Low-Fee Stock Purchase Plans and DRIPs Add to Your Profits

Many well known companies offer inexpensive direct stock purchase plans and dividend reinvestment plans. Fees of any amount will reduce your total return so no-fee or very low-fee plans are a gift to long-term investors. For a comprehensive list of low-fee direct stock purchase and dividend reinvestment plans see Computershare.

The following companies offer no-fee direct stock purchase plans and dividend reinvestment plans. And you may buy your initial shares and additional shares at no cost.

Bank of America (BAC), Aqua America (WTR), CH Energy Group (CHG), Colonial Properties (CLP), Energen (EGN), Equity Office Properties (EOP), Equity Residential (EQR), ExxonMobil (XOM), KeySpan (KSE), Lowe's (LOW), Pfizer (PFE), Progress Energy (PGN), Regions Financial (RF), Sempra Energy (SRE), Snap-on (SNA) and Sonoco (SON).

The following companies offer no-fee dividend reinvestment plans but you must own at least one share to enroll.

Alcoa (AA), Baxter International (BAX), Coca-Cola (KO), Colgate Palmolive (CL), DPL (DPL), DuPont (DD), Energysouth (ENSI), Exelon (EXC), General Motors (GM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), New Plan Excel (NXL), Post Properties (PPS), Republic Bancorp (RBNC), Unitil (UTL) and Wrigley (WWY).