In the financial world, moat is defined as a long-term competitive advantage that protects a company from its rivals.
This week’s pick has managed to use its massive moat to become the dominant player in its industry. That sheer dominance and irreplaceable asset base have allowed it to reap huge economies of scale, high margins and, ultimately, big-time profits throughout its long-operating history.
And investors have reaped those benefits through a steady diet of dividend increases, the latest being a 6.41% jump since adding the stock to our Best Dividend Stocks List last May.
But the longer term could be even rosier for the firm. Our pick is sitting on the crossroads of a digital revolution that will continue to send plenty of revenues its way throughout the future. E-commerce is rapidly rising, and typically, these plays don’t offer much in the way of a dividend. However, our pick has plenty of e-commerce muscle and a great yield.
For investors looking at our pick for income, this will only further support its 48 years’ worth of consecutive dividend payments.
See our original article on our pick here.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
- Future dividend aristocrat that has paid dividends for 48 years in a row and has increased that dividend an average of 10% per year since its IPO.
- Has global operations with revenues coming from more than 220 countries.
- Industry-leading margins that helped deliver $6.47 billion in free cash flows last year.
- Major benefactor to one of the largest trends in all of technology and retail: the growth of online shopping.
- Healthy payout ratio of 55% and a growing yield of 2.83%.
