Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now

After the closing bell on Wednesday, a number of big-name dividend-paying companies announced their quarterly earnings. Below, look at each earnings report and break down the important information for dividend investors.

AvalonBay Announces Quarterly Net Loss, Higher Revenues

The Arlington, VA-based REIT, AvalonBay Communities (AVB), reported a quarterly net loss attributable to common shareholders of $10.715 million, or 8 cents per share. This marks a 109% decrease from last year’s Q3 EPS of 89 cents. The company chalked up the quarterly loss to “non-recurring charges, including amounts related to the Archstone acquisition.”

Top 5 Computer Hardware Companies To Invest In Right Now: Plum Creek Timber Company Inc.(PCL)

Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. is a publicly owned real estate investment trust (REIT). The trust owns and manages timberlands in the United States. Its products include lumber products, plywood, medium density fiberboard, and related by-products, such as wood chips. The trust also focuses on mineral extraction and natural gas production, communication, and transportation. Plum Creek Timber Company was founded in 1989 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jacob Roche]

  Weyerhaeuser� (NYSE: WY  ) and Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL  ) have seen sales go up almost 20% in the past three years, and margins are strong. Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek both get a significant amount of their business from the sale of whole logs, manufactured wood, and pulp, making them key suppliers to the increasing demand from different industries. Plum Creek is in a particularly good position, as much of its assets are in the eastern half of the United States, which has been less affected by the beetle.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  High lumber prices are the key driver of earnings growth for Weyerhaeuser, and in recent years, price trends in the industry have been quite strong. Infestations of mountain pine beetles have consumed about 12% of forested land west of the Mississippi, and that pushed lumber prices to levels not seen since the housing boom in the mid-2000s. Weyerhaeuser rival Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL  ) has benefited even more from the trend, because unlike Weyerhaeuser, much of Plum Creek's timberland is in areas not affected by the beetle. Nevertheless, Weyerhaeuser was able to triple its profits in the first quarter from the year-ago period, posting its best quarterly earnings in eight years.

• [By Victor Selva]

  Plum Creek Timber Co Inc. (PCL) owns 6.4 million acres of timberland across 19 states and manages timberland and manufactures wood products. The company is structured as a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), and so, it is not required to pay federal income taxes on earnings generated by timber harvest activities. Other earnings, like those from its wood products and real estate segments are subject to federal income tax.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Among stocks in the S&P 500, CBRE Group (CBG) has dropped 5.5% to $23.05 after it reported a profit of 30 cents a share, missing forecasts for 33 cents. Aflac (AFL), meanwhile, has fallen 3% to $65 after it reported a profit of $1.47, missing estimates for $1.48 on weakness in Japan. Plum Creek Timber (PCL) has dropped 1.3% to $45.76 after announcing that it would sell 12.1 million shares of stock at $45.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. (ED)

Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electric, gas, and steam utility services in the United States. It provides electric service to approximately 3.3 million customers and gas service to approximately 1.1 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, as well as provides steam service to office buildings and apartment houses in parts of Manhattan. The company also provides electric service to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and in adjacent areas of northern New Jersey, and northeastern Pennsylvania; and gas service to approximately 0.1 million customers in southeastern New York and adjacent areas of northeastern Pennsylvania. In addition, Consolidated Edison involves in the sale and related hedging of electricity to wholesale and retail customers; operation of generating plants; participation in other infrastructure projects; and provision of energy-efficiency services, including the design and installation of lighting retrofits, high-efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment, and other energy saving technologies to government and commercial customers. It serves residential, industrial, and large commercial customers. The company was founded in 1884 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Divine]

  Stocks headed into the weekend on a strong note, as all three major indices ended higher and the Dow finished at an all-time closing high. Although Wall Street polished off the week with gains, there wasn't an overwhelming, undeniable sense of bullishness; in fact, just less than 54% of stocks managed to advance. Not included in that 54% were today's three most miserable performers: NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA  ) , Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED  ) , and Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC  ) , each of which ended near the bottom of the S&P 500 Index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) on Friday. The S&P, for its part, tacked on two points, or 0.2%, to end at 1,878.�

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  On Wednesday, Jefferies reported that it has downgraded energy company Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED) to “Hold.”

