8 Great Dividend Stocks You Never Heard Of

When you think of mighty dividend payers, some usual suspects may come to mind: Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, to name a few.

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When you think of mighty dividend payers, some usual suspects may come to mind: Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, to name a few. These companies are considered Dividend Aristocrats, members of Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index that have increased their payout every year for at least the past quarter-century.

But the list of dividend-raisers goes well beyond household names. In fact, even within the group of Aristocrats, you may not recognize some companies. “A lot of them probably get overlooked because they’re just sort of boring,” says Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist for S&P Capital IQ’s stock research group. Plenty of firms outside the S&P 500 have also regularly increased dividends for a decade or more.

By adding a few of these dividend unknowns to your portfolio, you may get better diversification, in addition to new sources of dividend growth. The following eight stocks boast yields that are close to or greater than the S&P 500’s 2.0% yield. Each of the companies has raised its dividend every year for the past 20 years or more. And the outlook for their businesses is bright, helping increase the likelihood that these companies can boost their dividends for years to come. The stocks are listed in alphabetical order.

Disclaimer

Prices, returns and related data are through August 22. Source: Thomson Reuters

Contributing Writer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Carolyn Bigda has been writing about personal finance for more than nine years. Previously, she wrote for Money, and is a regular contributor to the Chicago Tribune.