Most people probably think of a white talking duck when they hear the name Aflac. ()

But investors who’ve been tracking the insurance provider also may think of a track record of steady profit growth.

The Columbus, Ga.-based company has increased its annual earnings for at least the past eight years. It has a five-year earnings per share growth rate of 14% and the kind of low EPS Stability Rating that long-term investors covet: 2.

Last week Aflac reported Q1 profit of 98 cents a share, up 20% from the same year-ago period and 2 cents above expectations. That was its best growth in 11 quarters.

Sales grew 14% for the biggest increase in 13 quarters. Sales in Japan rose 5%; U.S. sales climbed 0.4%.

The firm’s 11.1% after-tax profit margin was the highest level in more than four years.

Aflac expects to earn roughly $3.95 to $4.09 a share this year. Analysts are looking for an upwardly revised $4 a share in ‘08.

More fund managers have been buying the insurer’s shares. At the end of Q1, 407 funds held a position, up from 356 in Q1 ‘07.

An up/down volume ratio of 1.1 also suggests increased demand for shares.

The stock marked a record high on Jan. 10 before giving in to market pressure. It fell 15% from its high to the bottom of the base, where it found support at its 40-week moving average.

The mild pullback, compared to the S&P 500’s 20% decline, underscores Aflac’s strength. The stock cleared the 65.10 buy point of a cup with handle March 31.

It’s near the 68.91 buy point from a pullback to the 10-week average.

to view an Excel spreadsheet of the screen below with expanded data.

Long-Term Investor Screen

Symbol Company Name EPS
Stability
Rating EPS
Rating Additional
Research
Ansys Inc 2 97
Covance Inc 2 89
Becton Dickinson & Co 2 79
Ametek Inc 3 92
Idexx Laboratories Inc 3 87
Northern Trust Corp 3 86
Amphenol Corp Cl A 4 94
Emerson Electric Co 4 88
Danaher Corp 4 86
Bard C R Inc 4 80
Harsco Corp 5 92
Varian Medical Systems 5 82
Hewlett-Packard Co 6 93
Questar Corp 6 90
C H Robinson Worldwide 6 90
Fastenal Co 7 92
Smith International 7 91
Blackrock Inc 8 94
Schlumberger Ltd 8 91
Google Inc 11 98
C S X Corp 11 96
Halliburton Company 11 89
General Cable Corp 12 99
Parker-Hannifin Corp 12 92
Gamestop Corp Cl A 13 95
Monsanto Co 14 97
Atwood Oceanics Inc 19 99
National Oilwell Varco 20 98

This screen excludes stocks under $25 and average daily volume less than 350,000 shares. Sorted by EPS Stability Rating and then EPS Rating. to view an Excel spreadsheet of this screen with expanded data. Your computer should have Excel 5.0 or a later version to view the spreadsheet. Data as of Monday, April 28, 2008 1:50 p.m. Pacific time.

The firm said the value of its property at Docklands fell 4.3% between the end of June and New Year’s Eve, from 7.47bn to 7.27bn. Over 12months, it was up 4.8%.

The 200m writedown since summer was far better than many of its rivals with developments elsewhere in London and the UK, such as , which earlier this year took a 1.4bn hit.

Songbird said high occupancy levels and its control over much of Canary Wharf - it owns about 60% of the 14 million sq ft estate - meant it was less exposed to weakness in the property market. However, it was quick to warn it was not immune to the slowdown.

Reporting a fall in profits from 884.1m to 182m, chairman David Pritchard said: ‘Weakness in global financial markets has forced a slowdown in activity in the UK commercial property market which has been reflected in a softening of real estate values.

‘The group’s property portfolio has not been immune. The challenging market conditions experienced in the second half of 2007 have continued into the first three months of 2008.’

Songbird said it had abandoned all speculative projects - those where it builds before it has found a tenant - meaning its proposals for 25 Churchill Place and Riverside South will be prepared but not developed.

However, it insisted lettings by stricken investment bank Bear Stearns would be honoured by its buyer, JPMorgan Chase.

Pritchard reiterated his commitment to Crossrail, the key east-to-west rail link through London that will take thousands of workers to Canary Wharf every day. Analysts reckon the current Docklands workforce of 93,000 will expand to more than 150,000 in the next 10 years.

‘Crossrail will form an important part of London’s future infrastructure and future prosperity,’ he said.

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Uncovered: London’s richest streets
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A one-two punch of declining factory activity and tumbling construction spending signaled that the U.S. is on the edge of a recession, two reports showed Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell 2.4 points to 48.3 in February. That is below the neutral 50 mark and the lowest in nearly five years. But it was roughly in line with views.”The numbers were not as bad as some feared,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “There is a bit of softness, but we’re not quite at recessionary levels.”

Manufacturers have been struggling with rising raw materials and energy costs. The prices paid index edged lower but remained at levels not seen since mid-2006.

“Rising commodity prices are a big problem for a sector that is energy intensive,” Brown said.

Crude oil hit a record high of $103.95 a barrel on Monday, closing up 61 cents to $102.45. Commodities overall hit a new peak.

Export orders continued to expand at a good clip, ISM said. Imports fell back, matching the lowest readings in years.

The report’s employment index fell to 46 in February. That’s the worst since 2003 and an ominous sign ahead of Friday’s jobs report.

In a sign of factory and consumer weakness, U.S. auto sales fell sharply last month.

“Clearly the economy is on the edge of a recession, but whether the U.S. falls into one remains to be seen,” said Ethan Harris, chief U.S. economist at Lehman Bros.

Meanwhile, construction spending dived 1.7% in January after a 1.3% drop in December, the Commerce Department said.

It was the biggest nose dive since December 1996. Actual spending hit its lowest mark since June ‘05.

There’s no doubt housing’s recession continues unabated, Harris said. Home builders cut back on new projects by 2.9%, the 23rd straight month of lower spending.

But the biggest concern was that construction woes spread beyond the ailing home-building sector.

Spending by private builders on a range of commercial projects fell 1.2% in January, the largest drop in 2 1/2 years.

“Residential construction no longer has the benefit of being offset by nonresidential building,” Harris said. “Housing is starting to infect the broader economy.”

Futures traders still see the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates by 50 or 75 basis points at its March 18 meeting, as policymakers focus on growth risks over inflation.

Shares of farm machinery stocks went south Tuesday after Agco Corp. () forecast full-year earnings below analyst views, citing the impact of rising materials costs on margins.

The disappointing outlook marred an otherwise rosy first-quarter report for the No. 2 U.S. farm machinery maker. Earnings more than doubled from the prior year to 63 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters () expected 47 cents. Sales rose 34% to $1.79 billion, also above views.

Bitter Harvest

But Agco said full-year results would be hurt by economic weakness, unfavorable exchange rates and spending on plant upgrades and other initiatives. The company forecast 2008 EPS of $3 to $3.15, well below the $3.26 expected.

“Projected operating margin improvement in 2008 . . . is expected to be limited by spending on our strategic initiatives as well as the negative impact of currency translation,” Agco CEO Martin Richenhagen said in a statement.

The weak dollar has buoyed Agco’s sales. But it also is boosting costs of raw materials from Brazil and Europe, analysts said.

Banc of America Securities analyst Seth Weber said in a note to investors that he “doesn’t view this guidance as presenting a change to our positive global agricultural thesis/opportunity.”

Bad Day For Farm Sector

Wall Street had a more negative take, sending Agco shares down 11% to 60.96. It was the firm’s worst one-day loss in at least a year and halted recent gains that saw the stock near its all-time high twice within the past two weeks.

Group mates Deere () and Lindsay () closed the day down 6% and 7%, respectively, halting both stocks’ momentum. Deere hit a record 94.89 on April 18, while Lindsay peaked at 131.14 on April 22.

Meanwhile, Archer Daniels Midland () fell 4% Tuesday. The grain processor cruised past first-quarter sales and earnings views, but investors might have been worried about a 31% profit drop in ADM’s corn-processing business, which includes ethanol production. ADM blamed high corn prices and rising energy costs.

ADM shares, which set a record high of 48.95 on April 22, also suffered from Monday’s Agriculture Department report showing that only 10% of the U.S. corn crop has been planted so far this year. That’s down from 23% last year and a five-year average of 35% by this time. Bad weather has been blamed.

U.S. corn futures shot up to a record high on that report.

Concerns also have been raised about the prospect of legislation that would end government subsidies for ethanol, which has faced criticism for the role it plays in global food shortages.

Fewer subsidies would likely curtail farm production and hurt sales at equipment suppliers.

“Legislation against ethanol is a potential head wind for all agriculture-related stocks,” said Lawrence De Maria, analyst at Sterne Agee. “It’s been talked about more and more recently.”

Highflying fertilizer stocks continued their recent retreat. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan () fell 6% and Mosaic () 4.5%. Intrepid Potash () slid 5.5% to 45.62, its lowest close since coming public last week. It still is well above its $32 offering price.

Seed giant Monsanto () tumbled 9% in heavy volume.

Ag-related stocks clearly have benefited from high prices for corn, soy and other commodities amid a rise in biofuel production and increased demand for food grains in foreign markets.

In Agco’s case, international revenue helped offset sluggishness in North America, where the ailing U.S. economy has dampened sales at the retail level.

Excluding currency swings, Agco’s net sales grew just 10% in North America during the first quarter. That compares with 44% in South America, 28% in Asia/Pacific and 20% in Europe/Africa/Middle East.

“Agco is very nicely distributed around the world,” said Charlie Rentschler, vice president at Wall Street Access. “There’s not as much exposure to North America as some of the other companies.”

South America has been a major driver particularly Argentina and Brazil, where first-quarter retail sales of tractors grew 64% and 47%, respectively.

High commodity prices played a big part in the growth there and elsewhere, company officials said.

“Many of the conditions that support commodity prices were present in the first quarter, including the increasing demand for crops used in food, animal feed, fiber and fuels,” Richenhagen said. “The elevated commodity prices supported agricultural industry demand across our major market. In Brazil, industry volumes have risen to near prior peak levels.”

But not all farm equipment stocks have fared as well. Last week Dutch equipment maker CNH Global () posted first-quarter profit below views, citing internal and external bottlenecks.

Its stock fell almost 17% on the news, erasing the previous three months’ gains. CNH continued to sell off Tuesday, closing the day down 5.

Atheros () is one of the latest chipmakers to help GPS navigation device makers in their quest to put their devices in more cars, cell phones and pockets.

Late last year, Atheros Communications entered the GPS chips market when it bought privately held u-Nav Microelectronics. Though the purchase was for a modest $54 million, it propels Atheros into a fast-growing market.

“Our sense is GPS is a technology that will become more and more important,” Atheros Chief Executive Craig Barratt said in an interview.

By bouncing signals off satellites, users of GPS devices now often included in cell phones and cars can know their location, direction, speed of travel and the time of day, among other things. The Global Positioning System was created by the U.S. government to help the military determine their geographic locations while in the field. Now, just about everyone is using them.

Atheros will face tough competition. The growth market has attracted such bigger rivals as Texas Instruments () and Qualcomm. ()

“With so many companies competing, it will drive the price of GPS devices down,” said iSuppli analyst Tina Teng. And that means lower GPS chip prices.

Teng says others besides Atheros will be attracted to the GPS market, drawn in part by laws that mandate that all new cell phones have e-911 services. Including GPS in a mobile phone is one way to provide e-911, which tells authorities the exact location of a cell phone user who dials the 911 emergency phone number, for quicker emergency response.

“As a result, you’ll see a lot of connectivity-specialized companies like Atheros coming to this market,” Teng said. “They’ll compete with big vendors like Texas Instruments and Qualcomm.”

A maker of wireless and networking chips, Atheros will have to trudge uphill.

“It’s going to be tough for them in the initial years,” as it takes on established players in GPS, Teng said.

For now, Teng says there’s only modest demand by consumers for GPS in cell phones, though she expects demand to rise in coming years.

Dean Freeman, an analyst with research firm Gartner, says Atheros buying u-Nav is part of the trend in the increasingly competitive chip industry.

Chip firms with less than $200 million in annual revenue are targets for larger companies.

For Atheros, he says, it was easier to buy u-Nav and its GPS chip designs rather than build them.

“Companies are looking to find ways to strengthen their position in difficult times,” Freeman said. “It could be by mergers or by cutting off a piece of the business to raise money, or finding some sort of partnership.”

Just since December, for example, STMicroelectronics () said it would buy Genesis Microchip, and ON Semiconductor () said it would buy AMI Semiconductor.

The chip industry always has been volatile, but the pace of mergers is picking up, Freeman says.

“It’s getting more expensive to do business in the chip industry,” he said. “You have to find ways to do business more economically. One way to do that is to join forces.”