Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015

LONDON -- Global premium-drinks company Diageo (LSE: DGE  ) (NYSE: DEO  ) has been a stellar investment over the years. Does this big blue chip have much further to rise, or are its growth days over? Let's have a look.

Track record
Diageo has delivered a storming performance for investors. In the last year, its shares have risen 30%. In the last five years, the shares have doubled. However, there are signs that this huge outperformance may be over. In the last three months, shares in this super-brewer have trailed the FTSE 100. While the FTSE is up 3.9%, Diageo is only 1.1% ahead.

What cannot be in doubt is Diageo's quality as a company. Shareholder dividends have been increasing every year since 1998. In fact, the payout is up nearly fourfold in that time. Sales and earnings per share have also increased year on year for the last five years. Diageo is one of the U.K.'s most successful companies.

Valuation
Go back two years, and Diageo shares were trading around 1,300 pence. The company had just completed a year in which it earned 68.3 pence per share and declared a dividend of 38.1 pence. That put the shares on a historic price-to-earnings ratio of 19 and a past yield of 2.9%. In May 2011, shares in Diageo traded at 15.7 times the full-year EPS. The 2011 dividend equated to a 3.1% yield.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark Hulbert]

  For comparability between companies of different sizes, Prof. Novy-Marx divides gross profits by total assets. Take Apple (AAPL) �, whose total sales in fiscal 2012 were $156 billion, versus $88 billion in cost of goods, for a gross profit of $68 billion. When divided by its total assets of $176 billion, the company�� gross profitability percentage is 39%.

• [By Joe Tenebruso]

  Continued dominance in PC processor technology
  Intel bears will point out the threat of vertical integration among Intel's major partners such as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) , whose new A7 chip has met with rave reviews. While it's true that Apple's A7 chip is quite impressive, it's designed for mobile devices that typically prioritize power efficiency over raw computing power. For desktop workstations and many high-end laptops geared for business users and creative professionals, processing speed and power are of paramount importance -- and that is where Intel excels. Furthermore, Intel's new chips in the ultra-mobile laptop computing segment have been credited with the huge leap in battery life for products such as Apple's recently updated MacBook Air. That's why I believe it's unlikely that Apple will move toward using its in-house designed chips across its entire product line. Instead, I think a partnership between these two tech titans is more likely, with Intel eventually building Apple's in-house designed chips for iOS devices and continuing to supply Apple with Intel-designed processors for its Macs.

• [By Andrew Tonner]

  Faith in tech giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) , while not at an all-time low, is down considerably from last year. And as should come as no surprise, its share price has followed its sinking public sentiment. Especially as rivals like Samsung and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) take aim at areas Apple alone once dominated, the future seems less certain for Apple than it has for some time. Given all the pain its investors have endured over the last year, is it finally time to admit that Apple's lost its mojo? In this edition of our Ask a Fool series, Fool contributor Andrew Tonner explains why he still believes Apple has plenty of room to run.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Smith]

  And yesterday I described to Fools why I believe that Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) constitutes the more compelling of the two remaining U.S.-based major oil and gas companies. My sentiments remain unchanged.

• [By Kelley Wright]

  Based on this criteria, here are our current Timely Ten selections:

  Chevron Corp. (CVX)��ielding 3.3%
  
  CVS Caremark (CVS)��ielding 1.6%
  
  Coca-Cola (KO)��ielding 2.9%
  
  Baxter International (BAX)��ielding 3.0%
  
  Walgreen (WAG)��ielding 2.3%
  
  McDonalds Corp. (MCD)��ielding 3.3%
  
  PepsiCo (PEP)��ielding 2.8%
  
  ExxonMobil (XOM)��ielding 2.9%
  
  Occidental Petroleum (OXY)��ielding 2.7%
  
  Wal-Mart Stores (WMT)��ielding 2.5%
  
  

  Subscribe to Investment Quality Trends here��/P>

Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang]

  IBM (IBM) , also on the Dow, is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings of $5.99 a share. ��e maintain our neutral on IBM ahead of their upcoming earnings results. The risk/reward is more balanced at present stock price levels, but ultimately IBM will need to return to growth to drive stock price appreciation,��Joseph Foresi, an analyst at Janney Capital Markets, said in a note.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Still, the bigger question for Adobe is whether it can keep up its quality in web-content management despite rising levels of competition. Industry analyst Forrester highlighted Adobe's platform as having broad application, but it also noted the efforts that Oracle, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) , and IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) have made in trying to make their digital experiences more appealing. In particular, HP has hinged its turnaround on moving away from commoditized businesses like PCs toward higher-margin software and services, hoping to use its extensive customer base to cross-sell services. Yet both IBM and Oracle have also been moving in the same direction, with IBM particularly having improved its web-content management offerings in order to broaden their appeal not just to the largest corporate customers but also to mid-sized companies as part of IBM's overall goal of building a broader customer base.

