Dividend Aristocrats Lower Price Of Admission

One tool that dividend investors use to find the cream of the dividend-stock crop is the Dividend Aristocrats list. This elite group has proven itself by not only paying dividends but also raising them regularly over long periods of time. Yet just this week, the folks responsible for running the Dividend Aristocrats have lowered their standards for eligibility.

Now, though, some of the luster of being a Dividend Aristocrat is disappearing. As Barron's reported yesterday, S&P Dow Jones Indices, which manages the list, decided to require only 20 consecutive years of dividend increases rather than 25. As a result, the broad list of Aristocrats drawn from the S&P 1500 Composite index of large, mid, and small caps will now include 14 new stocks, including four that are members of the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC)

Source: Motley Fool

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