GETTING STARTED Build a Strong Stock Portfolio Earnings: The Bottom Line Ten Clues to Strong Stocks Four Questions to Ask Before You Buy A Kid-Friendly Introduction to Stocks MORE... STOCK TOOLS Kiplinger's Stock Finder Test your risk tolerance What is the current yield from dividends? Which are better: income or growth stocks? Pick the Best 'Bankerage' Company Recent Columns Hilton: Rooms to Grow - Feb. 4, 2005 PepsiCo: Blue-Chip Carbs - Feb. 3, 2005 Google: On the Fast Track - Feb. 2, 2005 Sprint: What's Next(el)? - Feb. 1, 2005 Bank of America: Earning Interest - Jan. 31, 2005 Home Depot: Building on Success - Jan. 28, 2005 MORE ... STOCKS TO WATCH E-MAIL   Sign Up   Now you can have Stocks to Watch delivered to your inbox every day. Sign up now.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Anheuser-Busch: Bottoms Up

Call Dan Ahrens the bête noire of socially responsible investing. Ahrens runs the two-year-old Vice Fund, which actively pursues companies involved in spirits, tobacco, gambling and weapons -- the kinds of stocks that socially screened funds usually avoid.

Vice stocks are ideal for uncertain times, says Ahrens: "No matter what happens in the economy, people still drink, smoke and gamble."

It's little surprise, then, that among Ahrens's favorite stocks is Anheuser-Busch (BUD).

The world's biggest beer brewer deserves a toast for consistency, says Ahrens. This year, he says, should mark its ninth straight year of higher earnings; the company has raised its dividend 28 consecutive years.

Busch is also expanding overseas. It recently acquired a Chinese brewery and penned a joint-venture agreement with Mexico's Grupo Modelo.

At $50, the stock sells at 17 times the $2.97 per share that analysts expect Busch to earn in 2005. Bud's annual dividend now stands at 98 cents per share.

--Ilana Polyak

Anheuser-Busch Click for larger chart Today's quote Use Stock Finder to make your own stock picks Company Snapshot Full Report Earnings Snapshot SEC Filings