10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now

On this day in economic and business history...

The golden spike sank into the earth at Promontory Summit in Utah on May 10, 1869. The Transcontinental Railroad was complete, joining the east and west of a sprawling 3,000-mile wide nation. Two railroad enterprises, the Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP  ) and the Central Pacific, had been built at a frenzied pace since shortly after President Abraham Lincoln's signature approved federal funds for construction in 1862. Both railroads were created to service this legislation, with Union Pacific building west from the Missouri River as the Central Pacific�struck out east from Sacramento.

The 1,900-mile line, built in only six years, was, as Howard Means writes in Money and Power: the History of Business:

... the Apollo Project of the 19th century -- one of those rare moments in history when discovery and technology seems to be colliding with destiny. National pride was at stake, and national aspiration, and something bigger still: Just as the manned landing on the moon would do, the railroad conquered an unknown world, planted a first tentative foot in an unknown space. Only those present could see the final spike of iron, clad in silver and gold, being driven into the last link of rail ... but the event was broadcast by telegraph and followed by Americans as avidly -- and greeted as enthusiastically -- as Neil Armstrong's lunar 'giant leap for mankind' almost exactly 100 years later, on July 20, 1969.

Best Industrial Conglomerate Stocks To Buy Right Now: Massive Dynamics Inc (MSSD)

Massive Dynamics, Inc., incorporated on March 15, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company is providing services to communication tower operators. On August 20, 2012, Kylemore Corp. (Kylemore) approximately 90% of the Company. On April 16, 2013, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Real-View 3D (RV3D). With the Company's acquisition of the assets of RV3D, the Company is providing engineering and compliance to communications tower operators to three dimension (3D) imaging. RV3D is an image capture product company that has developed and is committed to design, patent, manufacture and market 3D imaging Z-axis capture products for the consumer computer peripherals market.

The Company has developed technology around an imaging technology known as structured light, which allows for the rapid capture and processing of the digital signal capture 3D images of objects or real time 3D video of a desired target. A structured light image is a calibrated grid of lines that is projected on the subject. These projected lines deviate as they fall over the subject. An image of these lines is captured. Real View 3D software can extract Z-axis data from these line deviations and a topographical map is created. To image a complete subject, the subject is rotated 360 degrees for the image and then another 360 degree rotation for capturing the structured light for the Z axis map information. The resulting Z axis map and the image are then fused into a 360 degree renderable image. This image can then be exported into many other formats for viewing. The Company's primary business will be to develop and market 3D scanning, capture, rendering, and printing products to four markets: consumer, commercial, industrial, and medical.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  The problem with that, of course, is that competition is beginning to emerge in machine selling, as small companies with names such as ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE  ) and Massive Dynamics (NASDAQOTH: MSSD  ) begin to horn in on the printer biz. Competition will probably arise even faster in the selling of printing composites, as Hewlett-Packard discovered to its detriment, when printer ink cartridge "refillers" began stealing away its lucrative ink business.

10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Balfour Beatty PLC (BIH)

Balfour Beatty plc is a global infrastructure company that delivers services essential to the development, creation and care of infrastructure assets; from finance and development, through design and project management to construction and maintenance. The Company operates in four segments: Professional Services segment is engaged in the provision of project management; Construction Services segment is engaged in the activities resulting in the physical construction of an asset; Support Services segment is engaged in the activities, which support existing assets or functions, and Infrastructure Investments segment is engaged in the acquisition, operation and disposal of infrastructure assets, such as PPP concessions and airports. In July 2013, it announced the disposal of its 50% interest in the Salford Hospital PFI asset. In December 2013, Balfour Beatty Plc completed the sale of its UK facilities management business to GDF Suez Energy Services. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vanina Egea]

  A few companies excel over their market peers, granting them an unconventional competitive advantage. Everybody knows the market leaders, or the mammoth companies, but there are other particular services that can give a firm greater exposure. No other example is more relevant than the rotary rig count offered by Baker Hughes (BIH). The Baker Hughes Rig Counts provides a weekly count of U.S. and Canadian drilling activity to the industry since 1944, and has become an important business barometer for the drilling industry and its suppliers. Most importantly, the index allows industry analysts to identify industry trends, while providing valuable information to prospect investors beyond Baker Hughes itself. After experiencing a decline in performance from mid-2011 to the end of 2012, the company saw great improvement in overall performance during 2013. Can the trend be expected to continue?

