These 14 Dividend Champions Could Double Their Dividends

Dividend stocks are often the fundament of a great retirement portfolio. Dividend payments not only put money in your pocket, which can help hedge against any downward move in the stock market, but they're usually a sign of a financially sound company.

Dividend payments also give investors the opportunity to reinvest into more shares of stock, thus boosting future dividend payments and compounding gains over time. Yet not all income stocks live up to their full potential.

Utilizing the payout ratio, or the percentage of profits a company returns in the form of a dividend to its shareholders, we can get a good bead on whether a company has room to increase its dividend. Ideally, we like to see healthy payout ratios between 50% and 75%.

Attached you can find a few income stocks with a long dividend growth history and payout ratios currently below 40% that could potentially double their dividends over the next years.

Our assumption for such big dividend moves are positive earnings growth and low debt levels. Both are very important for dividend hikes over the next years.

The screen delivered 14 results of which 4 yield over 2 percent. The results can be found in the attached list with some fundamentals.

Here are the best yielding results in detail...

Archer Daniels Midland -- Yield: 3.05%

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) employs 33,900 people, generates revenue of $81,201.00 million and has a net income of $2,253.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $21.89 billion.

Archer Daniels Midland’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $3,755.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 4.62% (the operating margin is 3.39% and the net profit margin 2.77%).

Financials: The total debt represents 12.86% of Archer Daniels Midland assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 28.91%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 11.32% was realized by Archer Daniels Midland.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.88. Last fiscal year, Archer Daniels Midland paid $0.96 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 12.76, the P/S ratio is 0.27 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.19. The dividend yield amounts to 3.05%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

AFLAC Incorporated -- Yield: 2.74%

AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) employs 9,235 people, generates revenue of $22,759.00 million and has a net income of $2,951.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $25.56 billion.

AFLAC Incorporated’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $6,002.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 26.37% (the operating margin is 21.13% and the net profit margin 12.97%).

Financials: The total debt represents 4.41% of AFLAC Incorporated assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 28.79%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 17.90% was realized by AFLAC Incorporated.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $5.71. Last fiscal year, AFLAC Incorporated paid $1.50 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 10.50, the P/S ratio is 1.12 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.44. The dividend yield amounts to 2.74%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of AFLAC Incorporated (AFL)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of AFLAC Incorporated (AFL)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of AFLAC Incorporated (AFL)

1st Source Corporation -- Yield: 2.33%

1st Source Corporation (NASDAQ:SRCE) employs 1,100 people, generates revenue of $178.55 million and has a net income of $58.07 million. The current market capitalization stands at $835.81 million.

1st Source Corporation’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $110.92 million. The EBITDA margin is 46.56% (the operating margin is 35.45% and the net profit margin 24.38%).

Financials: The total debt represents 6.67% of 1st Source Corporation assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 52.44%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 9.56% was realized by 1st Source Corporation.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.24. Last fiscal year, 1st Source Corporation paid $0.71 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 13.77, the P/S ratio is 3.51 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.32. The dividend yield amounts to 2.33%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of 1st Source Corporation (SRCE)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of 1st Source Corporation (SRCE)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of 1st Source Corporation (SRCE)

Commerce Bancshares -- Yield: 2.01%

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) employs 4,328 people, generates revenue of $648.29 million and has a net income of $262.78 million. The current market capitalization stands at $4.15 billion.

Commerce Bancshares’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $429.81 million. The EBITDA margin is 40.16% (the operating margin is 35.78% and the net profit margin 24.55%).

Financials: The total debt represents 7.76% of Commerce Bancshares assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 79.93%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 11.57% was realized by Commerce Bancshares.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $26.76. Last fiscal year, Commerce Bancshares paid $8.57 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 1.59, the P/S ratio is 3.87 and the P/B ratio is finally 0.19. The dividend yield amounts to 2.01%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Commerce Bancshares (CBSH)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Commerce Bancshares (CBSH)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Commerce Bancshares (CBSH)

CLARCOR -- Yield: 1.77%

CLARCOR (NYSE:CLC) employs 6,015 people, generates revenue of $1,512.85 million and has a net income of $144.18 million. The current market capitalization stands at $2.48 billion.

CLARCOR’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $260.86 million. The EBITDA margin is 17.24% (the operating margin is 13.91% and the net profit margin 9.53%).

Financials: The total debt represents 21.79% of CLARCOR assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 37.28%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 13.49% was realized by CLARCOR.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.87. Last fiscal year, CLARCOR paid $0.71 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 17.33, the P/S ratio is 1.64 and the P/B ratio is finally 2.26. The dividend yield amounts to 1.77%.

Stock Charts: