The DivGro Weekly—31.07.26

222 Consecutive dividend increases

Weekly Dividend Progress

This week we received further real-time, tangible evidence of outstanding business progress when Cintas increased its dividend by 15.6% and Wingstop increased its dividend by 10.0%. We also collected our quarterly dividend from Roper Technologies and became entitled to our quarterly dividend from Costco, both meaningfully higher than this time last year.

How We Are Tracking

Since DivGro's inception we have predicted and benefited from 222 consecutive dividend increases across our portfolio companies, with no decreases. The average rate of these dividend increases is 13.9%.

Cintas

Cintas, born out of the Great Depression, typifies that necessity really is the mother of invention. From its humble beginnings — upcycling and selling discarded rags — Cintas has ascended to market leader in the provision of uniform rental, sanitation, fire safety and first-aid services in North America. This week, the company announced a dividend uplift of 15.6%, extending its exceptional record of consistent annual dividend increases since its 1983 IPO, which have in turn powered a similarly impressive stock price performance. So, what differentiates Cintas from others? Its singular focus on executing the basics with aplomb. Cintas targets unexciting yet critical essentials such as clean and compliant uniforms and premises sanitation, while its scaled leadership means it can provide equivalent or superior quality at sharper prices than competitors. Currently serving about 1.3 million businesses, Cintas routinely highlights that there are a further 15 million North American businesses that do not yet benefit from Cintas’s superior services. This competitive positioning, coupled with line-up extensions such as its relatively recent additions of fire safety and first-aid services, translates into an effectively endless runway for Cintas to grow into, underpinning a likely extension of its commendable dividend growth record.