Fantastic Yields And Where To Find Them Pt 2: The Dividend Aristocrats

Dividend investors are primarily looking for two things when choosing stocks: high yield and reliability. Maintaining a dividend through thick and thin is one thing, but actually raising it during recessions, economic crises and cyclical business downturns is even more impressive.

Incredibly, about 10 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 have managed to hike their dividends for at least 20 consecutive years. These stocks are known as the S&P 500 “Dividend Aristocrats.”

Here are the top five Dividend Aristocrats with the highest yields:

• HCP, Inc. (NYSE: HCP) — 5.8 percent.
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) — 4.4 percent.
• Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) — 4.1 percent.
• Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) — 3.5 percent.
• Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) — 3.4 percent.

Of those five stocks, Emerson has the longest-running streak of dividend hikes. Emerson has raised its dividend every single year since 1957, a streak of 59 years and counting.

Related Link: Fantastic Yields And Where To Find Them: Top 3 Yields From The Dow 30

Despite that impressive streak, one Dividend Aristocrat barely edges Emerson as the company with the longest streak of consecutive dividend hikes. Here are the top five longest streaks:

• Dover Corp (NYSE: DOV) — 60 years.
• Emerson Electric — 59 years.
• Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG) — 59 years.
• Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC) — 59 years.
• 3M Co (NYSE: MMM) — 57 years.

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