5 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Watch For 2014

Ex-dividend dates are very important to dividend investors, since you must purchase a stock prior to its ex-dividend date in order to receive its upcoming dividend payout. For more information, check out Everything Investors Need to Know About Ex-Dividend Dates.

Below we highlight 10 big-name stocks going ex-dividend for the week of November 10-14.

1. Chevron

Chevron Corp (CVX) is set to trade ex-dividend on November 14. The oil and gas company offers a dividend yield of 3.66%�based on Wednesday�� closing price of $117.05�and the company�� quarterly dividend payout of $1.07. The stock is down 6%�year-to-date. Dividend.com currently rates CVX as “Recommended” with a DARS��rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Best Integrated Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: R.G. Barry Corporation(DFZ)

R.G. Barry Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in designing, sourcing, marketing, and distributing consumer products in the retail accessories category primarily in North America. It operates in two segments, Footwear and Accessories. The Footwear segment offers footwear products comprising primarily slippers, sandals, hybrid and fashion footwear, slipper socks, and hosiery under the Dearfoams, Angel Treads, DF by Dearfoams, Utopia by Dearfoams, and Terrasoles names. This segment also markets Levi?s branded slippers and sandals. The Accessories segment provides foot and shoe care products, such as cushioned insoles, handbags, tote bags, and travel products for women under the Foot Petals, Fab Feet, Glamour Toez, Heavenly Heelz, Killer Kushionz, baggallini, and Le Bagg names. The company markets its products through accessory sections of department stores, chain stores, warehouse clubs, specialty stores, independent stores, television shopping networks, e- tailing/Internet based retailers, discount stores, and mass merchandising channels of distribution. R.G. Barry Corporation was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Pickerington, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Brand development and marketing products provider R.G. Barry (DFZ) raised its quarterly dividend 11.1% to 10 cents per share, payable on Apr. 4 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 17.
  DFZ Dividend Yield: 2.25%

5 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Watch For 2014: Progress Software Corporation(PRGS)

Progress Software Corporation operates as an enterprise software company worldwide. Its products include Progress OpenEdge platform, which offers development tools, application servers, application management tools, and an embedded database; Progress Orbix to address enterprise integration problems with standards-based solutions; and Progress ObjectStore, an object data management system to store data faster than relational database management system or file-based storage system. The company?s products also comprise Progress Responsiveness Process Management suite for business users; Progress Control Tower, an interactive business control panel; Progress Sonic, which comprises an enterprise messaging system and the enterprise service buses; Progress Actional that provides operational and business visibility, root cause analysis, and policy-based security and control of services; Progress Apama, which offers tools for creating, testing, and deploying strategies for applicat ions, including algorithmic trading, market aggregation, smart order routing, market surveillance and monitoring, and risk management; Progress Savvion BusinessManager, a business process management software; and Fuse products that provide customers with access to professional open source integration and messaging software. In addition, it offers Progress DataDirect Connect products, which provide data connectivity components; Progress DataDirect Shadow to provide foundation architecture for standards-based mainframe integration; and Progress Data Services product set that offers data integration for distributed applications. Further, the company provides maintenance, consulting, training, and customer support services. Progress Software Corporation sells its products to independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, and system integrators through direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Bedford, Massac husetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

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

  Progress Software Corp.'s(PRGS) fiscal first-quarter profit fell 64% as the business-software provider’s revenue slipped due to the timing of certain deal closures.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Believing it should have a single, cohesive platform for the development of�cloud and mobile application development technologies, Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS  ) announced this morning it was selling its�Apama�complex event processing solution to Software AG for an undisclosed sum.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS  ) moved higher after posting better-than-expected quarterly results this week. The provider of developer tools software saw revenue rise by a better-than-expected 10%, and its adjusted net income of $0.27 a share blew past the $0.22 a share that the market was forecasting.�

5 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Watch For 2014: Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH)

Hilltop Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary, NLASCO, Inc., operates as a property and casualty insurance company in the United States. The company�s personal product line includes homeowners, dwelling fire, manufactured home, flood, and vacant insurance policies; and commercial product line consists of commercial, builders risk, builders risk renovation, sports liability, and inland marine insurance policies. It distributes its insurance products through a network of independent agents and managing general agents. The company was formerly known as Affordable Residential Communities Inc. and changed its name to Hilltop Holdings Inc. in July 2007. Hilltop Holdings Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Hilltop Holdings Inc.(HTH) offered to buy the rest of SWS Group Inc.(SWS) that it doesn’t already own, valuing the financial-services company at about $231 million. Hilltop, a regional banking and insurance company, offered $7 a share, a 16% premium over Thursday’s close. SWS surged 19% to $7.20 premarket,�topping the offer price.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included United Fire Group (NASDAQ: UFCS), down 4.9 percent, and Hilltop Holdings (NYSE: HTH), off 3.7 percent.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Hilltop (HTH) operates as a holding company for PlainsCapital Bank that provides business and consumer banking services in Texas. This stock closed up 8.7% at $17.96 in Monday's trading session.

  Monday's Volume: 2.29 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 414,214
  
  Volume % Change: 436%

  From a technical perspective, HTH gapped up sharply higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $16.52 with strong upside volume. This move pushed shares of HTH into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, since the stock closed above some previous resistance at $17.63.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in HTH as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $17.07 and then once it sustains a move or close above its new 52-week high at $18.23 with volume that this near or above 414,214 shares. If we get that move soon, then HTH will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $20 to $23.

5 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Watch For 2014: Encore Capital Group Inc(ECPG)

Encore Capital Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in consumer debt buying and recovery business primarily in the United States. The company purchases and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables, such as consumers? unpaid financial commitments to credit originators, including banks, credit unions, consumer finance companies, commercial retailers, auto finance companies, and telecommunication companies; and receivables subject to bankruptcy proceedings or consumer bankruptcy receivables. It also provides bankruptcy services to the finance industry, such as negotiating bankruptcy plans, monitoring and managing consumer?s compliance with bankruptcy plans, and recommending courses of action to clients in case of a deviation from a bankruptcy plan. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  Today�� diverse companies were chosen for their speculative enterprises. Both companies deal in the territory of what if. If Encore Capital Group Inc. (ECPG) can collect more from a huge portfolio of consumer debt, the company would grow. If Sophiris Bio Inc. (SPHS), a 10-person biopharm, is successful in competing to provide relief for prostate BPH symptoms, the company would soar.
  

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  The other good news is on pages 10, 11 and 15. Delinquencies are rising, as are collections. If debt balances increase, you would expect delinquencies to rise as well. That bodes well for the big-time players in debt collection, Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRAA) and Encore Capital Group (ECPG). Both just reported robust growth in collections, revenues, and net income. They’re also making large international acquisitions. I love both companies and think they’re are undervalued.