GuruFocus Reports Seven Dividend Growers of the Week

During the past week, GuruFocus recognized seven companies as dividend growers. In order to be qualified for this list, the company had to:

Have a dividend of greater than 3%. Have a strong history of stable and increasing dividends. Maintain Guru ownership Have a market cap of greater than $10 billion.

The following seven companies come from various industries and sectors of the market, but they all fit the necessary criteria needed to qualify them as dividend growers.

A comparison of the companies' historical dividend growth:

Ventas Inc (VTR)

On Feb. 14, Ventas declared a dividend of $0.725 per share, representing 4.50% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on March 28 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on March 7, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10-year: 9.10%

- 5-year: 5.10%

- 3-year: 6.60%

Ventas is a REIT with a portfolio of seniors' housing and healthcare properties in the U.S. and Canada. The company currently operates through three reportable business segments: triple-net leased properties, senior living operations and MOB operations.

Ventas' historical revenue and net income:

The company reported its fourth quarter and year-end results last week which highlighted:

- Year-end FFO of $4.14 per diluted share, up 9% from last year.

- 2013 total normalized FFO topped $1.2 billion, an increase of 11%.

- Fourth quarter net income of $108.4 million, or $0.37 per share.

- Fourth quarter normalized FFO up 7% to $313.6 million.

As of the close of the fourth quarter there were seven gurus that held a position in Ventas. Check out their holdings here.

The analysis on Ventas reports that the company has issued $2.9 billion of debt over the past three years, its dividend yield is close to a 3-year high and its P/S and P/B ratios are trading at near historic lows.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AVIFY)

On Feb. 13, Advanced Info Service Public Company declared a dividend of $0.140 per share, representing 4.50% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on May 2, to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Mar. 31, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10-year: 0%

- 5-year: 16.60%

- 3-year: 40.50%

Advanced Info Service Public Company is Thailand's largest GSM mobile phone operator with 35 million customers as of March 2013. The company is controlled by the Intouch PLC, which is headed by Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government owned agency.

Advanced Info Service's historical revenue and earnings growth:

The analysis on AVIFY reports that the company's operating margin is expanding, its dividend yield is close to a 2-year high and its P/E and P/S ratios are trading at historical lows.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

Advanced Info Service has a market cap of $19.92 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $6.70 with a P/E ratio of 17.80, a P/S ratio of 4.50 and a P/B ratio of 10.80. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 8.40% over the past five years.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CMWAY)

On Feb. 13 Commonwealth Bank of Australia declared a dividend of $1.632 per share, representing 5.10% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on April 14 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 24, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10-year: 8.10%

- 5-year: 9.80%

- 3-year: 15.40%

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is Australia's largest retail bank and one of the "Big Four." It also operates in New Zealand and Asia. Its core business is the provision of retail, business and institutional banking services. It is also a major fund manager and has increasing market shares in general and life insurance.

Bank of Australia's historical revenue and earnings growth:

The analysis on Commonwealth Bank reports that the price is nearing a 10-year high of $73.82, the company has enough cash to cover all of its debt, its operating margin is expanding and its revenue has shown predictable revenue and earnings growth.

The company recently released its half year results which reported:

- Statuatory net profit after tax was $4,207 million, representing a 16% increase.

- Declared an interim dividend of $1.83 per share, up 12% from last year.

- Cash on hand was $4,268 million, up 14% from last year.

- Cash return on equity of 18.7%

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has a market cap of $111.59 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $69.23 with a P/E ratio of 16.30, a P/S ratio of 5.10 and a P/B ratio of 2.80.

British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSYBY)

On Feb. 12, British Sky Broadcasting Group declared a dividend of $0.783 per share, representing 3.10% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on April 29 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on March 28, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10.year: 22.10%

- 5-year: 12.80%

- 3-year: 14.80%

British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC is a television provider in the UK and Ireland and home communications services in the UK. Sky retails pay TV services to residential customers in SD, HD and 3D via satellite, on demand with anytime and on the move with Sky Go.

British Sky Broadcasting's historical revenue and net income:

The analysis on British Sky Broadcasting Group reports that the company has shown predictable revenue and earnings growth, its operating margin is expanding and its price is near a 10-year high.

There were no gurus holding a position in BSYBY as of the close of the fourth quarter.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

British Sky Broadcasting Group has a market cap of $24.34 billion. Its shares were trading at around $61.80 with a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/S ratio of 2.00 and a P/B ratio of 14.20. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 11.80% over the past ten years.

GuruFocus rated British Sky Broadcasting the business predictability rank of 4-star.

Reynolds American (RAI)

On Feb. 11, Reynolds American declared a dividend of $0.670 per share, representing 5.20% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on April 1 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on March 10, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10.year: 10.80%

- 5-year: 10.10%

- 3-year: 10.50%

Reynolds American, through its subsidiaries, manufactures cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States. The Company's reportable operating segments are RJR Tobacco, American Snuff and Santa Fe.

Reynolds' historical revenue and earnings growth:

The analysis on Reynolds reports that the company's operating margin is expanding, its dividend yield is near a 5-year low and its price, P/B ratio and P/S ratio are all sitting near 10-year highs.

The company announced that its most recent dividend is the 39th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. It also reports that RAI's policy is to return about 80% of the company's current-year net income to the shareholders in the form of dividends.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

Reynolds American currently has a market cap of $25.67 billion. Its shares are trading at around $47.81 with a P/E ratio of 15.30, a P/S ratio of 3.20 and a P/B ratio of 5.00. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 7.70% over the past five years.

Clorox Company (CLX)

On Feb. 11, Clorox Company declared a dividend of $0.710 per share, representing 3.20% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on May 9, to shareholders of the record at the close of business on March 10, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10.year: 11.70%

- 5-year: 8.80%

- 3-year: 8.60%

The company is a manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. It sells its products through mass merchandisers, grocery stores, other retail outlets, distributors and medical supply providers.

Clorox's historical revenue and net income:

The analysis on Clorox reports that the company's price has been in decline over the past year, its dividend yield is near a 5-year low, its price is near a 10-year high and its P/E and P/S ratios are near historical highs.

The company recently reported its second quarter 2014 results which reported:

- $0.88 diluted EPS, a decrease of 5%.

- 1% volume increase.

- 0.4% sales increase from last year's second quarter.

- Earnings from continuing operations of $116 million, compared to $123 million last year.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

Clorox Company has a market cap of $11.34 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $87.29 with a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/S ratio of 2.10 and a P/B ratio of 72.70. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 5.80% over the past ten years.

Thomson Reuters (TRI)

On Feb. 11, Thomson Reuters declared a dividend of $0.330 per share, representing 3.80% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on March 17 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 24, 2014.

The company's historical dividend growth is as follows:

- 10.year: 6.60%

- 5-year: 4.00%

- 3-year: 3.90%

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent info for professionals as well as businesses. The company creates technology that will deliver crucial information to decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets through the use of the world's most trusted news organization.

Thomson Reuters' historical revenue and net income:

The analysis on Thomson Reuters warns that the company's revenue has been in decline over the past year, its dividend yield is near a 2-year low and its price is near a 5-year high.

The company's recently reported full-year and fourth quarter 2013 results highlighted:

- Revenue grew 2% for the year and 1% for the quarter

- EBITDA was down 7% for the year and 32% for the quarter due to a $260 million charge.

- Full year adjusted EPS was $1.54, compared to $1.89 last year.

- EPS was $1.83 for the full year and $0.49 for the quarter.

- Approved dividend increase, represents 21st consecutive annual increase.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

Thomson Reuters has a market cap of $28.32 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $34.53 with a P/E ratio of 221.20, a P/S ratio of 2.20 and a P/B ratio of 1.80.

To view a complete list of high yielding dividend stocks found among the gurus' portfolios, click here.

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BlackBerry sues Ryan Seacrest startup

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry is accusing a company backed by "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest of being a rip-off artist.

The allegations emerged in a patent infringement lawsuit filed Friday in a San Francisco federal court by BlackBerry. The suit targets an iPhone keyboard made by Typo Products, a Los Angeles startup co-founded by Seacrest and entrepreneur Laurence Hallier.

The complaint contends that Typo Products' keyboard for recent iPhone models illegally copies technology and designs that BlackBerry pioneered years ago for its line of smartphones. BlackBerry is seeking unspecified damages and a court order that would prevent Typo Products from selling the keyboard without a licensing agreement.

Typo Products didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The keyboard in dispute hasn't hit the market yet, though Typo Products has been taking early orders for the $99 accessory on its website and says it's meant to ship in January. It's designed to slip on to the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S so it can serve as a substitute for the touch-screen keyboard built into the software on those devices.

The physical keyboards on BlackBerry's phones helped reshape the way that people used mobile devices.

But those phones have been waning in popularity since Apple Inc. released the first iPhone in 2007, threatening BlackBerry's survival. As part of its efforts to adapt, BlackBerry has introduced smartphones featuring touch-screen keyboards, but the Canadian company is still struggling after suffering a $4.4 billion loss in its most recent quarter.

BlackBerry still sells phones with physical keyboards that the company now says are being cloned by Typo Products.

"We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations," said Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry's general counsel.

Violin Memory Inc (VMEM): Nice Opportunity In Flash Storage Space

Violin Memory, Inc. (NYSE: VMEM) is well positioned to take advantage of the strong secular growth of flash in the enterprise. The combination of its proprietary hardware, a growing software portfolio and resulting industry-leading price/performance should translate into robust growth over a multi-year time frame.

Founded in 2005, Santa Clara, California-based Violin Memory makes high-performance flash-based storage systems that are designed to bring storage performance in-line with high-speed applications, servers and networks.

Violin has developed a technology stack to address the rapidly growing all flash array market. In addition, the company is extending its technology position into the PCIe card market with a cost advantage offering that will add to its growth potential in the coming quarters.

"We expect the combination of strong customer adoption of flash based arrays, the migration to 19nm products, entry to the PCIe card market and the conversion of past deferred revenue bookings (Toshiba) to translate into strong revenue / share gains over the next few quarters," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a client note.

Over long-term, Violin is well positioned to benefit from the strong secular growth of flash in the enterprise due to its unique IP position.

Flash storage is a disruptive technology that challenges the economics of high performance disk storage and alleviates the performance bottleneck in the datacenter. Flash is more cost effective than traditional disk for certain high performance use cases (e.g., database, analytics, virtual desktop and cloud) with a 30-90 percent lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for these high bandwidth applications.

"We believe Violin's total addressable market ("TAM") is ~$6B in 2014 (flash arrays and PCIe) and is growing at a ~30% CAGR," Whitmore said.

Violin's core customers are enterprise accounts, and its primary value proposition is superior performance (5-10x faster than traditional disk with lower ! operating costs) and lower TCO for high demand workloads.

Violin has shown explosive revenue growth from $11 million in fiscal 2011 to $74 million in fiscal 2013 despite disengaging from a large reseller agreement with HP.

"Looking forward, we expect robust growth to continue (+77% Y/Y in FY14E and +56% Y/Y in FY15E) driven by ongoing strength in the array business and a solid ramp in PCIe cards (becomes meaningful in F4Q)," Whitmore noted.

Violin also has a good line of sight into revenues over the next 2-3 quarters as $16 million of deferred revenues booked for development work with Toshiba moves from Violin's balance sheet onto the P&L.

In addition, strong revenue gains should be accompanied by potential gross margin expansion from the current 40 percent plus to about 50 percent in fiscal 2014. Margins would be driven by the ramp of the 6264 array and rollout of 19nm across most of Violin's offerings, mix towards a greater portion of software and the ramp of higher margin PCIe cards.

Violin could launch additional software capabilities in upcoming quarters where its software stack will ultimately include a full suite of enterprise-class data management features.

"As Violin's software offering matures and the hardware migrates to 19nm, we expect Violin's margin profile to improve materially," Whitmore said.

Meanwhile, Violin has a strategic relationship with Toshiba, which has invested about $42 million in Violin and owns about 14 percent of Violin's common equity. Toshiba's commitment to Violin speaks to the company's strong IP position.

