With less time to bounce back from a bad investment, as well as the need for reliable income, you are going to want names you can trust. Here are two suggestions to get you started with your search.
Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company is not a name that requires much of an intro. Cola, the company’s namesake, has been in existence since 1886, and it is one of the world’s most well-known brands.
What you might not realize, however, is the company is not just cola. It isn’t even just carbonated beverages like Barq’s Root Beer or Sprite. Coca-Cola is also the brand name behind a massive portfolio of beverages that consist of Dasani waters, Fresca, Minute Maid juices, and Gold Peak teas, to name a few. This vast variety of products guarantees the company is prepared to address the beverage preferences that change often, which in turn means earnings is relatively reliable.
That is not even one of the most compelling aspects of Coca-Cola to earnings-minded investors. Even more crucial is the strategic shift Coca-Cola has made over the past few years. Starting in 2016, the beverage giant began getting out of the bottling business by outsourcing those operations to the bottler companies themselves. It would instead concentrate on growing its licensing and franchising businesses, which produce higher-margin earnings. The end result is a larger bottom line despite a shrinking top line.
Duke Energy
When was the last time you did not pay your electric bill? If you are like most consumers, the answer is most likely never. You may skip a trip to the mall or postpone a vacation, but you certainly keep the lights on no matter the cost of doing so. Some things you just cannot live without.
Your reliable payments to the utility companies are of course the reason they are great dividend-paying investments. Earnings is all but assured, and since rates can be predicted, so too are profits.
There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to electric utility stocks, however, one of the better dividend payers in this sector is Duke Energy. It has a yield of just under 4% which is better than most of the same sized, comparably more risky companies in the industry, but Duke’s payment history is outstanding. It has paid some type of dividend each quarter going on 95 years now, and perhaps more significant, the company has increased its dividend payout yearly for the past 16 years.
Author: Scott Dowdy
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