Best Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014

Accenture (NYSE: ACN  ) is angling to become a bigger player in eCommerce -- vicariously.

While not venturing into selling widgets (or virtual widgets) over the Internet itself, the international IT consulting firm bolstered its ability to help other companies practice eCommerce Friday, when it announced a deal to buy Hong Kong-based Acquity Group (NYSEMKT: AQ  ) for approximately $316 million.

Acquity Group specializes in advising companies on strategy, digital marketing, and technical services in order to improve both their brands eCommerce businesses. Accenture intends to merge the new subsidiary into its existing Accenture Interactive business.

The purchase price of $13 per American Depositary Share of the company, amounts to a huge premium over the $5.96 share price at which Acquity closed on Friday -- and sparked an immediate rally in the shares after markets closed, but before the weekend intervened. In all, after-hours trading saw Acquity shares shoot up 110% to as high as $12.55 per ADS.

Hot Asian Stocks To Own For 2015: Ebix Inc(EBIX)

Ebix, Inc. provides on-demand software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance industry. The company operates data exchanges, which connects multiple entities within the insurance markets and enables the participant to carry and process data from one end to another in the areas of life insurance, annuities, employee health benefits, risk management, workers compensation, and property and casualty (P&C) insurance. It is also involved in designing and deploying broker systems comprising three back-end systems consisting of eGlobal for multinational P&C insurance brokers; WinBeat for P&C brokers in the Australian and New Zealand markets; and EbixASP for the P&C insurance brokers in the United States. In addition, the company offers business process outsourcing services, which include certificate origination, certificate tracking, claims adjudication call center, and back office support. Further, it focuses on designing and deploying on-demand and back-end carrier systems, s uch as Ebix Advantage and Ebix Advantageweb targeted at small, medium, and large P&C carriers in the United States and internationally that operate in the personal, commercial, and specialty line areas of insurance. Additionally, Ebix, Inc. provides software development, customization, and consulting services to various companies in the insurance industry, such as carriers, brokers, exchanges, and standard making bodies. The company was formerly known as Delphi Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Ebix, Inc. in December 2003. Ebix, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Huber]

  Dell (DELL) and Ebix (EBIX) are two stocks that I've been following for some time. Both have shown up in Joel Greenblatt's screen for months, and I've considered both to be potential investment candidates. Both have CEO's with large ownership stakes, both have negative sentiment surrounding the stock (for different reasons), both look cheap using basic value metrics, and both have traded above their deal price, signaling the market might expect a higher bid.

• [By Rex Moore]

  Bad news for Ebix (NASDAQ: EBIX  ) shareholders today, as the stock drops 44% on a criminal investigation. Two 3-D players print up a merger.�Kroger (NYSE: KR  ) reported earnings that were up about 10%, and raised guidance for the year. And Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC  ) was down 8% today. In this installment of Investor Beat, Motley Fool analysts Jason Moser and Matt Koppenheffer discuss four stocks making big moves.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014: Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS)

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble), incorporated on November 19, 1986, is a bookseller. The Company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. As of April 27, 2013, it operated 1,361 bookstores in 50 states, 686 bookstores on college campuses, and operates one of the Web eCommerce sites, and develops digital content products and software. Barnes & Noble operates in three segments: B&N Retail, B&N College and NOOK. The Company�� principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), children�� books, eBooks and other digital content, NOOK and related accessories, bargain books, magazines, gifts, cafe products and services, educational toys & games, music and movies direct to customers through its bookstores or on barnesandnoble.com.

Of the Company�� 1,361 bookstores, 675 operate primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC (B&N College), a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, operates 686 college bookstores at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble Retail (B&N Retail) operates the 675 retail bookstores. Retail also includes the Company�� eCommerce site and Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. (Sterling or Sterling Publishing), a leader in general trade book publishing.

B&N Retail

This segment includes 675 bookstores as of April 27, 2013, primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. These stores generally offer a dedicated NOOK area, a comprehensive trade book title base, a cafe, and departments dedicated to Juvenile, Toys & Games, DVDs, Music, Gift, Magazine and Bargain products. The stores also offer a calendar of ongoing events, including author appearances and children�� activities. The B&! N Retail segment also includes the Company�� eCommerce website, barnesandnoble.com, and its publishing operation, Sterling Publishing. Barnes & Noble stores range in size from 3,000 to 60,000 square feet depending upon market size, with an overall average store size of 26,000 square feet. During the fiscal year ended April 27, 2013 (fiscal), the Company reduced the Barnes & Noble store base by 0.3 million square feet, bringing the total square footage to 17.7 million square feet. The Company�� B&N Retail segment purchases physical books on a regular basis from over 800 publishers and over 50 wholesalers or distributors. As of April 27, 2013, Barnes & Noble had stores in 162 of the total 210 Designated Market Area markets.

Sterling Publishing is a publisher of non-fiction trade titles. It is a range of non-fiction and illustrated books and kits across a range of imprints, in categories, such as health and wellness, music and culture, food and wine, crafts and photography, puzzles and games, history and current affairs, as well as a children�� books.

B&N College

B&N College sells new and used textbooks in campus bookstores and online. As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operated 686 stores nationwide. The Company�� customer base, which is mainly consisted of students and faculty, can purchase various items from their campus stores, including textbooks and course-related materials, emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, computer products, NOOK products and related accessories, school and dorm supplies, convenience and cafe items.

As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operates 651 traditional college bookstores and 35 academic superstores, which are generally larger in size, offer cafes and provide a sense of community that engages the surrounding campus and local communities in college activities and culture. The traditional bookstores range in size from 500 to 48,000 square feet. The academic superstores range in size from 8,000 to 75,000 square feet. B&! N College! �� three customer constituencies are students, faculty members and campus administrators.

NOOK

This segment includes the Company�� digital business, which includes the Company�� eBookstore, digital newsstand and sales of NOOK devices and accessories to third party distribution partners, as well as to B&N Retail and B&N College. Barnes & Noble�� NOOK digital bookstore and Reading Apps provide customers the ability to purchase and read their digital content and access to their Lifetime Library on a range of digital platforms, including Windows 8 PCs and tablets, iPad, iPhone , Android smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac. Barnes & Noble has implemented features on its digital platform to ensure that customers can access their NOOK content from almost all of today�� most popular devices.

The Company competes with Target, Books-A-Million, Waldenbooks, Amazon.com, Apple, Wal-Mart and Costco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jason Moser and Eric Bleeker, CFA]

  Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS  ) CEO is outta here. The stock soared 5.3% the next day. Is this a blessing in disguise for investors?

• [By Rich Duprey]

  It used to be you could hit a bookstore wherever you threw a rock. There was B. Dalton's, Doubleday, and Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  ) and Scribner's, Borders and Brentano's. Then came the wave of the megalithic superstores that drove out the smallest booksellers and led to industry consolidation.�

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Retail bookseller Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  ) will be adding the official Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Play store to its newest Nook tablets, the company announced today.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  By now we’re all aware of the battle raging between Amazon.com (AMZN) and Hachette over the pricing of eBooks. While the consumer is certainly the loser as the two big corporations go head to head, there’s likely a winner from the battle royale as well–Barnes & Noble (BKS).

Best Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014: Amyris Inc.(AMRS)

Amyris, Inc., an integrated renewable products company, provides alternatives to a range of petroleum-sourced products used in specialty chemical and transportation fuel markets worldwide. The company uses its industrial synthetic biology platform to modify microorganisms, primarily yeast, to convert plant-sourced sugars into a variety of hydrocarbon molecules that serve as flexible building blocks to be used in a range of products. It is also involved in the sale of ethanol and ethanol blended gasoline to wholesale customers through a network of terminals primarily in the southeastern Unites States. In addition, the company sells farnesene or Biofene, which is used as an ingredient in a range of consumer and industrial products, including detergents, cosmetics, perfumes, and industrial lubricants. Further, it focuses on the commercialization of renewable diesel and jet fuel. The company was formerly known as Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc. and changed its name to Amyris, Inc . in June 2010. Amyris, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Good news for deep-sea sharks: Synthetic biology pioneer Amyris (NASDAQ: AMRS  ) has engineered yeast to create the hydrocarbon farnesene, which can then be processed into large amounts of high-quality squalane. The emollient is naturally produced by your skin to prevent moisture loss; thus, it's an important ingredient for numerous global cosmetic brands offering skincare lotions, hair care creams, hand washes, lipsticks, and various other personal-care products. In fact, you may have used a product containing squalane today. Several�Avon (NYSE: AVP  ) products, the St. Ives brand from Unilever (NYSE: UN  ) , the Cover Girl and Olay brands from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) , the Nivea brand from Beiersdorf, the Dial brand from Henkel, the Aveeno and Johnsons brands from Johnson & Johnson, and many others list squalane as an ingredient. �

