Photo courtesy David Amsler/flckr.com.
On this Independence Day holiday-shortened week, there were relatively few dividend announcements. None of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats announced any upcoming dividend payouts and only one of the stocks covered in S&P’s High Yield Dividend Aristocrats index announced a regular cash dividend. The High Yield Dividend Aristocrats differ from the S&P Dividend Aristocrats in two ways: (1) they can be part of the S&P 1500, not just the S&P 500 index and (2) they only need to have increased their dividends for 20 years, not 25. Nevertheless, they make excellent candidates for investors looking for high-quality dividend growth companies.
RPM Announces Cash Dividend
RPM International Inc. (RPM) announced a regular quarterly dividend of 24 cents per share, payable on July 31st to shareholders of record on July 11th. RPM has increased dividends for 40 consecutive years, but is not a Dividend Aristocrat as it is not part of the S&P 500 index. In October 2013, RPM increased its dividend by 6.7%, from 22.5 cents per share to the current rate of 24 cents per share. The next dividend increase is expected this October and the shares currently yield 2.09%.
There are 54 S&P Dividend Aristocrats that have increased dividends for more than a quarter century. See the full list of Dividend Aristocrats.