During the past week, GuruFocus recognized five companies as dividend growers. In order to be qualified for this list, the company had to:
- Have a dividend of greater than 3%.
- Have a strong history of stable and increasing dividends.
- Maintain Guru ownership
- Have a market cap of greater than $10 billion.
The following five companies come from various industries and sectors of the market, but they all fit the necessary criteria needed to qualify them as dividend growers.
A comparison of the companies’ historical dividend growth:
Intel Corp (INTC)
On Jan. 23, Intel declared a dividend of $0.225 per share, representing 3.63% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on March 1 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 7, 2014.
The company’s historical dividend growth is as follows:
- 10-year:Ă‚ 25.30%
- 5-year:Ă‚ 13.40%
- 3-year:Ă‚ 15.80%
Intel is a semiconductor chip maker, which develops advanced integrated digital technology products, mainly integrated circuits, for industries such as computing and communications. The company also develops platforms, which it defines as integrated suites of digital computing technologies.
Intel’s historical revenue and net income:
The analysis on Intel reports that the company’s operating margin is expanding, its revenue has slowed down over the past year and its price is sitting near its 1-year high.
The company recently released its fourth quarter and year-end results which highlighted:
- Full year revenue of $52.7 billion.
- Net income of $9.6 billion
- Cash generation of $21 billion in cash from operations.
- Fourth quarter operating income up 12% to $3.5 billion.
- EPS of $0.51, up 6% from last year.
The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently undervalued:
Intel has a market cap of $123.33 billion.Ă‚ Its shares are currently trading at around $24.81 with a P/E ratio of 13.40, a P/S ratio of 2.42 and a P/B ratio of 2.23.Ă‚ The company had an annual average earnings growth of 7.80% over the past ten years.
GuruFocus rated Intel the business predictability rank of 4-star.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT)
On Jan. 23, Lockheed Martin Corporation declared a dividend of $1.33 per share, representing 3.23% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on March 1 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 7, 2014.
The company’s historical dividend growth is as follows:
- 10-year:Ă‚ 22.40%
- 5-year:Ă‚ 21.70%
- 3-year:Ă‚ 21.00%
Lockheed Martin is a security company that is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems and products. It also provides a range of management, engineering, technical, scientific, logistic, and information services.
Lockheed Martin’s historical revenue and net income:
The company released its fourth quarter and full-year results last Thursday which highlighted:
- Net sales of $11.5 billion for the fourth quarter and $45.4 billion for 2013.
- Net earnings from continuing ops of $488 million, or $1.50 per share for the fourth quarter and $3.0 billion, or $9.04 per share for 2013.
- Recorded $15.4 billion of orders during the fourth quarter.
- Predicts 2014 financial outlook to boast an EPS range of $10.25 to $10.55 per share.
Lockheed Martin’s CEO, Marillyn Hewson, was awarded Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s Responsible CEO of the Year Award. The award is presented to various CEOs who have visible exceeded standards in the areas of employee relations, environmental impact, human rights, philanthropy and corporate responsibility practices.
The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:
The analysis on Lockheed Martin reports that the company’s revenue has slowed down over the past year, the price near a 10-year high and the P/S ratio is also nearing a 5-year high.
Lockheed Martin has a market cap of $47.33 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $147.76 with a P/E ratio of 15.80, a P/S ratio of 1.06 and a P/B ratio of 37.03. Lockheed Martin had an annual average annual earnings growth of 12.20% over the past ten years.
GuruFocus rated Lockheed Martin the business predictability rank of 3-star.
American Electric Power (AEP)
On Jan. 22, American Electric Power declared a dividend of $0.50 per share, representing 4.17% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on March 10 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 10, 2014.
The company’s historical dividend growth is as follows:
- 10-year:Ă‚ 2.70%
- 5-year:Ă‚ 4.00%
- 3-year:Ă‚ 4.70%
This most recent dividend represents the company’s 415th consecutive quarter common stock cash dividend.
American Electric Power is a public utility holding company that owns, directly or indirectly, all of the outstanding common stock of its public utility subsidiaries and varying percentages of other subsidiaries.
AEP’s historical holding history and net income:
The analysis on American Electric Power reports that the company’s price is near a 10-year high, its revenue has been in decline for the past five years and that its P/B ratio is near a 1-year low.
The company released its fourth quarter and year-end financial results this morning and they highlight the following:
- Fourth quarter earnings of $0.71 per share GAAP and $0.60 per share operating.
- 2013 year-end earnings of $3.04 per share GAAP and $3.23 from operating.
- Fourth quarter revenue of $3.8 billion, up from $3.6 billion last year.
The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:
American Electric Power has a market cap of $22.95 billion.Ă‚ Its shares are currently trading at around $47.09 with a P/B ratio of 1.50.Ă‚ The company had an annual average earnings growth of 2.80% over the past ten years.Ă‚
MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MWE)
On Jan. 22, MarkWest Energy Partners declared a dividend of $0.86 per share, representing 4.90% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on Feb. 14 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 6, 2014.
The company’s historical dividend growth is as follows:
- 10-year:Ă‚ 11.00%
- 5-year:Ă‚ 6.10%
- 3-year:Ă‚ 7.30%
This most recent dividend represents a $0.01, or 1.2 percent, increase from last quarter’s distribution.
MarkWest is involved in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of NGLs; and the gathering and transportation of crude oil.
MarkWest’s historical revenue and net income:
The analysis on MarkWest reports that the company’s revenue has been in decline for the past five years, it has issued $1.6 billion of debt over the past three years and its price is sitting at around its 10-year high.
The company’s fourth quarter results will be released early this afternoon.
In the last quarter MarkWest and The Energy & Minerals Group announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement with Gulfport Energy for the development of comprehensive condensate solutions in the Utica Shale along with the formation of a new joint venture.Ă‚ You can read more about this transaction here.
The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:
MarkWest Energy Partners has a market cap of $11.17 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $67.13 with a P/E ratio of 138.90, a P/S ratio of 6.10 and a P/B ratio of 3.50. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 8.7% over the past ten years.
Unilever (UN)
On Jan. 21, Unilever declared a dividend of $0.365 per share, representing 3.28% dividend yield for the company. This dividend is payable on March 12 to shareholders of the record at the close of business on Feb. 7, 2014.
The company’s historical dividend growth is as follows:
- 10-year:Ă‚ 0.00%
- 5-year:Ă‚ 25.10%
- 3-year:Ă‚ 1.30%
Unilever is a supplier of fast moving consumer goods. Its products are grouped into four areas namely Personal Care, Home Care, Foods and Refreshment.
Unilever’s historical revenue and net income:
The analysis on Unilever reports that the company has issued EUR3.9 billion of debt over the past year, but also notes that its debt level is acceptable. Some other things the analysis noted were that the company’s asset growth is faster than its revenue growth, its inventory has been building up and that its operating margin has been in a 5-year decline.
The company recently released its Q4 and full year 2013 results which highlighted:
- Full year underlying sales growth of 4.3% with volume 2.5% and price 1.8%.
- Core operating margin up 40 bps, an increase of about €460 million.
- Free cash flow of €3.9 billion, core earnings up 3% to €1.58.
- Fourth quarter underlying sales growth of 4.1%.
- Emerging markets underlying sales growth of 8.4%.
Also this month Unilever announced that it had agreed to sell its Royal pasta brand in the Philippines to RFM Corporation for US$47.8 million.
The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:
Unilever has a market cap of €118.33 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $39.12 with a P/E ratio of 18.70, a P/S ratio of 1.60 and a P/B ratio of 5.80. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 2% over the past ten years.
