Dividend Champions For October 2016

The Dividend Champions spreadsheet and PDF have been updated through 9/30/16 and are available here. 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.
The Big Freeze Begins
As mentioned last month, the annual phenomenon of dividend "Freezes" has taken center stage, as companies that will have paid the same in total dividends in 2016 as in 2015 are being deleted. As you can see in the Quick Summary below, the Freezes got under way in a big way in September, when many fourth-quarter dividends were announced and a considerable number chose not to increase their payouts this year. Of course, some companies do save (and extend) their streaks with "last minute" increases, so we'll get a better handle on things as the fourth quarter progresses. Since companies declare dividends anywhere from two days to two months before the ex-dividend date, we'll begin to see more of those announcements in the weeks ahead. I hope to submit an article next week on the dividend streaks in danger.
After the CCC universe grew to 790 in August, that number dropped to 778 in September, with 13 new Challengers, 25 deletions (18 of them from Freezes), and one promotion. The Near Challengers listing picked up just 4 "NEW" notations (in... Read more