Tobacco companies have always offered high dividends, and associated with strong balance sheets. The three big players in the industry are Altria Group Inc. (MO), Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and Lorillard Inc. (LO). The trio has similar valuations and comparable yields. These companies hailing from an unhealthy industry are poised to continue raising their safely maintained dividends. They will find plenty of tobacco huffers in the developing world, if they can build out their international presence. Below is some insight into the three.
Altria (MO)
Altria's Philip Morris USA holds a 50% share of the U.S. tobacco market with a 60% share in the premium brand segment. Altria, whose brands include top-selling Marlboro cigarettes, Skoal smokeless tobacco and Black & Mild cigars, also reaffirmed its 2013 full-year adjusted earnings forecast of between $2.35 and $2.41 per share.
The company holds a voting stake in brewer SABMiller, owns wine businesses and has a financial services division. The company's diversification into smokeless tobacco is crucial to promoting its growth due to the declining market for smokers in the U.S.
KLA-Tencor Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries. It offers equipment comprising wafer and integrated circuit (IC) defect monitoring, review, and classification; reticle defect inspection and metrology; packaging and interconnect inspection; critical dimension metrology; pattern overlay metrology; film thickness, surface topography, and composition measurements; measurement of in-chamber process conditions, wafer shape, and stress metrology; computational lithography tools; and yield and fab-wide data management and analysis systems. The company also provides products that serve the high brightness light emitting diode, data storage, and photovoltaic industries, as well as general materials research. It primarily offers its products to wafer, IC, reticle, and disk manufacturers in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Europe, Israel, Korea, and the Rest of Asia. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]
$KLAC: KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) �shares rose 1.9%. Analysts at J.P. Morgan on Monday initiated coverage of KLA-Tencor and Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) �at overweight.
- [By Ashraf Eassa]
KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC ) , a major semiconductor equipment vendor, offered investors some insight into this issue on its April earnings call.�
Top High Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LLOY)
Lloyds Banking Group plc is a holding company. The Company is a financial services group providing a range of banking and financial services, primarily in the United Kingdom, to personal and corporate customers. It operates in four segments: Retail, Commercial Banking, Wealth, Asset Finance and International, and Insurance. Retail provides banking, mortgages and other financial services to personal customers in the United Kingdom. Commercial Banking provides banking and related services to business clients. Wealth, Asset Finance and International provides private banking and asset management and asset finance. Insurance provides long term savings, protection and investment products and provides general insurance to personal customers. In January 2014, Westpac Banking Corporation completed the acquisition of Lloyds Banking Group Plc�� Australian asset finance business, Capital Finance Australia Limited, and its Australian corporate loan portfolio, BOS International (Australia) Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Sofia Horta e Costa]
European stocks declined from a five-year high as investors sold holdings in companies from Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) to Continental AG.
Lloyds dropped 3.5 percent after the U.K. government sold a 3.2 billion-pound ($5.1 billion) stake in the lender. Continental and Galp Energia SGPS SA fell at least 2.5 percent as investors sold shares in the companies. Total SA (FP) retreated 1.3 percent following a report that Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA may dispose of its 4 percent stake in the French oil producer.
- [By Corinne Gretler]
Novartis AG (NOVN) climbed 1.3 percent after saying a psoriasis treatment met all its objectives in a clinical study. Lloyds (LLOY) Banking Group Plc advanced 3.8 percent after a person with knowledge of the matter said a former Standard Chartered Plc executive may mount a bid for a stake in the U.K.�� biggest mortgage lender. TGS Nopec Geophysical ASA declined the most since May 2012 after cutting its full-year revenue guidance.
- [By Sofia Horta e Costa]
Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) fell 1.1 percent to 69.25 pence. Two people familiar with the matter said the U.K. government has considered selling as much as 5 billion pounds ($7.6 billion) of the lender�� shares. The state may sell a 5 to 10 percent stake as soon as September, the people said.
- [By Inyoung Hwang]
BP rallied the most since January 2011 after Europe�� third-largest oil company also increased its dividend. Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), the region�� biggest crude producer, rose 1.5 percent. Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) lost 2 percent after reporting that its loss widened in the third quarter.
