Best Gas Utility Companies To Buy Right Now

Best Gas Utility Companies To Buy Right Now: Graham Holdings Co (GHC)

Graham Holdings Company, formerly The Washington Post Company, incorporated on July 21, 2003, is a diversified education and media company whose principal operations include educational services, television broadcasting, cable television systems, and online, print and local TV news. The Company owns Kaplan, a provider of educational services to individuals, schools and businesses, serving over one million students annually with operations in more than 30 countries. Its programs include higher education, test preparation, language instruction and professional training. Its Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc owns six television stations which include WDIV-Detroit (NBC), KPRC-Houston (NBC),WPLG-Miami (ABC), WKMG-Orlando (CBS), KSAT-San Antonio (ABC) and WJXT-Jacksonville (independent). The stations also broadcast digital channels focusing on classic television and lifestyle programming, in addition to operating websites, mobile sites and mobile apps delivering breaking news, weather and community news. Its Cable ONE, headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, serves small-city subscribers in 19 midwestern, western and southern states. Cable ONE provides digital video, Internet and phone service to homes and businesses. The Companys Slate Group is a daily online magazine that offers fresh angles on stories in the news and entertainment coverage, all with its signature wit and irreverence, publishing provocative commentary on topics such as politics, culture, business and technology. Slate V is a daily online video magazine offering original video about politics, culture, and business, technology.

The Company divested its interest in Avenue100 Media Solutions Inc., a digital marketing company headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts, in 2012. The Company sold its interest in the Bowater Mersey Paper Company Limited to the Province of Nova Scotia in 2012. In March 2013, the Company announced it has completed the sale of The Herald, a d! aily and Sunday new spaper and its other print and online products to Sound Publishing, Inc.

Education

Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of the Company, provides a range of education and related services worldwide for students and professionals. Kaplan conducts its operations through three segments: Kaplan Higher Education, Kaplan Test Preparation and Kaplan International. Kaplan Higher Education (KHE) provides a wide array of certificate, diploma and degree programs on campus and online designed to meet the needs of students seeking to advance their education and career goals. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Kaplans United States-based KHE division businesses include Kaplan University and KHE Campuses.

Kaplan University specializes in online education, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and holds other programmatic accreditations. Kaplan Universitys programs are offered online, while some are offered in a traditional classroom format at 12 campuses in Iowa, Maine, Maryland and Nebraska, and four Kaplan University Learning Centers in four additional states. Kaplan University also includes Concord Law School, a fully online law school. During 2012, Kaplan University had approximately 38,800 students enrolled in online programs and approximately 5,600 students enrolled in its classroom-based programs.

Also residing within Kaplan University is the School of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE). PACE offers a range of education solutions to assist professionals in advancing their careers by obtaining professional licenses, designations and certifications. This includes solutions for insurance, securities, real estate, mortgage and appraisal licensing exams and for advanced designations, such as CFA and CPA exams. PACE serves more than 2,900 business-to-business clients, including more than 70 Fortune 500 companies. In 2012, approxim ately 510,000 students used PACE's exam p! reparatio! n offerings. As of December 31, 2012, the KHE Campuses business consists of 59 schools in 17 states, which provides classroom-based instruction to approximately 21,100 students.

Kaplan International operates businesses in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. In Europe, Kaplan operates in the businesses, which are all based in the United Kingdom and Ireland: Kaplan UK, Kaplan International Colleges (KIC) and a set of higher education institutions. The Kaplan United Kingdom business in Europe is a provider of training, test preparation services and degrees for accounting and financial services professionals, including those studying for ACCA, CIMA and ICAEW qualifications. In addition, Kaplan United Kingdom provides legal and professional training, including the operation of a United Kingdom law school in collaboration with Nottingham Trent Universitys Nottingham Law School. In 2012, Kaplan United Kingdom provide d courses to approximately 66,000 students, of whom 49,000 were dedicated to accounting and financial services coursework.

The KIC business consists of university pathways business and an English-language training business. The university pathways business offers academic preparation programs especially designed for international students who wish to study in English-speaking countries. KIC operates university pathways programs in collaboration with nine U.K. universities. As of December 31, 2012, KICs university pathways business was serving approximately 2,700 students. The English-language business (previously operated as Kaplan Aspect) provides English-language training, academic preparation programs and test preparation for English proficiency exams, principally for students wishing to study and travel in English-speaking countries. KIC operates a total of 41 English-language schools, with 19 located in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and 22 located in the United States, where they operate under the name Kaplan International Centers! . During ! 2012, the English-language business served approximately 65,000 students.

Kaplan also operates three higher education institutions in Europe, located in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These institutions are Dublin Business School, Holborn College and Kaplan Open Learning. As of December 31, 2012, these institutions enrolled an aggregate of approximately 6,500 students. In the Asia Pacific region, Kaplan operates businesses in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and China. In Singapore, Kaplan operates three business units, Higher Education, Financial and Professional, which serve more than 16,700 students from various countries throughout Asia.

Kaplan Singapores Higher Education business provides students with the opportunity to earn bachelors and postgraduate degrees in various fields on either a part-time or full-time basis. Kaplan Singapores students receive degrees from affiliated educational institutions in Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. In addition, this division offers pre-university and diploma programs. Kaplan Singapores Financial business provides preparatory courses for professional qualifications in accountancy and finance, such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

In Australia, Kaplan delivers a broad range of financial services education and professional development courses. In 2012, this business provided courses to approximately 17,400 students through classroom programs and to more than 44,800 students through distance-learning programs. In 2012, Kaplan Australia underwent operational restructuring and offers its programs through three business units: English Language and Pathways; Vocational Education; and Higher Education.

