Most companies in the US pay their dividends quarterly. And most follow a fixed schedule of the first, second or third months in each quarter.
When I first started investing in individual stocks I wanted to set it up so that I would get paid monthly. After a few months fumbling blindly around the market, getting monthly paychecks became my first attainable goal. Turns out it was easier than I initially thought.
I have put together a table of most of the dividend aristocrats by sector and payout schedule. Some companies that do not follow this standard schedule are listed below. Follow the links to read more about the companies and do your own research before investing.
| Sector | Jan, April, July, Oct | Feb, May, Aug, Nov | March, June, Sept, Dec |
| Communication | T | ||
| Consumer Discretionary | GPC, LEG | LOW | MCD, ROST, TGT, VFC |
| Consumer Staples | BF-B, KMB, MKC, SYY | CLX, CL, HRL, PG | ADM, WBA |
| Energy | CVX, XOM | ||
| Financials | CB, CINF, BEN | PBCT | AFL, SPGI, TROW |
| Healthcare | CAH, MDT | ABBV, ABT | BDX, JNJ |
| Industrials | ITW, ROP | AOS, CAT, GD | MMM, DOV, EMR, SWK, UTX, GWW |
| Information Technology | ADP | ||
| Materials | ALB, ECL | APD, NUE | PPG, SHW |
| Real Estate | ESS, FRT | ||
| Utilities | ATO, ED |
As I mentioned, some companies clearly like to be the odd ones out and they decide not to follow this strict schedule.
KO pays their dividends in April, July, October and December
PEP pays in January, March, June and September
WMT pays in January, April, June and September
CTAS pays in December
EXPD pays in June and December
O pays monthly