Dividend Champions For March 2013

The Dividend Champions spreadsheet and PDF have been updated through 2/28/13 and are available at http://dripinvesting.org/Tools/Tools.asp. Note that all references to Champions mean companies that have paid higher dividends for at least 25 straight years; Contenders have streaks of 10-24 years; Challengers have streaks of 5-9 years. "CCC" refers to the universe of Champions, Contenders, and Challengers. Growth Continues February, like January, was a month of subtle changes and continuing growth in the universe of dividend raisers. The biggest change was somewhat "hidden" from immediate view as the "Near-Challengers" - companies with four-year streaks of higher dividends - continued its rapid expansion, as listed in Appendix B on the Notes tab. Many of the companies that raised their dividends in 2010, 2011, and 2012 (after not doing so in 2009) began the year by extending their streaks to four years, so we'll likely see a wave of new... Read more