Overview
- Research cited from Ned Davis Research and Hartford Funds shows dividend growers and initiators delivered 10.24% average annual total returns from 1973 to 2024, outpacing non‑payers and the equal‑weighted S&P 500.
- Microsoft’s dividend has risen roughly 10% annually over the past decade as Cloud revenue grew 26% year over year to more than $51 billion with non‑GAAP net income up 21%, and the company paid out about 32% of free cash flow as dividends.
- Broadcom is highlighted for AI data‑center exposure, with $27 billion in free cash flow over the last year at roughly a 42% margin and a trailing‑12‑month dividend that is more than 10 times its level a decade ago.
- Target is presented as a Dividend King with a $4.56 annual payout near a 4% yield, a new CEO in longtime executive Michael Fiddelke, and a stock trading around 14 times forward earnings per the analysis.
- Coca‑Cola is cited for a long dividend track record with a $2.04 annual payout yielding about 2.5%, while Medtronic offers a recent 2.8% yield with 48 consecutive years of dividend increases.