Updated on August 13th, 2026 by Nikolaos Sismanis
Blue-chip stocks are:
- Established
- Financially strong
- Consistently profitable
Their strength makes them appealing investments for comparatively safe, reliable dividends and capital appreciation versus less established stocks.
Many stocks with 25+ years of rising dividends are blue-chip stocks. That’s because they’ve demonstrated their ability to pay rising dividends over the long run.
But not all stocks with 25+ years of rising dividends (referred to as “Dividend Champions“) make equally good investments today…
That’s why this research report identifies and analyzes the top 10 best blue-chip stock buys now using expected total returns from the Sure Analysis Research Database.
We use the following criteria for our rankings:
- At least 25 consecutive years of dividend increases
- Dividend Risk Score of “A”
- Rank highest to lowest by expected total returns
The table of contents below allows for easy navigation.
- Blue-Chip Stock #10: Stepan Company (SCL)
- Blue-Chip Stock #9: H2O America (HTO)
- Blue-Chip Stock #8: Pentair plc (PNR)
- Blue-Chip Stock #7: The Marzetti Company (MZTI)
- Blue-Chip Stock #6: Brown & Brown (BRO)
- Blue-Chip Stock #5: Thomson Reuters (TRI)
- Blue-Chip Stock #4: Albemarle (ALB)
- Blue-Chip Stock #3: Badger Meter (BMI)
- Blue-Chip Stock #2: S&P Global (SPGI)
- Blue-Chip Stock #1: FactSet Research Systems (FDS)
Blue-Chip Stock #10: Stepan Company (SCL)
- Dividend History: 59 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 15.9%
Stepan Company manufactures specialty and intermediate chemicals, with surfactants used in cleaning, personal-care, agricultural, and industrial applications accounting for most of its business.
It also produces polymers and specialty ingredients.
The company’s specialized formulations and long customer relationships provide competitive advantages, although demand and margins can be cyclical.
Stepan has raised its dividend for 59 consecutive years, placing it among the relatively small groups of Dividend Champions and Dividend Kings.
Stepan reported a strong second quarter on July 29th, 2026. Net sales increased 15% to $684.1 million, while adjusted net income more than doubled to $27.1 million.
Adjusted earnings-per-share rose to $1.18 from $0.52, adjusted EBITDA increased 45% to $74.4 million, and organic sales volume advanced 6%. Surfactants led the improvement.
Sales were up 18%, and adjusted EBITDA was up 59%, while Polymers also delivered growth.
Management expects full-year adjusted EBITDA growth, positive free cash flow, and lower leverage.
Project Catalyst should support those goals through a leaner cost structure, although it includes about 100 salaried-position reductions and the closure of the Fieldsboro site.
Some second-quarter demand reflected customer purchases ahead of announced price increases, so subsequent volume trends deserve attention.
The quarterly dividend is $0.395 per share, or $1.58 annualized.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on SCL.
Blue-Chip Stock #9: H2O America (HTO)
- Dividend History: 58 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 15.9%
H2O America, formerly SJW Group, is a regulated water utility serving customers in California, Connecticut, Maine, and Texas.
Its essential service, regulated rate base, and long-lived infrastructure support relatively predictable cash flows.
The company has paid dividends for more than 80 years and increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years, an exceptional record for any utility.
The current quarterly dividend is $0.44 per share.
H2O America reported second-quarter revenue of $210.5 million, up 6% year-over-year.
GAAP net income increased 8% to $26.6 million, although GAAP earnings-per-share declined to $0.62 because of the higher share count.
Adjusted net income rose 17% to $30.7 million, while adjusted earnings-per-share were $0.72.
Through the first half, the company invested $206.9 million in infrastructure and maintained its 2026 capital-spending target of $483 million.
The proposed $540 million acquisition of Quadvest is the most important near-term development.
Management expects the transaction to close around the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Quadvest has nearly 59,800 active connections and almost 99,000 pending-development connections, which could make Texas a much larger growth engine.
H2O America also maintained standalone adjusted earnings-per-share guidance of $3.08 to $3.18 and its five-year capital plan of about $2.7 billion.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on HTO.
Blue-Chip Stock #8: Pentair plc (PNR)
- Dividend History: 50 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 16.0%
Pentair plc provides water-treatment, flow-management, and pool equipment through its Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool segments.
