Celgene Corporation (CELG), Halliburton Company (HAL), Starbucks Corporation (SBUX): Dividends, Schmividends

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Almost all retirement investment strategies advocate generating a steady income from dividend payments from well-established, safe stocks. And while it’s an effective and secure strategy, dividends don’t always cut it. Whether you’re looking for growth opportunities or are just trying to bridge your financial gap with capital gains, these investments can help.

The stocks discussed here are all good growth and value blend investments. For reduced risk, only large-cap companies with a relatively low beta and healthy balance sheet are shown. And finally, the most important part: each company listed has a promising business strategy that has a lot of driving factors for the future.

A bio-innovator

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG)

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) is a biotech company with multiple pharma products and subsidiaries that cover a wide spectrum of health solutions. The company is most notably involved in cancer treatments and the sale of its staple product, Revlimid. But the true value of the company comes from its product pipeline and aggressive business partnering. The company partnered with Agios Pharmaceuticals to work on cancer research using enzyme technology, and is also responsible for 19 pipeline programs and 100 sponsored clinical trials.

In Q1 of this year, sales were up 15% year-over-year and the company bought back 4.2 million shares. And even still, the company’s price-to-earnings growth still falls way below most competitors at 0.9, indicating Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) is a great growth prospect for the money. Even so, the company’s balance sheet is stable, and its huge size and low beta of 0.7 assures security in this investment that’s bound to pop.

“Green” natural gas

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) has never been a “conventional” energy company. The natural-gas harvester was a pioneer in hydraulic fracturing and is now working to innovate in the same area. Fracturing is a controversial but effective way of harvesting energy. Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) is working to innovate and make the process much more eco-friendly and effective.

The company also created 100 natural-gas powered trucks and plans to make its harvesting equipment run on natural gas in the future. Halliburton’s chemical formulations and CleanSuite technologies hold promise in an industry that’s going to rapidly expand in the coming years. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that worldwide consumption of natural gas will increase 50% from 2008 through 2035.

Source: EIA.Gov

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) has a high beta of 1.6, but it still falls bellows the competitor average. The company’s PEG comes in at 0.8, which affirms the idea that Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) is a solid long-term investment.

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