The DivGro Weekly—20.12.24

177 Consecutive dividend increases

Weekly Dividend Progress

This week we received further real-time, tangible evidence of outstanding business progress when Mastercard raised its dividend by 15.15% and Abbott by 7.27%. We also collected our quarterly dividends from Alphabet, Moody’s and Cintas and became entitled to our quarterly dividend from ADP, all meaningfully higher than this time last year.

How We Are Tracking

Since DivGro's inception we have predicted and benefited from 177 consecutive dividend increases across our portfolio companies, with no decreases. The average rate of these dividend increases is 14.56%.

Abbott

What makes an archetypal dividend growth company? Abbott is a best-in-class example. This week, the 135-year-old healthcare and medical devices giant, raised its dividend — marking its 53rd consecutive year of annual dividend increases. Earlier this year, the company reached another notable milestone: delivering a century of uninterrupted dividend payments whose unbroken track record has accordingly powered a sensational stock outperformance. All this is testament to the company’s core ingredients — distilled into the Abbot Way, distinctive for its sheer resilience. A key example: when impurities were found in some samples of its market-leading nutritional infant formula, Abbott withdrew the formula and, compelled by the FDA, subsidised competitor offerings to prevent any market shortage. The net result? Abbott’s market share plummeted while competitors had a field day. Ironically, this served to recharge Abbott’s batteries: fast-forward a few years, when the company undertook to claw back its share, no matter the stakes. Abbott implemented a ferocious marketing exercise and now, the company’s current share exceeds its pre-withdrawal share and is growing at a faster rate — greasing the wheels for a promising continuation of its wonderful dividend growth record.