Updated on January 15th, 2025 by Bob Ciura
Kevin O’Leary is Chairman of O’Shares Investment Advisors, but you probably know him as “Mr. Wonderful”.
He can be seen on CNBC as well as the television show Shark Tank. Investors who have seen him on TV have likely heard him discuss his investment philosophy.
Mr. Wonderful looks for stocks that exhibit three main characteristics:
- First, they must be quality companies with strong financial performance and solid balance sheets.
- Second, he believes a portfolio should be diversified across different market sectors.
- Third, and perhaps most important, he demands income—he insists the stocks he invests in pay dividends to shareholders.
You can download the complete list of all of O’Shares Investment Advisors stock holdings by clicking the link below:
OUSA owns stocks that display a mix of all three qualities. They are market leaders with strong profits, diversified business models, and they pay dividends to shareholders.
The list of OUSA portfolio holdings is an interesting source of quality dividend growth stocks.
This article analyzes the fund’s largest holdings in detail.
Table of Contents
The top 10 holdings from the O’Shares FTSE U.S. Quality Dividend ETF are listed in order of their weighting in the fund, from lowest to highest.
- Comcast Corporation (CMCSA)
- McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)
- MasterCard Inc. (MA)
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
- Merck & Co. (MRK)
- Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
- Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
- Home Depot (HD)
- Apple Inc. (AAPL)
- Visa Inc. (V)
- Final Thoughts
- Additional Resources
No. 10: Comcast Corporation (CMCSA)
Dividend Yield: 3.4%
Percentage of Portfolio: 3.26%
Comcast is a media, entertainment and communications company. Its business units include Cable Communications (High–Speed Internet, Video, Business Services, Voice, Advertising, Wireless), NBCUniversal (Cable Networks, Theme Parks, Broadcast TV, Filmed Entertainment), and Sky, a leading entertainment company in Europe.
Comcast reported its Q3 2024 results on Oct. 31st, 2024. For the quarter, the company’s revenue rose 6.5% to $32.1 billion year over year. Adjusted EBITDA (a cash flow proxy) was down 2.3% to $9.7 billion.
Source: Investor Presentation
However, it was able to increase adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) by 3.3% to $1.12. And Comcast generated free cash flow (FCF) of $3.4 billion. The Connectivity & Platforms segment’s revenues were down 0.4% to $20.3 billion.
The segment experienced adjusted EBITDA growing marginally by 0.7% to $8.3 billion, helped by margins expansion of 0.5% to 40.9%. The Content & Experiences segment saw revenue grow 19% to $12.6 billion, while its adjusted EBITDA fell 8.7% to $1.8 billion.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Comcast (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 9: McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)
Dividend Yield: 2.5%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 3.38%
McDonald’s is the world’s leading restaurant chain with 41,822 locations in about 119 countries at end of 2022. The highest store counts are in the US (13,449), China (5,903), Japan (2,982), France (1,560), and Canada (1,466).
Approximately 95% of the stores are franchised or licensed and the rest are company owned. However, the company owns about 55% of the real estate and 80% of the buildings in its network.
Total system sales were approximately $129.5B in 2023 and total revenue was around $25.5B in 2023.
On October 29th, McDonald’s reported Q3 2024 results. Total revenue came in at $6.87 billion, increasing 3% on flat system-wide sales adjusting for currency headwinds. Diluted earnings dropped 1% to $3.13 per share compared to $3.17 per share in comparable periods on pre-tax charges.
On a geographic basis, comparable sales increased 0.3% in the US, -2.1% in the International Operated Markets, and -3.5% in the International Developmental Licensed Markets.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MCD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 8: MasterCard Inc. (MA)
Dividend Yield: 0.59%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 3.96%
MasterCard is a world leader in electronic payments. The company partners with 25,000 financial institutions around the world to provide an electronic payment network. MasterCard has more than 3.1 billion credit and debit cards in use.
On October 31st, 2024, MasterCard reported third quarter results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 12.9% to $7.4 billion, which was $100 million above estimates.
Adjusted earnings-per-share of $3.89 compared favorably to $3.39 in the prior year and was $0.14 higher than expected.
On a local currency basis, gross dollar volumes for the quarter grew 10% worldwide to $2.5 trillion during the quarter, with the U.S. up 7% and the rest of the world higher by 12%.
Cross border volumes remained strong with growth of 22% from the prior year and up from 17% growth in Q2 2024.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Mastercard (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 7: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Dividend Yield: 3.4%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.10%
Johnson & Johnson is a diversified health care company and a leader in the area of innovative medicines and medical devices Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 and employs nearly 132,000 people around the world. The company is projected to generate more than $89 billion in revenue this year.
On April 16th, 2024, Johnson & Johnson announced that it was increasing its quarterly dividend 4.2% to $1.24, extending the company’s dividend growth streak to 62 consecutive years.
On May 31st, 2024, Johnson & Johnson completed its $13.1 billion purchase of cardiovascular medical device company Shockwave Medical.
On October 15th, 2024, Johnson & Johnson reported third quarter results for the period ending September 30th, 2024.
Source: Investor Presentation
For the quarter, revenue increased 5.4% to $22.5 billion, which topped estimates by $330 million. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.42 compared to $2.82 in the prior year, but this was $0.21 better than expected.
Excluding Covid-19 vaccine sales, the company’s revenue grew 5.6% in the third quarter. Revenue for Innovative Medicines grew 4.9% on a reported basis, but improved 6.3% when excluding currency translation.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on JNJ (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 6: Merck & Co. (MRK)
Dividend Yield: 3.2%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.19%
Merck & Company is one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. Merck manufactures prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products. Merck employs 68,000 people around the world and generates annual revenues of more than $63 billion.
On May 29th, 2024, Merck completed its $1.3 billion purchase of EyeBio, which has a pipeline of drug candidates that target retinal diseases.
On October 31st, 2024, Merck reported third quarter results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 4.4% to $16.7 billion, which was $190 million above expectations. Adjusted earnings-per-share was $1.57 compared to $2.13 in the prior year and was in-line with estimates.
Keytruda, which treats cancers such as melanoma that cannot be removed by surgery and non-small cell lung cancer, continues to be the key driver of growth for the company and had revenue growth of 17% to $7.4 billion during the period. The product generated $25 billion in 2023, up from $20.9 billion in the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MRK (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 5: Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Dividend Yield: 0.41%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.47%
Alphabet is a technology conglomerate that operates several businesses such as Google search, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Nest, Gmail, Maps, and many more. Alphabet is a leader in many of the areas of technology that it operates. On October 29th, 2024, Alphabet reported third quarter results for the period ending September 30th, 2024.
As had been the case for several quarters, the company delivered better than expected results. Revenue grew 15.1% to $88.3 billion for the period and beat analysts’ estimates by $2.05 billion. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.12 compared very favorably to $1.55 in the prior year and was $0.27 above expectations.
Once again, nearly every aspect of Alphabet’s business performed well during the quarter. Revenue for Google Search, the largest contributor to results, increased more than 12% to $49.4 billion. YouTube ads grew 12.2% to $8.9 billion while Google Network declined 1.6% to $7.5 billion. Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices were up almost 28% to $10.7 billion.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GOOGL (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 4: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Dividend Yield: 0.78%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 4.91%
Microsoft Corporation manufactures and sells software and hardware to businesses and consumers. Its offerings include operating systems, business software, software development tools, video games and gaming hardware, and cloud services.
On October 31st, 2024, MasterCard reported third quarter results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 12.9% to $7.4 billion, which was $100 million above estimates.
Adjusted earnings-per-share of $3.89 compared favorably to $3.39 in the prior year and was $0.14 higher than expected.
On a local currency basis, gross dollar volumes for the quarter grew 10% worldwide to $2.5 trillion during the quarter, with the U.S. up 7% and the rest of the world higher by 12%.
Cross border volumes remained strong with growth of 22% from the prior year and up from 17% growth in Q2 2024.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MSFT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 3: Home Depot (HD)
Dividend Yield: 2.2%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 5.27%
Home Depot was founded in 1978 and since that time has grown into a juggernaut home improvement retailer with over 2,300 stores in the US, Canada and Mexico that generate around $153 billion in annual revenue.
Home Depot reported third quarter 2024 results on November 12th, 2024. The company reported sales of $40.2 billion, up 6.6% year-over-year.
However, comparable sales in the quarter decreased 1.3%. Net earnings equaled $3.6 billion, or $3.67 per share, compared to $3.8 billion, or $3.81 per share in Q3 2023. Adjusted EPS was $3.78.
The company spent $649 million on common stock repurchases year-to-date, compared to $6.5 billion in the prior year. Average ticket declined 0.8% compared to last year, from $89.36 to $88.65.
Additionally, sales per retail square foot decreased 2.1% from $595.71 to $582.97.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on HD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 2: Apple (AAPL)
Dividend Yield: 0.42%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 5.28%
Apple designs, manufactures and sells products such as iPhones, iPads, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple also has a services business that sells music, apps, and subscriptions.
On October 31st, 2024, Apple reported financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024. Total sales grew 6% over the prior year’s quarter, to a new fourth-quarter record of $94.9 billion, thanks to sustained growth in iPhone, iPad and Wearables across all regions.
Earnings-per-share grew 12%, from $1.46 to $1.64, and exceeded the analysts’ consensus by $0.04.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on AAPL (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
No. 1: Visa Inc. (V)
Dividend Yield: 0.75%
Percentage of OUSA Portfolio: 5.45%
Visa is the world’s leader in digital payments, with activity in more than 200 countries. The company’s global processing network provides secure and reliable payments around the world and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transactions a second.
On October 29th, 2024, Visa announced a 13.5% increase to the dividend to $2.36 per share annually. It also released quarterly earnings the same day.
For the quarter, Visa generated revenue of $9.6 billion, adjusted net income of $5.4 billion and adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.71, marking increases of 12%, 13% and 16%, respectively.
These results were driven by an 8% gain in Payments Volume, a 13% gain in Cross-Border Volume and a 10% gain in Processed Transactions.
Visa processed 61.5 billion transactions in the quarter. During the quarter, Visa returned $6.8 billion to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases. Visa repurchased 22 million shares of class A common stock in the quarter for $5.8 billion.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Visa (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts
Kevin O’Leary has become a household name due to his appearances on the TV show Shark Tank. But he is also a well-known asset manager, and his investment philosophy largely aligns with Sure Dividend’s.
Specifically, Mr. Wonderful typically invests in stocks with large and profitable businesses, with strong balance sheets and consistent dividend growth every year.
Not all of these stocks are currently rated as buys in the Sure Analysis Research Database, which ranks stocks based on expected total return due to a combination of earnings per share growth, dividends, and changes in the price-to-earnings multiple.
However, several of these 10 stocks are valuable holdings for a long-term dividend growth portfolio.
Additional Resources
If you are interested in finding more high-quality dividend growth stocks suitable for long-term investment, the following Sure Dividend databases will be useful:
- The 20 Highest Yielding Dividend Aristocrats
- The Dividend Kings List is even more exclusive than the Dividend Aristocrats. It is comprised of 54 stocks with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The 20 Highest Yielding Dividend Kings
- The Dividend Achievers List: a group of stocks with 10+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The Dividend Champions List: stocks that have increased their dividends for 25+ consecutive years.
Note: Not all Dividend Champions are Dividend Aristocrats because Dividend Aristocrats have additional requirements like being in The S&P 500. - The Dividend Contenders List: 10-24 consecutive years of dividend increases.
- The Dividend Challengers List: 5-9 consecutive years of dividend increases.
- The Monthly Dividend Stocks List: contains stocks that pay dividends each month, for 12 payments per year.
- The 20 Highest Yielding Monthly Dividend Stocks
- The High Dividend Stocks List: high dividend stocks are suited for investors that need income now (as opposed to growth later) by listing stocks with 5%+ dividend yields.
The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: