Verizon (VZ) is the largest wireless service provider in the U.S. The firm was founded in 1983 as Bell Atlantic but became Verizon in 2000 after its $65 billion merger with telecom giant GTE. The company’s 4G LTE network is available to more than 98% of the country’s population (over 320 million people) in over [...]

Main Street Capital (MAIN) is a business development company, or BDC. All BDCs are basically middle market lenders, which means they lend or take equity stakes in the 200,000 or so subprime businesses that generate about a third of the U.S. economy. Essentially, BDCs serve a market of small companies across the country that regular [...]

Founded in 1992, Omega Healthcare (OHI) is the largest U.S. skilled nursing facilities REIT, with over 900 properties rented to 67 operators across America and the United Kingdom (U.K.). Approximately 83% of the company's total rental revenue is derived from skilled nursing facilities, or SNFs, which are Omega Healthcare’s specialty; senior housing accounts for the [...]

In business since 1837, Procter & Gamble (PG) has grown into one of the world’s largest consumer goods manufacturers, advertisers, and distributors. It currently sells 65 product brands in more than 180 countries. Some of its leading brands are Luvs, Pampers, Tampax, Charmin, Downy, Tide, Cascade, Dawn, Febreze, Head & Shoulders, Old Spice, Pantene, Gillette, [...]

Iron Mountain's (IRM) stock price has declined 16% since peaking in late November 2017, worse than the S&P 500 (down 1%) and the broader REIT index (down about 9%). Last quarter IRM's price fell so low during the market's correction that the stock's dividend yield rose to a record 8%, which is a level high [...]

Large-scale M&A is nothing new to Wall Street, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. However, mega deals are often fraught with risks, so when a dividend stock announces an enormous purchase investors understandably get nervous. On January 3, 2019, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced it will be buying biotech giant Celgene (CELG) in a $74 billion deal ($90 billion [...]

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) is one of the largest publicly traded REITs in the country and supports the data center needs of more than 2,300 customers across industries such as financial services, information technology, and manufacturing. The REIT has a portfolio of 198 data centers in 12 countries and boasts the second highest global market [...]

Founded in 1983 as SBC Communications (the company bought AT&T in 2005 and adopted the more famous moniker), AT&T (T) is a telecom and media conglomerate that, after closing on its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner in June 2018, operates four business segments: Communications (79% of revenue, 75% of segment profits):provides wireless and wireline [...]

Cisco (CSCO) was founded in 1984 and has grown to become one of the most important technology companies in the world. While the business sells a wide variety of products and services to businesses of all sizes, its main offerings connect computing devices to networks or computer networks with each other. The company’s website provides an overview [...]

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, [...]