Top High Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Lender Processing Services Inc (LPS)
Lender Processing Services, Inc. provides integrated technology, data, and services to the mortgage lending industry in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Technology, Data, and Analytics; and Transaction Services. Its Technology, Data, and Analytics segment offers software systems and information solutions that facilitate and automate various business processes across the life cycle of a mortgage. This segment�s primary applications and services include mortgage servicing platform, an application that automates loan servicing, including loan setup and ongoing processing, customer service, accounting and reporting to the secondary mortgage market, and federal regulatory reporting; Desktop, a Web-based workflow information system that can be used for managing and automating various workflow processes; and other software applications and services that automate and facilitate the origination of mortgage loans. It also provides data and analytics services , such as alternative valuation services, and data and information. The company�s Transaction Services segment offers customized outsourced business process and information solutions. Its origination services include settlement and title agency services comprising centralized title agency and closing services; appraisal services; and other origination services, such as federal flood zone certifications and monitoring services. This segment also provides default management services, consisting of foreclosure administrative services, property inspection and preservation; default title and settlement services; and alternative property valuation services. The company serves mortgage originators and servicers, other financial institutions, investors, attorneys, trustees, and real estate professionals. Lender Processing Services, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Holly LaFon]
Despite economic and political turmoil, equity markets performed well across the board in September of 2013 and over the trailing twelve months. The September gains reversed losses in August and also resulted in positive overall quarterly performance with a number of major indexes moving further into record territory. After disturbing the markets in May and June with comments that they may taper Quantitative Easing (QE), the Fed surprised investors with an announcement that it would not reduce its asset purchases in the near-term. The announcement removed fears that a continued rise in interest rates may stall the economic recovery, as seen by the market's negative reaction to the sharp rise in the 10-year Treasury rate in August of 2013. Investors were also comforted by improving fundamentals both domestically and abroad. The Eurozone may finally be emerging from its prolonged recession and a number of economic reports in the U.S. continue to show progress. Specifically, initial unemployment claims dropped to a multiyear low early in September and the housing market continued to improve, as evidenced by prices rising 12.4 percent year-over year, which along with the stock market's strength, has created a positive wealth effect for consumers. In response to this general economic improvement, consumer confidence increased at the end of September, and the index of leading economic indicators ticked up as well, suggesting that, absent the effects of politics, the recovery in the real economy was continuing. Our portfolios that focus on corporate restructuring (Keeley Small Cap Value, Keeley Small-Mid Cap Value, Keeley Mid Cap Value, Keeley All Cap Value, and Keeley Alternative Value) have all experienced a productive investment cycle with respect to their opportunity sets, and many of our holdings have posted impressive results in recent quarters. Although we acknowledge an improving economy has boosted the outlook for our more cyclical holdings, our research has gu
Top High Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: PFSweb Inc.(PFSW)
PFSweb, Inc. provides business process outsourcing and ecommerce solutions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It offers digital marketing services comprising search engine optimization, pay-per-click, affiliate marketing, comparison shopping engines, merchandising, Web analytics, customer experience, email marketing, and social media; and ecommerce technology services, including End2End eCommerce solution for the direct-to-consumer (DTC) and business-to-business (B2B) online channels. The company also provides order management services consisting of order management interfaces, collaboration technologies, and information management services; customer care services, including customer relationship management, customer order assistance, quality monitoring, and interactive voice response; and logistics and fulfillment services comprising distribution facilities and infrastructure, facility operations and management, kitting and assembly, and product management and insp ection. In addition, it offers financial management services consisting of billing, credit, collection, and cash application services for B2B clients, as well as fraud review, chargeback management, and processing and settlement credit card services for DTC clients; and professional consulting services in the areas of interactive marketing ecommerce, supply chain management, distribution and fulfillment, technology interfacing, logistics, and customer support. Further, the company provides seller services financial models, including enablement financial, agent or flash financial, and retail financial models. It serves fashion apparel and accessories, fragrance and beauty products, consumer packaged goods, home furnishings and housewares, consumer electronics, office technology and network connectivity products, and aviation spare parts industries. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Allen, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Technology stocks gained Thursday, with Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included LiveDeal (NASDAQ: LIVE), with shares up 5.5 percent, and PFSweb (NASDAQ: PFSW), with shares up 5.4 percent.
