Fifth Consecutive Year of Double-Digit Dividend Growth

• Over 100 Additions: There were over 100 additions to WTDI this year, and they contributed $7.2 billion to the Dividend Stream. This year’s rebalance saw more than 100 additions for the second year in a row, but the total number of constituents is still below its prerecession highs. Two of the largest additions were General Motors and Intercontinental Exchange Inc., contributing $1.9 billion and $293 million, respectively.²

• A Large Majority of Constituents Exhibited Dividend Stream Growth: Excluding the additions, over 98% of the current constituents remained in the Index, meaning 98% of the constituents have indicated they will continue to pay dividends. Of the constituents remaining in the Index, approximately 88% have increased their indicated Dividend Stream since last year’s screening. Household names like Verizon Communications, Bank of America, General Electric, Wells Fargo and Microsoft were some of the leaders in the indicated Dividend Stream growth³.

Conclusion

WisdomTree interprets this year’s aggregate dividend growth of more than 12% as a very positive indicator of underlying market fundamentals. Even more impressive is the fact that this was the fifth consecutive year of double-digit dividend growth. We take comfort in the fact that the overall valuations of dividend stocks have not become overly stretched as a result of this strong dividend growth and believe future dividend growth could provide a notable foundation for potential future gains.

¹Each calendar year mentioned refers to the November 30 screening date for that year.
²General Motors’ and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. projected rebalance weights in the WisdomTree Dividend Index are 0.47% and 0.07%, respectively.
³The projected rebalance weights of the mentioned companies in the WisdomTree Dividend Index are as follows: Verizon Communications, 2.22%; Bank of America, 0.51%; General Electric, 2.15%; Wells Fargo, 1.77%; Microsoft, 2.49%.