3 Dividend Aristocrats to Buy for Income and Growth

Dividend Aristocrats have a slight advantage over what might be characterized as your standard blue-chip stock, in that they have been raising dividends annually for over 25 years straight. That speaks to a high degree of success in the business, of course, but it also speaks to ongoing growth. It means that free cash flow is likely expanding from year to year, thus permitting more of that cash flow to be paid out as a dividend. So here are three Dividend Aristocrats that I think pay a reasonable dividend, but also have a shot at capital gains...

The first choice for Dividend Aristocrats is one I frankly didn’t expect, but after checking it’s financials, I think it may have the best chance for per-share earnings growth in 2017 — AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV). ABBV is a spinoff of the famous Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT). It primarily serves the oncology, immunology and virology therapeutic sectors, but it’s moving into neuroscience. At 2.4%, Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) doesn’t have a whopper of a yield as far as Dividend Aristocrats go, but it has a great opportunity for growth going forward. Distribution is one of the best areas to be invested. With its footprint and infrastructure, Cardinal’s ability to distribute supplies of any kind (healthcare in this case) will net some pretty thick margins. It may sound wacky, but Hormel Foods Corp (NYSE:HRL) may have a crack at 8% to 10% earnings growth going forward, on top of its 88 straight years of paying dividends — and raising it 51 years in a row.

Source: InvestorPlace

Related Articles:
- 5 Low-Risk, High-Yielding Dividend Stocks
- 9 Dividend Stocks For A Rainy Day
- 6 Dividend Growth Stocks With Strong Capital Appreciation
- 6 Higher Yielding Basic Materials Stocks With Growing Dividends
- 7 Dividend Growth Stocks That Could Make You Wealthy