The Dividend Arisocrats: The Dividend Growers

Standard and Poor's publishes a list of companies called the "Dividend Aristocrats."  This list is updated every year: some companies are added, and some fall off the list.  The criteria for inclusion is paying a dividend which has been increased every year, for the last 25 years.  There are currently 58 companies on this list, which I have copied below.  However, the Dividend Aristocrats are not created equal.  Some increase their dividends at significantly faster rates than others and the differences can be staggering. 

If you are an income investor, you want to buy companies that are increasing their dividends.  You might think that utilities pay the best dividends, however Consolidated Edison (ED) has increased its dividend only 11% since 1997.  Questar Corp (STR) has increased its dividend only 50%.  So what are the biggest dividend growers on the Dividend Aristocrats list?   Here's a list of the 12 companies with the biggest increases over the last 10 years, adjusted for splits:   Ticker Company Dividend Growth ’97-‘08 Current Dividend NUE Nucor Corp. 900% 1.8% MTB M & T Bank 775% 3.2% LOW Lowe’s Companies 700% 1.4% WMT Wal-Mart Stores 633% 1.8% USB U.S. Bancorp 574% 4.9% PFE Pfizer, Inc. 433% 6.2% ADP Automatic Data Processing 383% 2.8% STT State Street Corp. 360% 1.1% JNJ Johnson and Johnson 320% 2.6% BDX Becton, Dickinson 300% 1.3% BAC Bank of America 276% 6.0% WWY Wrigley 263% 2.2% Discloure: the author is long BDX and BAC.  Below is the full 2007 list of the Dividend Aristocrats, which is compiled by Standard and Poor's: CHANGES TO 2007 DIVIDEND ARISTOCRATS
TICKER	COMPANY	SECTOR 12/31/2007
ADDITIONS:
ADF	AFLAC Inc	Financials
APD	Avery Dennison Corp	Industrials
XOM	Exxon Mobil	Energy
TEG	Integrys Energy Group	Utilities
PBI	Pitney Bowes	Industrials
DELETIONS:
MO	Altria Group	Consumer Staples
FHN	First Horizon Natl	Financials
SLM	SLM Corp	Financials
TICKER	COMPANY	SECTOR 12/31/2006
MMM	3M Co	Industrials
ABT	Abbott Laboratories	Health Care
MO	Altria Group	Consumer Staples
BUD	Anheuser-Busch Cos	Consumer Staples
ADM	Archer-Daniels-Midland	Consumer Staples
ADP	Automatic Data Proc	Information Technology
AVY	Avery Dennison Corp	Industrials
BAC	Bank of America	Financials
BCR	Bard (C.R.)	Health Care
BBT	BB&T Corp	Financials
BDX	Becton, Dickinson	Health Care
CTL	CenturyTel Inc	Telecommunication Services
CB	Chubb Corp	Financials
CINF	Cincinnati Financial	Financials
CLX	Clorox Co	Consumer Staples
KO	Coca-Cola Co	Consumer Staples
CMA	Comerica Inc	Financials
ED	Consolidated Edison	Utilities
DOV	Dover Corp	Industrials
EMR	Emerson Electric	Industrials
FDO	Family Dollar Stores	Consumer Discretionary
FITB	Fifth Third Bancorp	Financials
FHN	First Horizon Natl	Financials
GCI	Gannett Co	Consumer Discretionary
GE	Genl Electric	Industrials
GWW	Grainger (W.W.)	Industrials
JNJ	Johnson & Johnson	Health Care
JCI	Johnson Controls	Consumer Discretionary
KEY	KeyCorp	Financials
KMB	Kimberly-Clark	Consumer Staples
LEG	Leggett & Platt	Consumer Discretionary
LLY	Lilly (Eli)	Health Care
LOW	Lowe's Cos	Consumer Discretionary
MTB	M&T Bank	Financials
MCD	McDonald's Corp	Consumer Discretionary
MHP	McGraw-Hill Companies	Consumer Discretionary
NUE	Nucor Corp	Materials
PEP	PepsiCo Inc	Consumer Staples
PFE	Pfizer, Inc	Health Care
PPG	PPG Indus	Materials
PG	Procter & Gamble	Consumer Staples
PGR	Progressive Corp,Ohio	Financials
STR	Questar Corp	Utilities
RF	Regions Financial	Financials
ROH	Rohm & Haas	Materials
SHW	Sherwin-Williams	Consumer Discretionary
SIAL	Sigma-Aldrich	Materials
SLM	SLM Corp	Financials
SWK	Stanley Works	Consumer Discretionary
STT	State Street Corp	Financials
SVU	Supervalu Inc	Consumer Staples
SNV	Synovus Financial	Financials
TGT	Target Corp	Consumer Discretionary
USB	U.S. Bancorp	Financials
VFC	VF Corp	Consumer Discretionary
WMT	Wal-Mart Stores	Consumer Staples
WAG	Walgreen Co	Consumer Staples
WWY	Wrigley, (Wm) Jr                                                                             Consumer Staples

Comments

[The Dividend Guy]

Thanks for this analysis. As a BAC holder, I will be very interested to see if they remain on the list after they report Q1!

The Dividend Guy