Congratulations to our big winners and thank you to all of our contributors. It was a difficult market last year, but these results reflect how—with the right expert help—it is possible to beat the markets.
In this issue, we recap our big winners from last year, and have a very nice—and diversified list—of a group of stocks that promise great potential for 2019.
Wall Street’s Best Dividend Stocks 316
[premium_html_toc post_id="167977"]
Top Picks 2018
Congratulations to our Top Picks for 2018! The broader markets started 2018 off with a bang. But Washington politics—including the Mueller investigation, a turnover in the House, tariffs creating consternation in China and Canada, Trump’s coziness with North Korea, and the ‘Wall’—as well as Facebook shenanigans, a raft of mass shootings, and rising interest rates kept the markets in volatility territory for the year. The end result: the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 7.36%, the S&P 500 was down 7.6%, and the Nasdaq dropped by 5.57%.
And while not all of our 2018 Top Picks were winners, our top five handily beat the broader markets, as you can see in the chart below. Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to all advisors who participated in our Top Picks issue!
William Velmer, editor of S.A. Advisory, brought home the gold medal, with his pick of Optex Systems (OPXS). When he updated OPXS in our mid-year Top Picks issue, William had this to say: “We remain confident that military play Optex Systems Holdings, Inc will bear fruit for the patient investor, long-term. The Trump administration continues to strengthen the military and the products that this company provides are a key component for most of the vehicles that support/partake in military readiness either for defense or offense.”
Placing second is The TJX Companies, chosen by Ingrid Hendershot of Hendershot Investments. At mid-year, Ingrid reported, “The dividend reflects the 25% dividend increase the company announced, which marked the 22nd consecutive year of dividend increases. Given strong cash flows, management anticipates repurchasing $2.5 to $3.0 billion of TJX stock for the full year. Given the strong first quarter results, management raised their EPS outlook for the full year. TJX’s stock still appears attractively valued for long-term investors shopping for a bargain.”
Our bronze winner was Chloe Lutts Jensen, editor of Cabot Dividend Investor (who has recently left us to pursue new exciting opportunities—thank you, Chloe, and best wishes!) Chloe recommended UnitedHealth Group. At mid-year, Chloe updated UNH, noting, “The company has also paid two dividends and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.90 earlier this month. The 20% boost was the health insurer’s eighth dividend increase in a row. I still think UnitedHealth, a health insurer with a huge footprint (including its own medical centers and pharmacy benefit manager) is a good Buy for income investors looking for steady growth and low volatility.”
Coming in fourth was Charles A. Carlson, editor of DRIP Investor, who recommended Intel. When he made his pick, Charles said, “Intel is the sort of “old” tech company that is gaining favor on Wall Street because of its pivot toward higher-growth markets in the technology space. Intel is remaking itself. Wall Street is starting to catch on to the transformation at the company, but there is still plenty of upside remaining in these shares. The stock is a low-volatility way to play the high-volatility tech sector and should outperform the broad market in 2018. It is my top pick for conservative investors over the coming year.”
And in fifth place is Ares Capital, chosen by Adrian Day, of Adrian Day’s Global Analyst, who made this case for his pick: “Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC) is the largest and one of the most conservative Business Development Companies, lending money to small and mid-sized companies, which, like REITs, distribute essentially all of their net income to shareholders. It also has among the best returns over the years and yet is one of the cheapest right now.”
To read the rest of this month’s issue, download the PDF.
The next Wall Street’s Best Dividend Stocks issue will be published on February 6, 2019
Neither Cabot Wealth Network nor our employees are compensated by the companies we recommend. Sources of information are believed to be reliable, but are in no way guaranteed to be complete or without error. Recommendations, opinions or suggestions are given with the understanding that subscribers acting on the information assume all risks. © Cabot Wealth Network. Copying and/or electronic transmission of this report is a violation of U.S. copyright law. For the protection of our subscribers, if copyright laws are violated, the subscription will be terminated. To subscribe or for information on our privacy policy, call 978-745-5532, visit www.cabotwealth.com or write to support@cabotwealth.com.