Dividend Kings List for 2022

 A dividend king is a company that has managed to increase dividends to shareholders for at least 50 years in a row.

There are only 38 such companies in the US, and perhaps a couple more in the rest of the world. It is not a small achievement to have been able to reward long-term shareholders with a dividend raise for over half a century.

Over the past 50 years, some calamities experienced include:

- Seven Recessions since 1967
- The Vietnam War
- The oil crisis in the 1970s
- Stagflationary 1970s
- Double digit interest rates in the 1980s
- Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991
- 9/11 in 2001
- The Dot-com bubble bursting in 2000
- The housing bubble bursting in 2007 - 2008
- ZIRP and NIRP since 2009

- The Covid-19 Pandemic

Throughout this calamity each of those businesses managed to grow earnings, and raise the dividend to their long-term shareholders. If you are looking for a long-term shareholder base, the best way to build it is by paying those owners more every single year. This is a simple, but novel idea for corporations to embrace.

We had nine new additions to the list in 2021. There were no companies that left the list. These actions brought the number of companies to 38, from 29 at the end of 2020. This is a record since we started tracking the list of dividend kings in 2010.

When I first came up with the idea for the list of dividend kings in 2010, there were only eleven companies on it. Our 2022 list includes 30 companies. 

The new additions for the current year include:

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX)

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW)

Illinois Tool Works (ITW)

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (LEG)

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG)

PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG)

Target Corporation (TGT)

Tennant Company (TNC)

Universal Corporation (UVV)

These were consistent with my predictions from last year. It is a testament to the predictable nature of their businesses, not in my forecasting abilities.

There are a few companies, which are incorrectly listed as dividend kings elsewhere. One is Sysco (SYY). Upon review of their dividend history, I realized they only have 45 years of consecutive annual dividend increases under their belt. They would be eligible for inclusion in 2026. They kept dividends unchanged in 1975 and 1976. It pays to review the dividend history, before deciding 

I did some research on historical changes of the Dividend Kings list, which you may find interesting. I reviewed the evolution of the dividend kings prior to 2007 in the article, which has not been done by anyone else. 

Since 2010, there have been only two companies that have left the list. One, Vectren (VVC) was acquired. The second, Diebold (DBD), kept dividends unchanged, but ultimately ended up cutting them.

The companies in the 2021 dividend kings list include: 

