Best Dividend Stocks In America

I'd bet most income investors know about the S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index. To be included in this index, an S&P 500 company must have raised its dividend annually for at least the past 25 years. The standard is brutal: One slip and you're out. Start all over and compile another spotless dividend track record over the next 25 years. This is an index of the bluest of blue-chip dividend stocks. But I've found a little-known "sister" index that income investors might find even more interesting -- and profitable.

In a variety of market conditions, this little-known index has been able to match -- and usually beat -- the broader markets, while also paying a significantly higher yield. How can you improve on an index that contains some of the best dividend-payers in history? The S&P's High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index has just the answer. This index holds companies to a still-lofty standard of at least 20 consecutive years of dividend increases. But it selects companies from the S&P 1500, which includes midsize and small-cap companies.

Source: Street Authority

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