Thursday, May 28, 2015

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2015

PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC  ) is one of the nation's most popular regional banks. Based in Pittsburgh, it operates more than 2,900 branches across 19 states and the District of Columbia. It has $305 billion of assets on its balance sheet and approximately $336 billion in assets under management or administration. But while these are impressive figures, do they make PNC a good stock to buy? Motley Fool contributor John Maxfield discusses this question in the video below.

The big banks may be rushing to renew their focus on traditional banking, but well-run regional banks like PNC Financial are already there. PNC saw its share of hardships during the financial meltdown, but its management team thinks the bank is now back on track and ready to deliver for investors. Does this mean it's time to buy PNC? To help you figure that out, one of The Motley Fool's top banking analysts has authored a brand-new premium research report, delving into everything investors need to know about PNC today. To claim your copy, simply click here now for instant access.

Top 10 Media Companies For 2016: SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY)

SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate the price and yield of the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index (the Index). The Index is designed to measure the performance of 50 highest dividend yielding S&P Composite 1500 constituents that have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 25 years. These stocks have both capital growth and dividend income characteristics.

The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing approach and attempts to approximate the investment performance of its benchmark index, by investing in a portfolio of stocks intended to replicate the Index. SSgA Funds Management, Inc. acts as the Adviser of the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Vaughan Scully]

    Investors who would like to gain exposure to the Aristocrats may want to consider the ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (NOBL), which tracks the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. The fund has attracted almost $12.5 billion in assets since launching in October, 2013. Also, State Street's SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) tracks the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats index.

  • [By John Maxfield]

    So what does this mean for investors? To me, this chart reveals the roadmap for a successful investment strategy. Assuming GDP grows at 2% to 3%, your investment portfolio could as well, simply by investing in the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT: SPY  ) ETF. Want to juice those returns? Go instead for the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) , which tracks the S&P High-Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. And in purchasing these, to control for the variations, it'd be prudent to use dollar-cost averaging -- that is, buying the same dollar amount of the index each month or year come rain or shine.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    So if two single people each earned $200,000, they wouldn't be subject to the Obamacare tax at all. But if they got married, then $150,000 of their total income of $400,000 would get taxed, with an additional tax liability of $1,350. Similar situations with investment income could lead to a much larger marriage penalty, as the investment tax rate is more than quadruple the rate for wages.�Investors in dividend-oriented ETFs Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) , SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) , and iShares DJ Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) should therefore take care to consider tax-favored investment vehicles for their investments.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Investing in dividend stocks is easy. Exchange-traded funds Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) , and SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) give you low-cost access to dozens or even hundreds of dividend-paying stocks, all within a single investment vehicle. If you prefer, you can also buy individual stocks, either through a broker or through direct investment plans. Blue-chip companies General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) are just two of the hundreds of stocks that offer shares through direct plans and allow you to reinvest dividends automatically in additional shares at no fee.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2015: KKR Financial Holdings LLC (KFN)

KKR Financial Holdings LLC, incorporated on January 17, 2007, is a specialty finance company focused on a range of asset classes. The Company�� holdings primarily consist of below investment grade syndicated corporate loans, also known as leveraged loans, high yield debt securities, private equity, interests in joint ventures and partnerships, and working and royalty interests in oil and gas properties. It operates in three segments: Credit, Natural resources, and other. The Credit segment includes primarily below investment grade corporate debt comprised of senior secured and unsecured loans, mezzanine loans, private and public equity investments, high yield bonds, and distressed and stressed debt securities. The Natural Resources segment consists of non-operated working and overriding royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. Natural Resources segment excludes private equity focused on the oil and gas sector. The Other segment includes all other portfolio holdings, including commercial real estate.

The Company�� majority of holdings consist of corporate loans and high yield debt securities held in collateralized loan obligation (CLO) transactions that are structured as on-balance sheet securitizations and are used as long term financing for its investments in corporate debt. The Company is externally managed and advised by KKR Financial Advisors LLC. The Company�� collateralized loan obligation (CLO) consist of seven CLO transactions, KKR Financial CLO 2005-1, Ltd. (CLO 2005-1), KKR Financial CLO 2005-2, Ltd. (CLO 2005-2), KKR Financial CLO 2006-1, Ltd. (CLO 2006-1), KKR Financial CLO 2007-1, Ltd. (CLO 2007-1), KKR Financial CLO 2007-A, Ltd. (CLO 2007-A), KKR Financial CLO 2011-1, Ltd. (CLO 2011-1) and KKR Financial CLO 2012-1, Ltd. (CLO 2012-1) (collectively the Cash Flow CLOs). The Company�� objective is to provide long-term value for its shareholders by generating an attractive total return through cash distributions and increased enterprise value.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    KKR(KKR) & Co. said it reached a deal to acquire KKR Financial Holdings LLC(KFN), bringing under its roof the separate, specialty-finance company managed by the private-equity firm that pursues debt investments and other bets. KKR, known for large debt-fueled corporate takeovers, signed an agreement to take over the sister firm in a $2.6 billion all-stock deal, the New York company said. Shares of KKR Financial jumped 28% to $12.12 in premarket trading.

  • [By Tim Melvin]

    Some of the major private equity firms have developed finance companies, business development companies and REITs to provide a permanent source of capital. These entities finance some of their middle-market transactions with loans and short-term financing that produce very high yields. They also own some income-producing assets directly in partnership with their private equity parent. They are able to leverage the relationships and skill of the private equity firm into profitable deals for themselves, and the resulting income is passed along to shareholders.

    KKR Financial Holdings (KFN)

    Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR) is one of the best and best-known private equity firms in the world today, and it has several entities that are worth consideration by yield starved investors. One of those is KKR Financial Holdings (KFN), a finance company that invests in bonds, secured and senior loans, equities, oil and gas royalties and commercial real estate properties.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2015: tw telecom inc.(TWTC)

tw telecom inc. engages in the provision of managed network services in the United States. The company offers data networking, converged, Internet protocol based virtual private network (IP VPN), and Internet access services. The company?s data services include switched native local area network (NLAN), point-to-point elite NLAN, E-Line, extended NLAN, regional ethernet, and IP VPN and managed IP VPN services; and converged and integrated services. It also provides high capacity Internet service with bandwidth speeds ranging from 1.5 Mbps to 10 Gbps to access the Internet and other external networks; and managed services comprising enhanced management services, managed security services, collocation services, and distributed denial of service mitigation. In addition, the company offers network access services for voice, data, image, and video transmission, such as private line, special access, transport arrangements, and metropolitan and regional connectivity; and voice s ervices that provide customers with local and long distance calling capabilities consisting of access trunk, long distance, local toll, local telephone, business access line, and IP trunk services. Further, it offers intercarrier services, such as switched access and local traffic termination services. As of December 31, 2011, the company?s fiber network spanned approximately 27,000 route miles connecting to 15,438 buildings. Its customers include enterprise organizations in the distribution, health care, finance, service, and manufacturing industries; state, local, and federal government entities; system integrators; and communication service providers, such as incumbent local exchange carriers, competitive local exchange carriers, wireless communications, and cable companies. The company was formerly known as Time Warner Telecom Inc. and changed its name to tw telecom inc. in March 2008. tw telecom inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Garrett Cook]

    TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) jumped 8.5 percent to $38.43 after the company agreed to be acquired by Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $40.86 per share.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2015: Ishares Trust Dow Jones Select Dividend (DVY)

iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Index stocks are screened by dividend-per-share growth rate, dividend payout percentage and average daily dollar trading volume, and are selected based on dividend yield.

The Index consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts) in the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index, an index representative of the total market for United States equity securities. To be included in the Index, the securities must have had a flat to positive dividend-per-share growth rate for each of the last five years; must have an average five-year dividend payout ratio of 60% or less, and must have a minimum three-month average trading volume of 200,000 shares a day. The Index is reconstituted annually. The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Investing in dividend stocks is easy. Exchange-traded funds Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) , and SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) give you low-cost access to dozens or even hundreds of dividend-paying stocks, all within a single investment vehicle. If you prefer, you can also buy individual stocks, either through a broker or through direct investment plans. Blue-chip companies General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) are just two of the hundreds of stocks that offer shares through direct plans and allow you to reinvest dividends automatically in additional shares at no fee.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Because of low bond yields, many retirees have turned to dividend-paying stocks for yield, but by doing so, they've also increased the risk that the 4% retirement rule won't work. Dividend ETFs Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) and iShares Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) both offer yields between 3% and 4%, but the average earnings multiples of the stocks they own have gotten fairly pricey recently, trading at around 16 and 19 times earnings respectively. Even the more conservative dividend ETF Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , which looks more at historical dividend growth rather than current yield in choosing stocks, has a multiple of 16 -- higher than you'd want from the slower-growth companies that often end up being the best dividend payers.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Which dividend stocks are getting hit hardest?
    So far, we've seen some evidence that dividend-paying stocks are doing worse than the overall market since the latest pullback began. Going back to the end of April, the iShares DJ Select Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) , which has a high concentration of strong dividend payers, has fallen about 4%, compared to a more-or-less flat performance from the S&P 500 and other broader benchmarks.

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