5 Best Stocks For 2014

Dividend stocks outperform non-dividend-paying stocks over the long run. It happens in good markets and bad, and the benefit of dividends can be quite striking: Dividend payments have made up about 40% of the market's average annual return from 1936 to the present day. But few of us can invest in every single dividend-paying stock on the market, and even if we could, we might find better gains by being selective. That's why we'll be pitting two of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) dividend payers against each other today to find out which Dow stock is the true dividend champion. Let's take a closer look at our two contenders now.

Tale of the tape
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) is nearing the 14th anniversary of its initiation to the Dow. It joined at the peak of the dot-com bubble and has yet to provide a net benefit to the Dow's valuation, but unless you bought Intel stock at the tail end of 1999, this isn't much of a concern to you. Intel has long been the world's leading chip-maker, with a dominant position in both PCs and servers -- but declines in PC sales have left investors somewhat worried that Intel's growth days are behind it. Despite these concerns, Intel continues to support one of the strongest dividends in the tech industry. Its tablet market share is growing rapidly, for what it's worth, as Intel has a spot in 90% of Windows-based tablets, which now make up about 7.5% of the market.

5 Best Stocks For 2014: Renaissance Minerals Limited(RNS.AX)

Renaissance Minerals Limited operates as a gold exploration company in Australia. It primarily explores for gold, nickel sulphide, and copper-zinc deposits. The company principally holds interests in Cambodian Gold Project located in the eastern region of Cambodia; Eastern Goldfields Project located in Western Australia; and Quicksilver Project located in Alaska. Renaissance Minerals Limited was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Subiaco, Australia.

5 Best Stocks For 2014: Generali(GASI.MI)

Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. provides various insurance and financial products and services worldwide. The company offers life insurance products that include savings and protection policies, such as automobile third party liability, personal injuries, industrial plants, and family protection, as well as individual and group pension schemes. It also provides unit-linked and supplementary pension policies, and health insurance products. In addition, the company offers assistance services in the areas of motor, travel, health, home, and family businesses. Further, it provides asset management, properties and financial services, and private banking services. The company was formerly known as Assicurazioni Generali Austro-Italiche and changed its name to Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. in 1848. Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. was founded in 1831 and is headquartered in Trieste, Italy.

Best Stocks To Own For 2014: United Rentals Inc.(URI)

United Rentals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It offers approximately 3,000 classes of equipment for rent to customers comprising construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities. The company?s fleet of rental equipment includes general construction and industrial equipment, such as backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms consisting of boom lifts and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment, including pressure washers, water pumps, generators, heaters, and power tools. Its fleet also comprise trench safety equipment, such as trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; and power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, which consists of portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment, including heating and cooling equipment. In addition, the company sells new and used equipment, as well as related contractor supplies, parts, and service; and offers repair, maintenance, and rental protection services. Further, it develops and markets RENTALMAN, an enterprise resource planning application for equipment rental companies; and INFOMANAGER, which offers solution for creating a business intelligence system. As of January 1, 2012, the company had an integrated network of 529 rental locations in the United States and Canada. United Rentals, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James K. Glassman]

  FactSet, the final big winner in 2010, came from the Value Line Investment Survey, the best one-stop shop for stock information. Among the 100 stocks that receive Value Line's top rank of 1 for year-ahead performance is United Rentals (URI), the largest U.S. equipment-rental company. United, which depends heavily on the construction industry, has suffered because of the struggling economy. Revenues dropped from $3.7 billion in 2007 to an estimated $2.2 billion in 2010. The firm has been running losses and is weighed down with debt. Still, United has enough cash to see it through bad times, and as the economy picks up, profits should soar. Value Line analyst David Reimer says the stock, down 44% from its 2007 high, "is timely and offers appealing three-to-five-year price-recovery potential" to risk-tolerant investors.

5 Best Stocks For 2014: Unisys Corporation (UIS)

Unisys Corporation provides information technology (IT) services, software, and technology that solve mission-critical problems for clients worldwide. It operates in two segments, Services and Technology. The Services segment provides outsourcing services, including management of customers� data centers, computer servers, and end-user computing environments, as well as specific business processes; systems integration and consulting services, such as assessing the security and cost effectiveness of clients� IT systems and enabling them to design, integrate, and modernize mission-critical applications; infrastructure services consisting of design, warranty, and support services for its customers� IT infrastructure, such as networks, desktops, servers, and mobile and wireless devices; and maintenance services. The Technology segment designs and develops servers and related products consisting of enterprise-class servers, which comprise the ClearPath family of servers and t he ES7000 family of Intel-based servers, as well as operating system software and middleware; and provides data center, infrastructure management, and cloud computing offerings for clients to virtualize and automate their data-center environments. The company serves public sector; financial services; and other commercial markets comprising communications and transportation. Unisys Corporation markets its products and services primarily through direct sales force, as well as through distributors and alliance partners. Unisys Corporation was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

5 Best Stocks For 2014: Imperial Sugar Company(IPSU)

Imperial Sugar Company, together with its subsidiaries, processes and markets refined cane sugar in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region. It refines, packages, and distributes granulated, powdered, liquid, and brown sugars, as well as co-crystallized sweeteners and syrups under the Dixie Crystals, Imperial, Savannah Gold, NatureWise, and Holly brand names, as well as under private labels. The company also markets organic and fair trade sweeteners and sugar/stevia sweetener blends. Imperial Sugar Company markets its products directly, as well as indirectly through wholesalers and distributors to retailers, restaurant chains, and industrial customers, principally food manufacturers. The company was founded in 1843 and is headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas.