Periodic Table of Dividend Champions - New and Improved

David Van Knapp submits:David Fish has kindly given his blessing for me to slice and dice his Dividend Champions in various ways for further insight into dividend growth investing. The Dividend Champions are 98 stocks that have increased their dividend payout for 25 consecutive years or more.

David Van Knapp submits:What’s a fast-growing dividend? 4% per year? 7%? 10%? Obviously reasonable minds can differ. Someone with a stock that’s already yielding 7% may say that 5% per year growth in that dividend is fine with her.

By David Van Knapp:On Monday I published "19 Dividend Champions with Yields 50% Higher than 10-Year Treasuries." Dividend Champions are stocks that have increased their dividends for 25 or more consecutive years. There are 103 Champions at the moment, and 18 of the 103 (or 17%) qualified with yields of 3.375% or more. Ten-year Treasuries currently yield just 2.25%.

By David Van Knapp:My first two Periodic Tables of Dividend Champions proved popular with readers, several of whom suggested extending the idea to Challengers and Contenders. So this article covers Dividend Contenders, which are stocks that have raised their dividends between 10 and 24 years in a row.

David Van Knapp submits:There are two lists that serve as basic source material for investors interested in long-term dividend-raisers. One is the well-known Dividend Aristocrats list published by S&P. (To get the list, click the link here, then Market Attributes, then Dividend Aristocrats.

David Van Knapp submits:In an article published on July 2, I explored “The 14 Highest-Yielding Dividend Champions”—stocks that have increased their annual payouts for 25 or more consecutive years. The list and all its accompanying data are researched and compiled by David Fish at DRiP Investing Resource Center.

David Van Knapp submits:The U. S. Dividend Champions document—produced by frequent SA contributor David Fish—is rightly taking its place as the best compilation of stocks with long-term dividend-increase streaks. Its advantages over the better-known Dividend Aristocrats list from S&P are numerous: Its methodology is more thorough, its information is more comprehensive, it is not restricted to stocks on the S&P 500 index, it includes ADRs, and its rules are well explained and observed religiously.

David Van Knapp submits:I have begun preparing the 2011 edition of my Top 40 Dividend Stocks series, which I will release in January. One of my favorite sources every year is David Fish’s “Dividend Champions” document.