Dividend Aristocrats are the companies that have a very long track record of increasing dividends and a market cap of at least USD$3 billion. To become one of the Dividend Aristocrats, the company must have increased its dividends paid to shareholders for at least 25 consecutive years.
This is the list of 41 companies from the U.S. included in The S&P 500 Index that are crowned Dividend Aristocrats in 2024:
1. DEFENSIVE SECTORS
Consumer Staples: Church & Dwight (CHD), Clorox (CLX), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), McCormick (MKC), Smucker (SJM), Brown-Forman (BF.B)
Healthcare: Cardinal Health (CAH), Medtronic (MDT), West Pharmaceutical Services (WST)
Utilities: Consolidated Edison (ED), Atmos Energy (ATO), NextEra Energy (NEE)
2. CYCLICAL SECTORS
Basic Materials: Air Products & Chemicals (APD), Amcor (AMCR), Linde (LIN), Albemarle (ALB), Ecolab (ECL), Sherwin-Williams (SHW)
Consumer Discretionary: McDonald’s (MCD), Lowe’s (LOW)
Financial Services: Franklin Resources (BEN), Brown & Brown (BRO), AFLAC (AFL), T. Rowe Price (TROW), Chubb (CB), People’s United Financial (MTB)
Real Estate: Realty Income (O), Essex Property Trust (ESS)
3. SENSITIVE SECTORS
Communication Services: n/a
Energy: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX)
Industrials: General Dynamics (GD), Caterpillar (CAT), A. O. Smith (AOS), Pentair (PNR), Expeditors (EXPD), Nordson (NDSN), C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW), Cintas (CTAS), Roper (ROP)
Technology: International Business Machines (IBM), Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
These companies have not only paid but increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. Overall, Dividend Aristocrats are considered to be reliable sources of income for investors seeking dividend-paying stocks.
