At the end of the week, my watch list contains 21 companies. Here is my watch list for February 26, 2010.
| Symbol | Name | Price | % Yr Low | P/E | EPS | Div/Shr | Yield | Payout Ratio | |
| THFF | First Financial Corp. | 26.28 | 3.75% | 15.19 | 1.73 | 0.90 | 3.42% | 52% | |
| XOM | Exxon Mobil Corp. | 65.00 | 5.08% | 16.34 | 3.98 | 1.68 | 2.58% | 42% | |
| MON | Monsanto Company | 70.65 | 6.13% | 25.41 | 2.78 | 1.06 | 1.50% | 38% | |
| CWT | California Water Service | 35.88 | 7.14% | 17.94 | 2.00 | 1.19 | 3.32% | 60% | |
| SRCE | 1st Source Corp. | 14.93 | 7.88% | 18.90 | 0.79 | 0.60 | 4.02% | 76% | |
| AWR | American States Water Co. | 32.16 | 8.06% | 19.85 | 1.62 | 1.04 | 3.23% | 64% | |
| WTR | Aqua America, Inc. | 17.12 | 11.24% | 22.53 | 0.76 | 0.58 | 3.39% | 76% | |
| FPL | FPL Group, Inc. | 46.37 | 11.79% | 11.68 | 3.97 | 2.00 | 4.31% | 50% | |
| TMP | Tompkins Financial Corp. | 35.86 | 11.89% | 13.33 | 2.69 | 1.36 | 3.79% | 51% | |
| SHEN | Shenandoah Telecom | 18.03 | 11.99% | 29.08 | 0.62 | 0.32 | 1.77% | 52% | |
| BRO | Brown & Brown, Inc. | 16.78 | 12.24% | 14.98 | 1.12 | 0.31 | 1.85% | 28% | |
| UMBF | UMB Financial Corporation | 38.31 | 13.85% | 17.41 | 2.20 | 0.74 | 1.93% | 34% | |
| WEYS | Weyco Group, Inc. | 23.02 | 14.30% | 23.02 | 1.00 | 0.60 | 2.61% | 60% | |
| WGL | WGL Holdings Inc | 32.85 | 14.90% | 14.60 | 2.25 | 1.47 | 4.47% | 65% | |
| WMT | Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 54.07 | 15.04% | 14.61 | 3.70 | 1.09 | 2.02% | 29% | |
| T | AT&T Inc. | 24.81 | 15.72% | 11.70 | 2.12 | 1.68 | 6.77% | 79% | |
| NTRS | Northern Trust Corp. | 53.29 | 16.40% | 16.71 | 3.19 | 1.12 | 2.10% | 35% | |
| NWN | Northwest Natural Gas Co. | 43.99 | 16.65% | 15.22 | 2.89 | 1.66 | 3.77% | 57% | |
| RBCAA | Republic Bancorp, Inc. | 16.87 | 17.40% | 8.35 | 2.02 | 0.53 | 3.14% | 26% | |
| UGI | UGI Corporation | 25.05 | 18.50% | 11.33 | 2.21 | 0.80 | 3.19% | 36% | |
| SYBT | S.Y. Bancorp, Inc. | 21.95 | 20.01% | 15.79 | 1.39 | 0.68 | 3.10% | 49% | |
| 21 Companies | |||||||||
Watch List Summary
The best performer from last week's list is Weyco (WEYS) which rose 3.7%.
The worst performing stock is Monsanto (MON) which fell 9.1%. We are considering Monsanto as a possible investment. After some diligent research, out team was able to uncover the fact that MON had increased the dividend every year since 1967. In 1999, Pharmacia & Upjohn bought MON which technically discontinued the dividend increases. However, in 2000 Pharmicia spun-off MON which allowed MON to start their dividend increases in 2001.
One company that had been of particular interest was Northern Trust (NTRS). As the stock approached getting within 10% of the low, we ramped up our research of the company. In fact, just before our research was being completed the stock price jumped from $50 to $54 in a matter days. A primary rule of thumb when investing is to never chase a rising stock price. At $53.29, we can only watch from the sidelines. NTRS is a top notch financial institution which would end up being the subject of a bidding war or an acquirer of a substantially undervalued asset.
Overall performance of last week's list is a gain of 1.5%. Exxon Mobil (XOM), the largest company by market cap, has been within the 10% range for 6 consecutive weeks. As a sector, the water utilities are the most undervalued in our Dividend Achiever Watch List. A cursory examination and some patience will prove to be fruitful.
- Art