These two U.S. payers have long-term appeal

Article Excerpt

Here are two U.S. stocks with a long history of raising dividends, and we expect both will continue to increase their payouts. Procter & Gamble’s growing focus on its most-successful brands improves its prospects, while Wells Fargo stands to gain from the decrease in federal regulations promised by President-elect Donald Trump. PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. $83 (New York symbol PG; Income Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $224.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.4; Dividend yield: 3.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pg.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal care goods. It has paid dividends continuously since 1890, and has raised the annual rate each year for the past 60 years. The current rate of $2.68 a share yields 3.2%. In response to rising competition from generic products, Procter is narrowing its focus from 166 different brands to 65. Of those remaining brands, 21 have annual sales of over $1 billion. Another 11…