10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now

McGraw-Hill Financial's S&P Dow Jones Indices is making changes in a trio of its signature products.

After the close of trading Friday, the S&P 500 will include Pfizer spinoff Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS  ) . The stock replaces First Horizon National (NYSE: FHN  ) , which is to find a new home on the S&P MidCap 400.

In turn, it bumps QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC  ) from that index to the S&P SmallCap 600. Finally, QLogic's shift completely displaces Coldwater Creek (NASDAQ: CWTR  ) , which will no longer be on the S&P SmallCap 600.

The changes have come about because of Pfizer's attempt to unload its 80% stake in Zoetis, and the pharma giant is offering investors the opportunity to trade Pfizer shares for Zoetis shares. Zoetis engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines and vaccines.

Additionally, in the press release announcing the news, S&P Dow Jones Indices said that "First Horizon's total market capitalization is more representative of the mid cap market space, and QLogic's total market capitalization is more representative of the small cap market space."

Top Rising Companies To Own For 2015: Pharma-Bio Serv Inc (PBSV.PK)

Pharma-Bio Serv, Inc.( Pharma-Bio), incorporated on June 8, 2006, is a compliance and technology transfer services consulting firm with a laboratory testing facility, servicing the Puerto Rico, United States and Europe markets. The Company is engaged in providing technical compliance consulting service, and microbiological and chemical laboratory testing services primarily to the pharmaceutical, chemical, medical device and biotechnology industries. The Company�� operating segments include Puerto Rico technical compliance consulting, United States technical compliance consulting, Ireland technical compliance consulting and a Puerto Rico microbiological and chemical laboratory testing division (Lab). These segments provide services primarily to the pharmaceutical, chemical, medical device and biotechnology industries in their respective markets. As on April 30, 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest in its subsidiary, Pharma-IR.

The Company provides a broad range of compliance related consulting services. It also provides microbiological testing services and chemical testing services through its laboratory testing facility in Puerto Rico. It provides information technology consulting services and technical training/seminars. The Company offers services to its core industries already serviced as well as the cosmetic and food industries. The Company seeks opportunities in markets that could yield profitable margins using its professional consulting force and also provide services such as those performed by its microbiological testing laboratory facility, its information technology service division, Integratek, and its technical training division, Pharma Serv Academy.

The Company�� information technology services and consulting division based in Puerto Rico (Integratek) provides a variety of information technology services, such as Web pages and portals development, digital art design, intranets, extranets, software development including database integration, Window! s and Web applications development, software technical training and learning management systems, technology project management, and compliance consulting services, among others.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Specialist]

  Normally when one of my stocks reports its earnings results after hours on a Friday, I cringe in anticipation of a bad report. Normally Friday after hours is a time slot reserved for companies who have disappointing results to deliver and wish to stay off radar. Naturally, when I got the alert on a Friday afternoon that Pharma-Bio Serv (PBSV.PK) had just reported its earnings results, I had one eye shut when opening the press release, fearing what would be inside.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Enerplus Corporation (ERF)

Enerplus Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas in United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2011, it had 322 MMBOE of proved plus probable reserves. The company also held a portfolio of approximately 380,000 net acres of land comprised of 75,000 net acres at Fort Berthold targeting the Bakken and Three Forks; 65,000 net acres in the Duvernay; 33,000 net acres in the Montney; 67,000 net acres in the Stacked Mannville; 30,000 net acres in the Cardium and other emerging oil plays in Canada; and 110,000 net acres in the Marcellus. In addition, it had 120 gross producing wells. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Canadian oil and gas producer�Enerplus� (NYSE: ERF  ) �announced yesterday�its June monthly dividend of $0.09 Canadian per share, which is equivalent to $0.09 U.S. per share at an exchange rate of 0.9699.

