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 |
| Lilly (LLY) |
$37.46 |
$40.78 |
$27.21 |
8.0 |
5% |
5.2% |
0.8 |
| ConocoPhillips (COP) |
$50.64 |
$57.44 |
$34.12 |
8.3 |
7% |
4.0% |
0.8 |
| Pfizer (PFE) |
$18.57 |
$18.99 |
$11.62 |
8.4 |
2% |
3.5% |
1.5 |
| Aflac (AFL) |
$45.54 |
$47.88 |
$10.83 |
8.6 |
15% |
2.5% |
0.5 |
| UnitedHealth Group (UNH) |
$27.46 |
$30.25 |
$16.18 |
8.9 |
10% |
0.1% |
0.9 |
| Aetna (AET) |
$28.96 |
$34.87 |
$18.66 |
9.3 |
13% |
0.1% |
0.7 |
| Northrop Grumman (NOC) |
$56.00 |
$56.46 |
$33.81 |
10.1 |
10% |
3.1% |
0.8 |
| General Dynamics (GD) |
$67.51 |
$68.84 |
$35.28 |
10.4 |
9% |
2.2% |
0.9 |
| Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) |
$49.76 |
$51.43 |
$25.39 |
10.6 |
10% |
0.6% |
1.0 |
| Amgen (AMGN) |
$56.74 |
$64.76 |
$44.96 |
11.1 |
8% |
0.0% |
1.4 |
| CVS Corp (CVS) |
$30.70 |
$38.27 |
$23.74 |
11.2 |
14% |
1.0% |
0.7 |
| Corning (GLW) |
$18.33 |
$17.89 |
$7.90 |
11.7 |
14% |
1.1% |
0.8 |
| IBM (IBM) |
$127.07 |
$128.94 |
$75.31 |
11.7 |
10% |
1.7% |
1.0 |
| Viacom B (VIAB) |
$29.90 |
$31.56 |
$13.25 |
12.1 |
8% |
0.0% |
1.5 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) |
$41.42 |
$47.47 |
$14.96 |
12.7 |
10% |
0.5% |
1.2 |
| Boeing (BA) |
$54.64 |
$55.48 |
$29.05 |
12.7 |
9% |
3.1% |
1.1 |
| ExxonMobil (XOM) |
$74.14 |
$83.64 |
$61.86 |
12.8 |
7% |
2.3% |
1.4 |
| Target (TGT) |
$45.70 |
$51.77 |
$25.00 |
12.9 |
14% |
1.5% |
0.8 |
| Abbott Laboratories (ABT) |
$53.70 |
$57.39 |
$41.27 |
12.9 |
11% |
3.0% |
0.9 |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) |
$64.35 |
$64.73 |
$46.25 |
13.1 |
7% |
3.0% |
1.3 |
| Johnson Controls (JCI) |
$26.98 |
$28.34 |
$8.35 |
13.2 |
14% |
1.9% |
0.8 |
| Applied Materials (AMAT) |
$13.27 |
$14.19 |
$8.19 |
13.4 |
10% |
1.8% |
1.1 |
| Comcast (CMCSA) |
$16.08 |
$18.10 |
$11.10 |
13.5 |
9% |
1.7% |
1.3 |
| Omnicom Group (OMC) |
$36.74 |
$39.11 |
$20.09 |
13.5 |
10% |
1.6% |
1.2 |
| Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) |
$54.18 |
$59.23 |
$46.25 |
13.7 |
12% |
2.0% |
1.0 |
| Best Buy (BBY) |
$43.76 |
$44.50 |
$20.75 |
13.7 |
14% |
1.3% |
0.9 |
| Walgreen (WAG) |
$37.84 |
$40.69 |
$21.39 |
13.7 |
14% |
1.4% |
0.9 |
| Fortune Brands (FO) |
$40.30 |
$46.77 |
$17.68 |
13.8 |
9% |
1.9% |
1.3 |
| Time Warner (TWX) |
$31.43 |
$33.79 |
$17.81 |
13.9 |
9% |
2.4% |
1.2 |
| Intel (INTC) |
$20.46 |
$21.27 |
$12.05 |
14.0 |
10% |
2.7% |
1.1 |
| Disney (DIS) |
$30.86 |
$30.97 |
$15.14 |
14.2 |
10% |
1.1% |
1.3 |
| Microsoft (MSFT) |
$30.01 |
$30.20 |
$14.87 |
14.4 |
11% |
1.7% |
1.1 |
| Sysco (SYY) |
$28.23 |
$28.22 |
$19.39 |
14.4 |
6% |
