The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2024 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 quarterly rebalancing, a single stock’s weighting is capped at 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 not already in the index.

These companies have survived periods of inflation, stock market crashes, global crises, and deep recessions but still met the abovementioned 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.

Differences with the U.S. and Canadian Dividend Aristocrats

These criteria differ significantly from those used to determine the list of Dividend Aristocrats in the United States, which must be in the S&P 500 Index and have 25+ years of increasing dividends. There are currently about 67 stocks in the U.S. Dividend Aristocrats, and this number is not capped. On the other hand, there are only 34 stocks in the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2024 list, 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. 

Performance Update of The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2024

The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2024 currently have a dividend yield of about 4.24%. The average forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is approximately 13.55X, while the trailing P/E ratio is about 22.54X.

The mean market capitalization is roughly 23,575 million GBP (all values are in Great British Pounds), and the median is approximately 7,538 million GBP. The market cap ranges between about 721 million GBP to 154,728 million GBP. The total market capitalization of the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats is approximately 801.549 million GBP.

In 2023, the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats provided a total return of +6.76%. Returns have been positive in three of the past five years. The price return was +2.45%. The high dividend yield of the stocks boosted total return.

Historical Performance

The chart below shows the historical performance over the trailing ten years. The total annualized return in the past ten years was 1.5%, and over the past five years, it was 2.08%. The standard deviation over the past ten years was 13.72%, and over the past five years was 16.17%.

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Source: S&P 500 Dow Jones Indices

The table below shows the calendar year’s performance from 2014 to 2023.

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Source: S&P 500 Dow Jones Indices

Details on the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2023

The UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2024 has a target of 40 stocks. In practice, the actual number is typically between 30 and 40 stocks. There are 34 stocks on the list as of this writing. 

UK Dividend Aristocrats Sector Breakdown

The sector breakdown for UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats 2024 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 25.8%. The sector with the following highest representation is Industrials, at approximately 21.1%. The sector with the third-highest representation is Consumers Staples, at roughly 13.4%. 

The top three sectors comprise the majority of the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats at 60.3%.

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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

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, which results 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 2024

Below are the stocks with the top 10 weighting in the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats. Note that the weightings are based on dividend yield. The top 10 stocks in the list constitute about 52.62% of the UK High Yield Dividend Aristocrats.

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