3 Dividend Stocks You Can Safely Hold for Decades
While past performance is no guarantee of future results, companies that have paid dividends reliably are a good place to start looking for long-term income stocks. The cream of the crop show up on the Dividend Kings list, which includes Federal Realty (NYSE: FRT), Black Hills (NYSE: BKH), and Hormel (NYSE: HRL). If your ideal holding period is counted in decades, you'll want to get to know each one.
Federal Realty has increased its dividend annually for 55 consecutive years. Not only does that get it onto the Dividend Kings list, but it also happens to be the longest dividend streak of any publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). What's interesting, however, is that Federal Realty hasn't achieved this feat by growing ever larger. In fact, it has one of the smallest property portfolios within its strip mall peer group.
The key factor in the REIT's success is that it focuses on quality over quantity. Its portfolio of around 100 assets has the highest average household wealth and population within a three mile radius of any of its peers. Simply put, retailers want to be in Federal Realty properties because that's where the best customers happen to be. More properties with less desirable locations wouldn't add value.
Source Fool.com
