5 Dividend Stocks for Your Portfolio

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Aug 2, 8:00AM EDT

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Long-term investors always look for companies that show signs that they will be around for a while. Membership on the Dividend Aristocrats list gives indication of longevity. In order to maintain their status on that list, companies need to raise their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. Companies that consistently stay in financial trouble will not give shareholders raises.

Keep in mind that there is always risk in investing in the stock market. However, these types of companies can also provide a decent yield relative to CDs and savings accounts while providing consistent income boosts in the process. This is in addition to the potential capital gains these companies provide. Let’s a take look at five rock solid dividend companies that regularly boost their dividends.

3M Company (NYSE: MMM) operates as a conglomerate with businesses in the health care sector, industrial, energy, consumer, and technological sectors. In a nutshell, this company utilizes science to make practical products the world can use. The sticky note represents one of its most famous products. 3M Company most recently increased its dividend in January for the 57^th consecutive year. The company paid a steady dividend for 98 years. Currently, the company pays its shareholders $4.10 per share per year and yields 2.7% annually.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) operates as a healthcare conglomerate. It’s most well-known for products such as Band-Aids, Listerine, and Tylenol. Johnson & Johnson also sells prescription products and medical devices. In April, the company raised its dividend for the 53^rd consecutive year. Currently, the company pays its shareholders $3 per share per year representing a lucrative 3% yield.

Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) sells edible items such as lunch meats and foods like Skippy peanut butter. In November 2014, the company raised its dividend for the 49^th consecutive year. Currently, Hormel Foods pays its shareholders $1 per share per year and yields 1.7%.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) distributes “maintenance, repair and operating” supplies. The company boosted its dividend for the 44^th consecutive year in April. Currently, W.W. Grainger pays its shareholders $4.68 per share per year and yields 2.1%.

McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC) sells food enhancers such as spices, seasonings and gravy mixes. Last November, McCormick & Co. raised its dividend for the 29^th consecutive year. Currently, the company pays its shareholders $1.60 per share per year and yields 2%.

Finally, these companies sell highly needed and practical products. While these companies don’t operate in high flying growth sectors, such as social media and mobile computing, they provide shareholders with the potential for slow and steady growth in the form of capital gains and dividend increases.

*William Bias owns shares in 3M, Johnson & Johnson, W.W. Grainger, and McCormick

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.