Top 5 Sliver Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 5 Sliver Stocks To Buy Right Now: VCA Antech Inc (WOOF)

VCA Antech, Inc., incorporated on May 4, 1987, is a national animal healthcare company operating in the United States and Canada. The Company provides veterinary services and diagnostic testing to support veterinary cares. The Company operates in two segments: animal hospital and laboratory. Its all other category includes Vetstreet and Medical Technology operating segments. The Company sells diagnostic imaging equipment and other medical technology products and related services to the veterinary markets. The Company's animal hospitals offer a range of general medical and surgical services for companion animals, as well as specialized treatments, including advanced diagnostic services, internal medicine, oncology, ophthalmology, dermatology and cardiology. On January 31, 2012, it expanded its operations into Canada with an increased investment in Associate Veterinary Clinics (1984) Limited (AVC), which operates 44 hospitals in three Canadian provinces. On February 1, 2012, it acquired ThinkPet's, Inc. (ThinkPets). In 2012, it acquired 79 animal hospitals, including 44 with the acquisition of AVC, one laboratory and ThinkPets.

The Company provides various communication, marketing solutions and other services to the veterinary community. The Company's network of animal hospitals is supported by more than 3,000 veterinarians and had approximately 7.4 million patient visits during the year ended December 31, 2012. The Company's network of veterinary diagnostic laboratories provides testing and consulting services used by veterinarians in the detection, diagnosis, evaluation, monitoring, treatment and prevention of diseases and other conditions affecting animals. The Company's network of veterinary diagnostic laboratories provides diagnostic testing for over 16,000 clients, which includes standard animal hospitals, large animal practices, ! universities and other government organizations. The Company's medical technology business sells digital radiography and ultrasound imaging equipment, provid! es education and training on the use of that equipment, and provides consulting and mobile imaging services.

The Company's Vetstreet business provides services to veterinary practices, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the pet owning community. The Company's services to veterinary practices include subscriptions to the Company's Pro Pet Portals. The Pro Pet Portal provides an online platform for the veterinarian to offer secure individualized portals for pet owners, as well as practice Websites that are branded to the individual veterinary clinic. The Company also sells appointment reminder notices that are sent to pet owners on behalf of their clinics. The Company's services to manufacturers involve targeted marketing programs to animal hospitals whom are subscribers to the Company's Pro Pet Portal.

Animal Hospital

As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated 609 animal hospitals serving 41 states and three Canadian provinces. The Co mpany's Animal Hospital revenue accounted for 78% of total revenue in 2012. In addition to general medical and surgical services, the Company offers specialized treatments for companion animals, including advanced diagnostic services, internal medicine, oncology, ophthalmology, dermatology and cardiology. The Company also provides pharmaceutical products for uses in the delivery of treatments by its veterinarians and pet owners. Many of the Company's animal hospitals offer additional services, including grooming, bathing and boarding. The Company also sells specialty pet products at its animal hospitals, including pet food, vitamins, therapeutic shampoos and conditioners, flea collars and sprays, and other accessory products.

Laboratory

The Company operates a veterinary diagnostic laboratory network serving all 50 states and certain areas in Canad! a. The Co! mpany's Laboratory revenue accounted for 16% of total revenue in 2012. The Company service a di verse customer base of over 16,000 clients, including animal! hospital! s the Company operates, which accounted for 16% of total laboratory revenue in 2012. The Company's diagnostic spectrum includes over 300 different tests in the area of chemistry, pathology, endocrinology, serology, hematology and microbiology, as well as tests specific to particular diseases. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated 55 veterinary diagnostic laboratories. The Company's laboratory network includes primary hubs that are open 24 hours per day and offer a testing menu, secondary laboratories that are open 24 hours per day and offer a testing menu servicing large metropolitan areas, and short-term assessment and treatment (STAT) laboratories that service other locations with demand sufficient to warrant nearby laboratory facilities and are open primarily during daytime hours. In 2012, the Company derived approximately 85% of its laboratory revenue from metropolitan areas, where the Company offers twice-a-day pick-up service and same-day results. In addition, in these areas the Company generally offers to report results within three hours of pick-up. Outside of these areas, the Company typically provides test results to veterinarians before 8:00 a.m. the day following pick-up.

The Company competes with IDEXX Laboratories, Demand Force, and ePet Health.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  About a week ago, Wall Street was biting small cap pet stock Petmed Express Inc (NASDAQ: PETS) for not living up to its earnings expectations - meaning it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock and compare its performance with other pet stocks like mid cap PetSmart, Inc (NASDAQ: PETM) and small cap VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ: WOOF). I should also mention that we have recently added Petmed Express to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio because we think the stoc! k is unde! rvalued in the pet space and has tremendous growth potential moving forward.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Let's also not forget about the physical surgical and veterinary centers themselves. VCA Antech (NASDAQ: WOOF  ) , for instance, operates more than 600 hospitals around the U.S., as well as 55 diagnostic laboratories. Like PetSmart, VCA hasn't seen a decline in revenue in any of the past 10 years, growing sales by 212% over that timespan thanks to growth in services rendered, ample pricing power, and strong ancillary sales of premium food and vitamins from its hospitals and veterinary centers

• [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 VCA Antech (Nasdaq: WOOF  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-sliver-stocks-to-buy-right-now.html