Top stocks from America's top industries.
NEW YORK (Money Magazine) - If there is any way to beat the market over the long run, it consists of following the strongest, most secure stocks and trying to scoop them up when they are measurably undervalued.
There are surprisingly few such stocks that you need to follow on an on-going basis -- we've come up with 70, which you can track in the table below.
What are the defining characteristics of these great growth stocks? Size is certainly part of it, and almost all of the stocks on the core list have market capitalizations and total revenues that top $5 billion a year.
We also looked for companies with diverse product lines and dominant positions in their industries.
As for growth, we sought companies that are capable of returning a steady 11 percent to 12 percent a year through a combination of earnings gains and yield.
Company
(Ticker symbol) |
Current
price |
52-wk
high |
52-wk
low |
P/E
(next yr) |
Proj.
growth |
Div
Yield |
Value
Ratio |
| 3M (MMM) |
$89.11 |
$92.32 |
$72.22 |
16.3 |
10.5% |
2.1% |
1.3 |
| ADP (ADP) |
$44.40 |
$50.30 |
$41.55 |
18.1 |
14.5% |
2.1% |
1.1 |
| Abbott Laboratories (ABT) |
$52.11 |
$59.50 |
$45.41 |
16.2 |
14.3% |
2.5% |
1.0 |
| Aetna (AET) |
$51.05 |
$53.43 |
$38.02 |
13.2 |
13.3% |
0.1% |
1.0 |
| Aflac (AFL) |
$55.44 |
$57.44 |
$42.50 |
14.8 |
14.3% |
1.5% |
0.9 |
| Alcoa (AA) |
$34.62 |
$48.77 |
$26.39 |
9.9 |
10.9% |
2.0% |
0.8 |
| American Express (AXP) |
$60.58 |
$65.89 |
$52.60 |
15.5 |
11.7% |
1.0% |
1.2 |
| Amgen (AMGN) |
$57.17 |
$77.00 |
$48.30 |
13.3 |
4.3% |
0.0% |
3.1 |
| Anadarko Petroleum (APC) |
$50.77 |
$55.82 |
$38.40 |
12.1 |
9.2% |
0.7% |
1.2 |
| Anheuser-Busch (BUD) |
$50.74 |
$55.19 |
$46.05 |
16.4 |
9.7% |
2.6% |
1.3 |
| Applied Materials (AMAT) |
$20.63 |
$23.00 |
$16.75 |
16.3 |
2.0% |
1.2% |
5.2 |
| Bank of America (BAC) |
$49.93 |
$55.08 |
$46.52 |
9.4 |
7.5% |
5.1% |
0.7 |
| Best Buy (BBY) |
$43.73 |
$58.49 |
$41.85 |
12.5 |
14.7% |
1.2% |
0.8 |
| Boeing (BA) |
$98.91 |
$107.83 |
$74.15 |
15.9 |
22.8% |
1.4% |
0.7 |
| Burlington Northern (BNI) |
$83.31 |
$95.47 |
$67.24 |
13.5 |
17.4% |
1.5% |
0.7 |
| CVS Corp (CVS) |
$37.79 |
$39.44 |
$27.09 |
16.4 |
21.5% |
0.6% |
0.7 |
| Caterpillar (CAT) |
$73.07 |
$87.00 |
$57.98 |
11.7 |
14.5% |
2.0% |
0.7 |
| Cisco Systems (CSCO) |
$31.50 |
$32.50 |
$22.44 |
18.1 |
16.7% |
0.0% |
1.1 |
| Citigroup (C) |
$46.47 |
$57.00 |
$44.66 |
9.2 |
10.8% |
4.7% |
0.6 |
| Coca-Cola (KO) |
$55.91 |
$56.85 |
$43.72 |
19.1 |
11.7% |
2.4% |
1.4 |
| Colgate-Palmolive (CL) |
$67.34 |
$70.16 |
$59.35 |
18.0 |
12.3% |
2.1% |
1.2 |
| Comcast (CMCSA) |
$25.21 |
$30.18 |
$22.70 |
23.8 |
35.1% |
0.0% |
0.7 |
| ConocoPhillips (COP) |
$85.29 |
$90.84 |
$54.90 |
9.4 |
-3.3% |
1.9% |
N/A |
| Corning (GLW) |
$24.21 |
$27.25 |
$18.12 |
15.3 |
16.6% |
0.8% |
0.9 |
| Danaher Corp (DHR) |
$78.38 |
$82.87 |
$64.74 |
18.3 |
13.2% |
0.1% |
1.4 |
| Disney (DIS) |
$33.51 |
$36.79 |
$29.74 |
15.8 |
10.4% |
0.9% |
1.4 |
| DuPont (DD) |
$47.94 |
$53.90 |
$40.10 |
13.9 |
9.6% |
3.1% |
1.1 |
| ExxonMobil (XOM) |
$88.86 |
$93.62 |
$63.87 |
13.3 |
-2.2% |
1.6% |
N/A |
| FedEx (FDX) |
$109.22 |
$121.42 |
$99.30 |
13.7 |
11.4% |
0.4% |
1.2 |
| Fortune Brands (FO) |
$81.33 |
$90.80 |
$72.42 |
14.7 |
8.4% |
2.1% |
1.4 |
| Genentech (DNA) |
$78.46 |
$89.73 |
$71.43 |
23.1 |
19.2% |
0.0% |
1.2 |
| General Dynamics (GD) |
$80.86 |
$84.09 |
$68.81 |
14.6 |
12.4% |
1.4% |
1.1 |
| General Electric (GE) |
$40.77 |
$40.98 |
$33.90 |
16.3 |
13.1% |
2.8% |
1.0 |
| Harley-Davidson (HOG) |
$46.79 |
$75.87 |
$46.80 |
11.8 |
5.3% |
2.1% |
1.6 |
| Hershey Foods (HSY) |
$45.50 |
$56.75 |
$44.03 |
18.5 |
8.9% |
2.6% |
1.6 |
| Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) |
$48.87 |
$50.47 |
$34.15 |
15.1 |
13.4% |
0.7% |
1.1 |
| Home Depot (HD) |
$35.68 |
$42.01 |
$31.85 |
12.8 |
15.9% |
2.5% |
0.7 |
| IBM (IBM) |
$116.18 |
$118.89 |
$81.01 |
14.6 |
14.3% |
1.4% |
0.9 |
| Illinois Tool Works (ITW) |
$56.00 |
$58.74 |
$42.96 |
14.7 |
13.2% |
2.0% |
1.0 |
| Intel (INTC) |
$25.30 |
$26.52 |
$18.75 |
18.3 |
22.8% |
1.8% |
0.7 |
| InterActiveCorp (IACI) |
$27.61 |
$40.99 |
$25.08 |
15.6 |
16.8% |
0.0% |
0.9 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) |
$45.59 |
$53.25 |
$42.16 |
9.4 |
5.4% |
3.3% |
1.1 |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) |
$63.17 |
$69.41 |
$59.72 |
14.5 |
7.6% |
2.6% |
1.4 |
| Johnson Controls (JCI) |
$107.86 |
$129.20 |
$66.75 |
14.4 |
19.2% |
0.4% |
0.7 |
| Lilly (LLY) |
$57.22 |
$61.00 |
$51.13 |
15.2 |
8.9% |
3.0% |
1.3 |
| Limited Brands (LTD) |
$22.51 |
$32.60 |
$20.73 |
12.2 |
20.5% |
2.7% |
0.5 |
| Lowe's (LOW) |
$30.79 |
$35.74 |
$25.98 |
13.6 |
12.9% |
1.0% |
1.0 |
| Merrill Lynch (MER) |
$75.46 |
$98.68 |
$66.94 |
8.2 |
6.0% |
1.9% |
1.0 |
| Microsoft (MSFT) |
$29.24 |
$31.84 |
$25.49 |
14.9 |
12.9% |
1.4% |
1.0 |
| Nike B (NKE) |
$56.90 |
$60.35 |
$40.37 |
15.1 |
13.7% |
1.3% |
1.0 |
| Northrop Grumman (NOC) |
$78.99 |
$80.35 |
$64.33 |
14.4 |
8.8% |
1.9% |
1.3 |
| Omnicom Group (OMC) |
$49.67 |
$55.45 |
$44.97 |
15.2 |
12.3% |
1.2% |
1.1 |
| PepsiCo (PEP) |
$69.86 |
$70.25 |
$61.15 |
18.8 |
10.7% |
2.1% |
1.5 |
| Pfizer (PFE) |
$24.28 |
$28.60 |
$23.13 |
10.4 |
9.7% |
4.8% |
0.7 |
| Procter & Gamble (PG) |
$67.42 |
$67.40 |
$59.83 |
17.1 |
13.3% |
2.1% |
1.1 |
| Schlumberger (SLB) |
$100.75 |
$101.20 |
$54.73 |
19.9 |
22.2% |
0.7% |
0.9 |
| Staples (SPLS) |
$22.15 |
$28.00 |
$21.85 |
13.4 |
14.8% |
1.3% |
0.8 |
| Sysco (SYY) |
$33.20 |
$37.04 |
$29.90 |
16.2 |
14.7% |
2.3% |
1.0 |
| T. Rowe Price (TROW) |
$53.22 |
$57.45 |
$42.53 |
19.1 |
17.8% |
1.3% |
1.0 |
| Target (TGT) |
$64.66 |
$70.75 |
$52.06 |
15.8 |
11.8% |
0.9% |
1.2 |
| Texas Instruments (TXN) |
$34.92 |
$39.63 |
$28.24 |
16.5 |
19.9% |
0.9% |
0.8 |
| Time Warner (TWX) |
$19.03 |
$23.15 |
$16.78 |
16.6 |
13.9% |
1.3% |
1.1 |
| United Technologies (UTX) |
$74.99 |
$77.82 |
$61.80 |
15.5 |
14.1% |
1.7% |
1.0 |
| UnitedHealth Group (UNH) |
$49.49 |
$57.10 |
$45.12 |
12.6 |
13.7% |
0.1% |
0.9 |
| Viacom B (VIAB) |
$37.50 |
$45.03 |
$33.74 |
14.2 |
13.6% |
0.0% |
1.1 |
| Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) |
$43.25 |
$52.15 |
$42.09 |
12.7 |
10.2% |
2.0% |
1.0 |
| Walgreen (WAG) |
$45.49 |
$51.05 |
$39.91 |
19.1 |
13.2% |
0.8% |
1.4 |
| Washington Mutual (WM) |
$35.59 |
$46.38 |
$31.27 |
8.9 |
17.0% |
6.3% |
0.4 |
| Wells Fargo (WFC) |
$35.79 |
$37.99 |
$32.66 |
11.8 |
10.1% |
3.5% |
0.9 |
| Wyeth (WYE) |
$46.77 |
$62.20 |
$43.65 |
12.2 |
9.1% |
2.2% |
1.1 |
Last updated Sep 13 16:01
