Why You Need To Own The Most Hated Stock In America

For those of you aren’t familiar with "Forever Stocks" they are the companies that have rewarded shareholders for generations. They outlast (and in some cases outperform) during even the worst economic and market conditions.

That’s because not only do these companies often sport durable brand names and impenetrable economic moats, but they have strong competitive advantages that help them consistently outperform the market for decades.

In my previous essay, I went into further detail about Forever Stocks and even gave away the name and ticker symbol of one company you could consider holding “forever.”

I can’t think of a stock that’s more despised by your average person on the street than Philip Morris International Inc. (PM). Yet year after year, the international arm of Phillip Morris (the original company has been around since 1847) is still making investors rich.

Look, I realize that this investment isn’t for everyone. We’ve written about this company several times before. And just about every time we mention it, we end up receiving nasty emails admonishing the fact that we would cover — let alone recommend — investors own shares of this company.

But stick with me here. Remember, my purpose here is to show you what truly defines a Forever Stock — and PM certainly qualifies on this scale. The company does business in more than 180 countries and owns seven of the world’s top 15 global brands in the cigarette market.
I also mentioned that my colleague Jimmy Butts recently identified seven of his absolute favorite Forever Stocks his latest report. And while I won’t give those names away out of fairness to his premium Top Stock Advisor readers, I’d like to share another example of a Forever Stock with you today.

Up almost 300% in the last ten years.

While markets have charged ahead year after year in the aftermath of the financial crisis, you’d think that a “tired old” defensive name like this would lag during one of the longest bull markets in history. That’s simply not the case.

Many investors seem to be tricked into thinking that you have to be some kind of guru to beat the market. But the truth is it’s not that complicated. And Forever Stocks like Philip Morris prove it.

Philip Morris has a simple business model. Cigarettes, like it or not, are a product that simply don’t change much over the years. That means the company doesn’t have to spend billions on things like research and development — leaving plenty of cash on hand to return to shareholders. And PM is definitely one of the most dominant and shareholder-friendly companies on the planet.

In the last 10 years, it has returned billions in dividends while increasing the payments per share by 121%. Today, the shares pay a yield of about 4%, more than double the average S&P 500 stock.

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