Top Performing Companies To Invest In 2014

A number of sources, from Fitch Ratings to UBS,�have decided that it's time for investors to get out of department stores. The argument is that customers are trending more toward specialty retailers, and that the benefit well for department store stocks is all but dried up. Other observers aren't sold on the idea, though, and the National Retail Federation ranks among the skeptics. Daniel Butler, a VP of retail operations with the Federation, said that department stores are actually outperforming the retail sector overall.

For investors, it may simply be a matter of being more selective. The range of department stores and performances is broad, so here are three of the bigger players, and how they stack up against one another.

J.C. Penney
At the bottom of the pile is J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) . I vacillate between thinking that J.C. Penney is about to go out of business and take everyone down with it and thinking that it's about to go out of business but liquidate its real estate to generate some value for investors. Either way, things at the retailer are not working out. Last quarter, both net sales and comparable sales were down more than 16%. The company's loss per share doubled from the quarter last year.

Top Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: StanCorp Financial Group Inc.(SFG)

StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and asset management solutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Insurance Services and Asset Management. The Insurance Services segment offers group and individual disability, group life, group accidental death and dismemberment, group dental, and group vision insurance products, as well as absence management services to individuals and employers. This segment sells its group insurance products through sales representatives, as well as through independent employee benefit brokers and consultants; and individual disability insurance products through brokers and master general agents primarily to physicians, lawyers, executives, other professionals, and small business owners. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 31,000 group insurance policies in force covering approximately 6.8 million employees. The Asset Management segment provides 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 plans, defined benefit plans, money purchase pension plans, profit sharing plans, and non-qualified deferred compensation products and services through an affiliated broker-dealer. This segment also offers investment advisory and management, commercial mortgage loan origination and servicing, and financial planning services, as well as individual fixed-rate annuity, group annuity, and retirement plan trust products. In addition, the company owns and manages real estate properties for sale; and operates an online financial life planning and management service. StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Top Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: People's United Financial Inc.(PBCT)

People?s United Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for People?s United Bank that provides commercial banking, retail and business banking, and wealth management services to individual, corporate, and municipal customers. Its Commercial Banking segment provides commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate lending, and commercial deposit gathering services, as well as equipment financing, cash management, correspondent banking, and municipal banking services. The company?s Retail and Business Banking segment offers consumer and business deposit gathering services; consumer lending products, including residential mortgage, home equity, and indirect auto lending; business lending; and merchant services. Its Wealth Management segment provides trust services, corporate trust, brokerage, financial advisory services, investment management services, and life insurance and other insurance services, as well as private banking services. The company also offers online and telephone banking, and investment trading services, and automated teller machine (ATM) services. As of March 31, 2011, it operated a network of approximately 341 branches, including full-service supermarket branches, investment and brokerage offices, and commercial banking offices, as well as approximately 518 automated teller machines in Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1842 and is headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Top Financial Companies To Buy For 2014: Fidelity Bancorp Inc.(FSBI)

Fidelity Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Fidelity Bank, PaSB that provides a range of banking services in Pennsylvania. It primarily engages in generating deposits and originating loans. The company?s deposit products include savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as retirement accounts, including individual retirement account certificates and Keogh plan retirement certificates. Its loan portfolio comprises residential real estate loans, commercial and multi-family real estate loans, construction loans, and commercial business loans and leases, as well as installment loans, such as home equity and consumer loans. The company also involves in mortgage securitization transactions. As of September 30, 2010, Fidelity Bancorp provided its services through its main office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as 13 branch offices in Allegheny and Butler counties. The company w as founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bank of America: Is the Hate Starting to Abate?

The city was ready with beefed-up police power, but the Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina yesterday was pretty calm and cool. As usual, some protesters arrived with banners and signs -- but the 40 that showed up had nowhere near the disruptive effect of last year's estimated 600 detractors. Has B of A finally turned a corner, thanks to its new image-scrubbing strategy?

A tough time of year for big banks
Of course, Bank of America isn't the only big bank to face protests at annual meeting time -- both inside and out. Who can forget, for instance, the drubbing Citigroup's (NYSE: C  ) former CEO Vikram Pandit endured at the hands of Citi stockholders at the 2012 annual meeting? Or, how just last month, PNC's (NYSE: PNC  ) meeting was called to a halt because of an environmental protest led by Quakers?

Annual meeting time can be a stressful time for banks. Just ask Jamie Dimon, who is scheduled to face JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) shareholders on May 21. The heat will be turned up high even for Tampa, as Dimon faces a stockholder vote on whether the dual role of board chair and CEO, both of which Dimon now holds, should be separated. Still stinging from the London Whale fiasco, the Bank of Dimon has had new problems crop up as well -- like the Wells notice it just received from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding dubious energy deals.

For Bank of America, however, things are going swimmingly. Shareholders elected all board nominees, and one indoor protester actually sang, instead of shouting. And, despite all the less-than-encouraging news breaking this week about mortgage-related lawsuits and B of A, the stock has been skyrocketing -- making it above the $13 mark yesterday, where, at least so far today, it has remained. Is Bank of America back? It certainly looks that way, don't you think?

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Bank of America's stock doubled in 2012 -- and it looks like more is in store for 2013.  With significant challenges still ahead, however, it's critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool's premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer, Financials bureau chief, lift the veil on the bank's operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.

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Here's Why Universal Display Plunged Today

Universal Display (NASDAQ: OLED  ) shareholders were left shaking their heads Monday after the stock plummeted as much as 12% during intraday trading. Shares recovered to a 4.3% loss by the end of the day.

The company didn't report earnings early; it's still all set to announce second-quarter results next Thursday, August 8. In fact, there were no new press releases on the OLED technologist's website this morning, and the silence on Universal Display's news feeds seemed absolutely deafening as the selling continued to accelerate.

