Top Gas Utility Companies For 2015

Top Gas Utility Companies For 2015: Outerwall Inc (OUTR)

Outerwall Inc, formerly Coinstar, Inc., incorporated on October 12, 1993, is a provider of automated retail solutions, which offers convenient products and services. the Company's offerings in automated retail include its Redbox business, where consumers can rent or purchase movies and video games from self-service kiosks (Redbox segment), and its Coin business, where consumers can convert their coin to cash or stored value products at self-service coin counting kiosks (Coin segment). Its New Ventures business (New Ventures segment) is focused on identifying, evaluating, building, and developing self-service concepts in the marketplace. On June 9, 2011, the Company completed the sale transaction of the Money Transfer Business to Sigue Corporation (Sigue). In June 2012, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, acquired certain assets of NCR Corp's self-service entertainment DVD kiosk business. In October 2013, Jana Partners LLC acquired a 13.5% stake in Outerwall Inc.

Redbox

Within the Company's Redbox segment, it operates 35,400 Redbox kiosks, in 29,300 locations, where consumers can rent or purchase movies and video games. Its Redbox kiosks are available in every state, as well as Puerto Rico and are installed at grocery stores, mass retailers, drug stores, restaurants and convenience stores, including Walgreens, Walmart and McDonalds. Its Redbox kiosks supply the functionality of a traditional video rental store, which occupy an area of less than 10 square feet. Consumers use a touch screen to select their titles, swipe a valid credit or debit card, and receive their movie or video game. The daily rental fee at a Redbox kiosk is a flat fee plus tax for one daily rental and, if the consumer chooses to keep the movie or video game for additional days, the consumer is charged for each additional ! day at the same daily rental fee. Its consumers can rent a movie or video game from one loca tion and return their rental to any of its Redbox locations.! In addition, its consumers may reserve a movie or video game online or through a smart phone application and pick it up at the selected Redbox location.

The Company generates revenue through fees charged to rent or purchase a movie or video game, and it pays retailers a percentage of its revenue. Its content library consists of movies and video games available for rent or purchase. It obtains its movie and video game content through revenue sharing agreements and license agreements with studios and game publishers, as well as through distributors and other suppliers.

Coin

As of December 31, 2011, within the Company's Coin segment, it owned and operated approximately 20,200 coin-counting kiosks (approximately 17,200, of which offer a range of stored value products to consumers) in 19,900 locations, where consumers feed loose change into the kiosks, which count the change and then dispense vouchers or, in some cases, issue stored value products, at the consumer's election. Its Coin kiosks are available across the United States, where they provide service to retailers, such as Kroger and Walmart, and in Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the United Kingdom. It generates revenue through transaction fees from its consumers and product partners. Each voucher lists the dollar value of coins counted, less its transaction fee. When consumers elect to have a stored value product issued, the transaction fee normally charged to the consumer is charged instead to the card issuers for the coin-counting services.

New Ventures

Within the Company's New Ventures segment, it identifies, evaluates, builds and develops self-service concepts in the automated retail space. Its New Ventures segment consists of its coffee, refurbished electronics and photo self-service concepts. It generates revenue thr! ough fees! charged for products and services offered to consumers in select test markets where it is testing business concepts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  Jana Partners LLC on Monday said it is pleased with shareholder-friendly steps taken by Outerwall Inc.(OUTR) as the activist investor disclosed it has pared its stake in the operator of Redbox video-rental kiosks.

• [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Outerwall Inc. (OUTR)  shares surged 11%. The company, which operates Redbox movie kiosks and Coinstar machines, posted fourth-quarter core earnings that beat analyst estimates and authorized a $350 million buyback.

• [By CNNMoney Staff]

  Shares of Outerwall Inc. (OUTR), which produces Redbox and Coinstar dispensers, surged 12% on news that the company plans to buy back $350 million worth of stock.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-gas-utility-companies-for-2015-2.html