PepsiCo (PEP) traces its roots back to 1898 when its original formulation was created by North Carolina pharmacist Caleb Bradham. PepsiCo was formed by the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and snack food giant Frito-Lay (founded in 1932). Today, Pepsi boasts 22 iconic brands with more than $1 billion in annual sales, including Lay’s, Pepsi, Tropicana, [...]

Founded in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia, Coca-Cola (KO) has grown to become the world’s largest drink purveyor and the fifth most valuable brand in the world. It markets over 3,900 products through more than 500 brands in over 200 countries. In fact, Coca-Cola is so geographically diversified that the U.S. market accounts for just  20% [...]

General Mills (GIS) was founded in 1866, owning just a single flour mill at the time. Since then, the company expanded into a number of different industries, including restaurants, toys, and even apparel. However, the business refocused completely on consumer foods in 1995. And in early 2018, the company made a big push into premium [...]

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) was founded in 1872 (incorporated in 1928) and has grown into one of the largest global manufacturers of various tissue and hygiene products, selling its products in more than 175 countries. The company's products have such a wide reach that they are used by one-quarter of the world's population. Some of the company’s [...]

The first Starbucks (SBUX) location opened in 1971, and the company has since grown to become the world’s largest coffee purveyor with over 29,000 stores in 78 countries. Starbucks stores sell not just premium coffee but also tea, packaged coffee, juices, bottled water, pastries, and various lunch items. In addition, the company licenses several of [...]

While the stock market, in general, has had a rough few months, many popular tech stocks have been hammered far harder. That includes Apple (AAPL), which saw its share price decline by as much as 40% since hitting an all-time high in October 2018. Apple's fall included a 10% single-day drop on January 2, 2019, [...]

Over the past decade, the U.S. has seen its lowest interest rates in history which has made REITs, with their naturally high yields and low volatility, attractive so-called "bond alternatives." However, in reality, there are important differences between bonds and REITs that investors need to understand when deciding what asset allocation is right for them. [...]

Tobacco stocks have historically been a dependable source of generous and growing income, plus solid long-term total returns. However, not all cigarette stocks are created equal. In 2018, Vector Group (VGR) has seen its stock price plunge nearly 50%, worse than its major tobacco rivals (shares of Altria and Philip Morris have lost 23% and [...]

AT&T (T) has been in the spotlight much of this year. Not only does its satellite TV business continue bleeding subscribers, but the company's debt load ballooned following the firm's acquisition of Time Warner. With roughly $170 billion in net debt and $13 billion in annual dividend payments that consume more than half of AT&T's [...]

United Technologies (UTX) is one of America's oldest and largest industrial conglomerates. That business model has served income investors well, with the company recently becoming a dividend aristocrat by announcing its 25th consecutive annual dividend increase and also boasting a track record of paying uninterrupted dividends since 1936. However, on November 26, 2018, the firm [...]

Have you ever wondered if you should reinvest dividends or take them in cash and decide where to invest the money yourself? After all, a downside of reinvesting dividends in a bull market is reinvesting automatically at higher stock prices. Perhaps it makes more sense to take cash dividends and invest them only in undervalued [...]

One appeal of long-term dividend growth investing is the ability to increase your share count by reinvesting dividends. As companies continue growing their dividends and the number of shares you own rises, you can achieve exponential income growth over time. Dividend reinvestment plans, or DRIPs, are the easiest way for hands-off investors to execute this [...]

For decades tobacco stocks have been used by conservative dividend investors to generate safe and steadily rising income. Due to the addictive nature of cigarettes, tobacco businesses are generally recession-proof with low stock price volatility, and thus a staple of many retirement portfolios. However, since peaking in early 2018 British American Tobacco's (BTI) share price [...]

Investing in CenturyLink (CTL), the struggling regional telecom company, has not gone well for investors over the last few years. Since peaking in late 2014, CenturyLink's stock is down about 55%, and even accounting for its double-digit yield, investors have seen total returns of about -35%. After years of struggling with a declining legacy landline [...]

After nearly a decade of historically low interest rates, many yield-starved income investors have flocked to high dividend stocks. But there are many different classes of high-yield stocks, some much safer and more appropriate for conservative investors than others. Let's take a look at one popular high-yield investment class, royalty trusts, to see what investors [...]