Pfizer announced a dividend raise today, from 24 cents per quarter to 26 cents -- an 8.3% raise. Not bad at all. I know they cut the dividend in 2008-2009, so their official streak of raising the dividend is only 4 years now. Only one more year, though, and they'll be back on the CCC list as a challenger. Plus with the raise the yield is around 3.4 percent.
Any takers?
The dividend looks good; however, I don't like the look of the earnings trend. If you compare the consensus forward PE ratio to the trailing PE ratio, there is a 45% decline in earnings.
For a pure drug play, MRK is on my watchlist. It is decently priced compared to fair value, has a nice dividend, and has positive earnings growth. The dividend growth is a little low, but acceptable.
For a more diversified medical play, JNJ is still looking good. The price is still below fair value with the other numbers being decent if not spectacular.