Top Retail Stocks To Watch For 2014

LONDON -- I'm looking at some of your favorite FTSE 100 companies, and examining how each will deliver their dividends.

Today, I'm putting supermarket�Wm. Morrison Supermarkets� (LSE: MRW  ) under the microscope.

Dividend policy
In 2008, after 56 years, Sir Ken Morrison stepped down from the board of directors of Wm. Morrison Supermarkets, the business founded by his father in 1899. At the same time as Sir Ken gave his last statement as chairman, the board announced a new dividend policy:�"We will target progressive dividend growth in the coming two years, over and above earnings growth, in order to bring dividend cover to a level in line with the rest of our sector."

The sector to which the board referred was�"the European retail sector," where average dividend cover was 2.5 times, compared with Morrison's three times. As the table below shows, the company delivered on its two-year policy.

Top Retail Stocks To Watch For 2014: Susser Holdings Corporation(SUSS)

Susser Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The company operates in two segments, Retail and Wholesale. The Retail segment operates convenience stores that offer merchandise, food service, and motor fuel, as well as provides other services, including car washes, lottery, ATM, money orders, prepaid phone cards and wireless services, and movie rentals. As of January 1, 2012, it operated 541 convenience stores under the Stripes brand name. The Wholesale segment distributes motor fuel to its retail convenience stores, contracted independent operators of convenience stores, unbranded convenience stores, unattended fueling facilities, and other end users in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The company also offers environmental, maintenance, and construction management services to the petroleum industry; and sells and installs motor fuel dispensers and tanks, as well as provides a range of environmental consulting services, such as hydrocarbon remediation, and Phase I and II site assessments for its stores and outside customers. Susser Holdings Corporation is based in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Top Retail Stocks To Watch For 2014: Yum! Brands Inc.(YUM)

YUM! Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It develops, operates, franchises, and licenses a system of restaurants, which prepare, package, and sell various food items, as well as operates Chinese casual dining concept restaurants. The company?s restaurants specialize in chicken, pizza, and Mexican-style food categories. It operates approximately 37,000 restaurants in 110 countries and territories under the KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell brands, as well as approximately 450 casual dining concept restaurants in China. The company was formerly known as TRICON Global Restaurants, Inc. and changed its name to YUM! Brands, Inc. in May 2002. YUM! Brands, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Gorban]

   Fellow fast food giant Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) serves as a nice stock to diversify with one’s McDonald’s holding to take away company specific risk, and it is no slouch in size. Operating three very well-known restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell) that in total comprised an even more impressive 38,000 restaurants as of November 29, 2012 and a market capitalization exceeding $30 billion, investors can feel comfortable that the company will continue to withstand the current economic recession. Add in the fact that the company sports a nice 2% dividend yield and with a very low 34% payout ratio, look for that dividend to continue to be raised.

Top 10 Consumer Service Stocks For 2014: Lowe's Companies Inc.(LOW)

Lowe's Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company offers a range of products for maintenance, repair, remodeling, home decorating, and property maintenance. It provides home improvement products in the categories of appliances, lumber, paint, millwork, building materials, lawn and landscape products, flooring, rough plumbing, seasonal living, tools, hardware, fashion plumbing, lighting, nursery, outdoor power equipment, cabinets and countertops, home organization, rough electrical, and home fashion, as well as boards, panel products, irrigation pipes, vinyl sidings, and ladders. The company also offers installation services through independent contractors in various product categories. Lowe's Companies serves homeowners and renters primarily consisting of do-it-yourself customers and do-it-for-me customers; and commercial business customers, who work in the construction, rep air/remodel, commercial and residential property management, or business maintenance professions. As of August 15, 2011, it operated approximately 1,725 home improvement stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company also offers its products through electronic product catalogs and Lowes.com. Lowe's Companies, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Hesler]  

  Lowe's Companies is a home improvement retailer. LOW recently traded at $19.3 and has a 2.9% dividend yield. LOW lost 4.6% during the past 12 months. The stock has a market cap of $25.1 billion, P/E ratio of 13.6 and forward P/E ratio of 10.4. The stock has total debt/equity ratio of 0.38 and Beta of 1.02.

