Best in Breed Dividend Stocks: Core Holdings for the Long-Term Investor (part one)

There are many factors to consider when creating a long term buy and hold dividend portfolio. First and foremost is obviously diversification. As I have stated in previous articles, a properly diversified portfolio can better withstand the occasional sell-off in certain sectors. Second, it is important to accurately identify ‘Best in Breed’ stocks within each sector. These stocks should always be the core of your portfolio. Every investor has different ideas on what constitutes a good investment, here is what I look for.

What constitutes a ‘Best in Breed’ dividend stock?  

1. Consistent Long Term Dividend Payments: For the most part, we are looking for companies that have paid a consistent dividend for over 10 years. A few good starting points for indentifying these companies are the Dividend Champions and the S&P Dividend Aristocrat.  I prefer the Dividend Champion resource as it focuses on consistent dividend growth.
2. Dividend Growth: Speaking of dividend growth, we are looking for companies that consistently raise their annual dividend payments. It’s easy to for investors to get stuck on current yield when doing due diligence on a stock. Although a decent current yield is important, it is your future yield on cost that will ultimately matter. The compounding returns of Dividend Growth stocks will outperform strictly high yield stocks in the long run. More on this later.
3. ........

Find out the stocks we chose at Seeking Alpha: Best in Breed Dividend Stocks: Core Holdings for the Long-Term Investor

Hasbro's Fundamentals: More Than Meets the Eye

Ah Hasbro. My childhood was spent playing with cast iron Transformers and G.I. Joes with the kung fu grip. There were more fights at my dining room table during Monopoly games than in the bleachers at Fenway during a Yankee series. We all know Hasbro. There is no substitute for their products. If your kid wants a G.I. Joe, you get the kid a G.I. Joe. If he wants to play Pokémon- you better get the kid a Pikachu. Now if they would only make that Megan Fox action figure from Transformer’s so I can relive my youth….

What it does:

Hasbro, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of games and toys. It produces many of the most sought after products in the market such as: Playskool, Transformers, Nerf, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Tonka, G.I. Joe, Super Soaker, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Cranium, Avalon Hill, Tiger, Strawberry Shortcake, and Wizards of the Coast.

But Hasbro is much more than a simple toy company. It has transformed (pun intended) these popular products into popular brands, slapping these characters and logos on anything and everything. Backpacks, underwear, lunchboxes, notebooks, shirts, cereal have all been graced with Optimus Prime, My Little Pony and the likes. There is simply no substitute for a Transformer (anyone remember the Go-Bots?).  Through its aggressive branding campaign Hasbro has created a wide competitive moat for its products.

Current Stock Data				Seven Year Averages
Company:	Hasbro				Return on Equity:	15.6%
Ticker:	HAS				Payout Ratio:	28.7%
Price:	$44.61				P/E Ratio-High:	20.0
EPS:	$2.87				P/E Ratio-Low:	13.0
DPS:	$1.00				P/E Ratio:	16.5
BVPS:	$10.91				Sustainable Growth	11.1%
P/E:	15.5
Earnings Yield:	6.4%
Dividend Yield:	2.2%
P/BV:	4.1					T20YM.COM

Read the full article at  Seeking Alpha

Option Mondays: Playing Momentum Names While Limiting Risk

At my core, I am a long-term value investor. I work an 8-6 job, have a family, go to school at night and honestly don’t have time to be an active trader. I enjoy doing fundamental analysis, buying undervalued dividend paying stocks and investing for the future. Obviously, this limits the universe of stocks I invest in to a handful of companies. There is nothing exciting about investing in McDonald's (MCD), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Coca-Cola (KO) or Procter & Gamble (PG). There is no need to check your brokerage account every day -- or even every week, for that matter. One can sleep at night confident that one's money is safe. I’ll admit it’s boring, but it’s a dependable march towards financial freedom.

As a (relatively) young investor, I have the luxury of taking risk. While the majority of my portfolio is dedicated to broad-range ETFs and long-term stable dividend growth stocks, there is always a little slice of capital allocated at chasing the momentum companies. You know the ones I’m talking about: Netflix (NFLX), NetApp (NTAP), Apple (AAPL), Chipotle (CMG), Baidu.com (BIDU), Amazon (AMZN) and the like. These are the "castle in the sky" companies, the ones that jump 10 to 20 points depending on the mood of the market, where investors buy high and hope to sell higher.

Read the rest of the article at Seeking Alpha