The Vocational Education business of Kaplan Australia inc ludes Kaplan Professional Education (KPE), Carrick Education Group and Franklyn Scholar. KPE offers financial services education programs and continuing professional development courses pri! marily to! a business-to-business market, including banks and numerous industry sectors. Approximately 43,000 students are taught through KPE each year. Carrick has traditionally offered English-language programs, vocational training and higher education courses in Australia. Kaplan is evaluating various strategic alternatives with respect to the Carrick business lines. As of December 31, 2012, Carrick was providing services to approximately 1,300 students. Franklyn Scholar offers a wide range of custom-developed programs to business clients. More than 16,000 students are taught through Franklyn Scholar each year.

The higher education business of Kaplan Australia comprises Kaplan Online Higher Education (KOHE) and Kaplan Business School (KBS), which offers diploma, bachelors and masters degree programs. As of December 31, 2012, KBS has opened a new school in Brisbane and operates in four states in Australia teaching approximately 700 students each year. KOHE teaches approximately 1,800 students annually in postgraduate courses primarily in the financial services sector.

In Hong Kong, Kaplan offers a comprehensive array of programs, ranging from language education and standardized test preparation to corporate and financial training and higher education degree courses. During 2012, Kaplans Hong Kong business provided courses to more than 15,700 students.

In China, Kaplan provides foundation programs to Chinese students through partnerships with prestigious Chinese universities and high schools. Kaplan China offers foundation programs at 11 campuses and had more than 1,100 students enrolled at the end of 2012. Kaplan China also cooperates with several Chinese universities to provide ACCA training programs to the s tudents. Cable ONE offers broadband Internet access service on virtually all of its cable systems and is the sole Internet service provider on those systems.

Kaplan International also includes the Kaplan Global Solutions business unit, which continue! s to deve! lop partnerships with colleges, universities and non-profit corporations and foundations. Kaplan Global Solutions, through its Colloquy business, enables its university partners to develop online educational programs by providing an array of research, marketing and design services. Through its Global Pathways programs, Kaplan Global Solutions enables its partner institutions in the Americas to enhance their brand globally and increase international student enrollments by designing and marketing custom programs aimed at student success.

Cable Television Operations

Through its subsidiary Cable One, Inc. (Cable ONE), the Company owns and operates cable television systems that provide v ideo, Internet and voice service to subscribers in 19 midwestern, western and southern states. At the end of 2012, Cable ONE provided cable service to approximately 593,600 video subscribers, representing about 41% of the 1,439,740 homes passed by the systems, had approximately 459,200 subscriptions to high-speed data (HSD) service and 184,500 subscriptions to VoIP (digital voice) service. The video services offered by Cable ONE include certain premium, cable network and local over-the-air channels in high-definition television (HDTV) format. Cable ONE offers voice over Internet Protocol service, which permits users to make voice calls over broadband communications networks, including the Internet.

Other Activities

WaPo Labs is a digital team focusing on experimenting with emerging technologies. In 2012, WaPo Labs launched several projects in partnership with the Companys media properties: Personal Post, a feature on washingtonpost.com that deliv ers personalized article recommendations based on a users interests and past reading behavior; The Fold, a video news program available on washingtonpost.com, Google TV and Android tablets, and The Root 100, which comprises 100 Android apps aggregating content about the Root 100 honorees, chosen for their impact and influence wit! hin the A! frican-American community. In addition to working closely with the Companys news websites, WaPo Labs oversees Washington Post Social Reader (Social Reader) and Trove. Social Reader is a Facebook-connected Website that delivers news articles based on a users interests and what their friends are reading. Social Reader aggregates content from the Post, Slate, Foreign Policy, Express, the Root and more than 90 other content partners to create a social stream of articles.

Social Code LLC (Social Code) is a marketing solutions company helping Fortune 500 brands maximize their marketing efforts on social media platforms. Celti c Healthcare, Inc. (Celtic) is a Medicare-certified provider of home health and hospice services headquartered in Mars, PA. Through its subsidiaries, Celtic is licensed to provide home health and hospice services throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland. These services include skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social work, nutrition, chaplain and aid services. In addition, Celtic provides virtual care services to patients throughout its service territories. Celtic derives 74% of its revenue from Medicare, with the remaining sources of revenue being Medicaid, commercial insurance and private payors.

The Company competes with Edmunds.com, AutoTrader.com, Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Yelp, OpenTable, Google, Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com and Yahoo!.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Almost every investment positively contributed to performance in 2013, and the importance of good partners and strong businesses was evident. New leaders quickly improved operations and sold non-core assets to strengthen the balance sheets at Chesapeake, Hochtief , and Level 3. At Philips and Wendy's, managements focused on the most profitable parts of their businesses while implementing successful programs to increase revenues and margins. We had major asset sales at premiums to our appraisals at Vodafone (VOD) (Verizon! Wireless! stake) and Graham Holdings (GHC) (The Washington Post).

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/best-gas-utility-companies-to-buy-right-now.html