We have compiled previews using Thomson Reuters consensus data and have added color on each if applicable.
 
Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) is going to be closely watched by the dividend investors because of that 13% implied dividend yield.  The mortgage REIT is expected to report $0.56 per share.

Bp Plc (NYSE: BP) has recovered handily from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.  This is an ADR so its earnings will be converted from U.K. Pounds… The estimate is $1.57 per share and the stock is up well over 50% from when its shares sold off so much in 2010.  Keep in mind that this was a $60 stock before the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is not so hot after the Super Bowl and we are six weeks from the next mega-event in sports.  Estimates are $0.67 EPS and $210.25 million.  This one remains expensive at almost 22-times full 2012 earnings expectations and it is only about $2.00 shy of a 52-week and all-time high.

Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) is expected to report $0.53 EPS and $586.86 million in sales.  At $63.20, the 52-week trading range for the healthcare information technology and support company is $53.93 to $74.39.

Church & Dwight Co. (NYSE: CHD) is expected to report $0.51 EPS and $694.32 million.  At $45.50, the 52-week range is $33.83 to $47.00.  This consumer products company remains at a large valuation premium to its larger consumer products rivals and it also has a much lower dividend yield.

24/7 Wall St. has evaluated the following consumer products companies: Church & Dwight Company, Inc. (NYSE: CHD); Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX); Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL); Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB); and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG).

What is amazing here is that these valuations in many cases are not representative of traditional “value” when it comes to price to earnings ratios, book value, or even in return on equity.  Still, there are some solid dividends and if you want a sector that is likely to withstand a hard economy better than other risky sectors it is this consumer products sector.

Church & Dwight Company, Inc. (NYSE: CHD) recently traded at $42.64 and its market cap is $6 billion.  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $30.54 to $44.09. The current value is trading at a price-to-book ratio of about 3 to 1.  Its forward price earnings multiple is 15.2 and its return on equity is 14.95%.  The consumer products company currently pays a dividend yield of 1.6% to investors.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $43.11, implying an upside of about 2% to the most recent price. If there is one company which performed throughout the malaise it is C&D.  It has brands like Trojan, Arm & Hammer, Nair, Oxi Clean, XTRA and more.

Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX) recently traded at $68.91 and its market cap is $9 billion.  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $59.08 to $74.83.  Its forward price earnings multiple is 15.6.  The consumer products company currently pays a dividend yield of 3.5% to investors.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $69.92, implying roughly 1.5% upside to the most recent price.  Clorox is currently difficult to evaluate because of the Carl Icahn offer and intrusion to move the company to seek a higher buyer.  As such, we are leaving this one as is, but some of its brands are Clorox, Burt’s Bees, Glad, Kingsford charcoal, Hidden Valley, Pine-Sol and more.

No money was injured while filming

Stock splits usually bring back memories of the old tech bubble and dot-com bubble.  Fundamentally, nothing changes at the company other than that smaller investors get to invest in shares at a lower nominal share price.  Now that the markets have recovered so much, with the recent weeks as an exception, we are seeing many companies with higher share prices starting to announce stock splits. There may even be more current stock splits pending and freshly affected than we can remember seeing in years.

We have seen major stock split announcements from the likes of many companies.  Some of the larger splits are from the following: Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH); Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS); Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN); Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN); Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM); California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT); Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII); CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX); Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX); II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI); Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO); and Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD).  We even have a fresh reverse stock split from Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIXD).  You might think it learned from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) but Pacific Ethanol did not have a choice if it wanted to keep its listing.

There is also no way to have an article about stock splits without pondering when or what it would take for great companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) to consider splitting their shares.

The road to stock splits has really become more common.  We have not seen this many pending splits in years.  These are not presented in any significant order.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) announced a two-for-one stock split in the form of a dividend payable on July 26, 2011 to holders of record at the close on July 6, 2011.

On Tuesday came word from Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) that it planned to conduct a two-for-one split of its common and class-B units.  This was its first split and you rarely see “units” split.  It is 43% owned by its general partner, Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE).

In May came a biotech stock split from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN).  It previously approved a 2-for-1 stock split and shares began trading on a split-adjusted basis on May 23.  Shares went from almost $100 to under $50…

Also in May came word from Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) that its board of directors had approved a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a dividend for holders of record on June 15, 2011. The distribution date for the new shares is June 24, 2011.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) announced last month after its pact with H-P that its board of directors approved a two-for-one split of its stock in the form of a stock dividend for holders of record at the close of business on June 15.

Pressures may keep building on the cost front and Joe Public may have to pony up more money for daily goods, but there is some real evidence out there that inflation may not really hurt these companies.  That is good news for investors, particularly for those who want dividends and who want to see gains from defensive stocks.  A great video from Mike Tarsala of Thomson Reuters puts up some great evidence showing how the inflationary pressure may actually skip these stocks with some great charts and graphs to overlay against the current trends.

That video shows some interpretation as well in the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLY) ETF, which tracks more of the discretionary spending companies.  The logic may sound like common sense, but investors need to know that there are cost cutting tricks for these companies.  More importantly, companies have been telegraphing for weeks now that they are going to have to start passing on higher costs to consumers.  Even Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has issued some light warnings.

We have done some work of our own in recent days, weeks, and months, and it is easy to see what is coming in this sector.  For starters, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) remains our own sector pick as a stock to own for the next decade.  Most of the defensive plays in the consumer staples shares offer what we look for, but Kimberly-Clark is the cheapest and seems to continue on its shareholder-reward path.

It was just last week that we showed how the P&G dividend hike would likely keep pressure up on peers to keep raising dividends.  There is no change in that stance, not even by an inch. If companies can keep raising dividends, the translation is that income will either hold up or will keep growing. 

P&G has hiked its payouts for 55 years now, through recession and growth phases alike.  P&G’s new yield based upon Monday’s close right at 3.1%.  This keeps the pressure on competitors  like Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB),  Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL), and Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX), and Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD).

Colgate-Palmolive hiked its dividend in February to $0.58 per quarter from $0.53 and that will be paid in May.  The current yield is about 2.85% and its market cap is about $40 billion.

Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX) is three quarters into its $0.55 dividend so we’d expect a higher payout soon.  The $0.55 per quarter dividend today generates a dividend yield of about 3.1% and its market cap is about $9.6 billion.

It is going to be a while before Kimberly-Clark hikes its dividend.  Its dividend paid out last month was the first of a higher dividend to $0.70 for the quarter versus $0.66 before.  The current dividend yield for Kimberly-Clark is actually over 4.2%.  As far as size, Kimberly-Clark is at $26.5 billion in market cap.

Lastly comes Church & Dwight.  The smallest of our large diversified consumer products companies has boosted its dividend significantly.  In the last year we have seen a $0.14 payout go to $0.17 then to $0.34.  Still, C&D is lagging its peers with a 1.7% dividend yield.

Consumer products companies like these all generally offer safe dividends.  They are also defensive stocks that can hold up during hard times and still grow during growth cycles.  Of course, they have to manage higher commodity prices while keeping currency risks down and maintain margins by keeping their in-store promotion costs at a minimum.

JON C. OGG

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) Cut to Sell at UBS.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYB) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Sterling Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: SBIB) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Symantec Corporation (NAASDAQ: SYMC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) Cut to Neutral at Nomura; Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD) Raised to Outperform at BMO; a safe defensive stock for a bear market.
GSI Commerce Inc. (NASDAQ: GSIC) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE: MW) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Raised to Buy at Soleil.
Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research (late Thursday call)

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall Street looked through some of our existing go-to stocks in the defensive stock sector to find some stocks that are likely to hold up if the stock market pressure continues to push stocks lower.  Our screening process has us looking at Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) in our latest round of defensive picks.

Not all defensive stocks are created equal and some are more attractive or less attractive through time when compared to their peers.  We wanted to look through our defensive stocks universe and pick out names which offer safety but also those which have grown and are expected to keep growing earnings and revenues from 2010 to 2011.  We have also looked for stocks in today’s screen that have already seen their shares pull back off of highs enough that even another tailspin won’t likely steal too much from investors’ piggy banks.

Wrap this consumer products stock…

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD) is one of the smaller consumer products companies, but it has solid brands to the tune of Trojan, Arm & Hammer, OXICLEAN, Arrid, and more.  The company did not escape earnings entirely unscathed despite beating earnings estimates.  After all, the post-earnings reactions were not exactly the most receptive for Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL).

The company recently posted almost 4% organic sales growth and 27% earnings growth with a slightly higher dividend.  On the dividend, the current yield is 1.1% and that is under its peers.  C&D has been paying down debt and it has the highest dividend coverage of its peers.  In short, that dividend will be much higher in time.  Moody’s even recently upgraded its debt ratings to investment grade.

At $60.31, its 52-week trading range is $54.54 to $69.95.  This 15% pullback from highs is not routine.  The Thomson Reuters estimates are $3.90 EPS for 2010 and $4.39 EPS for 2011.  That gives forward earnings multiples of 15 for 2010 and 13.7 for 2011, or a blended figure of under 14.5.  That is not dirt cheap, but it is in-line with peers and its multiple of 2.4-times book value is a discount to peers.

There is a gross margin issue affecting consumer products companies today called trade spending, where consumer products companies are having to spend more in-store to get better placement or to get promotions in those stores.  C&D has not been able to escape this, but neither have competitors, and it may be an issue with us for some time.  The $4.3 billion market also makes this one unique compared to its larger peers.  If shares ever get ‘too cheap,’ an acquirer would be more than happy to own this company if management would agree to a deal.

Church & Dwight (CHD) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Gap Inc. (GPS) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Regeneron (REGN) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Vodafone (VOD) Raised to Buy at RBS.

JON C. OGG

Jon C. Ogg
November 6, 2007