Walgreens (NYSE:WAG)

Walgreens is an American pharmacy chain established in 1901 and present throughout the United States. Its headquarters are in Deerfield, a suburb of Chicago (Illinois). WAG sells both prescription and non-prescription drugs as well as retail products (cosmetics, food, photo processing services, seasonal items, etc.). The company operates approximately 7,000 retail stores in the United States. As the baby boomers, the need for drugs is likely to increase further in the coming years and boost the firm's sales.

WAG currently offers a yield of 2.70%, significantly higher than the long-term average of only 1.58%. This is explained by a forte average annual dividend growth, of 24%. The company has managed to increase its shareholders' pocket money for 36 consecutive years. Despite this growth, the distribution ratio remains very cautious, with 27.06%.

WAG has performed well against the S&P over the long term, but this comes at the cost of fairly high volatility compared to our other investments, with 20%. We also see in the graph below that the title is sensitive to market variations, which is confirmed by a beta of 0.97.

As a company focused on the US market, WAG is very sensitive to dollar fluctuations, a fall in the USD/CHF being in principle accompanied by a loss in the value of the security in CHF ($risk of 0.74).

WAG has some of the qualities you look for in a good dividend payer, such as long-term sustained growth and a low payout ratio, but the yield is not very high, and the stock is sensitive to movements in the currency and equity markets. So it's a stock we're watching, but we don't see as a buying opportunity right now. It is, of course, to keep for those who already own it.

Sources: Wikipedia, Wikinvest, Swissquote, dividends.ch