For many people the S&P 500 and U.S. Stock Market are synonymous terms. While in reality the U.S. stock market is much larger with public companies numbering in the thousands. The S&P 500 Index is owned and maintained by Standard & Poor's, a division of McGraw-Hill. The index was first published in 1957 and is the second most recognized index in the U.S. behind only the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Stocks included in the S&P 500 are large publicly companies that trade on either the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. Most of the stocks are U.S. based companies. However, there are a few companies with headquarters in or incorporated outside of the U.S. For many investors, the S&P 500 is used as a benchmark for their portfolios.
Not all stock in the index pay dividends, but many of the best known dividend growth stocks are part of the index. The dividend Aristocrats is a subset of the S&P 500 and is limited to stocks that have increased their dividend for 25 or more years.
This week week, I screened my dividend growth stocks database for stocks that are members of the S&P 500, have a yield greater than 4% and have 10 or more years of dividend growth. The results are presented below:
Southern Company (SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that is one of the largest producers of electricity in the U.S.
Yield: 4.1% | Years of Increases: 10
Scana Corporation (SCG) is an energy-based holding company that provides electric, natural gas, and telecommunications services.
Yield: 4.3% | Years of Increases: 11
HCP, Inc. (HCP) is an equity-oriented real estate investment trust, based in California, that has direct or joint venture investments in health care-related facilities across the U.S.
Yield: 4.6% | Years of Increases: 11
People's United Financial Inc. (PBCT) -provides a full range of banking and financial service products to individuals, corporations and municipal customers in the U.S.