By: Andrei Braghiş

SG Capital Management, one of the "elite" 450 hedge funds we track, has filed its 13F filing for the first quarter of 2013, and it indicates that some significant changes have been made. Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider, the fund's managers, have a new favorite holding in the No. 1 spot, while a couple of newcomers occupy the 4th and 5th positions. The original 13F can be seen here.

Why pay attention?

It's important to track the sentiment of the best hedge funds, because on the whole, their best picks have been shown to outperform the market by as much as 18 percentage points a year. Retail investors can capitalize on this phenomenon, but they have to know where to look first (discover the secrets of this strategy here).

The number one spot

II-VI (IIVI), a manufacturer of engineered materials and opto-electronic components,

Earnings season is in full swing and if you're a Dividend Growth investor with money to spend I'm sure you've been busy been making strategic purchases from your watch list. If you read my recent article on my portfolio business plan you know that one of my requirements is to maintain an active watch list and review and modify that list quarterly. My goal is to have a diversified watch list with companies that can serve as replacements for current holdings should it become necessary to replace

Each of the members of my watch list has passed the difficult hurdle of a year-by-year performance assessment and must have had sustained dividend growth going back to 2008. With few exceptions made for stocks that don't go back that long, each must have incurred fewer than four down years over the last 11. Last quarter I focused on higher beta selections, in

Q1 2013 Earnings Call

April 18, 2013 10:00 am ET

Executives

Albert H. Nahmad - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Nominating & Strategy Committee

Barry S. Logan - Senior Vice President, Secretary and Director

Paul W. Johnston - Vice President

Analysts

Ryan Merkel - William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division

Sanjay Shrestha - Lazard Capital Markets LLC, Research Division

Matt Duncan - Stephens Inc., Research Division

David J. Manthey - Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division

Joshua C. Pokrzywinski - MKM Partners LLC, Research Division

Chris Sikora - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Jeffrey D. Hammond - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Brian J. Bittner - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division

Keith B. Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Research Division

Daniel Whang - B. Riley Caris, Research Division

Charles Stephen Tusa - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research

VIX - Market Sentiment:

Monday saw S&P futures sharply lower after markets across the world were lower across the board. Commodities volatility has soared as gold and silver prices plunge to 2-year lows. Gold ETF (GLD) and Silver ETF (SLV) both actually broke not the 200-day moving average but the 200-week moving average currently sitting at 139.80 for the GLD. Even worse these moves have been on massive volume as liquidation appears to be continuing across the board for commodity stocks. Back on April 4th I highlighted on the sonar report (here) a 20M trade where the GLD 155 September straddle was bought costing the trader more than 21M. As I pointed out on Twitter today this trader is now sitting on more than a double as this position could be sold today for more than 42M as volatility has exploded in the metals market.

As typical with any

I still hear pundits on TV almost every day discounting the rebound in housing.

I see articles all of the time that are warning me to not get fooled by the rise in housing stocks, it is not real they say, it is all an illusion.

Shares of Horsham, Pa., based Toll Brothers (TOL) are up 49% over the last 12 months and have averaged almost 20% per year over the last three years.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Data from Best Stocks Now app

Of course, it is one thing to look at the past. Investing is all about the future. Toll Brothers is still one of my favorite stocks with an overall Grade of "A-".

Moving further west, the shares of Fort Worth, Texas, based D R Horton (DHI) are up 61% over the last 12 months. They continue to hit new highs, but then again, it

By: Anil Nain

After a housing crash that saw trillions of dollars of wealth eroded, millions of Americans entered loan defaults and lost their homes, Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB), and massive government bailouts, the housing market may have seen a bottom, recent data suggests.

Data released jointly by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau indicates that privately-owned housing starts in January were at 890,000, 23% higher than the January 2012 rate of 720,000. Looking ahead, privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at 925,000, 35.2% above the January 2012 numbers. And, according to ADP's National Employment Report, 21,000 construction jobs were added in the private sector between January and February 2013, which would mark the 8th consecutive month for additions in construction.

Moreover, stabilizing home prices also appear to be moving

February 20, 2013 12:30 pm ET

Executives

Barry S. Logan - Senior Vice President, Secretary and Director

Analysts

Scott R. Davis - Barclays Capital, Research Division

John F. Kasprzak - BB&T Capital Markets, Research Division

Presentation

Scott R. Davis - Barclays Capital, Research Division

.

Okay, folks. Thank you for being patient. I wanted to give everybody a chance to come back from lunch. We're going to start off the afternoon with Watsco and Barry Logan, Executive Vice President and long, long time, how long have you been with Watsco, Barry?

Barry S. Logan

20 years.

Scott R. Davis - Barclays Capital, Research Division

I was going to guess 20. A 20-year Watsco veteran. He's seen the company grown from -- Oh gosh, what was the revenues when you started?

Barry S. Logan

About $150 million.

Scott R. Davis - Barclays Capital, Research Division

I was going

Q4 2012 Earnings Call

February 14, 2013 10:00 am ET

Executives

Albert H. Nahmad - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Nominating & Strategy Committee

Paul W. Johnston - Vice President

Barry S. Logan - Senior Vice President, Secretary and Director

Analysts

Sanjay Shrestha - Lazard Capital Markets LLC, Research Division

Ryan Merkel - William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division

Joshua C. Pokrzywinski - MKM Partners LLC, Research Division

Chris Sikora - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Stephen Ragard - Stephens Inc., Research Division

Keith B. Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Research Division

David J. Manthey - Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Good morning. My name is Adrian and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Fourth Quarter and Year-end Earnings Report Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

Albert

The Dividend Champions spreadsheet and PDF have been updated through 1/31/13 and are available at http://dripinvesting.org/Tools/Tools.asp Note that all references to Champions mean companies that have paid higher dividends for at least 25 straight years; Contenders have streaks of 10-24 years; Challengers have streaks of 5-9 years. "CCC" refers to the universe of Champions, Contenders, and Challengers.

New Year, New Growth

December may have featured the addition of new columns of data and computations. But January was a month of more subtle changes and the promise of new growth in the universe of dividend raisers. In addition to conditional formatting added to the Yield, Most Recent Increase, and Graham Number columns, I added Supplemental Statistics below the Deletions table on the Changes tab. Meanwhile, 14 new companies were added to the Challengers and Contenders, many as a result of the diligent work of fellow SA Contributor Five Plus

Interested in stocks paying dividend income but don't know where to start looking? Here are some ideas to get you started.

We ran a screen on stocks paying dividend yields above 1% for those currently rallying above their 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages.

We then screened for those with bullish sentiment from institutional investors, with significant net institutional purchases over the last quarter representing at least 5% of share float. This indicates that institutional investors such as hedge fund managers and mutual fund managers expect these names to outperform into the future.

For an interactive version of this chart, click on the image below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Do you think these stocks are poised to outperform? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.

List sorted by net institutional purchases over the last quarter as a percent of share float.

1. NRG

Do you prefer stocks that pay steady dividend income? We ran a screen with dividend sustainability in mind.

We began by screening for highly liquid dividend stocks: those paying dividend yields above 2%, and those with current ratios above 3. The current ratio is current assets/current liabilities, so ratios above 3 indicate the company has at least 3 times the liquid assets to cover short-term liabilities.

We then screened for stocks with bullish sentiment from institutional investors, with significant net institutional purchases over the last quarter representing at least 5% of share float. This indicates that institutional investors such as hedge fund managers and mutual fund managers expect these names to outperform in the future.

For an interactive version of this chart, click on the image below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Do you think these stocks will continue to pay strong dividends? Use this list as a

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here: http://dripinvesting.org/Tools/Tools.asp ), I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again.

Jumping The Fiscal Cliff

Anticipating the possible changes in dividend taxation, it appears that many companies that would normally announce increases in January have accelerated those into 2012, hence the relatively small number of January dates below. But a healthy crop of expected increases are expected during February, which coincides with the "forward look" of about 11 weeks for this article.

I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions, Contenders, and Challengers into distinct groupings, so please look for the other articles, which I hope will be

Come January 1, dividends are set to lose their favorable tax treatment. If Congress doesn't act, dividends will no longer be taxed at a 15% rate. Instead, they'll be treated as ordinary income with taxes reaching as high as 43% for the upper brackets.

How will corporate boards across America respond should Congress allow dividend tax rates to climb - especially as most stock-holding directors fall in the highest tax brackets?

The best tell: The companies that have raised their dividend reliably year after year. They were the only 4 stocks in the prized dividend champion, contender, and challenger categories that raised their dividend for last January. They are therefore "due" to boost them again this coming January.

They are CVS (CVS), Graco (GGG), Williams-Sonoma (WSM), and Watsco (WSO). I've excluded companies with market caps under $2 billion.

They will be the canaries in the dividend mine. They did some

Investing in companies that regularly raise dividends provides security in an uncertain market and means higher returns ahead. Furthermore, dividend-rich growth stocks with a high dividend growth history and which are in an uptrend, have a better chance to outperform the market.

