A Dividend King is a company that's grown its dividend payment for at least 50 consecutive years. Many Dividend Kings have delivered market-crushing wealth gains over the very long term, but not all continue to earn their shareholders above-average total returns.
Companies that pay -- and then grow -- their dividends every year generally have several important characteristics investors should look for:
- Durable competitive moats that help them generate steady profits year after year
- The ability to grow earnings per share over the long term
- Prudent board members and management who prioritize returning excess profits -- those not needed to support the long-term needs of the business -- to shareholders
What is a Dividend King?
There's a single qualification required to become a member of the Dividend Kings. A stock must record at least 50 consecutive years of dividend raises.
These dividend stocks are usually mature businesses with stable cash flow and rising earnings. Management will typically protect the dividend and ensure it can keep raising its payout every year. That can be good in most cases, but it can cause some irrational management decisions in others.
Dividend Kings vs. Dividend Aristocrats
Many investors are familiar with the Dividend Aristocrats®. (The term Dividend Aristocrats® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC.) These stocks are members of the S&P 500 that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years.
Dividend Kings don't have to be members of the S&P 500, but they've all increased their dividends for 50 years, at least twice as long as the Aristocrat threshold.
2026 Dividend Kings
These 57 stocks qualified as Dividend Kings as of Feb. 5, 2026, including two unofficial Dividend Kings that qualify depending on how you interpret dividend growth.
Dividend King | Sector | Dividend Increase Streak |
|---|---|---|
American States Water (NYSE:AWR) | Utilities | 71 |
Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) | Industrials | 70 |
Northwest Natural Holdings (NYSE:NWN) | Utilities | 70 |
Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) | Consumer Goods | 69 |
Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) | Industrials | 69 |
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) | Consumer Goods | 69 |
Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) | Industrials | 69 |
Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) | Financials | 66 |
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) | Consumer Goods | 63 |
Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) | Consumer Goods | 63* |
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) | Healthcare | 63 |
Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) | Consumer Goods | 63 |
Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) | Consumer Goods | 62 |
Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) | Industrials | 62 |
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) | Industrials | 62 |
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (OTC:FMCB) | Financials | 60 |
Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) | Consumer Goods | 60 |
California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) | Utilities | 60 |
Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) | Real Estate | 58 |
Tootsie Roll Industries (NYSE:TR) | Consumer Goods | 58** |
Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) | Industrials | 58 |
ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) | Industrials | 58 |
Stepan (NYSE:SCL) | Industrials | 58 |
Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) | Financials | 58 |
H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) | Utilities | 58 |
H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) | Materials | 56 |
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) | Consumer Goods | 56 |
Black Hills Corp. (NYSE:BKH) | Utilities | 56 |
National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) | Energy | 55 |
Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) | Consumer Goods | 55 |
MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) | Industrials | 55 |
Sysco (NYSE:SYY) | Consumer Goods | 55 |
Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) | Consumer Goods | 54 |
Target (NYSE:TGT) | Consumer Goods | 54 |
W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) | Industrials | 54 |
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) | Healthcare | 54 |
BD (NYSE:BDX) | Healthcare | 54 |
Tennant (NYSE:TNC) | Industrials | 54 |
AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) | Healthcare | 54**** |
Canadian Utilities (OTC:CDUAF) | Utilities | 54*** |
Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) | Consumer Goods | 54 |
PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) | Industrials | 54 |
ADM (NYSE:ADM) | Industrials | 53 |
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) | Consumer Goods | 53 |
Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) | Utilities | 53 |
The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSE:GRC) | Industrials | 53 |
Nucor (NYSE:NUE) | Industrials | 53 |
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) | Consumer Goods | 53 |
S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) | Financials | 53 |
Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) | Utilities | 52 |
RPM International (NYSE:RPM) | Industrials | 52 |
Fortis (NYSE:FTS) | Utilities | 51 |
United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) | Financials | 51 |
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) | Technology | 51 |
RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) | Financials | 50 |
MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) | Utilities | 50 |
Pentair (NYSE:PNR) | Industrials | 50 |
The industrial and consumer goods sectors make up more than half of the 2025 Dividend Kings list. This shouldn't be a surprise. Companies in these sectors tend to pay dividends and raise their prices with inflation, and many have also been in operation for a long time. The list breaks down as follows:
- 17 industrial companies.
- 16 consumer goods.
- 10 utility stocks.
- 4 healthcare stocks.
- 6 financial stocks.
- 1 energy stock.
- 1 materials stock.
- 1 real estate stock.
- 1 tech stock.
There aren't any exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that focus exclusively on Dividend Kings. However, the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL -0.30%) owns shares of all Dividend Aristocrats®.
Dividend King changes in 2026
Companies that make this list don't often lose their status; the things that make a company strong enough to make it 50 years with annual dividend increases are usually very durable. Plus, there's tremendous pressure on companies that have increased their dividends for 50-plus years to keep the streak going. No CEO wants to be known as the leader who messed up such an impressive dividend track record.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Likely Dividend King winners in 2026
Three key factors could affect many stocks in 2026, including several of the Dividend Kings:
- Inflation.
- Interest rates.
- A possible recession tied to the two factors above and deteriorating employment and consumer spending.
Here are three Dividend Kings that could be winners in 2026:
| Name and ticker | Market cap | Dividend yield | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target (NYSE:TGT) | $51.2 billion | 4.01% | Food and Staples Retailing |
| Altria Group (NYSE:MO) | $114.8 billion | 6.06% | Tobacco |
| Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) | $599.0 billion | 2.09% | Pharmaceuticals |
1. Target
NYSE: TGT
Key Data Points
NYSE: MO
Key Data Points
NYSE: JNJ
Key Data Points
Related investing topics
FAQ
Dividend Kings FAQ
About the Author
Jason Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends 3M, AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Emerson Electric, Kenvue, ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF, S&P Global, Sysco, Target, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Abm Industries, Fortis, Genuine Parts, Illinois Tool Works, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe's Companies, RPM International, and Tennant and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $13 calls on Kenvue. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
