Five More Dividend Picks for 2011

Greetings,

For the past two weeks I highlighted some quality dividend ideas for 2011: Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Midstream Magellan Partners (MMP), Lowe’s (LOW), Southern Company (SO), and AT&T (T). This week I will examine briefly five more ideas for 2011, rounding out the list to 10 solid dividend companies that are worth considering this year.

Waste Management (WM)
Waste Management is the nation's largest provider of collection, transfer, recycling, disposal, and waste-to-energy services serving nearly 20 million customers.  Why I like it as a dividend pick this year - 1) It just had another dividend increase of 8% on Dec. 16th, making it the 7th consecutive year of increasing its quarterly payout to its shareholders; 2) Americans are not going to settle for not having their trash picked up, and WM is a solid company to satsify this unending need.

Kimberly Clark (KMB)
Kimberly-Clark is one of the top companies in the global health and hygiene category selling bathroom tissues, diapers, feminine products, and paper towels. Some of its most popular brands include Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, and Kotex.  Why I like it as a dividend pick year - Easy: 38 years of dividend increases +  a solid company + 4.29% yield. 2) Look at the brands listed above. When your product - ie 'tissue' is known in homes across America as your brand, ie 'Kleenex', your company is not going anywhere for awhile.

Walmart (WMT)
Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world with over $400 Billion in annual revenue. Everyone knows and has heard of this company. Enough said.  Why I like it as a dividend pick this year - 1) It's unmatched scale, competitive advantage, and wide economic moat...not to mention it's current price of $52 is much lower than its fair value price, which is closer to say, $64.

McDonald’s (MCD)
McDonalds has 32,700 locations in 117 countries. Like Walmart, McDonalds is huge, to put it plainly.  Compare Mcdonald's TTM of sales (in millions) at $23,834 to YUM brands at $11,343.  Why I like it as a dividend pick this year - 1) 33 straight years of dividend increases. 2) Five Year Div Growth - 28.8%. Finally, as if you needed any more convincing, (and not that it should be used solely to make your decision), but according to fool.com 25 out of 25 analysists from Walstreet expect it to outperform the market this year.

Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)
Johnson & Johnson stands alone as the world's largest and most diverse health-care company. The company comprises three divisions: pharmaceutical, medical devices and diagnostics, and consumer.   Why I like it as a dividend pick this year - It's stock price is cheap right now.  Forward P/E of 11.7.  That's all I'll say for now. JNJ is a buy.

Of the 10 companies mentioned above, I currently own four in my income portfolio (See a complete list of my holdings here). This year I hope to add three more companies.  The securities mentioned above are all on my watchlist of potential buys.  I plan to initiate new positions once I have performed my diligence and as my allocation allows.

That completes the list of ten great dividend ideas for 2011.  I will go further into depth on each company throughout the year, but now you have a starting point to get you thinking.  What are your thoughts?

Here's to our pursuit,

Dividend Partisan