This article was originally published on The DIV-Net on September 17, 2009.

Emerson Electric Company (EMR) is a diversified global manufacturing and technology company. It offers wide range of products and services in the areas of process management, climate technologies, network power, storage solutions, professional tools, appliance solutions, motor technologies, and industrial automation. It is recognized for engineering capabilities and management excellence, Emerson has more than 140,000 employees and approximately 255 manufacturing locations worldwide.

EMR is a Dividend Aristocrat and member of Broad Dividend Achiever and has been raising dividends for last 52 years. The most recent dividend increase was in November 2008. It remains to be seen if it will increase dividends later this year. My objective here is to analyze if EMR still continues to be a good dividend growth stock and how does it rate on my scale of risk-to-dividends.

Trend Analysis
Here I am looking at trends for past 10 years of corporation's revenue and profitability. These parameters should show consistently growth trends. The trend charts and data summary are shown in images below.

• Revenue: In general, a growing trend since 2002. The average revenue growth for last 10 years has been approximately 6.8%. Year 2009 is likely to show the weakness and dip in revenue.
• Cash Flows: Overall, an increasing trend of free cash flow and operating cash flow. It is good indicator that FCF is always greater than income.
• EPS from continuing operation: In general, it had an increasing trend from 2003 onwards. It is likely to take a dip in 2009.
• Dividends per share: Slow but increasing trend.

Risk Parameter Calculation
Here I use the corporation's financial health to assign a risk number for measuring risk-to-dividends. The risk number for risk-to-dividends is 1.43. This is a low risk category as per my 3-point risk scale. The ability to maintain its margins, low payout factor, and low leverage makes it a low risk to dividends equity.