• [By Alyce Lomax]

  Solazyme is more than a biofuels play like fellow biofuels upstarts like Amyris (NASDAQ: AMRS  ) and Gevo (NASDAQ: GEVO  ) . I purchased shares of Solazyme for the Prosocial Portfolio (I hold shares in my personal portfolio, too) not only for its impressive foray into a nascent field, but also because it had already inked some impressive partnerships. Meanwhile, its alternative oils go much further than simply trying to provide alternatives to fossil fuels. Its microalgae-derived oils can also be used in skin care and food.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares dropped by 0.30 percent. Among the sector stocks,Amyris (NASDAQ: AMRS) was down more than 8.5 percent, while Universal Stainless & Alloy Products (NASDAQ: USAP) tumbled around 5 percent.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  I imagine the company has made headway since its initial press release, especially with commissioning for its Moema, Brazil, biorefinery looming. When updates are given on commercial achievements in the months ahead, will you be able to digest the important information that affects your investments? Heading into the homestretch of the first wave of commercial buildout, it is crucially important to understand what Solazyme, Gevo (NASDAQ: GEVO  ) , and�Amyris� (NASDAQ: AMRS  ) spill in press releases -- and the greater detail given in SEC filings.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014: Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc (FURX)

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a drug development collaboration company. The Company�� product pipeline includes two marketed products and three programs in development, including late-stage compounds, in multiple therapeutic areas. Its programs include Priligy, Alogliptin Nesina, Alogliptin/Actose Combination, Alogliptin/Metformin Combination, Fluoroquinolone, Mu Delta and PPD 10558. In November 2011, it acquired full exclusive license rights to develop and commercialize the compound MuDelta under its existing development and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V.

Priligy (dapoxetine) is a drug developed for the on-demand treatment of premature ejaculation (PE). Dapoxetine is a short-acting, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) designed to be taken only when needed one to three hours before sexual intercourse is anticipated rather than every day. Nesina (alogliptin) is a drug for the oral treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Alogliptin is a DPP-4 inhibitor that slows the inactivation of incretin hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP).

Fluoroquinolone drug candidate is a Phase II-ready novel fluoroquinolone antibiotic that is being developed by the Company for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, such as abscesses that occur deep in the skin layers and respiratory infections. This antibiotic has a spectrum of activity and is able to treat methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. The Company is developing both oral and intravenous (IV) formulations. The Company is developing Mu Delta for treatment of diarrheal predominant irritable bowel syndrome (d-IBS). The Company is conducting a Phase II study on an oral formulation of Mu Delta.

The Company is developing PPD 10558 for the treatment of dyslipidemia. PPD 10558 has shown muscle safety in preclinical studies by minimizing the delivery of the drug to the muscle. The Company has filed an inve! stigational new drug (IND) application with the United States Food and Drug Association and completed five clinical studies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  Forest Laboratories Inc.(FRX) agreed to acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals(FURX) in a deal worth up to $1.33 billion that expands Forest Labs’ presence in gastroenterology. Furiex surged 28% to $102.21 premarket.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014: Wipro Limited(WIT)

Wipro Limited provides information technology (IT) products and services, consumer care and lighting products, and infrastructure engineering services primarily in India, the United States, and Europe. The company?s IT Services segment offers IT and IT enabled services, including software application development, application maintenance, research, and development services for hardware and software design, data center outsourcing services, and business process outsourcing services. Its IT Products segment produces and sells a range of Wipro personal desktop computers, Wipro servers, and Wipro notebooks. This segment also operates as a reseller of desktops, servers, notebooks, storage products, networking solutions, and packaged software for various international brands. The company?s Consumer Care and Lighting segment manufactures, distributes, and sells personal care products, baby care products, lighting products, and hydrogenated cooking oils in India and rest of Asia. Wipro Limited also manufactures and sells hydraulic cylinders, truck cylinders, and their components and solutions to original equipment manufacturers, as well as provides water treatment systems and solutions. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  That helps explain why Accenture and IBM,�the industry's two biggest players, have been able to gobble up so much market share. But there's a second tier of technology-consultants -- in terms of sheer size -- as well. That's where Cognizant, as well as its main competition --�Infosys (NYSE: INFY  ) and Wipro (NYSE: WIT  ) �-- come in to play.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks For 2014: Webster Financial Corp (WBS)

Webster Financial Corporation (Webster), incorporated on September 10, 1986, is a bank holding company and financial holding company. Webster�� principal asset as of December 31, 2012, was Webster Bank, National Association (Webster Bank). Webster, through Webster Bank and various subsidiaries, delivers financial services to individuals, families and businesses primarily throughout southern New England and into Westchester County, New York. Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgage lending, financial planning, trust and investment services through 167 banking offices, 293 automated teller machines (ATMs), telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet Website www.websterbank.com. Webster also offers equipment financing, commercial real estate lending and asset-based lending across the Northeast. Webster Bank offers health savings accounts on a nationwide basis, through its HSA Bank division and its Internet Website www.hsabank.com. Webster�� operations are managed along four business segments: Commercial Banking, Retail Banking, Consumer Finance and Other. Other includes Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Private Banking (including Webster Financial Advisors (WFA)).

Commercial Banking

The Commercial Banking segment includes middle market, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, equipment finance, and Government and not-for-profit banking. Webster�� Commercial Banking group provides lending, deposit and cash management services to middle market companies in its franchise territory. Additionally, it serves as a primary referral source to Wealth Management and Retail Banking.

Retail Banking

Retail Banking serves consumers and small businesses primarily throughout southern New England and into Westchester County, New York, with a distribution network of 167 banking offices and 293 owned ATMs, and a full range of Internet and mobile banking services. Retail Banking includes Webster�� branch network, Consumer deposits, Busin! ess and Professional Banking (BPB), Webster Investment Services (WIS) and the Customer Care Center.

Consumer Finance

Consumer Finance offers lending solutions for consumers primarily in southern New England and Westchester County, New York. Products include: residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans as well as credit card options.

Other

Other includes HSA Bank (HSA) and Private Banking. HSA Bank is a bank custodian of health savings accounts. These accounts are provided for high deductible health plans offered by employers or directly to consumers. Private Banking provides local full relationship banking that serves high net worth clients, not-for-profit organizations and business clients for asset management, trust, loan and deposit products and financial planning services.

Subsidiaries of Webster Financial Corporation

Webster�� direct subsidiaries as of December 31, 2012 included Webster Bank, Fleming, Perry & Cox, Inc., and Webster Licensing, LLC. Webster also owns all of the outstanding common stock of Webster Statutory Trust, an unconsolidated financial vehicle that has issued or may in the future issue trust preferred securities. On July 18, 2012, the Company completed the redemption at par of all the outstanding principal amount of Webster Capital Trust IV fixed to floating-rate trust preferred securities. Webster Bank's direct subsidiaries include Webster Mortgage Investment Corporation, Webster Business Credit Corporation (WBCC) and Webster Capital Finance, Inc. (WCF). Webster Bank is the primary source of retail activity within the consolidated Company. Webster Bank is the primary source of retail activity within the consolidated group. Webster Bank provides banking services through 167 banking offices, 293 owned ATMs, telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet websites. Residential mortgage origination activity is conducted through Webster Bank. Webster Mortgage! Investme! nt Corporation is a passive investment subsidiary whose primary function is to provide servicing on passive investments, such as residential real estate and commercial mortgage real estate loans transferred from Webster Bank. Various commercial lending products are provided through Webster Bank and its subsidiaries to clients within the region from Westchester County, NY to Boston, MA. WBCC provides asset-based lending services. WCF provides equipment financing for end users of equipment. Additionally, Webster Bank has various other subsidiaries that are not significant to the consolidated Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Business and consumer banking concern�Webster Financial� (NYSE: WBS  ) �announced yesterday that its board of directors has approved increasing its quarterly dividend by 50%, from�$0.10 per share to�$0.15 per share.�The new, higher payment�will be made on May 20 to stockholders of record as of May 6.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Bank holding and financial company Webster Bank (WBS) raised its quarterly dividend 33% to 20 cents per share payable June 16 to shareholders of record June 2.
  WBS Dividend Yield: 2.63%