17 Surprising Stocks Raising Dividends for 40-Plus Years

Finding a company with a long track record of consistent dividend payments is only part of the winning formula for investing in dividend stocks.

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Finding a company with a long track record of consistent dividend payments is only part of the winning formula for investing in dividend stocks. Dividend growth matters, too. Rising dividends not only make a stock more attractive to new income investors, but steady dividend hikes also reward existing investors on shares purchased at lower prices in the past.

It's not hard to find well-known names with long track records of annual dividend growth. Just start with the Dividend Aristocrats, a list of 50 companies in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index that have hiked their dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. A number of huge companies top this list, including AT&T (T), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Procter & Gamble (PG). But there's a world of smaller, lesser known stocks that boast consistent dividend growth of four decades or more. We culled the following sometimes surprising names from among the 25 smallest Dividend Aristocrats. Check out these 17 stocks whose dividends have increased annually for at least 40 consecutive years.

Disclaimer

(Dividend yields and other figures are as of June 30, 2017. Companies are listed in order of market capitalization—share price times total shares outstanding—starting with the highest. Analysts’ ratings provided by Zacks Investment Research. The full list of 50 Dividend Aristocrats is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Dividend history based on company information and S&P data.)

Dan Burrows
Senior Investing Writer, Kiplinger.com

Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the publication full time in 2016.

A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and other tier 1 national publications. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among many other outlets. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.

In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about markets and macroeconomics.

Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.

Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.