Merck (NYSE: MRK ) is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings report tomorrow, and most investors expect the company to see continued reductions in its overall net income compared to year-ago levels. Yet the stock has performed quite well lately, suggesting that in the long run, Merck earnings could well return to their winning ways, helping to support a dividend yield that puts the drugmaker in the upper echelon of dividend stocks within the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) .
Like many of its drugmaker peers, Merck has struggled as major blockbuster products have gone off patent, forcing it to try to find replacement drugs to keep its overall sales and profit up. So far, Merck has only had mixed success in accomplishing that difficult task, but some promising prospects could help the company get past its patent-cliff woes and get back to strong growth. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Merck over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.
Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Buy For 2015: Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEC)
Wisconsin Energy Corporation engages in the generation, distribution, and sale of electric energy and steam. The company also involves in the purchase, distribution, and sale of natural gas to retail customers, as well as in the transportation of customer-owned natural gas in Wisconsin. It generates electricity from coal, natural gas, wind, and hydro sources. The company offers its services under ?We Energies? name. It serves approximately 1,120,200 electric customers in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; approximately 1,064,500 gas customers in Wisconsin; and approximately 460 steam customers in metropolitan Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition, the company invests and develops in real estate properties, including business parks and other commercial real estate projects primarily in southeastern Wisconsin. It provides electric utility service to industries, such as mining, paper, foundry, food products, and machinery production, as well as to retail chains. The c ompany was founded in 1981 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Melvin Backman]
5. Buying power in energy stocks: Wisconsin Energy (WEC) announced this morning that it will acquire Integrys Energy Group (TEG) for for $71 per share in order to increase its natural gas business and its footprint in the Great Lakes region. Wisconsin's stock is flat, and Integrys shares have jumped over 14% to nearly $70.
Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Reynolds American Inc(RAI)
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarette and other tobacco products in the United States. It offers cigarettes under the brand names of CAMEL, PALL MALL, WINSTON, KOOL, DORAL, SALEM, MISTY, and CAPRI; and cigarettes and other tobacco products under the NATURAL AMERICAN SPIRIT brand name, as well as manages various licensed brands, including DUNHILL and STATE EXPRESS 555. The company also provides smokeless tobacco products, including moist snuff under GRIZZLY and KODIAK brand names; pasteurized tobacco under CAMEL Snus brand name; milled tobacco under the brand name of CAMEL Dissolvables; other tobacco products, such as little cigars under WINCHESTER and CAPTAIN BLACK brand names; and roll-your-own tobacco under the brand name of BUGLER. RAI sells its products primarily through distributors, wholesalers, and other direct customers, including retail chains, as well as distributes its cigarettes to public warehouses. The compan y was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By DAILYFINANCE]
Tobacco marketing has been increasingly restricted. TV commercials for cigarettes were banned in 1970. Later legal settlements and new regulations took ads off billboards and banned event sponsorships. Cigarette marketing can't use celebrities or cartoons. While they must include health warnings, companies can still advertise cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in magazines that don't have a large youth readership. The electronic cigarette ads push the same themes as old cigarette ads: sophistication, freedom, equality and individualism, said Timothy de Waal Malefyt, a visiting associate professor at Fordham University's business school and former advertising executive. That's the problem, tobacco opponents say. "The ads, themes and messages are precisely the same [as those] used by the tobacco industry for decades that made those products so appealing to young people," said Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "For an industry that wants to project itself as helping to solve the tobacco problem, they're behaving just like the tobacco industry in its worst days." Reynolds American (RAI), owner of the nation's No. 2 tobacco company, has said it plans to use TV ads to promote a revamped version of its Vuse brand electronic cigarette that it launched last month. Altria Group (MO), owner of the nation's biggest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, has declined to detail its marketing strategy for its first electronic cigarette under the MarkTen brand set to launch this month.
- [By Sean Williams]
The end result of these multiple actions has been an ongoing reduction in smoking rates over the past four decades and tougher times for U.S. tobacco producers such as Altria (NYSE: MO ) and Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI ) . In fact, a tough domestic sales climate was one reason Altria decided to spin off its overseas operations into Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) in 2008. By separating its business, the hope was that investors would have a better understanding of the fundamental forces driving Altria and Philip Morris.
Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: HCP Inc. (HCP)
HCP, Inc. is an independent hybrid real estate investment trust. The fund invests in real estate markets of the United States. It primarily invests in properties serving the healthcare industry including sectors of healthcare such as senior housing, life science, medical office, hospital and skilled nursing. The fund also invests in mezzanine loans and other debt instruments. It engages in acquisition, development, leasing, selling and managing of healthcare real estate and provides mortgage and other financing to healthcare providers. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P 500 Index, Berkshire Hathaway Index, and MSCI REIT Index. HCP, Inc. was formed in 1985 and is based in Long Beach, California with additional office in Nashville and San Francisco.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Burrows]
Despite its prominence in the industry, ESV stock has been having a crummy year. It�� off more than 9% for the year-to-date and can’t expect much help from higher oil prices anytime soon. The slide is deep enough that adding in the big dividend yield still brings the ESV stock total return to -8.7%.
#4: HCP (HCP)HCP Dividend Yield: 5.83%
Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: ONEOK Inc.(OKE)
ONEOK, Inc., a diversified energy company, operates as a natural gas distributor primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: ONEOK Partners, Distribution, and Energy Services. The ONEOK Partners segment engages in gathering, processing, fractionating, transporting, storing, and marketing natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) principally in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions, which include Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma, Fort Worth Basin of Texas, Hugoton and Central Kansas Uplift Basins of Kansas, Williston Basin of Montana, and North Dakota and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. This segment offers its services to oil and gas production companies; natural gas gathering and processing companies; petrochemical, refining, and NGL marketing companies; Local distribution companies (LDCs) and power generating companies; and natural gas marketing and NGL gathering companies, and propane distributors. The Distribution segment provides natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation customers, as well as public authority customers, such as cities, governmental agencies, and schools in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The Energy Services segment delivers physical natural gas products and risk management services through its network of contracted transportation and storage capacity, and natural gas supply. This segment?s customers primarily comprise LDCs, electric utilities, and industrial end users. The company was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aimee Duffy]
Midstream companies are having an excellent 2013 so far, but ONEOK Partners (NYSE: OKS ) has more or less missed out, as shares are down about 1% year to date. The partnership and its general partner ONEOK (NYSE: OKE ) report earnings on Tuesday, and the results will hopefully shed some light on whether or not things will pick up this year. Here are three things to watch for when ONEOK Partners reports.
- [By John Divine]
Lastly, shares of utilities company ONEOK (NYSE: OKE ) shed 6.8% after Morgan Stanley�downgraded shares from overweight to equal weight, lowering its price target to $53 per share. The downgrade comes after an earnings report that showed a nearly 6% earnings spike as natural gas became more popular. So even as revenue advanced nearly 4%, the fact that the number was more than 7% below forecasts added downward pressure on the stock.�
- [By The Part-time Investor]
I sold ONEOK Partners (OKS), 265 shares at $51.25, and replaced it with ONEOK inc. (OKE), 267 shares at $52.31.
Although I have removed these three MLPs from my portfolio, I am still holding ARLP, Buckeye Partners (BPL), Plains All American (PAA), and Williams Partners. I am going to continue to hold these until I receive the K-1 forms next year, so that I can more carefully analyze the tax implications, and decide what to do with these other positions. I may decide that the higher yield of the MLPs might make it worth holding on to them, even though I would eventually have to pay some extra taxes. I will have more to say about this when I see the K-1 forms. Perhaps people with have some comments on this issue?
- [By Marc Bastow]
Diversified energy provider Oneok (OKE) raised its quarterly dividend 5% to 40 cents per share payable Feb. 18 to shareholders of record Feb. 10.
