Five Stocks for Bob Dylan's 70th Birthday

So Bob Dylan turned 70 years old today. But he's still going strong, still staying in the limelight. As widely reported in the past few days, in a previously unreleased interview from 1966, he admitted kicking a heroin habit. This iconic musician also has an upcoming show in Israel with Rickie Lee Jones, and three documentaries about his life and career have come out on DVD recently. Inspired by the birthday of the so-called voice of a generation, here are five stocks that may be worth a closer look now.

Omaha-based Valmont Industries

produces agricultural irrigation systems and other engineered structures. In April, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 9%. First-quarter earnings were better than expected, due in part to strong sales in its irrigation segment. "The long-term outlook for our businesses is supported by global and enduring drivers," said CEO Mogens Bay. "A growing world population will need more efficient production agriculture to support rising food demand." Valmont has a long-term earnings per share growth forecast of 10.4%, and its price-to-earnings ratio of 21.7 is much less than the industry average. The share price has pulled back about 8% in recent weeks and ended the day at $96.05. The stock's performance year-to-date has been in line with the broader markets, though, and it has outperformed the metal fabrication industry average.

Broadwind Energy

volume spiked yesterday after the company announced that it had received a $1.3 million contract from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Chicago-area company serves the wind power generation industry with wind turbine towers and gear systems, as well as engineering, repair and logistics services. Broadwind reported that sales for the first-quarter doubled year over year. "I am pleased to report a strong first quarter for Broadwind Energy," CEO Peter Duprey said in the report. "While we continue to face a challenging wind energy market, we remain focused on the diversification of our customer base and the expansion of our services business." The long-term earnings per share growth forecast is 24.0%. Shares retreated in the first two months of the year but have recovered somewhat since, rising about 20% in the past three months. In that time, the stock has outperformed the broader markets, as well as General Electric

, a giant in the wind energy field.

Crown Castle

owns or manages radio towers in Australia, Puerto Rico and the United States. Its clients include AT&T

, Sprint Nextel

and Verizon

. The Gates Foundation portfolio includes a stake in Crown Castle. After a string of quarterly losses, Crown Castle posted profits in the previous two periods. Positive earnings are expected in the current quarter and for the full year as well. Analysts on average have recommended buying CCI for more than 90 days. The share price has pulled back about 4% in the past month to close today at $41.28. While the stock has outperformed the diversified communications industry average, it has underperformed competitor American Tower

and the broader markets.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal

is one of the country's largest coal miners. And it will only get bigger after the recently announced acquisition of International Coal Group, Inc.

. In April, Arch Coal posted better than expected first-quarter earnings and bumped up its quarterly dividend by a penny per share. The long-term EPS growth forecast is a whopping 88%. The consensus recommendation of analysts has been to buy ACI for the past 90 days. The mean price target—which indicates analysts' expectations of where the share price is headed—is $40.18 per share. The stock closed at $29.04 per share today. But note that the share price has slipped over the past month, and the stock has underperformed the broader markets year to date.

Lower oil prices have been a boon to airlines, and JetBlue

recently launched new nonstop flights to Anchorage, Alaska, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the first-quarter earnings release, JetBlue's CFO Ed Barnes said, "Our healthy operating cash flow allows us to continue to make investments in the business which better position us relative to the competition." Analysts expect JetBlue's revenues for the full year to have jumped 19% from a year ago, and on average analysts recommend buying the stock. Their mean price target is $7.42 per share; compare that to today's closing share price of $5.95. That is more than 10% higher than a month ago. In the past three months, JetBlue has outperformed competitor Southwest Air

and the broader markets.