According to Johanna Bennett of Barrons, WITH STOCK VALUES PLUMMETING and bonds delivering measly returns, it’s a good time to start sniffing out shares with juicy dividends that are for keeps.

Track Johanna’s picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/stocks/category/632

To be sure, dividends generated by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index are growing drastically slower in 2008 than experts forecast earlier this year.

And though they have fared better than the broader stock market so far this year, total returns from dividend-paying stocks tracked by Standard & Poor’s have fallen almost 15%.  BUT, the best opportunities are in companies that have strong dividends and histories increasing the dividend with balance sheets and expected earnings that will allow continued payments (and increases):

Dividends Can Yield

Some companies with the ability to increase dividends

Company Ticker Mkt Cap Yield EPS ...

Barron’s analyst Tiernan Ray says SELL Blue Nile.

Track his picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/

IN TIME, SHARES OF ONLINE JEWELER Blue Nile should turn from a lump of coal into a gem. Just don’t expect the magical transformation to happen anytime soon.

a. After a 50% decline in Blue Nile’s shares in the last 12 months, there could still be substantial downside as the contours of the U.S. economic downturn continue to come to light.

b. As consumers file for unemployment compensation in rising numbers, see their home values continue to retreat, and put up with lower lines of credit, they’re increasingly ratcheting down their purchases of discretionary items such as the baubles that Blue Nile sells.

c. the stock trades at an eye-popping 33 times next year’s expected earnings per share, even after its collapse.

d. To make matters worse, there’s new competition for investors’ attention.  Zales,

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Barron’s analyst Johanna Bennett recommended Perrigo.

Track her picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/

a. IN THE PAST, CASH-STRAPPED CONSUMERS who gladly substituted brand-name household products for cheaper store brands tended to draw the line at their medicine chests. Not anymore.Increasingly, these consumers have been replacing Tylenol, NyQuil and other leading over-the-counter medications with less expensive store-brand alternatives

b. That’s good news for Perrigo, the world’s largest maker of store-brand nonprescription medicines. The company is well positioned to benefit from a slew of new products set to keep pace with rising demand.

c. Profits are set to climb. So despite trading at a price-to-earnings multiple that exceeds that of the broader market, Perrigo’s share price could set a new record in the next 12 months.

d. They dominate the store-brand market, and are the best positioned to take advantage of growing opportunities. Profits, meanwhile, are visible and growing strong. They

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Alexander Eule, a  Barron’s analyst, recommended Hanesbrands:

Track his picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=203

a. HANESBRANDS IS NOT SEEING much in the way of sales growth these days, but the underwear maker still has much to offer on the bottom line.

b. Last year, Hanesbrands sold $4.5 billion worth of underwear, T-shirts, socks, intimate apparel and athletic wear. The company’s brands include Hanes, Champion, Just My Size, Playtex, Bali, Barely There, L’eggs and Wonderbra. The company says it ranks first or second by U.S. sales in each of its core categories.

c. many investors remain skeptical, a sentiment that was supported in late July by Hanes’ less-than-stellar second-quarter results, which included a 4.4% sales decline. Shares tumbled 18% on the news before settling at a 52-week low of $21.38 on Aug. 1.

c. Chief Executive Officer Richard Noll concedes the company needs to sharpen its focus when it comes to

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Barron’s Analyst Naureen Mailik Recommended Rowan.

Track her picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=692

a. At a time when these stocks are at or hovering near multiyear lows, Rowan sparkles with potential. The company owns and operates what is seen as one of the highest-quality fleet of jack-up rigs in the world. Primarily, Rowan’s jack-ups, named because they have legs that rest on the ocean floor, can drill some of the deepest offshore wells in the world.

b. However, the company’s shares have declined 21% since touching a 52-week high of $47.94 on June 30 and are trading at a mere 7.2 times 2009 earnings estimates.  Drillers typically trade at 10-20x.

c.  Contract renewals for existing rigs and the delivery of nine new jack-ups through 2011 will expand Rowan’s fleet by 40%, in turn driving double-digit earnings growth at the company.

