Expect more dividend hikes from these picks

Article Excerpt

These two industrial firms have a long history of annual dividend increases. We expect investors in both these companies will continue to benefit from their improving earnings and strong balance sheets. GENUINE PARTS CO. $157 is a buy. The company (New York symbol GPC; Income-Growth Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 141.4 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.genpt.com) is a leading seller of replacement auto parts. It also distributes industrial parts such as bearings, seals, pumps and hoses. With the April 2022, payment, Genuine raised your quarterly dividend by 9.8%, to $0.895 a share from $0.815. The new annual rate of $3.58 yields 2.3%. Investors have now enjoyed an annual dividend increase for 66 consecutive years. In January 2022, Genuine paid $1.3 billion for Kaman Distribution Group, which distributes a range of automation and industrial components to over 50,000 customers in the U.S. Kaman should add $1.1 billion to Genuine’s annual revenue. Thanks to the new operations, Genuine’s…