To qualify for membership in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index, a stock must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Be a member of the S&P 500
2. Have increased dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years
3. Meet minimum float-adjusted market capitalization and liquidity requirements defined in the index inclusion and index exclusion rules below.
The group of companies in the Dividend Aristocrats index tend to generate reliable dividend income, and provide the potential for strong total returns. The list is well diversified across sectors.
There are 64 companies in the Dividend Aristocrats index for 2020, up from 57 in 2019. The seven new additions include:
Albermarle Corp (ALB)
Amcor PLC (AMCR)
Atmos Energy Corp (ATO)
Essex Property Trust (ESS)
Expeditors International (EXPD)
Realty Income Corp (O)
Ross Stores (ROST)
The odd addition is Amcor, since that's the company that acquired the old Bemis (BMS). Bemis had a 36 year history of annual dividend increases, yet oddly it was not a part of the Dividend Aristocrats Index. Bemis was dropped from the index in 2014 for no reason, as it had kept raising dividends.
I am not sure why Atmos Energy (ATO) is just now being added to the index, since the company has a 36 year history of annual dividend increases.
There were no companies removed from the list in 2019. The number of dividend aristocrats is equal to the record number of Dividend Aristocrats from 2001.Since the inception of the index in 1989, the number of holdings has fluctuated from 26 to 64 holdings. It is still not even half the number of Dividend Champions however.
The 2020 Dividend Aristocrats are listed below:
Symbol
|
Name
|
Sector
|
Years of Annual Dividend Increases
|
10 year Dividend Growth
|
Dividend Yield
|
ABBV
|
AbbVie Inc.
|
Health Care
|
47
|
13.99%
|
5.65%
|
ABT
|
Abbott Laboratories**
|
Health Care
|
47
|
5.51%
|
1.59%
|
ADM
|
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
44
|
9.60%
|
3.16%
|
ADP
|
Automatic Data Processing
|
Information Technology
|
45
|
10.61%
|
2.05%
|
AFL
|
AFLAC Inc
|
Financials
|
37
|
6.79%
|
2.06%
|
ALB
|
Albemarle
Corp.
|
Materials
|
25
|
11.14%
|
1.81%
|
AMCR
|
Amcor
|
Materials
|
25
|
3.50%
|
2.29%
|
AOS
|
Smith A.O. Corp
|
Industrials
|
26
|
21.50%
|
2.11%
|
APD
|
Air Products & Chemicals Inc
|
Materials
|
38
|
9.85%
|
2.20%
|
ATO
|
Atmos
Energy
|
Utilities
|
36
|
4.96%
|
1.96%
|
BDX
|
Becton Dickinson & Co
|
Health Care
|
48
|
8.91%
|
1.14%
|
BEN
|
Franklin Resources Inc
|
Financials
|
40
|
14.02%
|
4.28%
|
BF.B
|
Brown-Forman Corp B
|
Consumer Staples
|
36
|
8.03%
|
0.98%
|
CAH
|
Cardinal Health Inc
|
Health Care
|
24
|
17.52%
|
3.57%
|
CAT
|
Caterpillar Inc
|
Industrials
|
26
|
8.45%
|
2.93%
|
CB
|
Chubb Ltd
|
Financials
|
26
|
9.92%
|
1.97%
|
CINF
|
Cincinnati Financial Corp
|
Financials
|
59
|
3.51%
|
2.11%
|
CL
|
Colgate-Palmolive Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
56
|
7.11%
|
2.45%
|
CLX
|
Clorox Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
42
|
7.72%
|
2.68%
|
CTAS
|
Cintas Corp
|
Industrials
|
37
|
18.43%
|
0.90%
|
CVX
|
PBCT
|
Energy
|
33
|
5.99%
|
3.81%
|
DOV
|
Dover Corp
|
Industrials
|
64
|
8.58%
|
1.67%
|
ECL
|
Ecolab Inc
