There are 50 dividend aristocrats today, with an average yield of 2.50%. Tomorrow, I would share a list of the 21 dividend aristocrats I would consider for further research if I were just starting out today.
TICKER
|
COMPANY
|
SECTOR
|
YEARS*
|
P/E - ttm
|
Yield
|
MMM
|
3M Co
|
Industrials
|
53
|
22.27
|
2.64
|
ABT
|
Abbott Laboratories
|
Health Care
|
43
|
14.83
|
2.39
|
ABBV
|
AbbVie Inc.
|
Health Care
|
43
|
19.01
|
3.85
|
AFL
|
AFLAC Inc
|
Financials
|
33
|
11.43
|
2.45
|
APD
|
Air Products & Chemicals Inc
|
Materials
|
33
|
23.97
|
2.37
|
ADM
|
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
41
|
12.52
|
3.28
|
T
|
AT&T Inc
|
Telecommunication Services
|
31
|
16.26
|
5
|
ADP
|
Automatic Data Processing
|
Information Technology
|
41
|
28
|
2.35
|
BCR
|
Bard C.R. Inc
|
Health Care
|
45
|
116.83
|
0.47
|
BDX
|
Becton Dickinson & Co
|
Health Care
|
44
|
49.12
|
1.67
|
BF.B
|
Brown-Forman Corp B
|
Consumer Staples
|
31
|
29.36
|
1.6
|
CAH
|
Cardinal Health Inc
|
Health Care
|
28
|
20.49
|
1.84
|
CVX
|
Chevron Corp
|
Energy
|
28
|
39.69
|
4.37
|
CINF
|
Cincinnati Financial Corp
|
Financials
|
33
|
17.2
|
2.92
|
CTAS
|
Cintas Corp
|
Industrials
|
31
|
16.02
|
1.16
|
CLX
|
Clorox Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
39
|
24.42
|
2.43
|
KO
|
Coca-Cola Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
53
|
27.6
|
3.05
|
CL
|
Colgate-Palmolive Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
53
|
46.88
|
2.2
|
ED
|
Consolidated Edison Inc
|
Utilities
|
41
|
18.73
|
3.56
|
DOV
|
Dover Corp
|
Industrials
|
53
|
12.08
|
2.54
|
ECL
|
Ecolab Inc
|
Materials
|
30
|
34.64
|
1.21
|
EMR
|
Emerson Electric Co
|
Industrials
|
53
|
14.6
|
3.45
|
XOM
|
Exxon Mobil Corp
|
Energy
|
33
|
22.08
|
3.42
|
BEN
|
Franklin Resources Inc
|
Financials
|
34
|
12.66
|
1.81
|
GPC
|
Genuine Parts Co
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
53
|
21.47
|
2.67
|
GWW
|
Grainger W.W. Inc
|
Industrials
|
44
|
20.3
|
2
|
HCP
|
HCP Inc
|
Financials
|
29
|
FFO = 11
|
6.56
|
HRL
|
Hormel Foods Corp
|
Consumer Staples
|
47
|
28.59
|
1.48
|
ITW
|
Illinois Tool Works Inc
|
Industrials
|
44
|
20.44
|
2.1
|
JNJ
|
Johnson & Johnson
|
Health Care
|
53
|
20.11
|
2.73
|
KMB
|
Kimberly-Clark
|
Consumer Staples
|
43
|
49.27
|
2.71
|
LEG
|
Leggett & Platt
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
44
|
21.17
|
2.63
|
LOW
|
Lowe's Cos Inc
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
41
|
28.32
|
1.46
|
MKC
|
McCormick & Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
30
|
30.57
|
1.81
|
MCD
|
McDonald's Corp
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
39
|
26.62
|
2.79
|
MHFI
|
McGraw Hill Financial Inc
|
Financials
|
42
|
23.7
|
1.44
|
MDT
|
Medtronic plc
|
Health Care
|
38
|
44.06
|
1.96
|
NUE
|
Nucor Corp
|
Materials
|
42
|
44.6
|
3.04
|
PNR
|
Pentair PLC
|
Industrials
|
39
|
13.6
|
2.39
|
PEP
|
PepsiCo Inc
|
Consumer Staples
|
43
|
28.27
|
2.72
|
PPG
|
PPG Industries Inc
|
Materials
|
44
|
22.42
|
1.26
|
PG
|
Procter & Gamble
|
Consumer Staples
|
53
|
27.88
|
3.27
|
SHW
|
Sherwin-Williams Co
|
Materials
|
36
|
26.56
|
1.14
|
SWK
|
Stanley Black & Decker
|
Industrials
|
48
|
18.8
|
2.02
|
SYY
|
Sysco Corp
|
Consumer Staples
|
35
|
36.13
|
2.66
|
TROW
|
T Rowe Price Group Inc
|
Financials
|
29
|
16.53
|
2.82
|
TGT
|
Target Corp
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
44
|
15.54
|
2.74
|
VFC
|
VF Corp
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
43
|
22.49
|
2.32
|
WBA
|
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc
|
Consumer Staples
|
40
|
19.83
|
1.77
|
WMT
|
Wal-Mart Stores
|
Consumer Staples
|
39
|
15.11
|
2.91
|
I personally prefer the list of dividend champions however, because it includes more companies than the list of dividend aristocrats. However, there is wider availability of historical data on the Dividend Aristocrats index. This is the reason why I started using it when I created this site and started investing in dividend growth stocks over eight years ago. The number of components in the index has ranged between 26 in 1989 to 64 in 2001. I used this list as a primary tool for identifying companies with strong brands, which have raised distributions through both good and bad economic conditions. Check this post Historical changes of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index for reference.
Either way, the list of Dividend Aristocrats has done better than the S&P 500 over the past decade.
Relevant Articles:
- Where are the original Dividend Aristocrats now?
- Dividend Champions - The Best List for Dividend Investors
- 24 Dividend Champions for Further Research