Standard & Poor’s publishes the widely followed S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index. This index ” measures the performance of large cap, blue chip companies within the S&P 500 that have followed a policy of increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years.”

The index is composed of 51 companies and the five-year total return is a decent 4.50%.

The Components of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index for 2012 are listed below:

[TABLE=1054]

Source: Standard & Poor’s

Some observations:

• McDonald’s Corp (MCD), Procter & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL), Coca-Cola Co (KO), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), 3M Co (MMM), PepsiCo Inc(PEP) are some of the excellent companies with a strong presence in overseas markets.
• Electric utility Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) are two of the stingy dividend payers.
• As robust economic growth is unlikely in the near future, firms such as McDonald’s Corp (MCD), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO) should continue to perform well.

Download: You can download the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index 2012 list in excel format by clicking here.

Disclosure: Long ED