Dividend stocks are everywhere, but many just downright stink. In some cases, the business model is in serious jeopardy, or the dividend itself isn’t sustainable. In others, the dividend is so low, it’s not even worth the paper your dividend check is printed on. A solid dividend strikes the right balance of growth, value, and sustainability.

Today, and one day each week for the rest of the year, we’re going to look at one dividend-paying company that you can put in your portfolio for the long term without too much concern. This isn’t to say that these stocks don’t share the same macro risks that other companies have, but they are a step above your common grade of dividend stock. Check out last week’s selection.

This week, I’ll point out a “purrrrfectly” positioned company in the pet sector, Zoetis , and highlight why it could be paying hefty dividends for decades.

Can competition slow down Zoetis?
There isn’t much standing in the way of Zoetis’ success, other than a rash of growing competitors and the fact that its parent company, Pfizer , still exerts quite a bit of control over the company’s growth prospects with 80% ownership in the recently spun off company.

The pet medication space is quite the crowded field. Zoetis certainly leads the pack with $4.3 billion in annual sales, but with a $22 billion pie from animal health revenue alone, Merck’s animal health division, Sanofi’s Merial, and Eli Lilly’s Elanco, all take a greater than $2 billion annual bite as well. Sanofi’s Merial was the only animal products maker of the four to see sales decrease in its latest quarter, as unfavorable weather conditions and increased competition to Frontline hurt its results. 

The Zoetis advantage
There’s a reason I dubbed Zoetis as the most exciting IPO of the year back in January — it has a slew of competitive advantages that will keep its growth and cash flow strong for years to come.

The most interesting aspect that differentiates animal pharmaceuticals from human pharmaceuticals is that while competition exists, personalized competition for common ailments like obesity and diabetes really doesn’t exist on the animal side of the business. Sure, there may be branded drug competition for things like flea medication (see Merial’s Frontline issues again), but the general trend in the sector is that Big Pharma has better things to do than spend millions researching biosilimars of existing drugs — at least for pets. This means that Zoetis’ anti-obesity pill for dogs, Slentrol, should be well protected when it comes off patent, and the same could be said for much of its pipeline, as well as that of Merck, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly’s animal health divisions.

Another factor that’s undeniable is that we as pet owners will do whatever’s necessary to ensure the health of their pets. Don’t get me wrong: The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention says that more than half of all pets are currently considered overweight or obese, so not all owners are doing what’s in the best interest of their pets. But the general trend is that our pets have become ever-more engrained into the American household as a family member.

Source: U.S. Marine Corps, commons.wikimedia.org. 

This is an important point, as few owners choose to provide health insurance for their pet. Most drugs are thus paid for right out of consumers’ pockets, providing unparalleled margins that you just won’t find in many, if any, human pharmaceutical drugmakers.

It’d be foolish of me not to mention the simple fact that as a spun off entity, Zoetis is the most transparent pharmaceutical company of its peers. Merck, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly’s animal health units are all incorporated into their results, making it tougher to see where the strengths and weaknesses of their animal health businesses lie. This spinoff certainly unlocked value for shareholders and made researching Zoetis’ pipeline considerably easier than it had previously been.

Bring on the payouts
Most of you are going to look at Zoetis’ 0.8% yield, scoff or snicker, and probably move right along … but hear me out. Consider for a moment that Zoetis just made its debut a few months ago, so it needs to get its bearings about it as a public company. It’s fairly uncommon to see a big dividend right out of the gate unless the company is a REIT, so I say cut it some slack.

Also consider that Pfizer still owns 80% of all outstanding shares of Zoetis. This means that as Zoetis’ share price rises and as it pays dividends, Pfizer is a direct beneficiary just like shareholders. Current Pfizer CEO Ian Read has made no qualms about beefing up Pfizer’s share repurchase program or paying out a significant portion of earnings in the form of a dividend in order to appease shareholders, so I wouldn’t expect anything different from Zoetis’ management. At the moment, with an annual payout of $0.26, Zoetis is paying just 19% of projected 2013 EPS. Pfizer, comparatively speaking, is paying more than double that at 43%. I think it’s just a matter of time before Zoetis dramatically boosts its payout to reflect something similar to Pfizer’s payout ratio.

Foolish roundup
Zoetis’ yield may not be much to look at now, but a growing trend that has pets becoming a part of the American family has certainly given rise to a massive animal health market. Zoetis is by far the best positioned to capitalize on that trend and looks poised to deliver growing profits and payouts to shareholders in the coming years. I guess what I’m saying is that it gets four paws of approval in my book!

The article 1 Great Dividend You Can Buy Right Now originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

General Motors has been building and selling cars in Brazil for decades, but the car market in this big nation has recently taken off: Some estimates suggest that as many as 40 million Brazilians have joined the middle class over the past decade.

In this video, Fool contributor John Rosevear looks at the state of GM’s position in this fast-growing market, and at the competition it faces for a huge crowd of new car buyers.

The article GM’s Big Push in Brazil originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors and owns shares of Ford. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

There’s one drawback to having the stock market indexes hit record highs yet again: It makes finding truly horrendous health-care stocks for our weekly series much more challenging. But the Fool is always up for a good challenge, so here are three stocks that missed out on the celebration this week.

Infinity sees its limits
Infinity Pharmaceuticals ranks as the biggest loser for the past week. Shares fell more than 22%.

There wasn’t any major news from Infinity over the past five days that caused its stock to go negative. Instead, investors appear to be increasingly anxious over the company’s upcoming presentation of clinical data related to its phase 1 trial of experimental drug IPI-145 and release of data later this year for retaspimycin HCl in treating lung cancer.

Such skittishness was probably exacerbated by a couple of announcements this week from other companies developing leukemia drugs. Roche announced good results from a study of its drug GA101, which targets chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL.

Likewise, Gilead Sciences released positive findings from its early-stage study of idelalisib. The drug showed promise in shrinking tumors and increasing progression-free survival. Gilead now has five late-stage trials for idelalisib for CLL and indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Finding a silver lining
Oncothyreon announced disappointing clinical results on Thursday for experimental cancer drug L-BLP25, previously known as Stimuvax. The stock dropped nearly 21% for the week.

The bad news from Oncothyreon was that L-BLP25 didn’t meet the primary endpoint of the phase 3 study for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Patients taking the drug had a median overall survival rate of 25.6 months, compared with 22.3 months for those taking placebo.

Even though this wasn’t what the biotech hoped for, Oncothyreon did find a silver lining. A subset of patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy did live longer. These patients had a median overall survival rate of 30.8 months, versus 20.6 months for patients in the control arm.

Horrendous “lite”
Synageva BioPharma rounds out this week’s list of horrendous health-care stocks. Really, though, the biotech’s performance wasn’t all that bad. Shares fell around 7% for the week. That’s more like horrendous “lite.”

However, the past three weeks have been horrendous for Synageva. The stock has plunged 27% during this period. This week appeared to be carryover from investors who dumped shares over the past few weeks.

Some of Synageva’s woes can be seen in its quarterly results announced on May 7. The biotech lost nearly twice as much as it did in the same period of 2012. J.P. Morgan also downgraded the stock last week over concerns that Synageva could have problems enrolling patients for its late-stage clinical study of sebelipase alfa for treating adults with late-onset Lysosomal Acid Lipase Deficiency.

A good week
You know it’s been a good week for the market when any of the most horrendous health-care stocks drop by only a single-digit percentage. There usually are more stocks dropping by 15% or greater than we have room to discuss. The opposite was true for this week, with plenty of health-care stocks gaining by 15% or more.

We shouldn’t get used to it, though. There will be plenty of horrendous weeks and truly horrendous stocks in the months ahead.

