Best Stocks

Every month we look at the top 10 stocks that match our investing criteria:

• 7 years+ increasing dividends
• FTSE350 listed
• Dividend cover of 1+
• Dividend growth rate of 3%+ annually

How we rank stocks:

We rank each stock according to each of the following (higher being better) and assign a number for each stock:

1. Dividend Yield
2. Dividend Cover
3. Dividend Growth Rate

Each ranking position for each criterion is added together, stocks are then listed by ascending number and anything below 10 is discarded.

For example, British American Tobacco has a high yield, so comes out well on that score, but much lower on dividend growth rate, whereas Hikma Pharmaceuticals has a much lower yield but the growth rate is 4-5x better than British American Tobacco and so it its dividend cover.

This calculation gives us a simple way to rank stocks, and since we have already discarded anyone who’s cut or maintained their dividend in the last 7 years, we have already reduced our list by a substantial number before applying the values for yield, cover, and growth rate.

Of course, no system is perfect and this website should not be taken as advice in any way, however we hope you enjoy looking at the rankings every month!