NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Verizon (VZ) announced that it has invested more than $711 million in infrastructure improvements in 2013 in the state of Virginia alone. The investments are set to benefit both residential and business customers across the state, it said.
Verizon says that it has invested over $3.7 billion in Virginia's telecom infrastructure over the past three years, including adding nearly 20,000 miles of fiber optic wiring in the state.
The telecom giant hopes that the state can be one of the hubs for its burgeoning Verizon FiOs TV and Internet services. While not a major challenger to pay-TV industry leaders Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Dish Network (DISH), Verizon hopes the budding infrastructure will make it competitive in the future.
Must Read: Warren Buffett's 10 Favorite Stocks
Hot Energy Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Iron Mountain Incorporated(IRM)
Iron Mountain Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides information management services primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers records management services, including records management program development and implementation based on best-practices to help customers comply with specific regulatory requirements; implementation of policy-based programs that feature storage for various media comprising paper; flexible retrieval access and retention management; hybrid services to help organizations gain control over their paper records; and specialized services for vital records and regulated industries, such as healthcare, energy, government, and financial services. It also provides data protection and recovery services, such as disaster preparedness; off-site vaulting of data backup media for data recovery in the event of a disaster, human error, or virus; online backup and recovery solutions for desktop and la ptop computers, and remote servers; and technology escrow services to protect and manage source code and other proprietary information. In addition, the company offers information destruction services that primarily consist of physical secure shredding operations; and is involved in the shredding of sensitive documents to third-party recyclers. Further, it provides fulfillment services that assemble custom marketing packages and orders, as well as provide reporting on customer marketing literature inventories; and professional consulting services to develop and implement comprehensive records and information management programs. Iron Mountain Incorporated serves commercial, legal, banking, health care, accounting, insurance, entertainment, and government organizations. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
How’s this for an ugly chart?
That’s a 52-week chart of Iron Mountain (IRM), and that big decline–and gap–you see is what happens when investors have their hearts set on seeing a company convert into a REIT only to have their hearts broken by the IRS.
Whether a company can convert into a REIT is dependent on the definition of “real assets,” and when the IRS announced in June that it had put together a working group to figure define just what a real asset is, investors freaked. In case you’re wondering, that’s a 35% drop from peak to trough.
But there may be hope yet, say Piper Jaffray analysts George Tong and Peter Appert. First, they note that the IRS’s decision to convene a working group does not mean that it’s eager to change the definition, but rather to formalize it. They also believe there’s a good chance that Iron Mountain’s storage racks will be deemed “real assets.” For instance, Iron Mountain’s assets are likely to meet the IRS’s definition of “permanence.” Tong and Appert write:
IRM’s racks consist of beams permanently affixed to the foundation of the building capable of withstanding significant weight over many decades. They are not modular in nature, such as grocery aisle shelves (which do not qualify as real assets) that can be taken apart and pieced back together. The racks are never meant to be moved nor have they ever been moved. Removing the racks at IRM will immediately turn them into scrap metal since they cannot be reused. This is because the racks are custom built for each unique building and blueprint, taking into account structural and physical idiosyncrasies, and because of warping that occurs with time.
They also do not believe that the racks will be determined to be deemed “[accessories] to the operation of a business,” because they “do not produce a product” an
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Iron Mountain’s (IRM) story is now well known. Beset by a secular decline in its paper storage business, Iron Mountain has bet that a conversion into a real-estate investment trust can cure what ails it, by attracting investors interested in its potential yield. The IRS hasn’t seemed too willing to let Iron Mountain become a REIT, but the fact that it could is most likely all that stands in the way of the stock and a lower share price. And so Iron Mountain remains range bound, as investors wait to see what the IRS will do.
Getty ImagesBut maybe even the REIT conversion won’t be the savior Iron Mountain–and its investors–hope it will be. Jefferies’ Dan Dolev and team explain:
The outcome of the IRS’ ruling is difficult to predict, but our analysis shows a potentially more muted upside and a bigger downside than many believe. A favorable ruling could trigger a short squeeze, somewhat offset by Event Driven Hedge Funds liquidating. An influx of REIT investors is possible, but our analysis shows that many already own [Iron Mountain]. Alternatively, an adverse ruling could steer attention back to weakening fundamentals, potentially leading to the P/E’s of IRM (24x) and Recall (13x) converging.
Given an already tentative adverse ruling, the bar is high for [Iron Mountain] to convince the IRS that its racking structures are indeed real estate. The IRS would have to ignore its 1975 revenue ruling that it has relied on heavily for nearly 40 years. Even if [Iron Mountain] became a REIT, there is still no guarantee that REIT dedicated investors would buy the stock, especially given rising secular concerns.
Shares of Iron Mountain have dropped 2.1% to $25.86 at 3:47 p.m.
Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Own For 2014: BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT)
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust operates as a grantor trust in the United States. The company holds overriding royalty interests constituting a non-operational interest in minerals in the Prudhoe Bay oil field located on the North Slope in Alaska. The Prudhoe Bay field extends approximately 12 miles by 27 miles and contains approximately 150,000 gross productive acres. As of December 31, 2012, its estimated net remaining proved reserves were 75.517 million barrels of oil and condensate, of which 70.676 million barrels are proved developed reserves and 4.841 million barrels are proved undeveloped reserves. The company was founded in 1989 and is based in Austin, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt DiLallo]
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE: BPT )
Created in 1989, the property of the BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust consists of an overriding royalty interest of oil and condensate production from BP's Prudhoe Bay oil field located on the North Slope in Alaska. The trust makes quarterly payments to investors of the income after expenses, which can vary each quarter. Over the past year the trust has paid out an average of $2.22 per quarter which would imply a yield of around 9.4%. The key point that investors must understand is that the oil in the field is a finite resource, meaning that it will run out. Under current projections it's expected that the trust will run dry around the year 2029. - [By Rick Munarriz]
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE: BPT ) is also fueling its distributions. The trust's new quarterly payout comes out to $2.4147517 a unit. We're really splitting pennies here, but it's actually a reasonable 4% increase over its earlier rate.
- [By Aaron Levitt]
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT): BPT is the largest conventional oil and gas trust in the U.S. and was originally formed in 1989 by BP (BP). The royalty trust collects fees on the first 90,000 barrels of oil collected in the massive Prudhoe Bay oil field located on Alaska’s North Slope. While production in Prudhoe Bay have slipped over the last few years, BPT is expected to continue pumping out dividends for another 15 years. This royalty trust�yields a very hefty 11% based on the last four distributions.
Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Own For 2014: Dupont Fabros Technology Inc. (DFT)
DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership, acquisition, development, operation, management, and lease of large-scale data center facilities in the United States. The company leases its data centers to the American and international technology companies to house, power, and cool the computer servers that support their critical business processes. It also provides certain technical services to tenants, including layout design and installation of electrical power circuits, data cabling, server cabinets and racks, computer room airflow analyses, and monitoring. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated seven data centers located in Northern Virginia; one data center in suburban Chicago, Illinois; one data center in Piscataway, New Jersey; one data center in Santa Clara, California. DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. has elected to be taxed as a REIT. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal corporate income t axes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
As noted last month, DuPont Fabros Technology�� (NYSE: DFT ) �increased its�second-quarter dividend�25%, which will be paid on July 15 to shareholders of record on July 5. In addition to announcing this regular $0.25-per-share payout for its common stock, the data center operator also announced yesterday it would be paying dividends on two series of preferred stock, both of which will also be payable on July 15 to shareholders of record on July 5.
- [By alicet236]
Dupont Fabros Technology Inc. (DFT): President and CEO Hossein Fateh Sold 146,687 Shares
President and CEO of Dupont Fabros Technology Inc. (DFT) Hossein Fateh sold 146,687 shares on 01/10/2014 at an average price of $24.62. DuPont Fabros Technology Inc. was incorporated in March 2007 under the laws of the State of Maryland. Dupont Fabros Technology Inc. has a market cap of $1.61 billion; its shares were traded at around $24.92 with a P/E ratio of 100.90 and P/S ratio of 4.47. The dividend yield of Dupont Fabros Technology Inc stocks is 3.82%. Dupont Fabros Technology Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 14.50% over the past five years.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Investors might find it fabulous that DuPont Fabros Technology� (NYSE: DFT ) �has increased its second-quarter dividend, the third time in two years the payout has been increased.
Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Own For 2014: Moody's Corporation(MCO)
Moody?s Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings; credit and economic related research, data, and analytical tools; risk management software; and quantitative credit risk measures, credit portfolio management solutions, training, and financial credentialing and certification services worldwide. Its Moody?s Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings on debt obligations, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities, and commercial paper programs, as well as the entities that issue such obligations in markets worldwide. This segment provides ratings in approximately 110 countries. Its ratings are disseminated via press releases to the public through print and electronic media, including the Internet and real-time information systems, which is used by securities traders and investors. As of December 31, 2010 this segment had ratings relationships with approximately 11,000 corporate issuers and approximate ly 22,000 public finance issuers. It also rated and monitored ratings on approximately 102,000 structured finance obligations. The company?s Moody?s Analytics segment develops products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets. It also distributes investor-oriented research and data, including research on debt issuers, industry studies, and commentary on topical events developed by MIS as part of its rating process. In addition, this segment provides economic research, and credit data and analytical tools, such as quantitative credit risk scores; economic and regulatory capital risk management software and implementation services; and quantitative credit risk measures, credit portfolio management solutions, training, and financial credentialing and certification services. It serves approximately 4,100 institutions in approximately 115 countries. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Today's best performer was ratings agency Moody's (NYSE: MCO ) , which surged 8.3% after it and McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHFI ) subsidiary Standard & Poor's settled a lawsuit with slightly more than a dozen plantiffs in a case involving their rating of financial securities relating to the financial crisis. Although no financial figures were disclosed, settlements in cases like this are extremely common and usually for less than the sought-after amount, since court fees can be quite expensive. This could also bode well for future and ongoing litigation such as the U.S. government's suit against McGraw-Hill's Standard & Poor's for its selected ratings during the financial crisis.
- [By Tara Clarke]
Already under pressure from having misjudged the entire financial crisis, ratings agency Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO) has proposed changes on how they will rate local governments' GO bonds thanks to Orr's not-so-subtle push.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Macy’s (M) wasn’t so lucky. It reported earnings and revenues that came in below forecasts and its guidance disappointed as well. (Read Barron’s Take here.) Its shares dropped 4.5% to $46.33. Moody’s (MCO), meanwhile, plunged 5.1% to $65.50.
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