5 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

AT&T (T)
Dividend Yield: 6.33%

Calling a spade a spade, shares of telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) haven’t been easy to own in a while. The stock is down 14% from its mid-2016 peak, while most other stocks are well up for the timeframe. The impasse has been an increasingly tougher wireless and broadband market. But now that plans to acquire media outfit Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) look good a turnaround might have begun

Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG)
Dividend Yield: N/A

Fans and followers of the company will likely know that Google parent company Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) beat last quarter’s earnings estimate, posting $12.77 per share. What got lost in the shuffle is how operating margains fell to 21 % from last quarter’s 24%.

Appreciated or not, Alphabet is a profit and revenue growth machine that has earned its spot on a list of “forever” stocks to buy. It may not always beat estimates, but it does always increase its numbers. That’s because it keeps finding a way to serve as the middleman for about 70% of web searches done on desktops, and boasts being the preferred search engine for about 90% of the queries made via a mobile device.

Walmart (WMT)
Dividend Yield: 2.06%

Yes, the advent of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has proven problematic for the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT). Rumors of Walmart’s death at the hands of Amazon, however, have been greatly exaggerated.

After being knocked over a few years ago, the company has regrouped, having figured out a way to fight the ever-growing reach of its online rival. The evidence? Last quarter’s same-store sales grew 2.6%. Per-share profits missed estimates, to be clear, but much of that miss can be attributed to investments the retailer has been making in itself.

While it has been an ugly battle at times, Walmart has finally learned how to compete with Amazon.com. The fact that it can leverage its stores to do so only bolsters the bullish case.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Dividend Yield: 2.60%

As advanced as we’ve become as a society, the need for medicines, surgical products and simple healthcare solutions like Band-Aids and Tylenol is never going to go away. That means Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) — which maintains a bigger product portfolio than most investors realize — will always have something to sell to someone.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
Dividend Yield: 2.50%

Last but not least, while the purchase of things like cars are cyclical, and the automobile industry itself is subject to constant reinvention, there are some consumer goods people just buy over and over again without a second thought. Among those often-repurchased items are Colgate toothpaste, Palmolive dish soap, Speed Stick deodorant and Cuddly fabric conditioner.

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