10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Stanley Black & Decker Inc.(SWK)

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. manufactures tools and engineered security solutions worldwide. The company?s Security segment provides a range of mechanical and electronic security products and systems, as well as various security services consisting of security integration systems, software, and related installation, maintenance, monitoring services; automatic doors, door closers, and exit devices; healthcare storage and supply chain solutions; patient protection products; hardware; and locking mechanisms. This segment sells its products to retailers; educational, financial, and healthcare institutions; and commercial, governmental, and industrial customers through direct sales forces and third party distributors. Its Industrial segment offers mechanics tools and storage systems, including wrenches, sockets, electronic diagnostic tools, tool boxes, and industrial storage and retrieval systems; engineered healthcare storage and retrieval systems; hydraulic tools and accessor ies; plumbing, heating, and air conditioning tools; assembly tools and systems; and specialty tools. This segment sells its products to industrial customers through third party distributors and direct sales forces. The company?s Construction & Do-It-Yourself segment manufactures hand tools, including measuring and leveling tools, planes, hammers, demolition tools, knives and blades, saws, chisels, and consumer tackers; consumer mechanics tools; storage units comprising plastic and metal tool boxes; and pneumatic tools and fasteners for use in construction, remodeling, furniture making, pallet and manufacturing applications. This segment sells its products to professional end users and consumers through retailers, including home centers, mass merchants, hardware stores, and retail lumber yards. The company was formerly known as The Stanley Works and changed its name to Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. in March 2010. Stanley Black & Decker was founded in 1843 and is based in New B ritain, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Stanley Black and Decker�� (SWK) shares have had a nice year and have been red hot in the last quarter. The stock has jumped ahead by about 18% in the last three months, bringing the year to date return up to 22%. However, earnings this year are down compared to 2012, and consumer spending is losing steam at the same time the housing recovery is stalling. The stock was downgraded to a “D” ranking in Portfolio Grader this week and will remain a “sell” until fundamentals improve to match the story.

10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Opus International Consultants Ltd (OIC)

Opus International Consultants Limited is a supplier of multidisciplinary consultancy and project management services across a range of disciplines including, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, and planning, environmental, architectural and property management. The Company operates in four segments: New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. Services supplied support asset development and asset management activities of the Company�� clients. Asset management services include property management and asset maintenance services predominantly using our engineering and environmental specialists. Asset development services include civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, planning, environmental and architectural work. Effective September 3, 2013, Opus International Consultants Ltda majority-owned unit of Opus Group Bhd acquired Stewart, Weir & Co Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John McCamant]

  Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) is expected to get FDA approval this year for its lead drug naloxegol, a once-a-day pill for opioid-induced constipation (OIC). The drug is licensed to AstraZeneca. NKTR will receive up to $245 million in milestone payments, plus royalties.

10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Acuity Brands Inc (AYI)

Acuity Brands, Inc. (Acuity Brands), incorporated on September 20, 2007, is the parent company of Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. (ABL), and other subsidiaries. Acuity Brands is a provider of lighting solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial, infrastructure, and residential applications throughout North America and select international markets. The Company's lighting solutions include devices, such as luminaires, lighting controls, power supplies, prismatic skylights, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, and integrated lighting systems for indoor and outdoor applications utilizing a combination of light sources, including daylight, and other devices controlled by software that monitors and manages light levels while optimizing energy consumption (collectively referred to herein as lighting solutions). Effective March 14, 2013, the Company acquired eldoLED Europe BV.

