A handful of companies have prospered in both good times and bad, rewarding their shareholders at every turn.
Of course, I’m talking about the Dividend Aristocrats. It takes 25 straight years of dividend hikes to join this elite club. This is an exclusive society. Out of 6,000 publicly listed stocks trading on major U.S. exchanges, just 69 qualify for membership. One slip, and you’re out.
Aristocrats come from all corners of the market, selling everything from hamburgers to steel to missile defense systems. But all these outstanding businesses share one common trait: the fortitude to raise dividends year after year after year.
Even without combing through SEC filings, we instinctively know that an Aristocrat possesses each of these desirable characteristics.
This post originally appeared at Investing Daily.