Updated on September 1st, 2020 by Bob Ciura

Spreadsheet data updated daily

The Dividend Aristocrats are a select group of 65 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:

Be in the S&P 500

Have 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases

Meet certain minimum size & liquidity requirements

There are currently 65 Dividend Aristocrats. You can download an Excel spreadsheet of all 65 (with metrics that matter such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios) by clicking the link below:

Note 1: On January 24th, 2020, Amcor (AMCR), Atmos Energy (ATO), Realty Income (O), Essex Property Trust (ESS), Ross Stores (ROST), Albemarle (ALB), and Expeditors International (EXPD) were added to the Dividend Aristocrats Index which brings the total number of Dividend Aristocrats up from 57 to 64.

Note 2: On March 31st, 2020, United Technologies merged with Raytheon to form Raytheon Technologies, changed its ticker to RTX, and spun off Carrier Global (CARR) and Otis Worldwide (OTIS) to bring the total Dividend Aristocrat count up to 66.



Note 3: Ross Stores (ROST), which was added to the Dividend Aristocrats list in January of 2020 announced it is suspending its dividend on May 21st, 2020. The company was officially removed from The Dividend Aristocrats prior to the market open on July 1st, bringing the total count down to 65.

Source: S&P News Releases

You can see detailed analysis on all 65 further below in this article, in our Dividend Aristocrats In Focus series. Analysis includes valuation, growth, and competitive advantage(s).

Table of Contents

You can also watch the following video for more information on the Dividend Aristocrats and see a table of the Dividend Aristocrats below.

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:

Price-to-earnings ratio

Dividend yield

Market capitalization

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 65 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 forward 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:

Download the list Sort by PE ratio, smallest to largest 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 ‘P/E Ratio”, and then click on ‘Descending’.

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

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

This article examines the characteristics and performance of the Dividend Aristocrats in detail. A table of contents for easy navigation is below.

Performance Through August 2020



In August 2020, the Dividend Aristocrats, as measured by the Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL), registered a gain of 4.1%. It underperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) for the month.

NOBL generated total returns of 4.1% in August 2020

SPY generated total returns of 7.0% in August 2020

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 14.3% total annual return versus a 15.2% total annual return for the S&P 500 Index. But, the Dividend Aristocrats have exhibited slightly lower volatility than the broader market.

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.

Related: The video below shows the Great Recession performance of every Dividend Aristocrat (excluding the new Aristocrats for 2019 and 2020).

The Dividend Aristocrats Index has beaten the market over the last decade (and over the last 28 years)…

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

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. 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. 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 45% 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 1.4% 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 7 Best Dividend Aristocrats Today

The following section ranks our top 7 Dividend Aristocrats to buy today, based on expected annual returns through 2025. These 7 stocks represent attractive long-term buys for dividend growth investors.



Dividend Aristocrat #7: AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 13.5%

AbbVie is a pharmaceutical company focused on Immunology, Oncology, and Virology. AbbVie was spun off by Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and now trades with a market capitalization of $172 billion. Its most important product is Humira, which by itself represents ~60% of annual revenue. Humira is a multi-purpose pharmaceutical product, and is the top-selling drug in the world. Humira is now facing biosimilar competition in Europe, which has had a noticeable impact on the company. It will lose patent protection in the U.S. in 2023.

AbbVie reported its second-quarter earnings results on July 31st. Revenue of $10.4 billion increased 26% year-over-year. Revenue was positively impacted by strong growth from Imbruvica, but even more so by the addition of Allergan, which was taken over by AbbVie and started to contribute to top and bottom line growth during the second quarter.

AbbVie earned $2.34 per share during the second quarter, up 4% from the previous year’s quarter. The company raised its full-year guidance, and now expects adjusted EPS in a range of $10.35-$10.45 for 2020, which would represent another sizeable increase versus 2019.

AbbVie’s major risk is loss of exclusivity for Humira. Fortunately, the company’s massive research and development platform is a competitive advantage. Adjusted research and development expense totaled $5 billion in 2019, and the investment is already paying off.

Source: Investor Presentation

AbbVie has received 14 major approvals since 2013, with 10 of those coming in the core categories of Immunology and Oncology. AbbVie has multiple growth opportunities to replace Humira.

