Top 5 Mid Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014

Dividend investors would be wise to focus not just on a stock's current yield, but also on the long-term growth potential of its dividends. That's because strong businesses that consistently raise their dividend payouts reward shareholders with a steadily rising income stream that essentially equates to a raise every year. And well, who doesn't like a raise?

But there are other reasons to value dividend growth so highly, and they're well supported by research. For instance, a study by C. Thomas Howard published in Advisor Perspectives found that for every percentage point a stock's yield rises, its annual return increases by 0.22 percentage points if it's a large cap, 0.25 if it's a mid cap, and 0.46 if it's a small cap. Even better, Howard found that dividend-growing stocks outperformed dividend cutters by 10 percentage points per year from 1973 to 2010 and beat both flat- and no-dividend stocks. And the icing on the cake is that Howard showed that this outperformance came with a third less volatility. Higher returns, less volatility-induced stress, and a steadily growing income stream -- what's not to love?

Hot Medical Companies To Own In Right Now: Liberty Coal Energy Corp (LBTG)

Liberty Coal Energy Corp, incorporated on August 31, 2007, is an exploration-stage company. The Company is a precious metal mineral exploration, development and production company. The primary business focus of the Company is to acquire, explore and develop coal properties in North America. On February 1, 2012, the Company entered into a letter of intent for the acquisition of private mineral leasehold rights to certain coal mining property in Owsley County, Kentucky with AMS Development LLC. and Colt Resources, Inc.

The Owsley property covers approximately 1,000 acres and has 3,600,000 tons of coal recoverable by surface and high wall (auger) methods. As of September 31, 2011, the Company had not earned any revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  On Friday, small cap mining stocks Maverick Minerals Corp (OTCMKTS: MVRM) and Liberty Coal Energy Corp (OTCMKTS: LBTG) plus oil stock Gray Fox Petroleum Corp (OTCBB: GFOX) sank 30.9%, 16.67% and 11.2%, respectively. However, only one of these stocks appears to have been the subject of some kind of paid promotion in the form of an investment in some shares. So will these three small cap mining or oil stocks keep coming up empty for investors this week? Here is a closer look:

Top 5 Mid Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Paulson Capital Corp.(PLCC)

Paulson Capital Corp., through its subsidiary, Paulson Investment Company, Inc., operates as a brokerage company principally in the United States. It engages in securities brokerage activities, which include acting as agent for purchase and sale of common and preferred stocks, options, warrants, and debt securities traded on securities exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. The company?s corporate finance activities comprise underwriting initial and follow-on public offerings, private investments in public equity, and private placements for smaller companies; securities trading and market making activities consist of executing trades in equity securities, corporate debt securities, and municipal bonds; and market making activities are conducted with dealers in the wholesale market and its customers. Its investment activities include holding securities for investment, which primarily include securities purchased for investment and underwriter warrants. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 39 branch offices in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Paulson Capital Corp. was founded in 1969 and is based in Portland, Oregon.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Paulson Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:PLCC), parent company of Paulson Investment Company, Inc., reported a net income of $1,412,294 (or $0.24 per share) for the three months ended March 31, 2012 versus a net loss of $381,210 (or ($0.07) per share) for the like period in 2011.

Top 5 Mid Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Liberte Investors Inc. (FAC)

First Acceptance Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in retailing, servicing, and underwriting non-standard personal automobile insurance and related products. Its primary business involves issuing automobile insurance policies to individuals who are categorized as non-standard based primarily on their inability or unwillingness to obtain insurance coverage from standard carriers due to various factors, including their payment history or need for monthly payment plans, and failure to maintain continuous insurance coverage or driving record. The company also offers optional products that provide ancillary reimbursements and benefits in the event of an automobile accident; and underwrites a tenant homeowner policy that provides contents and liability coverage to renters. In addition, it engages in activities related to the disposition of real estate held for sale. The company distributes its products through retail locations. As of March 31, 2012, it leased and op erated 378 retail locations. First Acceptance Corporation was founded in 1969 and is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Auto sales continue to rise and that is good news for small cap auto insurers Infinity Property and Casualty Corp (NASDAQ: IPCC), First Acceptance Corporation (NYSE: FAC) and Atlas Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AFH) which are focused on niche auto insurance markets.�A Yahoo! Autos blog post�recently noted that in August, automakers sold 1.5 million new vehicles for the highest rate in years. Moreover,�most industry forecasters expect sales to�return to the level they hit before the 2008 recession of 16 million vehicles a year. The blog post then went on to note the three forces driving auto sales:

Top 5 Mid Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Haemonetics Corp (HAE)

