Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014

Investors pushed Coach (NYSE: COH  ) stock up by more than 9% on Tuesday, after the luxury goods retailer beat analysts' estimates for its third quarter. Coach reported earnings of $0.84 a share for the period, whereas analysts were expecting earnings per share of $0.80 at best. To top off the impressive quarter, Coach rewarded stockholders with a dividend hike of $0.15 annually. This means Coach stock will now pay an annual dividend of $1.35 per share.

However, the good news masked red flags that would otherwise be cause for concern at the company.

The timing couldn't be worse
While most investors focused on the upbeat earnings announcement, little attention was given to the fact that Reed Krakoff, the company's president and executive creative director, will be leaving the company when his contract expires next June. The creative director is the lifeblood of a brand. Moreover, during his 16-year career at Coach, Krakoff is credited with transforming the company from a leather goods seller into a global luxury brand.

Top 5 Gas Stocks To Watch Right Now: 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 David Dittman]

  Participation was still robust, thanks to a highly engaged group of readers.
  
  Utility stocks set the pace for the broader market over the first six months of 2014, as fears of rising interest rates abated and companies produced solid first-quarter financial and operating numbers.
  
  Second-quarter reporting season will get underway later in July, with most management teams posting results in early August.
  
  There�� also been significant mergers-and-acquisitions rumor and activity, notably surrounding the telecom space. And Wisconsin Energy Corp (NYSE: WEC) last week announced a deal to buy UF Portfolio Holding Integrys Energy Group Inc (NYSE: TEG) for $9.1 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.
  
  Canadian stocks are back to their winning ways thus far in 2014, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index posting a 12.5 percent total return in US dollar terms from Dec. 31, 2013, through June 30, 2014. The S&P 500 Index is up 7.1 percent, the MSCI World Index 6.6 percent.
  
  The loonie, meanwhile, was strong in June, bouncing back to near USD0.94 and having an essentially neutral impact for US-based investors��returns for the first six months of the year.
  
  The Australia dollar pushed out to an eight-month high earlier this week, as Chinese PMI data showed some stabilization in the economy for that key trading partner. Although iron ore prices remain depressed, several LNG projects coming on line in coming months should give a boost to Australian exports.
  
  Aussie strength has had a clear positive impact for US-based investors who are long Australian stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index trailed the S&P 500 and the MSCI World Index with a 3 percent return in local terms. Accounting for the impact of a stronger aussie on US investors��holdings, the S&P/ASX was up 8.8 percent from Dec. 31, 2013, through June 30, 2014.
  
  Here are highlights in the form of a slightly edited transcript from the July 2 ��une��AE/

• [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 5 Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Cellcom Israel Ltd.(CEL)

Cellcom Israel Ltd. provides cellular communications services in Israel. It offers basic and advanced cellular telephone services, text and multimedia messaging services, and advanced cellular content and data services. The company?s basic cellular telephony services include voice mail, cellular fax, call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification, collect call, conference calling, ?Talk 2?, additional number services, and collect call services; and outbound and inbound roaming services. It also provides value-added services comprising Cellcom volume that includes downloadable content, such as music, games, on-net-reality programs, drama series, and video games; SMS and MMS services to send and receive text, photos, multimedia, and animation messages; access to third party application providers for notification of roadway speed detectors, mange vehicle fleets, and enable subscribers to manage and operate time clocks and various controllers for industrial, agricultural , and commercial purposes; video calls to communicate with each other through video applications; zone services for calls initiated from a specific location; location-based services; voice-based information services; text-based information services and interactive information services, including news headlines, sports results, and traffic and weather reports; and data services to access handsets, cellular modems, laptops, tablets, and cellular routers, as well as Internet based payment services. In addition, the company sells handsets, modems, routers, tablets, and laptops, as well as provides repair and replacement services; and offers landline telephony, transmission, and data services through its approximately 1,500 kilometers of inland fiber-optic infrastructure and complementary microwave links to selected business customers. As of March 31, 2011, it provided its services to approximately 3.395 million subscribers. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Netanya, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL  ) is getting a new CFO.

  Following the company's successful merger with Netvision, current Chief Financial Officer Yaacov Heen is declaring his mission accomplished, and says he intends to resign his post on Sept. 17 after 16 years with the company. At that time, Cellcom says it will bring on Shlomi Fruhling, the former VP for strategy and finance at Netvision, to become the merged company's new CFO on Sept. 18.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: H&R Block Inc. (HRB)

H&R Block, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides tax preparation, retail banking, and various business advisory and consulting services. It operates in three segments: Tax Services, Business Services, and Corporate. The Tax Services segment offers H&R Block At Home, an income tax preparation software, as well as a range of online tax services, including tax advice, professional and do-it-yourself tax return preparation, and electronic filing services through its Web site at hrblock.com primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This segment also provides the H&R Block Prepaid Emerald MasterCard and Emerald Advance lines of credit through H&R Block Bank, as well as other retail banking services, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; and sells refund anticipation loans and refund anticipation checks offered by third-party lending institutions, as well as offers income tax return preparation course s to the public. The Business Services segment provides tax and consulting services, wealth management, and capital markets services to middle-market companies. The Corporate segment engages in various operations, which include interest income from the United States passive investments, interest expense on borrowings, net interest margin and gains or losses relating to mortgage loans held for investment, real estate owned, residual interests in securitizations and other corporate expenses principally related to finance, legal, and other support departments. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Wednesday, H&R Block (NYSE: HRB  ) will release its latest quarterly results. With the tax-preparation giant doing most of its business between early February and mid-April, this quarter is always the most important one for the company, and investors already have high expectations for the company.

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  H&R Block (HRB) �shares rose 7.3% to $30.50 on moderate volume after the firm said it agreed to sell certain bank assets and liabilities to BofI Federal Bank for an undisclosed price. The deal should dilute fiscal 2015 earnings by 7 cents to 9 cents a share, H&R Block said. Shares of BofI Holding Inc. (BOFI) rose 10% to $82 in light volume.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of H&R Block (HRB) have gained 4.1% to $31.99 after the tax-preparer beat earnings and revenue forecasts.

  Boeing (BA) has dropped 0.9% to $136 after RBC downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform.

• [By Sue Chang]

  After Thursday�� closing bell, H&R Block Inc. (HRB) �said it agreed to sell certain bank assets and liabilities to BofI Federal Bank for an undisclosed price. The deal should dilute fiscal 2015 earnings by 7 cents to 9 cents a share. Shares of the tax services provider surged 7.3% in after-hours trading.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Regal Beloit Corporation(RBC)

Regal Beloit Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells electric motors and controls, electric generators and controls, and mechanical motion control products primarily in the United States and Asia. The company operates in two segments, Electrical and Mechanical. The Electrical segment manufactures and markets AC and DC commercial, industrial, and commercial refrigeration electric motors and blowers, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) electric motors and blowers. It also provides precision servo motors, electric generators, automatic transfer switches and paralleling switchgear, and control electric power generation equipment; AC and DC variable speed drives and controllers, and other accessories for industrial and commercial applications; and capacitors for use in HVAC systems, high intensity lighting, and other applications. The Mechanical segment manufactures and markets a range of mechanical motion control products, i ncluding worm gears, bevel gears, helical gears, and concentric shaft gearboxes; marine transmissions; after-market automotive transmissions, and ring and pinions; custom gearing; gearmotors; electrical connecting devices; and manual valve actuators, which are used in oil and gas, water distribution and treatment, and chemical processing applications. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and end users through its direct sales people and manufacturer?s representative organizations. Regal Beloit Corporation was founded in 1955 and is based in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC  ) Merrill Lynch division and Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RBC  ) have provided HBC with fully committed credit facilities, which, together with the equity commitment provided by the pension plan, is sufficient to close the transaction.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of electric motor manufacturer Regal Beloit (NYSE: RBC  ) plummeted 19% today after its quarterly results and guidance missed Wall Street expectations.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Regal Beloit (NYSE: RBC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.