Retirees face several unique challenges from an investment perspective. One is the desire to have a consistent amount of passive income being generated each month. In order to do this, retirees need information and data on what stocks pay dividends in each month of the calendar year.

This is where dividend growth stocks come in. The best dividend growth stocks can provide retirees with a growing stream of dividend income, which can help pay for life’s various expenses. There are a number of stocks that will pay their next quarterly dividend in September. McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) is among them, and is a high-quality dividend growth stock.

A World-Class Brand

McDonald’s is the largest publicly-traded fast food company in the world, with over 37,000 restaurants spread across 100 countries worldwide. It also has one of the most valuable brands in the world—the McDonald’s brand is reportedly worth over $40 billion. These competitive advantages fuel McDonald’s impressive growth.

Over the first half of 2018, comparable sales (which measures sales at locations open at least one year) increased 4.7%. Total sales declined by 14%, but this masks McDonald’s true performance. The company has aggressively transitioned to franchising, which has the effect of reducing revenue. Over 90% of McDonald’s restaurants are franchised. However, franchising greatly improves profitability for the parent company, and McDonald’s reported 14% earnings growth through the first half of 2018.

In addition, McDonald’s has changed its menu offerings to cater to changing consumer tastes. It has rolled out Signature Recipe Burgers for customers who want premium quality, which results in higher profit margins for the company. Plus, McDonald’s has several new Dollar Menu offerings for price-conscious customers, which generated higher transactions. These strategies have fueled McDonald’s growth. The company has registered 12 quarters in a row of comparable sales growth.

McDonald’s will focus on technological advancements for future growth. It has already rolled out delivery to more than 10,000 of its global restaurants. It brought Mobile Order & Pay to over half its restaurants, and has even more in store. McDonald’s is working on new uses of technology, such as self-order kiosks, to drive continued traffic and guest spending growth.

Serving Up Dividends

McDonald’s impressive earnings growth propels its dividend growth. McDonald’s has raised its dividend each and every year since paying its first dividend in 1976, a streak going back 41 years. This has earned McDonald’s a place on the list of Dividend Aristocrats, a select group of S&P 500 stocks with 25+ consecutive annual dividend increases.

McDonald’s pays its third-quarter dividend on September 18. The stock has a 2.5% dividend yield, which beats the average yield in the S&P 500 Index. And, McDonald’s is likely to continue increasing its dividend for many years. McDonald’s had a dividend payout ratio of 56% in the first half of 2018, which means the dividend is highly secure. The dividend should remain secure, even if another recession hits.

McDonald’s has a tremendously recession-resistant business model. As a fast food operator, it actually benefits when consumers tighten their belts and shift their dining out spending downward to the fast food category. This is why McDonald’s continued to increase its dividend each year during the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

With an above-average dividend yield, and one of the strongest brands in the world, McDonald’s is an attractive stock pick for dividend growth.

Ben Reynolds is CEO of Sure Dividend. Sure Dividend helps individual investors build high quality dividend growth stock portfolios for the long run.