All of our favorite dividend stocks hiked payouts over the past year, and yields, on average, trounced the yield of the S&P 500.
The past year was a recovery year for dividends.
A record profit rebound for U.S. companies powered by the
reopening of the economy puts the S&P 500 Index on track in 2021 for its
10th straight year of record dividend payouts.
In the third quarter, S&P dividends hit a quarterly
record of $15.36 per share, and forecasts point to a new record in the fourth
quarter. For the full year, S&P Dow Jones Indices sees payouts rising
nearly 5%, to $60.97, for stocks in the index, following 2020's record payout
of $58.28.
Unlike last year, when 42 S&P 500 companies suspended
dividends to preserve cash during the pandemic, just one stock halted payouts
this year. "Dividends are back," says Howard Silverblatt, senior
index analyst at S&P.
Members of the Kiplinger Dividend 15, our favorite dividend
stocks, benefited from the resurgence. All of our companies boosted their
payouts over the past year. As a group, our dividend payers yield an average of
3.2%, more than twice the S&P 500's 1.4% yield.
Things weren't as rosy on a total-return basis, however.
Over the past 12 months, the Dividend 15 returned 21.1%, on average, compared
with a 29.3% gain for the broad market. The biggest gainer was asset manager
Blackstone, whose shares rose 116.8% in the past year. Emerson Electric,
drugmaker AbbVie, computer chip manufacturer Texas Instruments and energy firm
Enterprise Products Partners also posted market-beating returns. Laggards were
led by Air Products & Chemicals and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
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