5 Best Rising Stocks For 2014

Showtime and corporate parent CBS (NYSE: CBS  ) have some bloody shoes to fill with ratings winner Dexter, which recently entered its eighth and final season. The cast and producers said goodbye to fans last week at San Diego Comic-Con.

Michael C. Hall as serial killer Dexter Morgan. Source: ET Online, Showtime.

Dexter stars actor Michael C. Hall as a Miami crime-scene analyst who doubles as a serial killer of crooks. The show's fan base has grown to the point where Season 8's June premiere drew 3.2 million viewers, a new record and up 5% over the Season 7 premiere.

Media mavens will rightly point out that Dexter isn't much of a mainstream winner when compared with The Walking Dead, which has helped AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX  ) achieve better-than 15% revenue growth in three of the past six quarters.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones has proved to be so popular -- drawing as many as 13 million viewers across all channels -- that a surprising number of readers said they would pay a premium if HBO parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX  ) would release current-season episodes direct to iTunes for purchase.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies For 2015: Fisher Communications Inc.(FSCI)

Fisher Communications, Inc., an integrated media company, through its subsidiaries, engages in television and radio broadcasting businesses. The company owns and operates network-affiliated television stations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California, as well as engages in Internet business; and radio stations and managed radio stations in Washington and Montana. It also owns and operates Fisher Plaza, a commercial building that includes a data center designed to enable companies to distribute analog and digital media content through various distribution channels, including broadcast, satellite, cable, Internet, broadband, and other wired and wireless communication systems, as well as houses various companies, including media and communications companies. The company owns and operates 13 full power television stations, 7 low power television stations, and 10 owned and managed radio stations in the Western United States. Its television stations reach 4.2 million househo lds. The company was formerly known as Fisher Companies, Inc. and changed its name in March 2001. Fisher Communications, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  In the latest of a string of acquisitions, Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ: SBGI  ) is to buy Fisher Communications (NASDAQ: FSCI  ) . The merger transaction will cost the former roughly $373 million. Fisher stockholders are to receive a cash payout of $41.00 per share, which, according to Sinclair, is a 44% premium to the stock's recent closing price.

5 Best Rising Stocks For 2014: Capital Senior Living Corp (CSU)

Capital Senior Living Corporation, incorporated on October 25, 1996, is an operator of residential communities for senior adults. The Company provides senior living services. Its communities integrate independent living, assisted living and home care services, to provide residents the opportunity to age in place. The Company operated 112 senior living communities in geographically concentrated regions with an aggregate capacity of approximately 14,600 residents.

The Company�� senior living options include independent living, assisted living, memory care and planning resources. The Company�� services include special nutrition counseling, additional housekeeping and laundry, exercise programs, recreation and entertainment, medication reminders and access to a choice of home health agencies.

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 Capital Senior Living (NYSE: CSU  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [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 Capital Senior Living (NYSE: CSU  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

5 Best Rising Stocks For 2014: Grifols SA (GRFS)

Grifols SA is a Spain-based company engaged in the healthcare sector. The Company is involved in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of medical solutions for hospitals, which include plasma-derived therapies, as well as diagnosis and pharmaceutical products. Its activities are structured in four segments: Bioscience, which focuses on the research for obtaining new therapies and solutions aimed at patients who suffer from illnesses stemming from plasma deficits; Diagnostic, which comprises the research, development and marketing of diagnostic products for clinical laboratories, Hospital, which offers ready-to-use pharmaceutical preparations and products for clinical nutrition; and Raw Materials, which includes sales of biological products and services. The Company is a parent of Grupo Grifols. In March 2013, the Company acquired a 60% stake in Progenika Biopharma SA. On January 9, 2014, the Company acquired a diagnostic unit from Novartis International AG. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Grifols SA (GRFS)

  Paulson�� fourth largest holding is in Grifols SA where he maintains 19,838,107 shares of the company�� stock. His holdings make up for 3.9% of his total portfolio as well as for 5.77% of the company�� shares outstanding.

• [By Philip Springer]

  What’s more, earnings estimates for 2014 by Wall Street analysts have increased for seven of the 10 companies over the last three months. Amgen’s are down slightly and those for Celgene and Novo Nordisk are unchanged.
  
  Two of the 10 stocks currently are in the PF Growth Portfolio. Another, Allergan, was sold for a 75 percent long-term gain since its initial recommendation.
  
  As of late February, the 10 stocks profiled carried market capitalizations of roughly $30 billion and up. Here are another four companies to watch: Grifols SA (NSDQ: GRFS), Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NSDQ: JAZZ), Questcor Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ: QCOR) and Salix Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ: SLXP). Each of these four companies is generating rapid revenue and profit growth, and each stock carries a market capitalization of $5 billion or more.
  
  Have a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend!

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Grifols SA (GRFS)

  Paulson�� fourth largest holding is in Grifols SA where he holds on to 19,786,279 shares of the company�� stock. His position in the company represents 4% of his total portfolio and 5.76% of the company�� shares outstanding.

5 Best Rising Stocks For 2014: Prudential Public Limited Company(PUK)

Prudential plc provides retail financial products and services, and asset management services to individuals and businesses in Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It offers savings, protection, investment, and unit-linked products; manages investments across a range of asset classes for internal, retail, and institutional clients; manages onshore mutual funds; and provides retirement planning, consumer and Islamic finance, and health solutions. The company also provides retirement savings and income solutions; variable annuities; fixed and fixed index annuities; term life, universal life, and variable universal life insurance; permanent individual life insurance; and institutional products, such as guaranteed investment contracts, funding agreements, and medium term note funding agreements. In addition, it offers pensions and annuities; investment plans; and car, health, home, travel, and protection insurance policies. Further, Prudential plc provides fund man agement services for individual and institutional clients. The company was founded in 1848 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  Today, I am looking at�Prudential� (LSE: PRU  ) (NYSE: PUK  ) to determine whether you should consider buying the shares at 1,097p.

• [By David O��ara]

  Prudential
  Back in January, analysts were forecasting that�Prudential� (LSE: PRU  ) (NYSE: PUK  ) �would make EPS for the year of 77.1 pence per share. Following a series of steady upgrades, that figure is now 83.6 pence.

• [By Patricio Kehoe]

  In fact, today the company announced that it will be launching a new universal life product for the Canadian market called Manulife UL by May 26 of this year. The new product will offer cost-effective insurance protection, as well as the opportunity for tax-advantaged investing, catering to customer�� demands for a more simplified insurance solution, which should help boost sales to some extent. Although the firm�� balance sheet is highly leveraged, exposing it to possible damages in the case of higher-than-expected policy liabilities, Manulife�� capital position has improved substantially over the past year. With a ratio of regulatory capital to capital required at 248%, the firm possesses excessive capital levels, well above competitors like Prudential Public Limited Company (ADR) (PUK), China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (ADR) (LFC), and Sun Life Financial Inc. (USA) (SLF), which all sport a 200% ratio. Moreover, the company�� excessive capital should allow it to maintain the above average dividend yield of 2.66% offered to shareholders.

• [By David O��ara]

  Prudential
  Shares in insurer�Prudential� (LSE: PRU  ) (NYSE: PUK  ) are up 51% in the last 12 months. In that time, the FTSE 100 is 16.7% ahead.