From 1991 through 2015, the S&P 500 Index has returned 9.8% a year. For every $1 invested in the S&P 500 at the start of 1991, an investor would have $10.45 (all returns in this article include dividends unless stated otherwise).

Investing in an equal weighted basket of the 18 current Dividend Kings in 1991 (and rebalancing each year) would have generated compound returns of 14.0% a year (over 4 percentage points greater than the S&P 500). Every $1 invested would have turned into $26.67.

‘Difference’ is the performance of an equal weighted portfolio of Dividend Kings versus the S&P 500