Consumer products companies have been among the most rewarding dividend stocks to own over long periods of time.
Take industry behemoths Procter & Gamble (PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (CL) as prime examples.
P&G has paid a dividend for 127 years, and has increased its dividend for 60 years in a row.
Colgate-Palmolive began paying dividends to shareholders all the way back in 1895. It has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years.
Both companies are on the list of Dividend Aristocrats, a group of companies in the S&P 500 that have raised dividends for 25+ years.
Not only that, but they are also members of the Dividend Kings, an even more exclusive group of companies with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
There are just 19 Dividend Kings. You can see the entire list of Dividend Kings here.
This article will compare-and-contrast these two Dividend Kings.
Business Overview
Winner: P&G
P&G and Colgate-Palmolive are both giant consumer products companies.
P&G operates more than 60 brands, spread across 10 product categories.
Source: Company Fact Sheet, page 2
P&G has repositioned itself, after a long divestment process. In 2014, P&G sold its Duracell battery business to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) for $4.7 billion.
The following year, it sold a portfolio of 43 beauty brands to Coty (COTY) for $12.5 billion.
Colgate-Palmolive also has a large product portfolio, but it is more focused. Most of the company’s operations center on three key areas—oral health, household cleaners, and animal health products.
Some of its core brands include Colgate, Palmolive, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Tom’s of Maine, Ajax, and Hill’s.
Colgate-Palmolive has a strong grip on oral health products. It claims massive share in global toothpaste sales.
Source: 2017 CAGNY Presentation, page 23
But P&G has a big structural advantage right now—its smaller international presence.
