Dividend Appreciator, May 23, 2016
Summary
Medtronic is operating in a growing industry. 
Medtronic is a member of the elite Dividend Aristocrats.
The Board is committed to hiking the dividend and is likely to do so by 13% this June.
It’s not every day that you find a solid company operating in a growing industry which also happens to be a dividend aristocrat. Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), however, is just such a company.
This company, of course, is operating in the healthcare industry, being the largest medical technology company in the world. The company operates all around the world, making it less dependent on any one market. Having almost half of its sales coming from the cardiac and vascular group is a good position to be in considering the aging population around the world. This company looks to be well-placed to continue its past success into the future.
To say that it has been successful in the past would be an understatement. Over the last five years the stock has doubled. On top of that, investors would enjoy a decent 2%-ish annual dividend. That equals about a 17% average total annual shareholder return. That return has also come in a pretty stable manner with a nice, smooth uptrend year after year.