• [By Cheryl Kaften]

  To remain relevant and competitive, current smart grid vendors -- among them ABB (NYSE: ABB  ) , General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) �, IBM� (NYSE: IBM  ) , �and�Siemens� (NYSE: SI  ) --�may have to make market adjustments, including partnerships, acquisitions, and advances of their own.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Dollar General's (NYSE: DG  ) first-quarter profits rose rose 3%, but the retailer cut guidance for the full year. Business market software maker ExactTarget (NYSE: ET  ) rose more than 50% after Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM  ) agreed to buy the company for more than $2.3 billion. Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA  ) held firm after shares tanked on Monday in the wake of the company announcing it's cutting 18% of its staff. And IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) buys a company to better compete in the cloud computing space. In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss four stocks making big moves.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  For example, let's take a look at�Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) . Now for the last four quarters, Philip Morris has paid out $3.49 in dividends per share. For the same period, the company has earned $5.28 per share, which gives us a dividend cover of 1.5 times and a payout ratio of 66%.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  As the world's second-largest tobacco company, Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is an ideal sin stock.

  And with numbers like these, it's also an ideal way to play global growth...

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Burger joint McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) announced today that global same-store sales rose 2.6% in May, with the best results in its major segments seen in the U.S., where comps rose 2.4%. Total company sales were�3.6% higher, or up 5.2% in constant currency.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Other earnings
  McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) is also down in trading this morning after reporting lighter sales in many of its territories. Asia was the weakest geographical region, with lower sales in Japan and negative results in China. Overall revenue was up 1% and earnings were flat at $1.3 billion for Mickey D's, but the company still reported a 2% increase in EPS, though the $1.26 per share missed expectations by a penny. The fast-food chain is contending with some difficult comparisons to a strong period in 2012, making its results look weaker. The stock is down 1.84% as of this writing, with investors concerned about continued impacts of international economic headwinds and tougher outlooks for the coming quarters.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  So far, consumer-facing stocks have seen only limited impact from the Chinese growth slowdown. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) and other fast-food companies have suffered from the avian-flu outbreak and its consequent impact on restaurant volume, especially at chains that sell a substantial amount of chicken-based products. If the Chinese economy falters enough to threaten the rise of the nation's luxury and middle-class consumers, however, then a much wider range of U.S. and other foreign companies could start to see more direct effects. That in turn could pose a much larger direct threat to the Dow and U.S. stocks in general.

• [By BubbleBustInvesting]

  It is hard to say. What we can say, however, is that Starbucks is a good bet for value investors, as is McDonald's (MCD) which reported Q1 earnings last week, while Panera Bread and Dunkin' Brands are better bets for growth investors.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Memberships and Peers: KMB is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: The company's peer group includes: Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) with a 3.1% yield, Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) with a 2.3% yield, and Clorox Corporation (CLX) with a 3.4% yield.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Visa (NYSE: V  ) saw its global brand value surge 46%, to $56 billion. The company is extremely global, operating in more than 200 nations, and it's poised to profit as more and more people and businesses shift from cash transactions to electronic ones. Its presence in emerging markets is also a good thing to see among stock picks, as such economies are growing rapidly -- and for Visa, that means more people beginning to use plastic for purchases. Meanwhile, our recovering economy is leading to an uptick in credit payments. The fast-growing company's forward P/E is 21, well below its five-year average of 41. Visa is far bigger than its rivals, although�MasterCard�is doing particularly well globally.

• [By Associated Press]

  NEW YORK (AP) -- The National Retail Federation on Tuesday urged a federal judge to reject a proposed $7.2 billion settlement with Visa (NYSE: V  ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) over alleged fee-fixing.