I have searched for profitable companies with strong growth prospects. I also looked for companies which are in short-term uptrend, in mid-term uptrend and in long-term uptrend. Stocks in an uptrend are performing well and are in a buying mode.

I have elaborated a screening method which shows stock candidates following these lines. Nonetheless, the screening method should only serve as a basis for further research.

The screen's formula requires all stocks to comply with all following demands:

1. The stock is included in the Russell 3000 index. Russell Investment explanation:

The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 98%

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here), I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again.

More Good News Ahead

After a noticeable pick-up in the number of companies that typically increase their dividends in the last part of the year, we should see a modest start to 2013, with only a small number expected in January, which coincides with the "forward look" of about 11 weeks for this article.

I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions, Contenders, and Challengers into distinct groupings, so please look for the other articles, which I hope will be published about the same time.

Based on last year's

Goldman Sachs Industrials Conference

November 14, 2012 11:45 AM ET

Executives

Barry Logan – SVP

Analysts

Adam Samuelson – Goldman Sachs

Presentation

Adam Samuelson

Okay. I think we’ll get started. Very happy to have Barry Logan and Watsco. Barry is the Senior Vice President at Watsco. (Inaudible) some brief opening remarks and we’ll go right into Q&A.

Barry Logan

I want to thank you for being here. Again, I’m Barry Logan. I have worked for Watsco over 20 years. The company has been around 60 years. And in 1989, we became -- entered into the distribution market for HVAC products.

So zero revenues in this industry in 1989 and now about $3.5 billion, 24 years later. That still represents only about 12% of the North American market which is where operate. Our business is, again, centric to air-conditioning and heating products; refrigeration also as a component of

By Aubrey Tabuga

Oak Ridge Investments, LLC is a Chicago-based investment advisor. The investment company has over $2.76 billion under its management as of the end of September 2012. Its investment strategies cover large cap, mid-cap, small/mid-cap, all cap, and dividend growth. In the third quarter, the company initiated positions in 12 stocks and sold 8 out. Its portfolio is heavy on technology (24.62%), services (17.47%), healthcare (17.34%), capital goods (11.02%), financial (8.07%), and energy (6.2%).

Here, I review the top dividend stocks favored by the asset manager. These stocks are Watsco Inc. (WSO); International Business Machines Corp. (IBM); Texas Roadhouse Inc. (TXRH); Questor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (QCOR); and True Religion Apparel Inc. (TRLG).

Q3 2012 Earnings Call

October 25, 2012 10:00 am ET

Executives

Albert H. Nahmad - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Nominating & Strategy Committee

Paul W. Johnston - Vice President

Barry S. Logan - Senior Vice President, Secretary and Director

Analysts

Matt Duncan - Stephens Inc., Research Division

Robert Barry - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Ian A. Zaffino - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division

David J. Manthey - Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division

Jeffrey D. Hammond - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Ryan Merkel - William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division

Joshua C. Pokrzywinski - MKM Partners LLC, Research Division

Sanjay Shrestha - Lazard Capital Markets LLC, Research Division

Keith B. Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Research Division

Charles Stephen Tusa - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Good morning. My name is Melissa,

In a perfect world , income investors would not have to choose between growth or yield, they could have both. Without the benefit of a perfect world, we are left with the middle ground, which is a balancing act between growth and yield. How much yield are you willing to give up for growth at a certain level, and how much growth will you sacrifice for a higher yield?

Assuming known inputs, a model can easily be constructed that allows yield and growth to vary, but provide equal end-results (see D4L-PreScreen.xls ). Unfortunately, in the real world there is no such thing as "known inputs" when projecting the future. Hence, risk is introduced to the equation.

Higher yield or growth brings with it a higher risk of sustainability. Most income investors wouldn't mind a stock that yielded 20% with no growth, or a stock with an initial yield of 0.5%

There are many different strategies to trade, and one of them is to look for dividend stocks. Investors like dividend stocks as long-term investments, as these dividend payments tend to protect the stock price from the market volatility that affects non-dividend paying stocks. However, careful analysis of dividend stocks and choosing the right dividend stocks at the right time is critical for investors.

In this article, I will focus on mid-cap stocks with a high dividend yield and with their ex-dividend date within the next week (October 08 to October 12). These stocks are screened based on the following criteria:

• Security Type: Common Stock

• Market Cap: Greater than $2 billion and less than $10 billion

• Dividend Yield: Greater than or equal to 2%

• Ex-Dividend Date: Between October 08, 2012 and October 12, 2012

The following chart shows the dividend summary for these mid-cap companies:

(Click to