Top stocks from America's top industries.
NEW YORK (Money Magazine) - If there is any way to beat the market over the long run, it consists of following the strongest, most secure stocks and trying to scoop them up when they are measurably undervalued.
There are surprisingly few such stocks that you need to follow on an on-going basis -- we've come up with 70, which you can track in the table below.
What are the defining characteristics of these great growth stocks? Size is certainly part of it, and almost all of the stocks on the core list have market capitalizations and total revenues that top $5 billion a year.
We also looked for companies with diverse product lines and dominant positions in their industries.
As for growth, we sought companies that are capable of returning a steady 11 percent to 12 percent a year through a combination of earnings gains and yield.
Company (Ticker symbol) |
Current price |
52-wk high |
52-wk low |
P/E (next yr) |
Proj. growth |
Div Yield |
Value Ratio |
| Genentech (DNA) |
$84.52 |
$100.20 |
$75.58 |
39.1 |
29.8% |
0.0% |
1.7 |
| Schlumberger (SLB) |
$64.11 |
$74.75 |
$42.64 |
21.2 |
17.4% |
0.8% |
1.3 |
| Caterpillar (CAT) |
$62.35 |
$82.03 |
$49.75 |
11.7 |
17.0% |
1.9% |
0.7 |
| UnitedHealth Group (UNH) |
$49.37 |
$64.61 |
$41.44 |
16.8 |
16.5% |
0.1% |
1.0 |
| Texas Instruments (TXN) |
$30.70 |
$36.40 |
$26.77 |
18.2 |
16.5% |
0.5% |
1.1 |
| Applied Materials (AMAT) |
$17.68 |
$21.06 |
$14.39 |
15.9 |
16.5% |
1.1% |
1.6 |
| Boeing (BA) |
$79.14 |
$89.58 |
$63.70 |
35.7 |
16.4% |
1.5% |
2.0 |
| Walgreen (WAG) |
$43.34 |
$51.60 |
$39.55 |
21.0 |
16.0% |
0.7% |
1.5 |
| Lowe's (LOW) |
$30.64 |
$34.85 |
$26.15 |
15.4 |
16.0% |
0.7% |
0.9 |
| Staples (SPLS) |
$26.04 |
$27.71 |
$21.08 |
20.7 |
16.0% |
0.8% |
1.3 |
| Amgen (AMGN) |
$75.98 |
$84.50 |
$63.52 |
19.5 |
15.9% |
0.0% |
1.4 |
| Burlington Northern (BNI) |
$79.49 |
$87.99 |
$59.32 |
15.8 |
15.1% |
1.3% |
1.0 |
| Aetna (AET) |
$41.39 |
$52.48 |
$30.94 |
14.2 |
15.0% |
0.1% |
1.0 |
| Best Buy (BBY) |
$54.68 |
$59.50 |
$42.05 |
20.2 |
15.0% |
0.7% |
1.4 |
| FedEx (FDX) |
$115.45 |
$120.01 |
$88.95 |
17.9 |
15.0% |
0.3% |
1.2 |
| Cisco Systems (CSCO) |
$24.19 |
$24.78 |
$16.87 |
18.9 |
15.0% |
0.0% |
1.8 |
| Aflac (AFL) |
$45.17 |
$49.65 |
$41.63 |
15.5 |
14.8% |
1.4% |
0.9 |
| Danaher Corp (DHR) |
$71.02 |
$72.16 |
$49.94 |
21.9 |
14.4% |
0.1% |
1.5 |
| Target (TGT) |
$59.27 |
$59.85 |
$44.70 |
19.1 |
14.0% |
0.8% |
1.4 |
| CVS Corp (CVS) |
$31.35 |
$36.14 |
$23.89 |
20.4 |
13.6% |
0.5% |
1.4 |
| Sysco (SYY) |
$34.35 |
$34.17 |
$26.50 |
23.1 |
13.0% |
2.0% |
1.7 |
| Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) |
$51.75 |
$52.15 |
$42.31 |
17.9 |
13.0% |
1.3% |
1.3 |
| Nike B (NKE) |
$93.67 |
$93.37 |
$75.52 |
16.5 |
13.0% |
1.3% |
1.3 |
| Home Depot (HD) |
$37.38 |
$43.95 |
$32.85 |
12.3 |
13.0% |
1.6% |
0.9 |
| Merrill Lynch (MER) |
$87.30 |
$86.32 |
$62.60 |
12.3 |
12.9% |
1.1% |
0.9 |
| Disney (DIS) |
$31.98 |
$31.79 |
$23.35 |
19.6 |
12.7% |
0.8% |
1.6 |
| Northrop Grumman (NOC) |
$65.91 |
$71.37 |
$52.30 |
15.8 |
12.5% |
1.8% |
1.1 |
| American Express (AXP) |
$57.82 |
$58.43 |
$48.21 |
18.8 |
12.4% |
1.0% |
1.5 |
| Dell (DELL) |
$23.37 |
$33.22 |
$18.95 |
20.8 |
12.4% |
0.0% |
1.4 |
| Illinois Tool Works (ITW) |
$47.51 |
$53.54 |
$40.80 |
15.5 |
12.3% |
1.8% |
1.1 |
| T. Rowe Price (TROW) |
$46.31 |
$48.50 |
$31.71 |
25.4 |
12.0% |
1.2% |
1.9 |
| Microsoft (MSFT) |
$28.35 |
$28.70 |
$21.46 |
20.9 |
12.0% |
1.4% |
1.8 |
| First Data (FDC) |
$24.17 |
$48.88 |
$21.93 |
21.0 |
12.0% |
1.0% |
0.8 |
| General Dynamics (GD) |
$72.29 |
$77.98 |
$55.09 |
17.4 |
12.0% |
1.3% |
1.3 |
| Fortune Brands (FO) |
$76.88 |
$82.87 |
$68.45 |
14.1 |
12.0% |
2.0% |
1.2 |
| Procter & Gamble (PG) |
$63.50 |
$63.74 |
$52.75 |
22.1 |
12.0% |
1.9% |
1.7 |
| Viacom B (VIAB) |
$39.45 |
$44.90 |
$32.42 |
19.6 |
12.0% |
0.0% |
0.0 |
| Limited Brands (LTD) |
$29.55 |
$29.33 |
$18.81 |
18.0 |
12.0% |
2.0% |
1.2 |
| Johnson Controls (JCI) |
$83.50 |
$90.00 |
$66.03 |
13.6 |
12.0% |
1.3% |
1.2 |
| IBM (IBM) |
$91.54 |
$92.04 |
$72.73 |
15.3 |
12.0% |
1.3% |
1.2 |
| InterActiveCorp (IACI) |
$30.41 |
$31.50 |
$23.54 |
20.1 |
11.8% |
0.0% |
3.2 |
| Harley-Davidson (HOG) |
$67.97 |
$70.14 |
$47.31 |
17.8 |
11.7% |
1.2% |
1.4 |
| PepsiCo (PEP) |
$63.82 |
$65.99 |
$56.00 |
21.1 |
11.1% |
1.9% |
1.7 |
| Colgate-Palmolive (CL) |
$62.78 |
$63.16 |
$51.19 |
20.9 |
11.0% |
2.0% |
2.0 |
| United Technologies (UTX) |
$65.24 |
$67.47 |
$50.27 |
17.6 |
10.8% |
1.6% |
1.5 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) |
$47.77 |
$48.57 |
$35.63 |
12.8 |
10.7% |
2.9% |
1.0 |
| General Electric (GE) |
$35.59 |
$36.48 |
$32.06 |
17.9 |
10.6% |
2.8% |
1.4 |
| Abbott Laboratories (ABT) |
$47.89 |
$49.87 |
$37.50 |
19.1 |
10.5% |
2.5% |
1.6 |
| ConocoPhillips (COP) |
$62.20 |
$72.50 |
$54.90 |
6.1 |
10.3% |
2.3% |
0.5 |
| Comcast (CMCSA) |
$40.00 |
$39.12 |
$25.35 |
46.4 |
10.0% |
0.0% |
6.8 |
| Wells Fargo (WFC) |
$36.43 |
$36.99 |
$29.64 |
14.6 |
10.0% |
3.1% |
1.2 |
| Citigroup (C) |
$50.83 |
$51.33 |
$44.81 |
11.7 |
10.0% |
3.9% |
0.9 |
| 3M (MMM) |
$79.24 |
$88.35 |
$67.05 |
17.6 |
10.0% |
2.3% |
1.4 |
| ExxonMobil (XOM) |
$71.62 |
$71.40 |
$54.79 |
11.3 |
10.0% |
1.8% |
1.0 |
| Lilly (LLY) |
$57.29 |
$59.24 |
$49.47 |
18.3 |
10.0% |
2.8% |
2.1 |
| Washington Mutual (WM) |
$43.31 |
$47.01 |
$37.44 |
12.6 |
10.0% |
4.9% |
0.9 |
| Time Warner (TWX) |
$19.99 |
$19.92 |
$15.70 |
23.0 |
10.0% |
1.1% |
1.8 |
| Hershey Foods (HSY) |
$52.47 |
$59.05 |
$48.20 |
20.9 |
9.9% |
2.1% |
2.4 |
| Intel (INTC) |
$21.77 |
$27.49 |
$16.75 |
25.7 |
9.5% |
1.8% |
1.9 |
| Bank of America (BAC) |
$54.18 |
$54.87 |
$40.93 |
11.5 |
9.0% |
4.1% |
1.0 |
| Anadarko Petroleum (APC) |
$47.52 |
$56.98 |
$39.51 |
8.5 |
8.7% |
0.8% |
0.4 |
| Anheuser-Busch (BUD) |
$48.22 |
$50.00 |
$40.15 |
18.5 |
8.6% |
2.5% |
1.8 |
| Coca-Cola (KO) |
$47.14 |
$47.50 |
$39.36 |
20.1 |
8.3% |
2.6% |
2.0 |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) |
$68.82 |
$69.41 |
$56.65 |
18.4 |
8.0% |
2.2% |
1.8 |
| Wyeth (WYE) |
$52.62 |
$54.13 |
$40.90 |
16.5 |
7.0% |
2.0% |
2.0 |
| Pfizer (PFE) |
$27.28 |
$28.60 |
$20.27 |
13.6 |
4.9% |
3.5% |
2.6 |
| Alcoa (AA) |
$27.61 |
$36.96 |
$23.58 |
9.7 |
1.0% |
2.2% |
3.7 |
| DuPont (DD) |
$45.73 |
$46.90 |
$38.52 |
15.9 |
% |
3.2% |
5.4 |
| Tyco International (TYC) |
$29.23 |
$31.28 |
$24.65 |
15.5 |
% |
1.4% |
11.7 |
| Omnicom Group (OMC) |
$100.35 |
$101.50 |
$78.75 |
20.2 |
% |
1.0% |
20.9 |
Last updated Oct 26 17:03