Tuesday, July 23, 2013

8 High-Yielding Dividend Aristocrats Not Afraid to Raise Their Dividends

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats is the most recognized list of dividend stocks. The Dividend Aristocrats index is designed to measure the performance of S&P 500 constituents that have followed a policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years.

Dividend Aristocrats exhibit the following characteristics:

- They are a member of the S&P 500
- The index is equally weighted with constituents re-weighted quarterly
- List is reviewed and updated annually in December

Make no mistake, Dividend Aristocrats are the blue-blood of dividend growth stocks. When building your core portfolio, this list is where you want to start your evaluation. If you want dividend growth, these stocks have been there, and done that - for decades.

This week week, I screened my dividend growth stocks database for Dividend Aristocrats with a yield greater than 3% and have increased their dividends for at least 35 consecutive years. The results are presented below:

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) is the largest fast-food restaurant company in the world, with nearly 34,500 restaurants in 119 countries. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1976 and has increased its dividend payments for 37 consecutive years. Yield: 3.1%

Sysco Corporation (SYY) is a large distributor of food and related products, primarily to the foodservice or food-away-from-home industry. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1970 and has increased its dividend payments for 42 consecutive years. Yield: 3.1%

Nucor Corporation (NUE) is the largest minimill steelmaker in the U.S., Nucor has one of the most diverse product lines of any steelmaker in the Americas. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1973 and has increased its dividend payments for 40 consecutive years. Yield: 3.2%

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED) is an electric and gas utility holding company that serves parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1885 and has increased its dividend payments for 40 consecutive years. Yield: 3.2%

The Clorox Company (CLX) is a diversified producer of household cleaning, grocery and specialty food products is also a leading producer of natural personal care products. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1968 and has increased its dividend payments for 38 consecutive years. Yield: 3.3%

Kimberly Clark Corp. (KMB) is a global consumer products company's producing tissue, personal care and health care products. Its brands include Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Depend, Kleenex and Scott. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1935 and has increased its dividend payments for 41 consecutive years. Yield: 3.3%

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. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1954 and has increased its dividend payments for 53 consecutive years. Yield: 3.3%

Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) makes a broad line of bedding and furniture components and other home, office and commercial furnishings, as well as products for non-furnishings markets. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1939 and has increased its dividend payments for 41 consecutive years. Yield: 3.6%

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 230+ 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 MCD, SYY, NUE, KMB, CINF, LEG, ED in my Dividend Growth Portfolio. See a list of all my dividend growth holdings here.

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