Best Life Sciences Companies To Buy Right Now

Another week of new all-time highs for the Dow Jones Industrial Average coupled with a good start to earnings season has given optimists little reason to fret. For skeptics like me, that's an opportunity to see whether companies have earned their current valuations.

Keep in mind that some companies�deserve�their current valuations. Life sciences company Life Technologies�jumped to new highs this week following word that Thermo Fisher Scientific�will make a bid for the company, and that other private-equity firms are finalizing their bids.�With Life Technologies having publicly announced a strategic review in January, it seems like a long-awaited buyout could be right around the corner for shareholders.

Still, other companies might deserve a kick in the pants. Here's a look at three companies that could be worth selling.

Leave the wrapper on
The returns on confectioner Tootsie Roll Industries (NYSE: TR  ) have certainly been sweet for investors over the past year. You have to go back to the summer of 2010 to find sugar prices that were as low as they are now,�which has played a good part in helping Tootsie Roll keep that aspect of its costs down. But taking a bigger view of what's going on with Tootsie Roll and comparing that to its current valuation creates a sour taste in my mouth.

Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Own In Right Now: Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.(FDP)

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, transports, sources, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables worldwide. It also offers prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, beverages, snacks, and poultry and meat products. The company provides various fresh-cut fruit products, such as bananas, pineapples, melons, tomatoes, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, citrus, avocados, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, plantains, mangos, and fruit cocktail; and fresh-cut vegetable products primarily consisting of potatoes, onions, bell peppers, and cucumbers, as well as prepared salads, such as coleslaw and potato salad. In addition, Fresh Del Monte Produce engages in ocean freight; and manufacture of plastics and box products comprising bins, trays, bags, and boxes. It offers fresh produce under the DEL MONTE, UTC, and Rosy brands; and prepared fruits and vegetables, juices, beverages, and snacks under the DEL MON TE, Fruit Express, Just Juice, and Fruitini brands. The company markets and distributes its products to retail stores, food clubs, wholesalers, distributors, and foodservice operators. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. was founded in 1886 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  The first list of 24/7 Wall St. stocks under book value for the month of August are Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE: FDP), Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW), Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM) and JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU). We generally have�focused on net asset values and tangible book values, as well as forward price-to-earnings multiples, share price performance, analyst expectations via the Thomson Reuters consensus price target and more.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Slipped on a banana peel
  Maybe they were just envious of rival Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE: FDP  ) , which had served up a buyback plan the week before they did and wanted to show they had the financial wherewithal, too.�

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.(FDP) said sales rose in the fourth quarter, driven by a surge in its banana business. The company, however, posted a wider net loss due to higher impairment charges and costs.

• [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 Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE: FDP  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Best Life Sciences Companies To Buy Right Now: Southwest Gas Corporation(SWX)

Southwest Gas Corporation engages in the purchase, distribution, and transportation of natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. As of March 31, 2011, it had 1,844,000 residential, commercial, industrial, and other natural gas customers, including 996,000 customers in Arizona; 665,000 in Nevada; and 183,000 in California. The company also operates as an underground piping contractor that provides utility companies with trenching and installation, replacement, and maintenance services for energy distribution systems. Southwest Gas Corporation was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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 Southwest Gas (NYSE: SWX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Best Life Sciences Companies To Buy Right Now: Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO)

Novo Nordisk A/S, a healthcare company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products in Denmark and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Diabetes Care and Biopharmaceuticals. The Diabetes care segment covers insulins, oral antidiabetic drugs, and other protein-related products and projects comprising glucagon and protein-related delivery systems, as well as GLP-1 analogue. The Biopharmaceuticals segment provides products in the areas of haemophilia, growth hormone therapy, hormone replacement therapy, and inflammation therapy. Its products are marketed and distributed through subsidiaries, distributors, and independent agents in 180 countries. Novo Nordisk A/S has a collaboration agreement with Archimedes, Inc. The company was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Damian Illia]

  In the past, other inhaled insulins have not been very successful. In 2006, Pfizer (PFE) launches Exubera, the first FDA approved inhaled insulin. Pfizer stopped marketing the drug in October 2007 as it only had made $12 million in sales in the first three quarters of that year. Other companies then also decided to discontinue their own inhaled insulin programs. This means that even if Afrezza clears its way into FDA approval and makes it into the market, it will be hard to convince physicians to prescribe this drug over other existing and "safer" ones. Also, it will have to compete with the market leaders, such as Novo Nordisk (NVO) which derives 78 percent of total sales from diabetes care products.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  While Big Pharma's facing increased scrutiny from regulators, investors looking for one of the best pharmaceutical stocks in this growing market could do worse than looking into Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO  ) . The Danish pharmaceutical power has carved out a lucrative niche in China's growing diabetes market, becoming the market leader in this industry with a 37% market share. If Novo can avoid any Chinese crises of its own in the difficult-to-maneuver market, its sharp Chinese sales growth -- 28% last year -- could continue and fuel this stock's future.

• [By Max Macaluso, Ph.D.]

  Last week, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY  ) announced that its cancer drug candidate enzastaurin failed its late-stage clinical trial. Despite this news, shares remained practically flat following the announcement. Was this drug central to Lilly's pipeline, or was it one of many oncology drugs that the company is testing? Should investors instead be worried about Lilly's upcoming patent expirations? What about the ever-present competition from diabetes powerhouse��Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO  ) ? Health-care analyst Max Macaluso discusses these topics in the following video.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  The company will now compete more readily with industry leaders Novozymes from Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO  ) and Genencor from DuPont (NYSE: DD  ) . However, the biggest effects could be felt at Codexis (NASDAQ: CDXS  ) , which has also licensed the cutting-edge host organism from Dyadic. Will BASF's push into industrial enzymes, specifically using the C1 platform, vindicate Codexis or shove it out of the way?

Best Life Sciences Companies To Buy Right Now: Lennar Corp.(LEN)

The third largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue reported exceptional Q3 results, as its earnings more than quadrupled, primarily as a result of an increase in new-home demand. The reported net income of 40c was well ahead of last year's 11c, and the forecasted 28c.

According to the company's CEO, Stuart Miller, "The homebuilding business is beginning to revert to normal, and that's a positive for the U.S. economy in general, which is in turn good for sustained recovery in the housing market. Overall demand has been improving and we've seen a consistent sales pace at improving prices."

LEN's contract backlog, which is an indicator of future sales, rose by a whopping 79% on a YoY basis. Its average selling price of delivered homes also increased to $258,000 from last year's $247,000.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By George Putnam, Editor, New Generation Research, Inc.]

  Steve Halpern: One of the large builders that you point to is Lennar (LEN). Is that an opportunity for investors?

  George Putnam: I think it is. I think they're kind of the high-quality name in the field. They held up better when the industry was hurt a few years ago, and they bounced back pretty strongly, but the stock is off quite a lot over the last few months, so I think they will be the leader going forward, and I think that's a good stock to own.

• [By John Maxfield]

  One would have assumed that homebuilders' stocks would have been hammered, as they were last week. Yet, precisely the opposite has occurred. D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI  ) is up by 8%,�PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM  ) by 7.5%, and Lennar (NYSE: LEN  ) by 8.2%.

Best Life Sciences Companies To Buy Right Now: HSBC Holdings PLC (HBCYF)

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC) is a global banking and financial services organizations. As of December 31, 2012, it provided a range of financial services to around 58 million customers through four global businesses: Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Private Banking. In June 2012, the Company�� indirect wholly owned subsidiary, HSBC Iris Investments (Mauritius) Ltd, sold its 4.73% interest in Axis Bank Limited and 4.74% interest in Yes Bank Limited. In July 2012, its subsidiary, HSBC Europe (Netherlands B.V.), sold its 100% interest in HSBC Credit Zrt, to CentralFund Kockazati Tokealap. On March 31, 2013, Enstar Group Ltd�� subsidiary completed the acquisition from Household Insurance Group Holding Company of HSBC Insurance Company of Delaware and Household Life Insurance Company of Delaware, as well as its three subsidiary insurers. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark Thompson]

  The Gold Fixing began as usual at 3 pm. Deutsche Bank (DB), HSBC (HBCYF), Scotiabank and Societe Generale (SCGLF) joined Barclays on a conference call.

Best Life Sciences Companies To Buy Right Now: Image Systems Nordic AB (IS)

Image Systems Nordic AB, formerly Digital Vision AB, is a Sweden-based company active in the media industry. The Company specializes in high resolution image processing, film scanning and solutions for motion analysis. The Company operates within three business areas: Media, Defense and Motion. The Company�� product portfolio includes the Nucoda software products, providing a suite of colour grading and finishing solutions used in film and television post production; the Phoenix software products, providing image restoration tools for film archives and content owners; the Golden Eye film scanners, which provide high resolution scanning, archive and restoration, and the Image Systems Motion Unit with its TEMA software platform, providing a range of motion analysis solutions, among others. As of March, 1, 2012, the Company acquired Sawco Holding AB and RemaControl Sweden AB. As of March 31, 2012, the Company�� largest shareholder was Tibia Konsult AB (19.1%). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  ��The ranking exercise (is) based on growth and fundamental analysis. EXC ranks at the bottom in both analyses��op 4 results are Apple, BHP Billiton (BHP), Mosaic (MOS) and Rio Tinto (RIO). MOS was eliminated as it has one year of negative FCF.