Back in October, I started looking for the next buy-it and forget-it stock. My initial thoughts were Southern Copper (PCU: chart, web, Y!) and Schering-Plough (SGP: chart, web, Y!). However, through comments on that post, Mike chimed in and mentioned Walgreen Co. (WAG: chart, web, Y!).

At the time Mike mentioned the stock, it was around $39 per share, and has since dropped a bit more and is starting to show signs of increasing value. I must disclose that Mike says he is a pharmacist and individual investor, and worked for almost all of the chain pharmacies (like Walgreens).

Financial Summary

The stock has a 3-month average volume of 9.2 million shares traded per day with a current market cap of $36.8 billion. The company is paying a $0.095 per share dividend on a quarterly basis, which translates into a 1% annual yield.

The price to earnings ratio (P/E) is 18.3 as of the writing of this post, which is a significant discount to the rest of the companies in the sector. The average P/E ratio in the sector is 29.82.

Earnings growth is 18.6 as compared to a 21.41 average for the sector.

Earnings per share (EPS) is $2.03 and continues to increase quarter to quarter.

A few quick facts about the company…

Walgreen Co. was incorporated as an Illinois corporation in 1909 as a successor to a business founded in 1901. Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain (based on sales) and recorded its 33rd year of consecutive sales and earnings growth. During the year, the company opened or acquired 563 stores for a net increase of 478 stores after relocations and closings, not including 58 locations acquired from Option Care, Inc. The total number of locations at August 31, 2007 was 5,997 located in 48 states and Puerto Rico. Aggressive growth will continue as the company anticipates operating more than 7,000 locations in 2010.

I’ve been doing rather well in my Roth IRA for the last year. I’m holding Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!), which turns a healthy 11% dividend and pays monthly, Duncan Energy Partners (DEP: chart, web, Y!), which recently increased its dividend by 2.5%, and my company stock, which has better than doubled over the last year.

Being in the oil industry, I think it’s safe to say that I’m overweight in oil and gas; which, at this point in time is not such a bad thing. However, down the road, I foresee a major pullback in crude prices, which will not be such a good thing for the industry.

So, I’ve set out to find the next great “buy-it and forget-it” stock. Naturally, I don’t literally mean forget it. I just don’t want to have to watch the stock price every day with a twitchy trigger finger on the sell button.

I want a stock that I’ll hold for 2 or 3 years at a minimum, pays a bit of a dividend, but has tremendous room for growth, not only as an individual company, but I’d like to see a good forecast for growth in the sector too.

Here are a few options I’m looking at, for various different reasons.

Yesterday Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!) entered an agreement to buy out a privately held company with oil assets in southeast Saskatchewan for $79 million in shares.

The short end of this is that PVX is spending money to increase reserves, and add to their daily production. In fact, they’ll add 1,300 barrels per day of production, nearly all of which is crude. Provident’s proved plus probable reserves are estimated at 3.6 million barrels of oil.

“This acquisition provides excellent strategic and economic value to Provident, improving the quality and supporting the sustainability of our existing southeast Saskatchewan assets,” …

Read more…

Last Tuesday Duncan Energy Partners (DEP: chart, web, Y!) raised its quarterly dividend by 2.5% to $0.41 per unit.

Duncan Energy is primarily an oil and natural gas pipeline company, and their primary business is transporting and storing natural gas liquids (NGL’s) and petroleum products. A highly attractive sector that is mildly insulated against changes in crude and natural gas prices.

DEP is an MLP, which means they are required to distribue a certain percentage of their earnings to “partners”. The fact that they are raising the dividend indicates that their finances are doing …

I received an email from Steve Carpenter yesterday. Typically when I receive emails from someone I don’t know, I’m enticed to “file” the message accordingly, however I opened this one, not knowing what to expect.

Steve is the founder and CEO of Cake Financial Corporation.

After reading his email, I found myself intrigued with his new service. Cake is a new online financial service that allows individuals to display their actual portfolio,and keep track of how the portfolio has done over a period of time. It also lets you share your portfolio and real-time trading information with trusted …

I’ve been sifting through the Pengrowth Energy filings in my spare time over the last couple weeks, and was not surprised to see them cut their distribution by 10% on September 14.

Reading through the Q2 financial results, I noted that their POR (pay out ratio) is 94%, which is fairly steep, especially for an oil and gas production company.

The fact that they are turning around and paying out 94% of their cash flow does not leave them much for capital expenditures and drilling.

“Development capital for the second quarter of 2007 totaled $44.4 million with approximately 82 percent spent on drilling and completions. Pengrowth participated in drilling …

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I’ve been busy working on new projects the past two months, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. My busy schedule has left me with little time to tend to my portfolio, which may be a blessing. There is a saying out there in the financial world that sometimes the smartest thing to do is… nothing.

My portfolio has sagged, bounced, fallen, spiked, and mellowed with the wild markets in the last couple weeks, but I’m still on the upside, and managed to pick up some more Provident Energy Trust (PVX: chart, web, Y!) when the CANROYS dipped …

It’s about time! The only thing making Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH: chart, web, Yahoo!) less attractive than it’s competition was the lack of a dividend reinvestment program (DRIP).

Alas, no more. The company announced on July 25th that U.S. unitholders are now eligible to participate in the Pengrowth Distribution Reinvestment and Trust Unit Purchase Plan (the “DRIP”) which has been available to Canadian resident unitholders of Pengrowth Energy Trust since July of 1992.

But wait, it gets better!

“Pengrowth’s enhanced DRIP permits unitholders to elect to reinvest their cash distributions in additional trust units at a five percent discount to the weighted average …

Read more…

I finally pulled the trigger on RYPQX, and ended up with a small snag…

Initially, TD Ameritrade told me via e-mail that there is no minimum investment and no holding period for the fund. So I logged in to my Roth IRA account and decided I’d buy a small chunk ($200.00 worth) just to see how the process goes, since I have never bought a mutual fund before.

I click through the screens, and eventually, on the last page, I’m given an error! “Your request does not meet the minimum investment amount…”. Huh?

So I fire off a quick and stern one to TD Ameritrade asking what gives. …