The 25 Highest-Yielding Dividend Champions
Yes, dividend investing is popular. Congress has extended legislation that maintains the low tax rate on corporate payouts through 2012. A great place to look for dividend stalwarts is among those companies that have successfully paid out cash for decades.
The authoritative list of Dividend Champions is compiled by the DRiP Investing Resource Center annually and features those companies that have increased dividends for more than 25 years straight. The latest list details about 100 companies that have met the center's criteria, and these companies need not be part of the S&P 500 in order to qualify, unlike the Dividend Aristocrats index.
Below I highlight the 25 fastest-growing Dividend Champions ranked in order by dividend growth. I've also included the number of years that they've paid out a dividend and their yields:
Company | 5-Year Dividend Growth Rate | Yield | Number of Years |
|---|---|---|---|
CenturyLink (NYS: CTL) | 63.9% | 8.8% | 37 |
Nucor (NYS: NUE) | 32.8% | 4.4% | 38 |
McDonald's (NYS: MCD) | 28.9% | 2.9% | 34 |
Lowe's (NYS: LOW) | 27.4% | 3.0% | 49 |
Brady Corp. (NYS: BRC) | 22.3% | 2.8% | 25 |
Walgreen (NYS: WAG) | 21.9% | 2.5% | 36 |
Target (NYS: TGT) | 20.1% | 2.4% | 44 |
AFLAC (NYS: AFL) | 19.7% | 3.5% | 28 |
Medtronic (NYS: MDT) | 17.8% | 2.9% | 34 |
W.W. Grainger (NYS: GWW) | 17.7% | 1.8% | 40 |
Weyco (NAS: WEYS) | 16.4% | 3.0% | 29 |
Raven Industries (NAS: RAVN) | 16.3% | 1.5% | 25 |
Franklin Resources (NYS: BEN) | 16.1% | 0.9% | 30 |
Wal-Mart (NYS: WMT) | 16.0% | 2.8% | 37 |
Illinois Tool Works (NYS: ITW) | 15.6% | 3.4% | 48 |
Harleysville Group (NAS: HGIC) | 15.5% | 5.8% | 25 |
Parker Hannifin (NYS: PH) | 15.4% | 2.2% | 54 |
Automatic Data Processing (NAS: ADP) | 14.9% | 3.0% | 36 |
Clorox (NYS: CLX) | 14.4% | 3.6% | 34 |
Becton, Dickinson (NYS: BDX) | 14.2% | 2.2% | 38 |
Colgate-Palmolive (NYS: CL) | 12.8% | 2.6% | 48 |
PepsiCo (NYS: PEP) | 12.6% | 3.4% | 39 |
Eaton Vance (NYS: EV) | 12.5% | 3.2% | 30 |
V.F. (NYS: VFC) | 12.2% | 2.2% | 38 |
Hormel Foods (NYS: HRL) | 12.1% | 1.9% | 45 |
Source: Dripinvesting.org.
Given their strong track records, these stocks are a great place to begin your research, but they're not formal recommendations. High yields could be time bombs, and that really attractive high yield could suddenly die. So investigate such companies thoroughly and diversify across sectors, no matter how delicious that dividend looks.
For a basket of some high-yield dividend opportunities, click here to get The Motley Fool's special free report: 13 High-Yielding Stocks to Buy Today.
At the time thisarticle was published Jim Royal, Ph.D., owns shares of McDonald's. The Motley Fool owns shares of AFLAC, Clorox, Nucor, PepsiCo, Medtronic, and Wal-Mart.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Nucor, Illinois Tool Works, Wal-Mart, Becton, Clorox, PepsiCo, Automatic Data Processing, McDonald's, AFLAC, and Lowe's; creating diagonal call positions in PepsiCo and Wal-Mart; and writing covered calls in Lowe's. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
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