It’s time again to try and dig through all the noise out there and find what are the best dividend stocks for December.

This is my list of December Dividend Kings.

About my list

There are over 5000 stocks on the U.S. exchanges and only 9 made my December list. As you can see by the list below, it’s not easy being a U.S. Dividend King and these stocks all had to pass a series of test to make it on the list.

The Criteria

This month I loosened up the criteria by a sliver to allow a few more companies to make the list (In BOLD).

1. The company must have 25 or more years of uninterrupted dividend growth
2. The company must have a Graham number greater than its current share price
3. Its payout ratio must be under 70%
4. Its P/E ratio must be under 15
5. The company must have a price to book ratio under 2
6. Must have a market cap above 1 billion dollars

DECEMBER US DIVIDEND KINGS

	Ticker	Streak	Yield	Price	Graham Value	P/E	EPS	Dividend	Payout %	P/Book	Div/Gr 10yr
1	CINF	56	2.50	$76.74	$61.60	19.73	3.89	1.92	49.36	1.77	4.6
2	UVV	46	3.92	$55.05	$62.96	16.38	3.36	2.16	64.29	1.05	2.2
3	ED	42	3.84	$69.77	$65.32	17.23	4.05	2.68	66.17	1.49	1.3
4	ADM	41	2.78	$43.23	$42.23	16.38	2.64	1.20	45.45	1.44	12.7
5	BEN	36	1.83	$39.26	$37.17	13.35	2.94	0.72	24.49	1.88	16.2
6	ORI	35	4.20	$17.87	$23.76	12.24	1.46	0.75	51.37	1.04	3.8
7	AFL	34	2.41	$71.38	$88.91	11.33	6.30	1.72	27.30	1.28	13.6
8	T	33	5.07	$38.63	$32.53	16.44	2.35	1.96	83.40	1.93	3.8
9	SRCE	29	4.88	$39.36	$35.64	18.06	2.18	0.72	33.03	1.52	5.2

As you can see from the list above, there were only 2 companies that passed the King’s test in every category. Those companies were Aflac inc and Old Republic International.

The Best Dividend Stocks

1. Cincinnati Financial Corp

–Cincinnati Financial Corporation engages in the property casualty insurance business in the United States. It operates through five segments: Commercial Lines Insurance, Personal Lines Insurance, Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance, Life Insurance, and Investments.

2. Universal Corp

–Universal Corp is a leaf tobacco supplier and is engaged in procuring and processing flue-cured and burley leaf tobacco for manufacturers of consumer tobacco products.

3. Consolidated Edison Inc

-Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States

4. Archer-Daniels Midland

–Archer-Daniels Midland Co is a processor of oilseeds, corn, wheat, cocoa, and other feedstuffs and is a manufacturer of vegetable oil and protein meal, corn sweeteners, flour, biodiesel, ethanol, and other value-added food and feed ingredients.

5. Franklin Resources

–Franklin Resources Inc is an investment management company. The Company’s services include fund administration, sales, distribution, marketing, shareholder servicing, and other fiduciary services.

6. Old Republic International

–Old Republic International Corporation is an insurance underwriting and related services company. It conducts its operations through General Insurance, Title Insurance, and the Republic Financial Indemnity and consumer credit indemnity Run-off Business.

7. Aflac Inc

–Aflac Inc is a general business holding company and acts as a management company. The Company sells supplemental health and life insurance in the United States and Japan.

8. AT&T Inc

–AT&T Inc, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in provision of communications and digital entertainment services in the United States and the world.

9. 1st Source Corp

-1st Source Corp through its subsidiary offers commercial and consumer banking services, trust and investment management services, and insurance to individual and business clients in Indiana and Michigan.

Final Thoughts

Personally, when I buy stocks I start with a list of metrics just like this. Like any screening method , the purpose of my list is to help you dig through the stock market to find some of the best U.S. dividend stocks, which can then be further researched.

Going through the numbers, I’m looking at buying AT&T, ADM and AFLAC if the market takes a dip.

The best way to use my U.S. Dividend Kings list is as a starting point.

Don’t feel confined to my methods. Look up the values that mean the most to you.

Disclosure. I’m long BEN and ORI and may or may not purchase shares in any of the stocks in this post.

Resources from: Morningstar, Google Finance, Zacks,

The US Dividend Champions are maintained by Dave Fish of Moneypaper’s DirectInvesting.com.