Stocks you want but...

[rayray]

This is a weird one for me because I'm not a fan of the company in itself more for personal reasons then anything else. But if I put personal reasons aside this is a company I want in my portfolio, eventually. However, I believe downward momentum is not finished with this company. I might be reaching here but if Walmart can yield in and around 3.5% I'll buy it.

Any company you guys want but are waiting on?

[rapidacid]

Typically it's the low yield in a company that has me balking at making a purchase. If I'm looking at something that's yielding in the 1.X% range I'll keep it on the "To Buy" watchlist but I usually allocate the available funds to something already in my portfolio that I don't have a full position in and is yielding much greater like in the 3.X% range.

I don't not buy companies for ethical reasons.

[Kerim]

Rapid took my answer.

I also don't not buy for ethical reasons. (In fact, I love me some sin stocks.) And low starting yield is also a deterrent for me, even if the dividend growth rate is high. A higher starting yield feels like a bird in the hand to me.

As to WMT, I've never been able to get excited about it as a purchase. I live about a block from one, and despite that convenience, I'll still go much further to shop at Target (if I don't just order whatever I need from Amazon). Maybe I'm a snob, but WMT is just such a dismal, depressing, and difficult shopping experience. The stores are dingy and grey and dark, and gooood luck finding an employee to help you with anything, and once you get your stuff, have fun in that line, because god forbid they open another register. I understand that these might be exactly the reasons the company is a good investment, but going in there always feels like death to me, so it just can't feel like a safe long-term investment.

Pepsi is probably the longest term "want" for me. It is a great company that I'd love to own, but it always feels a tad too expensive, or it is the second or third best idea I have when I've got funds to invest.

[EricL]

I agree about the stocks on my watch list being those with perennially high valuations that just never seem to come back to fair value. Companies like LOW, HD, FAST, GWW, NKE and the like.

WMT is not one of those companies for me and I am still not interested even at the current low prices. WMT is facing huge headwinds of higher labor costs, increasing on-line competition, and a strong dollar. It hasn't shown growth for a few years now and I don't expect that to pick up meaningfully anytime soon. The dividend payout ratio has also gotten well over historical norms and as a result the last few increases have been just $0.01 per quarter. I see several more years of pedestrian increases until the payout ratio gets back down the historical 30% range.

I'm long TGT for my big box retailer. It supports a higher payout ratio than WMT, has a better recent history of earnings growth (Canada and credit card fiascos withstanding), and higher expectations for earnings growth going forward. I'm also long ROST for a higher growth/lower yield retail option.

[DividendDragon]

I'd love to own Next on the lSE, but it's always at ridiculous prices :'(

[Dividend Watcher]

Gawd, there's a ton of companies I wouldn't mind having a piece of but it's more of a cash available problem than a price problem; pricing can be fungible, especially in the most recent market.

However, if I had to pick ...

TJX with a P/E of 14 or below
AMGN and/or GILD with yield north of 2.75%
CL yielding 3.5% and P/E less than 16
PH/ITW/MMM yielding north of 3%
et cetera

[earthtodan]

With so many fine stocks in the world, I think ethics is a useful filter.

[pyfish]

also waiting for WMT, I think if they can execute on their new ecommerce direction it will be interesting.