Perhaps one of the highest-quality blue chip stocks available to investors, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) continues to hold a dividend yield in excess of 3% (currently sitting at around 3.3%), providing an interesting long-term dividend play for investors seeking fundamental stability and income over time.
Coke has remained an excellent dividend grower, with recent annual increases boosting the company’s distribution from $1.22 per share in 2014 to $1.56 per share currently (a cumulative increase of more than 27% in less than four years).
Investors looking for a long-term hold with dividend growth should certainly consider Coke at these levels.
Coke is one of the world’s leading beverage manufacturers, and holds one of the largest moats of any company in any industry out there due primarily to the company’s iconic and rock-solid brand.
The company has continued to invest heavily in product development, providing for what I expect to be additional growth in developed markets in addition to significant growth in emerging markets keen on buying American brands.
As far as dividend-oriented equities go in this current environment of interest rate hikes and hostility toward any company with a significant yield, Coke is one of the few companies that can provide the stability and growth profile necessary to wait out the storm while seeing increased income in years to come as the company predictably moves forward with dividend distribution increases over time.
Invest wisely, my friends.
