Author: Brian Bollinger, Simply Safe Dividends

It’s a future Dividend Aristocrat trading at a historically high yield right now.

While Coca-Cola does indeed possess many admirable qualities, including 55 consecutive years of rising dividends, that doesn’t necessarily mean that this popular dividend growth stock is a good fit for most income portfolios right now. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Coke to see if its best days are behind it, and more importantly if today’s valuation means investors could be better off not adding the company to a diversified portfolio at this time.

The company’s relatively stable earnings and cash flow, low payout ratios, and industry-leading balance sheet allow it to continue investing in disciplined growth while still providing one of Wall Street’s safest and steadiest growing dividends.

Here’s our analysis of each of Buffett’s stock picks that pay a dividend, starting with his highest-yielders…

At today’s prices, it has the potential to generate 9.5% to 10.5% long-term total returns if everything goes as planned…