Haemonetics Corporation, incorporated on August 29, 1985, is a healthcare company engaged in providing blood management solutions to its customers. The Company�� portfolio of integrated devices, information management and consulting services offers blood management solutions for each facet of the blood supply chain, helping improve clinical outcomes and reduce costs for blood and plasma collectors, hospitals, and patients around the world.The Company serves three markets: manufacturers of plasma derived pharmaceuticals, blood collectors and hospitals. Plasma includes plasma collection devices and consumables. Blood Center includes blood collection and processing devices and consumables. Hospital includes surgical blood salvage and blood demand diagnostic devices and consumables. Software Solutions includes information technology platforms and consulting services provided to all three markets. On April 30, 2013, the Company acquired of certain assets of Hemerus LLC.

The Company helps its customers create and maintain a safe and efficient blood supply chain. Specifically, it develops and markets a wide range of systems used with plasma and blood donors that collect and process blood into its components using both manual and automated methods. It also develops and markets a variety of systems to hospitals that automate the cleaning and reinfusion of a surgical patient's blood during surgery, automate the tracking and distribution of blood in the hospital, and enhance blood diagnostics. The Company sells information technology platforms to promote efficient and compliant operations for all of its customer groups. The Company provides consulting services to reduce costs and improve operating efficiencies in blood management. . Its products and services help prevent a transfusion to a patient who does not need one and provide the right blood product, at the right time, in the right dose to the patient who does.

Plasma

Human plasma is collected and processed by bio-ph! armaceutical companies into therapeutic and diagnostic products that aid in the treatment of immune diseases and coagulation disorders. While plasma is also used to aid patients with extreme blood loss, such as trauma victims, this portion of its business solely focuses on plasma's pharmaceutical uses. Automated plasma collection technology allows for the safe and efficient collection of plasma. The Company manufactures and market plasma collection devices and respective disposables, but do not make plasma-derived pharmaceuticals.

The Company�� portfolio of products and services is designed to support multiple facets of plasma collector operations. The Company with its PCS brand automated plasma collection technology, more plasma can be collected during any one donation event because the other blood components are returned to the donor through the sterile disposable sets used for the plasma donation procedure. The Company offers one stop shopping to its plasma collection customers, enabling them to source from them the full range of products necessary for plasma collection and storage, including PCS brand plasma collection equipment and consumables, plasma collection containers, and intravenous solutions. It also offers a robust portfolio of integrated information technology platforms for plasma customers to manage their donors, operations, and supply chain. Its products automate the donor interview and qualification process; streamline the workflow process in the plasma center; provide the controls necessary to evaluate donor suitability; determine the ability to release units collected; and manage unit distribution.

Blood Center

The Company offers automated blood component and manual whole blood collection systems to blood collection centers to collect blood products.The Company markets the MCS (Multicomponent Collection System) brand apheresis equipment which is designed to collect specific blood components integrated from the donor. Utilizing t! he MCS au! tomated platelet collection protocols, blood centers collect one or more therapeutic doses of platelets during a single donation by a volunteer blood donor. The MCS two-unit protocol or double red cell collection device helps blood collectors optimize the collection of red cells by automating the blood separation function, eliminating the need for laboratory processing, and enabling the collection of two units of red cells from a single donor thus maximizing the amount of red cells collected per eligible donor and helping to mitigate red cell shortages in countries where this problem exists. Blood collectors can also use the MCS system to collect one unit of red cells and a jumbo (double) unit of plasma, or one unit of red cells and one unit of platelets from a single donor. The MCS plasma protocol providing the possibility to collect 600-800ml of plasma for transfusion to patients or for pharmaceutical industry use completes the comprehensive portfolio of different blood component collection options on this device.

The Company offers a portfolio of products for manual whole blood collection and processing. Haemonetics' portfolio of disposable whole blood collection and component storage sets offer flexibility in collecting a unit of whole blood and the subsequent production and storage of the red blood cell, platelet, and/or plasma products, including options for in-line or dockable filters for leukoreduction of any blood component. In addition Acrodose product line provides a closed system for the pooling, storage, and bacteria testing of leukoreduced whole blood derived platelet concentrates, an Acrodose Platelet, that is transfusion ready for the hospital. Use of Acrodose platelets lowers hospital handling costs by eliminating the need for pooling and bacteria testing at the hospital.

The Company with ACP(Automated Cell Processor) brand offers a small bench-top solution to automate the washing and freezing of red cell components in the lab. The automated red cell was! hing proc! edure removes plasma proteins within the red cell units to provide a safer product for transfusion to frequently transfused patients, neonates, or patients with a history of transfusion reactions. The automated glycerolization and deglycerolization steps are required to prepare red cells for frozen storage. Freezing the red cell units can expand the shelf life of these products up to 10 years. Customers utilize this technology to implement strategic red cell inventories for catastrophe cases, storage of rare blood types, or enhanced inventory management.

Hospital

The Company offers a range of blood management solutions that significantly improve a hospital's systems for acquiring blood, storing it in the hospital, and dispensing it efficiently and correctly. Its products and integrated solution platforms help hospitals optimize performance of blood acquisition, storage, and distribution.The Company�� TEG Thrombelastograph Hemostasis Analyzer system is a blood diagnostic instrument that measures a patient's hemostasis or the ability to form and maintain blood clots.

The Cell Saver system is a surgical blood salvage system targeted to procedures that involve rapid, high-volume blood loss, such as cardiovascular surgeries. It has become the standard of care for high blood-loss surgeries. During the year ended December 31,2012, the Company launched the Cell Saver Elite system, which is autotransfusion option to minimize allogeneic blood use for surgeries with medium to high blood loss. The OrthoPAT surgical blood salvage system is targeted to procedures, such as orthopedic, that involve slower, lower volume blood loss that often occurs well after surgery. The cardioPAT system is a surgical blood salvage system targeted to open heart surgeries when there is less blood loss during surgery, but where the blood loss continues post-surgery. These systems are designed to remain with the patient following surgery, to recover blood and produce a washed red cell produ! ct for au! totransfusion. Their Quick-Connect feature permits customers to utilize the blood processing set selectively, depending on the patient's need.

The Company�� IMPACT Online Web-based software platform, which monitors and measures improvements in a hospital�� blood management practices, provides hospitals with a baseline view of their blood management metrics and helps monitor transfusion rates. Business consulting solutions are offered to support process and blood management efforts. It also provides blood management assessment tools to hospitals that enables its customers to monitor their progress in order to continually improve their blood management performance.

Software Solutions

The Companby has a suite of integrated software solutions for improving efficiencies and helping ensure donor and patient safety. This includes solutions for blood drive planning, donor recruitment and retention, blood collection, component manufacturing and distribution, transfusion management, and remote blood allocation. For its plasma customers, it also provides information technology platforms for managing donors and information associated with the collection of plasma products within fractionation facilities.

The Company�� software solutions , including information technology platforms and consulting services can be combined with its devices and sold through its plasma, blood center, and hospital sales forces. The Company�� software products help hospitals track and safely deliver stored blood products. SafeTrace Tx is its software solution that helps manage blood product inventory, perform patient cross-matching, and manage transfusions. In addition, its BloodTrack suite of solutions manages tracking and control of blood products from the hospital blood center through to transfusion to the patient. Smart refrigerators located in or near operating suites, emergency rooms, and other parts of the hospital dispense blood units with secure control and autom! ated trac! eability for efficient documentation. With its offerings, hospitals are better able to manage processes across the blood supply chain and identify increased opportunities to reduce costs and enhance processes. Its software solutions, such as its SafeTrace and El Dorado Donor donation and blood unit management systems, span blood center operations and automate and track operations from the recruitment of the blood donor to the disposition of the blood product. Its Hemasphere software solution provides support for more efficient blood drive planning, and Donor Doc and e-Donor software help to improve recruitment and retention.

The Company competes with Fenwal, Inc., Terumo BCT ,Caridian BCT, Rotem, MAK Systems, Mediware, MacoPharma , Medtronic, Fresenius, Sunquest Information Systems and Sorin Biomedica.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Haemonetics (NYSE: HAE) shares fell 8.57% to reach a new 52-week low of $30.40 after the company Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.46 per share on revenue of $241.10 million. The company's board also announced a $100 million share buyback program.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Haemonetics (HAE) is the market leader in blood management products for collection centers and hospitals. The company's equipment and related consumables allow collection centers to separate blood into the components of plasma, red cells and white cells. Hospital-based products include blood diagnostics, devices to salvage patient blood during surgery and software to manage blood supply. Earnings temporarily declined due to two product quality issues that management of Haemonetics has stated have been remedied. In our opinion, earnings growth may be expected to accelerate in the next few years as Haemonetics rolls out its automated whole blood collection solution to collection centers. Relative to the existing manual process, the company's automated solution speeds up the collection process and reduces discard rates. Cost and efficiency gains become more important to collection centers as hospitals better manage their blood supply. We believe the company is a compelling value at 12x our $3.50 estimate of earnings power.