The best dividend stocks have one thing in common. The companies behind the stocks routinely increase their payouts. The data makes this abundantly clear. Over the last 50 years, dividend growers and initiators have delivered an average annual total return of 10.2%, according to data from Ned Davis Research and Hartford Funds. That's much higher than companies with no change in their dividend policies (6.7%) and those that cut or eliminated their payouts (negative 0.6%).

(NYSE: VZ), Johnson Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and Nike (NYSE: NKE) have a knack for growing their dividends. That's one of the many reasons they're great dividend stocks to double up on right now if you already own shares (or buy if you haven't added them to your portfolio yet).

Verizon stock currently offers a dividend yield of more than 6%. That's several times higher than the S 500's average (less than 1.5%). The primary reason for Verizon's high yield is its dirt cheap valuation. The telecom giant trades at 15 times earnings (and less than 10 times its forward P/E). That's well below the S 500's multiple of 24 times earnings and 23 times forward P/E ratio.

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Source Fool.com