Four discriminating stocks for Mom on her special day

By Dian Vujovich

If you’ve made reservations for Mother’s Day at your Mom’s favorite restaurant and plan on showing up with the expected bouquet of her favorite flowers, why not add a bit of dazzle to the accompanying card and throw in a message saying you’ll be buying her a few hundreds shares of stock. Stocks, handpicked of course, by what Mom really likes.

I don’t know anyone, Mom or non-Mom, who would really ever turn down a money gift no matter how it’s delivered: Inheritance, cash, gift card or a statement showing a stock transaction has been made in her name or account.

To that last point, shopping Wall Street for the perfect Mom stocks is as easy as selecting shares of the companies the goods of which she either adores, uses or both.  So depending on your Mom’s style, here are some company ideas.

Before reading them, here’s a caveat or two: None of the companies listed are commendations—simply ideas intended to get you thinking. And this market is, after all, due for a correction so depending on your mother’s age and/or stage in life select carefully.

Here goes:

For the mom who wants income, there are always utility stocks. Buying a home town or home state utility often makes good sense for no other reason than that’s a bill that has to get paid every single month year-in and year-out if Mom intends on using her iPhone, cell phone or staying connected with anybody via a computer, TV, or wireless whatever’s. FPL comes to mind here. The company’s new name is NextEra Energy (NEE). It closed Friday at $80 a share and the dividend is 3.3 percent.

Then again, an iMom might want some shares of Apple, (AAPL). They’ve moved up nicely from that oh-my 385-buck a share price to nearly $453. Dividend— a somewhat puny 2.60 percent.

But let’s face it, Palm Beach Mom’s enjoy the really good stuff in life like exceptional jewelry, champagnes and wines, fine perfumes, leather goods and when no one is looking, perhaps an occasional smoke. To that end, here are the names of two companies that may  provide all:  LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMUY) and the Altria Group Inc. (MO).

How many times has Mom walked into the Louis Vuitton shop on Worth Avenue and didn’t stop to think that the company does much more than manufacture have-to-have fine leather handbags? To be clear, this company does much more than that and brings us —along with every discriminating Mom on the planet—a host of wonderful items that include bubbly brands like Moet, Dom Perigon, Veuve Clicquot as well as spirits like Hennessy and Glenmorangie.

Add to the list of lux items are brands such as Fendi, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Pucci, Christian Dior and Acqua di Parma. Then there are the watches and jewelry from TAG Heuer, Bulgari, De Beers and the list goes on.

I’m guessing Mom would like to own this company. LVMUY closed Friday at $34.99 a share.

Then again, if she’s a fan of the Marlboro Man and sneaks out for a ciggie or two every now and then, the Altria Group (MO) might be another choice that’s not nearly as glitzy but hey, the stock closed on Friday just shy of $37 and is paying a sizeable dividend of 4.8 percent.

To refresh your memory, in addition to Marlboro cigarettes, and the smokeless stuff like Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & Mild cigars, the Altria Group makes a variety of table wines sold in restaurants, wholesale stores and supermarkets. Brands here include Chateau Ste. Michelle and Villa Maria Estate wines. Additionally, MO’s portfolio is into trains and planes and real estate investing.

And there you have it: One little stock purchase could have more it for Mom  than she probably could ever imagine.