Abbott Laboratories
The drug and medical device maker recently received FDA approval for cholesterol drug Simcor, which could be a worthy contender for Vytorin, a drug created by rivals Merck and Schering-Plough.
And sales of Abbott's important Humira arthritis drug grew 42% over the fourth quarter, a good sign for the company. JPMorgan analyst Michael Weinstein thinks Abbott is worth buying. He expects earnings to grow 14% in 2008.
Abbott currently trades at about 17 times 2008 estimates and offers a dividend yield of 2.6%. And Abbott's dividend has increased 7% annually, on average, over the past five years. To put that in perspective, rivals such as Merck, Wyeth have boosted their payouts to investors by just 1% and 4% on average over the past few years.
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Last updated June 20 2008: 1:23 PM ET
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