Dividend Kings Listing 2023: The Most Elite Group of Dividend-Paying Shares

A dividend inventory is a publicly traded firm that shares its income with shareholders by dividends, usually paid quarterly. Dividend-paying shares might be a sexy choice for buyers wanting a gentle earnings (even in a bear market) or a long-term wealth-growing technique.

Regular dividend payers are usually well-established, constantly worthwhile firms. No firms exemplify these options greater than the dividend kings: An unique group of shares which have elevated dividends for not less than 50 consecutive years.

That is no small feat contemplating that within the final 5 a long time alone, these firms have raised and paid dividends by seven recessions, an oil embargo (1973-74), double-digit rates of interest (the Nineteen Eighties), Black Monday (1987), 9/11, the dot-com bubble (1999-2000), the 2008 monetary disaster, the Coronavirus Crash of 2020, and extra. 

This is what you have to find out about dividend kings in case you’re focused on shares with endurance. 

Dividend kings checklist 2023

Dividend kings are an elite group of shares which have elevated their dividends yearly for not less than 50 years in a row. Not surprisingly, a comparatively small variety of firms ever attain this benchmark. Out of greater than 4,000 public firms within the U.S., simply 50 make the minimize in 2023. 

Right here is the checklist we compiled from a number of sources—together with every firm’s title, ticker image, dividend yield, market capitalization, and “profitable” streak in years:

Dividend kings return on funding

Firms that constantly develop their dividends have historically outperformed the broader market.

In accordance with a report from RMB Capital, dividend kings delivered an annual common return of 9.62% from 1972 to 2018 versus a 2.40% return for non-dividend payers. On the identical time, the equal-weighted S&P 500 index delivered a median return of seven.30%.

Nonetheless, dividend kings aren’t essentially an ideal funding for each investor. Some dividend kings will probably be overvalued at any time, whereas others will probably be undervalued. As an alternative of investing in a dividend king as a result of it is a part of an unique checklist of shares, do your homework to make sure the corporate meets your standards by way of market cap, price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, earnings per share (EPS), dividend yield, and different investing metrics.

spend money on a dividend king

Dividend kings are publicly traded firms, so you should purchase and promote them identical to every other inventory by your on-line dealer, robo-advisor, or monetary advisor:

• On-line brokers akin to TradeStation, J.P. Morgan, and Axos are perfect for self-directed merchants and buyers who’re comfy making their very own shopping for and promoting choices. The perfect on-line brokers have a broad choice of investments, low commissions and costs, and a user-friendly interface for researching, putting, and managing trades.
• Robo-advisors akin to M1 Finance are automated platforms that use laptop algorithms to construct an funding portfolio (typically a set of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs) based mostly in your objectives, danger tolerance, and different preferences. The perfect robo-advisors provide low portfolio administration charges and a spread of funding choices.
• Monetary advisors help with varied monetary wants, together with investments, retirement planning, budgeting, property planning, and extra. Since they’re people and never computer systems, monetary advisors price greater than robo-advisors. Many take a holistic strategy masking an array of cash issues that can assist you attain your general monetary objectives. SmartAdvisor by SmartAsset will enable you discover and examine prime vetted monetary advisors in your space.

You may also spend money on dividend kings not directly by way of ETFs and mutual funds that maintain a few of the kings. Whereas no ETF is devoted to the dividend kings, some ETFs concentrate on dividend aristocrats (see beneath), such because the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL).

Sector & market capitalization distribution

Two sectors characterize 64% of dividend kings, with 15 client items and 17 industrials incomes a spot on the coveted checklist. There are additionally seven utilities, 4 financials, and 4 healthcare shares, plus one every for the power, supplies, and actual property sectors.

Market capitalization ( market cap) refers back to the complete worth of an organization’s shares of shares. It is calculated by multiplying a inventory’s value by the overall variety of excellent shares. For instance, an organization with 10 million shares promoting at $100 a share would have a market cap of $1 billion. Market caps are sometimes damaged down into three “sizes”:

• Massive-cap – a market cap of $10 billion or increased. These firms usually have a historical past of regular progress and constant dividend funds.
• Mid-cap – a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion. These are normally well-established firms in industries experiencing—or poised to expertise—speedy progress.
• Small-cap – a market cap of $300 million to $2 billion. These are typically younger firms serving area of interest markets or rising industries.

Not surprisingly, greater than half of the dividend kings are large-cap firms, with 29 firms valued at $10 billion or extra—together with 9 valued increased than $100 billion. Fifteen mid-cap and 6 small-cap firms spherical out the checklist of fifty dividend kings for 2023.

What’s survivorship bias?

In finance, survivorship bias occurs once you embody solely the robust (or “surviving”) property to judge a portfolio’s efficiency, ignoring any poor performers. By taking a look at simply the winners and never the losers, the information might be skewed to overestimate a portfolio’s return and make overly optimistic conclusions.

For instance, take into account a hypothetical mutual fund firm with 4 funds. Two funds put up 10% returns, whereas two are closed with 5% losses. If the fund supervisor presents the efficiency of all 4 funds, it’s going to present a median return of 10%. Nonetheless, if the supervisor ignores the 2 losers, the common return turns into 20%—an artificially excessive quantity.

You may keep away from survivorship bias—and unrealistic forecasts—by together with each the winners and the losers when evaluating portfolios.

Dividend aristocrats vs. dividend kings

To qualify as an aristocrat, an organization should improve dividend payouts for not less than 25 consecutive years (versus 50 years for kings) and be a member of the S&P 500—one thing that is not required for dividend kings. Moreover, dividend aristocrats should have a market cap of not less than $3 billion and a median every day buying and selling worth of $5 million or extra. 

Dividend aristocrats can ultimately develop into dividend kings in the event that they attain 50 years of consecutive dividend raises.

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index tracks the efficiency of dividend aristocrats. Presently, there are 66 firms within the index, together with client staples (24%), industrials (22.8%), supplies (12.2%), financials (10.7%), healthcare (10.5%), actual property (4.6%), utilities (4.6%), client discretionary (4.5%), info expertise (3.3%), and power (2.8%).

The index is rebalanced quarterly in January, April, July, and October. 

TIME Stamp: top-ranking dividend kings

Even among the many finest there are distinctions. We reached out to a number of business specialists for additional info. Listed here are seven of their favourite dividend kings proper now (listed in alphabetical order).

1. AbbVie (ABBV)

Pharmaceutical firms have very constant gross sales with established remedies. Karl Farmer, CFA, V.P., and portfolio supervisor at Rockland Belief, says the most important problem is creating new merchandise as older ones lose pricing energy when patents expire, and different firms could make generic options. “AbbVie has accomplished an impressive job with this, and the dividend continues to develop.”

2. Colgate-Palmolive (CL)

Farmer says that Colgate-Palmolive has a prime share not solely within the U.S. but additionally overseas. “They’ve accomplished an ideal job managing by the uncooked supplies value swings of the previous few years and are nonetheless rising gross sales by volumes and a little bit of pricing.”

Sam Boughedda, an fairness dealer and inventory market information author at AskTraders.com, agrees. “The worldwide client merchandise big is dwelling to many manufacturers we use every day. The expansion of the corporate’s pet meals enterprise, Hills Pet Diet, has caught the eye of buyers within the final six months or so.”

3. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson has raised its dividend for nicely over 50 years, and the corporate owns most of the world’s well-known manufacturers—together with Aveeno, BAND-AID, Motrin, Neutrogena, Johnson’s Child, and Tylenol. “Demand for the corporate’s diversified merchandise is all the time robust, whereas it has an exemplary monitor document,” says Boughedda.

4. PepsiCo (PEP)

Jim Brown, CFA, MBA, senior portfolio supervisor, and analysis analyst for Buckingham Advisors, says PepsiCo is a diversified, all-weather firm. “The corporate boasts a snack meals division that thrived throughout the difficult pandemic interval that favored at-home consumption—and a beverage unit that has benefited from elevated fountain gross sales in eating and different institutions as customers resumed away-from-home habits post-pandemic.”

Daniel Milan, managing companion at Cornerstone Monetary Companies, can also be bullish on PepsiCo. “They’ve a sexy annual dividend yield of about 2.77% at present with a robust historic dividend progress fee of about 7.74%, which suggests the dividend doubles about each 9 years,” says Milan. “In our opinion, dividend progress fee is as essential because the dividend yield.”

5. S&P International (SPGI)

S&P International supplies impartial rankings, benchmarks, analytics, and information to capital and commodity markets worldwide (the S&P 500 is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of S&P International). The corporate has paid a dividend yearly since 1937 and is considered one of fewer than 25 firms within the S&P 500 that is a dividend king. Farmer says S&P International’s yield is not very excessive, however the firm has glorious margins and an enviable monitor document.

Boughedda can also be bullish on S&P International. “The monetary info and analytics enterprise has raised its dividend for 50 consecutive years. It’s a resilient enterprise that faces restricted competitors in its business.”

6. Stanley Black & Decker (SWK)

Stanley Black & Decker is well-known for manufacturers like Dewalt, Black+Decker, Craftsman, Stanley, and Troy-Bilt.

Farmer sees Stanley Black & Decker as a very good purchase proper now. “The inventory is off greater than 50% within the final two years because it has fallen again to pre-pandemic ranges.” Farmer says gross sales progress has been troublesome this yr as a result of many individuals took on dwelling initiatives throughout the pandemic whereas spending extra time at dwelling. “The present value weak point affords a pleasant entry level and a 3.6% yield.”

7. Walmart (WMT)

“A long time of providing low prices to its clients and, in flip, utilizing volumes to barter costs with suppliers enabled this firm to develop into what it’s at present,” says Farmer. “Ninety p.c of everybody within the U.S. lives inside 10 miles of a retailer, and its achievement and distribution community has enabled them to compete in a web-based world as nicely.”

Walmart can also be on Boughedda’s checklist of dividend kings to look at. “The corporate has a stable dividend monitor document that ought to proceed to develop.”

Conclusion

Dividend kings are shares of mature firms which have proved their value over time. To have earned that designation, an organization should have paid its shareholders rising dividends for not less than 50 consecutive years. Nonetheless, like all funding, it is beneficial that you just completely consider every firm you intend to spend money on to make sure it has stable financials that meet your standards. A robo-advisor or monetary advisor will help if you do not have the time, expertise, or curiosity in selecting your individual investments. 

Often requested questions (FAQs)

Which dividend king pays the very best dividend?

At 8.22%, Altria has the very best dividend yield of the dividend kings in 2023. The subsequent 4 highest dividend yields come from Common (6.33%), 3M (5.84%), Leggett & Platt (5.80%), and Canadian Utilities (4.91%).

When is the perfect time to spend money on dividend kings?

Dividend shares are usually much less unstable than non-dividend payers, making them a very good choice throughout bear markets. Nonetheless, together with dividend shares in your portfolio might be smart any time as a part of a well-diversified, wealth-building portfolio.

Do dividend kings all the time outperform the market?

Dividend kings are likely to outperform the market over the long run. Nonetheless, like most shares, they will and do underperform the market.

What are the dangers related to investing in dividend kings?

Dividend shares have traditionally outperformed the S&P 500 with much less volatility, making them a sexy choice for buyers who need to restrict danger, particularly as they close to retirement. Nonetheless, like all investments, dividend kings aren’t with out dangers.

For instance, dividend funds aren’t assured, and corporations can scale back and even remove their dividends from one quarter to the subsequent. Additionally, dividend earnings is taxable, which might bump you into a better tax bracket and improve your tax invoice.

Rates of interest can have an effect on dividend shares. When charges are excessive, CDs and Treasury payments might be higher (and safer) investments than shares. Nonetheless, dividend shares might be extra enticing when charges are low as a result of they usually pay higher than low-risk investments. 

How are dividends from dividend kings taxed?

Dividends earnings is taxable, however the tax fee will depend on whether or not it is a certified or nonqualified dividend. Certified dividends are taxed on the decrease long-term capital positive aspects fee, whereas nonqualified dividends are taxed as unusual earnings. In case your dividend shares are in a retirement account or school financial savings plan, you may not owe any tax on their dividend earnings since these accounts are tax-deferred or tax-free.

***INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS ARE: NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE***