Best Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Dividend Stocks

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume recently.

Must Read: 10 Stocks Billionaire John Paulson Loves in 2014

Best Electric Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: Pitney Bowes Inc(PBI)

Pitney Bowes Inc. provides mail processing equipment and integrated mail solutions worldwide. It offers a suite of equipment, supplies, software, services, and solutions for managing and integrating physical and digital communication channels. The company?s Small & Medium Business Solutions group engages in the sale, rental, and financing of mail finishing, mail creation, and shipping equipment and software; provision of supply, support, and other professional services; and provision of payment solutions. Its Enterprise Business Solutions group sells, supports, and offers other professional services for high-speed production mail systems, and sorting and production print equipment; and sells and provides support services for non-equipment-based mailing, customer relationship and communication, and location intelligence software. This group also offers facilities management services; secure mail services; reprographic document management services; and litigation support and eDiscovery services, as well as provides presort mail services and cross-border mail services; and direct marketing services. Pitney Bowes Inc. markets its products and services through its sales force, direct mailings, outbound telemarketing, and independent distributors and dealers to various business, governmental, institutional, and other organizations. The company, formerly known as Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company, was founded in 1920 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  You can find many examples of this phenomenon recently:

  Late last month, Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI  ) cut its dividend in half after announcing worse-than-expected sales and income. The stock had suffered from weakness in Pitney Bowes' core mailing and enterprise business solutions segments, and the company chose to sacrifice its former double-digit yield in order to shore up its financial condition. Even after the cut, the stock still yields a fairly high 5%. In February, CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL  ) cut its dividend by about 25%, again after reporting weak guidance for its earnings for the remainder of 2013. Even though the rural telecom company chose simply to put cash previously earmarked to pay its former yield of 7% toward share buybacks instead, the stock plunged more than 20% in response to the move, although it has rebounded significantly since then as investors recognized the fundamental benefits to the company from the capital reallocation. Until three months ago, Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF  ) had a high dividend yield approaching 7% despite terrible conditions in its iron-ore and metallurgical-coal businesses. After announcing earnings in mid-February, the company cut its dividend by more than three-quarters in a move that will conserve cash for the ailing producer of raw materials for steel production. Now, the stock yields just 2.6%.

  That's not to say that all of the highest dividend paying stocks are doomed to reduce their payouts. Businesses that are designed to focus on maximizing cash flow rather than seeking growth can often sustain very high yields for years. Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) and other dividend ETFs use a combination of factors beyond simple yield to choose stocks with sustainable high payouts.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI  ) also became a victim of a dividend cut as it chose to reduce its payout by half in order to help it conserve cash as its financial results have deteriorated. With the very difficult task of repositioning itself from the largely obsolete postage business to become a more full-service enterprise communications company, Pitney Bowes will need as much spare cash as possible to reinvest in its new business opportunities.

Best Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Pinnacle West Capital Corporation(PNW)

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides retail and wholesale electric services primarily in the State of Arizona. The company involves in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity through coal, nuclear, gas and oil, and solar resources. It also offers energy-related products and services, such as energy master planning, energy use consultation and facility audits, cogeneration analysis and installation, and project management with a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy to commercial and industrial retail customers in the western United States. In addition, the company owns minority interests in various energy-related investments and Arizona community-based ventures; and develops residential, commercial, and industrial real estate projects in Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, and Utah. As of December 31, 2010, it owned or leased approximately 6,290 mega watts of regulated generation capacity; and serviced approximately 1.1 million customers. Pinnacle West Capital Corporation was founded in 1920 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Dittman]

  Early solar movers have subtracted rate-payers, which eats at revenue. Utilities must continue to invest in infrastructure, and that requires rate increases. But higher electricity rates make solar installation seem less expensive, raising incentives to go solar and further eroding the rate-payer base. It’s a potentially vicious cycle for utilities.
  Arizona regulators recently ruled that Pinnacle West Capital Corp (NYSE: PNW) can charge customers who install solar panels a fee based on their continued reliance on the grid, a trend that could have legs around the US.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Now don’t misunderstand. Gordon isn’t telling investors to avoid all regulated utilities. He has some favorites, including American Electric Power (AEP), Dominion Resources (D), ITC Holdings (ITC), Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) and Westar Energy (WR).

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Phoenix-based bank holding company Pinnacle West (PNW) raised its quarterly dividend 4% to 56.75 cents per share, payable on Dec. 2 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 1.
  PNW Dividend Yield:�3.91%

• [By Roger Conrad]

  Palo Verde is majority owned and operated by Arizona's Pinnacle West (PNW), itself a takeover target, though its larger size ($5.81 billion market capitalization), will likely require a bigger buyer.

Best Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2010, NextEra Energy had approximately 43,000 mega watts of generating capacity. The company involves in the generation of renewable energy from wind and solar projects. It also generates electricity through natural gas, nuclear, oil and coal, and hydro power plants. The company serves approximately 8.7 million people through approximately 4.5 million customer accounts in the east and lower west coasts of Florida. In addition, it leases wholesale fiber-optic network capacity and dark fiber to telephone, wireless carriers, Internet, and other telecommunications companies. The company was formerly known as FPL Group, Inc. and changed its name to NextEra Energy, Inc. in May 2010. NextEra Energy, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Nextera Energy (NEE): A Moderately Growing Utility

  With our second example we move up the food chain of growth by reviewing Nextera Energy a moderately faster growing utility stock. Even though Nextera Energy�� growth rate is more than 3 times faster, averaging 6.4% per annum, we discover that valuation within our PE = 15 range. To be clear, what this tells us is that investing in Nextera at a PE ratio of approximately 15 represents a sound and historically normal valuation.

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  The utility is also taking a page of out NextEra Energy's (NYSE: NEE  ) book through its planned sale of 1,240 MW of hydro assets by 2014. NextEra offloaded its final 351 MW of hydro assets in March, enabling the company to focus on "areas with greater growth potential." FirstEnergy's and NextEra's exits are hardly anomalies, as various utilities concentrate their assets to cut costs and maximize economies of scale.

Best Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.(FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. engages in the exploration, mining, and production of mineral resources. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and cobalt. It holds interests in various properties, located in North and South America; the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s consolidated recoverable proven and probable reserves totaled 120.5 billion pounds of copper, 35.5 million ounces of gold, 3.39 billion pounds of molybdenum, 325.0 million ounces of silver, and 0.75 billion pounds of cobalt. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Shares of newly minted global resource company, Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX  ) , are up over 3% after the company reported its second-quarter earnings. The company beat Wall Street's earnings estimate, though its revenue was a little light. Let's take a quick look at what went down in the quarter.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Among holdings in which Farallon Capital Management increased its stake were Dynavax (NASDAQ: DVAX  ) and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) . Dynavax shares fell sharply upon an FDA rejection of its hepatitis B vaccine Heplisav. It may still win more limited approval, but Dynavax now has more work to do, and it's burning cash while its revenue has been shrinking. Fortunately, it does seem to have have ample cash to keep it afloat for a few years. Meanwhile, Dynavax has a new CEO, and its latest earnings report featured a loss slightly bigger than expected.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  China is responsible for about 40% of the world's copper consumption, so a slowdown there bodes ill for world demand. But one key element with copper is the increase in supply, with major players Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) and Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO  ) among companies trying to spur production growth in the metal. With copper often acting as a barometer of overall industrial activity, its drop has far more troubling implications for views on global growth than gold's crash.

Best Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Plum Creek Timber Company Inc.(PCL)

Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. is a publicly owned real estate investment trust (REIT). The trust owns and manages timberlands in the United States. Its products include lumber products, plywood, medium density fiberboard, and related by-products, such as wood chips. The trust also focuses on mineral extraction and natural gas production, communication, and transportation. Plum Creek Timber Company was founded in 1989 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Among stocks in the S&P 500, CBRE Group (CBG) has dropped 5.5% to $23.05 after it reported a profit of 30 cents a share, missing forecasts for 33 cents. Aflac (AFL), meanwhile, has fallen 3% to $65 after it reported a profit of $1.47, missing estimates for $1.48 on weakness in Japan. Plum Creek Timber (PCL) has dropped 1.3% to $45.76 after announcing that it would sell 12.1 million shares of stock at $45.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Someone's yelling "timber!" at Plum Creek
  Forest manager and forestry products seller Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL  ) beat analyst estimates (with a stick, of course) Monday. Earnings for the first fiscal quarter came in at $0.35 per share, or close to 10% better than expected. Revenue of $340 million also topped estimates.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Plum Creek Timber (PCL) isn't your typical commercial REIT. Instead, the firm is a niche trust that operates in the timber business, one of the less conventional businesses allowed by the REIT Act signed in 1960. PCL owns 6.6 million acres of timberlands in 19 states.

  Only the timberland business falls under REIT rules, with logging operations treated as a traditional taxable corporation. For all intents and purposes, though, PCL's bread and butter remains its timberland; the firm earns more money through recreation, development, and conservation efforts than through logging. That could change as the housing market heats up, especially as supply constraints push timber prices higher. Either way, Plum Creek's combination of tax-advantaged REIT income and conventional business makes the firm a unique name to own right now...

  Financially, PCL is in strong shape, with more than $350 million in cash offsetting a reasonable $3 billion debt load. While PCL resorted to liquidating land to fund its dividend in the wake of the Great Recession, recent acquisitions should help calm investors' concerns. For the moment, this stock pays a 3.5% dividend yield. While Plum Creek isn't a conventional REIT by most measures, it does make a great non-core holding for income-seekers in 2013.

• [By John Divine]

  Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL  ) , which is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, also lost 4.7% today. REITs had a rough go of it Wednesday; they frequently borrow money to pay their high dividends, and with the prospect of higher interest rates around the corner as the Fed starts allowing rates to rise, REITs like Plum Creek will have to pay more just to keep their payouts stagnant.

Best Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Chimera Investment Corporation (CIM)

Chimera Investment Corporation operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. The company, through its subsidiaries, invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), residential mortgage loans, commercial mortgage loans, real estate-related securities, and other asset classes. Its targeted asset classes include agency or non-agency RMBS; prime, jumbo prime, and Alt-A mortgage loans; first or second lien loans secured by multifamily properties, mixed residential or other commercial properties, retail properties, office properties, or industrial properties; and asset-based securities (ABS), including commercial mortgage-backed securities, debt and equity tranches of collateralized debt obligations, and consumer and non-consumer ABS. The company has elected to be treated as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and would not be subject to income tax, if it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its share holders. Chimera Inve stment Corporation was founded in 2007 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Maxfield]

  Well, it just so turns out that there is. And Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY  ) , the parent company in our nonhypothetical tale, has figured out how -- for the record, the publicly traded subsidiary is Chimera Investment Management (NYSE: CIM  ) .

• [By John Maxfield]

  "Nepotism has never been unknown in American banking," Martin Mayer wrote in The Greatest-Ever Bank Robbery, his 1990 book about the savings-and-loan crisis. While Mayer was referring to American Continental, the notoriously corrupt holding company run into the ground by the infamous Charles Keating in the 1980s, his point rings true today in the case of Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY  ) and its publicly traded portfolio company Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM  ) .

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Berkshire isn't the only company where book value plays an important role. In the mortgage REIT realm, the value of the investment portfolio for a given mortgage REIT reduced by the REIT's outstanding debt, sometimes referred to as net asset value rather than book value, gives valuable information about its relative valuation. Industry leader Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY  ) currently sports a price-to-book ratio of 0.96 based on its most recently provided figures, reflecting in part investor skepticism about whether the REIT's agency-issued mortgage-backed securities will hold their value once the Federal Reserve stops making extensive bond purchases as part of its quantitative easing program. By contrast, Annaly's non-agency-issued counterpart, Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM  ) , sports a price-to-book ratio of nearly 1.1, indicating a significant premium to the REIT's stated net asset value that could be due to the fact that the Fed hasn't focused its efforts on the alternative securities that Chimera tends to choose for its portfolio.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Because of the requirement to pay out the vast majority of their income, REITs often have extremely high dividend payouts. Mortgage REITs ARMOUR Residential (NYSE: ARR  ) and Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM  ) use leveraged strategies to produce yields well in excess of 10%, while Omega Healthcare (NYSE: OHI  ) and Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH  ) , which specialize in long-term care facilities and other properties catering to older residents, both have yields between 5% and 6%.