WATCHLIST: CMP - 10% Dividend Growth Rate Past 5 Years

I recently added Compass Minerals International (CMP) to my watchlist because it hit all of my criteria for a strong dividend growth stock. Here is why I like it.

Background Information

From the company website: "For more than 170 years, the Compass Minerals companies have been leading producers of essential minerals.

We work to improve the lives of millions of people every day by keeping roads and icy surfaces safe, improving water quality, delivering important nutrients and contributing to the production of nutritious fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and other important crops.

Compass Minerals strives to be the best essential minerals company by delivering where and when it matters."

They have a history back into the 1800's but only went public in 2003. Basically they provide salt for deicing roads as well as other raw minerals. They have some smaller aspects also but that does not appear to be their main income.

Financials

EPS	$6.77
Dividend	$2.64
Dividend %	3.09%
Payout Ratio	39.00%
Years Paying	11
P/E Ratio	12.64

Over the past 6 years, CMP has consistently raised their dividend by 10% each and every year. The payout ratio is well under the 75% mark although some of the EPS data out there is a bit confusing as the numbers aren't consistent across multiple sites. The rest of the data speaks for itself and forward P/E looks only slightly higher around 14.  Finally, sales in 2014 were $1.3 Billion which was a 13% increase over 2013. They are growing nicely year over year.

Conclusion

The stock has had its up and downs but has still managed to nearly triple since 2008. When I make my next buys in July, I will look for a price around the $80-85 range to start a position in this company. There have been some recent downgrades in the stock but that appears to largely be based on the chart data and the current price versus any valuation data that I can find.