High dividend stocks are making a comeback. After almost a decade of chasing pretty but risky high-growth stocks, many retail investors watched their life savings swan-dive faster than… well, there aren’t many things that fell faster than the stock market earlier this year. Here’s a selection of good recession-proof companies that have a long history of increasing their dividends to see us through 2023 and beyond.
PG
Procter and Gamble is a company synonymous with long-term dividend growth. It’s a conglomerate that doesn’t specialize in any one area, but rather a wide variety of consumer staples, which is a great quality for diversification. You might think that consumer staples aren’t a good idea when the market is squeezing consumers, but they’ve still increased their dividends every year for 66 years in a row, even when it hurts their bottom line to do so. This is a company that tries to attract the investors seeking stability—like us.
MCD
If you had to hold one food stock in the world, own McDonald’s. It’s a great company that demonstrates resilience in recessions, when people flock to cheaper food, and with plenty of room for global expansion in emerging markets it will still perform well if and when the world recovers from the million reasons we all hated 2022.
CVX
I know, I know — I’m the antichrist for suggesting you buy oil. But this is a company that knows what investors want. There is a bit of a concern around how dependent Chevron is on the price of oil, given the recent ups and downs. However, when it comes to maintaining their stellar record of dividend growth, they’re going to go down fighting. During the last oil price crash, executives made a presentation on their future plans, and the first slide said just one thing — “keep growing the dividend.” Besides, if and when electric cars and hydrogen and whatever other technologies finally come into maturity (a couple decades too late to stop global warming), you’ll have plenty of forewarning to sell.
MMM
There’s 2 things I like about 3M: One, their common name is actually shorter than their stock ticker, which is a very interesting tidbit that makes me popular at parties. And two, they’re an industrial conglomerate that keeps your future dividends almost as safe as the people who buy their safety gear.
JNJ
What, you thought I wouldn’t include this one? Johnson and Johnson is the stereotypical dividend stock, and excluding it would be ridiculous. If you’re like the average person reading stock tips online and you’re already slightly bored of my attempts to make investing interesting without using terms like “TO THE MOON” then you should just stop reading and put all your money in JNJ. It’s increased dividends for 61 years, and probably will for another 61.
IBM
There’s a saying in the corporate infrastructure world you may have heard: “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” Well, here’s another, for the retail investing world: “Nobody ever lost their life savings for buying IBM stock.” This is probably the most boring company on the list (if you’re not also a quantum computing nerd like me), and frankly that’s a positive.
APD
Air Products has a strange name for a business that just doesn’t sound like a real company for some unidentifiable, intangible reason. Speaking it out loud leaves you with a little lurch of missed expectation at the end, and the sound makes you feel like you’ve been given a voodoo curse. (No? Just me? Never mind, then.) However, it certainly sounds like a good investment. APD is an 80-year-old company selling industrial gases and related equipment to more than 170,000 customers in over 30 industries. Their dividends have grown for 41 years straight.
Well, there’s the lucky 7 stocks I’m picking for safe dividends this year. I should probably end this article with something along the lines of “do your own due diligence before investing” but I’m really not worried about getting sued for making you go bankrupt, since these are the bluest of blue-chip companies. Good luck, best wishes, and may the dividends be ever in your favor.
