Grainger Offers Growth & Income

Dividend-paying companies tend to be more mature, less volatile firms. W.W. Grainger (GWW) fits the bill. But the company has also delivered respectable growth. Last month, the industrial supplies retailer reported full-year 2011 adjusted diluted earnings per share of $9.04, up 33%. That marked the fourth straight double-digit gain in the past five years. The stock has a five-year Earnings Stability Factor of 9, indicating a steady stream of profit. Sales grew 12% to nearly $8.1 billion. It has now delivered back-to-back double-digit increases in annual revenue. W.W. Grainger is a member of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats index, which tracks the performance of blue chip companies that have increased their shareholder payouts for at least 25 years.

The company has raised its dividend for 40 straight years. W.W. Grainger's dividend has nearly doubled since 2007. In its last dividend hike of almost a year ago, W.W. Grainger boosted its payout by 22% to a quarterly rate of 66 cents a share. It tends to announce dividend increases in late April. On an annualized basis, W.W. Grainger pays $2.64 a share. This works out to a current yield of 1.3%, which is on the low side of the eight dividend-paying stocks in the high-ranking Retail/Wholesale-Building Products group. T

Source: Investors.com

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