The Top Dividend Aristocrats

Yes, dividend investing is popular. And it may become even more popular, now that Congress has extended legislation that maintains the low tax rate on corporate payouts for next year. You can find many great dividend stalwarts among the companies that have successfully paid out cash for decades. When searching for great dividend stocks, it makes a lot of sense to start with companies that have been playing the dividend game the longest.

Standard & Poor's has culled the dividend winners from the also-rans in a list it calls the "dividend aristocrats." These companies have paid and increased their dividend for at least 25 years. Standard & Poor's announced its annual adjustment to the dividend aristocrats in December, so this is the latest version of the popular list. Below are the 25 highest-yielding constituents, and you can click on any of the green plus signs next to the ticker symbols to add those stocks to your watchlist and get all of our Foolish analysis on the stock.

Source: Motley Fool

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