The Company manufactures lighting devices primarily in North America, Europe and Asia. The Company's lighting solutions are marketed under numerous brand names, including Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, Mark Architectural Lighting, Hydrel, American Electric Lighting, Gotham, Carandini, RELOC, Antique Street Lamps, Tersen, Winona Lighting, Synergy Lighting Controls, Sensor Switch, Lighting Control & Design, Dark to Light, ROAM, Sunoptics, acculamp, Pathway Connectivity, and Healthcare Lighting. As of August 31, 2012, the Company manufactures products in 18 facilities in North America and two facilities in Europe.

Principal customers include electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, municipalities, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies located in North America and select international markets serving new construction, renovation, and facility maintenance applications. In North America, the Company's lighting solutions are sold primarily by independent sales agents, electrical wholesalers, and factory sales representatives who cover specific geographic areas! and market channels. Products are delivered directly or through a network of distribution centers, regional warehouses, and commercial warehouses using both common carriers and a company-owned truck fleet. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012), North American sales accounted for approximately 98% of net sales. The Company has one operating segment serving the North American lighting market and select international markets.

The Company provides a range of lighting solutions, as well as services used in the applications, such as lighting solutions and services. Lighting solutions and services includes commercial and institutional, industrial, infrastructure, residential and services. Commercial and Institutional includes stores, hotels, offices, schools, and hospitals, as well as other government and public buildings. Lighting solutions that serve these applications include recessed, surface, and suspended lighting products, recessed down lighting, track lighting, day lighting, and lighting controls (occupancy sensors, photocontrols, relay panels, architectural dimming panels, and integrated lighting controls systems), as well as special-use lighting products. The outdoor areas associated with these applications are addressed by a range of outdoor lighting products, such as area and flood lighting, decorative site lighting, and landscape lighting. Industrial includes primarily warehouses and manufacturing facilities, which utilize a range of general purpose, day lighting, and special-use lighting solutions. Infrastructure includes highways, tunnels, airports, railway yards, and ports. Products that serve these applications include street, area, high-mast, off-set roadway, sign lighting, poles, and integrated controls systems. Residential includes a combination of decorative, utilitarian, and down lighting products. Services include monitoring and controlling of lighting systems through network technologies.

The Company competes with Cooper Industries plc, Hu! bbell Inc! orporated, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., OSRAM AG, Schneider Electric and General Electric Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Samaha]

  Shareholders in lighting company Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI  ) were given a rude reminder of the risk of holding a highly rated stock recently. The company's third quarter results missed estimates and the stock plunged more than 15%. But it might not all be so bad. Acuity's management doesn't give earnings guidance, so Fools should expect some volatility around the results. In addition, the company is attractive for a host of reasons, many of which also apply to Cree (NASDAQ: CREE  ) and Hubbell� (NYSE: HUB-B  ) . Is this a good buying opportunity in Acuity Brands?

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Analysts are expecting Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) to have earned $$1.02 per share on revenue of $569.33 million in the fourth quarter. Acuity Brands shares rose 0.95% to close at $92.02 yesterday.

• [By Mike Deane]

  Acuity Brands announced its second quarter earnings just as the opening bell rang on Wednesday, with the company posting slightly higher revenue and earnings than last year’s Q2.�

  AYI’s Earnings in Brief

  AYI reported fourth quarter revenues of $546.2 million, an increase of 12% million from last year’s Q2 revenues of $486.7 million. Net income for the quarter came in at $77.2 million, up from $50.8 million reported for last year’s Q2. The company�� diluted EPS for Q2 was 75 cents, an increase from last year’s 57 cent EPS. AYI missed analysts’ estimates of 83 cents EPS on revenues of $553.95 million. Looking ahead, AYI has a positive outlook on the lighting industry, and sees growth and strong demand.