• [By Fitz Gerald]

  In Q4 2010, Buffett sold 6.5 million shares at an average price of $23.08. He owns zero shares, currently.

  In FY 2011 through January, revenues grew by 3.38% to $48.81 billion, after dropping by 2.09% in FY 2010 and decreasing by 0.11% in FY 2009. The EBT margin improved to 6.61% from 5.98%. GAAP EPS increased by 17.36% to $1.42, after dropping by 18.79% in FY 2009. In FY 2012, analysts expect between non-GAAP EPS to be between $1.65 and $1.79, or increases between 14.5% to 24.3% from the non-GAAP EPS of $1.44 posted in FY 2010. Revenues are also expected to be between $50.3 billion and $53.1 billion, or an increase between 3.0% and 8.7%. The next earnings release is on May 16, when analysts forecast between $0.34 and $0.40, or increases between 8.8% and 17.6% from the non-GAAP EPS of $0.34 for Q1 2010.

  LOW shares trade with a price to sales multiple of 0.8. From 2001 to 2006, the multiples were 1.7, 1.2, 1.5, 1.3, 1.3, and 1.0, respectively. It is within the realm of reasonable possibilities for Lowe’s to grow revenues and EPS in the high single digits, so we would say that these shares are undervalued, and should be near 1.0 times sales per share. Keep an eye out for Q1 2011 earnings. The company also has a debt to equity ratio of 0.36.

Top Retail Stocks To Watch For 2014: ING Group N.V. (IDG)

ING Groep N.V., a financial services company, provides banking, investment, life insurance, and retirement services for individuals, families, small businesses, corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide. The company provides savings accounts, mortgage loans, consumer loans, credit card services, and investment products, as well as current account services and payments systems; life and non-life insurance products; asset management products and services; mortgage products; and risk management services. It also offers commercial banking products and services, including lending products, such as structured finance; payment and cash management, and treasury services; and specialized and trade finance, derivatives, corporate finance, debt and equity capital markets, leasing, factoring, and supply chain finance. In addition, the company provides individual endowment, and term and whole life insurance products, as well as traditional, unit-linked, and variable annuity life insurance products for individual and group customers; fire, motor, disability, transport, accident, and third party liability insurance products; employee benefits products and pension funds; retirement services, fixed annuities, mutual funds, and broker-dealer services; and disability insurance products and complementary services for employers and self-employed professionals comprising dentists, general practitioners, and lawyers. Further, the company offers investment management services. ING Groep N.V. operates a network of approximately 280 branches in the Netherlands; and 773 branches in Belgium. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. ING Groep N.V. is a subsidiary of Stichting ING Aandelen.

Top Retail Stocks To Watch For 2014: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kevin1977]

  Director of Nordstrom Inc., Felicia D Thornton, bought 1,140 shares on 9/09/2011 at an average price of $47.89. Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's fashion specialty retailers, with stores located in a number of states, including full-line stores, Nordstrom Racks, Faconnable boutiques, and free-standing shoe stores. Nordstrom Inc. has a market cap of $10.44 billion; its shares were traded at around $47.89 with a P/E ratio of 15.7 and P/S ratio of 1.1. The dividend yield of Nordstrom Inc. stocks is 2% Nordstrom Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 27.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Nordstrom Inc. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.
  
  On August 11, Nordstrom Inc. reported net earnings of $175 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended July 30, 2011. This represented an increase of 20 percent compared with net earnings of $146 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, for the same quarter last year.Second quarter same-store sales increased 7.3 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2010. Net sales in the second quarter were $2.72 billion, an increase of 12.4 percent compared with net sales of $2.42 billion during the same period in fiscal 2010.
  
  Last week, Director Felicia D Thornton bought 1,140 shares of JWN stock.
  
  Executive Vice President Ken Worzel and Director Philip G Satre bought shares in August.