  The firm has cut its rating on ED from “Buy” to “Hold,” and has slashed its price target from $67 to $58. This price target suggests a 4% upside from the stock’s current price of $55.90.

  Analyst Paul B. Fremont noted: “We are downgrading Con Edison to Hold from Buy due to lower estimates that are predicated on a reduction in retail margins at the company’s unregulated business (Con Ed Solutions).”

  “Additionally we believe parties involved in the current electric, gas and steam rate filing will be unable to reach a settlement agreement, which could put further downward pressure on the company’s earnings,” added the analyst.

  Looking ahead, analysts have lowered third quarter earnings estimates on ED from $1.45 to $1.35 per share. For FY2013, estimates have been cut from $3.80 to $3.65 per share. FY2014 estimates have been reduced from $3.90 to $3.75 per share.

  Consolidated Edison shares were down 40 cents, or 0.72%, during pre-market trading Wednesday. The stock has been mostly flat YTD.

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. Avg. High Yield Price
  2. 20-Year DCF Price
  3. Avg. P/E Price
  4. Graham Number
  
  CTBI is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 53.5% premium to its calculated fair value of $29.43. CTBI did not earn any Stars in this section.
  
  Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. Free Cash Flow Payout
  2. Debt To Total Capital
  3. Key Metrics
  4. Dividend Growth Rate
  5. Years of Div. Growth
  6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%
  
  CTBI earned one Star in this section for 1.) above. A Star was earned since the Free Cash Flow payout ratio was less than 60% and there were no negative Free Cash Flows over the last 10 years. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1988 and has increased its dividend payments for 33 consecutive years.
  
  Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. NPV MMA Diff.
  2. Years to > MMA
  
  The negative NPV MMA Diff. means that on a NPV basis the dividend earnings from an investment in CTBI would be less than a similar amount invested in MMA earning a 20-year average rate of 3.41%. If CTBI grows its dividend at 1.5% per year, it will never equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.41%.
  
  Memberships and Peers: CTBI is, a member of the Broad Dividend Achieve

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Dominion Resources Inc. (D)

Dominion Resources, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in producing and transporting energy in the United States. It operates in three segments: DVP, Dominion Generation, and Dominion Energy. The DVP segment includes regulated electric transmission and distribution operations that serve residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in Virginia and North Carolina. This segment also involves in non regulated retail energy marketing of electricity and natural gas. The Dominion Generation segment includes the electricity generation through coal, nuclear, gas, oil, and renewables; and related energy supply operations. It also comprises generation operations of the company?s merchant fleet and energy marketing, and price risk management activities for these assets. The Dominion Energy segment includes the company?s Ohio and West Virginia regulated natural gas distribution companies, regulated gas transmission pipeline and storage operations, natural gas gathering and by-products extraction activities, and regulated LNG import and storage operations. It also provides producer services, which aggregates natural gas supply; engages in natural gas trading and marketing activities; and involves in natural gas supply management. The company?s portfolio of assets includes approximately 27,615 MW of generation; 6,100 miles of electric transmission lines; 56,800 miles of electric distribution lines; 11,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering, and storage pipeline; and 21,800 miles of gas distribution pipeline. Dominion Resources, Inc. also owns approximately 947 bcf of storage capacity of natural gas and serves retail energy customers in 14 states. In addition, it sells electricity at wholesale prices to rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, and into wholesale electricity markets. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Of the remaining applications, the DOE said it will work through them in the order they were received. That means the next likely projects up for review will be the Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland, operated by Dominion (NYSE: D  ) .

• [By Richard Stavros]

  Created with YCharts

  
  In addition to beating the market since the beginning of the year, diversified energy utilities, such as MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE: MDU), Dominion Resources Inc (NYSE: D) and Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), significantly outperformed pure-play or predominantly all-electric utilities, such as Duke Energy Corp (NYSE: DUK) and Entergy Corp (NYSE: ETR), by as much as several percentage points (See Chart B).
  
  Interestingly, among top performers, there was no dominant strategy for exploiting natural gas demand, as these firms were involved in all aspects of the value chain–from exploration and production to distribution and storage. These companies have not only been benefiting from a natural gas surplus, but also from the pressing need to expand US energy infrastructure to deliver this newfound bounty to businesses and households.
  
  

  Chart B: Diversified Energy Utilities Outperformed Electric-Only Peers

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Padlocking the front gate
  Yet it can't be denied that the demise of many plants has been hastened by the animus against the coal industry. In 2012 alone, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK  ) retired eight coal plants representing 730 megawatts of capacity and�Dominion (NYSE: D  ) took down nine, eliminating 1.1 gigawatts of capacity. FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE  ) idled three for 500 megawatts.�SourceWatch says two dozen plants will be retired in 2013 representing 2.9 gigawatts of capacity with nearly 50 plants expected to close next year totaling seven gigawatts of capacity.�

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Avon Products Inc. (AVP)

Avon Products Inc. manufactures and markets beauty and related products worldwide. Its product categories include color cosmetics, fragrances, skin care, and personal care; fashion jewelry, watches, apparel, footwear, and accessories; and gift and decorative products, housewares, entertainment and leisure, and children?s and nutritional products. Avon Products Inc. markets its products through direct selling and independent representatives, as well as through distributorships. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Herbalife have gained 0.9% to $79.51 this morning in pre-open trading. Its shares have gained 139% this year, a nice gain, but lagging Nu Skin Enterprises 271% rise. Avon Products�(AVP), another multi-level marketer, has gained 21% so far this year, while Tupperware Brands�(TUP) has risen 49%.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Herbalife have dropped 3.5% to $66.53 at 2:44 p.m., while Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) has dipped 0.1% to $79.99, Usana Health Sciences (USNA) has fallen 0.4% to $75.84, Avon Products (AVP) has gained 0.9% to $15.22 and Weight Watchers (WTW) has advanced 0.2% to $20.95.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Public Storage(PSA)

Public Storage operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT). It engages in the acquisition, development, ownership, and operation of self-storage facilities in the United States and Europe. The company?s self-storage facilities offer storage spaces for lease on a month-to-month basis for personal and business use. Public Storage also has interests in commercial properties containing commercial and industrial rental space; facilities that lease storage containers; and ancillary operations, which include reinsurance of policies against losses to goods stored by its self-storage tenants, retail operations comprising merchandise sales and truck rental operations. As of December 31, 2008, the company had interests in 2,012 self-storage facilities with approximately 127 million net rentable square feet in 38 states; and 181 self-storage facilities with approximately 10 million net rentable square feet in 7 western European nations. It also had direct and indirect equity int erests in approximately 21 million net rentable square feet of commercial space located in 11 states in the U.S. As a REIT, the company would not be subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. Public Storage was founded in 1971 and is based in Glendale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Is it risky to be putting so much money into an as-yet unproven business model? Some may think so, including investors. Noting the tumble in stock price that newbies like Silver Bay and American Residential have suffered recently, Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY  ) chief Thomas Barrack postponed�the IPO of his new single-family rental company, Colony American Homes. Similarly, Public Storage (NYSE: PSA  ) has filed for an IPO, too, hoping to take its American Homes 4 Rent unit public -- at some unannounced, future date. In the meantime, American Homes can rely on its $500 million credit facility�with Wells Fargo, which may be bumped up to $1 billion if necessary.

• [By Mike Deane]

  Public Storage (PSA) announced its third quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, posting an increase in net income and revenues.

  PSA Earnings in Brief

  -Public Storage announced total quarterly revenues of $419 million, which were up from last year’s $397 million, but below the average analyst estimate of $464.58 million.
  -The company’s net income came in at $231.4 million, or $1.34 per share, which was up from last year’s Q3 net income of $202.5 million, or $1.18 per share.
  -PSA’s core FFO per share was up from last year’s $1.76 to $1.92 for the most recent quarter; this beat analysts’ estimates of $1.89.

