140+ Dividend Aristocrats Worldwide 2023`

Dividend aristocrats shares list

Dividend aristocrats are stocks that have been raising their dividends for at least 25 years.

The nobility among dividend companies

For many investors, dividend aristocrats are an important part of the dividend strategy to generate regular income. Dividend aristocrats are also referred to as the aristocracy because these companies prove to be extremely generous to investors. For a stock to be called a dividend aristocrat, it must meet the following criteria: The company must have paid a dividend for at least 25 years, the payout ratio must be increased each year, and in the USA the company must be part of the S&P 500 Index and have a market capitalization of at least US$3 billion.

Dividend aristocrat - Reliable payer even through crises

Dividend aristocrats have become increasingly valuable to investors. Economic crises and stock market crashes such as the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 Corona Pandemic have made stable dividends more important. In these hard times, many companies cut or omit their dividend payouts. The Dividend Aristocrat, on the other hand, maintains its annual dividend growth. Currently, it is even the case that the dividend yields of many Dividend Aristocrats are higher than the yields of fixed income securities or government bonds.

Increasing returns with less risk

Dividend aristocrats are for the most part defensive and therefore mostly value stocks, such as Procter & Gamble und Walmart. the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats have less risk, their yield is only slightly lower than that of the S&P 500. The total shareholder return over ten years is 16.24% for the S&P 500, 18.85% for the S&P 500 Growth, and 15.22% for the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats. Dividend Aristocrats thus offer not only an annual dividend increase, but also a continuous yield development.

Dividend aristocrats as retirement provision

Passive income through dividend payments by dividend aristocrats has two advantages. On the one hand, it can serve as a retirement provision due to the low risk, and on the other hand, your assets are additionally increased by the Compound interest effect . Especially in the USA the quarterly payments of dividend aristocrats take on a high priority, as together with 401(k) plans they are an important building block for retirement planning. But not only in the USA dividend aristocrats are popular, even in Germany they are gaining in popularity.

We publish each quarter on AlleAktien.com a dividend study on the most frequently bought dividend stocks by German private investors. Five dividend aristocrats were among the top 10 dividend stocks in the third quarter: Reality Income , Johnson & Johnson , Coca-Cola , McDonald’s und AT&T. This shows that German shareholders are backing dividend aristocrats that are world-renowned quality companies. No speculation, but convincing stock selection.

The 65 Dividend Aristocrats from the USA

As already mentioned, dividend aristocrats can be found above all in the USA. 65 dividend aristocrats from the S&P 500 Index have increased their dividends 25 years in a row (as of October 29, 2021). There is at least one dividend aristocrat in all eleven sectors.

As might be expected, the fast-growing telecommunications and technology sectors have only one and two aristocrats, respectively. AT&T has been increasing its dividend for 36 years and pays an unbeatable yield of 8.2%. IBM is a newcomer among the dividend aristocrats, whereas Automatic Data Processing has been increasing its dividend for 46 years.

Surprisingly, only two and three dividend aristocrats are found in the energy, utilities and real estate sectors, respectively. The well-known oil and gas companies. Chevron und Exxon Mobil have been among the dividend aristocrats for over 30 years, delivering dividends of 4.7% and 5.5% respectively. The utility company NextEra Energy is also a new member among the Dividend Aristocrats. However NextEra Energy not only increase its dividends over 25 years, but can also boast an impressive share performance. The real estate group and monthly dividend payer Realty Income has been a dividend aristocrat for 26 years and is a popular dividend stock in the AlleAktien community.

All six dividend aristocrats from the consumer goods sector (cyclical consumption) have been increasing their dividends for at least 40 years. Even the world-famous fast food chain McDonald’s is one of the dividend aristocrats. Seven dividend aristocrats each are represented from the financial and healthcare sectors. The financial index provider S&P Global has been a member of the Super League of Dividend Companies for 48 years, but has a dividend yield of only 0.7%. Among the healthcare companies, you can find the Corona Profiteers Johnson & Johnson und Abbott Laboratories . dividend aristocrats from the basic materials sector are not world-renowned companies, but are solid nonetheless, because otherwise they would not belong to the aristocracy.

The top 2 sectors are consumer staples (non-cyclical consumption) and industrials, each with 13 dividend aristocrats. Consumer staples companies have benefited greatly from the Corona pandemic and have seen their earnings multiply. The best known dividend aristocrats in this sector include. Coca-Cola,PepsiCo,Procter & Gamble und Walmart . Similar to dividend aristocrats from basic sector, companies in industrial sector are not the most famous. However, belongs to 3M has been one of the dividend aristocrats for 63 years, and it is impossible to imagine our everyday lives without its products.

The European Dividend Aristocrats

In Europe, significantly fewer dividend aristocrats can be found and therefore the 25-year limit is not taken quite so narrowly in Europe. Often, shares are already called dividend aristocrats if the companies have increased their dividend yield annually over the last 20 years.

In Germany, therefore, there are only three companies that are dividend aristocrats: Fresenius,Fresenius Medical Care und Fuchs Petrolub,Fresenius has increased its dividend annually for 27 years and has a dividend yield of 2.29%. The medical technology company Fresenius Medical Care has been in the elite circle of dividend aristocrats for 23 years and pays its shareholders a yield of 1.86%. Fuchs Petrolub is a petroleum and chemical company that has been raising its dividend for 18 years, so the company falls just short of 20 years. Fuchs Petrolub pays a dividend yield of 2.70%.

Other notable dividend aristocrats in Europe include. Cranswick (30 years), Diageo (23 years), Linde (27 years), Lindt & Sprüngli (24 years), Nestlé (25 years), Novartis (23 years), Medtronic (42 years), Roche (33 years), Sanofi (26 years), and Unilever (24 years).

Financial stability in the present

Dividend aristocrats usually only represent a look into the past, however, the current financial situation of the company is just as important. If the payout ratio measured against a company's profit is too high, less money is flushed into the company's coffers. This in turn can create enormous pressure on future profit growth. Therefore, dividend aristocrats often offer continuous development with long-term and stable growth.