Top 5 Supermarket Stocks To Invest In 2014

LONDON -- I'm looking at some of your favorite FTSE 100 companies and examining how each will deliver its dividend. Today, I'm putting supermarket J Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY  ) (NASDAQOTH: JSAIY  ) under the microscope.

Annus horribilis
A long-term decline in Sainsbury's competitive position came to a head during its financial year ended March 2005. Underlying earnings per share plummeted 62%, and the dividend was slashed in half from 15.6 pence to 7.8 pence.

Despite the cleaving of the dividend, management said, "The dividend cover is still quite low at around 1.2 times and our objective, in the medium term, is to restore it to at least 1.5 times."

"Making Sainsbury's Great Again"
The board implemented a "Making Sainsbury's Great Again" recovery plan, which gained traction. By 2007 the company was reporting a 9.75 pence dividend, covered 1.5 times by EPS, in line with the previously stated objective. Management said, "Going forward we expect dividend cover to range between 1.5 and 1.75 times."

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Watch For 2015: Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (HST)

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc (Host Inc), incorporated on September 28, 1998 operates as a self-managed and self-administered REIT. Host Inc. owns properties and conducts operations through Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P. (Host L.P.) of which Host Inc. is the sole general partner and in which it holds approximately 98.6% of the partnership interests (OP units) as of December 31, 2012. As of February 25, 2013, the Company had 118 primarily luxury and upper-upscale hotels containing approximately 62,600 rooms, with the majority located in the United States of America, and 15 properties located outside of the United States of America, in Canada, New Zealand, Chile, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. In addition, the Company owns non-controlling interests in two international joint ventures: a joint venture in Europe, which owns 19 luxury and upper upscale hotels with approximately 6,100 rooms in France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland and Germany; and a joint venture in Asia/Pacific, which owns one hotel in Australia and minority interests in two operating hotels in India and five additional hotels in India under development. In June 2013, the Company announced that it acquired the fee-simple interest in the 426-room Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. In July 2013, the Company sold the 336-room Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco to an investment vehicle sponsored by Thayer Lodging Group. In January 2014, Host Hotels & Resorts Inc sold an 89% interest in the entity that owns the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown (the Hotel).

The Company's other real estate joint ventures include the development of a 225-room Hyatt Place in Nashville, Tennessee, and the development of a 131-unit vacation ownership project in Maui, Hawaii adjacent to the Company's Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa. The Company has 118 hotels in its portfolio, primarily consisting of luxury and upper upscale properties. These properties typically include meeting and banquet facilities, a variety of restaurants and! lounges, swimming pools, exercise facilities and spas, gift shops and parking facilities.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Apartment Invest & Management (AIV)
  Ameriprise (AMP)
  Edison International (EIX)
  Host Hotels & Resorts (HST)
  Kimco Realty (KIM)
  Kroger (KR)
  Lincoln National (LNC)
  Newfield Exploration (NFX)
  Republic Services (RSG)
  UnitedHealth (UNH)
  Verizon (VZ)
  Wells Fargo (WFC)
  WellPoint (WLP)
  Wyndham Worldwide (WYN)
  Xcel Energy Utilities (XEL)

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) is a publicly owned real estate investment trust (REIT). The firm primarily engages in the ownership and operation of hotel properties. Sept. 16, the company increased its quarterly dividend 9.1% to $0.12 per share. The dividend is payable on Oct. 15, 2013, to stockholders of record on Sept. 30, 2013. The yield based on the new payout is 2.6%.

• [By Michael Flannelly]

  Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (HST) announced early on Monday that it is raising its quarterly dividend payout from 11 cents per share to 12 cents per share, a 9.1% increase.

  This quarterly dividend payout will be paid on October 15 to shareholders of record on September 30, with an ex-dividend date of September 26.

  Host Hotels shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Monday. The stock is up 15.25% year-to-date.

• [By CRWE]

  Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:HST) will report financial results for the second quarter 2012 prior to market open on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, followed by a conference call at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET).

Top 5 Supermarket Stocks To Invest In 2014: Generale de Sante SA (GDS)

Generale de Sante SA, (also GDS), is a France-based provider of private hospital healthcare services. The Company offers a range of hospital services and, in partnership with independent medical specialists, delivers a spectrum of care services. Generale de Sante SA also provides services in the areas of mental health; oncology and radiation therapy; care for alcohol abuse and obesity; rehabilitation, such as cardiac rehabilitation and orthopedic and neurological reeducation, and diagnostics, such as medical imaging and analysis. It operates through one wholly owned subsidiary, CGS (Compagnie Generale de Sante). As of March 31, 2011, Sante Developpement Europe held a 54.47% stake in the Company�� shareholdings. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By stanh30]

  It does not matter if it�� a penny stock, all that matters is whether or not my reasoning is correct. However, in June the Global Depositary Shares (GDS) will undergo a 60:1 reverse split (pending shareholder approval) and the stock will no longer be a penny stock. Unfortunately the reverse split will occur after the June 12, 2014 record date for determining the persons and/or entities liable to the Depositary for the annual fee of $0.02 per Global Depositary shares for depositary services. This is an enormous fee for GDS shares, but one that I will pay due to the extreme undervaluation. Just remember that if you purchase the GDS shares on or before June 12th you are effectively paying an extra $0.02 per share.

Top 5 Supermarket Stocks To Invest In 2014: Stewart Enterprises Inc.(STEI)

Stewart Enterprises, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides funeral and cemetery products and services in the death care industry in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company also offers a range of funeral merchandise and services, as well as cemetery property, cremation, merchandise, and services. Its funeral homes provide various services and products, including the family consultation, removal and preparation of remains, usage of funeral home facilities for visitation, worship and funeral services, transportation services, flowers, and caskets. The company also sells cemetery property and related merchandise, which includes lots, lawn crypts, family and community mausoleums, monuments, markers, and burial vaults; and provides burial site openings and closings and inscriptions. In addition, it maintains cemetery grounds under cemetery perpetual care contracts and local laws. As of January 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 218 funeral homes and 141 cemeterie s. Stewart Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is based in Jefferson, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of funeral-home operator Stewart Enterprises (NASDAQ: STEI  ) soared 34% today, after larger rival Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI  ) agreed to acquire it in a deal worth about $1.4 billion.

Top 5 Supermarket Stocks To Invest In 2014: Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd (AHL)

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (Aspen Holdings), incorporated on May 23, 2002, is a holding company. The Company conducts insurance and reinsurance business through its subsidiaries in three jurisdictions: Aspen Insurance UK Limited (Aspen U.K.) and Aspen Underwriting Limited (AUL), corporate member of Syndicate 4711 at Lloyd�� of London (United Kingdom), Aspen Bermuda Limited (Aspen Bermuda) and Aspen Specialty Insurance Company (Aspen Specialty) and Aspen American Insurance Company (AAIC). Aspen U.K. also has branches in Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland), Dublin (Ireland), Cologne (Germany), Singapore, Australia and Canada. It operates in the global markets for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. It manages its insurance and reinsurance businesses as two distinct underwriting segments, Aspen Insurance and Aspen Reinsurance (Aspen Re), to serve its global customer base. Its insurance segment is consisted of property, casualty, marine, energy and transportation insurance and financial and professional lines insurance. Its reinsurance segment is consisted of property reinsurance (catastrophe and other), casualty reinsurance and specialty reinsurance. In April 2013, the reinsurance segment of the Company announced the formation of a new division, Aspen Capital Markets.

In the Company�� insurance segment, property, casualty and financial and professional lines insurance business is written in the London Market through Aspen U.K. and in the United States through Aspen Specialty and AAIC. Its marine, energy and transportation insurance business is written through Aspen U.K. and AUL, which is the corporate member of Syndicate 4711 at Lloyd�� of London (Lloyd��), managed by Aspen Managing Agency Limited (AMAL). It also writes casualty business through AUL. In reinsurance, property reinsurance business is assumed by Aspen Bermuda and Aspen U.K. The property reinsurance business written in the United States is written by Aspen Re America and ARA-CA as reinsurance intermed! iaries with offices in Connecticut, Illinois, Florida, New York, Georgia and California. The business written in the United States is produced by Aspen Re America.

Reinsurance

The Company�� reinsurance segment consists of property catastrophe reinsurance, other property reinsurance (risk excess, pro rata, risk solutions and facultative), casualty reinsurance (the United States treaty, international treaty and global facultative) and specialty reinsurance (credit and surety, structured, agriculture and specialty). Property catastrophe reinsurance is written on a treaty excess of loss basis where it provides protection to an insurer for an agreed portion of the total losses from a single event in excess of a specified loss amount. In the event of a loss, contracts provide for coverage of a second occurrence following the payment of a premium to reinstate the coverage under the contract, which is referred to as a reinstatement premium. The coverage provided under excess of loss reinsurance contracts may be on a global basis or limited in scope to selected regions or geographical areas.

Other property reinsurance includes risk excess of loss and proportional treaty reinsurance, facultative or single risk reinsurance and its risk solutions business. Risk excess of loss reinsurance provides coverage to a reinsured where it experiences a loss in excess of its retention level on a single risk basis. Proportional contracts involve close client relationships, including regular audits of the cedants��data. Its risk solutions business writes property insurance risks for a select group of the United States program managers. Casualty reinsurance is written on an excess of loss, proportional and facultative basis and consists of the United States treaty, international treaty and casualty facultative. Its United States treaty business consists of exposures to workers��compensation (including catastrophe), medical malpractice, general liability, auto liability, professional l! iability ! and excess liability, including umbrella liability. Its international treaty business reinsures exposures respect to general liability, auto liability, professional liability, workers��compensation and excess liability.

Specialty reinsurance is written on an excess of loss and proportional basis and consists of credit and surety reinsurance, structured risks, agriculture reinsurance and other specialty lines. Its credit and surety reinsurance business consists of trade credit reinsurance, international surety reinsurance (mainly European, Japanese and Latin American risks and excluding the United States) and a political risks portfolio. Its agricultural reinsurance business is written on a treaty basis covering crop and multi-peril business. Other specialty lines include reinsurance treaties and some insurance policies covering policyholders��interests in marine, energy, liability aviation, space, contingency, terrorism, nuclear, personal accident and crop reinsurance. A percentage of the property reinsurance contracts it writes exclude coverage for losses arising from the peril of terrorism. These contracts exclude coverage protecting against nuclear, biological or chemical attack.

The Company competes Arch Capital Group Ltd., Axis Capital Holdings Limited (Axis), Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (Endurance), Everest Re Group Limited, Lancashire Holdings Limited, Montpelier Re Holdings Limited, PartnerRe Ltd., Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd., Renaissance Re Holdings Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., XL Capital Ltd. (XL) and various Lloyd�� syndicates.

Insurance

The Company�� insurance segment consists of property insurance, casualty insurance, marine, energy and transportation insurance and financial and professional lines insurance. Its property insurance line comprises the United Kingdom commercial property and construction business and the United States property business. Property insurance provides physical damage and business interruption! coverage! for losses arising from weather, fire, theft and other causes. The United States commercial property team covers mercantile, manufacturing, municipal and commercial real estate business. The United States property also includes its program business, which writes property insurance risks for a select group of the United States program managers. The United Kingdom commercial team�� client base is predominantly the United Kingdom institutional property owners, middle market corporates and public sector clients.

The Company�� casualty insurance line comprises commercial liability, global excess casualty, the United States casualty insurance and environmental liability, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. Commercial liability is written in the United Kingdom and provides employers��liability coverage and public liability coverage for insureds domiciled in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The global excess casualty line comprises risk-managed insureds globally and covers risks at points, including general liability, commercial and residential construction liability, life science, railroads, trucking, product and public liability and associated types of cover found in general liability policies in the global insurance market. The United States casualty account consists of lines written within the general liability and umbrella liability insurance sectors. Coverage on its general liability line is offered on those risks that are miscellaneous, products liability, contractors (general contractors and artisans), real estate and retail risks and other general liability business. The United States environmental account provides contractors��pollution liability and pollution legal liability across industry segments that have environmental regulatory drivers and contractual requirements for coverage, including real estate and public entities, contractors and engineers, energy contractors and environmental contractors and consultants. The business is written in both the primar! y and exc! ess insurance markets.

