15 Dividend Aristocrats That Pay You to Own Them

Before delving into some Dividend Aristocrats that pay you to own them, you need to know just what a Dividend Aristocrat is. It's a company that not only pays dividends but also has done so for 25 years -- and has increased its annual payout for at least 25 consecutive years. Out of the thousands of companies out there, and the big portion of them that pay dividends, only a few dozen fit this bill -- recently, only 65.

It's a very smart move to include dividend payers in your portfolio, because they're much more powerful wealth-builders than you might have realized.

Here's a look at 15 Dividend Aristocrats that you might want to get to know better -- possibly as contenders for your portfolio.

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You might associate 3M (NYSE: MMM) with just a product or two, such as Post-it notes or Scotch tape, but it's a vast business spanning all kinds of products, from bandages to tools to air-conditioning filters. It even makes safety masks and medical-grade respirator masks. The company recently sported a market value of $82 billion and a dividend yield of 2.6%. It has increased its payout for 62 consecutive years.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE: ADM) traces its roots back to 1902 and has grown into "a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world's premier agricultural origination and processing company." Its products range from grains, oils, nuts, and various food ingredients to animal nutrition and fuels. The company recently sported a market value of $27.5 billion and a dividend yield of 2.9%. It has increased its payout for 45 consecutive years.

Tracing its roots back to 1897, Becton, Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) is focused on the safety of patients and healthcare workers and technologies for medical research and clinical laboratories. Its products include drug delivery systems, syringes and needles, surgical instruments, diagnostic products, and much more. The company recently sported a market value of $68 billion and a dividend yield of 1.3%. It has increased its payout for 48 consecutive years.

Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) is a major healthcare enterprise, serving more than 3 million patients with more than 46,000 home healthcare products (such as wheelchairs and absorbent pads) and more than 10,000 specialty physician offices and clinics. It also serves almost 90% of U.S. hospitals, 29,000 pharmacies, and 6,500 laboratories, with more than 50,000 lab products (such as centrifuges and sterilizers). The company recently sported a market value of $13.5 billion and a dividend yield of 4.1%. It has increased its payout for more than 30 consecutive years.

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Tracing its roots back to a combined harvester built in 1886, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is now a top global maker of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. The company recently sported a market value of $82 billion and a dividend yield of 2.6%. It has increased its payout for 26 consecutive years.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) traces its roots back to the incorporation of the Pacific Coast Oil Co. way back in 1879. Today, with a recent market value of $131 billion and a dividend yielding 7.7%, it's a major energy powerhouse, employing more than 45,000 people. It's engaged in exploring for and producing millions of barrels of oil and oil equivalents annually, along with running refineries and service stations. Chevron has increased its dividend payout for 33 consecutive years.

Most people on earth know Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). The company got its start at a soda fountain in Atlanta back in 1886. Today it's a beverage titan, with a recent market value of $207 billion and a dividend that was recently 3.4%. It has increased its payout for 58 consecutive years. Coca-Cola encompasses more than 500 brands of drinks, including Sprite, Dasani, smartwater, Minute Maid, Honest tea, Gold Peak tea, Schweppes, and much more. It boasts more than 700,000 workers under its own roof and those of bottlers.

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ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) traces its roots back to John D. Rockefeller, who formed the Standard Oil Company in 1870. It's now a giant energy company, involved in just about all kinds of energy -- oil, gas, and alternative -- and all kinds of activities -- exploration, production, refining, retail sales, and more. The company recently sported a market value of $139 billion and a dividend yield of 11%. (Yes, you read that right -- many companies' stocks are depressed these days, and when a stock's price falls, its dividend yield rises.) ExxonMobil has increased its dividend payout for 37 consecutive years.

Here's how General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) summarizes its interesting history: "From 1952 to the 1990s, the company provided tanks, rockets, missiles, submarines, warships, fighters and electronics to all of the military services. In the early 1990s, we sold nearly our entire portfolio except for our military-vehicle and submarine businesses. Starting in the mid-1990s, we began expanding again by acquiring Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, combat-vehicle-related businesses, IT product and service companies and additional shipyards, forming the foundation of our company today." With a recent market value of $38 billion and a dividend yield of 3.3%, it's a major aerospace and defense company today.

Not everyone is familiar with Genuine Parts (NYSE: GPC), but it's a company recently valued at $13 billion, with a dividend yielding 3.4%. (It has increased its payout for 64 consecutive years.) It's a distributor of automotive replacement parts (about 530,000 of them!) in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australasia, and Europe, and it distributes industrial replacement parts as well. You might know its NAPA brand.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) needs no introduction. The quick-serve restaurant giant was recently valued at $161 billion, with its dividend recently yielding 2.3%. (That payout has been increased for more than 40 consecutive years.) The company boasts more than 36,000 eateries in more than 100 countries, and a whopping 1.9 million people work for the company or its franchises.

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You may not know the name Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), but you probably should. What began as a small medical electronics repair shop in 1949 has grown into a titan with a recent market value of $138 billion and a dividend yield of 2.3%. (The company has increased its payout for 43 consecutive years.) Medtronic has over 90,000 employees, more than 10,000 of whom are scientists, and its offerings include therapies, services, and equipment related to a wide range of medical issues.

Like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) needs little introduction and is a major beverage company. But unlike Coke, it's also a major snack company. It has 23 brands generating more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales -- these include Lays, Gatorade, Pepsi, Quaker, Tropicana, Tostitos, Naked, Cheetos, Ruffles, Lipton, Aquafina, Sierra Mist, Mountain Dew, SodaStream, 7UP, Fritos, and Brisk. The company employs more than 260,000 people and recently sported a market value of $185 billion and a dividend yield of 3.1%. It has increased its payout for 48 consecutive years.

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), an aerospace and defense giant with a recent market value of $81 billion and a dividend yield of 3.6%, got onto the Dividend Aristocrat list via its merger with United Technologies -- a company that had been an aristocrat, paying dividends annually since 1936. Raytheon has four main divisions: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space, and Raytheon Missiles & Defense. It employs close to 200,000 people.

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Sysco (NYSE: SYY) may not be a familiar name to many of us, but there's a good chance that you've passed many trucks bearing its name on highways you've driven on. Sysco, with a recent market value of $28 billion and a dividend yield of 3.3%, is, in its own words, "the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home." It employs more than 57,000 people, boasts 326 distribution facilities globally, and delivers to more than 625,000 customer locations. It has increased its dividend payout for 39 consecutive years.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

All these dividend-paying companies pay you to own them, which is a very good thing. But that doesn't mean you should buy them regardless of their price. Aim to buy only when they seem undervalued -- or, at most, fairly priced. Buying an overpriced stock means there's a decent chance that the stock will fall in price, closer to what it's really worth -- the stock's intrinsic value.

Also, when evaluating dividend payers, don't focus only on the yield. The dividend growth rate matters a lot, too, because a 2% yield could become a 4% effective yield for you in relatively few years, surpassing a company that has a 3% yield now that it's not increasing very quickly.

Selena Maranjian owns shares of Medtronic. The Motley Fool recommends 3M and Becton, Dickinson. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.