Top High Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Fabrinet (FN)
Fabrinet, incorporated on August 12, 1999, provides optical packaging and precision optical, electro-mechanical and electronic manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of complex products, such as optical communication components, modules and sub-systems, industrial lasers and sensors. The Company offers a range of optical and electro-mechanical capabilities across the entire manufacturing processes, including process design and engineering, supply chain management, manufacturing, advanced packaging, final assembly and test.
The products that the Company manufactures for its OEM customers includes optical communications devices, such as selective switching products, such as reconfigurable optical add-drop modules (ROADMs), optical amplifiers, modulators and other optical components and modules that collectively enable network managers to route signals through fiber traffic at various wavelengths and over various distances; tunable transponders and transceivers that eliminate the need to stock individual fixed wavelength transponders and transceivers used in voice and data communications networks; and active optical cables providing high-speed interconnect capabilities for data centers and computing clusters, as well as Infiniband, Ethernet, fiber channel and optical backplane connectivity.
Solid state, diode-pumped, gas and fiber lasers (industrial lasers) used across a array of industries, including semiconductor processing (wafer inspection, wafer dicing, wafer scribing), biotechnology (DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, hematology, antibody detection), metrology (instrumentation, calibration, inspection), and material processing (photo processing, textile cutting, annealing, marking, engraving); and sensors, including differential pressure, micro-gyro, fuel and other sensors that are used in automobiles, and non-contact temperature measurement sensors for the medical industry. The Company also designs and fabricates application-specific crystals, pri! sms, mirrors, laser components and substrates (customized optics) and other custom and standard borosilicate, clear fused quartz, and synthetic fused silica glass products (customized glass).
The Company competes with Sanmina-SCI Corporation, Celestica Inc., Venture Corporation Limited, Benchmark Electronics, Inc, Browave Corporation, Fujian Castech Crystals, Inc., Research Electro-Optic, Inc. and Photop Technologies, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion: Top High Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Nokia Oyj (NOK1V)
Nokia Oyj is a Finland-based company engaged in the manufacture of mobile devices and networks. It operates three business segments. Devices & Services segment is divided into two areas, Smart Devices, focused on Nokia�� advanced products, such as smart phones, product development and marketing; and Mobile Phones, active in the area of mass market entry and feature phones, affordable smart phones, services, and applications. It also includes net sale of spare parts. Location & Commerce (HERE) segment develops location-based products and services for consumers, as well as platform services and local commerce services for the Group. Additionally, it provides content and map data to NAVTEQ�� customers. Nokia Siemens Networks segment provides a portfolio of mobile, fixed and converged network technology, and professional services, such as consultancy, systems integration, deployment and maintenance. In August 2013, it acquired Siemens AG's whole stake in Nokia Siemens Networks.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Sharon Cho]
BYD Electronic International Co. and Compal Communications Inc. led gains of Nokia Oyj (NOK1V)�� Asian suppliers after Microsoft Corp. offered to pay 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion) for the Finnish company�� handset business. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) declined 1 percent.
- [By Caroline Chen]
Activist funds generally acquire equity stakes in companies and try to force management and boards to make changes that boost share prices and investor returns. New York-based Third Point was founded by Loeb and this year disclosed stakes in companies including Sony, Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and Sotheby��.
- [By Adam Ewing]
A sale would provide the shareholders with cash, while potentially strengthening DNA against larger rivals Elisa Oyj (ELI1V) and TeliaSonera AB. (TLSN) The IPO could be the biggest in Finland, home of Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and ��ngry Birds��maker Rovio Entertainment Oy, since 2005.
- [By Tom Stoukas]
Alcatel Lucent SA (ALU) jumped 6.3 percent to 2.69 euros. Nokia Oyj (NOK1V), which is set to become a manufacturer focusing on wireless networks after the sale of its handset business, is evaluating a linkup with the French company, two people with knowledge of the matter said.