Best Mid Cap Companies To Invest In 2015

Dividend stocks can make you rich. It's as simple as that. While they don't garner the notability of high-flying growth stocks, they're also less likely to crash and burn. And over the long term, the compounding effect of the quarterly payouts, as well as their growth, adds up faster than most investors imagine.

In fact, a study by C. Thomas Howard published in Advisor Perspectives found that for every percentage point a stock's yield rises, its annual return increases by 0.22 percentage points if it's a large cap, 0.25 if it's a mid cap, and 0.46 if it's a small cap. Even better, Howard found that dividend-growing stocks outperformed dividend cutters by 10 percentage points per year from 1973 to 2010 and beat both flat- and no-dividend stocks. And the icing on the cake is that Howard showed that this outperformance came with a third less volatility. Higher returns, less volatility-induced stress, and a steadily growing income stream -- three powerful aspects of dividend growth investing that can help you grow your wealth.

5 Best Regional Bank Stocks For 2016: Triple-S Management Corporation (GTS)

Triple-S Management Corporation, through its subsidiaries, offers a portfolio of managed care and related products in the commercial and Medicare markets in Puerto Rico. The company operates in three segments: Managed Care, Life Insurance, and Property and Casualty Insurance. It provides managed care products, including health maintenance organization plans; preferred provider organization plans; Medicare Supplement products; Medicare Advantage products; Medicaid plans; and Medicare Part D, a prescription drug plan; and claims processing and other administrative services. The company offers its managed care products to employers, professional and trade associations, individuals, and government entities. It also provides various life, accident, disability, and health and annuity insurance products to individuals; and property and casualty insurance products, which include commercial multi-peril, commercial property mono-line, auto physical damage, auto liability, and dwelli ng policies to commercial customers. The company markets its products through a network of internal sales force, direct mail, independent brokers and agents, telemarketing staff, and the Internet. Triple-S Management Corporation was incorporated in 1997 and is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of Puerto Rican managed-care company Triple-S Management (NYSE: GTS  ) popped 11% today after its quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations.

Best Mid Cap Companies To Invest In 2015: Alps Jefferies TR/J CRB Global Commodty Eq Idx (CRBQ)

Jefferies | TR/J CRB Global Commodity Equity Index Fund (the Fund), formerly Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Global Commodity Equity Index Fund, is an exchange traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies In-The-Ground CRB Global Commodity Equity Index (the Index). The Index is a modified capitalization-weighted, float-adjusted, rules-based index designed to track the overall performance of a global universe of listed companies engaged in the production and distribution of commodities and commodity-related products and services in the sectors, such as agriculture, base/industrial metals, energy and precious metals. ALPS Advisors, Inc. is the investment adviser for the Fund. Arrow Investment Advisors, LLC is the investment sub-adviser for the Fund. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Stavros]

  Whereas in the 1970s there were limited ways to hedge against inflation, now there is a cornucopia of currency and international commodities instruments that can not only hedge against inflation but other global shocks, such as market bubbles and even war.
  
  And it is these very scenarios that investors have been worried about. Since the beginning of the year, stocks, bonds and just about any investment you can think of have gyrated wildly at various times amid concerns of war, inflation and the possibility that the U.S. equity market is overvalued and headed for a correction.
  
  In response, some market analysts in Bloomberg news reports have offered any number of wildly unsubstantiated statements for why investors should ignore today’s perils. They dismiss the danger posed by Russia�� annexation of Ukraine�� Crimea region (��utin will stop short of other countries or war with the West��. They also argue that the Federal Reserve chairwoman misspoke (��anet Yellen really didn�� mean a rate hike is coming soon. Inflation is under control. It was a rookie mistake��.
  
  For my money, here’s the most outrageous: The Shiller Cyclically adjusted P/E metric which has predicted the 1929, 2000 and 2007 downturns doesn�� apply (��uggests only a slightly expensive market with low to moderate returns going forward on average��.
  
