As part of building your stock portfolio for consistent dividend payments, you may be looking at stocks with long payment histories. To help you align the calendar to these stocks, here are the Dividend Aristocrats Payout Schedules organized by the common patterns they follow.
As you’re building your dividend portfolio, knowing the common patterns and schedules that companies pay their dividends is helpful. For Dividend Aristocrats, which have a history of paying and increasing their dividends for 25+ years, their schedules are usually consistent year over year.
To help you align your dividend goals with current Dividend Aristocrats payout schedules, I put together the following list. You should not buy a stock just because it pays at the right time. Do you research first to ensure it’s a good investment at the time and matches your goals?
One quick note I should mention. I’m not a licensed financial planner or financial advisor. The content on this website should be considered for information purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Always do your own research before making financial decisions. Or check with your favorite financial professional for additional information on what’s best to do for your situation.
4 Common Dividend Aristocrats Payout Schedules
First things first. There are four common patterns that companies use when paying out quarterly dividends. Knowing these can help you fill your income calendar, especially if you’re trying to create a monthly dividend portfolio.
- January, April, July, and October
- February, May, August, and November
- March, June, September, and December
Owning one stock within each of the following patterns will allow you to be paid dividends monthly.
Always do your own research prior to purchasing stock in a company. Just because the payment schedules fit a whole in your portfolio doesn’t mean it’s the right investment for the moment, even with a buy-and-hold strategy. You may be able to find a more efficient stock to buy at the time.
As part of your research also double-check the payout schedule as well. It’s possible the company won’t 100% follow its past payment schedule in the future or a pattern has been incorrectly assigned to a stock. For payouts that occur at the very end or beginning of a month, sometimes the payment shifts to the opposite month by a day or two.
While not the end of the world, this can sometimes be more annoying for the December/January payments as that could have an impact on your income taxes. Obviously, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just something to keep an eye on.
Dividend Aristocrats paying in January, April, July, October
18 of the Dividend Aristocrats generally pay according to the pattern: January, April, July, and October.
| Symbol | Company Name | Sector | Payout Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADP | Automatic Data Processing | Information Technology | April |
| ALB | Albemarle Corporation | Materials | April |
| BEN | Franklin Resources | Financials | January |
| BF.B | Brown-Forman (Class B shares) | Consumer Staples | January |
| CAH | Cardinal Health Inc. | Health Care | July |
| CB | Chubb Limited | Financials | July |
| CHRW | CH Robinson Worldwide Inc | Industrials | January |
| CINF | Cincinnati Financial Corp | Financials | April |
| ECL | Ecolab Inc | Materials | January |
| ESS | Essex Property Trust | Real Estate | April |
| FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | Real Estate | October |
| GPC | Genuine Parts Company | Consumer Discretionary | April |
| ITW | Illinois Tool Works | Industrials | October |
| KMB | Kimberly-Clark | Consumer Staples | April |
| MDT | Medtronic | Health Care | July |
| MKC | McCormick & Company | Consumer Staples | January |
| ROP | Roper Technologies | Industrials | January |
| SYY | Sysco | Consumer Staples | January (typically) |
Related: 18 stocks that pay dividends in January, April, July, and October
Dividend Aristocrats paying in February, May, August, November
15 of the Dividend Aristocrats pay their dividends usually following the pattern: February, May, August, and November.
| Symbol | Company Name | Sector | Payout Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABBV | AbbVie Inc. | Health Care | February |
| ABT | Abbott Laboratories | Health Care | February |
| AOS | A.O. Smith | Industrials | November |
| APD | Air Products & Chemicals Inc | Materials | May |
| BRO | Brown & Brown Inc | Financials | November |
| CAT | Caterpillar Inc. | Industrials | August |
| CL | Colgate-Palmolive | Consumer Staples | May |
| CLX | The Clorox Company | Consumer Staples | August |
| GD | General Dynamics | Industrials | May |
| HRL | Hormel Foods Corp | Consumer Staples | February |
| LOW | Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | August |
| NUE | Nucor | Materials | February |
| PG | Procter & Gamble | Consumer Staples | May |
| PNR | Pentair | Industrials | February |
| WST | West Pharmaceutical Services Inc | Health Care | November |
Related: 15 stocks that pay dividends in February, May, August, and November
Dividend Aristocrats paying in March, June, September, December
28 of the Dividend Aristocrats pay their dividends usually following the pattern: March, June, September, and December. This pattern is the most common among the Dividend Aristocrats.
Also to note, Sherwin-Williams’ second-quarter payment (June) sometimes pays at the end of May. For dividend payments that usually occur at the very beginning or end of a month, you’ll sometimes notice the payment shift to the other month.
| Symbol | Company Name | Sector | Payout Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Co | Consumer Staples | March |
| AFL | AFLAC Inc. | Financials | March |
| AMCR | Amcor | Materials | March |
| ATO | Atmos Energy Corp | Utilities | December |
| BDX | Becton Dickinson | Health Care | December |
| CTAS * | Cintas Corp | Industrials | Pending |
| CVX | Chevron Corp. | Energy | March (typically) |
| DOV | Dover Corp | Industrials | September |
| ED | Consolidated Edison Inc | Utilities | March |
| EMR | Emerson Electric | Industrials | December |
| GWW | W. W. Grainger | Industrials | June |
| IBM | IBM | Information Technology | June |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | Health Care | June |
| LIN | Linde plc | Materials | March |
| MCD | McDonald’s | Consumer Discretionary | December |
| MMM | 3M Company | Industrials | March |
| NEE | NextEra Energy | Utilities | March |
| PPG | PPG Industries | Materials | September |
| SHW | Sherwin-Williams | Materials | March |
| SJM | J M Smucker Co | Consumer Staples | September |
| SPGI | S&P Global (formerly McGraw Hill Financial, Inc.) | Financials | March |
| SWK | Stanley Black & Decker Inc. | Industrials | September |
| TGT | Target Corporation | Consumer Discretionary | September |
| TROW | T. Rowe Price | Financials | March |
| VFC** | VF Corporation | Consumer Discretionary | December |
| WBA | Walgreens Boots Alliance | Consumer Staples | September |
| XOM | Exxon Mobil Corp | Energy | June (typically) |
* Cintas Corp (CTAS) was previously the only annual dividend payer of the Dividend Aristocrats. Starting with 2021 it has switched to a quarterly dividend. Its payout pattern and increase schedule will be updated here in the future.
** VF Corp (VFC) announced a dividend cut on February 7th. Will be removed from the list in the future.
Related: 25 stocks that pay dividends in March, June, September, and December
Dividend Aristocrats paying using other patterns
Four of the remaining Dividend Aristocrats do not follow any of the common patterns.
Coca-Cola Co (KO) usually pays in April, July, October, and December. This pattern is close to the “January, April, July, and October” pattern with one payment shifted. Coca-Cola usually increases its dividend in April.
Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD) usually pays twice per year in June and December. It’s the only current Dividend Aristocrat to pay biannually and usually increases its dividend in June.
Nordson Corp (NDSN) usually pays its dividends in January, March, June, and September with its increase as part of the June payment. This pattern is similar to the March, June, September, and December pattern with Nordson starting off the year with a dividend payment rather than ending the year with one.
PepsiCo (PEP) usually pays its dividends in January, March, June, and September with its increase as part of the June payment. This pattern is similar to the March, June, September, and December pattern with PepsiCo starting off the year with a dividend payment rather than ending the year with one.
Realty Income (O) usually pays a dividend each month and is the only current Dividend Aristocrat to pay monthly. Its dividend increase schedule varies.
Walmart (WMT) usually pays in January, April, June, and September. It’s a combination of two patterns combined. Walmart usually increases its dividend in April.
Wrapping up. Are you using the Dividend Aristocrats payout schedules to plan your portfolio?
Of the currently 67 Dividend Aristocrats, most follow one of three common payout schedules. There are six stocks using a different schedules. If you choose one stock from each of the common patterns, you can build a portfolio to earn $200 a month in dividends easily.
Remember always do your own research first before buying a stock. Just because a company has consistently paid a dividend for 25 years or more, it doesn’t guarantee that it will always happen in the future. It’s also possible the company may not be the best investment for the moment. Find the best ways to be efficient when investing your money.
Do you consider the Dividend Aristocrats and their payout schedules while building your dividend investing strategy?
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