There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

March 14, 2011 -Avery Dennison, Corp. (AVY-NYSE) produces pressure-sensitive materials, office products, tickets, tags, labels, and other converted products. The company operates in three segments: Pressure-sensitive Materials, Retail Information Services, and Office and Consumer Products.

The Retail Information Services (23% of sales in 2010) segment designs, manufactures, and sells brand identification products that include woven and printed labels, graphic tags, and barcode tags; information management products, which consist of price tickets, carton labels, RFID tags, and printing applications; and solution enabling products that include barcode printers, molded plastic fastening and application devices, and security management products.

The Office and Consumer Products (13% of 2010 revenues) segment manufactures and sells products for office, school, and home uses, such as copiers, laser printer labels, related computer software, ink-jet and laser printer card, and index products. It also offers stationery products, including writing instruments, markers, adhesives, and specialty products.

Other specialty converting products were 8% of 2010 sales. The company was formerly known as Avery International Corporation and changed its name to Avery Dennison Corporation in 1990. Avery Dennison Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

Avery felt the recession. Sales went from $6.17 billion in 2008 to $5.95 billion in 2009. But last year, they rebounded, going to $6.513 billion. This year, 6 analysts see them going to $7.01 billion, then reaching $7.29 billion next year. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 were up 8% compared to the same quarter in 2009, finishing at $1.64 billon. The company funded a new marketing effort for the Pressure-Sensitive Materials group, it's largest revenue generator, and saw better demand from the food, beverage and pharmaceuticals markets.

Earnings followed revenues. They were down in 2009, dropping to $1.97 from $3.30 in 2008. But last year, they, too, rebounded, getting back to $3.15 a share. This year, 8 analysts think the company will finish with $3.07 (with a range of $2.94 to $3.15), then jump to $3.59 next year (with a range of $3.32 to $3.85). Over the last 5 years, average annual gains were negative 9.92% (2009 really hurt the averages). Over the next 5 years, anlaysts think earnings will grow on average 7% a year. A challenge for 2011 profits will be increased costs for raw materials. Look for price hikes to cover them eventually.

New products in the retail information services are helping increase sales. In particular, radio frequency identification (RFID) is seeing more orders from the apparel industry. Higher demand for select tapes and packaging goods is helping the Specialy Converting group. Conversely, Office and Consumer products aren't growing due to the difficult economic times, highlighted by a slowdown in corporate business and more competitive pricing. The company is focusing more on its higher margined products to improve the bottom line and to add new market share.

Cash flow is strong. Management uses it to buy back shares and raised the dividend from 80 cents to $1.00 this year. In 2009, the payout was $1.22. Expect further increases as earnings improve. Additional use of cash is higher capital expenditures, needed for improved manufacturing capacity and bringing out new products.

Essential numbers: Trailing P/E is 13.94 and Forward P/E is 11.53. Price to sales ratio is .68. Price to book is 2.66. Book value is $15.62. Operating margin for the last 12 months was 7.00% and Profit margin was 4.87%. Return on equity was 21.07%. Return on assets was 5.64%. Total cash is $127.05 million for $1.19 a share. Total debt is $1.34 billion. Debt to equity is 81.25%. Current ratio is 1.07. Beta is a notable 1.53, meaning that this stock went up and down 53% more than the S&P 500 index in the last 12 months. The stock is up 24.83% in the last year. There are 106.87 million shares outstanding with a Float of 99.70 million. Insiders own 6.44% of the stock. Institutions have 85.60% of the Float.

AVY carries a Financial Strength rating of A. The dividend is 25% higher than it was last year. Cash flow is strong. Conservative investors like all those things. However, with a high Beta, the stock has more volatility than many can comfortably tolerate. Still, this stock traded at $71.50 in 2007 when earnings were $3.78 a share.