S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Reveal 4 Ideal Dogs For March

Summary

• "Dividend Aristocrats companies in the S&P 500 Index have raised their annual payouts every year for at least 25 consecutive years."
• The 65 Aristocrats screened as of March 12, 2021, represented all eleven Morningstar Sectors (one in Technology). Broker targeted net-gainers ranged 13.4%-20.01% topped by ABBV and O.
• By yield, T still tops-all Aristocrats. Top-ten Yields from BEN, PBCT, AMCR, ED, O, CVX, ABBV, IBM, XOM, & T averaged 4.78%.
• Aristocrats top ten by broker target price upsides, KO, O, PEP, ABT, ROP, NEE, VFC, PG, BDX and WMT averaged 15.94% estimated upside.
• $5K invested March 12 in the five top-yield lowest-priced Aristocrats showed 75.53% LESS net-gain than from $5K invested all the top 10. Bigger (higher-priced) equities lead this March list of 65 S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats.
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Foreword

As a supplement to this article, please note that Kiplinger has published an on-line slide-show detailing the latest 2021 65 S&P Dividend Aristocrats. The article entitled 65 Best Dividend Stocks You Can Count On in 2021 is by Dan Burrows, a contributing editor.

While more than half this collection of now 65 S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats are too pricey to justify their skinny dividends, 40% of the top by yield live up to the ideal of offering annual dividends (from a $1K investment) exceeding their price per share.

In the current market advance, it's still possible for four, AT&T Inc (T), People's United Financial (PBCT), Amcor PLC (AMCR), & Franklin Resources Inc (BEN), to stay fair-priced with their annual yield (from $1K invested) meeting or exceeding their single share prices by year's end.

As we greet the anniversary of the 2020 Ides of March dip, the time to snap up those four top yield Aristocrat dogs is now... unless another big bearish drop in price looms ahead. (At which time your strategy would be to add to your position in any of the five you then hold.)

Actionable Conclusions: Analysts Predict 13.4% To 20.01% Top Aristocrat Net Gains To March 2022

Two of the top Aristocrats by yield were verified as being among the top ten gainers for the coming year based on analyst one-year target prices. (They are tinted gray in the chart below.) Thus, this yield-based January forecast for Aristocrats (as graded by Brokers) was 20% accurate.

Estimated dividend returns from $1,000 invested in each of the highest yielding stocks and their aggregate one year analyst median target prices, as reported by YCharts, produced the 2021-22 data points. Note: Target prices by lone analysts were not applied. Ten probable profit-generating trades projected to March 12, 2022, were:

Analyst’s Disclosure:I am/we are long T. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.