My 11 Pearls From The Dividend Aristocrats Index

Dividend growth investing is gaining popularity in the investment community for those wanting the compounding growth effect on income.

The Dividend Aristocrat index is made up of 50 stocks from the SP 500 that have at least 25 years of increasing dividends.

Investing in Dividend Growth companies is an appealing strategy for many investors. When we look at the performance of stocks that grow dividends, stocks that pay dividends, stocks that do not pay dividends, and stocks that have cut dividends, the results are fairly dramatic.

Today I stay focused on the best dividend growth category on the market, the Dividend Aristocrats. Attached you can find my pearls from the index.

I've screened the index by stocks with a P/E under 20 that should grow earnings per share by more than 10% yearly for the next five years. In addition, the debt-to-equity should be normal at 1 or less.

11 stocksfulfilled my criteria. Check out the porfolio statistics below.

These are the highest yielding in detail...

Nucor Corporation -- Yield: 3.49%

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) employs 23,600 people, generates revenue of $21,105.14 million and has a net income of $815.79 million. The current market capitalization stands at $13.53 billion.

NUE increased dividends 28 out of the last 30 years. In 2014 the dividend yield was 2.9%. Dividend distributions were in March, June, September and December. The dividend payout ratio is 70%. In the last 10 years, the stock had an annual compounded return of 10% including dividends and stock price appreciation. This is 4.6% higher than the S&P 500 return of 5.4%. The company operates in the Basic Materials sector.

Nucor Corporation’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $2,082.66 million. The EBITDA margin is 9.87% (the operating margin is 6.44% and the net profit margin 3.87%).

Financials: The total debt represents 30.05% of Nucor Corporation assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 60.37%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 9.23% was realized by Nucor Corporation.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.02. Last fiscal year, Nucor Corporation paid $1.48 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.99, the P/S ratio is 0.65 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.75. The dividend yield amounts to 3.49%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Target Corporation -- Yield: 2.94%

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) employs 347,000 people, generates revenue of $72,618.00 million and has a net income of $2,449.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $47.25 billion.

TGT increased dividends 30 out of the last 30 years. In 2014 the dividend yield was 3.1%. Dividend distributions were in February, May, August and November. The dividend payout ratio is 76%. In the last 10 years, the stock had an annual compounded return of 5.6% including dividends and stock price appreciation. This is 0.2% higher than the S&P 500 return of 5.4%. The company operates in the Services sector.

Target Corporation’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $6,665.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 9.18% (the operating margin is 6.25% and the net profit margin 3.37%).

Financials: The total debt represents 30.91% of Target Corporation assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 91.42%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 16.20% was realized by Target Corporation.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $4.52. Last fiscal year, Target Corporation paid $1.99 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 16.65, the P/S ratio is 0.66 and the P/B ratio is finally 3.49. The dividend yield amounts to 2.94%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Target Corporation (TGT)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Target Corporation (TGT)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Target Corporation (TGT)

Leggett & Platt -- Yield: 2.84%

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) employs 19,000 people, generates revenue of $3,782.30 million and has a net income of $225.20 million. The current market capitalization stands at $6.07 billion.

LEG increased dividends 26 out of the last 26 years. In 2014 the dividend yield was 4.1%. Dividend distributions were in March, June, September and December. The dividend payout ratio is 209%. In the last 10 years, the stock had an annual compounded return of 8.7% including dividends and stock price appreciation. This is 3.3% higher than the S&P 500 return of 5.4%. The company operates in the Consumer Goods sector.

Leggett & Platt’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $446.80 million. The EBITDA margin is 11.81% (the operating margin is 8.76% and the net profit margin 5.95%).

Financials: The total debt represents 30.86% of Leggett & Platt assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 84.54%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 17.50% was realized by Leggett & Platt.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $1.72. Last fiscal year, Leggett & Platt paid $1.22 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 25.84, the P/S ratio is 1.63 and the P/B ratio is finally 5.41. The dividend yield amounts to 2.84%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Leggett & Platt (LEG)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Leggett & Platt (LEG)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Leggett & Platt (LEG)

11 Pearls From The Dividend Aristocrats Index (click to enlarge)

Portfolio Performance Of The Past 10 Years

Portfolio Total Return: 196.4%
The above portfolio's total return was 196.4%, outperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF's total return of 91.1%. The total return includes stock price appreciation and dividends.

Portfolio Volatility: 16%
The portfolio's volatility was 16% which was slightly higher than the S&P 500 volatility of 14.9%.

Portfolio Diversification:
The portfolio's average correlation value is 0.84.

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