  With new records being set by the S&P 500 in the last few months, it stands to reason that some investors have not needed much convincing to stay all in and buying. This mindset has prevailed, even as the impact of a Russian war or conflict, runaway inflation or a market correction could be devastating to investor portfolios, taking years to recover.
  
  If you��e never thought of certain investments as “insurance,” it�� time to start now. Protecting wealth is as important as building wealth. And as previously mentioned, we have found that the Inflation Survival Letter�� Thri

Best Mid Cap Companies To Invest In 2015: Greenlight Capital Re Ltd.(GLRE)

Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, operates in the property and casualty reinsurance business in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and internationally. The company?s frequency business includes contracts containing smaller losses emanating from multiple events and enables the clients to increase their own underwriting capacity; and severity business consists of contracts with the potential for significant losses emanating from one event or multiple events. It offers personal and commercial property, general and marine liability, motor liability, motor physical damage, professional liability, financial, health, medical malpractice, and workers? compensation reinsurance products. Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. sells its products primarily through reinsurance brokers. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  They pitched their research hard to client David Einhorn, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd (Nasdaq: GLRE). Shortly thereafter Einhorn started shorting the stock.

Best Mid Cap Companies To Invest In 2015: iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA)

iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI EAFE Index (the Index). The Index has been developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International, Inc. as an equity benchmark for international stock performance. The Index includes stocks from Europe, Australasia and the Far East. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  How to invest in stocks without risking everything
  With stocks near all-time highs, being prudent about which stocks to invest in makes plenty of sense. As you explore opportunities right now, focus on a few key ideas:

  Use index funds or exchange-traded funds to get easy diversification with modest investments. Broad-market ETF Vanguard Total Stock Market� (NYSEMKT: VTI  ) makes a good starting point for many investors because it provides a mix of U.S. companies of all sizes, avoiding the need to have separate funds to add stocks of small and mid-size companies. Adding other ETFs can further diversify into stocks outside the U.S., with iShares MSCI EAFE (NYSEMKT: EFA  ) providing broad-based exposure to stocks in some of the largest economies in the world. Look for short-term crisis situations with likely positive outcomes. For instance, Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) took a big hit after its Dreamliner aircraft's battery safety was compromised. For a few months, the aircraft was grounded, leading to intense investor fear. Yet the company rapidly resolved the problem, and investors have once again focused on the multitrillion-dollar potential for future orders over the next 20 years, rewarding value investors. Be careful with high-priced, high-growth stocks. They can be the best performers in your portfolio, but you'll suffer gut-wrenching moves along the way. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) , for instance, soared to nearly $300 per share in 2011 before plunging 75% in the face of its ill-advised attempt to break up its DVD and streaming businesses into two separate companies. Just a couple of years later, though, Netflix has gotten its growth back, with higher prices having provided greater revenue and international expansion giving the company plenty of potential for future growth. The shares have more than quadrupled from their 2012 lows.

  Step into stocks
  Investing in stocks involves taking on more risk than

Best Mid Cap Companies To Invest In 2015: DCT Industrial Trust Inc (DCT)

DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (DCT) is an industrial real estate company that owns, operates and develops bulk distribution and light industrial properties in distribution markets in the United States and Mexico. The Company is structured as an umbrella partnership real estate investment trust (REIT), under which substantially all of its business is, and will be, conducted through a majority-owned and controlled subsidiary, DCT Industrial Operating Partnership LP (the operating partnership), a Delaware limited partnership, for which DCT Industrial Trust Inc. is the sole general partner. The Company owns properties through its operating partnership and its subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2011, DCT owned approximately 90% of the outstanding equity interests in its operating partnership. In March 2012, DCT acquired a 32.6 acre land parcel in Romeoville, within the southern I-55 industrial submarket of Chicago. In May 2012, the Company acquired two Class A industrial buildings totaling 98,000 square feet in Houston, known as DCT Claymoore Center. Located in the Northwest submarket of Houston, DCT Claymoore Center encompasses a bulk and light industrial facility and is 95.8%-occupied.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired 24 buildings comprising 2.8 million square feet and controlling ownership interests in three buildings totaling 0.4 million square feet. In 2011, the Company sold 16 operating properties totaling approximately 2.7 million square feet to third-parties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� consolidated operating properties had leases with approximately 900 customers with no single customer accounting for more than 1.7% of the total annualized base rents of its properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned interests in, managed or had under development approximately 75.5 million square feet of properties leased to approximately 900 customers, including 58.1 million square feet comprising 408 consolidated properties owned in its operating portfo! lio, which were 90.6% occupied; 0.2 million square feet comprising one consolidated property under redevelopment, and 17.2 million square feet comprising 52 unconsolidated properties, which were 86.3% occupied and one managed-only property operated on behalf of five institutional capital management partners. As of December 31, 2011, its total consolidated portfolio consisted of 409 properties with an average size of 142,000 square feet and an average age of 20.2 years.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brad Thomas]

  Other REITs mentioned: (O), (NNN), (STAG), (DCT), (EGP), (PDM), (DRE), (LRY)

  Source: Chambers Street: More Liquidity Magic On The Way In REIT-Dom

  Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Best Mid Cap Companies To Invest In 2015: ViaSat Inc.(VSAT)

ViaSat, Inc. designs, produces, and markets satellite and other wireless communication, and networking systems for government and commercial customers. The company?s Government Systems segment offers network-centric Internet protocol (IP) based government communications systems, including tactical radio and information distribution systems that enable real-time collection and dissemination of video and data using transmission links between command centers, communications nodes, and air defense systems; information security and assurance products, which enable military and government users to communicate information securely over networks, and that secure data stored on computers and storage devices; and government satellite communication systems, such as portable, mobile, and fixed broadband modems, terminals, network access control systems, and antenna systems. The company?s Commercial Networks segment provides various satellite communication systems and ground networki ng equipment. It offers satellite network infrastructure and ground terminals to access high capacity satellites; antenna systems for terrestrial and satellite applications, such as geo-special imagery, mobile satellite communication, Ka-band gateways, and other multi-band antennas; enterprise very small aperture terminal networks and products; and mobile broadband satellite communication systems. This segment also provides satellite networking systems design and technology development, including the analysis, design, and specification of satellites and ground systems, ASIC and MMIC design and production, and wide area network compression for enterprise networks. The company?s Satellite Services segment provides wholesale and retail satellite-based broadband Internet services, as well as managed network services for the satellite communication systems of its consumer, enterprise, and mobile broadband customers. ViaSat, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Carlsb ad, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  ViaSat (NASDAQ: VSAT) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.11 per share on revenue of $348.98 million.

  Biodel (NASDAQ: BIOD) is expected to post a Q1 loss at $0.24 per share.

• [By John Udovich]

  Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC�� Mad Money, recently touted ViaSat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) as an in-flight WiFi or satellite communications related play, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of small cap in-flight WiFi provider Gogo Inc (NASDAQ: GOGO) and small cap satellite communications firm Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ: IRDM). I should mention that I have written about Gogo Inc in the past (Small Cap Gogo Inc (GOGO): Is There Turbulence Ahead? IRDM�and Is In-flight WiFi Stock Gogo, Inc. (GOGO) the Next Iridium?) and Cramer also touched on some of the differences between the in-flight wifi service offerings of both. Cramer also interviewed ViaSat, Inc�� CEO who said they had been waiting for a new satellite to ��isrupt��the market.

• [By Rich Smith]

  The U.S. Department of Defense announced a half dozen new contracts benefiting the U.S. Navy Wednesday. Of these, five went to publicly traded companies, namely:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  ViaSat (Nasdaq: VSAT  ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on May 16. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict ViaSat's revenues will expand 18.6% and EPS will turn positive