Solid Dow Dividends Sans Europe and America

Last week, I offered a detailed look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average's (INDEX: ^DJI) best dividends and their exposure to Europe. The story was well received, but readers demanded more.

Given both the repercussions eurozone defaults could have on the U.S. economy and the tenuous situation with our own slow recovery, you asked that I take it one step further. And so today, I offer you solid Dow dividend payers with the least exposure to economies of Europe and the United States.

A primer on our original list
Instead of investigating all 30 companies listed on the Dow, I narrowed our list down. In the interest of focusing on the largest dividends, I only included companies that offer a minimum yield of 2.5%.

From the companies that passed that first test, I further vetted the companies to make sure their dividends were safe. I did this by only including companies that use 80% or less of their earnings to pay out their dividends. Here's the list that we got:

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Where's the money coming from?
Having narrowed our list down to 19 companies, it's now time to investigate how much revenue these dividend payers get from Europe and the United States.

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart, Travelers, and Microsoft don't give enough geographic breakdowns in their annual reports for our purposes, so they had to be thrown out. Furthermore, Home Depot doesn't break down its revenue streams either, though we know the company has 88% of its stores in the United States.

Of the remaining 15 companies, here's how they stacked up, from least to most exposure to the two target areas I'm focusing on.

Sources: Reuters and SEC Filings. *Includes Middle East and Africa. **2011 figures. ***Includes the Americas.

What does this mean for you?
There are a couple of interesting threads that develop when we consider this list, and the one produced from my previous article. For starters, two of the top companies from last time -- Home Depot and Boeing -- dropped precipitously down the list once North America was added. Clearly, for those hoping to avoid companies with domestic exposure, these two companies should be crossed off the list.

Furthermore, oil still remains a versatile geographic investment -- as ExxonMobil and Chevron once again find a spot near the top of the list. That's to be expected, as much of the new demand is coming from the expanding economies in Asia and South America. However, I still think that any type of slowdown in Europe or the U.S. will likely lower the price of oil, and thus, shares of these companies.

But what I find most interesting is that the same two non-oil companies near the top of the list last time are still at the top of the list now. Clearly, Intel and Coke, with their large and safe dividends, and geographically diverse streams of revenue, represent two of the best dividend stocks the Dow has to offer.

If you're looking for a few more dividend ideas for your portfolio, I encourage you to check out our special free report: "Secure Your Future With 11 Rock-Solid Dividends." In much the same manner that I presented here, you'll get the names and the reasoning behind 11 stocks that our analysts believe will boost any portfolio's performance. Get your copy today, absolutely free!

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Stoffel owns shares of Intel, Coca-Cola, and Johnson & Johnson. You can follow him on Twitter at @TMFStoffel.The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Intel, Wal-Mart Stores, Coca-Cola, and JPMorgan Chase. The Fool has also bought calls on Intel. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Home Depot, Pfizer, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Chevron, Microsoft, Intel, and 3M; creating a bull call spread position in Microsoft; creating a diagonal call position in Johnson & Johnson; creating a bull call spread position in Intel; creating a diagonal call position in 3M; and creating a diagonal call position in Wal-Mart Stores. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.