A smaller elite group of these companies have come to be known as “Dividend Kings”, generally used to describe stocks that have had 50 years of consecutive dividend increases.
A business that can not only adapt to ever-changing business and economic conditions, but also manage to continue to grow its dividend payment for 50 consecutive years may imply a durable competitive advantage and management that is committed to returning capital to shareholders. Today, there are just 16 Dividend Kings. Attached is a nice list of them, check it out.
There are a fair number of studies showing that Dividend Kings have historically held up better during market downturns, riding out bear markets better than other stocks and also have recovered faster. It's important to care for you adequate share of Dividend Kings in your portfolio, especially in volatile times.
My favorite picks are Procter, Genuine Parts, 3M, Dover, Nordson and Lowe's. Those stocks should grow earnings while the forward P/E is not too far away from normal. Do you agree with me?
Here are the Dividend Kings....
Company
|
Ticker
|
Years
|
American States Water
|
AWR
|
61
|
Dover Corp.
|
DOV
|
60
|
Genuine Parts Co.
|
GPC
|
59
|
Northwest Natural Gas
|
NWN
|
59
|
Parker-Hannifin Corp.
|
PH
|
59
|
Procter & Gamble Co.
|
PG
|
59
|
Emerson Electric
|
EMR
|
58
|
3M Company
|
MMM
|
57
|
Cincinnati Financial
|
CINF
|
55
|
Vectren Corp.
|
VVC
|
55
|
Coca-Cola Company
|
KO
|
53
|
Johnson & Johnson
|
JNJ
|
53
|
Lowe's Companies
|
LOW
|
53
|
Colgate-Palmolive Co.
|
CL
|
52
|
Lancaster Colony Corp.
|
LANC
|
52
|
Nordson Corp.
|
NDSN
|
52
|
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp
|
FMCB
|
50
|
 |
| 17 Dividend Kings (click to enlarge) |