As of this writing, 65 companies form an elite group of dividend stocks known as Dividend Aristocrats . The rules for inclusion in this club are simple: Companies have to pay a dividend every year for at least 25 years while also increasing the dividend every year during that time. As long as the streak is kept alive, the company remains on the Dividend Aristocrats list.
However, there is one other qualification that investors are less familiar with. All Dividend Aristocrats must be members of the S&P 500 . And that's too bad for Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) , Toro (NYSE: TTC) , and Polaris (NYSE: PII) , since they're not in the S&P 500. If they were S&P 500 stocks, they'd be card-carrying members of the Dividend Aristocrats right now.
For further details see:
3 Top Stocks Dividend Aristocrat Investors Are Missing Out On