3.5% |
1.5 |
| DuPont (DD) |
$32.37 |
$35.62 |
$16.05 |
14.5 |
6% |
5.1% |
1.3 |
| Limited Brands (LTD) |
$18.28 |
$19.99 |
$5.98 |
14.9 |
12% |
3.3% |
1.0 |
| United Technologies (UTX) |
$68.32 |
$69.97 |
$37.40 |
15.0 |
12% |
2.2% |
1.1 |
| PepsiCo (PEP) |
$63.86 |
$63.93 |
$43.78 |
15.0 |
10% |
2.8% |
1.2 |
| Wells Fargo (WFC) |
$26.83 |
$32.76 |
$7.80 |
15.0 |
11% |
0.8% |
1.3 |
| Cisco Systems (CSCO) |
$24.16 |
$24.83 |
$13.61 |
15.3 |
11% |
0.0% |
1.4 |
| Procter & Gamble (PG) |
$62.51 |
$64.00 |
$43.93 |
15.5 |
10% |
2.8% |
1.2 |
| Texas Instruments (TXN) |
$26.81 |
$26.68 |
$13.38 |
15.5 |
11% |
1.8% |
1.2 |
| Union Pacific (UNP) |
$65.19 |
$66.73 |
$33.28 |
15.5 |
13% |
1.7% |
1.1 |
| Hershey Foods (HSY) |
$35.98 |
$42.25 |
$30.27 |
15.8 |
6% |
3.3% |
1.7 |
| Nike B (NKE) |
$64.37 |
$66.35 |
$38.24 |
15.9 |
15% |
1.7% |
1.0 |
| 3M (MMM) |
$78.15 |
$79.25 |
$40.87 |
16.1 |
12% |
2.6% |
1.1 |
| Home Depot (HD) |
$28.10 |
$28.48 |
$17.49 |
16.6 |
11% |
3.2% |
1.2 |
| Lowe's (LOW) |
$22.88 |
$24.09 |
$13.00 |
16.9 |
12% |
1.6% |
1.2 |
| American Express (AXP) |
$39.22 |
$42.25 |
$9.71 |
17.0 |
12% |
1.8% |
1.2 |
| Coca-Cola (KO) |
$57.60 |
$58.43 |
$37.44 |
17.0 |
5% |
2.9% |
2.2 |
| ADP (ADP) |
$43.63 |
$44.50 |
$32.03 |
17.3 |
11% |
3.1% |
1.2 |
| Colgate-Palmolive (CL) |
$85.20 |
$87.39 |
$54.51 |
17.4 |
12% |
2.1% |
1.2 |
| Staples (SPLS) |
$24.33 |
$24.86 |
$14.35 |
17.6 |
14% |
1.4% |
1.1 |
| General Electric (GE) |
$16.18 |
$19.30 |
$5.73 |
17.9 |
10% |
2.5% |
1.4 |
| Burlington Northern (BNI) |
$98.68 |
$98.78 |
$50.86 |
18.1 |
11% |
1.6% |
1.4 |
| Illinois Tool Works (ITW) |
$48.47 |
$51.16 |
$25.60 |
18.3 |
12% |
2.6% |
1.3 |
| Danaher Corp (DHR) |
$72.17 |
$73.81 |
$47.20 |
18.6 |
12% |
0.2% |
1.5 |
| Bank of America (BAC) |
$16.20 |
$19.10 |
$2.53 |
18.9 |
7% |
0.2% |
2.6 |
| FedEx (FDX) |
$87.63 |
$87.88 |
$34.02 |
20.1 |
15% |
0.5% |
1.3 |
| Harley-Davidson (HOG) |
$28.48 |
$30.00 |
$7.99 |
20.3 |
10% |
1.4% |
1.8 |
| Alcoa (AA) |
$12.98 |
$15.11 |
$4.97 |
20.9 |
15% |
0.9% |
1.3 |
| T. Rowe Price (TROW) |
$49.42 |
$55.48 |
$20.09 |
21.0 |
11% |
2.0% |
1.6 |
| Schlumberger (SLB) |
$61.23 |
$71.10 |
$35.05 |
21.8 |
N/A% |
1.4% |
N/A |
| Caterpillar (CAT) |
$58.12 |
$61.28 |
$21.71 |
22.3 |
6% |
2.9% |
2.5 |
| InterActiveCorp (IACI) |
$19.13 |
$21.28 |
$13.23 |
26.8 |
15% |
0.0% |
1.8 |
| Anadarko Petroleum (APC) |
$60.19 |
$69.37 |
$30.88 |
45.0 |
6% |
0.6% |
6.8 |
| Citigroup (C) |
$4.11 |
$9.00 |
$0.97 |
54.8 |
9% |
1.0% |
5.5 |
| Anheuser-Busch (BUD) |
$52.56 |
$53.69 |
$36.95 |
N/A |
N/A% |
0.0% |
N/A |
Last updated Dec 04 16:01
