by Jim Giaquinto
The five best performing stocks on the Zacks #1 Rank List last week were: Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (GNK), Knoll, Inc. (KNL), Mariner Energy, Inc. (ME), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) and Parker Drilling Company (PKD).

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (GNK) was a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company last week as shares gained more than 10.7%. Earnings estimates for this year are up 3% in the past month, and analysts currently expect 2009 EPS to grow approximately 37% from 2008. Meanwhile, GNK has beaten Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations for 4 consecutive quarters with an average surprise of 14.6%.

Favorable contracts and profit-sharing agreements led to a strong second-quarter performance for GNK, which it reported on Jul 30. Earnings per share of $1.95 beat the consensus of $1.72 by almost 13.4%. Revenues jumped 184% from last year to $104.6 million, thanks to the operation of a larger fleet and the renewal of time charters at higher rates. The average daily time charter equivalent (TCE) surged 95% in the quarter. GNK currently has about 94% of its fleet’s available days secured on contracts for the rest of the year, and 60% for 2009.

Knoll, Inc. (KNL) - a Zacks #1 Rank Top Performer last week with a gain of 10.4% - announced on Thursday that its Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents per share, payable Sep 30 to stockholders of record on Sep 15. Over the past month, earnings estimates for this year and next have advanced 10.5% and 5.5%, respectively.

KNL’s second quarter, which was announced in mid-July, continued its streak of meeting or beating Wall Street’s quarterly earnings estimates. Adjusted earnings per share of 49 cents topped the consensus by 22.5%, setting up an average surprise of 11.2% over the past 4 quarters. The earnings result was also more than 32% better than the year-earlier total of 37 cents. Net sales advanced 7.5% to $292.5 million. KNL attributed results to its diversification strategy that focused on high design content businesses and away from dependence on North American systems sales.

Mariner Energy, Inc. (ME), an independent oil & gas exploration, development and production company, gained 8.5% last week. Earnings estimates for this year have increased 18.6% over the past 2 months, including a rise of 3.4% in 7 days.

For its second quarter, which was announced Aug 7, ME reported earnings per share of $1.39 on total revenues of $429.5 million. The earnings result surpassed the consensus by 19.8% and also significantly improved upon the year-earlier performance of 38 cents. Total revenues advanced approximately 102% from $213.1 million a year earlier. Furthermore, production advanced 48%. The company credited its second-quarter results to production growth, costs control efforts, and drilling success in all areas. It expects another strong year in 2009.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) made the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List last week with a gain of 7.5%. Late July saw the fiscal third-quarter report for this specialty coffee company, which included earnings per share of 25 cents and net sales of $118.1 million. GMCR beat the consensus EPS estimate by more than 19%, and also marked a solid year-over-year improvement from 15 cents. In addition, net sales increased 43.3%. Other highlights in the quarter included a 61% increase in Keurig brewers shipped, and a 49% advance in K-Cup portion packs shipped.

GMCR was featured as an Aggressive Growth Stock of the Day at Zacks.com on Aug 15. Earnings estimates for this fiscal year, ending September 2008, are up 5.2% in the past month. Analysts currently expect next fiscal year’s EPS to improve approximately 54% from this fiscal year’s.

Shares of Parker Drilling Company (PKD) gained 7.35% last week. Earnings estimates for this year are up 3.8% in 2 months and 1.2% in 7 days. Analysts also currently expect next year’s earnings per share to improve about 23% over this year. On the same day as its second-quarter report, PKD announced a new contract to design the drilling package for the Sakhalin-1 Arkutun-Dagi offshore platform in Russia.

For its second quarter, the oil drilling contractor reported that revenues jumped 44% to $216.7 million from $150.3 million year over year. Meanwhile, earnings per share of 20 cents came in-line with the consensus. According to the company, results were driven by gains in its targeted growth areas of international drilling, drilling and production rental tools, and project management services.

James Giaquinto is an Editor at Zacks Investment Research. For more information please visit http://www.zacks.com

Article Source: Top Performing Stocks for the Week Ended Aug 15