Value Investing News

Hospira Corp., a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories, saw its stock price racing past Abbott in recent days, winning a nod from investors that "the son" is outshining the parent -- at least for now.

For dividend growth investors, there are certain attributes of investments that are more relevant than others, such as yield and dividend growth. To illustrate the power of dividend growth consider that an investment’s yield-on-cost will double every 5 years if they grow their dividend by 15%/year or 7 years at 10%/year or 14 years at 5%/year.

Three well-known dividend aristocrats raised dividends last week. The companies include Coca-Cola (KO), Abbott Labs (ABT) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW). Another promising dividend raiser included Swiss Company Nestle (NSRGY). In dividend investing it is important not only to concentrate on companies with solid competitive advantages, but also ones which grow earnings and dividends along the line.

I am a firm believer that asset allocation plays a significant part in a portfolio’s long-term results. Recently, I received a question asking if you could have a diversified portfolio of dividend stocks. It is an interesting question that deserves further examination.

To ensure a retirement that is free from financial concerns, there are certain things that must be done today. For many people this is not a desirable task. However, building a secure future by investing in quality dividend stocks is neither complicated nor overly burdensome.

Many investors who are looking for an income stream in retirement choose the relative safety of US Treasury bonds. While the coupon payments lose their purchasing power each year due to inflation, they are fixed and guaranteed by the US government. This makes budgeting expenses somewhat easier.

Though many dividend stocks are now trading in excess of their calculated fair value, capital appreciation is not the primary reason for investing in dividend stocks. Dividend fundamentals are what drive my purchase decision, and if I could only look at one metric it would be...

The dividend aristocrats list includes companies which have increased dividends for over 25 years in a row. It is equally weighted and re-balanced once an year. Over the past 3,5 and 7 years the index of elite dividend stocks has managed to outperform the S&P 500 by 5%, 3.7% and 4.40% respectively.

the best of pharma - Johnson & Johnson valuation compared against, Celgene, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb

As dividend growth investors we are looking for stocks can continue to raise their dividends indefinitely into the future. One metric that provides an indication of a dividend’s sustainability is its payout ratio.

As the year draws to a close there were very few companies of note increasing their dividends this week. With that, I thought it would be interesting to see who might be the big dividend raisers in 2010. Here are seven companies for your consideration:

Driven by sophisticated computers, the investment markets move at light speed. what chance does a small individual investor have when trying to compete?

What makes a good dividend stock? Every dividend growth investor is looking for a stock that will increase its dividend every year I have found that stocks that are able to do this share some common characteristics.

Abbott Laboratories is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a diversified line of healthcare products including: drugs, nutritional products, diabetes monitoring devices and diagnostics. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Most companies use debt for a variety of reasons in their operations. It could be either short term or long-term obligations. If there’s anything the 2007-2009 financial crisis has taught us, it is that excessively leveraged companies could easily blow up after a chain of negative events. Thus it pays to know what the debt situation for a particular company you are investing in actually is.