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Company name Darling International Inc.
Stock ticker DAR
Live stock price [stckqut]DAR[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Fair
Sales growth Good
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Good
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Good
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $29.59
Target stock price (averages with growth) $26.63
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $18.62
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $25.46

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=dar

Darling International Inc. (Darling) is a provider of rendering, cooking oil and bakery waste recycling and recovery solutions. It collects and recycles animal by-products, bakery residual and used cooking oil from poultry and meat processors, commercial bakeries, grocery stores, butcher shops, and food service establishments and provides grease trap cleaning services to many of the same establishments. It sells these products domestically and internationally, primarily to producers of animal feed, pet food, fertilizer, bio-fuels and other consumer and industrial ingredients, including oleo-chemicals, soaps and leather goods for use as ingredients in their products or for further processing. On June 8, 2012, it completed its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of RVO BioPur, LLC (BioPur). In September 2012, it purchased of a river terminal and storage facility located on the Mississippi River in Muscatine, Iowa from CK Processing Company and River Terminal Corporation.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this price and at this time, I think that a Confident Investor can confidently invest in this stock.

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor.

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You need to have an account at a stockbroker (broker) in order to buy or sell stock. The two prominent exchanges, NYSE and NASDAQ, are like private clubs whose members only buy and sell to each other. The members of these clubs will buy and sell your stocks for you.

You can get a list of stockbrokers on the web by going to http://www.Confident-Investor.com/brokerlist. You will need to be a registered book owner to access this page but you can register easily and for free by following the instructions on the site.

You can set up an account at a broker fairly simply. Each broker will probably ask you some personal information that includes your social security number and contact information. They will also probably ask you to make a deposit into your new account for a minimum amount. Once that deposit check or transfer has cleared, you are ready to go.

Stockbrokers charge commissions or fees for transactions. These costs affect your earnings and losses. The costs are usually based on four factors: the actual transaction charge (usually a charge to buy or sell), the number of negotiated stocks, the cost of stocks you are buying/selling, and the total amount of the order.

Full-service brokerage firms usually charge the highest fees and commissions. Regional brokerage firms tend to be slightly cheaper than the national firms. Discount brokerage firms or online firms offer reduced commissions and reduced or no fees.

Paying $50 in fees to a full-service broker instead of $7 at a deep discounter can make a significant difference in your total return. If the stock price is $30 in a 100 stock transaction, you pay 1.6% of the stock price ($50 divided by $3000) to a full-service broker to purchase the stock. You will pay the same amount when you sell the stock for a total of 3.2%. A discount broker will charge you 0.4% for the round trip transaction. This means that the stock would have to appreciate to $31 just to make money with a full-service broker. The discount broker only needs the share price to increase 12 cents to break even on the trade.

Full-service brokers become acquainted with your financial situation. They may provide opinions on stocks / bonds, or offer financial research service. In many cases, a personal relationship is developed with a full-service broker. The full-service brokerage firms may offer a diversified range of financial services including estate planning, exclusive investment choices, and tax preparation assistance. In some cases, a full-service broker can offer their best clients IPO or special situation investment options.

Discount brokerage firms offer reduced commissions and, in some cases, reduced services. Brokers in a discount brokerage firm make trades for clients but may not provide the same personal service as a full-service broker. In fact, at a discount broker, personal brokers may not be specifically assigned to an investor.

The electronic trading or on-line brokers allow you to perform your trades using a computer. The on-line costs can vary from $5 to $40 for each sell or buy. Research information on companies is usually very accessible through these online services.

The goal of my book, The Confident Investor, is to teach you how to be confident in your trades. You will learn how to evaluate companies. You will also learn how to decide the right time to buy or sell shares. With this personal knowledge, there is little reason to have a relationship with a full-service broker. Instead, I suggest that you open an account at an online discount broker and save the fees and commission charges.

You can purchase my book wherever books are sold such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million. It is available in e-book formats for Nook, Kindle, and iPad.

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Company name Cummins Inc.
Stock ticker CMI
Live stock price [stckqut]CMI[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Fair
Sales growth Poor
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Poor
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Fair
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $152.39
Target stock price (averages with growth) $180.68
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $131.42
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $145.75

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=cmi

Cummins Inc. is a diesel engine manufacturer. The Company designs, manufactures, distributes and services diesel and natural gas engines, electric power generation systems and engine-related component products, including filtration, exhaust aftertreatment, fuel systems, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems and electric power. The Company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors and other customers worldwide. It serves its customers through a network of more than 600 company owned and independent distributor locations and more than 6,500 dealer locations in more than 190 countries and territories. It has four segments: Engine, Power Generation, Components and Distribution. In April 2011, the Company sold its exhaust business to Global Tube. In July 2012, the Company acquired the emission control assets of Hilite International in Marktheidenfeld. The Hilite assets are part of Cummins Emission Solution (CES).

 

Confident Investor comments: At this time, I think that a Confident Investor can cautiously invest in this stock as long as the price is correct. Most of the fundamentals of this company are good but there are some concerns. I am leaving this company on my Watch List since it is one of the few manufacturers on the list. Please be a bit more cautious with this company though since the performance last year was not quite what it should have been.

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor.

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For the past couple weeks (and for the next several weeks) I am publicly reviewing my Watch List. This is an important task that all investors should do on a regular basis. Analyzing your investments to make sure they are performing to your standards is essential to your success as an investor. While I am not as popular at Jim Cramer, I do like to follow his advice and announce when I change my mind on a stock.

This week, I removed Caterpillar [stckqut]CAT[/stckqut], Chipotle [stckqut]CMG[/stckqut], and Carbo Ceramics [stckqut]CRR[/stckqut].  For different reasons, each of these companies was not performing to my expectations. If you want to understand this logic, you should read my book, The Confident Investor.   You can purchase my book wherever books are sold such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million. It is available in e-book formats for Nook, Kindle, and iPad.

You can make sure that you are receiving my updates by subscribing to me in several forums:

I hope that you enjoy the continued conversation.

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Company name Cirrus Logic, Inc.
Stock ticker CRUS
Live stock price [stckqut]CRUS[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Poor
Sales growth Good
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Fair
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Good
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $30.72
Target stock price (averages with growth) $42.68
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $33.86
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $24.85

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=crus

Cirrus Logic, Inc. is a United States-based company, which supplies high-precision analog and digital signal processing components for audio and energy markets. The Companys products include analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs), codecs that integrate ADCs and DACs into a single integrated circuit (IC), digital interface ICs, Class D digital amplifier controllers and power stages and audio DSPs. Its products are used in consumer applications, including smartphones, tablet personal computers (PCs), audio/video receivers, portable media players, soundbars, complete home theater systems, set-top boxes, gaming devices, sound cards and digital televisions (TVs). The Company offers applications for products within professional markets include digital mixing consoles, multitrack digital recorders and effects processors. Its applications for products within automotive markets include amplifiers, satellite radio systems and multispeaker car audio systems.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this price and at this time, I think that a Confident Investor can confidently invest in this stock.

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor.