Evaluating the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats: Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH), Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) and More

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The 23 analysts who cover the company rate the stock a 2.3 with 4 Strong Buys, 4 Buys, and 15 Holds. They have set a one-year target price on the company of $57.42. Within the Motley Fool community, LEG is a five-star CAPS pick, with 210 Bulls and 39 Bears (84% positive sentiment).

Leggett & Platt scores an 18 on my ratings system; I will likely be adding it to my portfolio soon.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) is currently trading at $57 per share and yields 2.9%. The company has been paying and raising dividends consistently for 56 years, and its 5-year DGR is 8.2%. Its PE is 21.4, and its twelve-month total return is 15.5%. The payout ratio is average at 56%. The company is currently trading at its 52-week high, and is up 11% from last year.

The 6 analysts who cover the company rate the stock a 2.4 with 1 Strong Buy, 2 Buys, and 3 Holds. They have set a one-year target price on the company of $28.56. Within the Motley Fool community, EMR is a five-star CAPS pick, with 1,381 Bulls and 26 Bears (98% positive sentiment).

Emerson Electric scores a 15 on my ratings system; its yield is just a bit too low, and its other metrics, aside from the number of years, are only mediocre.

Next is Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH), a healthcare company. It is currently trading at $45 per share and yields 2.4%. I am not quite sure why it is on the S&P Aristocrats list, because by my sources, the company has been paying and raising dividends consistently for only 16 years. Its 5-year DGR is 16.5%, its PE is 14.1, and its twelve-month total return is 9.0%. The payout ratio is low at 30%. The company is currently trading at just below its 52-week high, and is up 5% from last year.

The 16 analysts who cover the company rate the stock a 1.8 with 6 Strong Buys, 7 Buys, and 3 Holds. They have set a one-year target price on the company of $48.21, a potential gain of 8%. Within the Motley Fool community,CAH is a four-star CAPS pick, with 442 Bulls and 41 Bears (92% positive sentiment).

Cardinal Health scores a 16 on my ratings system; its yield is too low, and its 12-month return is also low.

The last company is Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK), the tool manufacturer. It is currently trading at $76 per share and yields 2.5%. The company has been paying and raising dividends consistently for 45 years, and its 5-year DGR is 8.3%. Its PE is 14.4, and its twelve-month total return is 12.5%. The payout ratio is low at 30%. The company is currently trading at 6% less than its 52-week high, which was reached in March, and is up 9% from last year.

The 16 analysts who cover the company rate the stock a 2.3 with 3 Strong Buys, 6 Buys, and 7 Holds. They have set a one-year target price on the company of $82.90, which is a potential gain of 8%. Within the Motley Fool community, SWK is a four-star CAPS pick, with 187 Bulls and 23 Bears (89% positive sentiment).

Stanley Black & Decker also scores a 15 on my ratings system; its yield is too low, and its other metrics, aside from the number of years, are only mediocre.

I have found this evaluation of the S&P 500 Aristocrats list to be a valuable exercise, even though most of them were rejected. I did locate one new addition to my portfolio, which I will profile more in-depth in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, however, I want to state that all of these companies are excellent in terms of their dividend metrics, and they would be a terrific choice for a dividend portfolio.

The article Evaluating the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Karin Hernandez.

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