Stock Screens February 27, 2009, 12:01AM EST

Stock Screen: The Return of the Dividend Aristocrats

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Though Silverblatt says there is likely more bad news to come, he notes there are also stocks that are paying and/or increasing dividends and that maintain "decent" coverage ratios. "Within the S&P 500, I found 43 issues that had increased their annual dividends at least 10 years in a row and have current and projected dividend coverage rates of at least two," he says. "This is a starting point, but the fun is picking the issues. Dividend investors hold stocks for years, often using the dividend reinvestment plans. What they need to do is pick issues that have a proven track record on dividends, and are currently producing sufficient cash flow to cover their business and their dividends, and grow both."

Top-Ranked S&P Dividend Aristocrats

Company	Ticker	Price (2/26/09)	Yield (2/26/09)	S&P STARS (5=Strong Buy, 4=Buy)
Abbott Laboratories	ABT	50.58	3.16%	5
Aflac	AFL	18.96	5.91%	5
Archer-Daniels-Midland	ADM	27.11	2.07%	4
BB&T	BBT	17.04	11.03%	4
Becton, Dickinson	BDX	65.10	2.03%	4
CenturyTel	CTL	26.06	10.74%	4
Chubb	CB	39.43	3.35%	5
Coca-Cola	KO	41.07	3.99%	5
C.R. Bard	BCR	81.36	0.79%	5
ExxonMobil	XOM	70.95	2.26%	5
Family Dollar Stores	FDO	27.09	1.99%	5
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	52.44	3.51%	4
Lowe's	LOW	15.92	2.14%	4
McDonald's	MCD	52.20	3.83%	5
PepsiCo	PEP	49.42	3.44%	4
Procter & Gamble	PG	48.97	3.27%	5
3M	MMM	46.33	4.40%	4
Wal-Mart Stores	WMT	48.25	1.97%	5

Piskora is managing editor of U.S. Editorial Operations for Standard & Poor's .

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