Futures
Access hundreds of perpetual contracts
TradFi
Gold
One platform for global traditional assets
Options
Hot
Trade European-style vanilla options
Unified Account
Maximize your capital efficiency
Demo Trading
Introduction to Futures Trading
Learn the basics of futures trading
Futures Events
Join events to earn rewards
Demo Trading
Use virtual funds to practice risk-free trading
Launch
CandyDrop
Collect candies to earn airdrops
Launchpool
Quick staking, earn potential new tokens
HODLer Airdrop
Hold GT and get massive airdrops for free
Launchpad
Be early to the next big token project
Alpha Points
Trade on-chain assets and earn airdrops
Futures Points
Earn futures points and claim airdrop rewards
More
The 2 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy Now and Hold Forever
The market has been volatile since the start of the U.S.-Israel and Iran war. This year through March 13, the **S&P 500 **index has dropped 3.1%.
That may have some people on edge. But investing in consistent dividend-paying stocks over the long haul is a good way to counteract the market’s ups and downs.
**Colgate-Palmolive **(CL 0.51%) and American States Water (AWR 1.35%) top my list. In fact, they have each raised dividends annually for more than 50 years. Those that have built this impressive track record belong to a special group of companies called Dividend Kings.
Looking ahead, these two kings are the quintessential long-term equity holdings for dividend-seeking investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
Colgate-Palmolive has paid a dividend since 1895. Even better, the company recently announced it would raise the quarterly payout by a penny to $0.53, making it 63 straight years with an increase.
Colgate-Palmolive generates most of its sales from its oral, personal, and home care division. The company sells everyday items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, dishwashing detergents, and household cleaners. It has a stable of popular brands, including Colgate, Irish Spring, Palmolive, Speed Stick, and Ajax, that command high market shares.
This kind of dependable business produces plenty of free cash flow (FCF), or operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, allowing the company to easily afford the dividend payouts. Colgate-Palmolive generated FCF of $3.6 billion. That gave the company plenty of cushion to pay the $1.8 billion in dividends.
Expand
NYSE: CL
Colgate-Palmolive
Today’s Change
(-0.51%) $-0.46
Current Price
$89.84
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$72B
Day’s Range
$89.66 - $91.48
52wk Range
$74.55 - $99.33
Volume
152K
Avg Vol
6.8M
Gross Margin
60.11%
Dividend Yield
2.31%
At the new dividend rate, Colgate-Palmolive’s stock has a 2.4% dividend yield. That’s about double the S&P 500’s 1.2% yield.
American States Water has paid a dividend since 1931. It’s also built an impressive history of raising payouts annually, doing so for 71 straight years. Last July, the board of directors announced that it was increasing the quarterly payout by 8.3% to $0.504 a share. Given its history, investors can reasonably expect the company to announce another dividend increase soon.
The company operates a utility, one of the most reliable businesses. That’s because, as a regulated utility, it has a monopoly over water and electricity in California and certain U.S. military bases.
Expand
NYSE: AWR
American States Water
Today’s Change
(-1.35%) $-1.02
Current Price
$74.28
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$2.9B
Day’s Range
$74.15 - $75.46
52wk Range
$69.45 - $82.94
Volume
6.8K
Avg Vol
246K
Gross Margin
50.77%
Dividend Yield
2.66%
With stable results, earnings easily covered American States Water’s dividends. It has a payout ratio, or dividends by profit, of 58%.
The company’s stock has a 2.7% dividend yield, about 1.5 percentage points more than the overall market, as measured by the S&P 500.