When I think of companies to consider for dividend investing, I imagine companies that hold serious stature in their industries and pay dividend yields over 5%. All of these companies that I have a chosen follow a strict criteria that I have set. One, the company had to have a strong dividend and a history of consistently paying that high dividend to its shareholders. Two, not only did these companies have to pay high dividend yields, but also have a history of increasing dividends every few quarters. This increases the likelihood of a dividend increase occurring while you hold the stock. Three, I wanted to choose companies that have been around for at least 15 years. This shows that the company isn't pushing high dividends just to attract investors. Lastly, I wanted companies that had a planned strategy on growth and expansion, and a good piece of market share.

Let's take a look at some companies that follow my criteria for making a great dividend investment in your portfolio: Kinder Morgan (KMP), Tal International Group (TAL), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) and Annaly Capital Management (NLY).

Source: Seeking Alpha

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