembles a large community bank and trust with satellite offices in strategic cities throughout the country, including Las Vegas, New York City, Nashville, and Atlanta. Founded by a "small group of entrepreneurs in 1954," the bank is headquartered in Los Angeles and is loosely known as the banker to the stars given its past support of Frank Sinatra, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others, and the fact that about one-fifth of its business loans are entertainment-related. Its balance sheet boasts $29 billion in assets and it oversees an additional $57 billion in assets under management or administration.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: Electro Rent Corporation(ELRC)

Electro Rent Corporation engages in the rental, lease, and sale of new and used electronic test and measurement equipment. Its equipment portfolio consists of general purpose test and measurement instruments; personal computers, workstations, and servers; and electrical test equipment and inspection equipment. The company rents or leases its equipment primarily to companies operating in the aerospace, defense, telecommunications, electronics, and semiconductor industries. Electro Rent Corporation serves its customers through sales offices, and calibration and service centers in the United States, Canada, China, and Europe. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Van Nuys, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Electro Rent (NASDAQ: ELRC) shares fell 0.77% to reach a new 52-week low of $15.39. Electro Rent's trailing-twelve-month profit margin is 9.24%.

  Posted-In: 52-Week LowsNews Movers & Shakers Intraday Update Markets

• [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 Electro Rent (Nasdaq: ELRC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: AAON Inc.(AAON)

AAON, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of air conditioning and heating equipment primarily in the United States and Canada. The company offers rooftop units, chillers, air-handling units, make-up air units, heat recovery units, condensing units, commercial self contained units, and coils. It serves the commercial and industrial new construction and replacement markets. AAON, Inc. sells its products through manufacturers representatives and internal sales force. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of small-cap HVAC firm Aaon (AAON). The biggest difference is that in AAON's case, the ascending triangle pattern is coming in at the top of this stock's recent price action, not at the bottom. That makes this a more textbook trade for September.

  Another important difference is the fact that AAON hasn't triggered yet. Shares have been coiling below $26 resistance since the middle of the summer; a breakout above that $26 level is the indicator that it's time to buy. Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

  That resistance line at $26 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant -- a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

  Wait for that to happen before you put your money on this trade.

Top Gas Stocks To Watch Right Now: Innophos Holdings Inc.(IPHS)

Innophos Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production of mineral based specialty ingredients that are used in food, beverage, pharmaceutical, oral care, and industrial end markets. The company?s specialty ingredients include specialty phosphate salts, specialty phosphoric acids, and a range of other mineral based specialty ingredients that are used as flavor enhancers in beverages; electrolytes in sports drinks; texture modifiers in cheeses; leavening agents in baked goods; mineral sources for nutritional supplements; pharmaceutical excipients; and abrasives in toothpaste, as well as in industrial applications, such as asphalt modification and petrochemical catalysis. It also provides food and technical grade purified phosphoric acid (PPA) used in the production of fertilizer, and specialty phosphate salts and acids, as well as in beverage and water treatment applications; technical grade sodium tri polyphosphate (STPP), a specialty phosphate, which is used as an ingredient in cleaning products, such as industrial and institutional cleaners, automatic dishwashing detergents, and consumer laundry detergents, as well as in water treatment, clay processing, and copper ore processing activities; and detergent grade PPA that is primarily used in the production of STPP. In addition, the company offers granular triple super phosphate, a fertilizer product line used for increasing crop yields in various agricultural sectors. It serves primarily consumer goods manufacturers, distributors, and specialty chemical manufacturers in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. Innophos Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Cranbury, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of specialty phosphates maker Innophos Holdings (NASDAQ: IPHS  ) dropped as much as 10% today after releasing earnings.

  So what: First quarter sales dropped 6% to $214 million and company's earnings per share dropped from $1.22 a year ago to just $0.55. Analysts expected revenue of $230 million and earnings of $0.79 per share so this is way below expectations. �

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: Monarch Casino & Resort Inc (MCRI)

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (Monarch), incorporated in 1993, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Golden Road Motor Inn, Inc. (Golden Road), owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa(the Atlantis), a hotel/casino facility in Reno, Nevada. Monarch�� other wholly owned subsidiaries, High Desert Sunshine, Inc. (High Desert) and Golden North, Inc. (Golden North), each own separate parcels of land located adjacent to the Atlantis. The Company owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, which is located approximately three miles south of downtown in the area of Reno, Nevada. The Atlantis features approximately 61,000 square feet of casino space; a hotel with 824 guest rooms and suites; ten food outlets; an enclosed year-round pool with waterfall; an outdoor pool; a health spa; two retail outlets offering clothing and resort gift shop merchandise; a full service salon for men and women; an 8,000 square-foot family entertainment center; and approximately 52,000 square feet of banquet, convention and meeting room space. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired 1.5 acre parcel of developable land contiguous to the Riviera Black Hawk Casino.

In April 2012, it acquired Riviera Black Hawk, Inc.

The Atlantis Casino offers approximately 1,450 slot and video poker machines; approximately 39 table games, including blackjack, craps, roulette and others; a race and sports book; keno and a poker room. The Atlantis includes three contiguous high-rise hotel towers with 824 rooms and suites. The Atlantis includes three contiguous high-rise hotel towers with a total of 824 rooms and suites. The first of the three hotel towers contains 160 rooms and suites in 13 stories. The 19-story second hotel tower contains 278 rooms and suites. The third tower contains 386 rooms and suites in 28 stories.

The Atlantis hotel rooms feature designs and furnishings consistent with the Northern Nevada market, as well as nine-foot ceilings (most standard hotel rooms have eig! ht-foot ceilings), which create an open and spacious feel. The third hotel tower features a four-story waterfall with an adjacent year-round swimming pool in a climate controlled, five-story glass enclosure, which shares an outdoor third floor pool deck with a seasonal outdoor swimming pool and year round whirlpool. A full-service salon (the Salon at Atlantis) overlooks the third floor sundeck and outdoor seasonal swimming pool and offers salon-grade products and treatments for hair, nails, skincare and body services for both men and women. A health spa is located adjacent to the swimming areas, which offers treatments and amenities. The hotel rooms on the spa floor are designated as spa rooms and feature decor that is themed consistent with the spa. Certain spa treatments are also available in spa floor hotel rooms. The hotel also features glass elevators rising the full 19 and 28 stories, of the respective towers providing views of the Reno area and the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The Atlantis has eight restaurants, two gourmet coffee bars and one snack bar. It includes 160-seat Atlantis Steakhouse gourmet restaurant; the 200-seat upscale Bistro Napa featuring a centrally located wine cellar; the Oyster Bar restaurant in the Sky Terrace offering fresh seafood, soups and bisques made to order; the Sushi Bar, also in the Sky Terrace, offering a variety of fresh raw and cooked sushi specialties, including all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner selections. The Oyster Bar and Sushi Bar can accommodate up to 139 guests; The 178-seat 24-hour Purple Parrot coffee shop; the 122-seat Cafe Alfresco restaurant serving a full menu, pizzas prepared in a wood-fired, brick oven and a variety of gelato deserts; the 170-seat Manhattan Deli restaurant specializing in piled-high sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts; two gourmet coffee bars, offering specialty coffee drinks, pastries and desserts made fresh daily in the Atlantis bakery; a snack bar and soda fountain serving ice cream and arcade-style refreshmen! ts.

The Sky Terrace is a structure with a diamond-shaped, blue glass body suspended approximately 55 feet, and spanning 160 feet across, South Virginia Street. The Sky Terrace connects the Atlantis with additional parking on its 16-acre site across South Virginia Street from the Atlantis. The structure rests at each end on two 100-foot tall Grecian columns with no intermediate support pillars. The interior of the Sky Terrace contains the Oyster Bar, the Sushi Bar, a video poker bar, banks of slot machines and a lounge area with oversized leather sofas and chairs.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Monarch Casino & Resort (MCRI) fell 15% to $18.71 after revenue missed forecasts today.