The article 3 Horrendous Health-Care Stocks This Week originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Keith Speights has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Gilead Sciences. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Americans spent more money on gasoline in 2012 than in any other year… ever. Meanwhile, here in 2013, retail gasoline prices spiked to $3.60 a gallon on average — $3.94 on the West Coast — the sharpest rise in prices seen in the past three months. And Iran is happy to hear it.

In fact, if the Islamic Republic has anything to say about it, Americans could wind up paying even more for gas than we already do. Right now, a barrel of benchmark crude costs about $95. But over the weekend, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi was quoted arguing that “the price of crude oil [should] remain at about $100.” Ghasemi thinks that price “is fair, and Iran supports it.”

Fair is in the eye of the beholder
Of course, that’s fine for him to say. After all, Iran gets about 80% of its revenue from selling oil abroad. Inside the country, however, motorists enjoy subsidized pricing on gasoline, which limits the cost for many motorists to as little as $1.25 per gallon.

So this is kind of an inside joke, what Ghasemi is telling — $100 is a fair price to pay… because most Iranians aren’t paying it. They’re paying the gasoline equivalent of closer to $33 oil.

Ha, ha
American consumers, on the other hand, aren’t laughing. Not with the cost of gasoline now consuming $4, on average, out of every $100 we spend on daily living — the highest percentage of our living expenses seen since 1983.

And yet, at the same time, Iran’s targeting a $100 price of oil does pose the country with a bit of a dilemma. Over in China, the engine that’s kept the oil price machine humming, demand for oil hit an eight-month low in April. And according to Economics 101, lower demand generally portends lower prices rather than higher.

Meanwhile, strong-ish retail sales numbers are lending strength to the U.S. dollar. And with most oil contracts still being denominated in dollars, a strong dollar tends to result in lower prices for crude.

OPEC — the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — plans to meet in Vienna on May 31 to discuss how the cartel will respond to these dynamics. At present, most analysts expect OPEC to maintain a target production rate of 30 million barrels per day. However, if the idea is to raise prices in a scenario of sagging Chinese demand, and robust U.S. dollars, OPEC might well have to reduce its output in order to maintain pricing power.

Decisions, decisions
At least, that’s how these things have worked historically. You see, OPEC’s job, in a nutshell, is to keep prices high enough to maximize the profits of oil exporting countries — while at the same time not letting prices rise so high as to discourage demand for oil — and the development of alternatives.

Raise prices too much — or, what’s really the same thing, cut supply too much — and you just encourage companies like First Solar to develop cheaper and more efficient solar panels, and General Electric to invest more in wind turbine production. In the long term, that’s a bad business idea for oil producers.

On the other hand, if you allow too much oil to be produced, prices fall, and OPEC members start leaving money on the table. So getting the oil price to $100 — and getting it to stick — isn’t as easy as it sounds.

He who fracks first, laughs last
Complicating matters for Iran, and for OPEC, is the revolution in “fracking” — drilling for oil and gas with the assistance of hydraulic fracturing technology — in the U.S. As companies from Chesapeake Energy to Sandridge pioneer the practice, and move it into the mainstream, they’re doing their part to make the U.S. truly independent of oil price hikes by countries like Iran.

Indeed, in a recent report on energy trends over the next couple decades, British oil giant BP basically came out and predicted that thanks to the efforts of the frackers, the U.S. will become “energy independent” by 2030.

Granted, so far this hasn’t been terrific news for the companies doing the heavy lifting. The high cost of getting this effort off the ground, coupled with a glut of natural gas that is being produced, has left both Chesapeake and Sandridge struggling to earn a profit.

But the situation’s at least as troublesome for Iran and its cohorts in OPEC. Sure, they can curtail oil production to try to put a floor under oil prices. But the only sure result of cutting oil production at OPEC is that OPEC will sell less oil, and probably collect less oil revenue. On the other hand, there’s no guarantee that a price hike will hurt us. And there’s no guarantee that new U.S. production won’t take up much of the slack for the rest of the world, either.

It almost begs the question: What if OPEC held a price hike party, and nobody (in the U.S.) came?

The article Iran Wants More Money From You originally appeared on Fool.com.

Motley Fool contributor Rich Smith is short shares of First Solar. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company and has the following options: Long Jan 2014 $20 Calls on Chesapeake Energy, Long Jan 2014 $30 Calls on Chesapeake Energy, and Short Jan 2014 $15 Puts on Chesapeake Energy. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Rates on bonds and bank CDs have plunged in recent years, leaving many investors struggling to find income. But one surprising bond investment has looked increasingly attractive for ordinary investors in the current rate environment.

In the following video, Motley Fool investment planning editor Lauren Kuczala talks with longtime Fool contributor and financial planner Dan Caplinger about this interesting bond investment. In going into detail on these bonds, Dan notes the two main types available, and points out their respective pros and cons, along with some special features that they offer. These bonds won’t be appropriate for everyone, and they come with some significant limitations, but for the right investors, they’re worth considering as part of your overall investment portfolio.

The article This Surprising Bond Investment Has Some Smart Benefits originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DanCaplinger. Lauren Kuczala has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Erickson Air-Crane Announces Purchase of Five Aircraft

PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated (NAS: EAC) (”Erickson” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of aviation services to a diverse mix of commercial and government customers and the vertically integrated manufacturer and operator of the powerful, heavy-lift helicopter, the Erickson S-64 Aircrane, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Evergreen Helicopters, Inc. (”EHI”), has acquired five aircraft for $10.1 million that it has historically leased from a third-party. The acquired aircraft include two Bell 214STs, two Beechcraft 1900Ds and one Casa 212-CC. The Company’s total fleet size remains unchanged at 85 aircraft, now comprised of 35 leased and 50 owned aircraft.

Udo Rieder, the CEO of Erickson, added, “Given our strong financial position and flexibility, we decided to opportunistically purchase some aircraft which we consider key to our product offering, while at the same time eliminating an annual and future lease obligations.” The acquisition of the aircraft will eliminate $3.0 million of annual lease expense and $12.2 million of total future lease obligations, and increases the Company’s asset collateral base.

About Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated

Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated is a leading global provider of aviation services to a diverse mix of commercial and government customers. The Company currently operates a diverse fleet of 85 rotary-wing and fixed wing aircraft, including a fleet of 20 heavy-lift S-64 Aircranes. This fleet supports a wide and worldwide variety of government and commercial customers, across a broad range of aerial services, including critical supply and logistics for deployed military forces, humanitarian relief, firefighting, timber harvesting, infrastructure construction, and crewing. The Company also maintains a vertical manufacturing capability for the S-64 Aircrane, related components, and other aftermarket support and maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for the Aircrane and other aircraft. Founded in 1971, Erickson Air-Crane is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and maintains facilities and operations in North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please visit http://www.ericksonaircrane.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “expect,” “predict,” “potential,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations but they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, which include: the possibility that we do not complete the acquisition of the Brazilian air logistics business, or realize the benefits of the acquisition of EHI or the Brazilian air logistics business on a timely basis or at all; our ability to integrate these businesses successfully or in a timely and cost-efficient manner; our ability to successfully enter new markets and manage international expansion; that we do not have extensive operating history in the aerial services segments in which EHI and Air Amazonia operate nor with the types of aircraft we acquired in the EHI acquisition and those we would Air Amazonia acquisition; that we do not have extensive operating history in South America, the Middle East and Africa, which are where EHI and Air Amazonia provide aerial services; that we do not have any operating history providing services to the Department of Defense and related customers and projects, which are segments to which EHI provides services; that the anticipated reduction in troops in Afghanistan in the near-term may adversely affect EHI; that EHI operates in certain dangerous and war-affected areas, which may result in hazards to its fleet and personnel; that, despite our current indebtedness levels, we and our subsidiaries may still incur significant additional indebtedness; our failure to obtain any required financing on favorable terms; our safety record; the hazards associated with our helicopter operations, which involve significant risks and which may result in hazards that may not be covered by our insurance or may increase the cost of our insurance; compliance with debt obligations and our substantial indebtedness, which could adversely affect our financial condition and impair our ability to grow and operate our business; cancellations; reductions or delays in customer orders; our ability to collect on customer receivables; weather and seasonal fluctuations that impact our Aircrane and other aerial services activities; competition; reliance on a small number of large customers; the impact of short-term contracts; the availability and size of the Aircrane fleet; the ability to implement production rate changes; the impact of government spending; the impact of product liability and product warranties; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the impact of environmental and other regulations, including FAA regulations and similar international regulations; our ability to accurately forecast financial guidance; our ability convert backlog into revenues and appropriately plan expenses; worldwide economic conditions (including conditions in Greece and Italy); our reliance on a small number of manufacturers; the necessity to provide components or services to owners and operators of aircraft; our ability to effectively manage our growth; our ability to keep pace with changes in technology; our ability to adequately protect our intellectual property; our ability to successfully enter new markets and manage international expansion; our ability to expand and diversify our customer base; our ability to expand and market manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul services; the potential unionization of our employees; the fluctuation in the price of fuel; our ability to access public or private debt markets; the impact of equipment failures or other events impacting the operation of our factories; and our ability to successfully manage any future acquisitions; as well as other risks and uncertainties more fully described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as the other reports we file with the SEC.

You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Erickson Air-Crane assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable laws.

Investor Relations:
Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated
Dave Finnie, Senior Director, Finance and Business Operations
(503) 505-5880
dfinnie@ericksonaircrane.com
or
Media:
Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated
Brian Carlson, Marketing Communications Manager
(503) 505-5880
bcarlson@ericksonaircrane.com

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Oregon

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:

The article Erickson Air-Crane Announces Purchase of Five Aircraft originally appeared on Fool.com.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

QLogic Announces Leadership Change

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– QLogic Corp. (NAS: QLGC) today announced that Simon Biddiscombe has resigned his positions as president and chief executive officer and also as a director in order to pursue other opportunities. Simon’s resignation was effective immediately.

The Board has appointed CFO Jean Hu, 49, as CEO on an interim basis. Hu currently serves a senior vice president and chief financial officer. She oversees all company financial matters and will retain her CFO responsibilities during the interim period.

The Board will begin an immediate search for a permanent CEO, and the search committee will be led by William M. Zeitler.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Simon Biddiscombe for his contributions to QLogic over the last five years. We wish Simon well in his future endeavors,” said H.K. Desai, chairman of the board and executive chairman, QLogic.

The company reaffirms its non-GAAP financial guidance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014.

QLogic - the Ultimate in Performance

QLogic (NAS: QLGC) is a global leader and technology innovator in high performance networking, including adapters, switches and ASICs. Leading OEMs and channel partners worldwide rely on QLogic products for their data, storage and server networking solutions. For more information, visit www.qlogic.com.

Disclaimer - Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements relating to future results of the company (including certain beliefs and projections (including the first quarter financial guidance discussed above) regarding business and market trends) that are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. The company advises readers that these potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: unfavorable economic conditions; potential fluctuations in operating results; gross margins that may vary over time; the stock price of the company may be volatile; the company’s dependence on the networking markets served; the ability to maintain and gain market or industry acceptance of the company’s products; the company’s dependence on a small number of customers; the company’s ability to compete effectively with other companies; the complexity of the company’s products; declining average unit sales prices of comparable products; the company’s dependence on sole source and limited source suppliers; the company’s dependence on relationships with certain third-party subcontractors and contract manufacturers; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; sales fluctuations arising from customer transitions to new products; seasonal fluctuations and uneven sales patterns in orders from customers; a reduction in sales efforts by current distributors; changes in the company’s tax provisions or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of its income tax returns; international economic, currency, regulatory, political and other risks; facilities of the company and its suppliers and customers are located in areas subject to natural disasters; the ability to protect proprietary rights; the ability to satisfactorily resolve any infringement claims; uncertain benefits from strategic business combinations, acquisitions and divestitures; declines in the market value of the company’s marketable securities; changes in and compliance with regulations; difficulties in transitioning to smaller geometry process technologies; the use of “open source” software in the company’s products; and security system risks, data protection breaches and cyber-attacks.

