Dividend Champion Portfolio - September Update

The High Yield Dividend Champion Portfolio is a publicly tracked stock portfolio on Scott's Investments. Its goal is to capture quality high yield stocks with a history of raising dividends.
The screening process for this portfolio starts with the "Dividend Champions" as compiled by DRIP Investing. The list is comprised of stocks that have increased their dividend payout for at least 25 consecutive years.
I made one change to the screening methodology for 2016 in order to further simplify the process. Stocks from the Dividend Champion list were previously ranked on yield, payout ratio, P/E, and 3-year dividend growth rate.
In 2016, stocks are ranked on yield, P/E, and 3-year dividend growth rate but payout ratio is no longer a factor. The modification has a relatively low impact on screen results.
Stocks will still be sold on the re-balance date (generally around the 5th of the month) when they drop out of the top 15 (to limit turnover) and are replaced with the next highest rated stock.
The Top 25 stocks using the new method are below and displayed in order of their overall ranking (figures are from the end of August):
Name Symbol Yield P/E 3-yr Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) 3.42 13.63 17.84 AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) 4.70 17.62 2.22 Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) 4.63 999.00 114.15 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) 3.69 22.95 8.36 Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) 3.61 18.95 5.40 T. Rowe Price Group (Nasdaq: TROW) 3.11 16.80 15.21 Old Republic... Read more