  Stamps.com (STMP) fell 6.2% today ahead of its earnings results. It beat earnings after the close today.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: Carlisle Companies Incorporated (CSL)

Carlisle Companies Incorporated operates as a diversified manufacturing company in the United States and internationally. Its Construction Materials segment manufactures and sells rubber and thermoplastic polyolefin roofing systems; rigid foam insulation panels for various roofing applications; and liquid and spray-applied waterproofing membranes, vapor and air barriers, and HVAC duct sealants and hardware for the commercial and residential construction markets, as well as markets and sells polyvinyl chloride membrane and accessories. The company�s Transportation Products segment offers bias-ply, steel-belted radial trailer tires, stamped or roll-formed steel wheels, non-automotive rubber tires, and tire and wheel assemblies; and power transmission products, such as industrial belts and related components. Its Brake and Friction segment provides off-highway braking systems and friction products for off-highway, on-highway, aircraft, and other industrial applications. The company�s Interconnect Technologies segment offers wire, cable, contacts, fiber optic, RF/microwave, and specialty filtered connectors; specialty cable assemblies; integrated wired racks; trays; and airframe subsystem solutions primarily for the aerospace, defense electronics, and test and measurement industries. Its FoodService Products segment provides commercial and institutional foodservice permanentware, table coverings, cookware, display pieces, lighting equipment, and supplies to restaurants, hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and correctional facilities; and industrial brooms, brushes, mops, and rotary brushes. The company markets its products to original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and end-users. It serves customers in commercial roofing, energy, agriculture, lawn and garden, mining and construction equipment, aerospace and electronics, dining and food delivery, and healthcare markets. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Charl otte, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Memberships and Peers: MMM is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: General Electric Co. (GE) with a 3.1% yield, Raven Industries Inc. (RAVN) with a 1.6% yield and Carlisle Companies Inc. (CSL) with a 1.2% yield.

• [By Adam Haigh]

  CSL Ltd. (CSL), a maker of blood-derived therapies that gets about 38 percent of sales in the U.S., gained 3.5 percent in Sydney. Cnooc Ltd. (883), China�� largest offshore energy explorer, added 2.1 percent in Hong Kong as crude oil traded near a 14-month high. Dentsu Inc., a Japanese advertising company that bought Aegis Group Plc, sank 9.2 percent after saying it will raise as much as 120.1 billion yen ($1.2 billion) selling shares to help pay for the deal.

• [By Lee Samaha]

  Carlisle Companies (NYSE: CSL  ) also has a major construction materials division that supplies roofing products to Beacon. It appears to have taken the opposite approach to Owens Corning, and gone for volume growth instead of� keeping pricing and margins up.�In discussing its third quarter results on Oct.22, Carlisle disclosed:

• [By Adam Haigh]

  CSL Ltd. (CSL), an Australian maker of blood-derived therapies, climbed 2 percent to A$65.96 in Sydney, a second day of gains. The company will announce another share buyback of at least A$900 million ($824 million) at its full-year earnings release in August, Bank of America Corp. analyst Matthew Prior wrote in a report, upgrading the shares to buy from neutral.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: Allstate Corp (ALS)

The Allstate Corporation (Allstate), November 5, 1992, is a holding company for Allstate Insurance Company. The Company�� business is conducted principally through Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Life Insurance Company and their affiliates. It is engaged, principally in the United States, in the property-liability insurance, life insurance, retirement and investment product business. Allstate's primary business is the sale of private passenger auto and homeowners insurance. The Company also sells several other personal property and casualty insurance products, select commercial property and casualty coverages, life insurance, annuities, voluntary accident and health insurance and funding agreements. Allstate primarily distributes its products through exclusive agencies, financial specialists, independent agencies, call centers and the Internet. It conducts its business primarily in the United States. Allstate has four business segments: Allstate Protection, Allstate Financial, Discontinued Lines and Coverages and Corporate and Other. The Company is a personal lines insurer in the United States. Customers can access Allstate products and services, such as auto insurance and homeowners insurance through nearly 12,000 exclusive Allstate agencies and financial representatives in the United States and Canada. In October 2011, the Company acquired Esurance and Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance Group.