More detailed information on these and additional factors which could affect the company’s operating and financial results are described in the company’s Forms 10-K, 10-Q and other reports filed, or to be filed, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company urges all interested parties to read these reports to gain a better understanding of the business and other risks that the company faces. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and the company does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

QLogic and the QLogic logo are registered trademarks of QLogic Corporation. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of the companies with which they are associated.

QLogic Corporation
Media Contact:
Steve Sturgeon, 858-472-5669
steve.sturgeon@qlogic.com
or
Investor Contact:
Jean Hu, 949-389-7579
jean.hu@qlogic.com

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:

The article QLogic Announces Leadership Change originally appeared on Fool.com.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

LONDON — It’s another day, another five-and-a-half-year high for the FTSE 100 . The index of top U.K. shares is up 0.25% to 6,710 points as of 8:30 a.m. EDT, and it has now seen 10 consecutive days of gains and spent eight days above the 6,500 level.

Which companies are supporting the current bullish mood? Here are three whose shares are on the up today.

Aviva
Aviva shares have been boosted by first-quarter figures this morning, gaining 7.8%. The insurer said new business is up 18% to 191 million pounds due to improved profitability in its U.K. and Asian markets. Restructuring costs caused a 54 million pound hit, but that was more than offset by a 10% reduction in operating expenses to 769 million pounds, and the firm is still on track for cost savings of 400 million pounds.

The firm’s net asset value has risen 9% to 302 pence per share, and its internal debt level is down by 300 million pounds. Chief executive Mark Wilson said, “Progress so far has been satisfactory and there is a great deal more we need to do for our shareholders.”

Thomas Cook
If you want to see the kind of recovery that blows your socks off, look no further than Thomas Cook Group. From the brink of the abyss a year ago, the company is back, and its share price has more than eight-bagged to today’s 156 pence, helped by 13.6% boost today. The travel firm released half-year figures and announced a capital reorganization. The new financing includes a 425 million pounds placing and rights issue, a 441 million pound bond issue, and 691 million pounds in new facilities.

As for the results, EBIT in the loss-making half of the year has improved by 58.7 million pounds to a loss of 197.5 million pounds, with underlying gross margin up 110 points to 20.7%. Net debt dropped by 175 million pounds to 1.2 billion pounds, and bookings are said to be strong.

Dixons
Speaking of recoveries, the one at Dixons Retail has been pretty impressive, too, and the shares have climbed another 7.9% today — they’re now up 150% over the past 12 months. The driver today was a full-year trading update for the year to April 30.

Dixons’ earlier failure was in not embracing online trading, but what is now known as its “multi-channel business” saw a rise a 7% in like-for-like sales over the whole year, with a fourth-quarter rise of 11%. The firm also achieved strong cash-generation, leading to a year-end net cash position for the first time in years.

Finally, if you’re looking for investments that should take you all the way to a comfortable retirement, I recommend the Fool’s special new report detailing five blue-chip shares. They’ll be familiar names to many, and they’ve already provided investors with decades of profits. But the report will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your hands on these great ideas — they could set you on the road to long-term riches.

The article Why Aviva, Thomas Cook Group, and Dixons Retail Should Beat the FTSE 100 Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alan Oscroft has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.