Dividend stocks come in many different shapes and sizes, but one incarnation stands head and shoulders above them all: The Dividend King. Dividend Kings have increased their dividends annually for 50 consecutive years, or longer. It’s an elite pool from which to fish. Right now, Dividend Kings PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), Nucor (NYSE: NUE), and Black Hills (NYSE: BKH) are all worth a closer look. That’s true even if you already own them, as they could even be worth doubling up on.
From a dividend perspective, PepsiCo ticks off a lot of important boxes. For example, it has increased its dividend annually for 52 consecutive years. That indicates a reliable business and a commitment to returning value to shareholders over time. The dividend yield is around 3.4% right now, which is up near levels last seen during the Great Recession. That suggests that PepsiCo is on the sale rack. However, the most compelling data point might be the annualized dividend growth rate of nearly 9% over the past decade, which is more than twice the historical growth rate of inflation.
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That’s all backed by a large and industry-leading consumer staples maker. PepsiCo’s namesake brand lives in its beverage division, which is the No. 2 player in that food niche. The Frito-Lay division, meanwhile, is the No. 1 player in the salty snacks space. Then there’s Quaker Oats, which isn’t a leader in the packaged food space, but competes well in the product categories within which it does compete.
Overall, PepsiCo is one of the most diversified food makers you can buy and an important partner to retailers around the world. Given that the stock looks relatively cheap today, dividend investors might want to buy it, or even add to their positions if they already own it.
Dividend King Nucor has increased its dividend annually for 51 consecutive years. While PepsiCo’s dividend streak is impressive, Nucor’s is even more so because it operates in the highly…
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