5 Simple Great And Safe Dividend Growth Stocks

Dividend growth stocks offer the best of both worlds -- potential for capital appreciation and rising income even in a volatile market. This is because these stocks belong to mature companies, which are less susceptible to large swings in the market, while simultaneously offer outsized payouts or sizable yields on a regular basis irrespective of the market direction.

Additionally, these companies have a sustainable business model and enjoy competitive advantages, a long track of profitability, rising cash flows, good liquidity, strong balance sheet and some value characteristics. 

All these superior fundamentals make dividend growth stocks quality and promising investments for the long term. Further, a history of strong dividend growth indicates that a future hike is likely. This makes the portfolio healthy and safe.

Attached you will find a 5 stocks that might be a great asset for your portfolio...

12 Good Dividend Growth Investments Now

Someone recently asked me to "let them know what my next investment was going to be, so they could get in at the price I pay." I usually keep a running list of dividend stocks that I want to buy, along with target prices, but I hadn't updated the list in a while. So I decided to do a little research and see what sort of compelling buys I could find in today's environment.

I used the following screening filters to give me a starting list of dividend growth stocks that I might want to consider:

Yield between 4% and 8%  

1-year dividend growth rate at least 10% 

Recent average dividend growth rate at least 8% 

Exclude All MLPs 

These were the results...

19 Dividend Aristocrast With Buy Rating And Low Forward P/E's

Finding a company with a long track record of consistent dividend payments is only part of the winning formula for investing in dividend stocks. Dividend growth matters, too. Rising dividends not only make a stock more attractive to new income investors, but steady dividend hikes also reward existing investors with increasingly higher yields on shares purchased at lower prices in the past.

It's an opportune time to target dividend growers, according to Heidi Richardson, an investment strategist for BlackRock. Companies raising dividends are attractive in an aging bull market, when the pace of shareholder-friendly stock buybacks and mergers can slow. Dividend growers, she adds, can also offer an edge when interest rates are going up: "Stocks with a history of consistently growing their dividends have historically tended to perform well and exhibit less volatility in a rising-rate environment." Kiplinger expects at least two Federal Reserve rate hikes in 2017.

Identify reliable dividend stocks by concentrating on the Dividend Aristocrats, 50 companies in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index that have hiked their dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years.

Since size, longevity and familiarity can provide comfort amid market uncertainty, here are the 25 biggest Dividend Aristocrats by market capitalization. Dominated by household names, the list is a good starting point to find high-quality companies for your long-term portfolio.

My Favorite Dividend Paying Buyback Hero Stocks

As you might know, I am a big fan of dividend growth and stock buybacks. Each action is a shareholder friendly way to give money back to the owner of the company.

Dividends are direct and share buybacks are indirect and more tax efficient. Both activities only make sense if the management team has a clear view about the valuation and growth perspectives or potential of the corporation. If there is an opportunity to grow with low risk, dividends shouldn't be paid in a big way. The same is neccessary for buybacks. There must be a mix of both in balance with growth.

Today I like to share a sheet of interesting stocks with good outstanding buyback programs. I've focused my research on growth and dividends while the valuation level doesn't exceed critical levels.

Here are my results...

6 Potential Stocks To Benefit From A Trump Policy

For deep value investors, the U.S. stock market offers slim pickings. A quick glance at the Russell 1000 Value Index will tell you that large capitalization, U.S., companies are not cheap at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19 times.

The S&P 500 is up almost 2.8% since the beginning of February and up over 8% since Donald Trump was elected President. Consequently, it is important to focus on stocks with two characteristics: an attractive relative valuation and sensitivity to policy changes. 

The Trump administration has promised to cut corporate regulations and tax rates, and engage in massive fiscal stimulus. Assuming those policy changes can be implemented they are naturally bullish for the stock market. The key is to find companies that are likely to be benefit asymmetrically for those policy changes and which do not already carry unreasonable valuations.

Attached you will find a couple of stocks that might be interesting in this enviroment. I run a screen with a main focus on valuation and growth.

These were my results...maybe you agree. There are some names on the list that are not popular but might be interesting in terms of free cash flow.

Here are the results...