ALLSTATE PROTECTION SEGMENT

In this segment, the Company principally sells private passenger auto and homeowners insurance through agencies and directly through call centers and the Internet. These products are marketed under the Allstate, Encompass and Esurance brand names. The Allstate Protection segment also includes a separate organization called Emerging Businesses, which comprises Business Insurance (commercial products for small business owners), Consumer Household (specialty products including motorcycle, boat, renters and condominium insurance policies), A! llstate Dealer Services (insurance and non-insurance products sold primarily to auto dealers), Allstate Roadside Services (retail and wholesale roadside assistance products) and Ivantage (insurance agency). The Company also participates in the involuntary or shared private passenger auto insurance business in order to maintain its licenses to do business in many states. In some states, Allstate exclusive agencies offer non-proprietary property insurance products. Allstate brand auto and homeowners insurance products are sold primarily through Allstate exclusive agencies and serve customers who prefer local personal advice and service and are brand-sensitive. In most states, customers can also purchase certain Allstate brand personal insurance products, and obtain service, directly through call centers and the Internet.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, total Allstate Protection premiums written were $25.98 billion. Its broad-based network of approximately 10,000 Allstate exclusive agencies in approximately 9,700 locations in the United States produced approximately 86% of the Allstate Protection segment's written premiums in 2011. It provides personal property and casualty insurance products through independent agencies in the United States. Additionally, Allstate distribution, through brokering arrangements, offers non-proprietary products to consumers when an Allstate product is not available.

ALLSTATE FINANCIAL SEGMENT

Allstate Financial segment provides life insurance, retirement and investment products, and voluntary accident and health insurance products. Its principal products are interest-sensitive, traditional and variable life insurance; fixed annuities, including deferred and immediate; and voluntary accident and health insurance. Its institutional products consist of funding agreements sold to unaffiliated trusts that use them to back medium-term notes issued to institutional and individual investors. Banking products and services were offered to! customer! s through the Allstate Bank through September 2011. In 2011, after receiving regulatory approval to voluntarily dissolve, Allstate Bank ceased operations.

The Company sells Allstate Financial products to individuals through multiple intermediary distribution channels, including Allstate exclusive agencies and exclusive financial specialists, independent agents, specialized structured settlement brokers and directly through call centers and the Internet. The Company sells products through independent agents affiliated with approximately 125 master brokerage agencies. Independent workplace enrolling agents and Allstate exclusive agencies also sell its voluntary accident and health insurance products primarily to employees of unaffiliated businesses. Its mortgage loan portfolio, which is primarily held in the Allstate Financial portfolio, totaled $7.14 billion as of December 31, 2011

Allstate Financial, through several companies, is authorized to sell life insurance and retirement products in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States, Virgin Islands and Guam. Allstate Financial distributes its products to individuals through multiple distribution channels, including Allstate exclusive agencies and exclusive financial specialists, independent agents (including master brokerage agencies and workplace enrolling agents), specialized structured settlement brokers and directly through call centers and the Internet.

OTHER BUSINESS SEGMENTS

The Company�� Corporate and Other segment consistsof holding company activities and certain non-insurance operations. It�� Discontinued Lines and Coverages segment includes results from insurance coverage that it no longer writes and results for certain commercial and other businesses in run-off. Its exposure to asbestos, environmental and other discontinued lines claims is presented in the segment. The segment also includes the historical results of the commercial and reinsurance businesses ! sold in 1! 996.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adrian Day]

  Adrian Day: Yes, yes, I like the concept of looking up the secondary plays. I mean, you know we own Altius (ALS) for example, rather than Alderon (ADV). Altius owns 30% of Alderon, that is more diversified, has a better balance sheet. If Alderon succeeds, Atius will succeed.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: OXiGENE Inc.(OXGN)

