An Unexcitingly Good Dividend Play

Merck (NYSE: MRK) saw first-quarter revenue increase by 1% year-over-year. Woot! Not thrilling? What if I told you that the sales were negatively affected 1% from changes in foreign exchanges and decreased 2% because it stopped selling Remicade and Simponi in certain territories after a settlement with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Excited now? No? Me neither.

Where does that leave investors? Sit and wait for better days. The patent cliff can't last forever, and Merck actually has a decent pipeline, so there's potential for growth, albeit with risk. Fortunately, unlike your typical biotech, where you'd have to wait for clinical trial results and regulatory approvals, Merck investors get paid a handsome 4.4% dividend while they wait. Dividend producers like Merck might not be the most exciting companies to own, but they can be worth it.

Source: Motley Fool

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