Top Five Watch List Performance Review
In our ongoing review of the NLO Dividend Watch List, we have taken the top five stocks on our list from March 17, 2017 and have checked the performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.
| Symbol | Name | 2015 Price | 2016 Price | % change |
| TGT | Target Corp. | 54.29 | 70.99 | 30.8% |
| MAC | Macerich | 64.15 | 58.93 | -8.1% |
| BMS | Bemis Co Inc | 49.22 | 44.98 | -8.6% |
| SCG | SCANA Corporation | 67.88 | 40.21 | -40.8% |
| CATO | Cato Corp. | 21.92 | 13.27 | -39.5% |
| Average | -13.2% | |||
| DJI | Dow Jones Industrial | 20,914.62 | 24,946.51 | 19.3% |
| SPX | S&P 500 | 2,378.25 | 2,752.01 | 15.7% |
The top five companies average return was -13.20% largely driven by SCANA (SCG) and Cato (CATO) which lost -40.80% and -39.50%, respectively. A gain of +30.80% from Target (TGT) wasn't enough to offset the loss incurred from the other four companies. The good news for us is that we were bullish about Target and acted on our intuition.
Other notable companies mentioned were Hormel Foods (HRL), Coca-Cola (KO), and Genuine Parts (GPC). The average change for the three companies are -2% compared to the S&P 500 gain of +15.70%. Although these companies are part of an elite group call Dividend Aristocrats, that doesn't mean they will outperform the market. Even when our valuation model point to potential upside, in the case of Hormel Foods and Coca-Cola, they didn't come to fruition.
U.S. Dividend Watch List: March 16, 2018
Below are 54 companies on our watch list for this week. Continue reading