|
Materials
|
28
|
12.63%
|
0.95%
|
ED
|
Consolidated Edison Inc
|
Utilities
|
46
|
2.29%
|
3.27%
|
EMR
|
Emerson Electric Co
|
Industrials
|
63
|
4.05%
|
2.61%
|
ESS
|
Essex
Property Trust
|
Real
Estate
|
25
|
6.49%
|
2.52%
|
EXPD
|
Expeditors
International
|
Industrials
|
25
|
10.89%
|
1.35%
|
FRT
|
Federal Realty Invt Trust
|
Real Estate
|
52
|
4.65%
|
3.24%
|
GD
|
General Dynamics
|
Industrials
|
28
|
10.35%
|
2.20%
|
GPC
|
Genuine Parts Co
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
63
|
6.58%
|
3.11%
|
GWW
|
Grainger W.W. Inc
|
Industrials
|
48
|
12.30%
|
1.75%
|
HRL
|
Hormel Foods Corp
|
Consumer Staples
|
54
|
16.03%
|
1.97%
|
ITW
|
Illinois Tool Works Inc
|
Industrials
|
45
|
12.62%
|
2.43%
|
JNJ
|
Johnson & Johnson
|
Health Care
|
57
|
6.87%
|
2.56%
|
KMB
|
Kimberly-Clark
|
Consumer Staples
|
48
|
6.01%
|
2.98%
|
KO
|
Coca-Cola Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
57
|
6.91%
|
2.77%
|
LEG
|
Leggett & Platt
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
48
|
4.44%
|
3.14%
|
LIN
|
Linde plc
|
Materials
|
26
|
8.14%
|
1.67%
|
LOW
|
Lowe's Cos Inc
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
57
|
19.39%
|
1.83%
|
MCD
|
McDonald's Corp
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
44
|
8.72%
|
2.37%
|
MDT
|
Medtronic plc
|
Health Care
|
42
|
10.23%
|
1.81%
|
MKC
|
McCormick & Co
|
Consumer Staples
|
34
|
9.04%
|
1.44%
|
MMM
|
3M Co
|
Industrials
|
61
|
10.94%
|
3.23%
|
NUE
|
Nucor Corp
|
Materials
|
47
|
1.27%
|
3.20%
|
O
|
Realty
Income Corp.
|
Real
Estate
|
25
|
4.68%
|
3.62%
|
PBCT
|
People's United Financial
|
Financials
|
27
|
1.54%
|
4.48%
|
PEP
|
PepsiCo Inc
|
Consumer Staples
|
47
|
7.96%
|
2.67%
|
PG
|
Procter & Gamble
|
Consumer Staples
|
63
|
5.56%
|
2.38%
|
PNR
|
Pentair PLC
|
Industrials
|
44
|
0.54%
|
1.65%
|
PPG
|
PPG Industries Inc
|
Materials
|
48
|
6.40%
|
1.62%
|
ROP
|
Roper Technologies, Inc
|
Industrials
|
27
|
18.81%
|
0.54%
|
ROST
|
Ross
Stores Inc.
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
25
|
24.95%
|
0.88%
|
SHW
|
Sherwin-Williams Co
|
Materials
|
41
|
12.28%
|
0.76%
|
SPGI
|
S&P Global
|
Financials
|
46
|
9.74%
|
0.77%
|
SWK
|
Stanley Black & Decker
|
Industrials
|
52
|
7.58%
|
1.66%
|
SYY
|
Sysco Corp
|
Consumer Staples
|
50
|
4.97%
|
2.18%
|
T
|
AT&T Inc
|
Communication Services
|
36
|
2.21%
|
5.40%
|
TGT
|
Target Corp
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
52
|
14.35%
|
2.31%
|
TROW
|
T Rowe Price Group Inc
|
Financials
|
33
|
11.76%
|
2.32%
|
UTX
|
United Technologies
|
Industrials
|
26
|
6.68%
|
1.92%
|
VFC
|
VF Corp
|
Consumer Discretionary
|
47
|
12.36%
|
2.27%
|
WBA
|
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc
|
Consumer Staples
|
44
|
13.63%
|
3.52%
|
WMT
|
Wal-Mart
|
Consumer Staples
|
46
|
7.18%
|
1.85%
|
XOM
|
Exxon Mobil Corp
|
Energy
|
37
|
7.53%
|
5.25%
|
The index has generated strong total returns over time past decade. I wanted to note that in 2008, the Dividend Aristocrats index declined by 21.88%. The S&P 500 however declined by 37%.
The dividend aristocrats index tends to shine during bear markets and low return environments. However, it also pulls its weight when we are in a bull market too. It is the best of both worlds really.
These are the returns since the launch of the Dividend Aristocrats Index in 1989:
Year
|
Dividend
Aristocrats
|
S&P
500
|
Relative
Performance
|
1990
|
5.70%
|
-3.10%
|
8.80%
|
1991
|
38.50%
|
30.50%
|
8.00%
|
1992
|
10.10%
|
7.60%
|
2.50%
|
1993
|
4.30%
|
10.10%
|
-5.80%
|
1994
|
0.90%
|
1.40%
|
-0.50%
|
1995
|
34.60%
|
37.60%
|
-3.00%
|
1996
|
20.90%
|
23.00%
|
-2.10%
|
1997
|
35.50%
|
33.40%
|
2.10%
|
1998
|
16.80%
|
28.60%
|
-11.80%
|
1999
|
-5.40%
|
21.00%
|
-26.40%
|
2000
|
10.10%
|
-9.10%
|
19.20%
|
2001
|
10.80%
|
-11.90%
|
22.70%
|
2002
|
-9.90%
|
-22.10%
|
12.20%
|
2003
|
25.40%
|
28.70%
|
-3.30%
|
2004
|
15.50%
|
10.90%
|
4.60%
|
2005
|
3.70%
|
4.90%
|
-1.20%
|
2006
|
17.30%
|
15.80%
|
1.50%
|
2007
|
-2.10%
|
5.50%
|
-7.60%
|
2008
|
-21.90%
|
-37.00%
|
15.10%
|
2009
|
26.60%
|
26.50%
|
0.10%
|
2010
|
19.35%
|
15.06%
|
4.29%
|
2011
|
8.33%
|
2.11%
|
6.22%
|
2012
|
16.94%
|
16.00%
|
0.94%
|
2013
|
32.27%
|
32.39%
|
-0.12%
|
2014
|
15.76%
|
13.69%
|
2.07%
|
2015
|
0.93%
|
1.38%
|
-0.45%
|
2016
|
11.83%
|
11.96%
|
-0.13%
|
2017
|
21.73%
|
21.83%
|
-0.10%
|
2018
|
-2.73%
|
-4.38%
|
1.65%
|
2019
|
27.97%
|
31.49%
|
-3.52%
|
You can see the performance of the Dividend Aristocrats Index versus S&P 500 since 1989. The S&P 500 dominated during the 1990's. However, the Dividend Aristocrats index did very well during the next decade. During the past decade, the Dividend Aristocrats Index has done better as well.
As I gained more experience however, I have gravitated more towards the Dividend Champions list, which was created by Dave Fish. The Dividend Champions list is more complete, as it doesn’t exclude companies due to low liquidity, or due to market capitalization below a certain threshold. In addition, I find that historically, the list of Dividend Champions has followed a more consistent approach than the list of Dividend Aristocrats. Sadly, Dave passed away last year. Luckily, another person has agreed to update it for the time being. You can view the 2020 Dividend Champions List here.
When I review the list of historical changes in the Dividend Aristocrats index, I see some inconsistencies in the way portfolio components are added or removed.
For example, the Dividend Aristocrats index removed Altria in 2007, after it spun-off Kraft Foods and as a result its dividend decreased. It could be argued that the dividend income for the investor was not decreased, because they kept getting a dividend from Altria as well as dividends from Kraft Foods.
The S&P committee seems to have rectified this issue, and have kept both Abbott and Abbvie after legacy Abbott Laboratories split in two companies in early 2013.
Ironically, Dave Fish had Altria listed as a Dividend Champion. However, he didn’t have Abbott nor Abbvie listed as a dividend champion ( they are listed as Dividend Aristocrats however).
Last year, I found out that Cardinal Health (CAH) has only been able to grow dividends for 23 years in a row. This is why it is not on the dividend champions list. The dividend aristocrats list however has a 31 year streak of annual dividend increases listed.
This is why you need to perform your own checks as an investor.
In addition, I wanted to let you know that I would not purchase all companies from either lists blindly. I run my entry criteria screen to come up with a list of companies for further research. Before investing in any individual stock, I research it enough to gain some understanding of the business and its trends in fundamentals.
Relevant Articles:
- Dividend Champions, Contenders & Challengers: The most complete list of US dividend growth stocks available
- Dividend Aristocrats List for 2017
- Dividend Aristocrats for Dividend Growth and Total Returns
- Where are the original Dividend Aristocrats now?
- Historical changes of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats
- Why do I like the Dividend Aristocrats?
- Dividend Aristocrats List for 2016
