If you're interested in growth stocks, there are many familiar names to consider, such as Meta Platforms, with its billions of users, or Amazon.com, which dominates the e-commerce landscape, among other landscapes.
There are many other companies, though, with impressive long-term growth records and ample potential for further growth. Consider, for example, the following three companies.
1. Lowe's
Shares of Lowe's (LOW 1.13%) have grown at an average annual rate of 20.3% over the past decade (without even reinvesting dividends). And it's a long-term dividend payer, too -- qualifying as a "Dividend King" because it has raised its payout for at least 50 consecutive years. (Its recent dividend yield was 2.1%.) Better still, analysts believe Lowe's can grow its earnings by close to 10% annually over the coming five years.
Despite having roughly 2,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, Lowe's isn't the top dog in the home improvement retail arena. But just as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo can co-exist profitably, so can Lowe's and Home Depot. Indeed, either is likely to perform well for long-term investors. Home Depot is already favored by contractors and builders, so there's room for Lowe's to grow that share of the market, and it has done so recently.
In its third quarter, management noted, "We delivered better-than-expected results this quarter, with U.S. comps up 3%, driven by Pro growth of 19% and improved DIY sales trends. Sales on Lowes.com grew 12%, on top of 25% growth last year." It added that its "disciplined execution and cost management" has enabled it "to award $200 million in bonuses to our front-line hourly associates, while also announcing $170 million in permanent wage increases." Such moves can result in happy employees who stick around.
Lowe's stock seems at least reasonably valued these days, if not a bit undervalued, with both its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and its forward-looking P/E ratios below their five-year averages.
2. Sherwin-Williams
Shares of Sherwin-Williams (SHW -2.20%) have grown at an average annual rate of 18.4% over the past decade, and at 18.2% annually, on average, over the past 20 years -- also without even reinvesting dividends. The company pays a dividend, too -- recently yielding nearly 1%.
The paint specialist has grown phenomenally over the decades, but it's done less well recently due to the housing market downturn and likely inflation, as well. In its third quarter, revenue grew by 17.5% to a record of $6.05 billion, while net income per share grew by more than 35%. Management pointed to robust cash flow that's allowing the company to make strategic investments.
Sherwin-Williams stock appears fairly to slightly overvalued, with recent P/E values near five-year averages, so it should not be expected to deliver big immediate gains. Over many years, though, it's likely to serve investors well, as the need for paint isn't likely to disappear, and a soft housing market will eventually heat up.
3. Waste Management
Shares of Waste Management (WM 1.14%) have grown at an average annual rate of 18.7% over the past decade, well above the S&P 500's average of 11.9% -- and that's without even reinvesting dividends.
Waste Management is a rather beautiful business, concentrating on garbage collection, recycling, and even energy production from waste. Many growth stocks may be exciting, but it can be hard to know how they'll be doing a decade from now. It's a fairly safe assumption, though, that we will still need waste and recycling services and that this top dog in the industry will be busy filling those needs. Reliability is a great stock attribute.
There is a problem with Waste Management stock, though -- it's not exactly cheap at recent levels. I've been interested in buying shares for many years myself, though, and it has almost always seemed too richly valued. If you're planning to hang on for many years, you might do all right buying now -- otherwise, or to be safer, consider adding it to a watch list and waiting, or buy in incrementally over time.
The stock does pay a dividend, which recently yielded 1.5%, and can reward patient long-term investors. The company has hiked its payout for 19 consecutive years, most recently by 13%.
These are just a few of many seemingly boring but actually exciting stocks out there. A little digging can turn up even more candidates for your long-term portfolio.
