S&P Dow Jones Indices defines the dividend aristocrats as the 54 companies included in the benchmark S&P 500 (SPX) that have raised their dividend payouts every year for at least 25 years. A high dividend yield is not required.
These 54 are large, blue chip companies that have historically provided (slightly) better performance and (slightly) lower volatility than the S&P 500 as a whole.
The Dividend Aristocrats index didn’t change for 2014:
| Company (Ticker) |
|---|
| 3M Co (MMM) |
| Abbott Laboratories (ABT) |
| AbbVie Inc (ABBV) |
| AFLAC Inc (AFL) |
| Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD) |
| Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM) |
| AT&T (T) |
| Automatic Data Processing (ADP) |
| Bard, C.R. Inc (BCR) |
| Becton, Dickinson & Co (BDX) |
| Bemis Co Inc (BMS) |
| Brown-Forman Corp B (BF/B) |
| Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) |
| Chevron Corp (CVX) |
| Chubb Corp (CB) |
| Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF) |
| Cintas Corp (CTAS) |
| Clorox Co (CLX) |
| Coca-Cola Co (KO) |
| Colgate-Palmolive (CL) |
| Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) |
| Dover Corp (DOV) |
| Ecolab Inc (ECL) |
| Emerson Electric Co (EMR) |
| Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) |
| Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO) |
| Franklin Resources (BEN) |
| Genuine Parts (GPC) |
| Grainger, W.W. Inc (GWW) |
| HCP (HCP) |
| Hormel Foods Corp (HRL) |
| Illinois Tool Works (ITW) |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) |
| Kimberly-Clark (KMB) |
| Leggett & Platt (LEG) |
| Lowe’s Cos Inc (LOW) |
| McCormick & Co (MKC) |
| McDonald’s Corp (MCD) |
| McGraw-Hill Cos Inc (MHP) |
| Medtronic (MDT) |
| Nucor (NUE) |
| Pentair Ltd. (PNR) |
| PepsiCo Inc (PEP) |
| PPG Industries Inc (PPG) |
| Procter & Gamble (PG) |
| Sherwin-Williams Co (SHW) |
| Sigma-Aldrich Corp (SIAL) |
| Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) |
| Sysco (SYY) |
| T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) |
| Target Corp (TGT) |
| VF Corp (VFC) |
| Walgreen Co (WAG) |
| Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) |
Dividend Aristocrats Index changes
The list declined from 52 companies in 2009 to 42 in 2010 as many companies cut their dividend payouts. It then held steady in 2011, with three companies being dropped and three added. For 2012, one company has been removed from the index while ten companies have being added. In 2013 one company has been removed and 4 have being added, making a total of 54 dividend aristocrats companies. In 2014 the list didn’t change.
2013 changes
Stocks Removed:
- Pitney Bowes Inc. – (PBI)
Stocks Added:
- AbbVie Inc. – (ABBV)
- Chevron Corp. – (CVX)
- Cardinal Health Inc. – (CAH)
- Pentair Ltd. – (PNR)
2012 changes
Stocks Removed:
- CenturyLink Inc. – (CTL)
Stocks Added:
- AT&T Inc. – (T)
- Colgate Palmolive Co. – (CL)
- Franklin Resources Inc. – (BEN)
- Genuine Parts Co. – (GPC)
- HCP Inc. – (HCP)
- Illinois Tool Works Inc. – (ITW)
- Medtronic Inc. – (MDT)
- Nucor Corp. – (NUE)
- Sysco Corp. – (SYY)
- T Rowe Price Group Inc. – (TROW)
2011 changes
Stocks Removed:
- Integrys Energy Group Inc – (TEG)
- Lilly, Eli & Co – (LLY)
- Supervalu Inc – (SUV)
Stocks Added:
- Ecolab Inc. – (ECL)
- Hormel Foods Corporation – (HRL)
- McCormick & Company – (MKC)
ProShares S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats
Instead of investing in individual stocks, there is an ETF that closely matches the entire Dividend Aristocats index. This is the ProShares S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL). This ProShares ETF is available since 10/09/2013.
