Hot Blue Chip Companies To Invest In 2014

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is a gold mine for long-term investors. It's particularly juicy if you're looking for high-quality income stocks, as these proven blue chips tend to deliver both high yields and reliable dividend growth. But there are stragglers in every herd, including this elite collection. Let me point out the three worst dividend stocks on the Dow today.

AA Dividend data by YCharts.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) is a horrible income stock right now, any way you slice it. No other Dow stock even comes close to its feeble 0.3% yield. Annual payouts have plunged 97% over the last decade, and regulators keep a heavy foot on B of A's throat to prevent the troubled bank from over-stretching its financial reserves. That financial crisis in 2008 wrought devastation on Bank of America's dividend appeal.

Hot Quality Stocks To Invest In 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 Monica Gerson]

  Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.43 per share on revenue of $7.94 billion.

  Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.74 per share on revenue of $30.16 billion.

• [By Dividend]

  Philip Morris International (PM) has a market capitalization of $135.05 billion. The company employs 87,100 people, generates revenue of $77.393 billion and has a net income of $9.154 billion. Philip Morris International�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $14.827 billion. The EBITDA margin is 19.16 percent (the operating margin is 17.89 percent and the net profit margin 11.83 percent).

• [By Alexandra Scaggs]

  Then the bank appeared to backpedal a bit in its note yesterday, cutting back on its recommended holdings in Ultimate Software Group(ULTI) and Mastercard(MA) and adding to its recommended positions in Anadarko Petroleum Corp.(APC), an energy stock, and Philip Morris International Inc.(PM), a consumer-staples stock. Morgan Stanley strategist Adam Parker �and his�team found that times when value stocks outperform growth stocks by such a wide margin “are typically followed by periods where value outperforms.”

• [By Dividend Growth Investor]

  Altria Group (MO) was able to spin-off its Kraft Foods division in 2007. Shareholders in Altria received shares in Kraft for each share of Altria stock they held. In 2008, this was followed by the spin-off of Phillip Morris International (PM), which represented the international tobacco business of Altria Group.

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Invest In 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 Damian Illia]

  In a previous article we saw the 13-F's holdings of Absolute Return Investors. Here, let麓s analyze one of them, Chevron Corporation (CVX), and see if it is appropriate to be in that long portfolio. The firm does not need too much introduction. The company�� upstream operations include exploring, developing and producing crude oil and natural gas, and processing, liquefaction, transportation and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas. The company�� downstream operations include refining crude oil into petroleum products, and manufactures and markets commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses and fuel and lubricant additives. The firm's largest competitors include BP Plc (BP) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM).

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  ExxonMobil has been struggling to grow its production in a meaningful way for a few years now. However, on a per-share basis, the company's production growth has been industry leading, thanks to its steady buybacks. Over the past five years, each share has an interest in 21% more production, which is an annualized growth rate per share of 5%. As the following chart shows, ExxonMobil easily outpaces Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) and BP (NYSE: BP  ) :

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Invest In 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 Evan Niu, CFA]

  Well, Samsung has released a new ad again targeting Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) directly, showcasing some of these new features while demonstrating two indisputable instances where the Galaxy S4 will always triumph over the iPhone 5.

• [By Chris Neiger]

  But while the Redmond company has been busy trying to sell its full-sized tablets, small tablets have become the mobile market's latest trend. IDC numbers show that half of all tablets shipped in Q4 2012 were smaller than 8 inches. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) launched the iPad Mini back in October 2012 and has sold about 12.5 million units in Q2 2013 alone. Devices running on Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android OS also dominate the tablet market, and Google itself even sells its own Nexus tablet. Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) modified Android tablets currently take third place for tablet shipments.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  After putting up an encouraging bounce back to $470 at the end of March, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) have promptly given back nearly all of those gains. The Mac maker dropped by as much as 1.5% on Friday, in part because of the disappointing jobs report that dragged down the broader market.

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Invest In 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 Freelance Individual Investor]

  And speaking of client wins, there are some simple truths about ARUN's client base which can't be denied. Some of the most technologically savvy, analytical and discerning buyers are choosing ARUN. Again, there is little discussion here about technology. But why should you listen to me, or any financial analyst or CFA, try to be an 'expert' on technology. When companies issue Requests For Proposals, they bring in very astute and analytical people to evaluate the choices. This is especially true in University settings where academia will scrutinize every minute detail. Universities such as Northwestern, Indiana University, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Florida State, Texas A&M, Holy Cross, San Diego State, Shanghai University of Finance, Purdue University and many other large, medium, and small universities around the world are choosing ARUN's technology. Many K-12 schools are also converting to ARUN. In addition, the Department of Defense and the FDIC have given substantial business to ARUN in the Government vertical. They also have a substantial client list in the medical and enterprise verticals. The recent revelation about partnering with Google to implement a complete solution set in all Starbucks stores throughout the U.S. is one prominent example. Their client portfolio now exceeds 30,000 and they continually receive repeat business and outstanding customer service evaluations from their clients. These facts provide all the evidence needed that the ARUN proposition is much more than providing access points. They continue to work closely with all major mobile device providers, Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT), Verizon (VZ), and many others in advancing the functionality of Wi-Fi capabilities. In addition the disclosure of ARUN receiving the highest quadrant in the recent Gartner ranking provides additional independent analysis of ARUN's industry leading product portfolio. They also appear to be leading the conversion to th

• [By Alex Planes]

  Technology and pharmaceuticals gained a permanent foothold in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) on June 29, 1979. The index added IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) and Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) that day, replacing floundering automaker Chrysler and food-products company Esmark for only its second component swap in the previous 20 years -- still the slowest rate of changes in Dow history.

