If you’re looking for a long-term winner as a retiree, it’s hard to beat a stock that not only pays growing dividends, but whose shares are in the bargain bin due to short-term disappointments. Even the highest quality companies suffer setbacks, which can present a golden opportunity to buy beaten-down shares and watch them rebound. In addition, with the stock having taken a hit, your investment dollars buy more shares—meaning a juicier yield and a bigger income stream for decades. Perhaps even the rest of your life.
Remember that no stock is without risk, and there are no guarantees. But if you have some patience—and don’t mind a little risk—these three companies have a long history of solid performance and could make great choices for a retirement portfolio.
Bristol-Myers Squibb—management flubbed it, but the stock will be back
Blame Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY -0.58%) for being over-ambitious.The big pharma motored to a 17-year high in July, only to take a sharp plunge in August. The stock is now down about 25%, meaning Bristol-Myer’s dividend yield is a more attractive 2.7%. At the pre-plunge price, shares were yielding only 2%.
But what caused the drop? Chalk it up to an unexpected clinical trial failure for the company’s PD-L1 inhibitor Opdivo, which is the best-selling cancer drug in the world. In a first-line non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) trial, Opdivo failed to outperform a conventional chemotherapy. Since Merck and Co’s (NYSE:MRK) PD-L1 inhibitor Keytruda had succeeded in a somewhat similar trial, Opdivo’s failure shocked the market. In fact, the biotech twittersphere went nuts. “The failure is a MAJOR SURPRISE—possibly the biggest clinical surprise of my career,” wrote Mark Schoenbaum of Evercore ISI.
Actually, it wasn’t so much as surprise, as an overreach. What the headlines missed was that the trials were designed differently. Bristol-Myers’ trial included a broad group of patients, while Merck played it safe by only including patients whose tumors made a lot of PD-L1, making them more likely to benefit from PD-L1 inhibiting drugs.
Short-term, management’s decision really hurt this stock, but the market appears to have punished Bristol-Myers enough. And it should be remembered that Opdivo has been outselling Keytruda two to one, thanks in part to the management often going for the wider market approval in its clinical trials. For instance, in second-line NSCLC treatment, Opdivo is approved for all patients, while Keytruda is approved only for those with high PD-L1 levels.
Bristol-Myers will have another shot at the first-line NSCLC market with a late-stage study testing Opdivo and another drug called Yervoy. Results are expected by January 2018.
Meanwhile, this company’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders, with last quarter showing a 17% growth in revenue to $4.9 billion, compared to the year ago quarter. U.S. revenues increased an eye-popping 46% to $2.7 billion, as compared to a year ago. Looking forward, the company’s top line forecast is to grow by double digits for the rest of 2016, and by high single digits heading into 2017 and beyond.
At the end of last quarter Bristol-Meyers had $7.9 billion in cash and marketable securities, giving it enough financial flexibility to support the dividend, which had a payout ratio under 60% this year. In short, the August selloff put this pharma in the sweet spot to generate a solid income stream while investors wait for it to recover.
CVS Health Corporation—a prescription for success
CVS Health Corporation’s (NYSE:CVS) 1.8% dividend may not seem like much at first, but CVS offers great dividend growth. The company has raised its dividends for thirteen straight years. In fact, management hiked the dividend 21% just last year and 750% over the past ten years. In addition, the company’s payout ratio is still a low 32%, meaning there’s plenty of room to keep raising the dividend.
Companies that are able to aggressively grow their dividends usually do so because earnings are accelerating. In the second quarter, CVS’ adjusted EPS increased 8.3% year-over-year. Combining all of its sales data, net revenues were up 17.6% to a record $43.7 billion last quarter compared to the year ago quarter.
While most people think of CVS as a drug store operator, it’s also the country’s second-largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), with more than 80 million members. The larger you are in the PBM business, the better deals you can negotiate on drug prices, which clearly is important with drug pricing a growing concern in the U.S.
In terms of its retail pharmacy business, revenues increased $2.8 billion, to $20 billion, or 16% in the most recent quarter, thanks to the addition of long-term care pharmacy operations from its acquisition of Omnicare, Inc, as well as the addition of clinics and pharmacies from its deal with Target Corporation (TGT -0.74%). Add in the company's 1,100 Minute Clinic urgent care facilities, with plans to open another 400 in the next few years, and this stock looks poised for fast growth in the coming decades.
Despite turning in solid financial results in the first and second quarters of 2016, CVS’s stock has declined 3% since the beginning of the year. Add it all up, and this currently lagging stock could be just what the doctor ordered to revitalize your retirement portfolio.
Abbott Labs—Miss Grace Groner shows the way
If you’re looking for a great stock that has paid increasing dividends decade after decade, look no further than Abbott Labs (ABT 0.75%). Having spun off its biotech department back in 2013 into AbbVie, the parent company has paid increasing dividends for an amazing forty-four years. The global healthcare products company now offers a shareholder payout of 2.7%, after raising its dividend 9% last year.
Abbott’s stock price has dropped about 5% over the past twelve months, but the long term trajectory of this company is not only intact, but likely to be reignited by recent acquisitions. In fact, last quarter’s results were a standout, with every single segment delivering mid-to high-single digit operational growth. Point-of-care diagnostics saw an 11.5% jump, emerging market pharmaceuticals grew 15.9%, and vascular medical devices grew 8.9%. In addition, with its $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ), which should close before the end of the year, investors should see continued growth far into the future.
One story any retiree can appreciate is that of Miss Grace Groner, who was a secretary at Abbott Labs eighty years ago. Miss Grace bought three shares of Abbott Laboratories in 1935 for $60 each. She held on to the stock, and reinvested her dividends in more shares while Abbott split dozens of times and grew into a healthcare behemoth.
By 2010, she owned more than 100,000 shares valued at $7 million.
I can’t tell you where this company will be in another eighty years, but taking into account its highly diversified revenue stream, which is a stabilizing factor for any company, as well as its rich and stable history, and an above average dividend yield, it’s a good option for retirement investors.
Buy on the dip and let it rip
Buy greatness at a sale price is one of my favorite rules of thumb for a successful stock investing. All three of these companies offer the kind of growth potential, safety, and growing dividends that create long-term champs. And best of all, they’re in the bargain bin.