As a general rule, companies that can make enough profits to pay some back to investors in the form of dividends are a reliable barometer for assessing their economic growth prospects and stability. For long term investors, including institutions, staying power growth can be gauged by dividend increases. Companies that manage to increase dividends for 25 consecutive years are categorized as “Dividend Aristocrats”.
On a more rarefied level, those companies who have been able to sustain dividend increases for 50 consecutive years are dubbed “Dividend Kings”. Reaching “Dividend King” status is arduous on its own, but staying there is not a guarantee.
The 13 stocks listed below all, as of the time of this writing, are dividend kings with 60 or more years’ worth of consecutive, unbroken dividend increases. They can be considered the “kings among kings”, if you will, of the dividend increase realm.
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