Sometimes a cash rich company will declare a special one-time dividend to eliminate surplus cash. These special dividends are generally ignored when evaluating a company's dividend growth performance. The situation is more complicated when a company distributes the excess cash via its regular dividend.

Bare Escentuals has favorable growth prospects in mineral cosmetics, but this no-moat company faces stiff competition and has shaky financial health.

Warren Buffett ranks number one on Directorship magazine's new list of the most admired board directors. Its Annual Survey of Exceptional Directors is compiled using "data from proxy firms, reader polls and governance experts."