OXiGENE, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases in the United States. It primarily focuses on the development of vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) that disable and destroy abnormal blood vessels, which provide solid tumors a means of growth and survival, as well as associate with visual impairment in various ophthalmological diseases and conditions. The company?s products include ZYBRESTAT, which is in fosbretabulin in anaplastic cancer of the thyroid (FACT) trial?Phase 2/3 study for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer; in fosbretabulin in advanced lung oncology (FALCON) trial?Phase 2 randomized and controlled study to treat non-small cell lung cancer; in Phase 2 Simon two-stage design study for the treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer; and in Phase 2 randomized controlled study to treat platinum-relapsed but platinum sensitive ovarian cancer. Its products also comprise OXi4503 that is in Phase 1 dose-escalation study for the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes; Phase 1b dose-ranging study to treat solid tumors with hepatic tumor burden; and Phase 1 dose-escalation study for the treatment of refractory solid tumors. In addition, the company?s products consist of ZYBRESTAT, which is in Phase 2 randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled, single-dose study for proof-of-mechanism study in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. OXiGENE has a strategic collaboration agreement with Symphony Capital Partners, L.P. to support the advancement of ZYBRESTAT for oncology and ophthalmology, and OXi4503. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  If you missed the recent surges from Neurometrix Inc. (NASDAQ:NURO) and/or OXiGENE Inc. (NASDAQ:OXGN), and decided to skip an entry on either or both because they were too frothy at the time, then here's some good news.... you're getting a second chance. Both NURO and OXGN are getting their proverbial second wind, and they're doing so at a price much lower than the price you would have had to pay for either just a few days ago. There's just one catch - you may want to hurry of you want in. This second wind is unfurling as rapidly as the first surges did.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  There's no denying that OXiGENE Inc. (NASDAQ:OXGN) has, if nothing else, an interesting pipeline. And for many investors, the prospect of one or two budding winners in development is more than enough reason to jump into a biotech stock. In the case of OXGN, however, there's a far more direct - and no less speculative - reason to become a shareholder. That reason? The stock's going higher.... seriously.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: Danone SA (BN)

Danone SA is a France-based food company that primarily produces fresh milk products, baby foods, biscuits, cereal products and medical nutrition products. It also co-produces bottled water. The Company's portfolio of brands and products include Danone, a brand of fresh dairy products; Evian, a brand of bottled still water; Volvic, its international brand of bottled still water, and Aqua, a brand of packaged water in Indonesia. It has presence in the infant food market in France through its subsidiary, Bledina. It has also developed two probiotic dairy product lines known under the names Actimel, and Activia, as well as a line of low-fat products under the names Taillefine, Vitalinea and Ser. The Company operates through numerous subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and Americas. In February 2013 it acquired majority stake in Centrale Laitiere SA. In May 2013, it acquired an equity interest of over 90% in Happy Family, a baby food producer. In August 2013, it acquired YoCrunch. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  Danone SA (BN) declined 1.6 percent to 56.34 euros after saying baby-nutrition sales will fall in Asia in the third quarter. The company said it had to recall infant-formula products after milk-powder supplier Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. warned of a contaminated ingredient.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2015: Asta Funding Inc.(ASFI)

Asta Funding, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in purchasing, managing, and servicing distressed consumer receivables in the United States. Its principal portfolio includes charged-off receivables consisting of accounts that have been written-off by the originators and might have been previously serviced by collection agencies; semi-performing receivables, including accounts where the debtor is currently making partial or irregular monthly payments, but the accounts might have been written-off by the originators; performing receivables comprising accounts where the debtor is making regular monthly payments that might or might not have been delinquent in the past; and distressed consumer receivables, such as the unpaid debts of individuals to banks, finance companies, and other credit and service providers. The company?s distressed consumer receivables consist of MasterCard, Visa, and other credit card accounts, which were charged-off by the issuers or provide rs for non-payment. Asta Funding, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap debt collection stocks like�Asta Funding, Inc (NASDAQ: ASFI), Encore Capital Group, Inc (NASDAQ: ECPG) and Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc (NASDAQ: PRAA) could be the latest target of a government shakedown or crackdown as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said this week that�before it formally proposes any rules for debt collection, it wants to hear how collectors verify borrowers' information and communicate with consumers. In other words, debt collectors could be restricted from using text messages, social media or other Internet-based tools in their pursuit to collect debts. With about one in 10 Americans coming out of the financial crisis with some debt in collection, investing in small cap�debt collection stocks has been profitable for investors. However, there is no timeline for when any new rules might be released for review or come into effect.

• [By Tim Melvin]

  There a lot of moving parts to Asta Funding (ASFI), but there appears to be a great deal of value that isn�� reflected in the current stock price. ASFI stock is trading at less than 65% of book value, but several of its debt collection assets are carried at zero cost basis and yet may have substantial value. The balance sheet is strong with more than $90 million in cash. ASFI has been moving into other businesses including disability claims to increase its growth opportunities over the next few years. It�� a fairly complex business, but it is very cheap — and the first sign of good news could send the shares a lot higher.