Six Reliable Dividend Growth Stocks Raising Distributions

Investors who plan to live off their investments in retirement need reliability and consistency of investment returns. Investors who subscribed to the traditional expectations of ten percent annual total returns learned the hard way that volatility in investment results is something that they have to accept. Total return is comprised of price gains and dividend income. What few advisers tell their clients these days is that there is one component of investment returns which is stable, reliable and consistent. This dividend portion of total returns is typically not as volatile as equity prices, which makes it an ideal fit for a successful retirement strategy.Just because a company pays dividends, however, doesn’t automatically make it a good investment. A company has to have some competitive advantages, which allow it to grow earnings, translating into higher dividends down the road. Few companies can afford to grow dividends for more than several consecutive years. Companies that can do this should be regularly monitored and screened against an objective set of criteria in order to weed out the weakest links. As a result I regularly highlight stocks which have announced dividend increases over the preceding week. The companies which approved dividend hikes include:... Read more