AbbVie was not a standalone company during the last financial crisis, so there is no recession track record, but since sick people require treatment whether the economy is strong or not, it is highly likely that AbbVie would continue to perform well during a recession. AbbVie’s earnings are likely to decline somewhat in a recession, but the dividend should remain secure. AbbVie has a projected dividend payout ratio of 45% for 2020.

Despite the challenge posed by loss of exclusivity on Humira, we believe AbbVie has long-term growth potential. First, it has invested heavily in building its pipeline of new products. For example, AbbVie has seen strong growth from Imbruvica.

AbbVie also completed the $63 billion acquisition of Allergan (AGN). Allergan’s flagship product is Botox, which diversifies AbbVie’s portfolio with exposure to global aesthetics. The combined company will have annual revenues of nearly $50 billion. AbbVie expects the transaction to be 10% accretive to adjusted earnings-per-share over the first year, with peak accretion of greater than 20%.

Based on expected 2020 earnings-per-share of $10.40, AbbVie trades for a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.9. Our fair value estimate for AbbVie is a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 10.5. We view AbbVie as undervalued. In addition, we expect annual earnings growth of 5%, while the stock has a 5.1% dividend yield. We expect total annual returns of 13.5% per year over the next five years.



Dividend Aristocrat #6: Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 13.7%

Federal Realty is a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT. It concentrates in high-income, densely-populated coastal markets in the US, allowing it to charge more per square foot than its competition. Federal Realty trades with a market capitalization of $6 billion.

Federal Realty’s business model is to own real estate properties that it rents to various tenants in the retail industry. This is a difficult time for retailers, as competition is heating up from e-commerce players such as Amazon (AMZN) and many others. Mall traffic is declining, which has put pressure on many brick-and-mortar retailers. Conditions for retail real estate have become even more challenging due to the coronavirus, which has forced many stores to close.

That said, Federal Realty continues to generate positive FFO and pay dividends to shareholders, thanks to a high-quality and diversified property portfolio.

Source: Investor Presentation

Federal Realty’s competitive advantages include its superior development pipeline, its focus on high-income, high-density areas and its decades of experience in running a world-class REIT. These qualities allow it to perform admirably, and continue growing even in a recession.

The company reported weak second-quarter results, not surprisingly because of the coronavirus pandemic. FFO declined 52% from the same quarter a year ago. The portfolio was 93% leased as of June 30th. However, investors are hoping the bottom is in.

Approximately 87% of Federal Realty’s commercial tenants were open and operating as of July 31st based on annualized base rent, compared with 47% on May 1st. As of July 31st, the company collected 68% of second-quarter billed recurring rents, and 76% for July 2020. Federal Realty also increased its dividend for the 53rd year in a row.

In response to the coronavirus-related shutdowns, the company is boosting its liquidity to help it get through the coronavirus crisis. Federal Realty completed a $400 million term loan issue on May 6th, and a separate $400 million note issuance on May 9th. The company has approximately $2 billion in available liquidity consisting of cash on hand and its undrawn credit facility.

We are forecasting 5.5% annualized FFO growth for the next five years. Based on expected 2020 FFO-per-share of $5.73, Federal Realty stock trades for a price-to-FFO ratio of 13.9. Our fair value estimate for Federal Realty is a price-to-FFO ratio (P/FFO) of 15. We view Federal Realty stock as slightly undervalued. In addition, expected annual FFO-per-share growth of 6.9%, plus the 5.3% dividend yield lead to expected total annual returns of 13.7% per year over the next five years.



Dividend Aristocrat #5: Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 15.2%

Walgreens Boots Alliance is a pharmacy retailer with over 18,000 stores in 11 countries. The stock currently has a $36 billion market capitalization. Walgreens has increased its dividend for 45 consecutive years.

Walgreens reported fiscal third-quarter earnings on July 9th. Sales increased 0.1%, while organic sales increased 1.2%. Sales growth was due largely to comparable store sales growth of 3.0% in the core Retail Pharmacy USA operating segment. However, higher costs and a sizable impairment charge led to an operating loss of $1.6 billion, compared with operating profit of $1.2 billion in the year-ago period. On a per-share basis, Walgreens swung to a loss of $1.95.

