My Favorite Thing About Dividend Stocks

Other than the wonderful compounding affect that will make me a wealthier man when I retire, the thing I enjoy most about dividend stocks is that they allow me to be lazy. Granted I do put in a lot of time evaluating a stock before I invest, but once I buy a quality dividend growth company I can relax while that company's employees work hard to put more and more cash in my pocket.

I was on a nice, relaxing vacation last week. I checked in on the market a couple of times out of curiosity and even checked my work email once, but otherwise my mind was elsewhere. I didn't want to think about work and ruin a relaxing moment. I knew I didn't have to worry about my investments because my money was invested in companies who are working hard on my behalf. And wouldn't you know it, when I returned home I discovered that, KA-CHING!, I got two more fat raises.

Ka-Ching! Hasbro just gave me an 11% raise

Yep, another one. Three straight weeks of double digit dividend increases. Getting tired of these? I know I'm not! 

Hasbro (HAS) announced last week that it would be increasing its quarterly dividend by 11% from $.36 to $.40. The size of this increase is likely a surprise to many since the company reported a decrease in full-year revenue and earnings for 2012 vs 2011. Despite the drop management still had no problems with making such a large increase which I believe should be viewed as a positive for 2013 and beyond.

When I first analyzed Hasbro last June and decided to buy I was able to get in just before the stock price popped. Many investors would have been thrilled at the immediate price increase, but honestly I was hoping for the price to come back down so I could buy more on the cheap. My original buy price was under $33 which now gives me a yield on cost of almost 5.0% for my original investment. My only other purchases since then has been the automatic dividend reinvestments.

2013 Dividend Aristocrats

The Dividend Aristocrats list is an excellent starting point for dividend growth investors to begin their research.  In order to make this list a company needs to be in the S&P 500 (top 500 publicly listed companies by market capitalization) AND it needs to have increased its dividend payout for at least 25 consecutive years. You won't find the likes of Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), or General Electric (GE) on this list as they have yet to prove themselves worthy.  Actually, GE was on the list until it had to cut its dividend in 2009.

These are the elite dividend payers, the cream of the crop. Investors who have been fortunate enough to hold these companies over the long-term are significantly wealthier and will likely be enjoying future dividend increases yet again this year.

There are three new inductees to this prestigious club in 2013 thanks to their 25th consecutive dividend increase.