  CEO Commentary

  AYI’s chairman, president and CEO, Vernon J. Nagel, had the following comments: “We were very pleased with our fiscal 2014 second quarter results as we continued to execute our strategies to extend our leadership position in North America. While we believe inclement winter weather in certain parts of the U.S. dampened customer orders during the quarter and somewhat impacted our operations, the year-over-year increase in net sales reflects continued favorable trends in order rates as well as the continued adoption of LED lighting solutions, which again more than doubled over the prior year. Sales of LED-based luminaires now represent 30 percent of our�net sales. We believe our second quarter results reflect our ability to provide customers truly differentiated value from our industry-leading portfolio of innovative lighting and control solutions along with superior service.”

  AYI’s Dividend

  Acuity is paying its next dividend on May 1, and its stock goes ex-dividend on April 15. The company pays a quarterly dividend of 13 cents, which has not been touched since 2007.

  Stock Performance

  AYI stock was up slightly on Wednesday morning. YTD, the c

10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Assa Abloy AB (ASAZY.PK)

Assa Abloy AB is a Sweden-based company engaged in the secure door opening solutions. It is organized into five divisions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), North and South America (Americas), Asia, Australia and New Zealand (Asia Pacific), Global Technologies and Entrance Systems. The EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific divisions manufacture mechanical and electromechanical locks, security doors and hardware in their respective geographical markets. The Global Technologies division operates in the product areas of access control systems, secure card issuance, identification technology and hotel locks. The Entrance Systems division is a supplier of entrance automation products and services. The Company�� subsidiaries include ASSA Sverige AB, Timelox AB and ABLOY Holdings Ltd., among others. In November 2013, it acquired Ameristar Fence Products Inc, a manufacturer of ornamental fences and gates. In January 2014, it acquired IdenTrust. In February 2014, it acquired Lumidigm. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Weighing Machine]

  Domiciled in Sweden, Assa Abloy (ASAZY.PK) is the largest lock maker in the world with a global market share of nearly 12%. While the construction market has been difficult since the financial crisis, Assa has continued to increase revenue and operating profit every year since 2010 and is on track to do so again in 2013. While commercial construction has been subdued, the aftermarket (which represents ~70% of the total lock market) is driven by changes in tenancy, renovation, and extensions have not been very cyclical and provides the company with a steady stream of profits. Assa has been cobbled together through 150+ acquisitions since the early 1990s and while management has done a good job of rationalizing facilities, there remain opportunities to increase manufacturing efficiencies. Similarly, the company's back office is still running dozens of IT systems (as a result of acquisitions) but management plans to consolidate these over the next few years. Further, Assa remains an active consolidator of the locks industry - it should be able to add 5% per year to sales via acquisitions (as an aside, those interested in micro-caps should have a look at Securidev in France which trades at less than half the private market value Assa has paid for lock makers on average over the past decade). Having the highest margins in the industry, Assa is able to achieve significant synergies on acquired businesses and earn good returns on capital for its shareholders through M&A. Thus even in a difficult economy, we expect Assa will continue to grow its operating profit given its steady after market revenue, opportunity to improve results through cost cutting, and through value accretive M&A. While its shares are not cheap, at 19x earnings, shares could offer investors with a five year holding period and an 8-10% annualized return.

10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC)

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides professional, technical, and construction services. Its services include engineering, design, and architectural services; construction and construction management services; operations and maintenance services; and process, scientific, and systems consulting services. The company serves a range of companies and organizations comprising industrial, commercial, and government clients across multiple markets and geographies. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides its services to various industries and markets consisting of oil and gas exploration, production, and refining; environmental programs; pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; chemicals and polymers; buildings; infrastructure; power; technology and manufacturing; consumer products; and pulp and paper. The company provides its services through its offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Pa sadena, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) �shares shed 6.2%. The company late Monday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, below the 87 cents a share forecast to analysts. Jacobs provides technical services to markets like defense, infrastructure, mining, energy and pharmaceuticals.