Why This Defense Giant Might Be the Market's Best Dividend Stock

Close your eyes and imagine the characteristics of an ideal dividend stock. Are you picturing it? Strong fundamentals, a track record of outlasting recessions, certainly a high yield. The reality is that these characteristics are harder to come by now than just a few years ago.

The S&P 500 index is up over 50% in the past three years, which has been great for investors. As a result, many excellent dividend stocks now yield a lot less than they used to. In fact, the average stock in the S&P 500 now yields around 1.3%. The main reason for the low average yield has to do with the growth of several leading technology and communications stocks. As a group, they comprise a larger share of the index, but many don't pay dividends. Meanwhile, the stodgy blue-chip companies that do pay dividends are raising them more slowly than their stock prices are growing.

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Source Fool.com