Published on December 24th, 2024 by Bob Ciura
It isn’t surprising that we favor stocks that pay dividends as studies have shown that owning income producing securities is an excellent way to build wealth while also protecting to the downside.
In bull markets, dividends can add to the gains from the stock while also purchasing additional shares. When prices decline, dividends can reduce the losses while being used to acquire more shares at a now lower price.
With this in mind, we created a full list of the Dividend Kings, a group of stocks with over 50 consecutive years of dividend increases.
You can see the full downloadable spreadsheet of all 54 Dividend Kings (along with important financial metrics such as dividend yields, payout ratios, and price-to-earnings ratios) by clicking on the link below:
The Dividend Kings list includes several mega-cap stocks that have enormous businesses, such as Walmart Inc. (WMT) and Coca-Cola (KO).
These dividend growth stocks have been rewarding shareholders with rising income for decades. The following 10 stocks represent Dividend Kings that can continue to raise their dividends for decades to come.
The list includes 10 Dividend Kings with Dividend Risk Scores of A or B in the Sure Analysis Research Database, that also have payout ratios below 70% to ensure a sustainable dividend payout.
Table of Contents
Dividend King To Hold Forever: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
Archer-Daniels-Midland is the largest publicly traded farmland product company in the United States. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s businesses include processing cereal grains, oilseeds, and agricultural storage and transportation.
Archer-Daniels-Midland reported its third-quarter results for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 on November 18th, 2024. The company reported adjusted net earnings of $530 million and adjusted EPS of $1.09, both down from the prior year due to a $461 million non-cash charge related to its Wilmar equity investment.
Consolidated cash flows year-to-date reached $2.34 billion, reflecting strong operations despite market challenges.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ADM (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: Becton, Dickinson & Co. (BDX)
Becton, Dickinson & Co. is a global leader in the medical supply industry. The company was founded in 1897 and has 75,000 employees across 190 countries.
The company generates about $20 billion in annual revenue, with approximately 43% of revenues coming from outside of the U.S.
BDX reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024, which ended September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 6.9% to $5.44 billion, which was $57 million more than expected.
Source: Investor Presentation
On a currency neutral basis, revenue improved 7.4%. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $3.81 compared favorably to $3.42in the prior year and was $0.04 ahead of estimates.
For the fiscal year, revenue grew 4.2% to $20.2 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $13.14 compared to $12.21 in the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on BDX (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: Kimberly-Clark (KMB)
Kimberly-Clark is a global consumer products company that operates in 175 countries and sells disposable consumer goods, including paper towels, diapers, and tissues.
It operates segments that each house many popular brands: the Personal Care Segment (Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Depend, Poise), the Consumer Tissue segment (Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva), and a professional segment. In all, KMB generates ~$21 billion in annual revenue.
Source: Investor Presentation
Kimberly-Clark posted third quarter earnings on October 22nd, 2024, and results were mixed. The company saw the top line fall 4% year-on-year to $5 billion, and that missed estimates by $50 million. Adjusted earnings-per-share fared better, beating expectations by 12 cents at $1.83.
The company noted higher prices for personal care products. While that boosted profit margins on those products, it also drove consumers to lower-priced alternatives, which is why sales fell.
Management noted pricing increases were required in hyper-inflationary economies such as Argentina to help offset input and operating costs. Adjusted profit margins rose 90 basis points to 36.7%.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Kimberly-Clark (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: Hormel Foods (HRL)
a juggernaut in the food products industry with nearly $10 billion in annual revenue.
Hormel has kept with its core competency as a processor of meat products for well over a hundred years, but has also grown into other business lines through acquisitions.
Hormel has a large portfolio of category-leading brands. Just a few of its top brands include include Skippy, SPAM, Applegate, Justin’s, and more than 30 others.
It has also pursued acquisitions to drive growth. For example, in 2021, Hormel acquired the Planters snack nuts business from Kraft-Heinz (KHC) for $3.35 billion, which has boosted Hormel’s growth.
Source: Investor Presentation
Hormel Foods Corporation reported strong Q3 fiscal 2024 results, with net sales of $2.9 billion and adjusted operating income of $267 million, exceeding expectations.
Key drivers included strong performances in retail brands and international markets, supported by ongoing improvements from the company’s modernization initiatives.
The company posted diluted earnings per share of $0.32 ($0.37 adjusted) and a cash flow from operations of $218 million.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Hormel (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 and has transformed into one of the largest companies in the world. Johnson & Johnson is a mega-cap stock. The company generates annual sales above $99 billion.
The company operates a diversified business model, allowing it to appeal to a wide variety of customers within the healthcare sector.
J&J now operates two segments, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, after spinning off its consumer health franchises.
Johnson & Johnson reported third-quarter 2024 sales growth of 5.2%, reaching $22.5 billion, with operational growth of 6.3%.
Source: Investor Presentation
However, earnings per share (EPS) decreased by 34.3%, largely due to a one-time special charge and acquired in-process research and development (IPR&D).
Adjusted EPS fell 9.0% to $2.42, driven by the same IPR&D impact. The company made significant advancements, including approvals for treatments like TREMFYA and RYBREVANT, and the submission of a new general surgery robotic system, OTTAVA.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on JNJ (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: Target Corporation (TGT)
Target was founded in 1902 and now operates about 1,850 big box stores, which offer general merchandise and food, as well as serving as distribution points for the company’s e-commerce business.
Target posted second quarter earnings on August 21st, 2024, and results were quite strong, sending the stock jumping after the report. Adjusted earnings-per-share came to $2.57, which was 39 cents ahead of estimates. Revenue was up 2.7% year-over-year to $25.45 billion, which beat by $240 million.
Comparable sales were up 2% year-over-year, making up most of the total sales gain. Consensus was for a gain of 1.1%. Traffic was up 3% year-over-year with all six core merchandising categories seeing positive growth. Digital comparable sales were up 8.7%, once again driving growth.
Target has grown its dividend for more than five decades, making it a Dividend King. The company is investing heavily in its business in order to navigate through the changing landscape in the retail sector. The payout is now 47% of earnings for this year,
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on TGT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
Coca-Cola was founded in 1892. Today, it is the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverage company. It owns or licenses more than 500 non-alcoholic beverages, including both sparkling and still beverages.
Its brands account for about 2 billion servings of beverages worldwide every day, producing more than $45 billion in annual revenue.
The sparkling beverage portfolio includes the flagship Coca-Cola brand, as well as other soda brands like Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, and more.
The still beverage portfolio includes water, juices, and ready-to-drink teas, such as Dasani, Minute Maid, Vitamin Water, and Honest Tea.
Source: Investor Presentation
Coca-Cola dominates sparkling soft drinks, but the company is attempting to maintain and even improve this dominant position with product extensions of existing popular brands, including reduced and zero-sugar versions of brands like Sprite and Fanta.
Coca-Cola posted third quarter earnings on October 23rd, 2024, and results were better than expected on both revenue and profits. The company saw adjusted earnings-per-share of 77 cents, which was two cents better than estimates.
Revenue was off fractionally year-over-year to $11.9 billion, but did beat estimates by $290 million. Organic revenues were up by 9%. That included 10% growth in price and mix, a 2% decline in concentrate sales, and a 1% gain in case volumes.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on KO (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: SJW Group (SJW)
SJW Group is a water utility company that produces, purchases, stores, purifies and distributes water to consumers and businesses in the Silicon Valley area of California, the area north of San Antonio, Texas, Connecticut, and Maine.
SJW Group has a small real estate division that owns and develops properties for residential and warehouse customers in California and Tennessee. The company generates about $670 million in annual revenues.
Source: Investor Presentation
On October 28th, 2024, SJW Group reported third quarter results for the period ending June 30th, 2024. For the quarter, revenue grew 9.9% to $225.1 million, beating estimates by $11.6 million. Earnings-per-share of $1.18 compared favorably to earnings-per-share of $1.13 in the prior year and was $0.04 more than expected.
As with prior periods, the improvement in revenue was mostly due to SJW Group’s California and Connecticut businesses, which benefited from higher water rates, while growth in customers aided the Texas business.
Higher rates overall added $40 million to results for the quarter, higher customer usage added $4.8 million, and growth in customers contributed $2.4 million. Operating production expenses totaled $166.7 million, which was a 12% increase from the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SJW (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: National Fuel Gas (NFG)
National Fuel Gas Co. is a diversified energy company that operates in five business segments: Exploration & Production, Pipeline & Storage, Gathering, Utility, and Energy Marketing. The largest segment of the company is Exploration & Production.
Thanks to its vertically integrated business model, it enjoys significant synergies.
Source: Investor Presentation
In early November, National Fuel Gas reported (11/1/23) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. The company grew its production 7% over the prior year’s quarter thanks to the development of core acreage positions in Appalachia. However, the average realized price of natural gas fell -18%, from $2.84 to $2.33.
As a result, adjusted earnings-per-share declined -34%, from $1.19 to $0.78, and missed the analysts’ consensus by $0.07. The company has beaten the analysts’ estimates in 15 of the last 18 quarters.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on NFG (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Dividend King To Hold Forever: California Water Service Group (CWT)
California Water Service is a water stock and is the third-largest publicly-owned water utility in the United States.
It was founded in 1926 and has six subsidiaries that provide water to approximately 2 million people in 100 communities, primarily in California but also in Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii.
Source: Investor Presentation
California Water Service reported its third quarter earnings results on October 31st. Operating revenues totaled $300 million during the quarter, which was 18% higher than the same quarter last year. This represents a stronger performance compared to what the analyst community had forecasted.
The operating revenue increase was driven by rate increases over the last year as well as by higher accrued unbilled revenue compared to the previous year’s quarter.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on CWT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts
Screening to find the best Dividend Kings is not the only way to find high-quality dividend growth stocks to hold forever.
Sure Dividend maintains similar databases on the following useful universes of stocks:
There is nothing magical about investing in the Dividend Kings. They are simply a group of high-quality businesses with shareholder-friendly management teams that have strong competitive advantages.
Purchasing businesses with these characteristics–at fair or better prices–and holding them forever, will likely result in strong long-term investment performance.
Thanks for reading this article. Please send any feedback, corrections, or questions to support@suredividend.com.