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The 2011 S&P Dividend Aristocrats
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The S&P Dividend Aristocrats is a list of companies in the S&P500 that have increased their dividends each year for at least 25 consecutive years. It’s a starting point for a lot of dividend investors because 25 years is a long time and seen as a sign of reliability. Any one on the list has weathered not only the most recent recession but also the one in the late 1980′s as well as the dot com bust. It’s been a turbulent time but one thing must be clear – past performance is not indicative of future results. The list is a start but should not be the end of your research.
The list is updated annually to add and remove companies. There were several additions and several removals this year.
2011 Additions
Three companies were included because they recorded their 25th year of consecutive increases:
2011 Removals
Two titans of the list fell this year when both opted not to raise their dividend in 2010. Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) and Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (TEG) both decided against raising their dividend, ending a 42 year and 51 year streak, respectively.
Supervalu Inc (SVU) was a bit of a lame duck Aristocrat since they announced in late 2009 that they were going to slash their dividend in half.
2011 Dividend Aristocrats
Here is the current list:
- 3M Co (MMM)
- AFLAC Inc (AFL)
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT)
- Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD)
- Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM)
- Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
- Bard, C.R. Inc (BCR)
- Becton, Dickinson & Co (BDX)
- Bemis Co Inc (BMS)
- Brown-Forman Corp B (BF/B)
- Centurytel Inc (CTL)
- Chubb Corp (CB)
- Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF)
- Cintas Corp (CTAS)
- Clorox Co (CLX)
- Coca-Cola Co (KO)
- Consolidated Edison Inc (ED)
- Dover Corp (DOV)
- Ecolab Inc. (ECL)
- Emerson Electric Co (EMR)
- Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM)
- Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO)
- Grainger, W.W. Inc (GWW)
- Hormel Food Corp. (HRL)
- Integrys Energy Group Inc (TEG)
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
- Kimberly-Clark (KMB)
- Leggett & Platt (LEG)
- Lilly, Eli & Co (LLY)
- Lowe’s Cos Inc (LOW)
- McCormick & Co. (MKC)
- McDonald’s Corp (MCD)
- McGraw-Hill Cos Inc (MHP)
- 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)
- Target Corp (TGT)
- VF Corp (VFC)
- Wal-Mart Stores (WMT)
- Walgreen Co (WAG)
Three up, three down, the list still has the same number of companies. If you think the bar is too high to be an aristrocrat, there’s also a list of Dividend Champions – 25 years of maintaining or increasing the dividend. It’s a slightly lower bar, which includes many more companies, and might be a better place to start.
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That is actually a lot more companies than I would have guessed to make that list. Pretty impressive.
i was thinking the same thing. i wonder what the “usual” turnover is? a few companies a year added and/or subtracted or is the list fairly inactive?
Lilly and Integrys are still on the list…I don’t get it?
“…well as the dot come bust…” should be “dot com bust”
Ha, good catch!
The aristocrat list is a great place to start if you’re interested in dividend investing but you really need to do your research too. You don’t want to overpay for these stocks as it holds your returns down over time. I usually look for a P/E of less than 20 and a yield of 2.5% or more before I buy.
I’ve been turned on to dividend investing more and more lately. I typically like companies or brokers who offer DRIP programs that reinvest your dividends back into the company for free. As an example, my mom received one share of Rubbermaid back in the 60s I think. When she went to cash out in the 2000s it had multiplied itself to 69 shares. Not too bad for a single birthday present share of stock.
What happened to Parker Hannifin (PH)?
What do you mean?
They aren’t in your list above, but as of last year were in the top ten. I checked and they look like they should still be there.
I also noticed Diebold is missing from your list above. They were in the top ten as well with over 50 years of increasing dividends
Off the top of my head I thought of a company that should have been included, but then I read the rules and it says you need to be part of the S&P500. What does it take to be part of that?
Does anyone know the relative performance of the two or three portfolios (Div Achievers, Aristo,Champions), if purchased say 20 years ago?
This list is incorrect… Parker Hannifin (PH) has increased 56 consecutive FYs. Get it right.