UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats

UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023

The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023 are UK stocks that have increased or maintained their dividend for at least seven consecutive years. However, that fact alone does not qualify a stock as a UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrat. 

To be included on the list, a company must meet the following updated criteria:

  • The company must be a member of the S&P United Kingdom BMI. The stock must also trade on the London Stock Exchange in British pounds.
  • The stock must have increased or maintained its dividend stable for at least seven consecutive years. The yield cannot be greater than 10%. New index constituents must have a maximum of 100% dividend payout ratio. Existing index constituents must have a non-negative dividend payout ratio.
  • The stock must have a market capitalization of at least $1 billion as of the rebalancing date.
  • The median daily value traded (MDVT) must be at least $5 million.
  • During the quarterly rebalancing, the weighting of a single stock is capped at the lower of 5% or five times the stock’s liquidity weight.
  • Each GICS sector weighting is capped at 30%. 
  • Index weightings are based on dividend yield.
  • The weighting of each country is capped at 30%.
  • Index constituents are reviewed for dividend omissions and cuts every month. If a stock publicly announces a dividend suspension or cancellation, it is removed from the index and replaced by the highest-ranked stock that is not already in the index.

These companies have survived periods of inflation, stock market crashes, global crises, and deep recessions but still met the above mentioned criteria. Often these are the most prominent and typically well-known stocks in the UK with high dividend yields. Hence, this list serves as a starting point for small investors seeking to research potential ideas for UK dividend growth stocks.


Affiliate

Take the Simply Investing Course to learn more about investing and dividends.

  • Lifetime access with 27 self-paced lessons.
  • Covers placing stock orders, building and tracking portfolios, when to sell, reducing fees and risk, etc.
  • Learn the 12 Rule of Simply Investing
  • Simply Investing Coupon Code – DIVPOWER15.

Differences with the U.S. and Canadian Dividend Aristocrats

These criteria are very different from those used to determine the list of Dividend Aristocrats in the United States, which must be in the S&P 500 Index and need 25+ years of increasing dividends. There are currently about 65 stocks in the U.S. Dividend Aristocrats. This number is not capped. On the other hand, there are only 35 stocks in the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023 list as of November 30, 2023. But this is by design.

These criteria are also very different from those used to determine the list of Canadian Dividend Aristocrats, which have smaller market capitalization and consecutive annual dividend increase requirements. The UK High Dividend Aristocrats 2023 are similar, though, in that the indices are both weighted by yield. 

Market Update for The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023

The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023 currently (as of November 30, 2023) has a dividend yield of about 4.31%. The average forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is approximately 13.26X, while the trailing P/E ratio is about 14.44X.

The mean market capitalization is roughly 22,302 million GBP (all values are in Great British Pounds), and the median is approximately 6,715 million GBP. The market cap ranges between about 1,026 million GBP to 156,939 million GBP. The total market capitalization of the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats is approximately 780.577 million GBP.

In 2022, the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats provided a total return of (-8.03%). This value was the first negative return since 2020 and the third negative one in the past 5-years. The price return was (-11.71%). The high dividend yield of the stocks on this list mitigated the negative price return.

Historical Performance

The chart below shows the historical performance over the trailing 10 years. The total annualized return in the past 10 years was 1.66%, and over the past 5 years, it was 2%. The standard deviation over the past 10 years was 13.81% and over the past 5 years was 16.57%.

UK Dividend Aristocrats Index Performance
Source: S&P 500 Dow Jones Indices

The table below shows the calendar year’s performance from 2013 to 2022.

UK Dividend Aristocrats Historical Performance
Source: S&P 500 Dow Jones Indices

Other Dividend Growth Stock Lists

For US stocks, we have previously provided the following lists:

For Canadian stocks, we have previously provided the following list:

Other dividend stock lists


Affiliate

Stock Rover is an award winning investment research platform.

  • The site has 8,500+ stocks, 4,000 ETFs, and 40,000 mutual funds. 
  • Access to 650+ metrics, financial data, market news, stock and fund ratings, fair value, margin of safety, etc. 
  • Includes brokerage integration, portfolio tracking, rebalancing, watchlists, alerts, future income forecasts, etc.
  • Plus export to spreadsheets, dividend calendar, 10+ years of data history, etc.
  • Best Buy and Hold Screener by Investopedia
  • Editor’s Choice by American Association of Individual Investors (AAII).

