In 1979, Mergent began identifying companies that have increased their annual dividend payments for ten or more consecutive years. In recognition of the dividend-paying companies' performance, they created the Handbook of Dividend Achievers. These companies remain as Dividend Achiever constituents as they continue their record of dividend increases.

Mergent's Dividend Achievers profiles each constituent with a business description, summary financial information, key ratios, long-term and short-term price scores, recent developments, quarterly earnings and dividend information, as well as a price chart. Additional information, gathered through analysis, includes longest records of dividend achievement, dividend achiever arrivals and departures, top 20 companies by total assets and highest price/earnings information.