How 3M Co Became a Stellar Dow Dividend Stock

Dividends create wealth. The power of regular dividends to make you rich is Wall Street's worst kept secret. Better yet, companies that grow their dividends like clockwork, year after year, know how to line a shareholder's pocket with gold. Let's take a look at a stock that does exactly that: 3M (NYSE: MMM ) is both a longtime Dow Jones (DJINDICES: ^DJI) component and an overqualified Dividend Aristocrat.

A company can become an official Dividend Aristocrat simply by increasing its payouts every year for a mere 25 years in a row. 3M beats that benchmark by a country mile, having raised dividend payouts for 55 years running. The annual raises aren't huge, but 3M's unbeatable consistency still lifts shareholder returns over the long term. 3M's faithful dividend bumps are backed by an equally constant tradition of innovation. Post-it Notes share shelf space in 3M warehouses with air filters, medical tape, computer screens, car paint treatments, and a long list of other products. This list keeps 3M's dividends strong and helps the stock beat the Dow just as easily as AT&T shares did over the past decade -- without leaning on some singular catalyst like the smartphone boom. 3M can take a licking and keep on ticking as the company moves to brand new end markets all the time. That's how you build a Dividend Aristocrat for the ages.

Source: Motley Fool

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