Dividend Kings Checklist 2023: The Most Elite Group of Dividend-Paying Shares

A dividend inventory is a publicly traded firm that shares its earnings with shareholders by means of dividends, usually paid quarterly. Dividend-paying shares will be a horny choice for buyers wanting a gradual revenue (even in a bear market) or a long-term wealth-growing technique.

Regular dividend payers are typically well-established, persistently worthwhile firms. No firms exemplify these options greater than the dividend kings: An unique group of shares which have elevated dividends for at the very least 50 consecutive years.

That is no small feat contemplating that within the final 5 a long time alone, these firms have raised and paid dividends by means of seven recessions, an oil embargo (1973-74), double-digit rates of interest (the Eighties), Black Monday (1987), 9/11, the dot-com bubble (1999-2000), the 2008 monetary disaster, the Coronavirus Crash of 2020, and extra. 

This is what you want to find out about dividend kings if you happen to’re eager about shares with endurance. 

Dividend kings record 2023

Dividend kings are an elite group of shares which have elevated their dividends yearly for at the very least 50 years in a row. Not surprisingly, a comparatively small variety of firms ever attain this benchmark. Out of greater than 4,000 public firms within the U.S., simply 50 make the lower in 2023. 

Right here is the record we compiled from a number of sources—together with every firm’s identify, ticker image, dividend yield, market capitalization, and “profitable” streak in years:

Dividend kings return on funding

Firms that persistently develop their dividends have historically outperformed the broader market.

In response to a report from RMB Capital, dividend kings delivered an annual common return of 9.62% from 1972 to 2018 versus a 2.40% return for non-dividend payers. On the identical time, the equal-weighted S&P 500 index delivered a median return of seven.30%.

Nonetheless, dividend kings aren’t essentially an incredible funding for each investor. Some dividend kings can be overvalued at any time, whereas others can be undervalued. As an alternative of investing in a dividend king as a result of it is a part of an unique record of shares, do your homework to make sure the corporate meets your standards when it comes to market cap, price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, earnings per share (EPS), dividend yield, and different investing metrics.

How you can put money into a dividend king

Dividend kings are publicly traded firms, so you should buy and promote them identical to some other inventory by means of your on-line dealer, robo-advisor, or monetary advisor:

• On-line brokers equivalent to TradeStation, J.P. Morgan, and Axos are perfect for self-directed merchants and buyers who’re snug making their very own shopping for and promoting selections. The perfect on-line brokers have a broad number of investments, low commissions and costs, and a user-friendly interface for researching, inserting, and managing trades.
• Robo-advisors equivalent to M1 Finance are automated platforms that use pc algorithms to construct an funding portfolio (usually a set of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs) based mostly in your targets, danger tolerance, and different preferences. The perfect robo-advisors provide low portfolio administration charges and a variety of funding choices.
• Monetary advisors help with numerous monetary wants, together with investments, retirement planning, budgeting, property planning, and extra. Since they’re people and never computer systems, monetary advisors price greater than robo-advisors. Many take a holistic strategy overlaying an array of cash issues that can assist you attain your general monetary targets. SmartAdvisor by SmartAsset will provide help to discover and examine prime vetted monetary advisors in your space.

You can even put money into dividend kings not directly through ETFs and mutual funds that maintain a number of the kings. Whereas no ETF is devoted to the dividend kings, some ETFs give attention to dividend aristocrats (see under), such because the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL).

Sector & market capitalization distribution

Two sectors characterize 64% of dividend kings, with 15 client items and 17 industrials incomes a spot on the coveted record. There are additionally seven utilities, 4 financials, and 4 healthcare shares, plus one every for the vitality, supplies, and actual property sectors.

Market capitalization ( market cap) refers back to the complete worth of an organization’s shares of shares. It is calculated by multiplying a inventory’s worth by the overall variety of excellent shares. For instance, an organization with 10 million shares promoting at $100 a share would have a market cap of $1 billion. Market caps are sometimes damaged down into three “sizes”:

• Giant-cap – a market cap of $10 billion or larger. These firms usually have a historical past of regular development and constant dividend funds.
• Mid-cap – a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion. These are normally well-established firms in industries experiencing—or poised to expertise—speedy development.
• Small-cap – a market cap of $300 million to $2 billion. These are typically younger firms serving area of interest markets or rising industries.

Not surprisingly, greater than half of the dividend kings are large-cap firms, with 29 firms valued at $10 billion or extra—together with 9 valued larger than $100 billion. Fifteen mid-cap and 6 small-cap firms spherical out the record of fifty dividend kings for 2023.

What’s survivorship bias?

In finance, survivorship bias occurs whenever you embody solely the robust (or “surviving”) property to guage a portfolio’s efficiency, ignoring any poor performers. By simply the winners and never the losers, the info will be skewed to overestimate a portfolio’s return and make overly optimistic conclusions.

For instance, take into account a hypothetical mutual fund firm with 4 funds. Two funds put up 10% returns, whereas two are closed with 5% losses. If the fund supervisor presents the efficiency of all 4 funds, it can present a median return of 10%. Nevertheless, if the supervisor ignores the 2 losers, the typical return turns into 20%—an artificially excessive quantity.

You may keep away from survivorship bias—and unrealistic forecasts—by together with each the winners and the losers when evaluating portfolios.

Dividend aristocrats vs. dividend kings

To qualify as an aristocrat, an organization should enhance dividend payouts for at the very least 25 consecutive years (versus 50 years for kings) and be a member of the S&P 500—one thing that is not required for dividend kings. Moreover, dividend aristocrats will need to have a market cap of at the very least $3 billion and a median every day buying and selling worth of $5 million or extra. 

Dividend aristocrats can ultimately turn out to be dividend kings in the event that they attain 50 years of consecutive dividend raises.

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index tracks the efficiency of dividend aristocrats. At present, there are 66 firms within the index, together with client staples (24%), industrials (22.8%), supplies (12.2%), financials (10.7%), healthcare (10.5%), actual property (4.6%), utilities (4.6%), client discretionary (4.5%), info expertise (3.3%), and vitality (2.8%).

The index is rebalanced quarterly in January, April, July, and October. 

TIME Stamp: top-ranking dividend kings

Even among the many finest there are distinctions. We reached out to a number of trade specialists for additional info. Listed here are seven of their favourite dividend kings proper now (listed in alphabetical order).

1. AbbVie (ABBV)

Pharmaceutical firms have very constant gross sales with established therapies. Karl Farmer, CFA, V.P., and portfolio supervisor at Rockland Belief, says the most important problem is creating new merchandise as older ones lose pricing energy when patents expire, and different firms could make generic alternate options. “AbbVie has achieved an impressive job with this, and the dividend continues to develop.”

2. Colgate-Palmolive (CL)

Farmer says that Colgate-Palmolive has a prime share not solely within the U.S. but in addition overseas. “They’ve achieved an incredible job managing by means of the uncooked supplies worth swings of the previous few years and are nonetheless rising gross sales by means of volumes and a little bit of pricing.”

Sam Boughedda, an fairness dealer and inventory market information author at AskTraders.com, agrees. “The worldwide client merchandise large is residence to many manufacturers we use every day. The expansion of the corporate’s pet meals enterprise, Hills Pet Diet, has caught the eye of buyers within the final six months or so.”

3. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson has raised its dividend for properly over 50 years, and the corporate owns most of the world’s well-known manufacturers—together with Aveeno, BAND-AID, Motrin, Neutrogena, Johnson’s Child, and Tylenol. “Demand for the corporate’s diversified merchandise is all the time robust, whereas it has an exemplary observe document,” says Boughedda.

4. PepsiCo (PEP)

Jim Brown, CFA, MBA, senior portfolio supervisor, and analysis analyst for Buckingham Advisors, says PepsiCo is a diversified, all-weather firm. “The corporate boasts a snack meals division that thrived in the course of the difficult pandemic interval that favored at-home consumption—and a beverage unit that has benefited from elevated fountain gross sales in eating and different institutions as shoppers resumed away-from-home habits post-pandemic.”