  Dividend Raise

  Public Storage announced that its board has approved to raise its dividend 12% to $1.40 per common share. This is a 15 cent raise from the company’s previous quarterly payout of $1.25 and brings the annualized payout to $5.60. The new dividend is payable on December 30 to all shareholders on record as of December 13.

  Share Performance

  PSA stock was down 66 cents, or 0.39%, on the day, but was up steeply in after-hours trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up 14.74%.

   

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Kimco Realty Corporation (KIM)

Kimco Realty Corporation is a publicly owned real estate investment trust. The firm engages in acquisitions, development, and management of neighborhood and community shopping centers. It also provides property management services relating to the management, leasing, operation, and maintenance of real estate properties. The firm primarily invests in real estate markets across the globe with a focus in North America. It also invests in operating properties. The firm also provides equity and mezzanine debt to developers and owners of commercial properties. It also makes secondary market investments including under performing mortgage loans, secured bank debt, and corporate securities. Kimco was formed in 1960 and is based in New Hyde Park, New York with additional office in Mesa, Arizona; Daly City, California; Granite Bay, California; Irvine, California; Carmichael, California; Vista, California; Walnut Creek, California; West Hartford, Connecticut; Largo, Florida; Margate, Florida; Sanford, Florida; Lisle, Illinois; Rosemont, Illinois; Columbia, Maryland; Lutherville, Maryland; Bellevue, Washington; Mesquite, Texas; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Austin, Texas; Ardmore, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Kettering, Ohio; Canfield, Ohio; Raleigh, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; New York, New York; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  A smart investment
  Short-sellers have been out in full force this month in Kimco Realty (NYSE: KIM  ) , a real estate investment trust that has owned interests in 895 shopping centers across North, Central, and South America. The selling has been particularly noticeable ever since Kimco announced it was purchasing a partner's stake in 70 shopping centers via two portfolios -- the Kimco Income Fund I and Kimco Income REIT joint venture ��for $67 million. Investors may not be thrilled with this purchase, but I'm certainly not doing any complaining.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Kimco Realty� (NYSE: KIM  ) has a new overseer. The New York--based real estate investment trust�announced Monday that Conor C. Flynn�would be replacing as the�company's chief operating officer�Michael Pappagallo, who is leaving the company to become president and CFO of Brixmor Property Group.

• [By Dividend King]

  Earnings per share came in at $0.35 while competitors DDR Corp. (DDR) and Kimco Realty Corporation (KIM) reported earnings per share of -$0.56 and $0.27, respectively. With a price to earnings ratio of 123.57, it is clear investors are expecting higher growth from this stock than its competitors, whose price to earnings ratio are twice as half. I think it will not take very long for the stock to appreciate in value at a much higher rate due to higher revenue, good investor and market sentiment towards the stock, and an improved real estate market.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: China Nepstar Chain Drugstore Ltd (NPD)

China Nepstar Chain Drugstore Ltd. operates retail drugstores in the People?s Republic of China. The company?s drugstores provide pharmacy services and other merchandise, including prescription drugs; over-the-counter drugs; nutritional supplements, such as healthcare supplements, vitamins, minerals, and dietary products; herbal products, including drinkable herbal remedies and packages of assorted herbs for making soup; and private label products. Its stores also offer personal care products, such as skin care, hair care, and beauty products; family care products, including portable medical devices for family use, birth control products, and early pregnancy test products; and convenience products, such as soft drinks, packaged snacks, other consumables, cleaning agents, and stationeries, as well as seasonal and promotional items. The company operates its stores under the China Nepstar brand name. As of December 31, 2009, its store network comprised 2,479 retail drugstores located in approximately 71 cities in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Shandong, Hunan, Fujian, Sichuan, and Hubei provinces, as well as in Shanghai, Tianjin, and Beijing municipalities of the People?s Republic of China. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped around 0.20 percent in today’s trading. Top decliners in the sector included K12 (NYSE: LRN), China Nepstar Chain Drugstore (NYSE: NPD), and Du Pont (NYSE: DD).