The Best High Rated, High Dividend Stocks to Buy NOW

I invest in Sharebuilder on a weekly to monthly basis. I have my own account and an account for two of my young nieces. I have done well in the past and find that investing in good sound quality companies with a low P/E ratio and and a return on equity (ROE) > 15% works best for me. I also look for wide moat stocks. I am often telling my husband when the nightly news talks about a huge drop in the market it is a great opportunity to buy.

Some of my best investments have been companies like Apple, Target, MacDonald's, Johnson and Johnson. You may see a pattern here except for Apple. I love high yield investment companies. It is important to watch for companies that have been growing consistently over time and have also been growing there dividends regularly over time. Always reinvest your dividends and you will be surprised to see how quickly your money will grow by following this plan. It is a lot like DRIP investing or Dividend reinvestment programs. These can be purchased through the individual company or through a low cost stock purchasing plan like sharebuilder.

The economy has been down for so long I know many people are very discouraged, but I have to believe there is an end in sight. It may take getting the right people in the government first. In the meantime there are some good opportunities out there.

Here are 8 good companies increasing there dividends right now. Sysco corporation now has a dividend of 4% . It has raised it's dividend 10 consecutive years.. It deals with the food industry.

Another good dividend stock is national bankshares. National Bankshares or NKSH. It has raised it's dividend times this year to 4%.

The Laciedes Group LG has raised its dividend 9 times consecutive times to 4%. It deals with the transportation retail distribution and sale of natural gas products.

The Williams CO (WMB) deals with the gathering and distribution of natural gas within primarily th US. It has raised it's dividend twice this year to 3.3%.

MDU Resources company (MDU) company also transmits natural gas . It raised it's dividend for 21 consecutive year to 3.3%.

Nike (NKE) has also raised it dividend for the 21st consecutive year to 1.6%

Union Pacific Railroad (UNP) has raised it's dividend for the 6th consecutive time this year to 4% It deals with rail transportation in North America.

New Jersey Resources (NJR) has it's dividend at 3.2% and finally Hanover Insurance Company has raised it's divdend to 2.7%

• Intel is being bought up by money tycoon Warren Buffet . It Is one of the only electronic firms to carry a dividend and although not that high yet it has grown 110% over the past few years according to The Street Authority. It has a ROE of 27.57% and is recommended as a buy according to The Street and a buy at 3 * for Standard and Poor.

According to a screen I pulled up Windstream (WS) looks promising at five stars and an ROE of 46.85%. It is also paying a dividend of 8.5%

Following is another list of a screen showing several good dividend stocks. These are among the highest rated 5 star stocks of morningstar company.

• Abbott (abt) divdend yIeld 3.47%
• Alumina Ltd 5.00% div
• Applied materials 2.86% div
• ArceiorMittel SA 3.35% div
• Avery Dennison Corp 3.52% div
• BHP Billiton PLC 3.27% div
• Banco Santander Brazil .SA Braz 3.14% div
• Bank of New York Mellon 2.49% div
• Charles Schwab 2.06% div

At&T This famous utility stock has a dividend of 5.80%

Verizon(VZ) carries a dividend of 5.30%

Pfizer(PFE) has a dividend of 4.20%

GE has a dividend of 3.7 %

DuPont DD has a dividend of 4.40%

Johnson and Johnson carries a dividend of 3.60%

KFT carries a nice dividend of 3.30% and finally

Proctor and Gamble has a dividend of 3.30%

merck pays 5.6% and Intc pays 3.5%

All 10 of these stock have DRIP plans or rather dividend reinvestment plans with the companies. You can set up a monthly purchase plan and reinvest the dividends for compounding interest and watch your money grow at a much greater amount.

Any one of these stocks would also make a great graduation or baby gift and allow the parent to watch it grow adding more stock on each birthday. Eventually the child will have a nice inheritance from your for education or to get of to a good start in life.

According to Carla Pasternak, The street Authority's high yield investor at& t and VZ are both paying at least 6 % yields

Of high yielding banks she likes commercial national financial (CNAF) paying at least 5% yield and is also has a low risk.

Of her 10% high yield investments a few of her favorites are Zions Bank (ZB-PC), Legacy Reserves (LGPY), and MV Oil Trust (MVO)These are classified as REIT's and BDC's

Another recommended investment is UIL Utility a highly regulated electric company paying 5.1%

I also like B&G foods (BGS) paying 3.9% yield.

Her 5% securities include Magellan Midland (MMP) and Enterprise Products (EPD)

And finally a highly recommended utility company paying 5.1% is UIL Holdings.

There is also PM or Philip Morris . It is one of the least popular stocks because of what it sells, cigarettes that have killed so many people. It still continues to grow and increase it's dividends.

Many say it is a bad time to invest but as prces drop consider the above list simply highlights well established companies that have enormous competitive advantages, strong balance sheets and most pay a fairly decent dividend. Many are also historically undervalued as well which bodes well for long-term investors.

I wlll also be checking out CPL, DEM, SDT,INTL, GOOG, SLW and MSFT for my own interest.

PLEASE REMEMBER THESE ARE ALL IDEAS AND NOT FOR JUST COPYING FOR YOUR INVESTING. LOOK INTO THE COMPANIES YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IN MORE DEPTH.

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