Daniel Milan, managing associate at Cornerstone Monetary Companies, can be bullish on PepsiCo. “They’ve a horny annual dividend yield of about 2.77% presently with a powerful historic dividend development fee of about 7.74%, which suggests the dividend doubles about each 9 years,” says Milan. “In our opinion, dividend development fee is as essential because the dividend yield.”

5. S&P International (SPGI)

S&P International offers impartial rankings, benchmarks, analytics, and information to capital and commodity markets worldwide (the S&P 500 is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of S&P International). The corporate has paid a dividend yearly since 1937 and is one among fewer than 25 firms within the S&P 500 that is a dividend king. Farmer says S&P International’s yield is not very excessive, however the firm has wonderful margins and an enviable observe document.

Boughedda can be bullish on S&P International. “The monetary info and analytics enterprise has raised its dividend for 50 consecutive years. It’s a resilient enterprise that faces restricted competitors in its trade.”

6. Stanley Black & Decker (SWK)

Stanley Black & Decker is well-known for manufacturers like Dewalt, Black+Decker, Craftsman, Stanley, and Troy-Bilt.

Farmer sees Stanley Black & Decker as purchase proper now. “The inventory is off greater than 50% within the final two years because it has fallen again to pre-pandemic ranges.” Farmer says gross sales development has been tough this yr as a result of many individuals took on residence initiatives in the course of the pandemic whereas spending extra time at residence. “The present worth weak spot presents a pleasant entry level and a 3.6% yield.”

7. Walmart (WMT)

“Many years of providing low prices to its prospects and, in flip, utilizing volumes to barter costs with suppliers enabled this firm to turn out to be what it’s as we speak,” says Farmer. “Ninety p.c of everybody within the U.S. lives inside 10 miles of a retailer, and its achievement and distribution community has enabled them to compete in a web-based world as properly.”

Walmart can be on Boughedda’s record of dividend kings to observe. “The corporate has a stable dividend observe document that ought to proceed to develop.”

Conclusion

Dividend kings are shares of mature firms which have proved their value over time. To have earned that designation, an organization will need to have paid its shareholders rising dividends for at the very least 50 consecutive years. Nevertheless, like all funding, it is really helpful that you just totally consider every firm you propose to put money into to make sure it has stable financials that meet your standards. A robo-advisor or monetary advisor may help if you do not have the time, expertise, or curiosity in selecting your personal investments. 

Often requested questions (FAQs)

Which dividend king pays the very best dividend?

At 8.22%, Altria has the very best dividend yield of the dividend kings in 2023. The subsequent 4 highest dividend yields come from Common (6.33%), 3M (5.84%), Leggett & Platt (5.80%), and Canadian Utilities (4.91%).

When is the very best time to put money into dividend kings?

Dividend shares are typically much less unstable than non-dividend payers, making them choice throughout bear markets. Nonetheless, together with dividend shares in your portfolio will be smart any time as a part of a well-diversified, wealth-building portfolio.

Do dividend kings all the time outperform the market?

Dividend kings are likely to outperform the market over the long run. Nevertheless, like most shares, they will and do underperform the market.

What are the dangers related to investing in dividend kings?

Dividend shares have traditionally outperformed the S&P 500 with much less volatility, making them a horny choice for buyers who wish to restrict danger, particularly as they close to retirement. Nonetheless, like all investments, dividend kings aren’t with out dangers.

For instance, dividend funds aren’t assured, and firms can cut back and even remove their dividends from one quarter to the following. Additionally, dividend revenue is taxable, which may bump you into a better tax bracket and enhance your tax invoice.

Rates of interest can have an effect on dividend shares. When charges are excessive, CDs and Treasury payments will be higher (and safer) investments than shares. Nevertheless, dividend shares will be extra enticing when charges are low as a result of they usually pay higher than low-risk investments. 

How are dividends from dividend kings taxed?

Dividends revenue is taxable, however the tax fee is dependent upon whether or not it is a certified or nonqualified dividend. Certified dividends are taxed on the decrease long-term capital positive aspects fee, whereas nonqualified dividends are taxed as abnormal revenue. In case your dividend shares are in a retirement account or school financial savings plan, you won’t owe any tax on their dividend revenue since these accounts are tax-deferred or tax-free.

***INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS ARE: NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE***