5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) --�Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.��br>

Read More: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Dividend Stocks
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From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.��/p>

Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.��br>

While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis. Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market today.��br>

Best Income Stocks To Invest In 2015: Gerdau SA (GGB)

Gerdau S.A. (Gerdau), incorporated on November 20, 1961, is a producer of long rolled steel. Gerdau operates steel mills that produce steel by direct iron-ore reduction (DRI) in blast furnaces and in electric arc furnaces (EAF). In Brazil, the Company operates four integrated steel mills, including its mill, Acominas mill, an integrated steel mill located in the state of Minas Gerais. It has a total of 60 steel producing units globally, including joint ventures and associate companies. The joint ventures include a unit located in the United States for the production of flat rolled steel and another unit in India. The associate companies are Aceros Corsa in Mexico; Corporacion Centroamericana del Acero in Guatemala, and Industrias Nacionales (INCA) in the Dominican Republic. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company also engages in other activities related to the production and sale of steel products, including reforestation, electric power generation projects; coking coal, iron ore and pig iron production, as well as fab shops and downstream operations. On August 12, 2010, Gerdau acquired the remaining 49.1% interest in the Cleary Holdings Corp. On October 21, 2010, Gerdau, through its wholly owned subsidiary Gerdau Ameristeel acquired TAMCO Steel.

Gerdau offers a range of steel products, which are manufactured according to a variety of customer specifications. Its product mix includes crude steel (slabs, blooms and billets) sold to rolling mills, finished products for the construction industry, such as rods and structural bars, finished products for industry, such as commercial rolled steel bars and machine wire and products for farming and agriculture, such as poles, smooth wire and barbed wire. The Company also produces specialty steel products utilizing technology and normally with a certain degree of customization for the manufacture of tools and machinery, chains, locks and springs, for the automotive and mechanical industries. As of December 31, 2010, the Company operat! ed 19 steel production units in the United States and Canada through its principal entity, Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation. Gerdau operates in four business segments: Brazil (Brazil Business Operation), includes Brazil�� operations, except specialty steel; North America (North America Business Operation), includes all North American operations, except Mexico and specialty steel; Latin America (Latin America Business Operation), includes all Latin American operations, except for Brazil, and Specialty Steel (Specialty Steel Business Operation), includes the specialty steel operations in Brazil, Spain and the United States.

Crude Steel (Billets, Blooms and Slabs)

Crude steel products include billets, blooms and slabs. Billets are bars from square sections of long steel that serve as inputs for the production of wire rod, rebars and merchant bars. They are the main product of the Acominas mill. Blooms are used to manufacture products, such as springs, forged parts, heavy structural shapes and seamless tubes. Slabs are used in the steel industry for the rolling of a range of flat rolled products. Slabs are mainly used to produce hot and cold rolled coils, heavy slabs and profiles. Crude steel products are produced using either the continuous casting or conventional process.

Common Long Rolled Products

Common long rolled products represent a major portion of the Company�� production. The Company�� main long rolled products include rebars, merchant bars and profiles, which are used mainly by the construction and manufacturing industries.

Drawn Products

Drawn products include barbed and barbless fence wire, galvanized wire, fences, concrete reinforcing wire mesh, nails and clamps. These products are not exported and are sold to the manufacturing, construction and agricultural industries.

Specialty Steel Products

Gerdau produces specialty and stainless steel used in tools and machinery, chains, fasteners! , railroa! d spikes and special coil steel at its Acos Villares and Piratini units in Brazil, at Corporacion Sidenor units in Spain and at the MacSteel units in the United States. In the United States, Gerdau Ameristeel produces special sections, such as grader blades, smelter bars, light rails, super light I-beams, elevator guide rails and other products that are made on demand for the Company�� clients, which are mainly manufacturers. It is a joint venture with the Kalyani Group in India, in which Gerdau has a 73.2% interest in the joint venture.

Flat Products

Gerdau�� Acominas mill produces slabs, which are rolled into flat products, such as hot and cold steel coils, heavy plates and profiles. In addition, the Company�� distribution subsidiary, Comercial Gerdau, resells flat steel products manufactured by other Brazilian steel producers. Gerdau Ameristeel also supplies flat steel to its customers through its joint venture Gallatin located in Kentucky. Gallatin is a joint venture with ArcelorMittal, Canada, a flat steel producer, and has nominal installed capacity of 1.4 million tons of flat steel per year.

The Company competes with Commercial Metals Company, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics Inc., ArcelorMittal Inc., ArcelorMittal Brasil, Usiminas Group and CSN.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Gerdau (GGB) is one of the best ways to play this trend if you believe in a commodities shift. The Brazilian steel company trades for a forward P/E of about 5, and a price/sales of just a bit more than 0.7. That�� an incredible valuation.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

   

  Up first is Brazilian steel stock Gerdau (GGB) a name that's been one of the NYSE's worst large-cap performers this year. Since the start of January, Gerdau is down more than 29%. Truth be told, GGB has been looking bearish for a while now. If you'd sold it the last time it looked toxic, you'd have spared yourself close to 11% losses.

  But shares look primed for another leg lower from here -- and Gerdau is worth an updated look today.

  GGB spent most of 2014 forming a bearish descending triangle pattern. The descending triangle is a price pattern that's formed by horizontal support below shares (in this case at $5.75) and downtrending resistance to the topside. As GGB bounced in between those two technically important levels, it was getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakdown below that $5.75 price floor. That sell trigger happened on Tuesday.

  That means that if you own GGB, it's time to unload this stock.

  That bearish bet is being confirmed by relative strength in GGB. This stock's relative strength line has been downtrend all year long, an indication that Gerdau is underperforming the rest of the market. That's a big red flag to heed in shares this week.

  Read More: 3 Stocks Spiking on Big Volume

• [By Victor Selva] -largest producer in the sector.

  Why Not No. 1?

  Brazil-based Gerdau has three main advantages. Size ��though it�� a strong pro ��is not necessarily one of them. To start with, Gerdau is a highly integrated company, with annual iron ore production capacity totaling 11.5 million metric tons, enabling it to be over 80% and 40% self-sufficient in Brazil and the U.S., respectively, and thus hedging itself from volatility in raw material prices.

  Second, the company has a relatively modern fleet of furnaces, mainly composed of electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which are more energy-efficient than traditional blast furnaces and should result on a more flexible supply.

  Last, the location is also a positive factor: with a high geographical diversification, Gerdau has still managed to maintain a strong leadership in the markets where it operates (particularly in Brazil and the U.S.). This allows it, on the one hand, to supply many different markets and therefore reduce risks of local economic underperformances and, on the other hand, to profit from low-cost labor in Brazil. In addition, the upcoming sporting events ��2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics ��are expected to generate a strong inflow of investments in infrastructure in the country, with Gerdau as a potential beneficiary of this.

  In spite of being the biggest worldwide, I believe that ArcelorMittal doesn�� count with these characteristics. Further, as players in the industry are so atomized, being the No. 1 producer implies having only 6% of the global market share, which doesn�� give ArcelorMittal a superior bargain power than its peers. And though it�� still a very diversified and vertically integrated group, its costs will tend to be higher than those of Gerdau, since its furnaces are primarily blast furnaces and its labor expenses are higher as the company is based in Europe.

  US Steel will also have to deal with an old and inefficient fleet of furnaces, w

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Echelon Corporation(ELON)

Echelon Corporation develops, markets, and supports energy control networking solutions worldwide. Its solutions enable everyday devices, such as air conditioners, appliances, electricity meters, light switches, thermostats, and valves to be inter-connected; and energy control networking platform powers energy-savings applications for smart grid, smart cities, and smart buildings. The company?s product portfolio includes twisted pair smart transceivers that can be embedded into building automation devices, such as sensors, thermostats, motion detectors, air handlers, and chillers; SmartServer controller, a system manager and field controller for building networks and smart-energy applications; LonWorks control networks software (LNS) and OpenLNS operating system, which are development and integration tools; and third party energy management or grid analytics software, and apps for the SmartServer in hosted or server-based configurations. It also offers PL/RF Bridge to con nect segments of streetlights to a SmartServer; smart meters that provide load profiling, time-of-use, display of energy consumption, and prepaid metering payment capabilities; edge control nodes that connect smart meters and open smart grid protocol (OGSP) -based grid devices; and networked energy system software to retrieve data from smart meters and other OSGP-based devices. In addition, the company provides Element Manager, a browser based software that provides network analysis, graphed statistics, and automated network management; and control point modules that enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build OSGP compliant smart grid devices. It serves OEMs and systems integrators in the building, industrial, transportation, utility/home, and other automation markets through direct sales organization, electronics representatives, value-added resellers, and distributors. Echelon Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap cloud stock Opower Inc (NYSE: OPWR), a cloud�solutions provider to the utility sector, IPO�� at $19�on Friday to�close at $23 a share, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock plus�take a look at the performance of smart meter or smart grid�stocks like�Itron, Inc (NASDAQ: ITRI), Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) and EnerNOC, Inc (NASDAQ: ENOC).

• [By John Udovich]

  Although small cap smart metering stock Silver Spring Networks Inc (NYSE: SSNI) recently soared on earnings, it also plunged yesterday�after loosing�out on important contract ��meaning it might be time to take a closer look at it along with other smart metering stocks like Itron, Inc (NASDAQ: ITRI) or Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) to see if they are smart investments.

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Ensign Group Inc (ENSG)

The Ensign Group, Inc., incorporated in 1999, is a holding company. The Company is a provider of skilled nursing and rehabilitative care services through the operation of 103 facilities, five home health and three hospice operations located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. Its facilities provide a spectrum of skilled nursing, assisted living, home health and hospice services, including physical, occupational and speech therapies, and other rehabilitative and healthcare services, for both long-term residents and short-stay rehabilitation patients. Its walk-in clinics will offer daily access to healthcare for minor injuries and illnesses, including x-ray and lab services, all from convenient neighborhood locations with no appointments. In March 2014, the Company acquired Horizon Post-Acute and Rehabilitation Center, a 196-bed skilled nursing facility in Glendale, Arizona.

On January 1, 2011, the Company purchased one skilled nursing facility which also offers assisted living and independent living services and one independent living facility. On February 1, 2011, the Company purchased one skilled nursing facility in Utah, which also offers assisted living and independent living services. On March 18, 2011, the Company purchased one assisted living facility in California. On May 15, 2011, the Company purchased a home health and hospice operation in Utah. On June 1, 2011, the Company purchased an assisted living facility in Nevada. On July 18, 2011, the Company acquired nine skilled nursing facilities. On August 1, 2011, the Company acquired a skilled nursing facility in Texas; the Company acquired a skilled nursing facility in Utah, and the Company acquired an independent living facility. On October 1, 2011, the Company acquired a skilled nursing facility in California. On December 1, 2011, the Company acquired a skilled nursing facility in Nevada. On December 30, 2011, the Company acquired an assisted living facility in Ari! zona. In November 2011, the Company acquired Pocatello Care and Rehabilitation Center. On November 22, 2011, the Company acquired Homecare Solutions.

The Company's facilities provide a range of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, and other rehabilitative and healthcare services, for both long-term residents and short-stay rehabilitation patients. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 102 facilities, of which it owned 77 and operated an additional 25 facilities under long-term lease arrangements, and had options to purchase five of those 25 facilities.

The Company's wholly owned subsidiaries, which include the Service Center, provides centralized accounting, payroll, human resources, information technology, legal, risk management and other centralized services to the other operating subsidiaries through contractual relationships with such subsidiaries. The Company also has a wholly owned captive insurance subsidiary (the Captive) that provides some claims-made coverage to the Company's operating subsidiaries for general and professional liability, as well as coverage for some workers' compensation insurance liabilities.

Skilled nursing facility revenue is primarily derived from Medicaid, private pay, managed care and Medicare payors. The Company�� skilled nursing facilities provide Medicaid-covered services to individuals consisting of nursing care, room and board and social services. Rehabilitation therapy revenue is primarily received from private pay and Medicare for services provided at skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. Assisted living facility revenue is primarily derived from private pay residents. In addition, Medicaid or other programs in some states where it operates supplement payments for board and care services provided in assisted living facilities. Hospice revenues are primarily derived from Medicare. It derives substantially all of the revenue from its home health busines! s from Me! dicare and Managed Care sources. Its home health care services generally consist of providing some combination of the services of registered nurses, speech, occupational and physical therapists, medical social workers and certified home health aides.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Ensign Group (NASDAQ: ENSG  ) has a new asset in its medicine chest. The company announced that, at the end of June, it had closed the acquisition of the Mountain View Rehabilitation and Care Center in Washington state. The center is an 82-bed skilled nursing facility located in the town of Marysville. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Ensign Group admitted that the purchase was effected in cash.

• [By Jim Royal]

  The business and special situation
  CareTrust was spun out of The Ensign Group (NASDAQ: ENSG  ) nearly six months ago, and it's done little but decline since then. CareTrust is a small REIT -- market cap of about $360 million -- that owns healthcare properties. Right now its portfolio is comprised almost exclusively of Ensign's former real estate, 143 locations, leaving the REIT exposed to entirely one operator. However, rent coverage is excellent and Ensign is one of the best healthcare operators around.

• [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 Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Rollins Inc. (ROL)

Rollins, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides pest and termite control services to residential and commercial customers in North America. It offers pest control services, and protection against termite damage, rodents, and insects to homes and businesses, including hotels, food service establishments, food manufacturers, retailers, and transportation companies. The company also provides pest management and sanitation services and products to the food and commodity industries. It operates under the brand names of Orkin and PCO Services brand names, as well as under the Acurid service mark. The company also offers its services in Central America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe. As of December 31, 2010, it had 56 domestic franchises and 16 international franchises. The company, formerly known as Rollins Broadcasting, Inc., was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  A new kind of buyout
  The first leveraged buyout in American history �took place on June 19, 1964, when Rollins Broadcasting (NYSE: ROL  ) made a $62.4 million bid to acquire nationwide exterminator Orkin. The deal, later called "Jonah swallowing the whale" by BusinessWeek, saw a company with $7.9 million in annual revenue and $600,000 in annual net income put up virtually none of its own money to acquire a company with $37.3 million in annual revenue and $3 million in annual net income. Rollins/Orkin (the pairing has worked out for nearly five decades) quotes the particulars of the deal on its website:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Pest control service provider�Rollins (NYSE: ROL  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.09 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 12.5% from $0.08 per share.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Pest and termite control company Rollins (ROL) raised its quarterly dividend 16.6% to 10.5 cents per share, payable on Mar. 10 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 10.
  ROL Dividend Yield: 1.44%