Best Canadian Companies To Watch For 2014

Even as the market hits new highs, there are still plenty of good stocks out there to invest in these days. With oil prices still rather elevated and natural gas off its recent lows, energy stocks are a great place to place your hard-earned investing dollars. That's why the following three companies -- which have above-average shareholder payouts, excellent long-term growth prospects, and solid balance sheets -- top my list of the best stocks to invest in today.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP  )
Among the large independent exploration and production companies, ConocoPhillips has the characteristics I look for in a long-term investment. The company has a steady growth plan, which will see it boost its production and margins by 3%-5% annually through 2017, with multiple opportunities to keep growing beyond that date. In addition to its exceptional growth opportunities here in the states, Conoco's operations span the globe, including positions in the Canadian oil sands, Australian natural gas exports, and European offshore oil. That diversification has helped keep the company from suffering the fate of many of its landlocked U.S.-based peers.�

Best Canadian Companies To Watch For 2014: Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.(NUS)

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. develops and distributes anti-aging personal care products and nutritional supplements worldwide. The company sells its personal care products under the Nu Skin brand; and nutritional supplements under the Pharmanex brand. Its personal care product line includes core systems, targeted treatments, total care, cosmetic, and Epoch, a product formulated with botanical ingredients. The company?s nutritional supplements product line comprises micronutrient supplements, targeted solution supplements, and weight management products. It also sells Vitameal, which are nutritious meal products for starving children or purchased for personal food storage. In addition, the company offers other products and services consisting of digital content storage, water purifiers, and other household products. It sells its products primarily through a network of independent distributors in north Asia, the Americas, Greater China, Europe, and the south Asia/Pacific. The c ompany also operates retail stores to sell its products in China. As of December 31, 2010, Nu Skin Enterprises operated 40 stores throughout China. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Provo, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) is a direct selling company, which develops and distributes personal care products and nutritional supplements that are sold under the Nu Skin and Pharmanex brands. This stock closed up 5.4% at $92.96 in Monday's trading session.

  Monday's Volume: 2 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 900,802
  
  Volume % Change: 85%

  From a technical perspective, NUS ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $85 with heavy upside volume. This move pushed shares of NUS into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $88.20 to $89.69. This move also pushed shares of NUS above the upper-end of its recent range that saw the stock trend between $82 to just above $89.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NUS as long as it's trending above support at $85 and then once it sustains a move or close above Monday's high of $93.33 with volume that this near or above 900,802 shares. If we get that move soon, then NUS will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $100 to $105.

Best Canadian Companies To Watch For 2014: Ormat Technologies Inc.(ORA)

Ormat Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the geothermal and recovered energy power business in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electricity and Product. The Electricity segment develops, builds, owns, and operates geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants; and sells the electricity. The Product segment designs, manufactures, and sells power units for geothermal and recovered energy-based electricity generation; fossil fuel powered turbo-generators; and heavy duty direct-current generators. It also provides services relating to the engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of geothermal and recovered energy power plants. This segment serves contractors and geothermal power plant owners and operators; and interstate natural gas pipeline owners and operators, gas processing plant owners and operators, cement plant owners and operators, and companies in other energy-intens ive industrial processes. The company was founded in 1965 and is based in Reno, Nevada. Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a subsidiary of Ormat Industries Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amy Thomson]

  AT&T has examined takeover candidates including Vodafone�� assets, U.K. mobile carrier EE -- a venture of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) and Orange SA (ORA) -- and parts of Spain�� Telefonica SA (TEF), people familiar with the company�� plans said in June. AT&T is attracted to Europe because of its relatively recent introduction of faster, fourth-generation networks, which have been available for years in the U.S.

Hot Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: Grupo Televisa S.A.(TV)

Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media company in Mexico and internationally. It operates in seven segments: Television Broadcasting, Pay Television Networks, Programming Exports, Publishing, Sky, Cable and Telecom, and Other Businesses. The Television Broadcasting segment engages in the production of television programming and broadcasting of channels 2, 4, 5, and 9; and production of television programming and broadcasting for local television stations in Mexico and the United States. The Pay Television Networks segment provides programming services for cable and pay-per-view television companies in Mexico, as well as other countries in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. The Programming Exports segment offers international licensing of television programming. The Publishing segment primarily publishes Spanish-language magazines in Mexico, the United States, and Latin America. The Sky segment provides direct-to-home broadcas t satellite pay television services in Mexico, Central America, and the Dominican Republic. The Cable and Telecom segment operates a cable and telecommunication system in the Mexico City metropolitan area. This segment provides data and long-distance services solutions to carriers and other telecommunications service providers through its fiber-optic network in Mexico and the United States; basic and premium television, pay-per-view, and telephone services. The Other Businesses segment engages in sports and show business promotion, soccer, feature film production and distribution, Internet, gaming, radio, and publishing distribution operations. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael J. Carr]

  Grupo Televisa (NYSE: TV) provides programming and cable and satellite services to viewers in the U.S., Mexico, the Dominican Republic and other countries. The company reported more than $5.5 billion in revenue over the past 12 months and earnings of more than $680 million, or $1.10 per share. Cash flow per share doubled in the past 12 months.

• [By Daniel Cross]

  Grupo Televisa (NYSE: TV) is a broadcasting company that is set to take advantage of growth in several areas. The increase in the United States' Hispanic population means there are 53 million potential users of Spanish-language networks like Univision. Grupo Televisa receives royalties from licensing its programs to Univision, and revenue is expected to top $270 million this year. The emergence of Mexico as a manufacturing powerhouse means that the middle class should see a boost as well. Pay TV is popular in Mexico, as seen by a 12% rise in that segment's revenues from last year. Operating margins are improving as well, increasing from 17% in 2011 to 26% as of the most recent quarter.

Best Canadian Companies To Watch For 2014: PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust(PMT)

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is based in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Sterne Agee’s team said, “We continue to prefer credit risk oriented Mortgage REITs over their Agency-only focused counterparts. Among the larger cap names in our coverage, our top picks are MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE: MFA) and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT).”

Best Canadian Companies To Watch For 2014: Potomac Electric Power Company(POM)

Pepco Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the transmission, distribution, and supply of electricity. The company also distributes and supplies natural gas. It distributes electricity to approximately 1.8 million customers in the mid-Atlantic region and delivers natural gas to approximately 123,000 customers in Delaware. In addition, the company involves in the retail supply of electricity and natural gas; provision of energy efficiency services to federal, state, and local government customers; and designs, constructs, and operates combined heat and power and central energy plants, as well as owns and operates two oil-fired generation facilities. Further, it offers high voltage electric construction and maintenance services, low voltage electric construction and maintenance services, and streetlight construction and asset management services to utilities, municipalities, and other customers in the Washington, District of Columbia. Additionally, the company holds investments in eight cross-border energy leases. Pepco Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1896 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  
  Highlight: Pepco Holdings Inc. (POM)

  The POM share price is currently $18.17 or 20.0% off the 52-week high of $22.72. Its yield is 5.90%.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Powering up
  It's pretty rare for stocks in the electric utility sector to see a prolonged dip given that electricity is a necessity product, but that's what we've seen from Mid-Atlantic electric utility provider Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM  ) .