Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), SCANA Corporation (SCG): 5 Potential Retirement Stocks

Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), the integrated oil and natural gas behemoth, provides a major cash yield to investors as this company not only pays an attractive dividend yield of 3.3%, but also implements consistently high share repurchases averaging $5 billion annually. The company has raised dividends for 25 consecutive years, yet it still boasts a low payout ratio of 32%, which testifies to its robust earnings expansion and suggests that a continued EPS growth will assure further dividend hikes in the future. This investment looks prudent, as the company features rock-solid balance sheet, which is low in debt and rich in cash, providing Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) with ample liquidity to fund capex and withstand commodity price shocks.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), focused on cost efficiency, stands out among its peers by achieving excellent operational execution. It is a leader in upstream profitability per barrel and the second-best positioned in terms of downstream profitability per barrel. Among peers, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) also has achieved the highest cumulative EPS and cash flow per share increases over the past five years. With industry-leading volume expansion—forecasting 25% output growth through 2017—and sizable cash flow growth potential, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) looks like one of the best dividend growth plays in its industry. In fact, in its industry, it has had the highest rate of dividend growth since 2004. As an equity investment, the stock looks cheap on a price-to-book basis relative to its larger rival, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM).

Final thoughts

All readers—investors who consider themselves “traders” too—need to be aware of how to plan for retirement. Obviously, this involves saving a significant portion of one’s income for a proverbial rainy day, but in addition, this strategy can be used in the equity markets as well. The aforementioned companies—Johnson & Johnson, SCANA Corporation (NYSE:SCG), Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU), SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY) and Chevron—all meet the common retiree’s investment criteria, as described above. Another tactic that can be used is detailed here.

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