Income investors value reliability and consistency, as well as high dividend yields. Some stocks provide a combination of these factors, such as the Dividend Champions — stocks that have raised their payouts for at least 25 years in a row.

These companies have proven that they can manage through recessions, while continuing to pay dividends each year, and raise their dividends on an annual basis.

These three Dividend Champions have long histories of dividend growth, market-beating yields, and the ability to raise their dividends each year going forward.

Emerson Electric (EMR)

Emerson Electric operates in the industrial sector as a diversified global leader in technology and engineering. Its global customer base and diverse product and service offerings afford it just over $17 billion in annual revenue.

The company has increased its dividend for 67 consecutive years, making it a Dividend King.

Emerson posted first quarter earnings on February 7th, 2024, and results were quite good as the company beat expectations handily on both the top and bottom lines. Adjusted earnings-per-share for the first quarter came to $1.22, which was 18 cents better than expected.

Revenue soared 22% higher year-over-year to $4.12 billion, beating estimates by over $200 million. Underlying sales, or organic sales, rose 10% year-over-year. This measure excludes mergers and acquisitions, as well as currency movements. Sales growth was 11% in the company’s Intelligent Devices unit, and the Software and Control segment saw staggering growth of 55% from the year-ago period.

Emerson’s competitive advantage is in its many decades of experience in building customer relationships and engineering excellence. It has a global customer base that is seeing strong economic growth and that underlying sales tailwind should power results going forward.

Eversource Energy (ES)

Eversource Energy is a diversified holding company with subsidiaries that provide regulated electric, gas, and water distribution service in the Northeast U.S. The company's utilities serve more than 4 million customers after acquiring NStar's Massachusetts utilities in 2012, Aquarion in 2017, and Columbia Gas in 2020.

On February 13th, 2024, Eversource Energy released its fourth quarter and full year 2023 results for the period ending December 31st, 2023. For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $2.69 billion, a decrease of 11.2% compared to $3.03 billion in the same quarter of last year.

The company reported earnings of $333.5 million and normalized earnings-per-share of $0.95 compared with earnings of $322.3 million and earnings-per-share of $0.92 in the prior year. The company reported earnings of $4.34 for 2023 compared with $4.09 per share in 2022, which reflects a year-over-year increase of 6.1%.

We expect the company to grow its earnings-per-share by 6% per year on average over the next five years. The company has a good earnings track record and will benefit from rate hikes, transmission investments, and clean energy initiatives.

The company has a long history of paying dividends and has increased its payout for 26 consecutive years. In February 2024, the quarterly dividend was increased by 5.9%. ES stock currently yields 4.8%.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL)

Colgate-Palmolive has been in existence for more than 200 years, having been founded in 1806. It operates in many consumer staples markets, including Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, and more recently, Pet Nutrition. These segments afford the company just over $20 billion in annual revenue.

Colgate posted fourth quarter earnings on January 26th, 2024, and results were quite strong. The company posted an organic sales increase of 7% year-over-year for the quarter, which was ahead of estimates for a 6.2% gain. Africa/Euroasia led the way with a gain of 17%, and Latin America was up 16.5%. North America was +3.5% and Asia-Pacific was weakest at +1.0%. Organic volume was flat while forex translation added 0.5% of growth.

Earnings-per-share came to 87 cents, which was two cents better than estimates, and up from 77 cents a year ago. Operating profit rose 14%. Europe led the way from a profit growth perspective, adding 35% year-over-year. Latin America was up 26% on strong sales gains, but Africa/Euroasia profit declined 15%. North America saw a 19% gain in operating profit.

The company has increased its dividend for 61 consecutive years, and the stock currently yields 2.2%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend increase streak should remain intact for years to come as its payout is still reasonable, and earnings hold up well during recessions.
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Bob Ciura has worked at Sure Dividend since October 2016. He oversees all content for Sure Dividend and its partner sites. Bob received a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from DePaul University, and an MBA with a concentration in Investments from the University of Notre Dame.