Note: The prices and yields are as of  November 30, 2021

Company Name	Symbol	Sector	Years Dividend Increases	10 Year Annualized Dividend Growth	Dividend Yield	Share Price
ABM Industries Inc.	ABM	Industrials	54	3.20%	1.69%	45.00
American States Water	AWR	Utilities	67	9.43%	1.55%	94.18
Becton, Dickinson	BDX	Health Care	50	8.02%	1.47%	237.14
Black Hills Corp.	BKH	Utilities	51	4.19%	3.71%	64.12
Commerce Bancshares	CBSH	Financials	53	6.47%	1.50%	69.8
Cincinnati Financial	CINF	Financials	61	4.06%	2.21%	113.9
Colgate-Palmolive Co.	CL	Consumer Staples	58	5.60%	2.40%	75.02
California Water Service	CWT	Utilities	54	3.63%	1.46%	63.01
Dover Corp.	DOV	Industrials	66	8.22%	1.22%	163.85
Emerson Electric	EMR	Industrials	65	4.03%	2.35%	87.84
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp	FMCB	Financials	59	2.50%	1.62%	965.04
Federal Realty Inv. Trust	FRT	Real Estate	54	4.74%	3.49%	122.67
H.B. Fuller Company	FUL	Materials	52	8.84%	0.92%	73.16
Genuine Parts Co.	GPC	Consumer Discretionary	65	6.75%	2.55%	127.74
W.W. Grainger	GWW	Industrials	50	11.06%	1.35%	481.41
Hormel Foods Corp.	HRL	Consumer Staples	54	16.04%	2.51%	41.4
Illinois Tool Works	ITW	Industrials	50	13.10%	2.10%	232.15
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	Health Care	59	6.55%	2.72%	155.93
Coca-Cola Company	KO	Consumer Staples	59	6.42%	3.20%	52.45
Lancaster Colony Corp.	LANC	Consumer Staples	59	8.77%	2.19%	146.2
Leggett & Platt	LEG	Consumer Discretionary	50	4.30%	4.16%	40.39
Lowe's Companies	LOW	Consumer Discretionary	59	18.85%	1.31%	244.59
3M Company	MMM	Industrials	63	10.84%	3.48%	170.04
Altria Group Inc.	MO	Consumer Staples	52	9.06%	8.44%	42.64
MSA Safety Inc.	MSA	Industrials	50	5.62%	1.23%	143.32
Nordson Corp.	NDSN	Industrials	58	14.65%	0.80%	254.19
National Fuel Gas	NFG	Utilities	51	2.61%	3.15%	57.81
Northwest Natural Gas	NWN	Utilities	66	1.30%	4.48%	43.12
Procter & Gamble Co.	PG	Consumer Staples	65	5.16%	2.41%	144.58
Parker-Hannifin Corp.	PH	Industrials	65	12.65%	1.36%	302.06
PPG Industries, Inc.	PPG	Materials	50	6.78%	1.53%	154.17
Stepan Company	SCL	Materials	54	8.71%	1.19%	112.71
SJW Corp.	SJW	Utilities	54	6.53%	2.02%	67.35
Stanley Black & Decker	SWK	Industrials	54	7.57%	1.81%	174.76
Target Corporation	TGT	Consumer Discretionary	50	12.30%	1.48%	243.84
Tennant Company	TNC	Industrials	50	4.20%	1.27%	78.66
Tootsie Roll Industries	TR	Consumer Staples	52	4.22%	1.14%	31.45
Universal Corporation	UVV	Consumer Staples	51	4.99%	6.70%	46.57

There are five companies which are set to potentially join the elite list of dividend kings by the end of 2022. These companies have a 49 year record of annual dividend increases:

The Gorman-Rupp Company (GRC)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB)

Middlesex Water Company (MSEX)

PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP)

V.F. Corporation (VFC)

This track record is a testament to the stability of the underlying businesses that generated the earnings growth necessary to grow the dividend for half a century (and longer). This track record is an indication of a business that is relatively immune to outside shocks. This resilience throughout the period manifests itself into the long stretch of dividend increases, spanning over half a century.

While these companies are not investment recommendations, I post them as examples for further study by serious dividend investors. Studying the businesses, their industries, could give you clues as to the type of business that can flourish over a half of a century.

As I mentioned above, I have been compiling the list of dividend kings since 2010. To view the historical changes in the list, please follow the links below:

Dividend Kings List for 2021

Dividend Kings List for 2020

Dividend Kings List For 2019

2018 Dividend Kings List

Dividend Kings List for 2017

Dividend Kings for 2016

Dividend Kings List for 2015

The Dividend Kings List for 2014

The Dividend Kings List Keeps Expanding in 2013

Eleven Dividend Kings, Raising dividends for 50+ years (2012 list)

Ten Dividend Kings raising dividends for over 50 years (2010 list)

Evolution of the Dividend Kings List Before 2010

Historical Performance of the Dividend Kings List

Thank you for reading!

PS Note that Parker-Hannifin's track record is based upon dividend payments for its Fiscal Year rather than the Calendar Year. The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

Therefore, the FY 2015 dividend was $2.37/share ( one dividend payment of 48 cents/share plus three dividend payments of 63 cents/share).
The FY 2016 dividend was $2.52/share ( four dividend payments of 63 cents/share)
The FY 2017 dividend was $2.58/share ( two dividend payments of 66 cents/share plus two dividend payments of 63 cents/share)

Because of the use of Fiscal Years, rather than Calendar Years, I excluded Parker - Hannifin from the first list of dividend kings that I compiled in 2010.