Despite the fact that Walgreens is the fastest-growing company in an industry that, according to even the most conservative estimates, is predicted to grow exponentially well into the foreseeable future, its stock, in the words of the living king of the one-liners Rodney Dangerfield, gets no respect.

Maybe the $1,000 suits on Wall Street just don't relate so well to the highly conservative management style that guides this 101-year-old company. But in the wake of accounting scandals at Enron, Worldcom, Kmart and others, Walgreens' straightforward, what-you-see-is-what-you get style has to become more attractive to investors tired of being burned by flash-in-the-pan business models.

"Warren Buffet has a good quote," outgoing chairman Dan Jorndt told Walgreen's investors in the company's 2002 annual report. "It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked.' A lot of skinny-dippers have surfaced in the past year, bringing down high-flying companies and millions of shareholders.

"Believe me," Jorndt continued, "we at Walgreens have our swimsuits on, and they're those scratchy, knee-to-neck getups beach lovers wore in the 1920s. [Are they] more boring than bikinis and thongs? You'd better believe it--but accounting works best when it's boring."

Those "boring" accounting practices have produced some pretty dramatic results through the years. In total sales, Walgreens currently ranks No. 78 on the Fortune 100. As far as earnings are concerned, last fall the company was named to Bloomberg Personal Finance's Profit Champ list--one of just 51 companies that have grown earnings per share for at least 10 consecutive years. At Walgreens, the count is up to 28 consecutive years of earnings growth. "It's hard to find anybody in corporate America that can duplicate that," chairman and chief executive officer David Bernauer told shareholders at the company's Jan. 8 annual meeting.

While Wall Street may not be rewarding Walgreens lately for its slow-and-steady, pay-as-you-go style, owning the company's stock has had rewards of its own, making a lot of wealthy people out o those smart enough or lucky enough to hold its shares long enough:

* Walgreens' stock has paid dividends in every quarter since 1933 and has increased the size of its dividend in each of the last 28 years.

* The stock has split three times in the last 10 years and six times in the last 20 years.