Top Dividend Aristocrat Stocks: August 2010

After a big rally in July, the stock market turned bearish once again last month. The Dow Jones index shed 451 points or 4.3 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 4.7 percent in August as worries about a double-dip recession weighed on investors.

Dividend aristocrat stocks once again outperformed the broader market indices. The group of 42 long-term dividend payers declined only 2.8 percent on average. 12 of the dividend aristocrats posted gains even in the face of a broader market sell-off. And only three aristocrats posted double-digit losses in August (Pitney Bowes (PBI: 19.29 +0.89%), Supervalu (SVU: 6.98 +0.14%) and V.F. (VFC: 133.39 +2.64%)).

The best performing dividend aristocrat stock for the month of August was Archer Daniels Midland (ADM: 29.55 +1.30%). The agriculture stock benefited from the positive focus given to the sector last month. Beginning with Russia’s ban of all grain exports and ending with BHP Billiton’s (BHP: 82.15 +1.55%) unsolicited takeover bid for Potash (POT: 46.93 -0.70%) investors poured money into food and agriculture stocks. ADM benefited with their stock price rising 12.6 percent in August.

Here is a look at the other top dividend aristocrat stocks for August:

McDonalds (MCD: 100.01 +1.41%) – gained 4.8 percent

Chubb (CB: 68.58 +1.14%) – gained 4.8 percent

Family Dollar Stores – gained 3.5 percent

Consolidated Edison (ED: 58.82 -0.08%) – gained 3.1 percent

Integrys Energy Group (TEG: 52.72 +0.44%) – gained 2.3 percent

Air Products & Chemicals (APD: 90.40 +2.09%) – gained 2.0 percent

Sherwin-Williams (SHW: 97.77 +0.90%) – gained 1.8 percent

CenturyLink (CTL: 37.40 +0.78%) – gained 1.5 percent

Coca-Cola (KO: 68.08 +0.37%) – gained 1.4 percent

Abbott Labs (ABT: 55.00 +1.01%) – gained 0.5 percent

Kimberly-Clark (KMB: 72.23 -0.11%) – gained 0.4 percent

With another strong showing this month, Family Dollar Stores has far-and-away been the top dividend aristocrat stock in 2010. FDO shares are up an amazing 53.8 percent since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index has fallen 5.9 percent since the beginning of 2010.

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