Beyond just the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, there are other of dividend growth stocks that can be great investments. Here are some of these other stocks:
S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats
In addition to the Dividend Aristocrats index, Standard and Poor’s also has what they call the High Yield Dividend Aristocrats. These are stocks that, like the Dividend Aristocrats, have a long-term record of dividend growth. The High Yield Dividend Aristocrats come from a wider field of companies and therefore, tend to be smaller than the Dividend Aristocrats. (Ironically enough, they don’t necessarily have higher yields than the Dividend Aristocrats.) A company must meet these criteria to qualify as a High Yield Dividend Aristocrat:
(1) It must be a member of the S&P Composite 1500,
(2) It must have increased its regular quarterly dividends for 20 consecutive years (Note: special dividend payments are not included),
(3) It must have a market capitalization of at least $2 billion (the market capitalization is defined as the number of outstanding shares multiplied by the share price), and
(4) It must have an average daily value traded of at least $5 million over the last 3 months (the daily value traded is defined by the number of shares traded on a given day multiplied by the average share price).
There are currently 93 companies that qualify as High Yield Dividend Aristocrats. This includes the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, leaving an additional 36 companies that have a record of dividend growth over at least 2 decades and, in some cases, for much longer. These 36 companies are (links go to my summaries of the companies):
Federal Realty Investment Trust
National Retail Properties Inc.
Old Republic International Corporation
United Technologies Corporation
West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment or feel free to contact me! You can also look at this group of companies in the finviz.com screener.