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) |
$84.58 |
$99.14 |
$65.60 |
22.2 |
20% |
0.0% |
1.1 |
| Union Pacific (UNP) |
$49.68 |
$85.80 |
$41.84 |
10.1 |
17% |
2.2% |
0.5 |
| Texas Instruments (TXN) |
$15.56 |
$33.00 |
$13.38 |
27.9 |
15% |
2.8% |
1.6 |
| Aflac (AFL) |
$43.94 |
$68.81 |
$29.68 |
9.6 |
15% |
2.5% |
0.5 |
| FedEx (FDX) |
$62.77 |
$99.46 |
$53.90 |
13.9 |
15% |
0.7% |
0.9 |
| InterActiveCorp (IACI) |
$15.67 |
$25.24 |
$13.27 |
18.4 |
15% |
0.0% |
1.2 |
| CVS Corp (CVS) |
$29.31 |
$44.29 |
$23.19 |
10.9 |
15% |
0.9% |
0.7 |
| Aetna (AET) |
$29.17 |
$59.80 |
$14.21 |
7.2 |
15% |
0.1% |
0.5 |
| Nike B (NKE) |
$50.54 |
$70.60 |
$42.68 |
12.2 |
15% |
2.0% |
0.7 |
| Corning (GLW) |
$11.10 |
$28.07 |
$7.36 |
11.8 |
15% |
1.8% |
0.7 |
| Walgreen (WAG) |
$26.96 |
$39.00 |
$21.28 |
11.5 |
14% |
1.7% |
0.7 |
| Lowe's (LOW) |
$22.10 |
$28.49 |
$15.76 |
16.3 |
14% |
1.5% |
1.1 |
| Target (TGT) |
$36.83 |
$59.55 |
$25.60 |
12.8 |
14% |
1.7% |
0.8 |
| Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) |
$37.64 |
$49.97 |
$28.23 |
9.1 |
14% |
0.8% |
0.6 |
| Staples (SPLS) |
$18.00 |
$26.57 |
$13.57 |
12.6 |
14% |
1.8% |
0.8 |
| Abbott Laboratories (ABT) |
$50.64 |
$61.09 |
$45.75 |
13.8 |
13% |
2.8% |
0.9 |
| ADP (ADP) |
$40.17 |
$45.97 |
$30.83 |
15.5 |
13% |
3.3% |
1.0 |
| Cisco Systems (CSCO) |
$17.26 |
$27.72 |
$14.20 |
12.6 |
13% |
0.0% |
1.0 |
| Best Buy (BBY) |
$29.47 |
$49.65 |
$16.42 |
13.0 |
13% |
1.9% |
0.9 |
| Boeing (BA) |
$44.50 |
$88.29 |
$36.17 |
7.5 |
13% |
3.8% |
0.4 |
| Danaher Corp (DHR) |
$56.30 |
$85.42 |
$47.20 |
14.8 |
13% |
0.2% |
1.1 |
| Applied Materials (AMAT) |
$10.60 |
$21.75 |
$7.80 |
14.3 |
13% |
2.3% |
0.9 |
| 3M (MMM) |
$57.92 |
$83.22 |
$50.01 |
12.6 |
12% |
3.5% |
0.8 |
| Limited Brands (LTD) |
$10.67 |
$22.16 |
$6.90 |
8.4 |
12% |
5.6% |
0.5 |
| Home Depot (HD) |
$24.60 |
$31.08 |
$17.05 |
16.6 |
12% |
3.7% |
1.1 |
| UnitedHealth Group (UNH) |
$26.24 |
$57.48 |
$14.51 |
8.7 |
12% |
0.1% |
0.7 |
| T. Rowe Price (TROW) |
$34.23 |
$70.20 |
$24.26 |
22.7 |
12% |
2.8% |
1.5 |
| Omnicom Group (OMC) |
$27.49 |
$50.16 |
$22.02 |
9.5 |
12% |
2.2% |
0.7 |
| United Technologies (UTX) |
$53.41 |
$75.86 |
$41.76 |
11.1 |
12% |
2.9% |
0.7 |
| Time Warner (TWX) |
$10.26 |
$16.90 |
$7.00 |
9.7 |
12% |
2.4% |
0.7 |
| Schlumberger (SLB) |
$45.36 |
$111.95 |
$37.07 |
11.0 |
12% |
1.9% |
0.8 |
| Sysco (SYY) |
$24.44 |
$35.00 |
$20.74 |
12.5 |
12% |
3.9% |
0.8 |
| Burlington Northern (BNI) |
$77.11 |
$114.58 |
$68.31 |
11.8 |
12% |
2.1% |
0.8 |
| Johnson Controls (JCI) |
$18.60 |
$36.49 |
$13.65 |
9.2 |
12% |
2.8% |
0.6 |
| Viacom B (VIAB) |
