The Dynamic Dividend

Stocks With 20 Consecutive Quarters of Dividend Growth

Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to dividend growth investing. But if you’re too antsy to wait for annual dividend (or distribution) hikes, there is a way to speed up the process: Identify companies that raise their payouts every quarter.

Below I’ve compiled a list of nine companies that have increased their payouts each quarter for the last five years. As an added bonus, they all yield at least 4%.

Realty Income Corp (O) has raised its dividend each of the last 57 quarters, the longest streak among publicly-traded companies. The commercial REIT, which pays its dividend in monthly installments, gave its shareholders a 0.22% raise in December. Shares of O currently yield 4.86%.

W.P. Carey & Co. (WPC) raised its dividend for the 43rd consecutive quarter back in December. The investment management company is the only name on this list that isn’t a real estate investment trust (REIT) or distribution-paying limited partnership (LP). Shares of WPC currently yield 5.33%.

Buckeye Partners (BPL) has raised its distribution each of the last 30 quarters, most recently giving its unitholders a 1.2% raise in November. BPL currently yields 6.58%.

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) increased its distribution for the 30th consecutive quarter just last week. Last year the midstream energy partnership strengthened its distribution power by completing a merger with Duncan Energy Partners, which had raised its payout in each of the eleven quarters leading up to the transaction. EPD currently yields 5.06%.

Holly Energy Partners (HEP) extended its perfect distribution growth record with a 1.2% bump in October. The partnership has increased its payout every single quarter since coming public in July 2004, more than doubling its distribution rate in the process. HEP currently yields 6.42%.

Genesis Energy (GEL) has raised its distribution each of the last 26 quarters, most recently giving its unitholders a 2.9% raise earlier this month. The diversified energy partnership has nearly tripled its payout during the streak. GEL currently yields 6.15%.

Sunoco Logistics Partners (SXL) raised its distribution by 2% last October, marking the 26th consecutive quarter the partnership has given its unitholders a raise. Sunoco has already said it plans to grow its payout by another 7% in 2012, so don’t expect the distribution hikes to stop any time soon. SXL currently yields 4.51%.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP) raised its distribution for the 23rd consecutive quarter in October by giving its payout a 0.5% increase. The natural gas partnership has upped its distribution every quarters since it began returning cash to unitholders in 2006. BWP currently yields 7.66%.

EV Energy Partners (EVEP) reached 20 consecutive quarters of distribution growth by giving its payout a slight bump last week. The acquirer and developer of oil and gas properties has increased its quarterly rate by $0.001 per unit each of the last 13 quarters. EVEP currently yields 4.76%.