3 Cheap Companies With Strong Fundamentals Set To Double Dividends In 5 Years

By The Independent Investor:Companies generating significant cash flow sure have held up well the last couple years.

By The Independent Investor:It's always hard to sell stocks that have been great long-term investments. Companies that have consistently produced significant gains and grown dividends over many decades are often the core of many traders and investors portfolio.

By The Independent Investor:Why own any stock if it doesn't pay a dividend? While the S&P 500 and its tracking exchange traded fund, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), is up over 25% from the lows of last year, dividend stocks have consistently been the best performing stocks in the market.

By The Independent Investor:Why own any stock if it doesn't pay a dividend. While the S&P 500 and its tracking exchange traded fund, SPY, has rallied over 15% from the summer lows of last year, and market leaders such as Apple, have rallied nearly 30% this year, the recent sell-off has been brutal.

By The Independent Investor:Wow, defense stocks sure are popular when Republicans are in office and the U.S. is fighting multiple wars overseas. Indeed, while the S&P 500 and its tracking exchanged traded fund, SPY, nearly doubled from 2004-2008, many defense stocks traded at huge premiums to today's prices as well.

By The Independent Investor:Wow, why own any stock if it doesn't pay a dividend. While the S&P 500 and its tracking exchange traded fund, SPY, have rallied nearly 20% since the summer lows of last year, and stocks such as Apple (AAPL), have rallied over 30% in the last year, the recent sell-off has been brutal.

By The Independent Investor:It is always unfortunate when the best run and well-respected companies make horrible investments. While an investor's primary goal is obviously to maximize returns, it always feels good to invest in a company that is well-respected and well-managed.

By The Independent Investor:It's always easiest to look at the recent to past when making investment decisions. While most people like to look at a company's track record over a number of years, investors and traders still tend to base most of their decisions on a company's track record over the previous couple years.