If you're looking for dividend stocks to invest in, Dividend Kings can be one of the safer options to consider as they are stocks with terrific track records which include raising their payouts for 50-plus years.
Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) falls into that category and on Friday, it announced it was raising its dividend payment for the 51st consecutive year. Not only that, but the upcoming dividend payment will mark the 396th straight quarterly payout Abbott has made, going back to 1924.
The company's increase is also a generous one at 8.5%. Investors will now be receiving a dividend of $0.51, up from the $0.47 that it was previously paying. The dividend is payable in February and it is 82% higher than the $0.28 that the company was paying five years ago. That averages out to a compounded annual growth rate of 12.7%. Many companies with long track records for increasing dividend payments make modest increases to keep their streaks going without the payouts becoming too burdensome. By making fairly significant increases, Abbott is showing confidence in its business and its ability to support a fast-growing dividend. With the increase, Abbott's stock is now yielding 1.9%, which is higher than the S&P 500 average of 1.7%.
Abbott has generated a profit of $7.9 billion over the trailing 12 months on revenue of over $45 billion, for a profit margin of 18%. The business is in strong shape and can be an excellent stock for long-term dividend investors to load up on right now.
