Building a long-term portfolio? Consider the Dividend Aristocrats as your shopping list

[marcellari1]

If the start of the New Year has you thinking about investing for the first time, scrapping your old portfolio and starting from scratch, or simply rebalancing your holdings and filling some gaps the Dividend Aristocrats could be a valuable place to look for candidates to identify longer-term holdings.

The Dividend Aristocrats is a list of companies that have increased their dividend payout for at least 25 consecutive years.

[MaribelHar]

One member of the Dividend Aristocrats is in an interesting situation. Illinois Tool Works [ITW] met analyst expectations and doubled profits for Q4 versus a year earlier however forward guidance narrowly missed the street's expectations and the stock slipped a couple percent to rebound slightly at prior resistance now formed support. Barclays reiterated an equal weight rating on the stock with a $67 price target earlier this month and with a low payout ratio of 35% the dividend is not in jeopardy in the opinions of most analysts.

[Mariusmata]

If this market ever pulls back Colgate [CL] looks like another one that might be a good buy in between $108 and $109.

[Martinspah]

Sigma Aldrich [SIAL] would be a nice addition between $75 and $76 after a long period of consolidation.