Best Safest Companies To Buy For 2015

Income investors have two equally important objectives when it comes to investing -- obtaining high amounts of income and limiting risk.

Many survivors of the 2008 bear market learned this the hard way. They found out that they must either balance the two, or face heavy losses.

 

Case in point: Many investors jumped at abnormally high yields in financial stocks like Citigroup (NYSE: C) when its yield jumped above 10% shortly before the company eliminated its dividend. And investors looking for a bargain in General Electric (NYSE: GE) endured a dividend cut of almost 70%.

Remember, these are companies that were once widely assumed to be among the safest in the world, yet they eliminated their dividend practically overnight.

Best Safest Companies To Buy For 2015: Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (UGP)

Ultrapar Holdings Inc. operates in the petrochemical and chemical sectors. The company operates in four segments: Gas Distribution, Fuel Distribution, Chemicals, and Storage. It distributes both bottled and bulk liquefied petroleum gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers through approximately 58 points of sales; a network of 4,700 independent retailers; and independent dealers, as well as through its own retail stores. The company also distributes diesel, gasoline, ethanol, natural gas for vehicles, fuel oil, kerosene, lubricants, and greases directly to customers, as well as through a network of service stations. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 6,460 service stations under the Ipiranga brand. In addition, the company produces and markets various chemical and petrochemical products, including ethylene oxide, ethylene glycols, ethanolamines, glycol ethers, and methyl-ethyl-ketone for chemical companies, and surface coating and polyester producers; and fatty-alcohols and related by-products, as well as specialty chemicals that are used as surfactants, softeners, dispersants, emulsifiers, and hydraulic fluids for industrial and commercial enterprises. Its chemical products are used in a range of industrial sectors, such as cosmetics, detergents, crop protection chemicals, polyester, packaging, textiles, coatings, and oil industry. Further, the company stores and handles liquid bulk, including chemicals, fuels, and vegetable oil; and offers ship loading and unloading services, as well as engages in the operation of pipelines, logistics programming, and installation engineering. Ultrapar Holdings Inc. offers its products and services primarily in Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, and the United States. The company was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in S茫o Paulo, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Brazilian liquefied petroleum gas distributor Ultrapar Holdings (NYSE: UGP  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

Best Safest Companies To Buy For 2015: Cutwater Select Income Fund (CSI)

Rivus Bond Fund (the Fund), formerly known as 1838 Bond-Debenture Trading Fund, is a diversified closed-end management investment company. The primary objective of the Fund is to maintain high level of income. Its portfolio includes long-term debt securities, including mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities. Effective July 7, 2006, the 1838 Bond-Debenture Trading Fund merged with and into the Rivus Bond Fund.

The Fund invests in various sectors, including automotive, chemicals, diversified financial services, energy, insurance, media, mining, real estate investment trusts, telecommunications, utilities and transportation. MBIA Capital Management Corp. serves as the investment advisor of the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sold At The Top]

  Today's release of the S&P/Case-Shiller (CSI) home price indices for August reported that the non-seasonally adjusted Composite-10 price index rose a notable 1.33% since July while the Composite-20 index also increased 1.32% over the same period.

5 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Own For 2015: UGI Corporation (UGI)

UGI Corporation distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services in the United States and internationally. It distributes propane to approximately 2.3 million residential, commercial/industrial, motor fuel, agricultural, and wholesale customers in 50 states through 2,100 propane distribution locations; and sells, installs, and services propane appliances, including heating systems. The company also distributes liquid petroleum gas (LPG) to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and automobile fuel customers for space and water heating, cooking, process heat, forklifts, transportation, construction work, manufacturing, crop drying, power generation, and irrigation; and provides logistic and storage services to third-party LPG distributors. In addition, it distributes natural gas to approximately 600,000 customers primarily in the portions of 46 eastern and central Pennsylvania counties through its distribution system of 12,000 mi les of gas mains; and supplies electricity to approximately 60,000 customers in northeastern Pennsylvania through 2,100 miles of transmission and distribution lines, and 13 transmission substations. Further, the company is involved in the retail sale of natural gas, liquid fuels, and electricity to approximately 18,000 commercial and industrial customers at approximately 43,000 locations. Additionally, it operates electric generation facilities, which include solar and landfill gas facilities; a natural gas liquefaction, storage, and vaporization facility; propane storage and propane-air mixing stations; and rail transshipment terminals. The company also manages natural gas pipeline and storage contracts; and develops, owns, and operates pipelines, gathering infrastructure, and gas storage facilities. In addition, it provides heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and electrical contracting services. The company was founded in 1882 and is based in King of Pru ssia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  AmeriGas Propane, the general partner of AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU  ) and subsidiary of propane distributor UGI (NYSE: UGI  ) , announced Monday that it has promoted its treasurer, Hugh J. Gallagher, to the position of company vice president for finance, and chief financial officer.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Monday

