Top Performing Companies To Invest In Right Now

The wealth-building power of compound interest will never cease to amaze me. But a soft dividend can also distract investors from exciting growth opportunities. There are times when a weak payout may be all right, because the company is building a larger and stronger cash machine to fund payouts in the decades ahead.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS  ) rarely comes up in discussions of brilliant dividend plays. The media giant's measly 1.1% yield is hardly the stuff of legend, and Disney spends just 26% of its free cash on dividend checks. That's less than half the average Dow Jones (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) cash payout ratio of 57%. With this much headroom to increase payouts, why doesn't the House of Mouse turn up the heat under its dividend policy? Does this company hate shareholders?

The short answer to that rhetorical question is, of course, a resounding "no."

For one thing, Disney is getting over its reluctance to raise dividends lately. Thanks to large increases in 2011 and 2012, Disney's payouts have more than doubled in the last five years. The main reason why this trend didn't unlock a generous yield is simple: The stock is just performing too darn well! It's hard to keep a dividend policy abreast with the rapid rise of Disney share prices.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2015: iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF (CSJ)

iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Credit Bond Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the investment-grade credit sector of the United States bond market as defined by the Lehman Brothers 1-3 Year U.S. Credit Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of investment-grade United States credit securities, corporate debt and sovereign, local authority and non-United States agency bonds that are United States dollar denominated.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. The Index includes investment grade United States credit securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than three years, and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. Barclays Global Fund Advisors serves as an advisor to the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GURUFOCUS]

  In addition to individual stocks several funds pay a monthly dividend. Below is a sampling of these:
  Monthly Bond Funds- iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Credit Bond (CSJ) | Yield: 1.29%
  - Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) | Yield: 1.25%
  - Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV) | Yield: 2.96%
  - Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV) | Yield: 4.42%

Top Performing Companies To Invest In Right Now: Barratt Developments PLC (BDEV)

Barratt Developments PLC is a holding company. The Company�� principal activities consists of acquiring and developing land, planning, designing and constructing residential property developments and selling the homes it builds. The Company operates in two segments: housebuilding and commercial developments. The Company operates across a spectrum of the market from flats to family homes and urban regeneration schemes. The Company also has a focused commercial developments business. The Company builds a range of homes ranging from those for first-time buyers, to family homes, to high-rise flats and affordable housing. The Company�� housebuilding business trades under the Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Ward Homes brands. The Company�� subsidiaries include BDW Trading Limited, BDW North Scotland Limited, David Wilson Homes Limited and Wilson Bowden Developments Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  U.K. homebuilders declined as increasing bond yields spurred concern rising interest rates may hinder the housing recovery. Barratt Developments Plc (BDEV) sank 7.4 percent, Persimmon Plc fell 3.6 percent and Taylor Wimpey Plc lost 3.7 percent.

Top Performing Companies To Invest In Right Now: Materion Corporation (MTRN)

Materion Corporation, a materials solutions company, engages in the production and supply of high-performance engineered materials in the United States and internationally. The company offers high performance materials solutions for large area coatings, alternative energy, and thin film applications; and specialty inorganic chemicals for semiconductors, LED lighting, and energy storage applications. It also provides precision thin film coatings and optical filters for manufacturers in the defense, commercial, space, science, astronomy, and thermal imaging industries; beryllium-based metals and metal matrix composites for commercial, research, and engineering applications; and copper, copper beryllium, and spinodal alloy products for end-use products in the aerospace, automotive, computers, telecommunications, manufacturing equipment, mobile equipment, medical products, oil and gas, alternative energy, and plastic tooling markets. In addition, the company offers high perfor mance engineered ceramics; beryllium X-ray window and ultra high vacuum products; electron beam welding, vacuum furnace brazing, and waterjet cutting services, as well as engineering support services; and beryllium products, such as speaker domes and microphone transducers. Further, Materion Corporation provides precision-coated materials; thin film deposition materials, electronic packaging products, and specialty materials for the semiconductor, photonics, data storage, wireless, military, and medical markets; and precision parts cleaning, precious metals refining, and recycling services. Additionally, it engages in beryllium mining and milling business; and offers engineered beryllium materials and specialty strip metal products. The company was formerly known as Brush Engineered Materials Inc. and changed its name to Materion Corporation on March 8, 2011. Materion Corporation was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Materion (MTRN) has fallen 8% to $29.75 after the gold refiner said earnings should come in at around 20 cents a share, well below analyst forecasts. Outerwall (OUTR), meanwhile, has jumped 12% to $64.08 after an activist investor took a big stake in the company.

Top Performing Companies To Invest In Right Now: Silicon Image Inc.(SIMG)

Silicon Image, Inc. provides wireless and wired high-definition (HD) connectivity solutions that enable the distribution and presentation of HD content for consumer electronics, mobile, and personal computer (PC) markets. It delivers its technology via semiconductor and intellectual property products. The company?s consumer electronics products include high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port processors, HDMI and mobile high-definition link (MHL) transmitters, MHL-to-HDMI bridges, and HDMI receiver products; PC products comprise MHL/HDMI-to-HDMI bridges and digital visual interface receivers; and storage products consist of a line of serial advanced technology attachment controllers used in PC, DVR, and network attached storage applications. Its products are deployed by the electronics manufacturers in various devices, such as desktop and notebook PCs, DTVs, Blu-ray disc players, and audio-video receivers, as well as mobile phones, tablets, and digital cameras. The company, through its subsidiaries, provides manufacturers comprehensive standards interoperability and compliance testing services; and acts as an agent for promoting and administering HDMI and MHL specifications, and for licensing the serial port memory technology memory interface specification. It sells its products to original product manufacturers worldwide through direct sales force, as well as through a network of distributors and manufacturer?s representatives. The company has operations in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, China, and Korea, as well as Europe and internationally. Silicon Image, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  We have recently added small cap video chip stock Pixelworks, Inc (NASDAQ: PXLW) to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO)�as it stands to benefit from the growth in connecting HD quality video across all mobile device platforms, as well as Smart TVs; but Silicon Image, Inc (NASDAQ: SIMG) and Sigma Designs, Inc (NASDAQ: SIGM) are also providing chips for the video or entertainment markets. Moreover, all three of these small cap stocks have recently reported earnings that might leave you feeling even more bullish.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Quick - what do Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE:SPG), Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS), and Silicon Image, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIMG) have in common? If you said absolutely nothing, you'd be about 99% right. There's one common thing between SIMG, SPG, and DPS right now, however. What's that? All three stocks are on my personal "buy" list this week.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  The exact same setup is shaping up in shares of small-cap semiconductor firm Silicon Image (SIMG). Like HCP, this firm is stuck trading in a downtrending channel. Unlike HCP, trendline resistance is a whole lot stronger in this stock. Shares have gotten swatted down on each of the last eight attempts through that ceiling; with shares at resistance again, the high-probability move is to the downside.

  Again, relative strength has been terrible since the summer; SIMG is underperforming the S&P by a considerable margin. Downtrending relative strength is a cardinal sin for stocks, so with shares sitting at resistance, now's a stellar place to be a seller. While support has been pretty strong along the way down, SIMG's previous penetrations through S1 should be a big red flag that buyers are skittish.

  SIMG is in a textbook downtrend right now. Don't get caught on the wrong side of the trade.

• [By Anna Prior]

  Silicon Image Inc.(SIMG) cut its revenue outlook for the second quarter amid lower-than-expected shipments to a significant customer and a delay of certain expected royalty revenue. Shares fell 10% to $4.49 in recent premarket trading.