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.

July 28, 2009 - Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY-NYSE) engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of pharmaceuticals and nutritional products worldwide. It operates in two segments, aptly described as Pharmaceuticals and Nutritionals.

It sells its pharmaceutical products to wholesalers, distributors, retailers, hospitals, clinics, government agencies, and pharmacies.

The Nutritionals segment manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells infant formulas and other nutritional products comprising ENFAMIL products that contain nutrients. The company is also developing various compounds, which are in phase III clinical trials. In addition, it develops a therapeutic class of biologics called ADNECTINS.

It has agreements with Sanofi-Aventis; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; ImClone Systems Incorporated; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Medarex, Inc.; and AstraZenecaPLC, as well as collaborations with Pfizer Inc.; Exelixis, Inc.; and KineMed Inc. It also has an agreement with PDL BioPharma, Inc. for the development and commercialization of anti-CS1 antibody and elotuzumab for multiple myeloma; and a strategic alliance with Ensemble Discovery Corporation.

The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company and changed its name to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in 1989 after acquiring Squibb. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

A couple of numbers stick out about BMY: there's $8.92 billion in cash. Yes, in cash. The second is the dividend yield of 5.8% in a time when most stocks giving dividends average 2.6%. While those dividends take almost 75% of earnings to pay, with all that cash, you can feel fairly certain that the next quarterly check will arrive and on time.

Let's go back to that cash sitting mostly in U.S. treasuries. It came from the sale of stock the company had in Imclone and from the sale of ConvaTec. There was also an infusion of cash from the IPO of Mead Johnson. The cash won't sit idly for long. Look for more acquisitions and beefed up Research & Development as the lapse of the Plavix patent looms ever larger. Of course, part of the cash will go to pay the dividend.

Earnings took a hit in 2006, going to 81 cents a share, from $1.52 in 2005. But since then, they've increased to $1.09 in 2007, then $1.59 in 2008. This year, the consensus from 17 analysts is for the bottom line to show $1.93, then go to $2.15 in 2010. Over the next 5 years, analysts see average annual earnings growth of 7%. Part of the earnings gain will come from new efficiencies as the company plans to close 50% of its plants by the end of next year and reduce employee headcount by 10%.

More numbers: Forward P/E is 9.9. Price to sales ratio is 2.03. Price to Book is 3.18. Debt is 33% of capital, making a Debt to Equity ratio of .5. Operating margin for the last 12 months was 25.11% while the Profit margin was 26.04%. Cash per share is $4.50. Total debt is $6.65 billion. Book Value per share is $6.73. The annual dividend is $1.24, giving a yield of 5.8%. Return on Equity in 2008 was 25.7%.

Conservative investors should like what they find in BMY, except for one major concern: Plavix. It's a blockbuster drug that contributes significantly to the top and bottom lines. The company has 2 years to adjust for patent expiration and plenty of cash to invest. That's quite a bit of time and money to fix most any problem.

Company Web site: www.bmy.com

- Ted Allrich