If you're searching for companies offering consistent earnings growth, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone beating Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Last year it held, to my knowledge, the record with 32 consecutive years of adjusted operational earnings growth. In 2016, it increased EPS by 8.5%, thereby extending the streak to 33 years. Impressive!
The stability of earnings growth and, as we shall see, its stability of dividend increases are unquestioned. Let's have a look at how the market values this stability.
Seems like the market knows how to appreciate a high-quality company when it sees one. Capital appreciation of 88% from approximately $66 to $124 in five years is quite nice -- resulting in an annual average return of 13.3%. Adding in the dividend of approximately 2.5% gives us an annual total shareholder return of a respectable 15.8%. Stability and superior returns -- looks like the best of both worlds to me.
