Hot Construction Stocks To Watch Right Now

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of telecom contractor Dycom Industries (NYSE: DY  ) climbed 11% today after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

So what: Dycom's third-quarter profit sank 25% on lower asset sales, but continued top-line growth -- contract revenue soared 38% -- coupled with upbeat guidance for the current quarter suggests that demand remains robust. In fact, organic revenue for the period increased 6.2% over the prior-year period, reinforcing recent optimism over management's ability to grow efficiently.

Now what: For the current quarter, management now sees EPS of $0.40-$0.47 on revenue of $455 million-$475 million, versus Wall Street's view of $0.38 and $441 million. "Continued total and organic revenue growth as services to wireless carriers remain robust, cable construction strengthens and customers maintain growing expenditures," the company wrote in a presentation to analysts. With the stock busting through its 52-week high today and trading at a 20-plus P/E, however, I'd wait for some of the excitement to fade before buying into that bullishness.

Hot Construction Stocks To Watch Right Now: First Niagara Financial Group Inc.(FNFG)

First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Niagara Bank, N.A. that provides retail and commercial banking, and other financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. It offers retail deposit accounts, which include savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as provides business savings and checking, money market, cash management accounts, and municipal deposit accounts. The company?s loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate and multi-family loans; commercial business loans; residential real estate loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans consisting of indirect mobile home loans, and personal secured and unsecured loans. It also sells insurance products, including commercial and personal insurance, surety bond, life, disability, and long-term care coverage products. In addition, the company offers risk management consulting services comprising altern ative risk and self-insurance services, claims investigation and adjusting services, and third party administration services for self insured workers? compensation plans. Further, it provides employee benefits plan and compensation consulting services. Additionally, First Niagara Financial Group offers wealth management services that manage client funds utilizing various third party investment vehicles consisting of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and annuities, as well as other investment products, such as individual retirement accounts, education savings plans, and retirement plans. As of December 31, 2010 it operated 257 bank branches, including 115 in Upstate New York and 142 branches in Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1870 and is based in Buffalo, New York.

Hot Construction Stocks To Watch Right Now: S&P 500/Barra Value(SU)

Suncor Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated energy company. The company involves in the development of petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; acquisition, exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas in Canada and internationally; transportation and refining of crude oil; and marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products primarily in Canada. Its Oil Sands segment produces bitumen recovered from oil sands through mining and in-situ technology, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock, diesel fuel, and by-products. This segment?s products include gasoline and distillates. The company?s Natural Gas segment acquires, explores, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, oil, and by-products from reserves located primarily in western Canada, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, and the Arctic Islands. Its International and Offshore segment engages in the exploration and pro duction of oil and gas in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, in the North Sea, and in Libya and Syria. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil at Suncor's refineries in Edmonton, Alberta; Montreal, Quebec; and Sarnia, Ontario in Canada, as well as in Commerce City, Colorado into a range of petroleum and petrochemical products for sale to retail, commercial, and industrial customers. It also transports crude oil through pipelines in eastern and western Canada, as well as through wholly-owned pipelines in Wyoming and Colorado; and produces specialty lubricants and waxes. In addition, this segment operates retail sites in Canada under the Petro-Canada brand; and in Colorado under Phillips 66 and Shell brands. Suncor Energy Inc. also engages in third-party energy trading activities. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Calgary , Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sam Collins]

  The recent merger with Petro-Canada made Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) one of Canada’s largest oil and gas producers. It is focused on Alberta’s vast Athabasca oil sands, making it independent of operations outside of North America.

  Compared with other international oil companies, SU is not only safe from problems in the Middle East, but its profit margins increase greatly when oil rises above $80 per barrel, making it a hedge against rising prices due to Middle East tensions.?

  Technically, SU broke from a saucer formation on Friday, with a long-term target of $50 and a trading target of $45.?

• [By Lowell]

  Suncor produces conventional and unconventional oil and owns the PetroCanada and Sunoco brands in Canada.  It recently successfully completed the acquisition and integration of the old Petro Canada – and now manages all of Petro Canada’s assets.  It took some time for the markets to react favorably to the integration, but Suncor is finally back in the game.  The shares have already run up a good 20% over the past six months.  Expect them to continue to do so if oil prices climb into the high nineties.  Trust me, you don’t want to be caught in the cold when this train takes off again.

Best Net Payout Yield Companies To Watch For 2014: General American Investors Inc. (GAM)

General American Investors Company, Inc. is a self management investment trust. The firm invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It employs a fundamental analysis with a bottom-up stock picking approach. General American Investors Company, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is based in New York, New York.