Furthermore, Toshiba is Violin's primary supplier of NAND flash, which provides an advantageous cost position, visibility on product supply and a close working relationship with Toshiba's development roadmap.

In addition, Toshiba entered into a development deal with Violin to develop PCIe cards. Violin's PCIe cards are experiencing strong initial traction with new customers and would convert into meaningful or! ders/book! ings in future periods.

"Beyond validating Violin's IP, we believe this relationship provides significant strategic and tactical benefits to Violin in the form of cost, time to market and the potential for significantly expanded market reach. Over time, we expect both parties to realize meaningful value from the partnership," Whitmore noted.

On the other hand, Violin is investing heavily to build out its direct sales force which is producing meaningful losses due to significant opex outlays. Violin has a significant cash burn rate given its heavy investment in sales force expansion and R&D.

Violin also competes in a competitive market against large and established data storage providers such as EMC, NetApp, IBM and HP.

"At current investment rates and growth trajectory, we are modeling Violin to be EBIT and Cash flow positive in FY16 / CY15.," Whitmore added.

What's Behind Those Odd September Jobs Numbers

If you still needed confirmation this is the slowest economic recovery in history, you need look no further than today's (Tuesday's) September jobs report.

Total non-farm employment in the United States rose 148,000 in September, a soft number well short of the 180,000 expected. The unemployment rate itself fell to 7.2% - the lowest it's been since U.S. President Barack Obama took office.

But 7.2% is just U-3, the official measure of unemployment. If we include discouraged workers - unemployed people who gave a job market-related reason for not looking for work - the rate (U-4) rises to 7.7%. If we include the "marginally attached" and persons employed part-time for economic reasons (U-6), the unemployment rate shoots to a European-like level of 13.6%.

In other words, approximately 21 million otherwise able Americans are underemployed, or unemployed, or have just given up looking for work because the job market looks so bleak.

And there's more bad news...

September Jobs Report: Twisted Numbers

According to Zero Hedge's analysis of the full-time and part-time numbers, "the US work force saw the rotation of some 594K part-time workers into a whopping 691K full-time jobs, in addition to adding over 100K net new jobs in the month."

Here's what they mean: The August household survey reported 116,208,000 persons employed full time and 27,999,000 persons employed part time. The September survey reported 116,899,000 persons employed full time, and 27,405,000 persons employed part time, changes of 691,000 and 594,000 respectively.

That seems impossible - and makes the jobs numbers even more unreliable than they already were.

Also, under Bureau of Labor Statistics definitions, "full time" employment does not necessarily mean a 40-hour-a-week job with benefits. Instead, it simply means that a person usually works more than 35 hours a week, regardless of the number of jobs they work.

Zero Hedge suggests the strange data could be a response to July's outsized growth in part-time jobs as a portion of the total jobs created. As Money Morning and others pointed out with the July numbers, only 35% of the jobs reported as created were full-time.

At the time, massive growth in part-time employment was attributed to employer fears surrounding Obamacare, which requires employers with more than 50 full-time employees to purchase insurance for them or face fines.

The jobs report makes it seem as though a large number of erstwhile part-time jobs have somehow become full-time - which is why we took a closer look at where these full-time jobs came from...

It's Only Temporary

The top industry gainers for September were government (22,000 jobs), retail (20,000 jobs), transportation and warehousing (23,000 jobs), and administrative support services (24,000 jobs). Together, they account for around 60% of the new jobs created.

On their own, these seem like sound categories for growth - although we have to wonder why state governments were increasing their payrolls amid all the worry about shutdown. (The federal government shed some jobs.)

Retail might indicate some consumer resurgence, with about 20,000 new jobs added. The two largest gainers were in food and beverage stores and a vague category called "general merchandise stores."

"Transportation and warehousing" could have been a bright spot in the jobs report if it meant increased freight traffic. Sadly, almost all of the job growth came from transit and passenger ground travel: buses, trains, and taxis.

But it's the last category that should worry you the most.