OKS Dividend Yield: 2.38%
Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Nucor Corporation(NUE)
Nucor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products in North America and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel Mills, Steel Products, and Raw Materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot and cold-rolled sheet steel; plate steel; structural steel comprising wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and sheet piling; and bar steel, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing bar, merchant bar, and special bar quality products. The Steel Products segment offers steel joists and joist girders, steel deck, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel, cold finished steel, steel fasteners, metal building systems, light gauge steel framing, steel grating and expanded metal, and wire and wire mesh products. The Raw Materials segment produces direct reduced iron (DRI); brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron, and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal products. The company?s operations also include various international trading companies that buy and sell steel and steel products. It sells its hot-rolled steel and cold-rolled steel to steel service centers, fabricators, and manufacturers; steel joists and joist girders, and steel deck to general contractors and fabricators; and cold finished steel and steel fasteners to distributors and manufacturers. The company?s products are used by contractors in constructing highways, bridges, reservoirs, utilities, hospitals, schools, airports, stadiums, and high-rise buildings. Nucor Corporation was founded in 1940 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Investors might have been steeling themselves for more losses in steel stocks after Nucor (NUE) offered disappointing guidance–but that was more than offset by price increases at ArcelorMittal (MT).
ASSOCIATED PRESSShares of Nucor have gained 0.6% to $49.75 at 2:43 p.m., while ArcelorMittal has risen 1.4% to $15.31, US Steel (X) has jumped 4.6% to $25.31, AK Steel (AKS) has climbed 4.4% to $6.39 and Steel Dynamics (STLD) has advanced 1.6% to $16.95.
Nucor said it would earn 30 to 35 cents a share during the first quarter, below forecasts for 48 cents. Cowen’s Anthony B. Rizzuto and team explain what happened:
Weather was the main culprit as the frigid temperatures disrupted customer demand, decreased the amount of railcar availability and exacerbated the already seasonally weak performance for [Nucor's] fabricated constructions productions business. In addition, imports have negatively impacted pricing and margins at the company’s bar and sheet mills.
Nomura’s Curt Woodworth and team lowered their first-quarter estimates but had some good news for steel stocks too:
Ahead of mid-quarter updates from the mini-mills ([Nucor and Steel Dynamics]) and [AK Steel], which we expect within the coming week, we lower 1Q-14 estimates for our steel coverage, though we continue to have a positive view of equity performance going forward.
Despite today’s gains, it’s been a tough year for steel stocks. Nucor is off 6.8%at $49.76, US Steel has fallen 14% to $25.31, AK Steel has plunged 22% to $6.38, Steel Dynamics has declined 13% to $16.95 and ArcelorMittal has dropped 14% to $15.31.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
US Steel has dropped 2.4% to $24.24 at 2:50 p.m., while AK Steel has fallen 0.9% to $6.26, Steel Dynamics has declined 3.4% to $17.11, and Nucor (NUE) is off 1.1% at $49.58.�And yes, it’s for the same reason that iron miners are getting pounded: China.
Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: British/Swiss Franc(UN)
UNILEVER N.V. operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It offers personal care products, including skin care and hair care products, deodorants, and oral care products under the brand names of Axe, Brylcreem, Dove, Fissan, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond's, Radox, Rexona, Signal & Close Up, Simple, St Ives, Sunsilk, TRESemm� Vaseline, and VO5. The company also provides home care products comprising laundry tablets, powders and liquids, soap bars, and various cleaning products under the Cif, Comfort, Domestos, Omo, Radiant, Sunlight, and Surf brand names. In addition, it offers food products consisting of soups, bouillons, sauces, snacks, mayonnaise, salad dressings, margarines and spreads, as well as cooking products, such as liquid margarines. The company markets its food products under the brand names of Becel/Flora, Bertolli, Blue Band, Rama, Hellmann?s, Amora, and Knorr. Further, it provides refreshment products, which include ice cream, tea-based beverages, weight-management products, and nutritionally enhanced staples under the brand names of Heartbrand, Lipton, and Slim?Fast. UNILEVER N.V. sells its products through its own sales force, as well as through independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, co-operative and independent grocery accounts, food service distributors, and institutions. The company, formerly known as Naamlooze Vennootschap Margarine Unie, was founded in 1927 and is based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Unilever N.V. is a subsidiary of The Unilever Group.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Good news for deep-sea sharks: Synthetic biology pioneer Amyris (NASDAQ: AMRS ) has engineered yeast to create the hydrocarbon farnesene, which can then be processed into large amounts of high-quality squalane. The emollient is naturally produced by your skin to prevent moisture loss; thus, it's an important ingredient for numerous global cosmetic brands offering skincare lotions, hair care creams, hand washes, lipsticks, and various other personal-care products. In fact, you may have used a product containing squalane today. Several�Avon (NYSE: AVP ) products, the St. Ives brand from Unilever (NYSE: UN ) , the Cover Girl and Olay brands from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG ) , the Nivea brand from Beiersdorf, the Dial brand from Henkel, the Aveeno and Johnsons brands from Johnson & Johnson, and many others list squalane as an ingredient. �
Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Pepsico Inc.(PEP)
PepsiCo, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of foods, snacks, and carbonated and non-carbonated beverages worldwide. The company operates in four divisions: PepsiCo Americas Foods (PAF); PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB); PepsiCo Europe; and PepsiCo Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA). The PAF division offers Lay?s and Ruffles potato chips, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips and dips, Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, Fritos corn chips, Quaker Chewy granola bars, and SunChips multigrain snacks in North America; Quaker oatmeal, Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, Cap?n Crunch cereal, Quaker grits, and Life cereal, as well as Rice-A-Roni, Pasta Roni, and Near East side dishes in North America; and various snack foods under Doritos, Marias Gamesa, Cheetos, Ruffles, Emperador, Saladitas, Sabritas, and Lay?s brands in Latin America. The PAB division provides carbonated soft drinks, beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 7UP, Tropicana Pure Premium, Electropura, Sierra Mist, Epura, and Mirinda brands; ready-to-drink tea, coffee, and water products through joint ventures with Unilever and Starbucks; and sells concentrate to authorized bottlers, and branded finished goods directly to independent distributors and retailers. This division also manufactures third-party brands, such as Dr Pepper, Crush, Rock Star, and Muscle Milk. The PepsiCo Europe division offers Frito Lay Snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices, and Quaker foods in Europe. The AMEA division provides snack food under the Lay?s, Kurkure, Chipsy, Doritos, Smith?s, Cheetos, Red Rock Deli, and Ruffles brands; Quaker-brand cereals and snacks; and beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under the Pepsi, Mirinda, 7UP, and Mountain Dew brands. PepsiCo, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Nicole Seghetti]
Sales growth
Carbonated soft drink sales in the U.S. have fizzled out in the past decade, with Coca-Cola and its soda rivals feeling the negative effects. Most recently, Coca-Cola's fourth-quarter 2013 revenue fell 4%. As consumers become increasingly nutrition- and calorie-conscious, Coke and rival PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP ) are growing their respective noncarbonated beverage portfolios. Coke has gained traction in this segment. In fact, Coke's volume of tea, juice, packaged water, and sports drinks grew 11%, 5%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, in 2013. Coca-Cola added Dasani water, Minute Maid, PowerAde, and Honest Tea to its noncarbonated beverage offerings in recent years, while PepsiCo holds Aquafina, Naked Juice, and Tropicana brands.� - [By Bryan Murphy]
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), consider your dominance in the bottled water arena - via Aquafina - under a serious attack. And for The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), well, your Dasani brand's #2 position in the market share race isn't as secure as you'd like it to be either. There's a new name in town you need to watch out for - Alkaline Water Company Inc. (OTCBB:WTER). This young company is hungry... well, thirsty, and with its impressive product already making a big splash in the few markets its been introduced to, WTER is not only positioned to make a dent in the bottled water revenue being generated by the likes of KO and PEP, this little company may be serving up some solid gains for its investors as well.
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