Thursday, December 4, 2008

* Five Dividend Stocks To Watch

Blue chip dividend stocks usually carry a premium. Often this premium is in excess of what I am willing to pay. With Monday's market slide followed by Tuesday and Wednesday's subsequent recovery, it appears that good stocks can fall into an after-Thanksgiving mark-down sale at anytime. Here are five stocks that I am watching closely, with their Risk Quality (RQ) rating and other information as of 12/1/2008:


I. Procter & Gamble Co. (PG )
  • RQ: A1
  • Yield: 2.49%
  • Buy Below: $59.70
  • 12/1/2008 Close: $60.49
  • % Change since 12/31/2007: -17.6% ($73.42)

II. Wells Fargo & Company (WFC)

  • RQ: A2
  • Yield: 4.71%
  • Buy Below: $26.44
  • 12/1/2008 Close: $23.41
  • % Change since 12/31/2007: -22.5% ($30.19)
III. Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB)
  • RQ: A2
  • Yield: 4.02%
  • Buy Below: $52.87
  • 12/1/2008 Close: $55.02
  • % Change since 12/31/2007: -20.7% ($69.34)
IV. Progress Energy, Inc. (PGN)
  • RQ: A5
  • Yield: 6.20%
  • Buy Below: $36.95
  • 12/1/2008 Close: $37.73
  • % Change since 12/31/2007: -22.1% ($48.43)
V. The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
  • RQ: A2
  • Yield: 3.24%
  • Buy Below: $45.35
  • 12/1/2008 Close: $44.33
  • % Change since 12/31/2007: -27.8% ($61.37)
When the market is in a free-fall, it is important to concentrate on quality. Each of the above stocks has a RQ rating of A5 or better. Their share price has declined significantly less that the 44.1% decrease of S&P 500 as measured by VFINX ($135.15 down to $75.54). I suspect Monday was not the last after-Thanksgiving sale of 2008.

As always, you should perform your own research and reach your own conclusion before buying or selling an investment security.

Full Disclosure: As of this writing, I was long in VFINX, PG, PGN and KO

Tags: [KMB] [KO] [PG] [PGN] [WFC]