Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now

Returns from the U.S. equity bull market that started four years ago are matching those from the last half of the 1990s even as valuations are 28 percent lower.

The Standard & Poor�� 500 Index has gained 26.2 percent annually including dividends since March 2009, the same as during the last 50 months of the technology bubble, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shares in the index now trade at 18.6 times annual profit, below the average 25.7 multiple in the 1990s rally led by Internet companies.

For bulls, the valuations show stocks will keep rising after the S&P 500 advanced 164 percent as individuals scarred by the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression return to equities. Bears say the price-earnings ratios mean investors lack confidence in the economy and corporate profit growth. They also note that the last time returns were this high, the bubble popped and more than $5 trillion was erased from the value of U.S. stocks, according to data from the World Bank.

Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Versapay Corp(VPY.V)

VersaPay Corporation operates as a payment solutions company in Canada. It provides businesses with access to the Canadian networks that process credit and debit card payments. The company enables credit and debit card merchant payment processing on the go and in the office, as well as through wired and wireless devices, and its online payment systems. It also engages in the acquisition and installation of payment processing technology; offers training and support for the card payment infrastructure; develops VersaPayEMT, a proprietary electronic bill presentment and payments platform; and sells, leases, and rents point of sale devices. The company serves various industries, including education, government and municipalities, healthcare, home office and small business, hospitality POS systems, law and professional services, not for profit and charities, property management, restaurants, pubs and clubs, retail, taxis, shuttles, limousines, utility and services providers, an d wholesale and distribution. VersaPay Corporation is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Orient-Express Hotels Ltd.(OEH)

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. and its subsidiaries engage primarily in the hotel and travel businesses. It focuses on the luxury end of the leisure market. The company owns 49 properties, including 40 individual deluxe hotels, 1 stand-alone restaurant, 6 tourist trains, and 2 river/canal cruise businesses in 24 countries. It also engages in the real estate and property development business. Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. was founded in 1971 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Best Oil Service Companies To Invest In 2014: GeoEye Inc.(GEOY)

GeoEye, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides earth imagery and imagery information products, as well as image processing services to the United States and foreign government defense and intelligence organizations, domestic federal and foreign civil agencies, and commercial customers. It owns and operates two earth-imaging satellites, which include GeoEye-1 and IKONOS; and three airplanes with high-resolution imagery collection capabilities. The company?s satellite imagery products include Geo, GeoProfessional, and GeoStereo that provide the customers with time-critical visual imagery, data, and information. Its aerial imaging products consist of digital aerial imaging and light detection and ranging imaging (LiDAR). The company?s production services range from the generation of precision imagery products to the extraction of site-specific features for the company?s customer?s database development. These production services include Georectification, Tonal Correcti on, Image Mosaicing, and Orthorectification; and LiDAR elevation data, maps, topographic maps, digital orthophoto imagery, remote sensing services, and survey and inventory services, as well as geospatial information system, consulting, and implementation. The company serves customers in online mapping, geospatial information system, precision mapping, infrastructure, oil and gas, environmental monitoring, agriculture, mining, utilities, and transportation markets. It sells its products through direct and indirect sales channels, resellers, direct salespeople, strategic partners, and customer service and production services personnel. GeoEye, Inc. is based in Herndon, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Fernandez]

  GeoEye Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY): GeoEye is a leading provider of global space-based and aerial imagery and geospatial information.

  GeoEye’s imagery is used in a broad array of applications that include: government monitoring and surveillance, intelligence gathering, construction planning, scientific research such as environmental monitoring, and the online mapping industry via Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and other partners.

  GeoEye is my highest pick right now, and the first place where you should put new capital to work.

  Now that GeoEye’s latest satellite, GeoEye-1 has successfully launched and is producing usable imagery, the only thing holding back this stock will be the final approval of that imagery from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) which should arrive within 30 days.

  Once GeoEye starts generating revenue from this new satellite, GeoEye’s year-over-year comparisons will make the stock look ridiculously cheap, which it is.

  Now that GeoEye-1 is launched and all but up-and-running, GeoEye is the best company in the commercial imagery space when compared to its rival DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI).

  If you’ve got new money to invest, GeoEye is my #1 recommendation.

Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Pinnacle Foods Inc (PF)

Pinnacle Foods Inc., incorporated on July 28, 2003, is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded food products in North America. The Company operates in three segments: the Birds Eye Frozen Division, the Duncan Hines Grocery Division and the Specialty Foods Division. The Birds Eye Frozen Division and the Duncan Hines Grocery Division, which collectively represent its North America Retail operations, include the brands. Its brand portfolio enjoys household penetration in the United States, where its products can be found in approximately 85% of U.S. households. Its products are sold through supermarkets, grocery wholesalers and distributors, mass merchandisers, super centers, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores and warehouse clubs in the United States and Canada, as well as in military channels and foodservice locations. On June 24, 2011, the Company completed the sale of its Watsonville, California facility which had been recorded as an asset held for sale.

Birds Eye Frozen Division

The Company�� Birds Eye Frozen Division includes its steamed and non-steamed product offerings, with a 27.0% market share, making Birds Eye the recognized frozen vegetables brand in the United States. Birds Eye was the Company to capture a nationwide market share with a product that enables consumers to conveniently steam vegetables in microwaveable packaging.

Duncan Hines Grocery Division

Duncan Hines is the division�� brand and includes cake mixes, ready-to-serve frostings, brownie mixes, muffin mixes, and cookie mixes. During the fiscal year ended September 23, 2012, the Company added two additional items to the line. In February 2012, the Company introduced a line of frosting products, Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, which uses a patent pending frosting system to allow consumers to customize their frosting into one of 12 different flavors. The Company also offers a complete line of shelf-stable pickle products that we market and distribute n! ationally, primarily under the Vlasic brand, and regionally under the Milwaukee�� and Wiejske Wyroby brands. In 2012, the Company introduced Vlasic Farmers Garden, artisan-quality pickle line.

Specialty Foods Division

The Company�� snack products primarily consist of Tim�� Cascade, Snyder of Berlin and Husman��. These direct store delivery brands have local awareness and hold market share positions in their regional markets. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain products, mainly in the frozen breakfast, canned meat, and pie and pastry fruit filling categories, through food service channels. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain private label products in the canned meat, shelf-stable pickles and frozen seafood. As part of its ongoing strategic focus over the last several years, the Company has deemphasized the food service and private label businesses for the benefit of its higher margin branded food products.

Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: France Telecom S.A.(FTE)

France Telecom provides fixed telephony and mobile telecommunications, data transmission, Internet and multimedia, and other value-added services to consumers, businesses, and telecommunications operators. It also offers personal and home communication services, business network services, international carriers and shared services, and integration and outsourcing services for communication applications. The company operates in France, Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. France Telecom was founded in 1990 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carlson]

  France Telecom (NYSE:FTE): Up 1.03% to $15.68. France Telecom SA provides telecommunications services to residential, professional, and large business customers. The Company offers public fixed-line telephone, leased lines and data transmission, mobile telecommunications, cable television, Internet and wireless applications, and broadcasting services, and telecommunications equipment sales and rentals.