Top Quality Companies For 2014

It seems unlikely that The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM  ) and Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM  ) would have an existing major competitor. After all, most of the other brands out there focus on cheap food and large selection instead of on sourcing and quality. But there's a lurking competitor that's searching out the same demographic, through a very different route -- Costco (NASDAQ: COST  ) .

Costco's management pointed out on its last earning call that foot traffic was being driven by two major factors: gas sales and fresh food. That fresh food portion is going to cut right into the sales at Whole Foods and Fresh Market, and if those companies aren't careful, Costco's going to walk all over them.

It's all about the customer
As early as 2009, Whole Foods saw the competition that was brewing with Costco. At the time, the economic downturn made it abundantly clear that customers were price-conscious, whether companies believed it or not. Whole Foods co-CEO John Mackey gave an interview with The Wall Street Journal in which he highlighted the difficulty that Whole Foods had in competing. While the company was capable of managing the competition from Trader Joe's, Mackey said that it was "harder to match Costco without going bankrupt."

Top Quality Companies For 2014: eServGlobal Ltd(ESV.AX)

eServGlobal Limited engages in the provision of mobile money solutions and value added services to mobile and financial service providers in the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Central and South America. It offers mobile money solutions, including PayMobile platform, a market proven solution that provides various aspects of mobile money usage from voucher and electronic recharge, and money and commerce solutions; and HomeSend, a mobile-centric international remittance hub endorsed by the GSM association that enables service providers comprising financial institutions to offer international money and air-time transfer, as well as access to a hubbing and managed service through a single technical and commercial interface. The company also offers value-added services, such as PromoMax that allows telecom service providers to build targeted, personalized, diversified and timely promotions, and loyalty programs; PRIME, a next generation framework for value-ad ded services; Mailis, a messaging solution, which enables service providers to deliver voice mail, unified mail, and video mail to retail and business customers; and IVR, a multi-lingual solution. In addition, it provides software as a service; and professional, training, and support services, as well as offers operational services for operators. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

Top Quality Companies For 2014: ZST Digital Networks Inc.(ZSTN)

ZST Digital Networks, Inc. engages in supplying digital and optical network equipment and providing installation services to cable system operators in China, as well as in providing GPS location and tracking services to local logistics and transportation companies in China. It offers a line of IPTV devices that are used to provide bundled cable television, Internet, and telephone services to residential and commercial customers. The company has assisted in the installation and construction of approximately 400 local cable networks in approximately 90 municipal districts, counties, townships, and enterprises. ZST Digital Networks has also launched a commercial line of vehicle tracking devices utilizing its GPS tracking technologies and support services for transport-related enterprises to track, monitor, and optimize their businesses. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Zhengzhou City, the People?s Republic of China.

Top 5 New Companies To Invest In Right Now: Hillenbrand Inc(HI)

Hillenbrand, Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells funeral service products to licensed funeral directors operating licensed funeral homes. The company?s products include burial caskets, cremation caskets, containers, vaults, urns, and selection room display fixturing for funeral homes, as well as other personalization and memorialization products and services, including Web-based applications, and the creation and hosting of Websites for licensed funeral homes. It markets its products under the Batesville and Options brand name through direct sales force in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The company also designs, produces, markets, sells, and services bulk solids material handling equipment and systems for various industrial markets, including plastics, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, power generation, coal mining, pulp and paper, frac sand, industrial minerals, agribusiness, recycling, wood and forest pr oducts, and biomass energy generation. It offers feeders and pneumatic conveying equipment under the K-Tron brand name; and size reduction equipment, such as hammer mills, double-roll crushers, wood and bark hogs, chip sizers, screening equipment, pneumatic and mechanical conveying systems, storage/reclamation systems, and specialty crushers and other equipment under the Pennsylvania Crusher, Gundlach, and Jeffrey Rader brand names. In addition, the company manufactures dry material separation machines that sort dry, granular products based on the particle?s size serving various industries, including frac sand, potash, urea, phosphates, chemical, agricultural, plastics, and food processing. The company sells its material handling equipment and systems worldwide through a combination of a direct sales force, and a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Hillenbrand, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Batesville, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Fitz Gerald]

  Hillenbrand is the largest supplier of products to the funeral service industry. Caskets and urns are at its primary products and it sells to 16,000 of the nation's 22,000 funeral homes. This is a demographic trend that is only getting larger with an aging population. The stock yields 4% and trades for only 10 times forward earnings. I like stocks that are monopolies in their industry, pay huge dividends (which they just increased) and trade for a cheap multiple on cash flows.

Top Quality Companies For 2014: Ocean Park Ventures Corp (OCP.V)

Ocean Park Ventures Corp. engages in the exploration and development of base and precious metal properties in the Americas. The company holds an option to acquire a 51% interest in the Adelita copper-gold-silver project located in the southern part of Sonora, Mexico; a 50% interest in the Trapper gold project consisting of 9 contiguous mining claims located in the Atlin Mining Division of northern British Columbia, Canada; and a 100% interest in the Metla gold property located in northern British Columbia, Canada. It also holds option to acquire the Chisna copper/gold property located in the south central state of Alaska. The company was formerly known as eTV Technology Inc. and changed its name to Ocean Park Ventures Corp. in April 2009. Ocean Park Ventures Corp. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Top Quality Companies For 2014: UFP Technologies Inc.(UFPT)

UFP Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design and manufacture of engineered packaging solutions for medical and scientific, automotive, aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, industrial, and consumer markets. The company offers packaging products primarily using polyethylene, polyurethane, cross-linked polyethylene foams, and rigid plastics. Its packaging products include end-cap packs for computers, corner blocks for telecommunications consoles, anti-static foam packs for printed circuit boards, die-cut or routed inserts for cases, molded foam enclosures for orthopedic products, and plastic trays for medical devices and components. UFP Technologies also fabricates and molds component products made from cross-linked polyethylene foam and other materials, as well as engages in laminating fabrics and other materials to cross-linked polyethylene foams, polyurethane foams, and other substrates. The company?s component products include automo tive interior trim, athletic padding, industrial safety belts, medical device components, air filtration, high-temperature insulation, abrasive nail files and other beauty aids, anti-fatigue mats, and shock absorbing inserts used in athletic and leisure footwear. It sells its products primarily under United Foam, Simco Automotive, and Molded Fiber brand names through direct sales force, independent manufacturer representatives, and distributors. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Georgetown, Massachusetts.