  Earnings Releases Expected: UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), First Bancorp. (NYSE: FBP) Economic Releases Expected: �Indian services PMI, Spanish services PMI, Italian services PMI, German services PMI, eurozone services PMI, British services PMI, German CPI, US ISM non-manufacturing PMI

  Tuesday

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Monday

  Earnings Releases Expected: Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI), Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE: CRM Economic Releases Expected: Hong Kong unemployment rate, eurozone current account, Spanish current account

  Tuesday

Best Safest Companies To Buy For 2015: Woolworths Ltd (WOW)

Woolworths Limited is an Australia-based company. The Company operates in five segments: Australian Food and Liquor, New Zealand Supermarkets, Petrol, BIG W and Hotels. Australian Food and Liquor segment is engaged in the procurement of food and liquor and products for resale to customers in Australia. New Zealand Supermarkets segment is engaged in the procurement of food and liquor and products for resale to customers in New Zealand. Petrol segment is engaged in the procurement of petroleum products for resale to customers in Australia. BIG W segment is engaged procurement of discount general merchandise products for resale to customers in Australia. Hotels segment is engaged in the provision of leisure and hospitality services, including food and alcohol, accommodation, entertainment and gaming. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Burgos]

  Woolworths Ltd. (WOW) dropped 1.6 percent to A$33.22 after Australia�� largest retailer said challenging economic condition were evident in the second quarter.

Best Safest Companies To Buy For 2015: Revett Mining Company Inc (RVM)

Revett Mining Co Inc, formerly Revett Minerals Inc., is a silver-copper producer. The Company owns and operates the producing Troy Mine and the development-stage Rock Creek project; both properties are located in northwestern Montana. Troy is an underground copper and silver mine. Rock Creek is a development-stage underground copper and silver project. Revett Silver owns all of Troy and Rock Creek through two wholly owned Montana subsidiaries, Troy Mine Inc. and RC Resources Inc., respectively. Rock Creek is located in Sanders County, Montana, approximately 5 miles northeast of the town of Noxon. The Troy Mine is located in Lincoln County, Montana. During the year ended December 31, 2011, RC Resources Inc. acquired eight claims (the JE claims) and staked an additional 200 claims (the Lost Girl claims) northwest of Rock Creek increasing the property position at Rock Creek by approximately 4,000 acres. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  If you've never heard of Revett Minerals Inc. (NYSEMKT:RVM) before right now, don't worry about it - you're not alone. The $25 million silver and copper miner doesn't have enough size to merit much media attention, and to make things more difficult, silver and miner has spent the better part of 2013 being out of favor. Yet, things are slowing changing for RVM and its shareholders.... for the better. Though a little more work needs to be done, this stock's knocking on the door of a monster breakout.

Best Safest Companies To Buy For 2015: Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI)

Gannett Co., Inc. operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States and internationally. Its Publishing segment publishes 83 U.S. daily newspapers with affiliated online sites, including USA TODAY, a national, general-interest daily newspaper; USATODAY.com; USA WEEKEND, a magazine supplement for newspapers; Clipper Magazine, a direct mail advertising magazine; bi-weekly Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek periodicals; and military and defense newspapers. This segment also includes 17 paid-for daily newspapers; approximately 200 weekly newspapers, magazines, and trade publications; and approximately 600 non-daily publications, as well as involves in commercial printing, newswire, marketing, and data services operations. The company?s Digital segment owns and operates CareerBuilder, an employment Web site, which offers online recruitment and career advancement services for employers, employees, recruiters, and job seekers; ShopLocal, which provides multicha nnel shopping and advertising services; Planet Discover, which offers hosted search and advertising services; PointRoll, which provides digital marketing services and technology; and Schedule Star, which offers scheduling solution for high school athletic departments. Its Broadcasting segment operates 23 television stations and affiliated Web sites, which produce local programming, such as news, sports, and entertainment programming. This segment also includes Captivate Network, a national news and entertainment network that delivers programming and full-motion video advertising on video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies in North America. The company has strategic business relationships with online affiliates, including Classified Ventures, ShopLocal.com, Topix, and Metromix LLC, as well as strategic marketing agreement with Microsoft. Gannett Co., Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang]

  Gannett Co. (GCI) �is projected to post earnings of 41 cents a share in the third quarter.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Gannett (NYSE: GCI  ) reported earnings on July 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Gannett missed estimates on revenues and missed slightly on earnings per share.