• [By Tom Taulli]

  True, CSOD has competition. But most of the players are mega companies like Oracle (ORCL) and IBM (IBM), which are far from nimble. Besides, the company has the advantage of being solely focused on talent management and its platform is available for companies of all sizes.

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Invest In 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 DAILYFINANCE]

  Gary Malerba/AP Neiman Marcus says 1.1 million debit and credit cards used at its stores may have been compromised in a security breach last year. The high-end retailer said Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and Discover (DFS) have found 2,400 Neiman Marcus and Last Call customer cards that were used fraudulently. Last Call is Neiman Marcus' clearance chain. Neiman Marcus says it is notifying all customers who shopped in its stores in 2013 and offering them a free year of credit monitoring and identity-theft protection. Malicious software installed in Neiman Marcus' system attempted to take customer card information from July 16 to Oct. 30, the company said. The malicious software has been disabled. Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. reiterated in a post on its website Wednesday night that social security numbers and birth dates weren't stolen and customers who shopped online weren't affected. Customers that use its private Neiman Marcus credit cards were also not affected. The Dallas-based company said the investigation is ongoing. The company learned that malicious software was installed to its system on Jan. 1, after a forensics company discovered it. It informed federal law enforcement agencies and began working with the U.S. Secret Service and payment processors. Target (TGT) also suffered a security breach, during the holiday shopping season. Hackers stole about 40 million debit and credit card numbers. Personal information, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of as many as 70 million customers was also stolen. Neiman Marcus said it has no knowledge of a connection between the two security breaches. A report published earlier this month by iSight Partners, a global cyber intelligence firm that works with the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, said the security breach that hit Target appears to have been part of a broader and highly sophisticated scam that potentially affected a large number of retailers.

• [By Reuters]

  Kathy Willens/AP JPMorgan Chase reported a better-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit as the biggest U.S. bank kept a lid on costs and set aside less money to cover bad loans. The bank, which agreed last week to pay $2.6 billion to settle government and private claims over its handling of accounts of fraudster Bernie Madoff, said fourth-quarter net income fell 7.3 percent to $5.28 billion, or $1.30 a share. Adjusted for special items, the company earned $1.40 a share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.35, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The results took into account gains from the sale of Visa (V) shares and One Chase Manhattan Plaza and legal expenses related to the Madoff settlements. JPMorgan (JPM), which agreed to pay nearly $20 billion in 2013 to settle assorted legal claims, had estimated that settlement of the Madoff claims would subtract $850 million from fourth-quarter earnings. "It was in the best interests of our company and shareholders for us to accept responsibility, resolve these issues and move forward," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in a statement Tuesday. JPMorgan shares, which have been trading this month at their highest levels since 2000, were up 0.5 percent at $58 before the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock rose 33 percent in 2013, in line with the 35 percent rise in the KBW Bank index and slightly ahead of the 29 percent gain in Standard & Poor's 500 stock index. Special items highlighted by the bank subtracted 10 cents a share from fourth-quarter earnings, compared with a two-cent boost in the same quarter of 2012. The special items included a benefit of 21 cents a share from the sale of Visa shares and 8 cents from the sale of One Chase Manhattan Plaza and an expense of 27 cents a share from legal bills, including the Madoff settlements. Three months ago, JPMorgan reported its first quarterly loss under Dimon after recording after-tax expenses of $7.2 billi

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Invest In 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 Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Procter & Gamble have gained 0.1% to $81.44 at 2:06 p.m. today, while Unilever (UL) has risen 0.6% to $43.96, Colgate-Palmolive (CL) is little changed at $65.65 and Kimberly-Clark (KMB) has advanced 0.5% to $111.31.

• [By James Well]

  Analysts��Consensus Position on Pfizer
  
  Thirteen analysts including those at TheStreet, Thomson Reuters/Verus, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley and Argus Research are optimistic about the performance of Pfizer going forward and, hence, reiterated a consensus buy recommendation at an average target price of $31.78 per share. Last Wednesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs removed Pfizer from Goldman�� conviction buy list (CL) where Pfizer has been since Aug. 9, 2011, and placed it on the buy list but raised its price target from $34 to $35 per share. Jami Rubin, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, claimed that Pfizer has gone up by 82.5% since being added to the CL as against 53.9% for the S&P 500 during the period and, therefore, there was the need to replace Pfizer with AbbVie at a price target of $60 because they claimed AbbVie has greater upside at this time.

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Other earnings highlights in the coming week include Dow components McDonald�� Corp. (MCD) , DuPont (DD) , AT&T Inc. (T) , and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) . Notable S&P 500 companies include Halliburton Co. (HAL) , Netflix Inc. (NFLX) �, Amgen Inc. (AMGN) �, TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) �, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) �, Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) �, Ford Motor Co. (F) �, Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) �, and United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) �