Now's the time of year most people look to spend money on gifts. But some S&P 500 stocks are hot gifts that keep giving cash to you.
A dozen S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats stocks — including Walmart, Brown & Brown and Cincinnati Financial — are all up 30% or more this year, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge.
Being part of the Dividend Aristocrats means these stocks have all increased their dividends in each of the past 25 years. Regular bumps to dividends are welcome, when they're getting smaller in the S&P 500 as a whole.
"Dividends continued to grow in (the third quarter), but at a slower rate," said Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Companies remained shy of larger dividend commitments due to economic uncertainty."
Walmart Turns Into A Windfall
Walmart, at first glance, isn't a dividend play. It only yields 0.9%, which is less than the S&P 500. But it has two other attributes going for it.
For one, it has paid an increasing dividend for more than three decades. But more important, this year shares of Walmart are up more than 76%. That makes it the top-performing Dividend Aristocrat stock this year. Walmart's RS Rating is already 92. And analysts think its profit will rise 12% in 2025.
Other Gifts For Investors
Financial sector dividend stocks have also paid off. Many took off following the election.
Shares of insurance broker Brown & Brown are up 57% this year. And Midwestern bank holding company Cincinnati Financial is up 52.3%. That's on top of its S&P 500-beating 2% dividend yield.
But when it comes to big and rising dividends, Big Blue is winning. Shares of IBM are up 39% this year. And don't overlook the stock's 2.9% dividend yield.
Sure, it's supposedly better to give than to receive. But with rising dividends like the ones from these winning stocks, what's wrong with gifting a little something to yourself?
Top S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats This Year
| Company | Ticker | YTD change | Sector | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart | WMT | 76.3% | Consumer Staples | 0.9% |
| Brown & Brown | BRO | 57.0% | Financials | 0.5 |
| Cincinnati Financial | CINF | 52.3% | Financials | 2.0 |
| Pentair | PNR | 49.6% | Industrials | 0.8 |
| Cintas | CTAS | 47.8% | Industrials | 0.7 |
| W.W. Grainger | GWW | 44.0% | Industrials | 0.7 |
| IBM | IBM | 39.1% | Information Technology | 2.9 |
| Emerson Electric | EMR | 37.4% | Industrials | 1.6 |
| Caterpillar | CAT | 36.1% | Industrials | 1.4 |
| Aflac | AFL | 35.0% | Financials | 1.8 |
| Dover | DOV | 33.1% | Industrials | 1.0 |
| Automatic Data Processing | ADP | 31.3% | Industrials | 1.8 |
