Hedge Funds’ Favorite Dividend Aristocrats

The ailing fast food giant has been further hit by a decline in comparable store sales on a global basis this year, with a 1.7% dip in February and 1.8% in January. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)’s attractive 17.79 forward earnings multiple has been able to attract quite a few investors as it topped the list of hedge funds’ favorite restaurant picks.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) is up by about 9.2% year to date on the heels of strong first fiscal quarter financial results involving an EPS of $0.81, which beat estimates by $0.06 and revenues of $19.55 billion which came in $50 million higher than expected. On top of this, the drug store chain sports a dividend yield of 1.61% and has been increasing its dividends for the last 60 years. Walgreens completed its merger with Switzerland based Alliance Boots GmbH in late December last year. It was a two step merger that started in August 2012 when Walgreens invested approximately $4.0 billion in cash and 83.4 million shares of its common stock in exchange for a 45 percent equity ownership stake in Alliance Boots. The second step involved acquiring rest of Alliance Boots stake for $5.3 billion in cash and 144.3 million shares of stock.

70 hedge funds had invested $7.0 billion in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) by the end of 2014 as compared to 79 firms with $5.7 billion a quarter earlier. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global held 18.93 million shares valued at $1.44 billion.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) faced a significant loss in popularity among hedge funds as the number fell to 62 firms having $4.01 billion invested in the company as opposed to 71 funds with $9.12 billion a quarter earlier. The stock has declined nearly 10% during the second half of 2014. Donald Yacktman’s Yackman Asset Management is still long in the petroleum refining company with 7.01 million shares valued at $648.25 million. On the other hand, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway closed his stake in the company during the fourth quarter as he sold some 41.13 million shares.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) sports the second highest yield of 3.29% among this group of companies. Dividends haven’t been slashed for over 32 years, with the latest increase of nearly 10%, taking quarterly dividend to $0.69, coming in the second quarter of 2014.

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