Thursday, February 2, 2012

10 High-Yield S&P 500 Dividend Stocks With Growing Dividends

For many people the S&P 500 and U.S. Stock Market are synonymous terms. While in reality the U.S. stock market is much larger with public companies numbering in the thousands. The S&P 500 Index is owned and maintained by Standard & Poor's, a division of McGraw-Hill. The index was first published in 1957 and is the second most recognized index in the U.S. behind only the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Stocks included in the S&P 500 are large publicly companies that trade on either the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. Most of the stocks are U.S. based companies. However, there are a few companies with headquarters in or incorporated outside of the U.S. For many investors, the S&P 500 is used as a benchmark for their portfolios.

Not all stock in the index pay dividends, but many of the best known dividend growth stocks are part of the index. The dividend Aristocrats is a subset of the S&P 500 and is limited to stocks that have increased their dividend for 25 or more years.

This week week, I screened my dividend growth stocks database for stocks that are members of the S&P 500, have a yield greater than 4% and have 10 or more years of dividend growth. The results are presented below:

Southern Company (SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that is one of the largest producers of electricity in the U.S.
Yield: 4.1% | Years of Increases: 10

Scana Corporation (SCG) is an energy-based holding company that provides electric, natural gas, and telecommunications services.
Yield: 4.3% | Years of Increases: 11

HCP, Inc. (HCP) is an equity-oriented real estate investment trust, based in California, that has direct or joint venture investments in health care-related facilities across the U.S.
Yield: 4.6% | Years of Increases: 11

People's United Financial Inc. (PBCT) -provides a full range of banking and financial service products to individuals, corporations and municipal customers in the U.S. Northeast.
Yield: 5.0% | Years of Increases: 14

Avon Products, Inc. (AVP) is the world's leading direct marketer of cosmetics, toiletries, fashion jewelry and fragrances, with about 6.5 million sales representatives worldwide.
Yield: 5.0% | Years of Increases: 21

AT&T Inc. (T) provides telephone and broadband service and holds full ownership of AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular Wireless). Plans to acquire T Mobile USA were recently scrapped.
Yield: 5.8% | Years of Increases: 28

Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) is the world's largest maker of mailing systems, and also provides production and document management equipment and facilities management services.
Yield: 7.6% | Years of Increases: 29

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED) is an electric and gas utility holding company that serves parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Yield: 4.0% | Years of Increases: 38

Leggett & Platt, Inc. (LEG) makes a broad line of bedding and furniture components and other home, office and commercial furnishings, as well as diversified products for non-furnishings markets.
Yield: 4.7% | Years of Increases: 39

Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) is an insurance holding company that primarily markets property and casualty coverage. It also conducts life insurance and asset management operations.
Yield: 4.9% | Years of Increases: 51

As with past screens, the data presented above is in its raw form. Some of the the companies would be disqualified for poor dividend fundamentals. However some of the others may be worth additional due diligence.

My database, D4L-Data, is an Open Office spreadsheet containing more than 20 columns of information on the 210+ companies that I track. The data is sortable and has built-in buttons and macros to make it easy to use. Companies included in the list are those that have had a history of dividend growth. The D4L-Data spreadsheet is a part of D4L-Premium Services and is updated each Saturday for subscribers.

Full Disclosure: Long T, ED, CINF, LEG HCP in my Dividend Growth Portfolio and SO in my High-Yield Portfolio. See a list of all my dividend growth holdings here.

Related Posts
- 7 High Quality, Low Beta Dividend Stocks
- 5 Dividend Stocks With Yields In The Sweet Spot
- How To Manage Your Dividend Portfolio In A Downturn
- The Current Financial Situation Should Concern Us All
- Finding The Perfect Dividend Stock
(Photo Credit)

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