In a separate article, I discussed the curious composition of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats, which are supposedly members of the S&P 500 that have recorded at least 25 consecutive years of higher dividends. In comparing the Dividend Champions list (found here) to the S&P 500 listing, I found that there were 52 Champions that were members of the S&P 500, but only 41 are included in S&P's Aristocrat list, and I discussed the variations. I went on to compare the listing of Dividend Contenders (10-24 years of paying higher dividends) and found that there are 30 Contenders in the S&P 500:
Constituent Name | Symbol | Years |
ACE Limited | (ACE) | 18 |
Avon Products | (AVP) | 21 |
Cardinal Health Inc | (CAH) | 21 |
Caterpillar Inc | (CAT) | 17 |
CH Robinson Worldwide | (CHRW) | 13 |
Chevron Corp | (CVX) | 23 |
ConocoPhillips | (COP) | 10 |
Ecolab Inc | (ECL) | 19 |
EOG Resources | (EOG) | 11 |
Expeditors Intl of WA | (EXPD) | 16 |
Fastenal Co | (FAST) | 11 |
General Dynamics | (GD) | 19 |
HCP Inc | (HCP) | 24 |
Hudson City Bancorp | (HCBK) | 12 |
Intl Business Machines | (IBM) | 15 |
Linear Technology Corp | (LLTC) | 18 |
Meredith Corp | (MDP) | 17 |
Monsanto Co. | (MON) | 10 |
Murphy Oil Corp | (MUR) | 15 |
NextEra Energy Inc | (NEE) | 16 |
Northeast Utilities | (NU) | 12 |
Praxair Inc | (PX) | 17 |
Roper Industries Inc | (ROP) | 17 |
Ross Stores Inc | (ROST) | 16 |
SCANA Corp | (SCG) | 10 |
Smucker, J.M. Co | (SJM) | 11 |
Stryker Corp | (SYK) | 17 |
T Rowe Price Group | (TROW) | 23 |
TJX Cos Inc | (TJX) | 14 |
United Technologies | (UTX) | 16 |
Curiously, several Contenders are included in the S&P Aristocrats Index, despite streaks that are shy of the 25-year minimum. They are: CAH, CVX, and HCP. No doubt, several of the companies above will one day reach that plateau, but the streaks they have achieved already, along with their S&P 500 membership, certainly marks them as worthy investment candidates.
