The Dividend Growth 50... Plus 113 More (2024)

As much as I believe in its quality and strength, the Dividend Growth 50 isn't the end-all and be-all. Not only do I own many companies that didn't make the cut, I actually bought two more "outsiders" just last week.

Though not part of the consensus portfolio chosen by the DG50 panel of 10 Seeking Alpha contributors, Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Amgen (AMGN) are hardly unknown entities. Each is a biotechnology behemoth with a market cap well north of $100 billion. And each did receive some love from the panelists.

Both Tim McAleenan and Chowder selected Gilead for consideration by Dividend Growth investors... despite the fact that the company has never paid a dividend.

As Tim explained in Part 1 of my series about the New Nifty Fifty (which soon became known as the DG50):

"Because the contemplated holding period is an extraordinarily long time, we have to be somewhat forward-looking and ought to pay attention to the occasional company or two that will pay a dividend but has not yet done so. Correctly anticipating dividend policies not yet initiated is as much art as skill, and happens to bestow great rewards upon the long-term investor that reaches the correct conclusion and acts upon it."

Well, talk about prescient. Last week, Gilead, whose highly respected products fight Hepatitis C, HIV and other serious diseases, announced it would start paying a 43 cent dividend in the second quarter of 2015. That $1.72 annual payout translates to a 1.8% yield at current prices. Given its superior product pipeline and cash-generating power, it wouldn't be surprising if Gilead grew its dividend at least as aggressively as has Amgen -- which hiked its payout 30.6% from 2012 to 2013, 29.8% from 2013 to 2014 and 29.5% from 2014 to 2015. For more about GILD as an investment, check out Pharma Doc's comprehensive article.

Amgen, which appeared on the list of 50 submitted by panelist ScottU, went from no dividend five short years ago to a $3.16 annual payout in 2015, good for a 2.1% yield. Alexander Poulos' insightful, detail-filled article outlines the bullish thesis on AMGN.

Amgen's 17.6 price/earnings ratio is well below its historic valuation. Gilead, meanwhile, is truly undervalued, with a sub-14 P/E. I had been looking to add to my healthcare holdings, so I gladly bought these two fine companies at reasonable prices.

While AMGN gets Value Line's top Safety score of 1, GILD is rated a 3, so some might consider the latter more speculative in nature. I nevertheless spent about the same money on each and I consider both to be long-term holdings. Additionally, I plan to reinvest all dividends right back into each company.

DG50... But Wait, There's More!

My Dividend Growth 50/New Nifty Fifty articles have generated thousands of comments, many of which voiced a similar request: Please publish each panelist's list, above and beyond the companies that made the DG50.

Because I'm a people-pleaser from way back -- I know this because my mom said I tap-danced like Fred Astaire while in her womb -- I am about to present all 163 companies chosen.

A little background: I gave the panelists just about no guidelines before they made their selections because I wanted them to set their own parameters. While a few relied greatly on back-testing, others were adamant about their selections being forward-looking. Some panelists went out of their way to say their choices weren't necessarily "recommendations" but instead were interesting names worthy of further research, and several also acknowledged that many (maybe even most) are overvalued.

Without further ado, here are the choices, presented in multiple tables for ease of reading.

(Panelist key: Ch=Chowder; Cro=David Crosetti; Fish=David Fish; Eli=Eli Inkrot; Eric=Eric Landis; Tim=Tim McAleenan Jr.; Miz=Miz Magic DiviDogs; SU=ScottU; DVK=David Van Knapp; Bob=Bob Wells. NOTE: DVK selected only 27 companies.)

Conclusion

I believe enough in the Dividend Growth 50 to have invested tens of thousands of my own dollars into it, but we all know there are hundreds upon hundreds of quality names out there. I plan to use some future articles to go into detail about many of the panelists' choices, both inside and outside the DG50.

Happy investing, everybody!

Mike Nadel

I contribute to the Investing Group , along with Dave Van Knapp, Jason Fieber, Greg Patrick, and Christian Phillips.

I manage two public, real-money endeavors – the Income Builder Portfolio and the . My Dividend Growth 50 project was a popular fixture on Seeking Alpha for years.

A retired newspaper sportswriter, I began writing about investing in 2012. I graduated with a B.A. in Journalism from Marquette University, where I met my wife, Roberta. We live in Charlotte, N.C.