Three new stocks get access to the elite Dividend Aristocrats
A select group of stocks that have proven consistent winners for investors grow by three next week. Nordson, CH Robinson and JM Smucker made the cut for the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats and will join the index on February 1, S&P Dow Jones Indexes said Tuesday. The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index consists of stocks in the broader index that have at least increased their dividends in each of the last 25 years. Nordson, which was included in the S&P 500 last year, has actually had 42 straight years of dividend increases, according to data from the S&P Dow Jones indexes. The company said in a press release last year that the streak is even longer at 59 years. The index is not only a club of the most reliable dividend payers, but also a useful tool for investors. Investing in these stocks has been shown to offer defensive qualities while delivering long-term growth. For example, the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) fund had a total return of -6.5% over the past year, according to FactSet, far beating the broad market average. Over the past five years, despite a higher expense ratio, the fund has produced just over 9% annualized returns, which is roughly in line with the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY). NOBL 5Y Mountain The NOBL fund has a solid long-term track record, having outperformed during the 2022 bear market. “The timing is difficult. …Having a resilient strategy that gives you meaningful downside protection but doesn’t let you down when markets recover is a particularly robust solution,” said Simeon Hyman, global investment strategist at ProShares. He added that stocks with increasing dividends are also an effective way to fight inflation. And the group’s performance would look even better if the latest names were included. All three have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 12 months. The NOBL ETF, which is equally weighted, will be rebalanced at the same time as the index, Hyman said. The Aristocrat Fund is underweight technology relative to the broader market. ProShares also offers an S&P Technology Dividend Aristocrats ETF (TDV), which lowers the bar to seven straight years of dividend increases. The tech fund has posted a slightly positive total return over the past 12 months.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/25/three-new-stocks-gain-entry-to-the-dividend-aristocrat-elite.html Three new stocks get access to the elite Dividend Aristocrats
