Below are the 55 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are within 11% of their respective 52-week lows. Stocks that appear on our watch lists are not recommendations to buy. Instead, they are the starting point for doing your research and determining the best company to buy. Ideally, a stock that is purchased from this list is done after a considerable decline in the price and rigorous due diligence.
| Symbol | Name | Price | % Yr Low | P/E | EPS (ttm) | Dividend | Yield | Payout Ratio |
| OMI | Owens & Minor, Inc. | 27.57 | 2.22% | 16.12 | 1.71 | 0.88 | 3.19% | 51% |
| RBCAA | Republic BanCorp., Inc. | 20.03 | 2.40% | 3.54 | 5.66 | 0.66 | 3.30% | 12% |
| WABC | Westamerica BanCorp. | 42.00 | 3.70% | 14.00 | 3.00 | 1.48 | 3.52% | 49% |
| SON | Sonoco Products Co. | 29.76 | 4.02% | 16.72 | 1.78 | 1.20 | 4.03% | 67% |
| ED | Consolidated Edison, Inc. | 56.03 | 4.48% | 14.71 | 3.81 | 2.42 | 4.32% | 64% |
| LKFN | Lakeland Financial Corp. | 24.54 | 4.56% | 11.47 | 2.14 | 0.68 | 2.77% | 32% |
| INTC | Intel Corp. | 20.16 | 4.81% | 8.80 | 2.29 | 0.90 | 4.47% | 39% |
| BOH | Bank of Hawaii Corp. | 43.48 | 5.00% | 12.01 | 3.62 | 1.80 | 4.14% | 50% |
| JW-A | John Wiley & Sons Inc. | 42.72 | 5.17% | 13.14 | 3.25 | 0.80 | 1.87% | 25% |
| ATR | AptarGroup Inc. | 47.70 | 5.55% | 19.63 | 2.43 | 0.88 | 1.84% | 36% |
| SJW | SJW Corp. | 23.89 | 5.90% | 19.58 | 1.22 | 0.71 | 2.97% | 58% |
| NWN | Northwest Natural Gas | 43.44 | 5.93% | 19.22 | 2.26 | 1.82 | 4.19% | 81% |
| MCD | McDonald's Corp. | 88.48 | 6.21% | 16.66 | 5.31 | 3.08 | 3.48% | 58% |
| MSEX | Middlesex Water Co. | 18.58 | 6.29% | 21.60 | 0.86 | 0.75 | 4.04% | 87% |
| IBKC | IBERIABANK Corp. | 47.07 | 6.30% | 19.61 | 2.40 | 1.36 | 2.89% | 57% |
| TEG | Integrys Energy Group Inc | 53.37 | 6.61% | 16.84 | 3.17 | 2.72 | 5.10% | 86% |
| WEYS | Weyco Group, Inc. | 23.48 | 6.68% | 15.25 | 1.54 | 0.68 | 2.90% | 44% |
| CWT | California Water Service | 17.97 | 6.71% | 16.49 | 1.09 | 0.63 | 3.51% | 58% |
| ANAT | American Nat'l Insurance | 68.05 | 6.86% | 9.98 | 6.82 | 3.08 | 4.53% | 45% |
| NJR | New Jersey Resources | 41.20 | 6.99% | 18.48 | 2.23 | 1.60 | 3.88% | 72% |
| CBU | Community Bank System | 27.18 | 7.09% | 13.80 | 1.97 | 1.08 | 3.97% | 55% |
| CLC | Clarcor Inc. | 45.87 | 7.30% | 18.88 | 2.43 | 0.54 | 1.18% | 22% |
| PX | Praxair, Inc. | 107.31 | 7.31% | 19.13 | 5.61 | 2.20 | 2.05% | 39% |
| CFR | Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. | 54.00 | 7.38% | 14.29 | 3.78 | 1.92 | 3.56% | 51% |
| VVC | Vectren Corp. | 29.49 | 7.39% | 14.89 | 1.98 | 1.42 | 4.82% | 72% |
| TMP | Tompkins Financial Corp. | 38.55 | 7.62% | 15.73 | 2.45 | 1.52 | 3.94% | 62% |
| TRMK | Trustmark Corp. | 22.35 | 7.66% | 12.77 | 1.75 | 0.92 | 4.12% | 53% |
| WGL | WGL Holdings, Inc. | 38.74 | 7.73% | 14.30 | 2.71 | 1.60 | 4.13% | 59% |
| ETP | Energy Transfer Partners | 43.31 | 7.76% | 9.96 | 4.35 | 3.58 | 8.27% | 82% |
| PRK | Park National Corp. | 64.31 | 7.78% | 14.58 | 4.41 | 3.76 | 5.85% | 85% |
| CASY | Caseys General Stores | 49.82 | 7.95% | 16.50 | 3.02 | 0.66 | 1.32% | 22% |
| IBM | IBM | 191.95 | 8.23% | 13.80 | 13.91 | 3.40 | 1.77% | 24% |
| WBS | Webster Financial Corp. | 19.82 | 8.31% | 11.13 | 1.78 | 0.40 | 2.02% | 22% |
| FNB | F.N.B. Corp. | 10.72 | 8.39% | 13.92 | 0.77 | 0.48 | 4.48% | 62% |
| ONB | Old National BanCorp. | 11.79 | 8.46% | 12.41 | 0.95 | 0.36 | 3.05% | 38% |
| SFNC | Simmons First National | 24.26 | 8.50% | 15.96 | 1.52 | 0.80 | 3.30% | 53% |
| SCG | SCANA Corporation | 45.90 | 8.56% | 14.76 | 3.11 | 1.98 | 4.31% | 64% |
| PPL | PP&L Corporation | 28.98 | 8.62% | 10.42 | 2.78 | 1.44 | 4.97% | 52% |
| SJI | South Jersey Industries | 49.89 | 8.91% | 14.72 | 3.39 | 1.77 | 3.55% | 52% |
| APD | Air Products & Chemicals | 83.06 | 9.13% | 15.27 | 5.44 | 2.56 | 3.08% | 47% |
| EXPD | Expeditors International | 37.34 | 9.18% | 23.34 | 1.60 | 0.56 | 1.50% | 35% |
| FDS | FactSet Research Systems | 93.25 | 9.22% | 22.63 | 4.12 | 1.24 | 1.33% | 30% |
| ABM | ABM Industries, Inc. | 19.56 | 9.58% | 20.16 | 0.97 | 0.58 | 2.97% | 60% |
| FULT | Fulton Financial Corp. | 9.62 | 9.94% | 12.33 | 0.78 | 0.32 | 3.33% | 41% |
| GD | General Dynamics Corp. | 67.19 | 9.99% | 10.00 | 6.72 | 2.04 | 3.04% | 30% |
| PNY | Piedmont Natural Gas Co. | 31.37 | 10.03% | 20.11 | 1.56 | 1.20 | 3.83% | 77% |
| DCI | Donaldson Co. Inc. | 33.58 | 10.06% | 20.48 | 1.64 | 0.36 | 1.07% | 22% |
| GRC | Gorman-Rupp Company | 28.10 | 10.15% | 19.93 | 1.41 | 0.40 | 1.42% | 28% |
| THFF | First Financial Corp. | 29.86 | 10.31% | 11.48 | 2.60 | 0.96 | 3.22% | 37% |
| SRCE | 1st Source Corp. | 21.76 | 10.46% | 11.10 | 1.96 | 0.68 | 3.13% | 35% |
| UBSI | United Bankshares, Inc. | 24.93 | 10.60% | 15.39 | 1.62 | 1.24 | 4.97% | 77% |
| GWW | W.W. Grainger Inc. | 191.09 | 10.78% | 20.35 | 9.39 | 3.20 | 1.67% | 34% |
| CAH | Cardinal Health, Inc. | 40.90 | 10.81% | 12.94 | 3.16 | 1.10 | 2.69% | 35% |
| BDX | Becton, Dickinson and Co. | 77.63 | 10.82% | 13.89 | 5.59 | 1.98 | 2.55% | 35% |
| AROW | Arrow Financial Corp. | 24.42 | 10.90% | 13.34 | 1.83 | 1.00 | 4.10% | 55% |
| 55 Companies | ||||||||
Watch List Review
Owens & Minor (OMI) topped our list again this week. The stock was virtually unchanged from a week ago and nothing material developed so we’ll refer you to our previous post commentary here.
Republic BanCorp (RBCAA) is second on our list and has become a big topic of discussion within our team. The company fundamentals appear to be simply stunning. RBCAA has exhibited a dividend growth rate of 13% annually in the past five years. Earnings have exceeded that rate at 16.5% annually and book value trailing at 11.5% over the past 5 years. So while the company trades at a 25% discount to its book value and at 3x earnings, we are afraid of its balance sheet. The company’s long-term debt is $764M, nearly double the size of its market cap of $420M. Cash on hand is $96M with 12% of debt. Debt is a major thing we are worry about. Besides that, the 12% payout ratio suggests that the company has a large margin of safety on the earnings side. The bank weathered the financial crisis without having to cut the dividend and that’s a big positive on the stock.
Top Five Performance Review
In our ongoing review of the NLO Dividend Watch List, we have taken the top five stocks on our list from December 9, 2011 and have check their performance one year later. The top five companies on that list can be seen in the table below.
| Symbol | Name | 2011 Price | 2012 Price | % change |
| AVP | Avon Products, Inc. | 16.58 | 14.62 | -11.82% |
| BDX | Becton, Dickinson and Co. | 72.92 | 77.63 | 6.46% |
| WST | West Pharmaceutical | 37.38 | 54.71 | 46.36% |
| BCR | CR Bard, Inc. | 85.70 | 97.46 | 13.72% |
| FNFG | First Niagara Financial Group Inc. | 8.73 | 7.59 | -13.06% |
| Average | 8.33% | |||
| DJI | Dow Jones Industrial | 12,184.26 | 13,155.13 | 7.97% |
| SPX | S&P 500 | 1,255.19 | 1,418.07 | 12.98% |
Our watch list managed to gain slightly more than the Dow Industrial Index but failed to outperform the S&P500 Index. The biggest decline came from First Niagara Financial (FNFG) because the company cut their dividend by half. The 97% payout ratio gave us a first sign of what was to come with the dividend payment.
Avon's (AVP) decline of -12% came after the company couldn’t managed to capitalized on the buyout rumor which boost the stock up as high as 40% within 4 months. Our sale of AVP on March 30, 2012 (found here) seemed like a huge mistake after only a +10% gain. However, since our sale of the stock, AVP has declined -24.48%.
In all case, however, all five companies managed to gain 10% within the first three months.