d. The anticipated sale by year end of

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Leslie Norton, Barron’s analyst/journaist recommended People’s United Financial, as a winner in the credit crunch:

Track her picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=641

a.  The cash-rich Bridgeport, Conn.-based regional stands out for the strength of its balance sheet, lack of subprime-mortgage exposure and prospects for still-stronger returns. People’s is so well-capitalized that it’s hunting for acquisitions, as other lenders are watching their share prices and franchises shrink.

b. The stock slid as low as 14.58 after the company bought a Vermont bank, Chittenden, for $1.9 billion. That purchase made it the largest New England regional, with $21 billion in assets and 300-plus branches.

c. People’s has one of the highest capital ratios around; Tier One capital (equity and unredeemable preference shares) was a whopping 16.5% of assets — 2.75 times what the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deems “well-capitalized. This puts the bank’s total cash holdings at $2.5 billion, or

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Teresa Rivas, analyst for Barron’s, recommended Covanta Holdings…track her picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=861

IT’S AN OLD ADAGE THAT one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but these days, one man’s trash is another one’s electricity. Covanta Holding is at the forefront of the waste-to-energy industry.

With skyrocketing fuel prices, increasing worldwide concern over climate change and overflowing landfills, Covanta is positioned to see strong growth in both domestic and international markets.

It couldn’t come at a better time for the Fairfield, N.J.-based company, which owns landfills and energy generation plants, the majority of which are waste-to-energy facilities. Covanta incinerates garbage to produce electricity for towns and municipalities.

After paying off a number of capital-intensive plants, Covanta now owns debt-free assets, which, in addition to beefing up the bottom line, will increase its borrowing power. Combined with a 9% free cash flow yield, the company is free to

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Johanna Bennett, Barron’s analyst, recommended McKesson- track her picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=632

a. WHILE BIG PHARMACEUTICAL companies face setbacks launching new drugs, McKesson seems to be sitting pretty cheap considering how fast the nation’s largest drug wholesaler generates healthy profit growth these days.

b. At current multiples, investors can cash in as McKesson outgrows its biggest rivals and profits from the growing demand for generic drugs.

c. Last month, McKesson reported financial results that beat expectations, buoyed by share repurchases, higher drug revenues and recent acquisitions of smaller drug wholesalers that helped boost earnings. The company also hiked earnings estimates for the fiscal year scheduled to end on March 31, 2009 to between $4 a share and $4.15 a share.

e. Company acts as a middleman for the nation’s drug industry, distributing prescription medications to hospitals and retailers like CVS and Wal-Mart.

f. A division that

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Barrron’s analyst Andrew Bary sees potential in R.H. Donnelly, the publisher of yellow pages:

a. Investors long considered yellow-pages publishers stable, high-margin cash cows capable of carrying high debt loads. That perception has changed dramatically in the past year amid advertising declines and fears about whether Americans are forsaking print yellow-pages books for online searches. Reflecting investor concerns, some of R.H. Donnelley’s debt trades for just 50 cents on the dollar, which works out to a yield of over 25%. That may make the bonds a safer play than the shares, which also hold promise.

b. R.H. Donnelley is far from dead. The company expects to generate $475 million to $525 million in free cash flow this year. It has no major debt maturities until 2010. Thus, investors probably get a two-year “look” at Donnelley’s business before possible problems loom in 2010, when it will have $1.4 billion in

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The Masters haven't mentioned Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ONXX) in a long time, since our 100%+ gain with our Master Picks Newsletter.  Barron's is jumping on the bandwagon now that shares are down to $33.  Can Nexavar, Onyx's cancer drug take the company and stock back into the spotlight? Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc's (NASDAQ:ONXX) cancer drug has bright potential in treating several forms of the disease and could raise the biotech company's shares, according to a report on Sunday in Barron's (Paid portion only, thus no link provided). With sales of its drug Nexavar, now approved to treat kidney and liver cancer, expected to hit $1 billion next year, Barron's said one health-care investor is looking for earnings of $1.93 per share, and valuing the stock at $65 to $75 per share....