The Top 20 Aristocrats In The S&P 500 By Yield

Dividend aristocrats are stocks that have consecutively increased their annual dividend for prolonged periods of time. 

In the S&P 500, there are 50 dividend aristocrats as of October 14, 2016, with annual dividend increases spanning 25 years and beyond. 

These stocks are grouped into the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, which is updated every January. With consecutive annual dividend increases, these stocks are known to have some of the highest quality business models in the S&P 500, steadily demonstrating the capability to increase dividend payouts through all types of market cycles. 

These are the top 20 aristocrats in the S&P 500 by yield....

10 Of The Most Attractive S&P 500 Dividend Stocks

The S&P 500 Index abounds with generous dividend payers, but many of the high yields are a result of falling share prices and related investor concerns. 

In other words, the numbers are nice, but they’re far from secure. That means you have to ratchet down your yield expectations … but not all the way.

Yes, the S&P 500’s dividend yield stands at just 2.15%, so the bar is low. But once you get past that mental roadblock, a number of names emerge as relatively high-paying, reliable dividend stocks to buy for equity income.

A history of rising dividends is of particular concern to any income investors who plans to stick around a while. These stocks fit that description. They also have the free cash flow generation to make good on the payouts quarter after quarter, year after year.

Lastly, except for one name, these stocks all yield 3% or more while offering acceptable risk. And if shareholders can stay patient long enough, they might even find themselves holding some total-return machines. Without further ado, here are the top 10 S&P 500 dividend stocks to buy now:

3 Cheap Large Cap Dividend Stocks With 25% Discount

With the broader markets at or near all-time highs, there are a lot of analysts who will bemoan that there aren't any cheap investments out there to be had. An even bigger complaint is that investors can't find decent yields from investments because of fed interest rates.

When stocks fall more than 25% from their highs, they can indicate trouble. On the other hand, they can also be buying opportunities.

For these large-cap companies that have economic moats and are at least investment grade if not A-grade, we can lean towards the side that they are more likely bargains at the current lower valuations than trouble. This means they have a good chance of being winners when the companies recover.

Here are the stocks I'm talking about...

16 Income Growth Stocks With A PEG Below One

With the stock market in nearly nonstop rally mode over the past six years, investors haven't needed to look far to uncover an abundance of growth stocks. 

But not all growth stocks are created equal: While some could still deliver extraordinary gains, others appear considerably overvalued, and might instead burden investors with hefty losses. 

What exactly is a growth stock? Though it's arbitrary, I'll define a growth stock as any company forecast to grow profits by 10% or more annually during the next five years. To decide what's "cheap," I'll use the PEG ratio, which compares a company's price-to-earnings ratio to its future growth rate. 

Any figure around or below one could signal a cheap stock. Attached you can find a list of dividend growth stocks with a history of consecutive dividend hikes of more than 5 years and a PEG ratio below one. 

Each stock from the list is a Midcap with a market cap over 2 billion. I've tried to exclude all lower capitalized stocks out of the screen in order to keep the big risks away.

In total, there are 16 companies from my high quality dividend stock screen that fulfilled my criteria.

Here is the list of stocks with a PEG ratio below one....

16 Income Growth Stocks With A PEG Below One 
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10 Well Diversified Dividend Stocks For Retiree Portfolios

Safety and predictability are great to have when planning for retirement. However, today’s retirees are more challenged than ever to conservatively produce safe income from dividend stocks. 

Interest rates are near rock bottom, valuations are running high relative to history and a rate increase from the Federal Reserve could be right around the corner.

Furthermore, many dividend-paying stocks have seen their yields compress over the last few years as investors stampeded into anything with yield. With the economy’s slow growth, dividend growth has also begun to wane.

We set out to find some exceptional dividend stocks that are solid choices for current dividend income and income growth in retirement portfolios. With starting dividend yields between 2% and 5%, this group of blue-chip dividend stocks offers a good balance of safety, yield and growth.

Here is a group of 10 dividend stocks that currently have good yields (3% or greater), and dividend stocks that don’t necessarily have great yield but have excellent dividend growth.

These are the results...