Top Five Mid-Cap Stocks: July 17

Powered by its strong earnings growth of 141.2% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 51.6% over the past year. While this makes the stock somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry, we felt that the company's strengths justify the higher price levels at this time.

Bear in mind, however, that Badger's future performance could be affected by any regulatory changes, especially those dealing with the use of lead, which is used in the manufacture of certain meters, or the use and/or licensing of radio frequencies that are necessary for the company's automatic meter reading and advanced metering infrastructure products.

Badger's future results could also be affected by the overall health of the U.S. economy, including housing starts and overall industrial activity, and any changes in foreign economic conditions, including currency exchange rates.

Berry Petroleum(BRY Quote) is an independent energy company that produces, develops, acquires, exploits and explores for crude oil and natural gas. The company has producing operations in California, Colorado and Utah, as well as interests in undeveloped and prospective oil and gas leasehold land positions in the western U.S. The company is also expanding into the Rockies and mid-continent for light oil and natural gas. Berry was founded in 1909 and had 243 employees as of December 2007.

Our buy rating for Berry has not changed since June 2003. Berry's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, including its growth in revenue and net income. Revenue grew 57.8% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. This appears to have helped boost earnings per share, which improved to 95 cents from 42 cents in the first quarter of fiscal 2007. Net income surged 128.2% when compared with the same period one year prior, rising from $18.86 million to $43.03 million.