The Company�� marine, energy and transportation insurance line comprises marine, energy and construction (M.E.C.) liability, energy physical damage, marine hull, specie, inland marine and ocean risks and aviation, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. The M.E.C. liability business includes marine liability cover related to the liabilities of ship-owners and port operators, including reinsurance of Protection and Indemnity Clubs (P&I Clubs). It also provides liability cover for companies in the oil and gas sector, both onshore and offshore and in the power generation and the United States commercial construction sectors. Energy physical damage provides insurance cover against physical damage losses in addition to Operators Extra Expenses (OEE) for companies operating in the oil and gas exploration and production sector. The marine hull team insures physical damage for ships (including war and associated perils) and related marine assets. The specie business line focuses on the insurance of property items on an all risks basis, including fine art, general and bank related specie, jewelers��block and armored car. The inland marine and ocean cargo team writes business covering builders��construction risk, contractors��equipment, transportation and ocean cargo risks in addition to exhibition, fine arts and museums insurance.

The aviation team writes physical damage insurance on hulls and spares (including war and associated perils) and comprehensive legal liability for airlines, smaller operators of airline equipment, airports and associated business and non-critical component part manufacturers. It also provides aviation hull deductible cover. Its financial and professional lines comprise financial institutions, professional liability (including management and technology liability), financial and political risks and the United States surety risks, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. Its financial institutions ! business ! is written on both a primary and excess of loss basis and consists of professional liability, crime insurance and directors��and officers��(D&O) cover. It covers financial institutions, including commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies, stockbrokers and insureds with hybrid business models. Its professional liability business is written out of the United States (including Errors and Omissions (E&O)), the United Kingdom and Switzerland and is written on both a primary and excess of loss basis.

The Company insures a range of professions, including lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers. Its management and technology liability teams write on both a primary and excess basis D&O insurance, technology-related policies in the areas of network privacy, misuse of data and cyber liability and warranty and indemnity insurance in connection with, or to facilitate, corporate transactions. The financial and political risks team writes business covering the credit/default risk on a range of project and trade transactions, as well as political risks, terrorism (including multi-year war on land cover), piracy and kidnap and ransom (K&R). It writes financial and political risks globally but with concentrations in a range of countries, such as Russia, China, Brazil, the Netherlands and United States. Its surety team writes commercial surety risks, admiralty bonds and similar maritime undertakings, including federal and public official bonds, license and permits and fiduciary and miscellaneous bonds and privately owned companies in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones] % over 12 months, Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. has a market cap of $2.63 billion; its shares were traded at around $40.06 with a P/E ratio of 13.50. The dividend yield is 1.80%.

  The GuruFocus analysis for AHL shows six warning signs.

  Track historical share pricing, revenue and net income:

  [ Enlarge Image ]

  Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Arnold Schneider reduced his position by 89.42%, selling 109,081 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%.

  Over five quarters, Schneider has averaged a 28% gain on 166,209 shares bought at an average price of $31.34 per share. He gained 8% selling 153,305 shares at an average price of $37.03 per share.

  Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Jim Simons increased his position by 387.47%, buying 501,000 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%. His current shares are 630,300.

  Over five years, Simons has sold out three times. He has averaged a 15% gain on 876,900 shares bought at an average price of $34.82 per share. He gained 13% on 246,600 shares sold at an average price of $35.35 per share.

  Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Steven Cohen increased his position by 190.15%, buying 15,037 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%. His current shares are 22,945.

  Cohen has averaged an 18% gain on 36,658 shares bought at an average price of $33.98 per share. He gained 22% on 13,713 shares sold at an average price of $32.85 per share.

  Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, top guru stakeholder David Einhorn reduced his position by 36.93%, selling 1,451,581 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.6%. This trade impacts his portfolio by -1%. His current shares are 2,478,935 or 3.67% of shares outstanding.

  Over five years, Einhorn has averaged a 67% gain on 5,700,182 shares bought at an average price of $23.88 per share. He gained 15% on 3,221,247 shares sold at an average price of $34.57 per share.

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• [By Anna Prior]

  Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.(AHL) said it expects second-quarter operating earnings above Wall Street projections, citing “the continued excellent performance across our businesses.”