For long-term investors, dividend returns are very important as they are an additional income that is earned over and above the capital gains earned by holding onto the stock.

• This smallcase consists of companies that have maintained an average dividend yield of at least 2% over the previous 5 years
• Additionally, only the companies that have not cut dividends for the last 5 years are included

Stock returns consist of two parts--price return and dividend return. An investor can earn back a significant portion of the investment in the form of dividends, before selling the stock.