Colgate-Palmolive is probably one of my favorite businesses—if someone said I had to make a decision today to only own eight stocks for the rest of my life, and the list could never be changed, it would occupy one of the eight slots (with Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and ExxonMobil occupying the others).
You’re already familiar with its product line—Colgate toothpaste, Hill’s petfood, Irish Spring soap—and the fact that the company has been growing dividends for 50+ years (and, like Procter & Gamble, has been paying dividends in uninterrupted quarters dating back to the 1890s). Not only is it a blue-chip with a long history, but its recent growth has been good as well: In the past ten years, revenues have grown by 7.5% annually and dividends have grown by 12.5% annually. That means the company has meaningful top-line growth, and not only … Read the rest of this article!