- S&P Europe 350® Dividend Aristocrats® measure the performance of S&P Europe 350 constituents that have followed a policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 10 consecutive years.
- The index benchmark is the S&P Europe 350 index
- Like the (US) Dividend Aristocrats “big brother”, the European Dividend Aristocrats also tend to outperform its benchmark, lower volatility, and annual risk.
- By showing the recent performance of the European Dividend Aristocrats, some active dividend growth investors may be able to identify potential bargains.
Despite a presidential impeachment process, trade tensions between the United States, China, and Europe, slowing economic growth, particularly in Germany, and lack of clarity from the U.K. on its path to a Brexit, the European equities index ended Q3 in positive territory, up 2.63% (S&P Europe 350). The index is even on its way to one of the best years and up 20.02% year-to-date.
The European Dividend Aristocrats index total return was up 2.59% for September 2019. Based on the YTD total return of 18.45%, versus 20.02% for the benchmark, the European Dividend Aristocrats are still showing a small underperformance this month. However, in the long-run, the outperformance is still significant with 10.14% versus 8.4%, annualized returns over a ten years period.
European dividend aristocrats performance
The table below lists all European Dividend Aristocrats companies sorted descending by dividend yield and lists closing price per end of month (9/30/2019), dividend yield.
Coloplast and Novo Nordisk, both from Denmark are the best performing European dividend stocks of this list (in local currency). Imperial Brands (IMB) lost 13.95% in September, the stock plunged on profit warning as the U.S. vaping crisis deepens.
IMB, the maker of Blu e-cigarettes said profits per share will be flat this year compared with last year. It now expects revenue growth of just 2% for the year ending September 30, well short of its previous guidance of up to 4%.
In July, Imperial Brands said it would end its 10% annual dividend growth target in its next financial year, which begins in October, and base its future payments on the performance of the business. IMB could be a less dependable source of income for dividend growth investors in the future.
Enagas, SSE PLC and Micro Focus are still the top dividend-yielders. However, Micro Focus tumbled 30% in August after slashing sales outlook and recovered somewhat in September.
Other Sources of Dividend Investment Ideas
The Dividend Aristocrats list is not the only way to quickly screen for businesses that regularly pay rising dividends.
- The Dividend Kings List is even more exclusive than the Dividend Aristocrats. It is comprised of less than 20 businesses with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The MoneyInvestExpert Defensive Aristocrats is a performance-based top-10 selection of the Dividend Aristocrats to outperform the market on the long-term.
- Portfolio lists like the Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio or Bill Gates’stock portfolio can be a source.
- For the European focused investors there is also the list of European Dividend Aristocrats.
- Dividend Champions are not necessarily members of the S&P 500 index, have increased their dividend for 25 or more consecutive years.
- 100+ years of dividend, the list of stocks that pay over 100 year of dividend can be an list of inspiration.
Next to selecting the right dividend stocks, important principles for successful long-term investing are Disciple, Diversification, Defensive & indeed Dividend. Read more about this in our free e-book.
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