The Dividend Kings 👑
So first what dividend means?
A dividend is the distribution of some of a company's earnings to a class of its shareholders, as determined by the company's board of directors. Common shareholders of dividend-paying companies are typically eligible as long as they own the stock before the ex-dividend date. In simple words dividend is a payment made by publicly listed companies as a reward to investors for putting their money into the venture. Dividends may be paid out as cash or in the form of additional stock. (Source: Investopedia).
Two things you have to keep in mind:
- Not all companies pay dividends and they are not required too.
- The amount they pay varies, it can change periodically and they also can stop paying dividends at any time.
Many investors like dividend-paying companies for many reasons (additional income, opportunity to reinvest in the company without adding more money [known as Dividends Reinvestment Plan or DRIP], the stability a lot of these companies have, etc.) however many dividend-loving investors like some of these companies for another reason: they keep increasing the amount they pay as dividends, each year and have been doing that for a long time.
Among those companies there's a special and very exclusive list called the Dividend Kings. To be part of it the company must have increased the dividend it pays to their shareholders every year for the past 50 years. A very impressive achievement considering all the problems a company must face and the economic recessions that typically happen periodically. Still all these companies have found a way to keep paying and increasing those dividends year after year. And that's something that tells a lot about these companies, they are strong, well established and keep being successful.
In 2022 the list of Dividend Kings is comprised of 38 corporations from many different sectors, including ones expected to make the list this year. Here they are (with the number of years increasing the dividends):
1. 3M Company $MMM (63)
2. Abbott Laboratories $ABT (49)
3. AbbVie Inc. $ABBV (49)
4. ABM Industries $ABM (53)
5. Altria Group $MO (52)
6. American States Water $AWR (66)
7. Becton, Dickinson & Company $BDX (49)
8. Black Hills Corp. $BKH (50)
9. California Water Service $CWT (53)
10. Cincinnati Financial $CINF (60)
11. The Coca-Cola Company $KO (59)
12. Colgate-Palmolive $CL (58)
13. Commerce Bancshares $CBSH (53)
14. Dover Corporation $DOV (66)
15. Emerson Electric $EMR (64)
16. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp $FMAO (56)
17. Federal Realty Investment Trust $FRT (54)
18. Genuine Parts Company $GPC (65)
19. H.B. Fuller $FUL (52)
20. Hormel Foods $HRL (55)
21. Johnson & Johnson $JNJ (59)
22. Kimberly-Clark $KMB (49)
23. Lancaster Colony $LANC (58)
24. Lowe’s Companies $LOW (59)
25. National Fuel Gas $NFG (51)
26. Nordson $NDSN (58)
27. Northwest Natural Holding $NWN (65)
28. Parker-Hannifin $PH (65)
29. PepsiCo $PEP (49)
30. PPG Industries $PPG (50)
31. Procter & Gamble $PG (65)
32. SJW group $SJW (55)
33. Stanley Black & Decker $SWK (54)
34. Stepan Co. $SCL (54)
35. Sysco Corporation $SYY (51)
36. Tootsie Roll Industries $TR (52)
37. Universal Corporation $UVV (50)
(Source: Thefinanciallyindependentmillennial)
As you can see many of these companies are well known names in every sector and for generations, that's why many veteran investors love them. Although the dividend kings are solid corporations being in the list doesn't guarantee its future performance. If you are interested in learning more about dividends, dividend-oriented portfolios and investing in the corporations above please search here on public for more information and/or do your own research.
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#dividendinvesting
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