Now that 2016 is coming to an end, I am very excited to ring in the New Year, that’s for sure.  Putting back up the Christmas Tree, cleaning out any items that are needing to be thrown away and creating more simpleness in my house had me thinking about the big stocks I’m looking forward to in 2017.  There are many reasons why I am trying to look at things more from a “bigger picture” and refining/tightening/sharpening a focused strategy in 2017, as it relates to investing.  The S&P 500 is up over 10% through Christmas and due diligence is going to be that much more “fun”.

2017 stocks to consider intro

I didn’t want this to be specifically about a watch list.  I didn’t want this to be a full-blown stock analysis, either.  My goal here is to simplify my direction and strategy for 2017, very similar to what I had performed to maximize in the most tax-efficient manner in my 3 part series, earlier this year.  I will provide that post, that relates to this one at a further date, but my mind and fingers were burning to type out my favorite companies I am looking forward to buying for 2017.  Instead of constantly preaching about the top 5 dividend stocks for your portfolio or how important the dividend growth rate is; that ends up being all fine and dandy, but what are the stocks that correlate with these areas that will provide a great source of dividend income for your portfolio, further closing the gap on being financially independent!

For the companies I am most excited about, happen to be the most boring companies in the world!!! Can we get excited about that or what?!  I know, your anxiety is through the roof to talk about boring.  Boring is great for investing, as sarcastic as I am, this has been very true.  I am excited for the most basic, easy to understand companies and I want to build either new or add on to the current positions that I already have, and truly place more brick and mortar on the foundation that I have.  Heck, we can even call this the second story to my portfolio, really fine tuning what I want this house to be built on.  This list will be about companies that are decently priced today and on future earnings, as well as are companies that we all know, use their products and are in the hands of most individuals and families.  I want to be able to walk into a house or a business and nod my head, as I point out the companies that are being used to provide product and services to others.  Who the heck could I be talking about?  Let’s continue forward and see the stocks I am excited about as we go into the year of 2017!

The stocks

1.) Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – This guy is ALWAYS on the list.  At $115.96; the stock is up 12.89% YTD, but is down from it’s 52 week high of $126.07 (8% decline).  JNJ was on my December dividend stock watch list, is a top 5 foundation dividend stock, and is also on Bert’s 5 always buy stocks.  At a forward EPS of 7.14, the price to earnings is still in the sweet spot at 16.24.  This stock is beloved by all dividend investors and I’m almost ready to make the gamble they are in most portfolios.  JNJ represents only 3.46% of a position within my taxable account, therefore, is not that significant; even though I own almost 42 shares.  I wouldn’t mind it if i owned in the mid 80’s to round out the position closer to $10,000.  I could build in a low cost automation strategy at $3.95 per trade to continue to purchase JNJ in smaller increments to reach this goal – somewhere between 5-10 shares on a semi-weekly basis.  At 85 shares, this would produce over $270 in annual income.  I absolutely love the brand, such as Johnson’s Baby, Aveeno, Neutrogena, Band-Aid, Motrin, Tylenol, Benedryl, Listerine, I am out of breath here.  Strong company and looking forward to owning more in 2017!

2.) Procter & Gamble (PG) – Ah, yes, yes, these are on my list for stocks to look out for in 2017.  They only represent 1.26% of my taxable portfolio; but there are reasons it has stayed low.  Their dividend growth has been minimal at best, as well as being in a very “substantial” refinement of who they are as a company – dropping Duracell, new appointed CEO in 2015; this has changed P&G’s landscape a bit.  Their yield is at 3.15%, are up 6.99% YTD, down 6% from their 52 week high and promote a forward P/E ratio of around 21 (not the greatest looking ratio), but their brand portfolio speaks volume.  Similar to JNJ above, they hold brands such as: Gillette, Luvs, Pampers, Gain, Tide, Mr. Clean, Crest, Dawn, Tampax and the list can also keep rolling.  I own only about 21 shares, so a march towards 50 “looks” better in the portfolio for 2017 and would produce almost $134 going forward.  They’ve also increased their dividend for 60 years going strong and, well, that won’t be stopping any time soon.  Did I mention they were also on the Top 5 dividend stocks for your foundation in creating a portfolio?  Damn.

3.) Consolidated Edison (ED) – Where it all began!  I am sure you remember my battle about FirstEnergy (FE) and buying ED, a long time ago.  Well, Bert ended up purchasing them, so I am very sure he has been happy with that investment.  At $73.63, the forward P/E on $4.14 of forward earnings places them around 17.80, not too shabby.  Further, they are a wonderful top 5 stock, which I current do NOT have a position in myself.  They are an aristocrat that has increased the wonderful dividend amount for 41+ years I believe, something that is very, exciting to me, but can be boring to others!  They are a massive company based in New York and I don’t believe electricity is going anywhere, additionally, consolidation is more than likely to occur.  I find this industry fascinating for one reason – we all use electricity in our every day lives.  Need to charge your _____, plug it into the wall.  Until Solar energy becomes a full-on solution, I believe electric utility companies are here, for quite some time!  What better than to buy a stock we all use in our every day lives?  Boring?  Yes.  Easy to understand and to make this type of decision?  Hell yes. I currently own $0 of this utility aristocrat, as I own National Grid (NGG) and FirstEnergy (FE); however – am willing to purchase ConEd in bunches throughout the year, as well.  The desired share amount would be between 30-35 shares, that should add some wattage to my portfolio (go ahead and laugh at that haha, how terrible am I at jokes?)!

4.) Diageo (DEO) – This was another stock on the December watch list.  With countries like Ireland, Germany, Russia, US – where the consumption of alcohol per Capita is high, who wouldn’t want to own a piece of the action?  Diageo has brands, such as, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Smirnoff, Ketel One, Ciroc, Johnnie Walker, Crown, Baileys, Guinness.  Hell, even my Nonna drinks Baileys!  Their position in my taxable account is a meager 0.79% and their price hasn’t done a thing, which I would associate that with the currency fluctuation impact.  Their current yield is around 3.35%, but given they pay only twice a year, I am not in the most immediate rush to stock pile this company, but would love to keep the eye on them and figure out the best plan of action in building up this portion.  Similarly, adding another 10-15 shares would be preferable (currently trading at $103.39).

Stocks for 2017 conclusion

The above names/companies are those that we reach for every single day.  Whether it is flicking a light switch, brushing our teeth, washing our hair, literally wiping our butt or mixing some Baileys with espresso – these companies and their branding are here to last for quite some time.  Hell most have been around for over 100 years and are vastly approaching 200.  If they can push through every single cycle for that length of time, I am almost certain they can do it for another 100 years, no doubt.  It’s tie for me to build another level on the house of stock that I have, that will further add substantial passive/portfolio income and further place new stones on my path to financial freedom.  I will talk about the strategy that I intend to employ at the turn of the year (I am sure you can see signs above) and I am evermore excited about this next step.