The increase in "administrative services" comes almost entirely from temporary employees. Hiring a temp means that an organization has more work than it can immediately handle, but also has an uncertain outlook. Furthermore, temps are usually hired on a term basis and can hardly be considered full-time employees, even if they work a 40-hour week.

Part time America seems to be alive and well.

The Timing of JD Hutt Could Not be Better for Investors! (GLD, SLV, JABA, OMEX)

The timing for JD Hutt's (OTCBB: JABA) acquisition of Sea Treasure Recovery Corp. could not have been better as the news channels are filled today with the recovery of $350,000 in sunken treasure off the Florida coast.

That is certainly a better way to profit from gold, SPFR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), and silver, iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV). Both the GLD and the SLV have plunged, but sea treasure recovery is very profitable. The find today demonstrates that fact of investing! Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ: OMEX) had a huge haul off the coast of Ireland earlier this summer, which is more proof of the profit potential for this industry!!.

Sea Treasure Recovery Corp. will be operating off the coast of Florida, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. That is where today's find took place. While potentially highly profitable for Sea Treasure Recovery Corp., it is not as risky as the deep water dives of Odyssey Marine Exploration. That gives the best of both worlds to the investors in JD Hutt.

It was a 17-century Spanish ship found off the coast of Florida today, near Fort Pierce, according to The Huffington Post. That is the type of vessel that the legendary Mel Fisher made his $485 million find back in 1985. Mel Fisher brought up his treasure from the Florida Keys.

For the investors in JD Hutt looking to profit from Sea Treasure Recovery Corp., there are myriad of positive factors. First is that the technology now is far advanced than it was back in 1985. The price of gold and silver is also much higher, too. While the GLD and SLV are down for 2013, an ounce of gold is still trading for a higher price than it was in 1985.

Morgan Stanley Grabs 5 Reps, 1 Branch Leader

Morgan Stanley (MS) said late Thursday that it recently recruited five financial advisors and one branch manager from rivals.

The advisors have about $732 million in client assets and nearly $5 million in yearly fees and commissions, or production.

Robert Finan and Anthony LaFonte joined Morgan Stanley in Red Bank, N.J., last Thursday from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC). The two advisors, who do business as the Finan Group, have combined annual production of more than $2 million and have managed about $400 million in client assets.

The team now reports to complex manager Chris Shaw.

Stanley Alintoff moved to Morgan Stanley’s office in Westport, Conn., in mid-August from UBS (UBS). The advisor, who has some $1.8 million in yearly fees and commissions and more than $230 million in client assets, will be supervised by branch manager Patrick Tiani.

The Overton and Englund team, which includes Steve Overton and Gary Englund, started work for Morgan Stanley in Tampa on Sept. 12. The two moved from the traditional employee channel of Raymond James (RJF), which is based in nearby St. Petersburg.

The new team now reports to Dan Cedro, branch manager. It has combined annual production of $982,000 and prior assets of more than $100 million.

Tony Thorpe left UBS for Morgan Stanley on Sept. 10 as a branch manager in Franklin, Tenn. Thorpe had been with UBS for 15 years and most recently was the bank’s complex manager in the area, where he supervised 16 advisors.

---

Check out Citi to Pay $3.1M for Florida Real Estate Debacle on ThinkAdvisor.

There's More to Amazon Than Price

A group of analysts over at BB&T price-compared a basket of 30 items between Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) and Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY  ) , and found Bed Bath & Beyond to be victorious. On average, Bed Bath & Beyond's prices were 6.5% better than Amazon's, and after accounting for its ubiquitous 20% off coupons, the gap widened to 25%.

Fool contributor Steve Heller believes that investors should take this finding with a grain of salt, given the limited scope of the comparison. Additionally, he believes there's one underlying factor that brick-and-mortar retailers simply cannot compete with Amazon on: convenience. Check out the video below to get his full thoughts on the subject.

The retail space is in the midst of the biggest paradigm shift since mail order took off at the turn of last century. Only those most forward-looking and capable companies will survive, and they'll handsomely reward those investors who understand the landscape. You can read about the 3 Companies Ready to Rule Retail in The Motley Fool's special report. Uncovering these top picks is free today; just click here to read more.