Consumer Goods

Products in the consumer goods sector include all products that are purchased by consumers rather than manufacturers and businesses. The types of products in this sector range from auto parts to food products to paper products to apparel. Since this sector is directly affected by consumer spending, it typically sees substantial growth in a strong economy, but declines in a weak economy.

The consumer goods sector can be split into two categories: cyclical and non-cyclical. Cyclical consumer goods include products and services for consumer use, including airlines, entertainment, restaurants and toys. Non-cyclical goods include products that are typically less affected by the business cycle. These goods include food, drinks and tobacco .

The average dividend yield in the sector as a whole is 2.22%, while the average consumer goods yield for stocks listed in the S&P is 2.5%. The highest yielding industry within this sector is the cigarette industry, which is well known for its high yields. Check out Why Tobacco Stocks Can Make Good Dividend Investments for more information on these stocks.

There are 21 consumer goods companies that have increased their dividends every year for the last 25 years including Altria (MO ), Kimberly Clark (KMB ) and Pepsico (PEP ).

Financial

The financial sector includes several money-related industries, including banks, savings and loans, insurance and real estate. The average yield for the financial sector is approximately 4.17%, while the average yield for financial services companies in the S&P 500 averages much lower at 2.5%. The average dividend yield for the sector as a whole remains high due to high yields in the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry and real estate development stocks.

There are 13 companies in the sector that have consistently increased their dividends over the past 25 years, including T. Rowe Price (TROW ), AFLAC Incorporated (AFL ) and Franklin Resources (BEN ). For investors seeking monthly paying dividend paying stocks, the financial sector has over 200 stocks that pay monthly .

Technology

The technology sector includes several industries including telecommunications, IT services, semiconductor manufacturing, software, data hosting services, biotechnology, and scientific research. On average, companies that are in this sector have a dividend yield of 3.2%, while technology companies in the S&P 500 have an average dividend yield of just 1.5%.

There are only three companies in this sector that have paid increasing dividends every year for at least 25 years, namely AT&T Inc. (T ), Automatic Data Processing (ADP ) and Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (TDS ).

Utilities

Main Takeaways from This Comparison

With the exception of the basic materials and financial sectors, which have MLPs and REITs skewing their average yields, the sectors generally have an average yield that is in-line with the average yield of their industries. A dividend comparison of each sector is essential to truly see how a specific stock compares to its peer.

Be sure to check out our entire lists of 25 Year Dividend increasers and Monthly Dividend Stocks. For a complete list of dividend stocks by sector, please click here .