Sure Dividend

High-Quality Dividend Stocks, Long-Term Plan
The Sure Dividend Investing MethodMember's Area

2023 Dividend Aristocrats List | Updated Daily | All 68 Analyzed


Article updated on December 1st, 2023 by Bob Ciura
Spreadsheet data updated daily

The Dividend Aristocrats are a select group of 68 S&P 500 stocks with 25+ years of consecutive dividend increases.

They are the ‘best of the best’ dividend growth stocks. The Dividend Aristocrats have a long history of outperforming the market.

The requirements to be a Dividend Aristocrat are:

There are currently 68 Dividend Aristocrats. You can download an Excel spreadsheet of all 68 (with metrics that matter such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios) by clicking the link below:

 

Click here to instantly download your free spreadsheet of all 68 Dividend Aristocrats now, along with important investing metrics.

Disclaimer: Sure Dividend is not affiliated with S&P Global in any way. S&P Global owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The information in this article and downloadable spreadsheet is based on Sure Dividend’s own review, summary, and analysis of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and other sources, and is meant to help individual investors better understand this ETF and the index upon which it is based. None of the information in this article or spreadsheet is official data from S&P Global. Consult S&P Global for official information.

Note 1: On January 24th, 2023 CH Robinson Worldwide (CHRW), Nordson (NDSN), and J.M. Smucker (SJM) were officially added to the Dividend Aristocrats with no deletions.

Note 2: On February 7th, V.F. Corp. (VFC) announced a dividend cut. VFC is officially out of the Dividend Aristocrats Index, reducing the index count to 67 as of March 1st, 2023.

Note 3: On March 13th, Kenvue (KVUE) was officially added to the Dividend Aristocrats. There are now 68 Dividend Aristocrats.

Source: S&P News Releases.

You can see detailed analysis on all 68 further below in this article, in our Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Series. Analysis includes valuation, growth, and competitive advantage(s).

Table of Contents

How to Use The Dividend Aristocrats List To Find Dividend Investment Ideas

The downloadable Dividend Aristocrats Excel Spreadsheet List above contains the following for each stock in the index:

All Dividend Aristocrats are high-quality businesses based on their long dividend histories. A company cannot pay rising dividends for 25+ years without having a strong and durable competitive advantage.

But not all Dividend Aristocrats make equally good investments today. That’s where the spreadsheet in this article comes into play. You can use the Dividend Aristocrats spreadsheet to quickly find quality dividend investment ideas.

The list of all 68 Dividend Aristocrats is valuable because it gives you a concise list of all S&P 500 stocks with 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases (that also meet certain minimum size and liquidity requirements).

These are businesses that have both the desire and ability to pay shareholders rising dividends year-after-year. This is a rare combination.

Together, these two criteria are powerful – but they are not enough. Value must be considered as well.

The spreadsheet above allows you to sort by trailing price-to-earnings ratio so you can quickly find undervalued, high-quality dividend stocks.

Here’s how to use the Dividend Aristocrats list to quickly find high-quality dividend growth stocks potentially trading at a discount:

  1. Download the list
  2. Sort by ‘Trailing PE Ratio,’ smallest to largest
  3. Research the top stocks further

Here’s how to do this quickly in the spreadsheet:

Step 1: Download the list, and open it.

Step 2: Apply a filter function to each column in the spreadsheet.

Step 3: Click on the small gray down arrow next to ‘Trailing P/E Ratio’, and then sort smallest to largest.

Step 4: Review the highest ranked Dividend Aristocrats before investing. You can see detailed analysis on every Dividend Aristocrat found below in this article.

That’s it; you can follow the same procedure to sort by any other metric in the spreadsheet.

Performance Of The Dividend Aristocrats

In November 2023, the Dividend Aristocrats, as measured by the Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL), registered a positive return of 6.6%. It underperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) for the month.

Short-term performance is mostly noise. Performance should be measured over a minimum of 3 years, and preferably longer periods of time.

The Dividend Aristocrats Index has slightly underperformed the broader market index over the last decade, with a 9.92% total annual return for the Dividend Aristocrats and a 11.72% total annual return for the S&P 500 Index. But the Dividend Aristocrats have exhibited lower risk than the benchmark, as measured by standard deviation.

Source: S&P Fact Sheet

Higher total returns with lower volatility is the ‘holy grail’ of investing. It is worth exploring the characteristics of the Dividend Aristocrats in detail to determine why they have performed so well.

Note that a good portion of the outperformance relative to the S&P 500 comes during recessions (2000 – 2002, 2008). Dividend Aristocrats have historically seen smaller drawdowns during recessions versus the S&P 500. This makes holding through recessions that much easier. Case-in-point: In 2008 the Dividend Aristocrats Index declined 22%. That same year, the S&P 500 declined 38%.

Great businesses with strong competitive advantages tend to be able to generate stronger cash flows during recessions. This allows them to gain market share while weaker businesses fight to stay alive.

The Dividend Aristocrats Index has beaten the market over the last 28 years…

We believe dividend paying stocks outperform non-dividend paying stocks for three reasons:

  1. A company that pays dividends is likely to be generating earnings or cash flows so that it can pay dividends to shareholders. This excludes ‘pre-earnings’ start-ups and failing businesses. In short, it excludes the riskiest stocks.
  2. A business that pays consistent dividends must be more selective with the growth projects it takes on because a portion of its cash flows are being paid out as dividends. Scrutinizing over capital allocation decisions likely adds to shareholder value.
  3. Stocks that pay dividends are willing to reward shareholders with cash payments. This is a sign that management is shareholder friendly.

In our view, Dividend Aristocrats have historically outperformed the market and other dividend paying stocks because they are, on average, higher-quality businesses.

A high-quality business should outperform a mediocre business over a long period of time, all other things being equal.

For a business to increase its dividends for 25+ consecutive years, it must have or at least had in the very recent past a strong competitive advantage.

Sector Overview

A sector breakdown of the Dividend Aristocrats Index is shown below:

The top 2 sectors by weight in the Dividend Aristocrats are Industrials and Consumer Staples. The Dividend Aristocrats Index is tilted toward Consumer Staples and Industrials relative to the S&P 500.

These 2 sectors make up over 40% of the Dividend Aristocrats Index, but less than 20% of the S&P 500.

The Dividend Aristocrats Index is also significantly underweight the Information Technology sector, with a ~3% allocation compared with over 20% allocation within the S&P 500.

The Dividend Aristocrat Index is filled with stable ‘old economy’ blue chip consumer products businesses and manufacturers; the 3M’s (MMM), Coca-Cola’s (KO), and Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) of the investing world.

These ‘boring’ businesses aren’t likely to generate 20%+ earnings-per-share growth, but they also are very unlikely to see large earnings drawdowns as well.

The 10 Best Dividend Aristocrats Now

This research report examines the 10 best Dividend Aristocrats from our Sure Analysis Research Database with the highest 5-year forward expected total returns.

Click here to read the full research report now. Or, use the table below to quickly jump to analysis on any of the top 10 best Dividend Aristocrats as ranked by expected total returns.

The Dividend Aristocrats In Focus Analysis Series

You can see analysis on every single Dividend Aristocrat below. Each is sorted by GICS sectors and listed in alphabetical order by name. The newest Sure Analysis Research Database report for each security is included as well.

Consumer Staples

Industrials

Health Care

Consumer Discretionary

Financials

Materials

Energy

Information Technology

Real Estate

Utilities

Historical Dividend Aristocrats List
(1989 – 2023)

The image below shows the history of the Dividend Aristocrats Index from 1989 through 2023:

Note: CL, GPC, and NUE were all removed and re-added to the Dividend Aristocrats Index through the historical period analyzed above. We are unsure as to why. Companies created via a spin-off (like AbbVie) can be Dividend Aristocrats with less than 25 years of rising dividends if the parent company was a Dividend Aristocrat.

Click here to download the 1989 to 2023 Dividend Aristocrats Excel Spreadsheet.

This information was compiled from the following sources:

Frequently Asked Questions

This section will address some of most common questions investors have regarding the Dividend Aristocrats.

1. What is the highest-paying Dividend Aristocrat?

Answer: WBA currently yields 9.5%.

2. What is the difference between the Dividend Aristocrats and the Dividend Kings?

Answer: The Dividend Aristocrats must be constituents of the S&P 500 Index, have raised their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years, and satisfy a number of liquidity requirements. The Dividend Kings only need to have raised their dividends for at least 50 consecutive years.

3. Is there an ETF that tracks the Dividend Aristocrats?

Answer: Yes, the Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) is an exchange-traded fund that specifically holds the Dividend Aristocrats.

4. What is the difference between the Dividend Aristocrats and the Dividend Champions?

Answer: The Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Champions share one requirement, which is that a company must have raised its dividend for at least 25 consecutive years.

But like the Dividend Kings, the Dividend Champions do not need to be in the S&P 500 Index, nor satisfy the various liquidity requirements.

5. Which Dividend Aristocrat has the longest active streak of annual dividend increases?

Currently, there are 4 Dividend Aristocrats tied at 67 years: Procter & Gamble, Genuine Parts, 3M Company, and Dover Corporation.

6. What is the average dividend yield of the Dividend Aristocrats?

Right now, the average dividend yield of the Dividend Aristocrats is 2.6%.

7. Are the Dividend Aristocrats safe investments?

While there are never any guarantees when it comes to the stock market, we believe the Dividend Aristocrats are among the safest dividend stocks when it comes to the sustainability of their dividend payouts.

The Dividend Aristocrats have durable competitive advantages that allow them to raise their dividends each year, even during a recession.

Other Dividend Lists & Final Thoughts

The Dividend Aristocrats list is not the only way to quickly screen for stocks that regularly pay rising dividends.

There is nothing magical about the Dividend Aristocrats. They are ‘just’ a collection of high-quality shareholder friendly stocks that have strong competitive advantages.

Purchasing these types of stocks at fair or better prices and holding for the long-run will likely result in favorable long-term performance.

Thanks for reading this article. Please send any feedback, corrections, or questions to support@suredividend.com.


More from sure dividend
The Sure Dividend Investing MethodMember's Area


articles
Golden Rule Commitment
contact - legal - testimonials