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2012 S&P Dividend Aristocrats
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Every year around the middle of December, the S&P announces the additions and deletions to its list of Dividend Aristocrats. To becomes a member of the Dividend Aristocrats, a company must increase its annual dividend payment every single year for twenty five consecutive years. If you don’t increase it, you fall from the list and you won’t get a chance to get back for twenty five years. It’s a pretty high bar to reach but there are plenty of blue chip household names on that list (and a few you’ve probably seen on the side of trucks rolling around town). It’s a popular list to be on because a lot of people looking for dividend stocks often start there.
The S&P announced a small change to their eligibility rules starting in 2012 (with this list) – only regular dividend payments will be considered for index eligibility purposes. Special dividends will not count and they will no longer count towards eligibility.
With ten additions and only one deletion, the current list has fifty-four companies on it.
2012 Additions
Last year, there were only three additions to the 2011 Dividend Aristocrats list, this year we can welcome ten companies into the fold.
- AT&T (T)
- HCP Inc (HCP)
- Sysco Corp (SYY)
- Nucor Corp (NUE)
- Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW)
- Genuine Parts Company (GPC)
- Medtronic Inc (MDT)
- Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL)
- T Rowe Price Group Inc (TROW)
- Franklin Resources Inc (BEN)
2012 Deletions
Only one company fell off, CenturyLink Inc (CTL), after it ended a thirty seven year run of dividend increases. Last year we saw the fall of Eli Lilly & Co and Integrys Energy Group after a 42 and 51 year streak, respectively, so it’s nice to see only one name grace this section of the article.
2012 Dividend Aristocrats
Here are your 2012 Dividend Aristocrats!
- 3M Co (MMM)
- AFLAC Inc (AFL)
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT)
- Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD)
- Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM)
- AT&T (T)
- Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
- Bard, C.R. Inc (BCR)
- Becton, Dickinson & Co (BDX)
- Bemis Co Inc (BMS)
- Brown-Forman Corp B (BF/B)
- Chubb Corp (CB)
- Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF)
- Cintas Corp (CTAS)
- Clorox Co (CLX)
- Coca-Cola Co (KO)
- Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL)
- Consolidated Edison Inc (ED)
- Dover Corp (DOV)
- Ecolab Inc. (ECL)
- Emerson Electric Co (EMR)
- Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM)
- Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO)
- Franklin Resources Inc (BEN)
- Genuine Parts Company (GPC)
- Grainger, W.W. Inc (GWW)
- HCP Inc (HCP)
- Hormel Food Corp. (HRL)
- Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW)
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
- Kimberly-Clark (KMB)
- Leggett & Platt (LEG)
- Lowe’s Cos Inc (LOW)
- McCormick & Co. (MKC)
- McDonald’s Corp (MCD)
- McGraw-Hill Cos Inc (MHP)
- Medtronic Inc (MDT)
- Nucor Corp (NUE)
- PPG Industries Inc (PPG)
- PepsiCo Inc (PEP)
- Pitney Bowes Inc (PBI)
- Procter & Gamble (PG)
- Questar Corp (STR)
- Sherwin-Williams Co (SHW)
- Sigma-Aldrich Corp (SIAL)
- Stanley Works (SWK)
- Sysco Corp (SYY)
- T Rowe Price Group Inc (TROW)
- Target Corp (TGT)
- VF Corp (VFC)
- Wal-Mart Stores (WMT)
- Walgreen Co (WAG)
If you’re looking for a dividend stock, this is a nice list to start with. Just keep in mind that fortunes can change and that history is a poor predictor of the future.
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The dividend aristocrats is a great place to start investing in dividend stocks. The yields might be a little low right now because their prices have been bid up as people look for places to put money. These stable companies with their dividend yields are much better then bonds or treasuries.
Is there an ETF that holds all the dividend aristocrats?
Yes, there are ETF’s that follow the achievers/champions. Check out SDY or VIG to name two. I’m sure there are others as well.
PFM follows the dividend achievers…slightly different criteria than the aristocrats.
So LLY and TEG made it back onto your list for 2012?
It would be helpful if the vzarious dividend lists were available in a format that permits direct use of a spreadsheet. This would avoid the necessity of retyping the data.
Once again you forgot to mention Parker Hannifin (PH) They are actually top 5 for longest streak. Get it right please.