Famed investor Warren Buffett has said that his favorite holding period is "forever." In practice, that's a hard goal to reach, but a good way to start is by focusing on companies that have proven track records of success behind them. One quick and dirty way to figure that out is by looking at a stock's dividend history.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Federal Realty (NYSE: FRT) are all standouts when it comes to their dividends. Here's why you might want to own these three "forever" stocks.
If there's a secret to Procter & Gamble's success, it is most likely research and development. That's because the company's products are, largely, things that have existed for a very long time. What keeps them fresh is the innovation that allows P&G to say they are "new" and "improved." Those two words are incredibly valuable in the consumer staples sector.
Source Fool.com