Buy This Stock Before It Becomes a Dividend Aristocrat

In the early stages of the pandemic last year, when the market dropped about 33% in the span of a month, many financial sector companies were forced to cut back or suspend their dividends because of the dire financial conditions. That certainly caused a lot of companies, especially banks, to wipe the slate clean and end their streaks of consecutive years with a dividend increase.

But some companies were hurt less by the recession and managed to maintain or increase their quarterly dividends, including Moody's (NYSE: MCO). The credit rating agency now has 12 straight years of annual dividend increases and is going strong. It's about halfway to Dividend Aristocrat status, which comes with at least 25 straight years of dividend increases. It's a pretty good bet to get there -- and it's a good buy whether it does or not.

Image source: Getty Images.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com