Nestle (NSRGY)

Post the election, although the stock market has risen, certain sectors have not. One of those has been the consumer staples. This company is down about 6% since the election, about 9% since the BREXIT vote in July. Trading about in line with the market, where it usually gets a very substantial premium. One of the largest makers of snack foods globally. They’ve grown their dividend 14% annually for the past 10 years. Very strong balance sheet. Generates about $10 billion in free cash flow per year. Dividend yield of 3.44%. (Analysts’ price target is $97.80.)

A pretty good entry point. It will give you a relatively attractive dividend. They have a new management team, so the company is in transition. Their priority is going to be to rationalize the product line. They sell into emerging markets, so it is good way to get exposure to the growth in the middle-income population, which is going to double in the next 15-20 years. Good dividend.

You buy on a bounce off of $67 (a couple or three weeks after), then play it up to the top of the channel.

(Market Call Minute.) Not a big fan of the company. The CEO and management need to get a kick in the head, and get out of there.

This has generated a 9.5% return for the last 10 years. Very attractive dividend. It has some corporate catalysts that are going to be positive for the stock. A new CEO, first outsider sincerity 1900s. They are going through a zero-based budgeting to reduce costs. Becoming quite effective at taking costs out through a working capital restructuring. The balance sheet is great. They are probably going to be looking to buying something fairly soon as the balance sheet is much under levered. Dividend yield of 3.28%. (Analysts’ price target is $82.80.)

He has shied away from the US consumer staple sector, however he does find good consumer staple opportunities in Europe, and this is an example of a fantastic company. You are getting a mid-single digit free cash flow yield. It is also a company that has optionality. A new CEO is coming in January, and the focus is going to be on cost control and margin improvement. Dividend yield of 2.9%.

A great company. They have been very consistent about their products and very consistent about their vision of the company. Very strong on research and development. All those things have helped this company over the long-term.

(A Top Pick Feb 9/15. Down 1.70%.) One of the most stable companies globally, and is probably better than owning a government bond. The market is a little unhappy with them because they haven’t met their model price for the last couple of years. However, they are still growing their top line at 4%+, a little under the 5% that they promised to do. About $41 out of every $100 comes from emerging markets, which is what you should expect from a global consumer staple. In the last year or 2, China has been a bit of a drag on their growth, but there has been a marked turnaround. Dividend yield of 3.08%.

A monster that is safe and big, but the difficulty he has is growth. They grow at 2%-3%, but don’t meet his parameters for growth. He wants to have 10%.

(A Top Pick Feb 9/15. Down 0.89%.) Offers a sustainable and superior growth with very low volatility. This is a “buy and hold”. Dividend yield of 3.07%.

(Top Pick Feb 24/15, Up 1.30%) It bounced back after the scandal in India. The stock took a real beating and then bounced back based on fundamentals. It is still a long term hold for a lot of people.

This is a tier 1 kind of name. Great company. Great management. Very strong in all of the different regions. The US may be the one area where they can improve on. What he likes is that, for such a big company, they are very innovative.

A global leader in several of their areas, as well as a major ice cream producer. A great company doing a great job, but the stock price isn’t cheap. There will be some dividend growth and some earnings growth, but you are paying up for it.

Chosen on the basis of a peer group comparison. Showed up very well in terms of loading its working capital needs, cost-cutting and a pullback because of the Swiss franc trade on the foreign exchange side. Yield of 3%.

A solid company with about $250 US billion in market cap. A very, very difficult business to grow when you are this size. Dividend yield is still pretty attractive at about 3%, but trading at about 20X forward earnings. This space generally is overvalued. The sort of stock where you can sleep well at night if you own it, but to Buy it you would have to be prepared for 1-3 years where returns could be below the market overall. However, volatility is quite modest.