Investors received a few presents recently. I'm referring to dividend boosts. In late December Enbridge (ENB) raised its dividend 9.8 percent, the 25^th straight annual increase. AT&T (T) raised its quarterly dividend to 52 cents. They’ve raised their dividend every year since the break-up of Ma Bell in the early 1980s. Pfizer’s (PFE) dividend was raised 5.6 percent to 38 cents. There are many more examples. 

Historically, dividends account for 43 percent of the stock market's long-term annual return of around 10 percent. With the bull market in its 11th year, it's easy to make a case that dividends will become a more important component in total return as we move forward.

Dividend-paying stocks are easy to own, especially those that consistently increase dividends. Most are from companies that are financially stable and mature, and they are typically less volatile than other stocks. Shareholders can either enjoy the periodic dividends or have them reinvested. 

Investors can own their favorite dividend-paying companies or buy a dividend ETF. The stocks listed above are held in my client portfolios. I also like Merck (MRK), Becton Dickinson (BDX), and Verizon (VZ), all with records of dividend growth.

The three stocks with the longest streak of boosting their dividends are Dover (64 straight years), Genuine Parts (63 years) and Procter & Gamble (63 years). A good source for dividend information on individual stocks is found at www.Dividend.com.

Here are three ETFs to consider:  The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) holds companies from the S&P 1500 that have raised their dividends annually for at least 20 years and then weights the holdings based on their yield. Its expense ratio is 0.35%. A fairly similar alternative is Vanguard Dividend Growth (VIG). Its expense ratio is a very low 0.6%.

Lastly, there is ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrat (NOBL), which holds S&P 500 stocks that have increased dividends annually for at least 25 years. Its expense ratio is 0.35%. This ETF's largest holdings are Target, Leggett & Platt Inc., Abbvie Inc., and Johnson & Johnson.

With few exceptions my clients hold companies with above-average dividend yields and nearly all raise their payouts year after year. Because they own several of those companies, they’ll be receiving dividend "presents" again and again.