Eli Lilly Is Putting Dividend Growth Stocks to Shame With Yet Another Huge Increase to Its Payout

Dividend investors often prioritize stocks that have long track records for raising their payouts. But that can be a mistake. A long streak doesn't necessarily make a dividend stock a good long-term buy. After all, those increases may only be modest, for the sake of keeping the streak going. And if a company increases its dividend by just one or two percentage points, that's not even going to offset inflation.What Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) is doing is far more impressive. The company has been increasing its dividend at a high rate, and with a bright future ahead, there could be more generous rate hikes to come. While many investors may buy it for its growth potential, here's why it can also make for an exceptional dividend stock to buy and hold.On Dec. 9, healthcare giant Eli Lilly announced the approval of a new $15 billion share buyback program and yet another significant dividend increase. For a seventh consecutive year, the company will be increasing its dividend by 15%. The new quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which will be payable in March, is 167% higher than the $0.5625 per share that Eli Lilly was paying shareholders back in 2018. Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool