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1. Abbott Laboratories
Healthcare giant Abbott announced in December 2020 that it would be increasing its dividend payments by a whopping 25%. It s the 49th year in a row that the company has hiked its payouts. One more increase next year, and Abbott will become a Dividend King. With quarterly payments of $0.45, investors are earning a yield of approximately 1.5%. That s right around the
S&P 500 average of 1.6%. But it s still a relatively low yield, and that makes it easier for the company to increase its payouts by a large percentage.
The Illinois-based business delivered its fourth quarter results on Jan. 27 and it s no surprise it felt confident raising its payouts by such a large amount. Net sales for the period ending Dec. 31, 2020, totaled $10.7 billion and grew 28.7% from the prior-year period while net earnings of $2.2 billion more than doubled last year s tally.