Dividend Kings List – Companies with Annual Dividend Increases for Over 50 Years!
A reader has prompted me to update this post (originally posted in 2016).
Dividend growth investing may not be for everyone, but I am a fan. I like the idea of receiving tax efficient payments from long-established companies with a track record of annually increasing their payments to shareholders.
I’m also a believer in the merits of passive index investing. I use the passive indexing approach for our family RESP, my wife’s RRSP, and the international portion of my own RRSP.
I use the dividend strategy for my leveraged portfolio, a significant portion of my RRSP, and our corporate portfolio. We currently collect a little over $50,000/year in dividends and if you are interested, you can follow my dividend updates here.
In the past, I’ve written a number of articles on dividend growth stocks, I’ve never properly categorized them.
- A Dividend Achiever is a company that has increased its dividend at least 10 years in a row;
- A Dividend Aristocrat is a company that has increased its dividend at least 25 years in a row; and,
- A Dividend King is a company that has increased its dividend at least 50 years in a row. The true cream of the crop.
Here in Canada, we have a relatively small market and an even smaller list of quality dividend stocks. In a previous article about the top Canadian dividend growth stocks, you will see a number of dividend achievers, a handful of dividend aristocrats, but no dividend kings in Canada (although FTS and CU are getting close).
As of March 2019
Company Symbol Years of Dividend Growth 10 year avg Dividend Growth Rate Payout Ratio Current Yield Canadian Utilities CU 47 9% 122.5% 4.77% Fortis Inc. FTS 45 5.6% 72.45% 3.60% Toromount Industries Ltd TIH 29 11.3% 35.18% 1.56% Canadian Western Bank CWB 27 9.0% 37.24% 3.40% Atco Ltd ACO.X 25 12.4% 90.69% 3.58% Thomson Reuters TRI 25 2.5% 575.79% 2.65% Empire Company Ltd EMP.A 24 6.6% 36.47% 1.44% Imperial Oil IMO 24 6.7% 26.40% 2.14% Metro Inc MRU 24 16% 31.9% 1.62% Canadian National Railway CNR 23 14.7% 36.62% 1.89% Enbridge Inc ENB 23 15.1% 204.77% 5.42% Saputo Inc SAP 19 12% 33.96% 1.52% Canadian Natural Resources CNQ 18 21% 43.75% 3.52% SNC LavalinSNC 16 14% 60.67% 1.93% TransCanada Corp TRP 18 6.7% 80.31% 5.05% Canadian REITREF.UN 15 3.5% 88.63% 3.98% CCL Industries CCL.B 17 16.6% 25.92% 1.25% Finning International FTT 17 6.3% 58.14% 3.21% Transcontinental Inc. TCL.A 17 10.3% 33.54% 4.36% Plaza Retail REIT PLZ.UN 16 4.8% 240.3% 6.76% Ritchie Bros Auctioneers RBA 16 7.5% 52.73% 1.96% Suncor Energy SU 16 21.8% 83.58% 3.69% Cogeco Communications Inc. CCA 15 16.6% 29.81% 2.48% Telus Corporation T 15 8.7% 81.37% 4.63%
So where do we find these elusive dividend kings? You’ll have to look at the biggest market in the world – the US! In the US, there are 26 dividend kings that have increased their dividend at least 50 years in a row.
Here is a table supplied by Sure Dividend (sorted by market cap):
| Ticker | Name | Dividend Yield | Market Cap ($M) |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | 2.96% | $339,608 |
| PG | Procter & Gamble Co. | 2.48% | $303,819 |
| KO | The Coca-Cola Co. | 2.87% | $235,652 |
| MMM | 3M Co. | 3.55% | $90,635 |
| LOW | Lowe’s Cos., Inc. | 1.96% | $83,948 |
| CL | Colgate-Palmolive Co. | 2.32% | $63,492 |
| TGT | Target Corp. | 2.47% | $54,406 |
| EMR | Emerson Electric Co. | 3.29% | $35,571 |
| HRL | Hormel Foods Corp. | 1.97% | $22,582 |
| PH | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 2.12% | $20,458 |
| SWK | Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. | 2.08% | $19,774 |
| CINF | Cincinnati Financial Corp. | 1.99% | $18,147 |
| DOV | Dover Corp. | 2.09% | $13,203 |
| GPC | Genuine Parts Co. | 3.38% | $12,943 |
| FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | 3.25% | $9,679 |
| NDSN | Nordson Corp. | 1.12% | $7,657 |
| CBSH | Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (Missouri) | 1.82% | $6,087 |
| LANC | Lancaster Colony Corp. | 1.78% | $3,934 |
| AWR | American States Water Co. | 1.32% | $3,366 |
| CWT | California Water Service Group | 1.40% | $2,686 |
| ABM | ABM Industries, Inc. | 1.93% | $2,427 |
| TR | Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. | 0.95% | $2,400 |
| NWN | Northwest Natural Holding Co. | 2.66% | $2,148 |
| SCL | Stepan Co. | 1.05% | $2,140 |
| SJW | SJW Group | 1.76% | $1,897 |
| FMCB | Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (California) | 1.81% | $600 |
Sources: bigcharts.com; Sure Dividend; Dividend Growth Investor.