• [By RichardCox]

  The first stock choice we look at here is Enerplus Corp. (ERF), which has most of its resources invested in Western Canadian properties that are in the mature development stage. This puts the company in a solid position (as far as risk protection) for two reasons: The company is largely shielded from potential supply disruptions if Middle East conflicts cause transport blockages at the Suez Canal. Furthermore, Canada holds its position as the largest source of U.S. oil imports -- nearly doubling what is sent annually by Saudi Arabia. Yearly numbers for 2012 put Canadian oil imports at roughly 2.8 million barrels in a supportive trend that helped second-quarter earnings at Enerplus rise by 10%. The fundamental sector outlook is suggestive of additional runs higher in Enerplus, and these should begin to gain traction once the external uncertainties (political gridlock, stimulus tapering) begin to resolve themselves. The stock also comes with a 6.4% dividend yield, which will help investors weather the storm if the recent declines in oil extend further.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Tomorrow, Enerplus (NYSE: ERF  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Genel Energy PLC (GEGYF.PK)

Genel Energy plc, formerly Vallares PLC, is an exploration and production company. It is an independent oil producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Group has two reportable business segments, which are its oil and gas exploration and production business in the KRI and its oil and gas exploration business in Africa. The Company had operational bases in Ankara, Turkey; in Taq Taq, Erbil and Suleimaniah in the Kurdistan Region, and in London. The Company�� oil producing fields of Taq Taq (in which it held a 44% interest) and Tawke (25% interest) had estimated gross proven and probable reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil and proven, probable and possible reserves of 1.9 billion barrels of oil. The Company�� subsidiaries include: Genel Energy Holding Company Ltd, Genel Energy Somaliland Limited, A&T Petroleum Limited, Genel Energy UK Services Limited, Genel Energy Netherlands Holding 2 B.V. and Genel Energy Somaliland Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Street Smart Investor]

  DNO International is an independent E&P company, geographically focused on the Middle East and North Africa with operations in Yemen, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Tunisia, Oman, Ras Al Khaimah and Somaliland. The company's asset portfolio currently stands at 20 assets in six countries. For the year ended December 2012, DNO International has proven and probable reserves of 520.3 MMboe with 90% of the reserves in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The company's reserves in Kurdistan come from the Tawke oil block, which is among the largest oil blocks in Kurdistan. DNO International has a 55% stake in the Tawke block with Genel Energy PLC (GEGYF.PK) holding a 25% stake. The remaining 20% stake is held by the Kurdistan Regional Government. For the first half of 2013, DNO International had a production rate of 33,917 boepd, which includes production from Kurdistan, Oman and Yemen.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Symrise AG (SY1)

Symrise AG is a Germany-based fragrances and flavors manufacturer. The Company diversifies its activities into two business divisions: Flavor & Nutrition and Scent & Care. The Flavor & Nutrition business division produces flavors in liquid, powder, granulated and paste form, providing individual flavors as well as complete solutions which, apart from aroma, can contain additional functional raw materials, colorants or microencapsulated components. The products are divided into the beverages, savory, sweet and consumer health groups. The Scent & Care business division is divided into Fragrances, Oral Care, Life Essentials and Aroma Molecules. The Fragrances products are divided into the Fine Fragrances, Personal Care and Household groups. The Life Essentials are used in the cosmetic ingredients market, and include Botanicals and Cosmetic Ingredients, among others. The Aroma Molecules are used in the aroma chemicals market, and include Sensates (Menthols), among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Symrise AG (SY1) jumped 5.7 percent to 32.95 euros. The fourth-largest maker of flavors and fragrances pledged to remain one of the most profitable companies in its industry amid higher demand for aroma molecules and fragrances. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, will be about 20 percent of sales in 2013 and will stay in the range of 19 percent to 22 percent in coming years, the company said today.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Lexmark International Inc.(LXK)

Lexmark International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and supply of printing, imaging, document workflow, and content management solutions for offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Rim, and the Caribbean. It offers monochrome and color laser printers, laser multifunction products, inkjet all-in-one devices, dot matrix printers, and cartridges and other supplies; and services and solutions, including maintenance, consulting, and systems integration, as well as managed print services, such as asset lifecycle management, implementation and decommissioning services, consumables management, optimization services, and utilization management. The company also provides enterprise content management (ECM) software products, including ImageNow document management, document imaging, and workflow suite that allows users to capture, process, and collaborate on important documents and inform ation, protect data integrity throughout its lifecycle, and access precise content; and industry specific workflow solutions for the healthcare, higher education, government, and financial services industries, as well as for back office functions, including accounting, human resources, contracts, and records. Its software modules include Retention Policy Manager to manage the complete lifecycle of content from creation to destruction or disposition; Business Insight, which integrates IBM Cognos to provide industry and business process dashboards, operational and ad-hoc reporting, and report design tools; workflow software that automates processing steps, simplifies work tasks, and provides real-time monitoring; and eForms module, which enables the online entry and collection of raw data in electronic forms that are accessible from Web sites and portals. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  Lexmark International Inc.(LXK) raised its offer for Sweden-based ReadSoft AB(RSOF-B.SK) (RSOF-B.SK) following a competitive offer from Hyland Software U.K. Ltd. earlier Wednesday.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Printer maker�Lexmark (NYSE: LXK  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.30 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past five quarters after raising the payout 20% from $0.25 per share.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: First Republic Bank (FRC)

First Republic Bank is a full-service bank and wealth management firm. First Republic Bank and its subsidiaries provide private banking, private business banking and private wealth management, including investment, trust and brokerage services. The Company specializes in delivering service through offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego, Portland, Boston, Greenwich and New York City. The Company's products and services include residential lending, commercial real estate lending, personal lending, private business banking, deposit services, trust services, brokerage services and investment management services. Investment advisory services are provided by First Republic Investment Management, Inc. Trust services are provided by First Republic Trust Company. Brokerage services are offered through First Republic Securities Company, LLC. In March 2012, the Company announced the opening of a new trust company.

The Company offers full-service banking on both coasts, including free online banking, free bill pay and free access to over 800, 000 automated teller machines (ATMs) worldwide. Its private business banking provides specialized services for accounting firms, architecture and design, art and antique dealers, business management firms, business partnership, entertainment/media, entrepreneurs, family offices, financial services, independent school, investment firms, law firms, medical firms, non-profit organizations, private equity funds, property management firms, real estate investors, venture capital funds, wineries, and yacht, golf, city and country clubs. The Company�� private wealth management offers customized investment management, trust, and brokerage services for individuals, trust endowments, and pension plans. Wealth management services include asset allocation, trust administration and custody, portfolio management, financial and estate planning, manager selection and comprehensive brokerage services.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.76 per share on revenue of $320.72 million.

  Renasant (NASDAQ: RNST) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.31 per share on revenue of $60.87 million.

10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Nanometrics Incorporated(NANO)

Nanometrics Incorporated provides high-performance process control metrology systems used primarily in the fabrication of integrated circuits, high-brightness LEDs, data storage devices, and solar photovoltaics. It offers automated metrology systems that provide optical critical dimension, thin film metrology, and wafer stress for transistor and interconnect metrology applications; the Lynx cluster metrology platform for use in wafer metrology applications, including optical critical dimension, overlay, and thin film process control; and integrated metrology systems, which provide near real-time measurements. The company's automated and integrated systems are also used in various process control applications, including dimension and film thickness measurement, device topography, and defect inspection, as well as used in the analysis of other film properties, such as optical, electrical, and material characteristics. Its process control solutions are deployed in the fabrica tion process from front-end-of-line substrate manufacturing to high-volume production of semiconductors and other devices, and to wafer-scale packaging applications. The company sells its metrology and inspection systems directly and through original equipment manufacturer channels to semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers, and producers of high-brightness-LEDs, solar photovoltaics, data storage devices, silicon wafers, and photomasks worldwide. Nanometrics Incorporated was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steve Symington]

  What:�Shares of Nanometrics Incorporated� (NASDAQ: NANO  ) �popped more than 10% during Wednesday's intraday trading, then settled to close up 7% after the company turned in better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings.