6 Defensive Dividend Stocks To Beat The Market In Crash Times

It seems hard to imagine that investors would get excited about very much at all when the market has slid this far south of late. Still, many investors are treating this as a pullback, because the trend for four years now is to buy every market sell-off.

Some investors are looking at value stocks, and others are going defensive. The stocks that have limited business cycles are a great focus for investors in a time of worry. These are six of the very defensive stocks we monitor that are either ignoring the market sell-off or are not down anywhere near as much as the broad market.

Here are the results...

Duke Energy -- Yield: 4.83%

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) employs 28,344 people, generates revenue of $23,925.00 million and has a net income of $2,465.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $47.04 billion.

Duke Energy’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $10,359.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 43.30% (the operating margin is 21.98% and the net profit margin 10.30%).

Financials: The total debt represents 35.24% of Duke Energy assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 104.06%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 5.98% was realized by Duke Energy.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.36. Last fiscal year, Duke Energy paid $3.15 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.33, the P/S ratio is 1.97 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.18. The dividend yield amounts to 4.83%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Duke Energy (DUK)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Duke Energy (DUK)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Duke Energy (DUK)

Altria Group -- Yield: 4.30%

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) employs 9,000 people, generates revenue of $24,522.00 million and has a net income of $5,070.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $103.11 billion.

Altria Group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $7,874.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 32.11% (the operating margin is 30.89% and the net profit margin 20.68%).

Financials: The total debt represents 42.62% of Altria Group assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 487.49%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 141.82% was realized by Altria Group.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.58. Last fiscal year, Altria Group paid $2.00 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.29, the P/S ratio is 4.20 and the P/B ratio is finally 34.40. The dividend yield amounts to 4.30%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Altria Group (MO)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Altria Group (MO)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Altria Group (MO)

Procter & Gamble -- Yield: 3.88%

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) employs 110,000 people, generates revenue of $76,279.00 million and has a net income of $8,930.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $185.63 billion.

Procter & Gamble’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $15,979.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 20.95% (the operating margin is 15.46% and the net profit margin 11.71%).

Financials: The total debt represents 23.44% of Procter & Gamble assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 48.62%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 13.23% was realized by Procter & Gamble.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.04. Last fiscal year, Procter & Gamble paid $2.59 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 22.41, the P/S ratio is 2.43 and the P/B ratio is finally 3.03. The dividend yield amounts to 3.88%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Procter & Gamble (PG)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Procter & Gamble (PG)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Procter & Gamble (PG)

Merck -- Yield: 3.46%

Merck (NYSE:MRK) employs 70,000 people, generates revenue of $42,237.00 million and has a net income of $11,934.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $146.75 billion.

Merck’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $22,497.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 53.26% (the operating margin is 13.42% and the net profit margin 28.25%).

Financials: The total debt represents 21.77% of Merck assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 44.00%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 24.22% was realized by Merck.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.42. Last fiscal year, Merck paid $1.76 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 15.32, the P/S ratio is 3.47 and the P/B ratio is finally 3.04. The dividend yield amounts to 3.46%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Merck (MRK)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Merck (MRK)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Merck (MRK)

American Water Works -- Yield: 2.62%

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) employs 6,400 people, generates revenue of $3,011.33 million and has a net income of $429.84 million. The current market capitalization stands at $9.37 billion.

American Water Works’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $1,357.60 million. The EBITDA margin is 45.08% (the operating margin is 33.29% and the net profit margin 14.27%).

Financials: The total debt represents 36.94% of American Water Works assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 121.23%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 8.91% was realized by American Water Works.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.52. Last fiscal year, American Water Works paid $1.24 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.75, the P/S ratio is 3.11 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.90. The dividend yield amounts to 2.62%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of American Water Works (AWK)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of American Water Works (AWK)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of American Water Works (AWK)

UnitedHealth Group -- Yield: 1.68%

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) employs 170,000 people, generates revenue of $130,474.00 million and has a net income of $5,619.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $113.19 billion.

UnitedHealth Group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $11,752.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 9.01% (the operating margin is 7.87% and the net profit margin 4.31%).

Financials: The total debt represents 20.15% of UnitedHealth Group assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 53.63%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 17.40% was realized by UnitedHealth Group.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $6.22. Last fiscal year, UnitedHealth Group paid $1.03 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 18.94, the P/S ratio is 0.87 and the P/B ratio is finally 3.49. The dividend yield amounts to 1.68%.

Stock Charts: