The Dividend Achievers Index refers to all public companies that have successfully increase their dividend payments for at least ten consecutive years. While the Dividend King list includes 19 companies and the Dividend Aristocrats 52, the Dividend Achievers list now counts 265 companies.
For those who didn’t know The Dividend Achievers list was introduce by Moody’s back in 1979. Their investor service developed a model to determine which are the best dividend paying stocks. In 2012, Nasdaq bought the brand and declined this index in many sub-categories.
Over the years, I’ve built my own model to identify the best dividend paying companies. The core of my investment strategy has been built around dividend growth. Overtime, I didn’t want to limit myself among a short list of 19 or 51 companies and rather starting the study of a wider group; the achievers. With the right combination of metrics, this list is probably the best starting point to build your dividend growth portfolio or to find your next addition.
The 2017 Achievers List
Here is the complete list of all 265 achievers taken from the PowerShares Dividend Achievers Portfolio from Invesco. If you are looking for additional metrics, a more detailed lists with additional value is available toward the end of this article.
| Ticker | Name | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|
| AAN | Aaron's Inc | 0.26% |
| ABC | AmerisourceBergen Corp | 1.55% |
| ABM | ABM Industries Inc | 1.65% |
| ABT | Abbott Laboratories | 2.23% |
| ACN | Accenture PLC | 1.92% |
| ADI | Analog Devices Inc | 2.18% |
| ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Co | 2.92% |
| ADP | Automatic Data Processing Inc | 2.21% |
| AEL | American Equity Investment Life Holding Co | 0.97% |
| AFG | American Financial Group Inc/OH | 1.22% |
| AFL | Aflac Inc | 2.19% |
| AFSI | AmTrust Financial Services Inc | 4.81% |
| AIZ | Assurant Inc | 2.06% |
| ALB | Albemarle Corp | 1.11% |
| AMP | Ameriprise Financial Inc | 2.42% |
| ANDE | Andersons Inc/The | 1.68% |
| AOS | AO Smith Corp | 0.93% |
| APD | Air Products & Chemicals Inc | 2.44% |
| APU | AmeriGas Partners LP | 8.57% |
| ATNI | ATN International Inc | 1.90% |
| ATO | Atmos Energy Corp | 2.11% |
| ATR | AptarGroup Inc | 1.47% |
| ATRI | Atrion Corp | 0.71% |
| AVA | Avista Corp | 3.23% |
| AWR | American States Water Co | 1.93% |
| AXS | Axis Capital Holdings Ltd | 2.24% |
| BANF | BancFirst Corp | 1.50% |
| BBY | Best Buy Co Inc | 2.07% |
| BCR | CR Bard Inc | 0.33% |
| BDX | Becton Dickinson and Co | 1.49% |
| BEN | Franklin Resources Inc | 1.73% |
| BF.B | Brown-Forman Corp | 1.46% |
| BG | Bunge Ltd | 2.15% |
| BKH | Black Hills Corp | 2.51% |
| BMI | Badger Meter Inc | 1.13% |
| BMS | Bemis Co Inc | 2.60% |
| BOBE | Bob Evans Farms Inc/DE | 1.95% |
| BOKF | BOK Financial Corp | 2.05% |
| BPL | Buckeye Partners LP | 7.77% |
| BRC | Brady Corp | 2.24% |
| BRO | Brown & Brown Inc | 1.20% |
| CAH | Cardinal Health Inc | 2.39% |
| CASS | Cass Information Systems Inc | 1.36% |
| CASY | Casey's General Stores Inc | 0.88% |
| CAT | Caterpillar Inc | 2.90% |
| CB | Chubb Ltd | 1.89% |
| CBRL | Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc | 2.75% |
| CBSH | Commerce Bancshares Inc/MO | 1.54% |
| CBU | Community Bank System Inc | 2.19% |
| CFR | Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc | 2.24% |
| CHD | Church & Dwight Co Inc | 1.39% |
| CHRW | CH Robinson Worldwide Inc | 2.59% |
| CINF | Cincinnati Financial Corp | 2.66% |
| CL | Colgate-Palmolive Co | 2.08% |
| CLX | Clorox Co/The | 2.33% |
| CMI | Cummins Inc | 2.56% |
| CMP | Compass Minerals International Inc | 4.21% |
| CNP | CenterPoint Energy Inc | 3.74% |
| COLM | Columbia Sportswear Co | 1.23% |
| COST | Costco Wholesale Corp | 1.03% |
| CPK | Chesapeake Utilities Corp | 1.61% |
| CSL | Carlisle Cos Inc | 1.40% |
| CSX | CSX Corp | 1.38% |
| CTAS | Cintas Corp | 1.05% |
| CTBI | Community Trust Bancorp Inc | 2.85% |
| CTWS | Connecticut Water Service Inc | 1.97% |
| CVS | CVS Health Corp | 2.32% |
| CVX | Chevron Corp | 3.99% |
| CWT | California Water Service Group | 1.91% |
| D | Dominion Resources Inc/VA | 3.66% |
| DCI | Donaldson Co Inc | 1.50% |
| DLR | Digital Realty Trust Inc | 3.11% |
| DOV | Dover Corp | 2.12% |
| DUK | Duke Energy Corp | 3.99% |
| ECL | Ecolab Inc | 1.08% |
| ED | Consolidated Edison Inc | 3.27% |
| EEP | Enbridge Energy Partners LP | 12.77% |
| EIX | Edison International | 2.54% |
| ELS | Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc | 2.08% |
| EMR | Emerson Electric Co | 3.14% |
| EPD | Enterprise Products Partners LP | 6.08% |
| ERIE | Erie Indemnity Co | 2.48% |
| ES | Eversource Energy | 2.96% |
| ESS | Essex Property Trust Inc | 2.49% |
| ETE | Energy Transfer Equity LP | 6.82% |
| ETP | Energy Transfer Partners LP | 12.73% |
| EV | Eaton Vance Corp | 2.28% |
| EXPD | Expeditors International of Washington Inc | 1.47% |
| FAST | Fastenal Co | 2.82% |
| FDS | FactSet Research Systems Inc | 1.24% |
| FDX | FedEx Corp | 0.77% |
| FELE | Franklin Electric Co Inc | 0.98% |
| FLO | Flowers Foods Inc | 3.55% |
| FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | 3.06% |
| FUL | HB Fuller Co | 1.08% |
| GD | General Dynamics Corp | 1.57% |
| GEL | Genesis Energy LP | 9.31% |
| GGG | Graco Inc | 1.25% |
| GIS | General Mills Inc | 3.35% |
| GPC | Genuine Parts Co | 2.87% |
| GPS | Gap Inc/The | 3.98% |
| GRC | Gorman-Rupp Co/The | 1.74% |
| GWW | WW Grainger Inc | 2.75% |
| HAS | Hasbro Inc | 1.94% |
| HCN | Welltower Inc | 4.67% |
| HCP | HCP Inc | 5.33% |
| HCSG | Healthcare Services Group Inc | 1.55% |
| HEP | Holly Energy Partners LP | 7.58% |
| HP | Helmerich & Payne Inc | 5.10% |
| HRL | Hormel Foods Corp | 1.81% |
| HRS | Harris Corp | 1.95% |
| HWKN | Hawkins Inc | 1.70% |
| IBM | International Business Machines Corp | 3.67% |
| IFF | International Flavors & Fragrances Inc | 1.82% |
| IPCC | Infinity Property & Casualty Corp | 2.25% |
| ISCA | International Speedway Corp | 1.19% |
| ITT | ITT Inc | 1.26% |
| ITW | Illinois Tool Works Inc | 1.73% |
| IVZ | Invesco Ltd | 3.28% |
| JBHT | JB Hunt Transport Services Inc | 1.00% |
| JJSF | J&J Snack Foods Corp | 1.19% |
| JKHY | Jack Henry & Associates Inc | 1.14% |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | 2.46% |
| JW.A | John Wiley & Sons Inc | 2.38% |
| K | Kellogg Co | 2.85% |
| KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corp | 2.93% |
| KO | Coca-Cola Co/The | 3.13% |
| KR | Kroger Co/The | 1.60% |
| LANC | Lancaster Colony Corp | 1.68% |
| LECO | Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc | 1.41% |
| LEG | Leggett & Platt Inc | 2.58% |
| LLL | L3 Technologies Inc | 1.74% |
| LMT | Lockheed Martin Corp | 2.57% |
| LNN | Lindsay Corp | 1.35% |
| LNT | Alliant Energy Corp | 2.96% |
| LOW | Lowe's Cos Inc | 1.77% |
| MATW | Matthews International Corp | 1.00% |
| MCD | McDonald's Corp | 2.50% |
| MCHP | Microchip Technology Inc | 1.74% |
| MCY | Mercury General Corp | 4.44% |
| MDP | Meredith Corp | 3.52% |
| MDT | Medtronic PLC | 1.96% |
| MDU | MDU Resources Group Inc | 2.85% |
| MGEE | MGE Energy Inc | 1.82% |
| MGRC | McGrath RentCorp | 2.98% |
| MKC | McCormick & Co Inc/MD | 1.72% |
| MMM | 3M Co | 2.20% |
| MMP | Magellan Midstream Partners LP | 4.74% |
| MNRO | Monro Muffler Brake Inc | 1.40% |
| MO | Altria Group Inc | 3.18% |
| MSA | MSA Safety Inc | 1.61% |
| MSEX | Middlesex Water Co | 2.19% |
| MSFT | Microsoft Corp | 2.19% |
| MSM | MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc | 2.13% |
| MXIM | Maxim Integrated Products Inc | 2.83% |
| NC | NACCO Industries Inc | 1.40% |
| NDSN | Nordson Corp | 0.94% |
| NEE | NextEra Energy Inc | 2.66% |
| NEU | NewMarket Corp | 1.40% |
| NFG | National Fuel Gas Co | 2.84% |
| NHC | National HealthCare Corp | 2.50% |
| NHI | National Health Investors Inc | 4.70% |
| NJR | New Jersey Resources Corp | 2.34% |
| NKE | NIKE Inc | 1.30% |
| NNN | National Retail Properties Inc | 4.73% |
| NOC | Northrop Grumman Corp | 1.45% |
| NUE | Nucor Corp | 2.51% |
| NUS | Nu Skin Enterprises Inc | 2.44% |
| NWE | NorthWestern Corp | 3.25% |
| NWN | Northwest Natural Gas Co | 3.02% |
| O | Realty Income Corp | 4.39% |
| OGE | OGE Energy Corp | 3.33% |
| OHI | Omega Healthcare Investors Inc | 7.53% |
| OKE | ONEOK Inc | 4.92% |
| OMI | Owens & Minor Inc | 3.15% |
| ORI | Old Republic International Corp | 3.78% |
| OXY | Occidental Petroleum Corp | 5.00% |
| OZRK | Bank of the Ozarks Inc | 1.39% |
| PB | Prosperity Bancshares Inc | 1.89% |
| PBCT | People's United Financial Inc | 3.83% |
| PEP | PepsiCo Inc | 2.63% |
| PG | Procter & Gamble Co/The | 3.06% |
| PII | Polaris Industries Inc | 2.56% |
| POR | Portland General Electric Co | 2.71% |
| PPG | PPG Industries Inc | 1.45% |
| PPL | PPL Corp | 3.99% |
| PRGO | Perrigo Co PLC | 0.85% |
| QCOM | QUALCOMM Inc | 3.76% |
| R | Ryder System Inc | 2.64% |
| RBC | Regal Beloit Corp | 1.17% |
| RGLD | Royal Gold Inc | 1.22% |
| RHI | Robert Half International Inc | 1.96% |
| RLI | RLI Corp | 1.44% |
| RNR | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd | 0.89% |
| ROL | Rollins Inc | 1.01% |
| ROP | Roper Technologies Inc | 0.57% |
| ROST | Ross Stores Inc | 0.95% |
| RPM | RPM International Inc | 2.12% |
| RSG | Republic Services Inc | 1.96% |
| RTN | Raytheon Co | 1.87% |
| SBSI | Southside Bancshares Inc | 2.84% |
| SCG | SCANA Corp | 3.44% |
| SCL | Stepan Co | 0.90% |
| SEIC | SEI Investments Co | 1.06% |
| SHW | Sherwin-Williams Co/The | 0.97% |
| SJI | South Jersey Industries Inc | 2.93% |
| SJM | JM Smucker Co/The | 2.34% |
| SJW | SJW Group | 1.62% |
| SKT | Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc | 4.92% |
| SLGN | Silgan Holdings Inc | 1.12% |
| SO | Southern Co/The | 4.44% |
| SON | Sonoco Products Co | 2.95% |
| SPGI | S&P Global Inc | 1.06% |
| SR | Spire Inc | 2.87% |
| SRCE | 1st Source Corp | 1.51% |
| SWK | Stanley Black & Decker Inc | 1.67% |
| SWX | Southwest Gas Holdings Inc | 2.38% |
| SXT | Sensient Technologies Corp | 1.44% |
| SYK | Stryker Corp | 1.14% |
| SYY | Sysco Corp | 2.31% |
| T | AT&T Inc | 4.97% |
| TCP | TC PipeLines LP | 6.97% |
| TDS | Telephone & Data Systems Inc | 2.09% |
| TGT | Target Corp | 4.15% |
| THG | Hanover Insurance Group Inc/The | 2.24% |
| TIF | Tiffany & Co | 1.93% |
| TJX | TJX Cos Inc/The | 1.48% |
| TLP | TransMontaigne Partners LP | 6.83% |
| TMK | Torchmark Corp | 0.74% |
| TMP | Tompkins Financial Corp | 2.15% |
| TNC | Tennant Co | 1.12% |
| TR | Tootsie Roll Industries Inc | 0.96% |
| TROW | T Rowe Price Group Inc | 2.96% |
| TRV | Travelers Cos Inc/The | 2.17% |
| TTC | Toro Co/The | 0.92% |
| TXN | Texas Instruments Inc | 2.32% |
| UBA | Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc | 5.26% |
| UBSI | United Bankshares Inc/WV | 3.30% |
| UGI | UGI Corp | 1.91% |
| UHT | Universal Health Realty Income Trust | 3.40% |
| UMBF | UMB Financial Corp | 1.32% |
| UNP | Union Pacific Corp | 2.15% |
| UTX | United Technologies Corp | 2.20% |
| UVV | Universal Corp/VA | 3.25% |
| VFC | VF Corp | 2.92% |
| VGR | Vector Group Ltd | 7.05% |
| VVC | Vectren Corp | 2.73% |
| VZ | Verizon Communications Inc | 4.87% |
| WABC | Westamerica Bancorporation | 2.78% |
| WBA | Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | 1.83% |
| WEC | WEC Energy Group Inc | 3.21% |
| WHG | Westwood Holdings Group Inc | 4.18% |
| WLK | Westlake Chemical Corp | 1.17% |
| WM | Waste Management Inc | 2.29% |
| WMT | Wal-Mart Stores Inc | 2.55% |
| WPC | WP Carey Inc | 5.88% |
| WRB | WR Berkley Corp | 0.75% |
| WSM | Williams-Sonoma Inc | 3.04% |
| WST | West Pharmaceutical Services Inc | 0.53% |
| WTR | Aqua America Inc | 2.30% |
| XEL | Xcel Energy Inc | 2.93% |
| XLNX | Xilinx Inc | 2.09% |
| XOM | Exxon Mobil Corp | 3.64% |
| YORW | York Water Co/The | 1.78% |
| YUM | Yum! Brands Inc | 2.18% |
I’ve combined my 7 investing rules the Achievers List
The Achievers list I built is a combination of my set of metrics I follow according to the 7 dividend growth investing principles and a list of strong dividend payers. Instead of searching through a universe counting thousands of stocks, we already reduce the number to 265. You know for sure those companies have been generous with their shareholders for over a decade.
Over the next 12 months, I will be going through each company on this list and make a complete analysis. I will gradually add the Dividend Discount Model valuation to the list as a complete my report on each business.
How I use this powerful list to its full potential
I wanted to create a list that would satisfy most investors by meeting several needs. It would be foolish to select any companies from this list solely based on the fact management has issue raising payouts for over ten years.
If you are looking for a higher income, you can sort the list through dividend yield. You can then double check with the payout and cash payout ratio to make sure company distributions are not at risk. Remember that the payout ratio is calculated based on earnings. As earnings is calculated based on General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), a company could show a high payout ratio, but a lower cash payout ratio. We use the following metrics from Ycharts using the following definition:
Definition:
“Proportion of free cash flow (after preferred dividends) that is paid as dividends to common shareholders. If Microsoft generates 50 million in operating cash flow, has capital expenditures of 20 million, pays preferred dividends 10 million and pays common dividends 5 million, Microsoft has a cash dividend payout ratio of 25%. 5/(50-20-10)
Because net earnings can be easily manipulated and cash flows are harder to manipulate, this ratio is useful to analyze cash flow being paid in dividends. If this number is consistently high, or greater than 1, it indicates that the firm is paying out more in dividends than it is receiving in actual cash.”
Formula:
Cash Dividend Payout Ratio = Common Stock Dividends / (Cash Flow from Operations – Capital Expenditures – Preferred Dividends Paid)
Note:
Payout ratios are normally calculated as Dividends/Net Income. To get a more accurate picture of cashflow available to shareholders, the above formula can be used instead.”
By combining both dividend yield and payout ratios, you will be in a better position to identify high yielding stocks that have better chance of increasing their distribution in the future.
If you are looking more for growth, I’d suggest sorting this list by the “5yr dividend growth” rate and double check this metrics with the “5yr revenue growth” and “5yr EPS growth”. In an ideal world, you would find a company showing consistent rate among dividend, revenue and earnings growth.
A sound company shows a strong business model enabling revenue growth. As sales increase, earnings should follow a similar trend. Then, it becomes easy for management to increase their distribution year after year.
Finally, if you are looking for the most undervalued stocks, I’d suggest you sort companies using the Dividend Discount Model valuation. The % indicate the premium (positive) or the discount (negative). Therefore, you are looking at the biggest negative numbers in this column. I’ve also included the P/E ratio, but it is important to compare this date to its industry and not to the global market. As mentioned earlier in this article, the Achiever list is a good start for search high quality company, but further analysis will be required.
Why the Achievers and not the Aristocrats?
If you have done your own research on dividend aristocrats, I’m positive you have seen how this elite group of companies outperformed the S&P 500 over the past decade:
The problem when you want to look at the Dividend Achievers performance is that the index has changed hands in late 2012 (it was bought by Nasdaq from Mergent). Therefore, we only have three years of history to compare:
As you can see, the Achievers stared performing well after the market experienced higher volatility. If we use the previous index managed by Mergent (the US Broad Dividend Achievers), we get a similar result:
Therefore, what is the purpose of taking the achievers over the aristocrats as both group seems to outperform the overall market for over a decade?
The first reason is because the aristocrats are simply not enough to create an interesting list. If I had to build a portfolio with 20 to 30 holdings, I need to select more than 50% of this list. You would then be better of buying shares of NOBL (ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF) and be done with it.
Which leads me to the second reason why I prefer the Achievers instead; this index has not only more stocks, but it also has a wider diversification.
As you can see, there is a clear dominance of 3 sectors (consumer defensive, industrials and healthcare) covering 60% of the aristocrats group. When you perform the same exercise with the achievers, you get a completely different result:
The same three sectors now only count for 36% and you have more weight towards Utilities, Real Estate and Financial Services. You also have the introduction of a new and very interesting sector: Technology. Companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Qualcomm (QCOM) are part of a completely new economy and offer another type of opportunity for investors.
By definition, I also appreciate a shorter dividend growth rate horizon (ten years) as this index can rapidly catch interesting companies. Companies like Apple (AAPL) (5 years consecutive increase), BlackRock (BLK) (7 years) and Disney (DIS) (8 years) are soon to be part of the Achievers group, but they are still a long road before reaching the Aristocrats status.
How to Download the Dividend Achievers List
Instead of simply send you toward the composition of the PowerShares Dividend Achievers Portfolio from Invesco, I decided to take the download the list and add my own sets of metrics. You can then now download the dividend achiever list including the following features:
- Company Name
- Ticker
- Sector
- Dividend Yield
- 5 yr Dividend growth
- 5 yr Revenue growth
- 5 yr EPS growth
- Payout ratio
- Cash Payout ratio
- P/E ratio
- Dividend Discount Model valuation (work in progress)
*Please note that I will update metrics on this list quarterly and update the full list once a year when Invesco proceed with their addition and deletion. The new Achiever list will be automatically sent to my readers.
A Decade of Growth is Not Everything
I can’t stress enough the importance of not depending on a single metric to invest in a company. I don’t believe there are 265 amazing companies you should buy. The Dividend Achievers List is a very good start but further analysis is mandatory before making any transactions.
Let me know if this list is helpful and how I can improve it!
Disclaimer: I hold AAPL, BLK, DIS, MSFT in my DSR portfolios.
Google+
I’ve attempted to download your customized dividend achievers list twice, but I still haven’t seen it appear in the gmail address I gave you (even though it said I was successful both times)
Hello Rick,
You should have received an email with the download link right after subscribing. Did you check in your “promotion” or “spam” folder?
Cheers,
Mike
Same problem here – nothing in email or spam.
Hello Mark,
I see that you are subscribed and that you have received your first email with the download link inside. The title of the email is “Welcome to the Dividend Guy Blog Newsletter + Dividend Achiever List with Div Growth”
please send me an email at dividendustries@gmail.com if you didn’t receive it.
Thank you.
Mike