NEW LOW OBSERVER

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 February 8, 2013 and have checked their performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.

McGraw Hill (MHFI) was the best performer and the key reason why the top five companies are up substantially more than the market in the last year.  At the time, we stated that the key reason why MHFI tumbled was because the U.S. government filed a civil lawsuit against the company on charges related to credit rating prior to the financial crisis.  The market apparently paid no attention to that lawsuit and MHFI skyrocketed upward.

U.S. Dividend Watch List: February 7, 2014

Below are 53 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are currently of interest to us.

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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 February 1, 2013 and have checked their performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.

In our review, we informed our readers that we’ve taken position in Dollar Tree (DLTR) instead of Family Dollar (FDO) which coincidently turned out to be a better purchase.  Year-to-date, Dollar Tree yielded a return of +26% and has risen as much as +50% in less than one year.  Family Dollar rose as far as +30% and has settled at a +10% gain one year later.  Our readers may recall that we had taken profits in Dollar Tree at 15% as its our strategy of seeking fair profits.

U.S. Dividend Watch List: January 31, 2014

The market volatility continued this week with the S&P 500 trading as low as 1,772 and as high as 1,798 which is a 1.5% swing.  By the end of the week, the market was down -0.5% and provided us with an additional 10 companies we could consider.

Below are 43 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are on our radar.

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This was a tough week for the market as the S&P 500 pulled back by -3%.  The Dow pulled back by more than -3.25%.  However, this is great news for us as we enjoy searching for company under these conditions.

Below are 33 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are on our radar.

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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 January 18, 2013 and have checked their performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.

Several names from our top five performed exceptionally well while some in the utilities sector held the list back.  We believed that our commentary on the shoe manufacture, Weyco (WEYS), was accurate.  The following commentary was made:

“The earnings per share has been increasing at a steady pace, rising from $1.00 in 2009 to $1.55 presently.  That rise of earnings, 15% annually, isn’t reflective of the stock price.  The company has a strong balance sheet and should trade at much higher multiples than the current level of 14.  This may be a good starting point to do some research on this small cap company.”

The company earning rose 10% (from $1.54 to $1.70) while multiple expanded 11% (from 14.7 to 16.4).  These two key factors were the main reason why the stock rose 23%.

Similarly, we expected Microsoft (MSFT) to do well if the stock held its technical level and break out on the upside.  The following was our commentary:

“The fundamental picture hasn’t changed since last week (found here).  On the technical front, the stock has been on a declining trend since March 2012.  The current consolidation of MSFT in the last three months might signal a bottom of the stock price and  could decisively break above $27.70.”

U.S. Dividend Watch List: January 17, 2014

Below are 26 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are on our radar.

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