Why should late-night DJs get to offer all the
dedications? This article goes out to newcomers to the
investing arena, to people who've freed up some cash to
invest, and to those who understand that this sluggish stock
market presents them with a
rare and exciting opportunity.
If you're ready to invest, you be wondering which stocks
to start with. After all, there are thousands to choose from.
You could take the easy (and quite reasonable) route and
invest in a broad-market index fund. Even investing great
Warren Buffett believes that most people are better off
following that strategy.
But to aim even higher, you may want to put some or all of
your money in individual stocks. And in my opinion, healthy
dividend payers could be the best place to start your search
-- many have
dividends that are considered safe, and
it's not so hard to find them.
Start with reliability
To look for the cream of the crop in the dividend
world, take a gander at Standard & Poor's list of
Dividend Aristocrats. (My colleague Joe Magyer offers some
other
excellent dividend-seeking tips.)
The Aristocrats are S&P 500 companies that have
increased their dividends every year for at least
25 years. Here are two Aristocrats worth considering
for your portfolio, along with their dividend growth
rates:
Company
Recent Dividend Yield
10-Year Average Annual
Dividend Growth Rate
Lowe's (NYSE: LOW)
1.7%
28%
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)
5.9%
8%
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Of course, you don't strictly need a 25-year history of
dividend increases. Here are five more companies to consider,
all with sizable yields and five-year average annual dividend
growth rates of at least 10%:
Company
Recent Dividend Yield
5-Year Average Annual
Dividend Growth Rate
Boeing
3.1%
17%
BP (NYSE: BP)
6.3%
14%
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT)
3.3%
17%
Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) Continued... |