$19.60 |
$42.68 |
$11.60 |
8.0 |
11% |
0.0% |
0.7 |
| Colgate-Palmolive (CL) |
$65.81 |
$81.98 |
$54.36 |
15.5 |
11% |
2.4% |
1.2 |
| Amgen (AMGN) |
$57.88 |
$66.51 |
$39.16 |
12.5 |
11% |
0.0% |
1.1 |
| Caterpillar (CAT) |
$43.30 |
$85.96 |
$31.95 |
9.6 |
11% |
3.9% |
0.6 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) |
$28.19 |
$50.63 |
$19.69 |
11.2 |
11% |
5.4% |
0.7 |
| Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) |
$55.35 |
$63.85 |
$43.11 |
14.8 |
11% |
1.7% |
1.2 |
| Illinois Tool Works (ITW) |
$36.04 |
$55.59 |
$28.50 |
15.1 |
11% |
3.4% |
1.0 |
| American Express (AXP) |
$19.91 |
$52.63 |
$16.55 |
10.5 |
11% |
3.6% |
0.7 |
| Microsoft (MSFT) |
$19.58 |
$35.00 |
$17.50 |
8.9 |
11% |
2.7% |
0.7 |
| Intel (INTC) |
$14.44 |
$25.29 |
$12.06 |
17.8 |
10% |
3.9% |
1.3 |
| IBM (IBM) |
$87.60 |
$130.93 |
$69.50 |
9.8 |
10% |
2.3% |
0.8 |
| Harley-Davidson (HOG) |
$17.22 |
$48.05 |
$11.54 |
6.6 |
10% |
7.7% |
0.4 |
| General Dynamics (GD) |
$58.61 |
$95.13 |
$47.81 |
8.7 |
10% |
2.4% |
0.7 |
| General Electric (GE) |
$16.08 |
$38.52 |
$12.58 |
11.4 |
10% |
7.7% |
0.6 |
| Comcast (CMCSA) |
$16.61 |
$22.86 |
$9.20 |
16.1 |
10% |
1.5% |
1.4 |
| Procter & Gamble (PG) |
$60.91 |
$73.81 |
$54.92 |
14.6 |
10% |
2.6% |
1.2 |
| Northrop Grumman (NOC) |
$46.80 |
$83.40 |
$33.96 |
8.6 |
10% |
3.4% |
0.6 |
| Disney (DIS) |
$23.09 |
$35.02 |
$18.60 |
9.8 |
9% |
1.5% |
0.9 |
| Wells Fargo (WFC) |
$25.99 |
$44.69 |
$19.89 |
14.9 |
9% |
5.2% |
1.0 |
| PepsiCo (PEP) |
$53.78 |
$79.79 |
$49.74 |
13.9 |
9% |
3.2% |
1.1 |
| Coca-Cola (KO) |
$44.72 |
$65.59 |
$40.29 |
13.6 |
8% |
3.4% |
1.2 |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) |
$58.89 |
$72.76 |
$52.06 |
12.7 |
8% |
3.1% |
1.1 |
| Fortune Brands (FO) |
$41.01 |
$74.44 |
$30.24 |
11.0 |
8% |
4.3% |
0.9 |
| Citigroup (C) |
$7.17 |
$29.73 |
$3.05 |
-34.7 |
8% |
8.9% |
-2.0 |
| ExxonMobil (XOM) |
$77.98 |
$96.12 |
$56.51 |
11.5 |
7% |
2.0% |
1.3 |
| DuPont (DD) |
$25.53 |
$52.49 |
$21.32 |
10.9 |
7% |
6.4% |
0.8 |
| ConocoPhillips (COP) |
$53.20 |
$95.96 |
$41.27 |
8.2 |
7% |
3.5% |
0.8 |
| Hershey Foods (HSY) |
$35.33 |
$44.32 |
$32.10 |
18.8 |
7% |
3.4% |
1.8 |
| Anadarko Petroleum (APC) |
$40.03 |
$81.36 |
$24.57 |
18.6 |
6% |
0.9% |
2.7 |
| Bank of America (BAC) |
$13.80 |
$45.08 |
$10.01 |
7.0 |
6% |
9.3% |
0.5 |
| Alcoa (AA) |
$10.89 |
$44.77 |
$6.80 |
31.8 |
6% |
6.2% |
2.6 |
| Lilly (LLY) |
$38.69 |
$57.52 |
$28.62 |
9.2 |
4% |
5.1% |
1.0 |
| Pfizer (PFE) |
$17.46 |
$24.24 |
$14.26 |
7.0 |
3% |
7.3% |
0.7 |
| Wyeth (WYE) |
$38.24 |
$49.80 |
$28.06 |
10.3 |
2% |
3.1% |
2.0 |
Last updated Jan 07 16:01