Thursday, November 04, 2010

What Two Dow Stocks Increased Dividends for Over 50 Years?

Even if you haven't owned a stock for fifty years and even if you haven't lived for fifty years, it is nice to know that there are companies that have rewarded their shareholders with annual dividend increases for over fifty. According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which has posted a list of over 20 stocks that have increased dividends for over 30 years in a row, roughly a half dozen of them are in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, such as Coca Cola (KO) which has increased dividends 48 years in a row, and yields 2.9%.

However, there are two companies that have raised dividends more than 50 years in a row, and both are components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Procter & Gamble (PG), which pays a yield of 3%, has boosted its dividend every year for 54 years. The stock trades at about 15 times forward earnings, and although the company did report a 6.8% drop in quarterly earnings, revenues were up 1.6%. Back in August, Argus upgraded the stock from a Hold to a Buy.

The other member of the 50 year club is 3M Co. (MMM) which bumped up its dividend 52 years in a row. It pays a yield of 2.5% and has a forward PE of 14. The company just reported that quarterly earnings rose 13% on a revenue increase of 11%. EArlier this year, Barclays Capital upgraded the stock from Equal Weight to Overweight.

To see the entire list of dividend increasers, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list includes a couple stocks yielding in excess of 4%.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above stocks at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

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