Click here to try Stock Rover for free (14-day free trial).


Details on the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023

The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023 has a target of 40 stocks. In practice, the actual number is typically between 30 and 40 stocks. There are 35 stocks on the list as of this writing. 

UK Dividend Aristocrats Sector Breakdown

The sector breakdown for UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023 is seen in the chart below. 

Stocks from the Financials sector have the most significant representation on the list of UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats at about 26.4%. The sector with the following highest representation is Industrials at approximately 18.8%. The sector with the third-highest representation is the Consumers Staples, at roughly 13.1%. 

The top three sectors comprise the majority of the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats at 59.3%.

UK Dividend Aristocrats Sector Breakdown
Source: S&P 500 Dow Jones Indices

Stocks in the Financial sector tend to have more volatile earnings and cash flows that depend on the stock market valuation and interest rates. However, the scale of large financial institutions lets them pay a growing dividend over time.

The Industrial sector is also cyclical, but many of these stocks tend to grow revenue and earnings over time, allowing them to maintain a stable dividend at the very least.

Consumer Staples stocks typically are slow-and-steady for revenue and earnings per share growth. These stocks have relatively stable earnings and cash flow characteristics. In addition, the companies usually grow profits slowly over time, permitting annual dividend increases. 

This sector breakdown is similar but not the same as the US Dividend Aristocrats list, with Consumer Staples, Industrials, and Materials as the top three sectors.  

The sector breakdown is unlike the Canadian Dividend Aristocrats list, with Financials, Energy, and Real Estate as the top three sectors.

Fund Performance Differences

As a group, some funds have exhibited lower annualized total returns than the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats index. For example, one fund has displayed lower annualized returns of 4.39% after subtracting expenses than the underlying index of 3.90% since inception. 

This difference is likely due to annualized tracking error, which is the difference between the fund’s and index’s returns. However, this difference can also occur due to changes in the underlying index resulting in higher transaction costs for funds.

Note that there needs to be more clarity between the actual index and some exchange-traded funds or ‘ETFs’ that use the index as the basis of stock selection. For example, at least one fund uses 7+ consecutive years of dividend growth as a criterion for inclusion instead of 10+ years of dividend growth.

List of Top 10 UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023

The stocks with the top 10 weighting in the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats are listed below. Note that the weightings are based on dividend yield. The top 10 stocks in the list constitute about 46.3% of the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats.

StockWeighting (%)
Intermediate Capital Group5.84
Legal & General Group5.36
Primary Health Properties5.22
IG Group Holdings PLC5.22
National Grid PLC4.96
British American Tobacco PLC4.84
Hargreaves Lansdown PLC4.43
Schroders PLC4.22
Big Yellow Group PLC3.87
Unilever PLC3.58
Source: S&P UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index and SPDR S&P 500 UK Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF

Prior Year Lists and Articles

Related Articles on Dividend Power


Here are my recommendations:

Affiliates

  • Simply Investing Report & Analysis Platform or the Course can teach you how to invest in stocks. Try it free for 14 days. 
  • Sure Dividend Newsletter is an excellent resource for DIY dividend growth investors and retirees. Try it free for 7 days.
  • Stock Rover is the leading investment research platform with all the fundamental metrics, screens, and analysis tools you need. Try it free for 14 days.
  • Portfolio Insight is the newest and most complete portfolio management tool with built-in stock screeners. Try it free for 14 days.


Receive a free e-book, “Become a Better Investor: 5 Fundamental Metrics to Know!” Join thousands of other readers !


*This post contains affiliate links meaning that I earn a commission for any purchases that you make at the Affiliates website through these links. This will not incur additional costs for you. Please read my disclosure for more information.

Website | + posts

Prakash Kolli is the founder of the Dividend Power site. He is a self-taught investor, analyst, and writer on dividend growth stocks and financial independence. His writings can be found on Seeking Alpha, InvestorPlace, Business Insider, Nasdaq, TalkMarkets, ValueWalk, The Money Show, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and leading financial sites. In addition, he is part of the Portfolio Insight and Sure Dividend teams. He was recently in the top 1.0% and 100 (73 out of over 13,450) financial bloggers, as tracked by TipRanks (an independent analyst tracking site) for his articles on Seeking Alpha.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *