These U.S. stocks deserve our Highest rating

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PFIZER INC. $43 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.9 billion; Market cap: $253.7 billion; Dividend yield: 3.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.pfizer.com) is one of the world’s leading prescription drugmakers. Its top-selling brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis pain), Prevnar (pneumonia) and Enbrel (rheumatoid arthritis). Starting with the March 2019 payment, the company increased its quarterly dividend by 5.9%, to $0.36 a share from $0.34. The new annual rate of $1.44 yields 3.3%. Pfizer has now increased the annual rate each year since 2011. In the quarter ended March 31, 2019, the company’s sales rose 1.6%, to $13.1 billion from $12.9 billion a year earlier. Earnings, excluding one-time items, increased 7.4%, to $4.9 billion, or $0.85 a share, from $4.6 billion, or $0.75, a year earlier. On a per share basis, earnings increased by 13.3%, due to fewer shares outstanding. Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (New York symbol GSK) recently agreed to merge their consumer drug businesses into a new joint…