Procter & Gamble: A Reliable Dividend Aristocrat

There has been an interesting trend in mainstream financial media to portray most dividends as unsustainable. This is further fueled by statistics from Standard & Poors, which shows that dividends are being cut at the fastest pace since 1955, and rumors about the shrinking universe of dividend growth stocks. Enterprising investors who look past those fearing statistics and view it as a contrarian buy signal would find a lot of consistent dividend raisers who keep on delivering good results to shareholders. After all, companies which have increased dividends for more than a quarter of a century have a sound cash flow management policy in place which has the shareholders best interest in mind, as opposed to empire building at all costs, excessive management bonuses and wasting stockholder value on unprofitable projects.

One such company, which, despite the current financial meltdown, continues business as usual, is Procter & Gamble. Other companies which show their confidence in their ability to grow earnings and generate enough cash in the future include Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD), H.B. Fuller Company (FUL), People's United Financial (PBCT) and
Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (ANH).