THE PAST YEAR WAS A RECOVERY YEAR for dividends. A record profit rebound for U.S. companies powered by the reopening of the economy puts the S&P 500 index on track in 2021 for its 10th straight year of record dividend payouts. In the third quarter, S&P dividends hit a quarterly record of $15.36 per share, and forecasts point to a new record in the fourth quarter. For the full year, S&P Dow Jones Indices sees payouts rising nearly 5%, to $60.97, for stocks in the index, following 2020’s record payout of $58.28. Unlike last year, when 42 S&P 500 companies suspended dividends to preserve cash during the pandemic, just one stock halted payouts this year. “Dividends are back,” says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P.
Members of the Kiplinger Dividend 15, our favorite dividend stocks, benefited from the resurgence. All of our companies boosted their payouts over the past year. As a group, our dividend payers yield an average of 3.2%, more than twice the S&P 500’s 1.4% yield.
Things weren’t as rosy on a total-return basis, however. Over the past 12 months, the Dividend 15 returned 21.1%, on average, compared with a 29.3% gain for the broad market. The biggest gainer was asset manager Blackstone, whose shares rose 116.8% in the past year. Emerson Electric, drugmaker AbbVie, computer chip manufacturer Texas Instruments and energy firm Enterprise Products Partners also posted market-beating returns. Laggards were led by Air Products & Chemicals and defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Read on for updates on the Dividend 15. Returns and data are through October 8.
DIVIDEND STALWARTS
This story is from the December 2021 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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This story is from the December 2021 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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