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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

5 Dividend Stocks Beating the S&P With Positive Returns In Excess of 50% YTD

It is my goal to create an ever-increasing income stream from dividend growth stocks, while it is my desire to beat the S&P 500 index over the long-term. If you have too many goals, often they will start to conflict with each other. We need to determine what is most important, then set those aside as goals and leave everything else as desires.

If I am achieving my goal of creating an ever-increasing income stream from dividend investments, I would not drastically change my investing strategy if I were to under-perform the S&P. However, the opposite isn't true. If I were not consistently growing dividend income, but nearly always beating the S&P, it would be time to totally rethink my strategy.

To go a step further, I believe in long term my dividend income will rise AND I will beat the S&P 500. Otherwise, it would not be a realistic desire. This has been the case since I have been publicly tracking my dividend growth portfolio (see year by year results here).

Year to date, my investment in Vanguard 500 Index Investor (VFINX), which I use as a proxy for the S&P 500, was up 0.9%. Below are several dividend growth stocks with double-digit total annualized returns (as of last Friday) that have out-performed the S&P 500 so far this year:

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED) is an electric and gas utility holding company 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 43 consecutive years.
Yield: 3.6% | YTD Return: 53.7%

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 43 consecutive years.
Yield: 2.6% | YTD Annualized Return: 55.8%

National Retail Properties, Inc. (NNN) is an equity real estate investment trust that invests in high-quality, freestanding retail properties subject to long-term net leases with major retail tenants. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1985 and has increased its dividend payments for 25 consecutive years.
Yield: 3.7% | YTD Annualized Return: 56.5%

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 45 consecutive years.
Yield: 2.5% | YTD Annualized Return: 78.9%

Realty Income Corporation (O) is an equity real estate investment trust that owns commercial retail real estate properties in the United States. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1994 and has increased its dividend payments for 22 consecutive years.
Yield: 3.8% | YTD Annualized Return: 82.6%

Note that my returns above include the the timing of current year purchases.

My goal is to generate an ever-increasing income stream from dividends. My desire is to beat the S&P 500 over time. We should never confuse desires with goals. In the end, I will not sell a great dividend stock for under-performing the S&P.

Full Disclosure: Long ED, LEG, NNN, SYY, O in my Dividend Growth portfolio. See a list of all my Dividend Growth Portfolio holdings here.

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- How To Build A Sustainable High Yield Portfolio
- How To Buy Dividend Stocks At The Bottom
- 10 Stocks That Have Paid Dividends Since The 1800s

(Photo: peter mueller)

Tags: ED, LEG, NNN, SYY, O,