Dividend and Defensive Holdings by Ten-Year Return

This is the one ranking on Radar where the ordering is knowingly unfair to its subject. Price return ignores dividends, and dividends are the entire reason most people hold these companies. Publishing it anyway is more useful than hiding it, because the gap between how this list looks and how these holdings actually performed is the clearest possible illustration of why total return is the number that matters.

How this is ordered. Ordered by price return over the trailing ten years, best first. Dividends are excluded, which matters more for this group than for any other list on Radar.

1. 1

   WMT · Walmart

   Retail

   +384%

   Ten-year price return

   Retail. Ten thousand dollars became roughly $48,440 on price alone over the decade. Add reinvested dividends and the real figure is materially higher, which is precisely the point this list is making about judging income holdings on price charts.

   $48,440 from $10,000, price only
2. 2

   SCHD · Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF

   Dividend-screened ETF

   +172%

   Ten-year price return

   Dividend-screened ETF. Ten thousand dollars became roughly $27,166 on price alone over the decade. Add reinvested dividends and the real figure is materially higher, which is precisely the point this list is making about judging income holdings on price charts.

   $27,166 from $10,000, price only
3. 3

   JNJ · Johnson & Johnson

   Healthcare

   +154%

   Ten-year price return

   Healthcare. Ten thousand dollars became roughly $25,429 on price alone over the decade. Add reinvested dividends and the real figure is materially higher, which is precisely the point this list is making about judging income holdings on price charts.

   $25,429 from $10,000, price only
4. 4

   XOM · ExxonMobil

   Energy

   +113%

   Ten-year price return

   Energy. Ten thousand dollars became roughly $21,322 on price alone over the decade. Add reinvested dividends and the real figure is materially higher, which is precisely the point this list is making about judging income holdings on price charts.

   $21,322 from $10,000, price only
5. 5

   KO · Coca-Cola

   Beverages

   +106%

   Ten-year price return

   Beverages. Ten thousand dollars became roughly $20,571 on price alone over the decade. Add reinvested dividends and the real figure is materially higher, which is precisely the point this list is making about judging income holdings on price charts.

   $20,571 from $10,000, price only
6. 6

   PG · Procter & Gamble

   Household goods

   +78%

   Ten-year price return

   Household goods. Ten thousand dollars became roughly $17,783 on price alone over the decade. Add reinvested dividends and the real figure is materially higher, which is precisely the point this list is making about judging income holdings on price charts.

   $17,783 from $10,000, price only

If a list of dividend payers ranked by price return looks disappointing, that is the list working as intended. Go and look at total return figures from the fund providers before deciding anything.