Better Agricultural Products' Prospects Help This Global Processing Giant Enter Best Dividend Stocks List

Dividend.com has added an international agriculture firm to the Best Dividend Stocks List and removed a global retailer from the list.

After years of being the laughing stock of market with some hefty underperformance, the agricultural sector is roaring ahead. Thanks to a growing global economy, demand for all matters of agricultural commodities – from corn to soybeans – has started to move higher. And with that, prices have exploded as well, which has benefited the farmers and producers of wheat, corn and other agriculture products.

This includes our new Best Dividend Stocks List’s pick.

As one of the largest agricultural processors and logistics firms in the world, our pick performs a vital function as a middleman for the sector. A function it’s been doing since its founding back in 1902. Because of this, our new pick has built an impressive moat of facilities, processing plants, storage units and other vital pieces of infrastructure. This network allows it to reap plenty of efficiencies, resulting in high margins.

These efficiencies have also provided our pick with plenty of cash flows and dividend growth throughout its history. In fact, since 2010, our pick has managed to grow its payout by more 100%.

With our pick continuing to wring more out from its system and demand rising for agricultural commodities, the long-term prognosis for our pick is great. In the end, the agricultural sector and our new Best Dividend Stocks List’s pick will have the last laugh.

To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:

1. Huge moat of irreparable assets featuring over 800 different facilities and processing plants.
2. Produced over $60 billion in sales over the course of last year.
3. Has made over 24 bolt-on acquisitions since 2014 in order to grow its asset base further.
4. Has increased its dividend for 40+ years straight and has increased that payout over the last five years by an average of nearly 13% per year.
5. Healthy payout ratio of 45% and a yield of around 3%.

Removal of a Global Retailer from the Best Dividend Stocks List

In order to make room for our new agricultural pick, we are forced to remove another stock from the list. In this case, a global retailing giant. After years of decent performance, our pick has had a hard time during the recent market volatility. Because of its size and standing, institutional investors have continued to sell shares on weakness. That’s caused it to drop below our threshold for momentum. With its relative strength score dropping and pulling down its overall DARS score, we are forced to remove it from our list. However, the firm continues to see rising sales – including e-commerce – and features an enviable moat, cash flows and dividend growth potential. As a result, we still remain bullish on the name.

Find out which dividend-paying champion made it to our Best Dividend Stocks List here.