For almost the past year and a half, we have been in the proverbial sideways market. Sure we had two 10% corrections in a six-month period, but all in all the numbers tell the story. The S&P 500 index closed last Friday at 2,046, which is the same level it was at in November of 2014. That kind of sideways move is probably very positive in the longer running bull market. The question remains, who is doing well and who isn’t.

At 24/7 Wall St., we are impressed when we see consistent positive results from a money management team year after year. One of the top portfolios we cover is the UBS Quality Growth at a Reasonable Price (Q-GARP) portfolio. It is slightly ahead of the S&P 500 this year, and it has trounced the index since inception in 2007. We scanned the current holdings and found four outstanding ideas.

Adobe Systems

This is a high-profile old-school software company and has been posting outstanding earnings. Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) operates in three segments. The Digital Media segment provides tools and solutions that enable individuals, small and medium businesses, and enterprises to create, publish, promote and monetize their digital content.

The Digital Marketing segment offers solutions for how digital advertising and marketing are created, managed, executed, measured and optimized. This segment provides analytics, social marketing, targeting, media optimization, digital experience management and cross-channel campaign management solutions, as well as video delivery and monetization to digital marketers, advertisers, publishers, merchandisers, Web analysts, chief marketing officers, chief information officers and chief revenue officers.

The Print and Publishing segment offers products and services, such as eLearning solutions, technical document publishing, Web application development and high-end printing, as well as publishing needs of technical and business and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) printing businesses.

Adobe is also reasonably safe route for investors looking to own a company with Marketing Automation product, which has become huge.

The Thomson/First Call consensus price target for the stock is set at $110.38. The shares closed on Friday at $95.97 apiece.

Colgate-Palmolive

This top dividend payer is also a very safe play for investors. Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) is the stock to buy in consumer staples. The company continues to deliver solid execution and is one of the best-positioned companies in the consumer staples sector, given its strong brands in attractive categories, particularly oral care.

More than half (52%) of total revenues at Colgate-Palmolive are derived in faster-growth emerging economies, and the company maintains leading or near-leading market shares across the Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC) regions. While those have slowed over the past year, a pickup in growth could be coming.

Colgate-Palmolive’s board of directors recently increased the quarterly common stock cash dividend by 3%. The company has declared a new quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share on its common stock. The dividend will be paid Monday to shareholders on record at the close of business on April 22, 2016.

Colgate-Palmolive investors are now paid a 2.3% dividend. The consensus price target for the stock is listed at $73.59. Shares closed near that on Friday at $71.67.
Home Depot

This company remains the undisputed leader in the home improvement retail category. Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,270 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. Home Depot stores sell various building materials, home improvement products, and lawn and garden products, as well as providing installation, home maintenance and professional service programs to do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me (DIFM) and professional customers.

With the spring in full bloom, some people think that months of mild weather we have experienced this year can be a benefit to Home Depot and other home improvement companies. In addition, the continued strength in the housing market could also bode well for this company. Earnings per share gains have consistently been in the 15% to 20% range, and a consensus of analysts is forecasting earning increases to continue to grow at about 15% annually for another two to three years.

Home Depot investors are paid a 2.07% dividend, The consensus price objective is $145.87, and the shares ended last week at $133.13 apiece.

Rockwell Automation

This company is another one of the top industrials on the Q-GARP list. Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) provides industrial automation power, control and information solutions. It operates in two segments. The Architecture & Software segment provides control platforms, including controllers, electronic operator interface devices, electronic input/output devices, communication and networking products, and industrial computers that perform multiple control disciplines and monitoring of applications, such as discrete, batch and continuous process, drives control, motion control and machine safety control.

The Control Products & Solutions segment offers low and medium voltage electro-mechanical and electronic motor starters, motor and circuit protection devices, AC/DC variable frequency drives, push buttons, signaling devices, termination and protection devices, relays, and timers, as well as various packaged solutions, such as configured drives and motor control centers to automation and information solutions.

Rockwell investors are paid a solid 2.56% dividend. The consensus price target is $109.55, but the stock closed way above that level Friday at $113.08.

There you have it, four top companies that all stand out in their respective sectors and pay dividends. Not only do they pay them regularly, all four companies have increased their dividends on a regular basis over the years. They all make sense for more conservative growth and income accounts.

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