Dividend Contenders: 47 Increases Expected In The Next 11 Weeks

In compiling the Dividend Champions list, I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again. I have separated the Champions (25 or more years of higher dividends), Contenders (10-24 years), and Challengers (5-9 years) into distinct groupings, so please look for the other articles, which I hope will be published about the same time. Note that "CCC" refers to the combination of Champions, Contenders, and Challengers.
Dividend Growth Meets the Groundhog After a slow start to the New Year, the first quarter of 2018 becomes the busiest time of the year for dividend-increase announcements, starting, as usual, around Groundhog Day. The number of announcements for all Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and Near-Challengers expected in the next 11 weeks rises to a staggering 221 now, up from just 109 last month and a peak of 146 in my mid-October articles. (The latest numbers are even up from the 186 around Groundhog Day 2017.) As mentioned previously, 2018 should be a banner year for new Champions, as there are more than a dozen companies with current streaks of 24 years, while the Contenders will be replenished by a similar number of companies adding to their current 9-year streaks and there are over 100 companies ready to become Challengers in the next 12 months.
The table below... Read more