Walgreens incurred a non-cash impairment charge of $2 billion related to a re-evaluation of goodwill and intangibles in its Boots UK business. Excluding this, the company reported positive earnings. Adjusted earnings-per-share came to $0.83 for the quarter, although this still represented a year-over-year decline of 44%. However, Walgreens raised its dividend by 2.2%. The company hiked its cost-savings target to more than $2 billion by fiscal 2022, compared with previous forecasts of $1.8 billion.

While the company continues to be plagued by sluggishness and growing competition in the space, there should be plenty of room for growth next year and beyond. For example, in the most recent quarter Walgreens’ pharmacy sales increased 4.6% due to higher brand inflation and specialty sales.

Source: Investor Presentation

Separately, Walgreens announced more than 2,300 products will be available for delivery in Chicago, Atlanta, and Denver through DoorDash.

Walgreens has also announced a partnership with VillageMD in which Walgreens will offer full-service doctor offices co-located at its stores. Over the next five years, the partnership will result in 500 to 700 primary-care clinics in over 30 U.S. markets.

Walgreens’ competitive advantage is its leading market share. Its robust retail presence and convenient locations encourage consumers to use Walgreens instead of its competitors. This brand strength means customers keep coming back to Walgreens, providing the company with stable sales and growth.

Consumers are unlikely to cut spending on prescriptions and other healthcare products even during difficult economic times which makes Walgreens very resistant to recessions. Walgreens’ adjusted earnings-per-share declined by just 7% during 2009 and the company actually grew its adjusted earnings-per-share from 2007 through 2010.

Based on expected fiscal 2020 adjusted EPS of $4.70, Walgreens stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 7.8. Our fair value estimate is a P/E ratio of 10.0, which means expansion of the price-to-earnings ratio could add 5.1% to Walgreens’ annualized returns through 2025. We expect this expansion to combine with expected 5% annualized EPS growth and the 5.1% dividend yield to generate 15.2% annualized total returns over the next five years.



Dividend Aristocrat #4: Chevron Corporation (CVX)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 15.6%

Chevron is the third-largest oil major in the world based on its market cap of $165 billion, behind only Shell (RDS-A) and Exxon Mobil. In both 2018 and 2019, Chevron generated 78% of its earnings from its upstream segment.

In late July, Chevron reported (7/31/20) financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Due to the impact of the pandemic on the global demand for oil, production fell -3% over last year’s quarter while the average realized oil price plunged from $57 to $20. As a result, Chevron switched from a profit per share of$1.77 to a loss per share of -$1.59.

However, the rest of the year will be much worse for Chevron due to outbreak of the coronavirus, which has caused a collapse in the demand for refined products and has sent the oil price to 18-year lows. We expect the oil major to lose -$0.70 per share this year. In response to the pandemic, Chevron will reduce its capital expenses by $2 billion and its operating costs by $1 billion.

Chevron grew its output by 4% in 2019 and expected to grow its output by 3%-4% per year until 2024 but the pandemic has disrupted its growth trajectory this year. Nevertheless, we expect the pandemic to subside from next year and Chevron to return to growth mode thanks to its sustained growth in the Permian Basin and in Australia.

Source: Investor Presentation

It is remarkable that Chevron has more than doubled the value of its assets in Permian in the last two years thanks to new discoveries and technological advances. Separately, on July 20th, Chevron agreed to acquire Noble Energy for $5 billion in an all-stock deal. The deal will provide Chevron with low-cost proved reserves and promising undeveloped resources. We expect the oil major to grow its earnings-per-share by 13% per year on average over the next five years.

Chevron’s stock valuation has fluctuated wildly over the past decade. This reflects the underlying volatility of its business model and profitability. When oil prices rise and Chevron’s profits increase, its valuation multiple shrinks. Conversely, periods of falling oil prices result in a ballooning price-to-earnings ratio.

Chevron is now trading at 19.0 times its mid-cycle earnings-per-share of $4.36. This earnings multiple is higher than its 10-year average of 15.8. If the stock reverts to its average valuation level over the next five years, it will incur a negative return for shareholders.

Offsetting this will be expected EPS growth of 13% per year and the 6.2% dividend yield, leading to total expected returns of 15.6% per year over the next five years.



Dividend Aristocrat #3: AT&T Inc. (T)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 15.8%

AT&T is the largest communications company in the world, operating in three distinct business units: AT&T Communications (providing mobile, broadband and video to 100 million U.S. consumers and 3 million businesses); WarnerMedia (including Turner, HBO, Warner Bros. and the Xandr advertising platform); and AT&T Latin America (offering pay-TV and wireless service to 11 countries).

AT&T reported second-quarter 2020 financial results on July 23rd. For the quarter, the company generated $40.95 billion in revenue, down 9% year-over-year. The coronavirus pandemic led to declines across the business, including lower content and advertising revenue for WarnerMedia, as well as lower domestic video and legacy wireless revenue. On an adjusted basis, earnings-per-share declined 6.7% to $0.83.

Still, AT&T generated $7.6 billion of free cash flow, which was used to pay down debt, return cash to shareholders, and invest in future growth. AT&T’s net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was ~2.6x at the end of the quarter.

Source: Investor Presentation

AT&T is a colossal business, easily generating profits of $20+ billion annually, but it is not a fast grower. From 2007 through 2019 AT&T grew earnings-per-share by 2.2% per year. While the company is picking up growth opportunities, notably in its recent acquisition of Time Warner, we recognize the premiums paid and the fact that the company’s legacy businesses are steady or declining. AT&T is optimistic about generating reasonable growth and the payout ratio had been falling, resulting in excess funds to divert toward paying down debt.

Two individual growth catalysts for AT&T are 5G rollout and its recently-launched HBO Max service. AT&T continues to expand 5G to more cities around the country. On June 29th, AT&T announced it had turned on 5G service to 28 additional markets. AT&T now provides access to 5G to parts of 355 U.S. markets, covering more than 120 million people. The company also invested $1 billion in the second quarter to acquire 5G spectrum.

On May 27th, AT&T launched streaming platform HBO Max and generated 90,000 mobile downloads on its first day. HBO Max is priced at $15 per month and offers subscribers approximately 10,000 hours of programming. The new platform is a critical step for AT&T to keep up in the streaming wars.

Shares of AT&T trade for a 2020 price-to-earnings ratio of 9.1, below our fair value P/E of 12. The stock also has an attractive dividend yield of 7.1%. Combined with 3% expected annual earnings-per-share growth, we expect total annual returns of 15.8% per year over the next five years.



Dividend Aristocrat #2: People’s United Financial (PBCT)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 17.1%

People’s United Financial is a diversified financial services company that provides commercial and retail banking and wealth management services via its network of over 400 branches in the Northeast. It has total assets of $59 billion and trades with a market capitalization of approximately $4.4 billion.

The company has more than doubled its total assets during the last decade thanks to organic growth, geographic expansion, and a series of acquisitions. In the last six years, it has grown its loans and its deposits at a 9% average annual rate.

Source: Investor Presentation

In 2019, People’s United Financial completed the acquisition of United Financial, which will enhance the presence of the company in central Connecticut and western Massachusetts.

Just like all the other banks, People’s United Financial is now facing a strong headwind, namely the outbreak of the coronavirus. As a result, all the banks will increase their provisions for loan losses.

In late July, People’s United Financial reported (7/23/20) financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. The net interest margin of the company slipped from 3.12% to 3.05% sequentially but the amount of loans grew 3% and thus net interest income grew 2% sequentially. On the other hand, non-interest income slumped -28%, from $123.8 million to $89.6 million, due to the decreased customer activity caused by the pandemic and the numerous fee waivers related to the pandemic.

As a result, operating earnings-per-share fell -27% sequentially, from $0.33 to $0.24. It is also remarkable that the provision for credit losses increased from $8.5 million to $80.8 million due to the pandemic.

Despite the difficult near-term environment, we still expect 4% earnings-per-share growth over the next five years. Growth will be fueled primarily by the recent acquisitions and our expectations for somewhat higher interest rates in the long run, which will enhance People’s net interest margin.

People’s United stock trades for a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.6, below our fair value estimate of 13. An expanding P/E ratio could boost shareholder returns by 6.3% per year through 2025. Combined with the 6.8% dividend yield and 4% expected EPS growth, total annual returns could reach 17.1% per year over the next five years.



Dividend Aristocrat #1: Exxon Mobil (XOM)

5-year Expected Annual Returns: 18.2%

Like Chevron, Exxon Mobil is an integrated super-major, with operations across the oil and gas industry. In 2019, the oil major generated over 80% of its earnings from its upstream segment, with the remainder from its downstream (mostly refining) segment and its chemicals segment.

In late July, Exxon reported (7/31/20) financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Production fell -7% over last year’s quarter due to a -3% decrease in liquids and a -12% decrease in gas, which resulted from the impact of the pandemic on the global demand for oil products and gas. In addition, the average realized prices of oil and gas slumped due to the pandemic while the company posted a refinery utilization of only 70%. Consequently, Exxon reported an adjusted loss per share of -$0.70.

Exxon will cut its capital expenses 30% this year in order to protect its dividend and will slow the development of its promising growth projects in the Permian and Guyana due to the depressed oil price. Due to the pandemic, we now expect Exxon to lose -$0.40 per share this year.

That said, we remain positive regarding Exxon’s long-term growth prospects. Global demand for oil and gas continues to rise, which provides a strong fundamental tailwind for the company’s long-term future. According to a recent company presentation, new supply of 550 billion barrels of oil and 2,100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are required through 2040 to meet projected global demand. In preparation, the oil major has greatly increased its capital expenses in order to grow its production from 4.0 to 5.0 million barrels per day by 2025.

The Permian Basin will be a major growth driver, as the oil giant has about 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the area and expects to reach production of more than 1.0 million barrels per day in the area by 2024. Guyana, one of the most exciting growth projects in the energy sector, will be another major growth driver.

Source: Investor Presentation

In 2019, Exxon Mobil made 6 major deep-water discoveries in Guyana and Cyprus. In Guyana, Exxon Mobil has started Liza Phase I ahead of schedule. Guyana’s total recoverable resources are estimated at over 8 billion oil equivalent barrels.

Like Chevron, Exxon Mobil’s growth potential is challenged by the recent decline in commodity prices, as well as the prospect of a global recession due to the coronavirus. We view the coronavirus as a short-term issue. The company announced it will reduce capital expenditures by $10 billion to preserve cash in this difficult environment.

Exxon Mobil’s earnings are volatile, due to the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry. For 2020, we expect the company to report a loss, but we recognize that the actual results could vary drastically from this estimate due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. In order to calculate future returns, we have used mid-cycle (5-year average) earnings-per-share of $3.26 as a base.

Using this estimate, the stock trades for a P/E ratio of 12.1 compared with our fair value estimate of 13. Expansion of the P/E multiple could boost annual returns by 1.4% per year over the next five years.

Because of Exxon Mobil’s depressed earnings, we expect a snap-back with 8% annual expected earnings-per-share growth over the next five years. Including the 8.8% dividend yield, we expect total annual returns of 18.2% per year over the next five years.

Along with Chevron, Exxon Mobil is a riskier Dividend Aristocrat due to its volatile industry. But a recovery in oil and gas prices could mean strong returns for investors willing to buy at these depressed prices.

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, with its date in brackets.

Consumer Staples

Industrials

Health Care

Consumer Discretionary

Financials

Materials

Energy

Information Technology

Real Estate

Telecommunication Services

Utilities

Looking for no-fee DRIP Dividend Aristocrats? Click here to read an article examining all 15 no-fee DRIP Dividend Aristocrats in detail.

Historical Dividend Aristocrats List

(1989 – 2020)



The image below shows the history of the Dividend Aristocrats Index from 1989 through 2020:

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.

This information was compiled from the following sources:

1989 – 1991: Dividend Growth Investor

1992 – 2015: NOBL Index Historical Constituents

2016: Sure Dividend update

2017 – 2020: Data from S&P press releases

Other Dividend Lists & Final Thoughts

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

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

Purchasing this type of business at fair or better prices and holding for the long-run will likely result in favorable long-term performance.

You have a choice in what type of business you buy into. You can buy into the mediocre, or the excellent.

Often, excellent businesses are not more expensive (based on their price-to-earnings ratio) than mediocre businesses.

“When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”

– Warren Buffett