So what happened?
In a word: Samsung.

Specifically, investors panicked after a Bloomberg report surfaced saying the Korean electronics giant was close to announcing a deal to acquire German OLED specialist Novaled AG.

In addition, Samsung also released its audited second-quarter earnings results this weekend, which showed the company's growth is slowing largely thanks to disappointing sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone.

Image Source: Samsung.

Of course, the Galaxy S4's massive 5-inch, full-HD AMOLED screen is powered by Universal Display's technology, and it's no mystery Samsung has long stood alone as Universal Display's single largest customer. In fact, according to Universal's most recent annual report, Samsung Display accounted for a whopping 68% of the company's total revenue in last year.

And considering Samsung's mobile devices currently represent the only technology segment to utilize OLED in any significant capacity to date, you can't blame Mr. Market for being skittish with regard to Universal Display's prospects going forward.

Here's the problem with that thinking
However, I think there are several reasons this train of thought is shortsighted, at best.

First, we need to remember Universal Display and Novaled have long worked in a jointly cooperative fashion with one another for nearly a decade to improve the efficiency of OLED materials, and in the process have continuously supplied complementary -- not competitive -- materials to larger electronics manufacturers like Samsung.

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In fact, analysts from both Wedbush and Oppenheimer quickly chimed in this afternoon to say as much, helping the stock recover the majority of its losses to close down just above 4% for the day.

Curiously enough, for those of you keeping track, today's sell-off was also disturbingly similar to the 13% plunge Universal Display endured in February after another analyst voiced concerns that fellow OLED supplier Nippon Steel was also supplying green OLED materials to Samsung. Once again, however, and as I pointed out at the time, Nippon Steel was just another one of UDC's longtime partners and represents little threat to its leadership in the OLED market.

Second, with regard to Samsung's earnings report, it's also important to remember OLED is still in the very early stages of development and Samsung isn't the only game in town.

LG Display (NYSE: LPL  ) , for example, announced back in April that it will dedicate more than 50% of its 2014 capital expenditures not only to improving its utilization of OLED technology in exciting new products -- including flexible and transparent displays -- but also to building out its infrastructure to support mass production of the OLED displays.

In addition, Samsung itself stated in its earnings release that one of its bright spots was "improved earnings led by OLED panel shipment growth for premium smartphones," so you can bet the company won't be abandoning the technology anytime soon. In fact, Samsung's release went on to state the company "expect[s] [OLED] smartphone panel demand growth to continue" as it expands "line-ups featuring various sizes and high resolution."

What's more, while mobile devices have largely been responsible for filling Universal Display's coffers so far, other technologies including large-screen OLED televisions from Samsung, LG, Sony, and Panasonic are finally beginning to make headway in consumer markets, so that should meaningfully contribute to revenue as economies of scale enable lower prices. In addition, over the next few years, Universal Display investors can also look forward to growth from increased adoption of new OLED lighting solutions, encapsulation tech, and any other incredible new OLED gadgets that might show up along the way.

As a result, I remain convinced Samsung's current weakness -- which could just as easily prove temporary, anyway -- has no significant long-term negative effects on Universal Display's business.

So don't panic, Universal Display shareholders: Your company is doing just fine.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped by just a handful of companies like Samsung. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

Do you think there's another reason shares of Universal Display are suffering right now? Feel free to weigh in using the comments section below.

The World's Most Popular Serial Killer Says Goodbye

Showtime and corporate parent CBS (NYSE: CBS  ) have some bloody shoes to fill with ratings winner Dexter, which recently entered its eighth and final season. The cast and producers said goodbye to fans last week at San Diego Comic-Con.

Michael C. Hall as serial killer Dexter Morgan. Source: ET Online, Showtime.

Dexter stars actor Michael C. Hall as a Miami crime-scene analyst who doubles as a serial killer of crooks. The show's fan base has grown to the point where Season 8's June premiere drew 3.2 million viewers, a new record and up 5% over the Season 7 premiere.

Media mavens will rightly point out that Dexter isn't much of a mainstream winner when compared with The Walking Dead, which has helped AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX  ) achieve better-than 15% revenue growth in three of the past six quarters.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones has proved to be so popular -- drawing as many as 13 million viewers across all channels -- that a surprising number of readers said they would pay a premium if HBO parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX  ) would release current-season episodes direct to iTunes for purchase.

Dexter doesn't draw as well as these shows when it comes to viewership numbers. But a winner is still a winner, and Showtime has a long history of developing niche shows that last. Nurse Jackie, starring Edie Falco, has already completed five seasons. Californication, starring David Duchovny, will air its seventh season next year.

Showtime, like HBO, needs these sorts of fan-supported franchises. Shows like Dexter, which enjoyed a standing ovation from the thousands attending the show's final main hall panel at Comic-Con. Ray Donovan is the network's latest try, and it's working so far.

Starring Liev Schreiber as a Boston-born fixer for Hollywood's elite, Ray Donovan drew 1.35 million viewers for its opening episode, the best-ever bow for a new Showtime program and 25% better than Homeland's 2011 debut, the network said in a press release.

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Liev Schreiber as Showtime's fixer, Ray Donovan. Sources: The Hollywood Reporter and Showtime.

A second episode did even better, drawing 15% more viewers. Executives have since ordered another season. The message? While HBO and Netflix battle for pay-TV supremacy at about 30 million U.S. subscribers each, Showtime's original programming is drawing growth even as its popular psychopath, Dexter, packs up the kill room. Rarely has CBS looked so interesting.

Of course, Showtime is just one of many disrupting the traditional TV landscape. Learn all you need to know about this investing opportunity in The Motley Fool's new free report "Who Will Own the Future of Television?" Just click here and we'll give you immediate access to the full report!

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