Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014

Dividend stocks have been a popular way for investors to get the income they need. But with many people increasingly relying on dividend income, how can you be sure that the stocks you own won't cut their payouts, leaving you out in the cold?

In the following video, Fool markets analyst Mike Klesta talks with Fool contributor Dan Caplinger about some warning signs you can look for in assessing whether a dividend stock might have to cut its payout. Dan notes that looking at a company's earnings is a good starting point, but in many cases, you have to look beyond this accounting-based figure to get the real story behind the company's financial situation. Dan concludes with a new threat to dividend stocks that could persist for quite a while.

If you're an investor who prefers returns to rhetoric, you'll want to read The Motley Fool's new free report "5 Dividend Myths ... Busted!" In it, you'll learn which stocks provide premium growth and whether bigger dividends are better. Click here to keep reading.

5 Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ)

H. J. Heinz Company manufactures and markets food products for consumers, and foodservice and institutional customers in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company primarily offers ketchup, condiments and sauces, frozen food, soups, beans and pasta meals, infant nutrition, and other food products. It sells its products through its sales organizations, independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, cooperative, and independent grocery accounts; convenience stores; bakeries; pharmacies; mass merchants; club stores; foodservice distributors; and institutions, including hotels, restaurants, hospitals, health-care facilities, and government agencies. The company was founded in 1869 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Campbell is cheap
  When you stack up the stock of Campbell Soup against a couple of its bigger rivals -- H.J. Heinz (NYSE: HNZ  ) and Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ  ) -- it's clear that Campbell's stock is the best bargain of the bunch. Its 19 price-to-earnings ratio is nearly 15% cheaper than Heinz's 22.2 P/E, and it offers an eye-popping 37% discount to the 31 P/E at Mondelez.

Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Telular Corporation(WRLS)

Telular Corporation designs, develops, and distributes products and services that utilize wireless networks to provide data and voice connectivity among people and machines primarily in the United States and internationally. It provides machine-to-machine and event monitoring services, including Telguard that comprises a specialized terminal unit, which interfaces with commercial security control panels and communicates with event processing servers to provide real-time transport of alarm signals from residential and commercial locations to an alarm company?s central monitoring station; and TankLink solution that combines a cellular communicator, wireless data services, and a Web-based application into a single offering, which allows end-users to monitor the product level in a given tank vessel. The company also offers fixed cellular terminals for voice, fax, and Internet access over the wireless networks. It sells its products to security equipment distributors, cellular carriers, and value added resellers. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Telular (NASDAQ: WRLS  ) will most likely soon be an asset belonging to another company. It has entered into an agreement to be bought by private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for total consideration of $253 million. This consists of $12.61 per share in cash and roughly $18.5 million in assumed debt.

Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)

Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:

  Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP  ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK  ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM  ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.

  When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Lorillard Inc(LO)

Lorillard, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. The company offers 43 different product offerings under the Newport, Kent, True, Maverick, and Old Gold brand names. Lorillard, Inc. sells its products primarily to wholesale distributors, who in turn service retail outlets, chain store organizations, and government agencies, including the United States? Armed Forces. The company was founded in 1760 and is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  However, you would be hard-pressed to find any connection between falling smoking prevalence and share performance at Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI  ) , Lorriland (NYSE: LO  ) , Phillip Morris (NYSE: PM  ) , and Altria (NYSE: MO  ) . These companies are some of the best performers in the past decade. In fact, Altria is the best-performing stock of the last half-century!

• [By Melvin Backman]

  Reynolds American (RAI) fell 2.6% in early trading, and Lorillard (LO), which Reynolds agreed to buy last week, is down 2%. Philip Morris (PM) shares fell nearly 1%, and Altria Group (MO) was down about 1.5%.

Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: PetroChina Company Limited(PTR)

PetroChina Company Limited produces and distributes oil and gas in the People?s Republic of China. It operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, oilsands, and coalbed methane. As of December 31, 2010, it had 11,278 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil; and 65,503 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment engages in the refining of crude oil and petroleum products; and production and marketing of petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. This segment?s product line comprises processed crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethylene, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber materials, polymers, synthetic rubber, and urea. The Marketing segment involves in the marketing of refined products and tradi ng businesses. It operated 17,996 service stations. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and the sale of natural gas. It had a total length of 56,840 kilometers (km) of oil and gas pipelines, including 32,801 km of natural gas pipelines, 14,782 km of crude oil pipelines, and 9,257 km of refined product pipelines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR) Reached the 52-Week Low of $99.78

  The prices of PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $99.78, which is 31.4% off the 52-week high of $144.23. PetroChina Co. Ltd. is owned by eight Gurus we are tracking. Among them, three have added to their positions during the past quarter. Four reduced their positions. PetroChina was established as a joint stock company on Nov. 5, 1999. Petrochina Co. Ltd. has a market cap of $182.62 billion; its shares were traded at around $99.78 with a P/E ratio of 11.40 and P/S ratio of 0.49. The dividend yield of Petrochina Co. Ltd. stocks is 4.23%. Petrochina Co. Ltd. had an annual average earnings growth of 6.90% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Petrochina Co. Ltd.�the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  First up is Chinese oil and gas giant PetroChina (PTR). Saying PetroChina has seen a rough 2013 is an understatement. Year-to-date, shares of the $203 billion firm have slipped more than 22% at the same time that the S&P 500 has been in rally mode. But shareholders could be in store for a reprieve this winter thanks to a bullish setup that's been forming in shares of late.

  PetroChina is currently forming an ascending triangle bottom, a trading setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level to the upside at $118 and uptrending support below shares. Basically, as PTR bounces between those two levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above the $118 price ceiling. When that breakout happens, it's time to be a buyer.

  Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Triangles and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

  That $28 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers had been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers were to buy. That's what makes this week's breakout above it so significant. The move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

  If you decide to take the Pandora trade, I'd recommend keeping a protective stop at the 50-day moving average.

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  It was recently disclosed that Buffett had invested billions in Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM). Previous purchases include ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and PetroChina (NYSE: PTR), among others. Buffett sold out of PetroChina and recently reduced his position in ConocoPhillips.

Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: UniSource Energy Corporation(UNS)

UniSource Energy Corporation engages in the electric generation and energy delivery businesses. The company?s TEP segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 403,000 retail electric customers, including residential, commercial, industrial, and public sector customers in southeastern Arizona. It also sells electricity to other utilities and power marketing entities. As of December 31, 2010, this segment owned or leased 2,245 MW of net generating capacity, as well as owned or participated in electric transmission and distribution system consisting of 512 circuit-miles of 500-kV lines; 1,087 circuit-miles of 345-kV lines; 379 circuit-miles of 138-kV lines; 478 circuit-miles of 46-kV lines; and 2,621 circuit-miles of lower voltage primary lines. TEP segment generates electricity from coal, gas, oil, and solar sources. The company?s UNS Gas segment distributes gas to approximately 146,500 retail customers in Mohave, Yavapai, Coconino, and Navajo c ounties in northern Arizona, as well as Santa Cruz County in southeastern Arizona. As of December 31, 2010, this segment?s transmission and distribution system consisted of approximately 30 miles of steel transmission mains, 4,211 miles of steel and plastic distribution piping, and 136,439 customer service lines. The company?s UNS Electric segment transmits and distributes electricity to approximately 91,000 retail customers consisting of residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Mohave and Santa Cruz counties. As of December 31, 2010, UNS Electric?s transmission and distribution system consisted of approximately 56 circuit-miles of 115-kV transmission lines, 271 circuit-miles of 69-kV transmission lines, and 3,599 circuit-miles of underground and overhead distribution lines. This segment also owns the 65 MW Valencia plant, as well as 39 substations having an installed capacity of 1,788,050 kilovolt amperes. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Tucson, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Dittman]

  And with its December 2013 offer to buy Arizona-based UNS Energy Corp (NYSE: UNS) for $2.5 billion in cash St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador-based Fortis Inc (TSX: FTS, OTC: FRTSF), making its second foray in the US in two years, signaled its interest in regulated utility assets in states with favorable population and economic trends as a means of driving its growth going forward.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  UNS Energy (NYSE: UNS) shot up 27.75 percent to $58.56 after the company agreed to be acquired by Fortis Utility Group for $60.25 per share in cash.