The DivGro Weekly—22.11.24

173 Consecutive dividend increases

Weekly Dividend Progress

This week we received further real-time, tangible evidence of outstanding business progress when Nike raised its dividend by 8.1%. We also became entitled to our quarterly dividends from Cintas, MSCI and Wingstop and received our quarterly dividends from Abbott Labs and Costco, all meaningfully higher than this time last year.

How We Are Tracking

Since DivGro's inception we have predicted and benefited from 173 consecutive dividend increases across our portfolio companies, with no decreases. The average rate of these dividend increases is 14.65%.

Nike

For more than 50 years, Nike — thanks to its action-driven philosophy (“just do it”), informed by its tenacious founder Phil Knight — has evolved into the dominant footwear and apparel force in the world. Be it in its product or its advertising, Nike has always been a ferocious competitor and aggressive innovator. Naturally, this has struck a chord with like-minded athletes who choose to identify with a company motivated by the same mission: to continually optimise itself. Like any athlete, Nike accepts not all of its innovations will succeed. Case in point? Its recent push to upscale the company’s online presence at the expense of traditional third-party distribution channels. Perhaps a symptom of post-Covid, cost-of-living pressures, Nike has found consumers want experiential engagements with the brand; to touch and feel merchandise in brick-and-mortar stores with knowledgeable salespeople nearby. Accordingly, Nike has revamped its top leadership with pure marketing professionals, rather than online IT, to restore its distribution. Given its privileged status as the poster brand and amplifier of choice for the world’s leading athletes and sports franchises, Nike is well positioned to reassert itself, on and offline. Further evidence? Its recent 8.1 per cent dividend uplift — which, coincidentally, marks its 23rd year of continuous dividend increases to date.