Here is the same table sorted by yield:
| Ticker | Name | Dividend Yield | Market Cap ($M) |
| MMM | 3M Co. | 3.55% | $90,635 |
| GPC | Genuine Parts Co. | 3.38% | $12,943 |
| EMR | Emerson Electric Co. | 3.29% | $35,571 |
| FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | 3.25% | $9,679 |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | 2.96% | $339,608 |
| KO | The Coca-Cola Co. | 2.87% | $235,652 |
| NWN | Northwest Natural Holding Co. | 2.66% | $2,148 |
| PG | Procter & Gamble Co. | 2.48% | $303,819 |
| TGT | Target Corp. | 2.47% | $54,406 |
| CL | Colgate-Palmolive Co. | 2.32% | $63,492 |
| PH | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 2.12% | $20,458 |
| DOV | Dover Corp. | 2.09% | $13,203 |
| SWK | Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. | 2.08% | $19,774 |
| CINF | Cincinnati Financial Corp. | 1.99% | $18,147 |
| HRL | Hormel Foods Corp. | 1.97% | $22,582 |
| LOW | Lowe’s Cos., Inc. | 1.96% | $83,948 |
| ABM | ABM Industries, Inc. | 1.93% | $2,427 |
| CBSH | Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (Missouri) | 1.82% | $6,087 |
| FMCB | Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (California) | 1.81% | $600 |
| LANC | Lancaster Colony Corp. | 1.78% | $3,934 |
| SJW | SJW Group | 1.76% | $1,897 |
| CWT | California Water Service Group | 1.40% | $2,686 |
| AWR | American States Water Co. | 1.32% | $3,366 |
| NDSN | Nordson Corp. | 1.12% | $7,657 |
| SCL | Stepan Co. | 1.05% | $2,140 |
| TR | Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. | 0.95% | $2,400 |
As you can see from the list, some of these names are very recognizable with global brand awareness and long term competitive advantage. Names such as Proctor & Gamble, Coke, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Colgate, and Lowe’s. All of these I would purchase if/when their price/valuation is reasonable.
As a disclaimer, I hold the following dividend kings within my RRSP: Proctor & Gamble; 3M; Emerson Electric; Coca-Cola; Target; and, Johnson & Johnson. Also, this post is not meant to provide recommendations for your portfolio, but a starting point for your research.
If you are interested in dividend investing, here is More Dividend Stock Investing Info:
- How to Build a Dividend Growth Portfolio
- How to buy dividend stocks
- When to buy dividend stocks
- How to create a stock watchlist
- Top Canadian stock screeners
Certainly dividend increases is important, very important, but one should not get obsessed with insisting on an increase each and every year. I’m retired and 100% invested in DG stocks. But I found there are three keys:
1. They must pay a dividend, have paid one for many, many years
2. They must grow the dividend, say 7 of last 10 or 11 of last 15
3. The price one pays can greatly increase yield and is often obtained when markets drop and a company does not increase their dividend (as with Cdn banks during 2009/2011).
4. Hold, hold, hold and add to ones position.
you fail to mentioned anything about DRIPPing the dividend payments. Both broker DRIPS (no partial DRIP or shares) to company DRIP (partial shares allowed but you might have to pay about $50 to do this)
The US definitely has bigger companies with stronger history of providing returns to investors.
Be careful with the Dividend Aristocrats definition as Canada has one defined by Standard & Poor and it’s adjusted to the Canadian market and requires 5 year of dividend increases with some other rules. The iShare Canadian Dividend Aristocrats follows that rule
Don’t get me wrong, I prefer a 10 year minimum so Dividend Achievers is where I start.
Great article! I do like the idea of investing in companies with histories of increasing dividends. This is why I have invested in MCD, AFL, WMT. McDonald’s has increased its dividend every year since 1976!
However, I think sometimes people get too enamored with dividend yield/increases, and fail to consider TOTAL RETURN. That is what really matters, and that is why I’ve shifted most of my additional investments over the years into low-cost index investing (VTI is my favourite). I think index investing is the easiest path to maximizing total return over the long run. Do you agree?
Cheers,
Mr Fundamental
I am on the same page, indexing is much easier, and will give you strong results over the long term. The only except is for early retirees, it’s hard to pass up the temptation of the tax advantages of dividend stocks in a non-registered account.
Hello, How do you invest in US Dividend stocks in your canadian investment accounts? When you purchase the US stock, are the canadian funds converted into USD?
Hi Jenn,
Yes, for my RRSP, I typically convert Cad to USD. Here are some tips on how to save money when doing this conversion:
https://milliondollarjourney.com/converting-cad-to-usd-using-horizons-dlrdlr-u-with-cibc-investors-edge-tricky.htm
Tootsie Rolls! Who would have thought! Thanks for sharing this list :)
Altria $MO recently might be considered a Dividend King though it might not technically qualify.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/altria-investment-royalty-50th-straight-233100137.html
This is an interesting list for dividend increases and tells you a lot about the quality of the companies. I invest in dividend paying companies but put more emphasis on how long they have been paying and total return. For an example during the last recession in 2008 the CDN banks didn’t increase but also didn’t cut their dividends. The best thing I did was hold on to all my investments and ride it out and the results have been very good. (see my blog at dividend-café.com)
Agreed, even during market bear markets, best to hold onto those quality companies and even better, add to them if you have the cash.
When looking at the CDN list, I see immediately the top stock CU. The earnings don’t cover the dividend.. That would be a concern going forward and one should research this a little deeper.
Same goes with the other stocks that don’t cover their dividends with earnings.
I will need to dig a little deeper into CU. Make sure to look at the dividend as a percentage of cash flow as well, as earnings don’t always show the whole picture.