From Dividend Growth Stocks:

For many people, the S&P 500 and U.S. Stock Market are synonymous terms. While in reality, the U.S. stock market is much larger with public companies numbering in the thousands. The S&P 500 Index is owned and maintained by Standard & Poor's, a division of McGraw-Hill. The index was first published in 1957 and is the second-most recognized index in the U.S. behind only the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Stocks included in the S&P 500 are large public companies that trade on either the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq. Most of the stocks are U.S.-based companies. However, there are a few companies with headquarters in or incorporated outside the U.S. For many investors, the S&P 500 is used as a benchmark for their portfolios.

Not all stocks in the index pay dividends, but many of the best-known dividend-growth stocks are part of the index. The dividend Aristocrats is a subset of the S&P 500 and is limited to stocks that have increased their dividend for 25 or more years.

This week, I screened my dividend-growth stock database for stocks that are members of the S&P 500, have a yield greater than 4%, and have 10 or more years of dividend growth...

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