Thursday, October 30, 2014

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014

Pharmaceutical stocks have traditionally been considered logical choices for dividend stocks; here, we look at one of the blue chips of the pharmaceutical world, selling at discounts to historical valuations, explains John Dobosz, editor of Forbes Dividend Investor.

New York-based Pfizer (PFE) is one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies that discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells medicines for humans and animals.

Celebrex, for treating arthritis, and Viagra, for erectile dysfunction, are two of Pfizer's best selling drugs. Other products are targeted at Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular issues, depression, pain, respiratory ailments, and smoking cessation.

As blockbuster drugs lose patent protection, Pfizer must find new sources of growth to make up for the lower sales. What's encouraging is recent news from Merck (MRK) that it was working with Pfizer to develop new cancer drugs.

Revenue for 2014 is expected to dip 3% to $49.9 billion, with earnings inching higher by 2.3% to $2.27 per share. Earnings are expected to grow 12.9% for the year that just ended, with revenue up 15.7%.

Top 5 Small Cap Stocks For 2015: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Similarly, in 2008, Altria spun off its Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) unit. In that case, Philip Morris represented the larger portion of the business, making up almost 70% of the overall value of the pre-merger company. Again, the dividends that Altria paid after the merger were in line with the domestic segment's previous share of payouts.

  • [By Holly LaFon]

    GuruFocus: You��e buying a lot of global brands, and they all had in common emerging market growth, like Proctor and Gamble (PG), Pepsi (PEP), Philip Morris (PM), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ). Is that was a conscious investment theme or is that a coincidence?

  • [By Johanna Bennett]

    With the euro dropping to a 22-month low today against the greenback, it’s little surprise to see companies like McDonald’s (MCD), Philip Morris International. (PM) and Pall (PLL), �which derived more than 40% of their revenue from Europe over the last 12 months, put in some lackluster showings.

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

  • [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

    Some traditional brand powerhouses have lost ground in the Top 100 since 2009. These include BMW, FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL).

  • [By Dividend Growth Investor]

    In a previous article, I outlined that it is getting more difficult to find quality dividend paying stocks to buy. Most of the usual suspects like Kimberly-Clark (KMB) or Colgate-Palmolive (CL) are very overvalued today, which prevents me from adding to my positions there. Other companies like Chevron (CVX) are attractively valued today, but unfortunately my portfolio is overweight in them. Currently I find the oil sector to be cheap and have some of the lowest P/E ratios in the market. However, I would hate to be concentrated in one sector which is exposed to the fluctuating prices in its commodity products.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    But, have you ever stopped to consider which toothpaste is America's favorite? If you've walked down the toothpaste aisle in the grocery store you've probably noticed that it goes on forever, which can make choosing a toothpaste a chore. Well, here's a big hint toward the answer: America's favorite toothpaste comes down to either Colgate, which is made by Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , or Crest made by Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) .

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

    AP The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Apple (AAPL) will roll out not one but two iPhone models with bigger screens later this year. Considering Monday's disappointing quarterly report, it looks like the consumer tech giant needs them. The market was surprised to learn that Apple sold just 51 million iPhones during the period. That was a new quarterly record -- up nearly 7 percent since the prior year's holiday quarter -- but analysts had been holding out for more. Last year's rollout of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c was supposed to give Apple an even more dramatic boost in smartphone sales. The iPhone 5s with its fingerprint identity sensor and superior camera raised the bar, and the burst of colors made available on the $100 cheaper iPhone 5c looked to have broad appeal. With two new ways to hook potential buyers, analysts expected as many as 56 million iPhones to be shipped during the quarter. It didn't happen. Bigger Is Better The Journal's source claims that Apple is working on a phone with a 4.5-inch screen and one with a 5-inch display. The smaller iPhone is further along in development, but both should be ready to hit the retail market later this year. It may not seem like much of a difference, but anyone doing a side-by-side comparison of the iPhone 5s with its 4-inch screen and the Samsung Galaxy S4 with its 5-inch display -- or with some of the even larger Android "phablets" and phones on the market -- will appreciate why Apple needs to keep up. An iPhone isn't cheap, and Apple can't justify the price when it's attached to a form that is so 2010. Screen size isn't the only reason why Android smartphones are growing in popularity at a faster pace than iPhones. Android devices come in a wide variety of configurations and prices. However, it's clear that a bigger iPhone can only help at this point. Apple's moves to differentiate its devices from the competition are getting harder to accomplish over time, and consumers are starting t

  • [By Stoyan Bojinov]

    Consumer electronics juggernaut Apple Inc. (AAPL) fell off Wall Street’s “favorite” list near the end of 2012 and selling pressures plagued the stock for almost all of 2013. The stock did manage to find its footing mid-year, although its 2013 performance was still lackluster as it rallied a paltry 3%.�Let’s examine the company’s current dividend policy and what lies in store for the stock in 2014 from a dividend perspective.

    Apple Inc.’s Current Dividend Policy

    Apple pays its dividend quarterly and currently offers a yield around 2.2%. The stock reinstated its dividend in the second-half of 2012 and its first payout was $2.65 per share. Apple raised its dividend in 2013 by 15%, marking the first annual increase for the stock, with its new distribution coming in at $3.05 per share. Based on analyst estimates, its payout ratio sits around 28% in 2013, and is expected to come in at 26% in 2014. Looking at these numbers coupled with Apple’s sizable cash flow, the company should have no issues raising its dividend again next year.

    Dividend.com DARS Ratings for Apple Inc. Overall Rating:Neutral (3.4/5) Metric Rating Explanation Relative Strength Stock is performing in-line with the market or better. Overall Yield Attractiveness Stock’s dividend yield is above average. Dividend Reliability This rating is related to the length and consistency of a company’s dividend payouts, as well as our opinion on how likely the company is to continue payouts in the future. Dividend Uptrend Dividend payouts are consistent, but increases small. Earnings Growth Earnings estimates are uptrending.
  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    Among holdings in which Diamond Hill increased its stake were Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT  ) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) . Liquidity is a commercially focused online auctioneer and a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. It benefits from a relatively capital-light business model and solid profit margins, and it specializes in surplus, wholesale, and salvage assets. Some worry about slowing growth and competition and didn't like the company lowering expectations last quarter. But the stock jumped recently on a big revenue increase.

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Steven Russolillo]

    WATCH FOR: September Existing Home Sales (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time): seen +1.0% at 5.1 million; previously -1.8% at 5.05 million. ACE, Apollo Education, Brinker, Broadcom (BRCM), Coca-Cola (KO), Discover, E*Trade, Harley-Davidson (HOG), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Interactive Brokers, Intuitive Surgical, Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Lexmark (LXK), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Manpower (MAN), McDonald's (MCD), Omnicom (OMC), Regions Financial (RF), Reynolds American (RAI), Six Flags Entertainment, Travelers, United Technologies Verizon Communications (VZ), VMware, Whirlpool (WHR) and Yahoo (YHOO) are among companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    Last year was rough for much of the restaurant industry, but fast-food giant McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) had seen considerably tougher challenges before. It has thrived through countless recessions by focusing on its value menu to drive new and repeat customers into its restaurants, modifying its menu to suit ever-changing palates, and remodeling its restaurants to appeal to both family-oriented and younger crowds.

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Chevron Corp.(CVX) intends to spend $39.8 billion on capital and exploratory investments next year, about $2 billion less than is expected for 2013, which was a relative peak year for such spending.

  • [By Dan Burrows]

    Between that and the dividend, new money can afford to wait for IT spending — and CSCO — to bounce back.

    #6: Chevron (CVX)

    Dividend Yield: 3.2%
    YTD Performance: +14%

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Shares of Anadarko have dropped 2.8% to $93.22 at 11:30 a.m. today, a bigger loss than those experienced by others in the sector.�Chevron�(CVX) has fallen 0.2% to $117.90, for instance,�Devon Energy�(DVN) has declined 0.7% to $63.98 and�ConocoPhillips (COP) has 0.8% to $72.76.

  • [By Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin]

    But with all the majors who've signed up for Canadian LNG -- Chevron (CVX), Apache (APA), Shell (RDS.A), BP (BP), and most recently Malaysian major Petronas (PNADF.OB) announcing it will invest $20 billion to develop its Pacific Northwest LNG project near Prince Rupert -- we're talking about a development almost unprecedented in our petroleum sector.

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jared Cummans]

    Credit card giant Visa (V) reported Q3 earnings after the closing bell on Thursday.

    V Earnings in Brief

    The company reported EPS of $2.17, easily beating analyst estimates of $2.10 and marking a 15% growth from the same quarter a year prior. Revenues for the quarter came in at $3.16 billion, edging out The Street’s expectation of $3.15 billion. Total operating expenses for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion, a 3% decrease YoY; this stemmed from a reduction in personnel and marketing fees. Total processed transactions for the quarter was a massive 16.7 billion.

    CEO Commentary

    CEO Charlie Scharf had this to say concerning the release: “We are pleased to report 15% earnings per share growth in the face of a continued, subdued global economy.�As expected, revenue growth was affected by a strong U.S. dollar and tepid growth from cross-border transactions. More importantly, global payments volume and processed transactions remained healthy and strong. While some of the headwinds will likely continue in the short-term, we are confident our investments in products such as Visa Checkout, new technologies like tokenization, and new relationships with financial institutions and merchants will continue to drive double-digit revenue growth over the long-term.��/p>

    V’s Dividend

    The company declared a dividend of $0.40 per share, which will be paid on 9/3/2014.

    Stock Performance

    Wall Street was not impressed with Visa’s numbers, as the stock fell nearly 3% in after-hours trading, leaving some scratching their heads as to what was bringing the ticker down.

    V�Dividend Snapshot

    As of Market Close on July 24, 2014

    Click here to see the complete history of V dividends.

  • [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]

    American Express Co. (AXP) �shares gained 3.6% while its competitor Visa Inc. (V) �rose 4.7%. American Express said late Thursday its fourth-quarter earnings jumped to $1.31 billion, or $1.21 a share, from $637 million, or 56 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding expenses, AmEx would have earned $1.25 a share. Revenue increased to $8.55 billion from $8.14 billion a year earlier.

Top Blue Chip Companies For 2014: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Next week investors will be waiting for several key earnings reports including General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX).

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