Its installed base creates recurring aftermarket demand, while water scarcity and efficiency investments support the long-term case.
Pentair joined the Dividend Kings after reaching 50 consecutive years of dividend increases.
Its quarterly dividend is $0.27 per share, equal to $1.08 annually.
Second-quarter sales declined 17% to $933 million, largely because the Pool channel reduced inventory by roughly $170 million.
GAAP earnings-per-share fell to $0.80 from $0.90, and adjusted earnings-per-share declined to $1.14 from $1.39.
Even with the sales pressure, adjusted return on sales was 25.4%.
Results also benefited from about $35 million of IEEPA tariff refunds, while Pentair repurchased $150 million of shares during the quarter.
Management expects adjusted earnings-per-share of $4.60 to $4.80 for 2026.
The more strategic development is Pentair’s agreement to acquire Taco Group for approximately $1.4 billion.
Taco is expected to generate about $540 million of 2026 revenue and has an EBITDA margin above 20%, including anticipated synergies.
If completed in the fourth quarter, the transaction should expand Pentair’s hydronic and plumbing exposure and is expected to add $0.10 to $0.15 to adjusted earnings-per-share in 2027.
Pool inventory normalization remains the key near-term variable.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on PNR.
Blue-Chip Stock #7: The Marzetti Company (MZTI)
- Dividend History: 63 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 17.0%
The Marzetti Company, formerly Lancaster Colony, owns a portfolio of specialty food brands and supplies restaurants through its Foodservice segment.
Its products include refrigerated dressings, dips, frozen breads, and sauces under brands such as Marzetti, New York Bakery, and Sister Schubert’s.
The company has increased its dividend for 63 consecutive years and has made more than 250 consecutive quarterly payments, making its payout record one of the longest in the consumer-staples sector.
For the fiscal third quarter ended March 31st, 2026, net sales declined 1.0% to $453.4 million.
Retail sales fell 3.2%, while Foodservice sales grew 1.5%.
Gross profit nevertheless reached a third-quarter record of $107.2 million, and gross margin improved 50 basis points to 23.6%.
Net income was $37.1 million, or $1.35 per share, compared with $1.49 per share in the prior-year period.
Marzetti completed its $400 million acquisition of Bachan’s on May 1st.
The fast-growing Japanese barbecue-sauce brand broadens the company’s exposure to premium condiments and should benefit from Marzetti’s retail relationships and manufacturing capabilities.
The purchase used a $200 million term loan plus cash, introducing leverage to what had been a debt-free balance sheet.
The dividend remains $1.00 per quarter, or $4.00 annualized, and the acquisition’s integration and growth contribution are now the principal items to monitor.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on MZTI.
Blue-Chip Stock #6: Brown & Brown (BRO)
- Dividend History: 32 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 17.8%
Brown & Brown is a large insurance broker offering property-and-casualty, employee-benefits, risk-management, and specialty insurance solutions.
Because brokers generally do not assume underwriting risk, the company can produce attractive cash flow while benefiting from insurance pricing and acquisition-led expansion.
Brown & Brown has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years; the latest increase was 10%, bringing the quarterly payout to $0.165 per share.
Second-quarter revenue rose 30.4% to $1.676 billion, driven primarily by acquisitions.
Income before taxes increased 23.2% to $383 million, GAAP earnings-per-share rose 7.7% to $0.84, and adjusted earnings-per-share increased 3.9% to $1.07.
Adjusted EBITDAC advanced 27.0% to $598 million, although its margin slipped to 35.7% from 36.7%.
Organic revenue was down 0.7%, or up 0.7% when contingent commissions were included, showing softer underlying growth than the headline revenue figure.
The acquisition of Accession Risk Management and its Risk Strategies and One80 Intermediaries businesses has materially enlarged Brown & Brown.
The combined organization now has more than 23,000 professionals across over 700 locations.
Integration costs and purchase-accounting effects will influence near-term comparisons, but the transaction expands the company’s specialty capabilities and distribution reach.
Brown & Brown’s low payout ratio also leaves substantial room to reinvest while continuing its dividend-growth record.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on BRO.
Blue-Chip Stock #5: Thomson Reuters (TRI)
- Dividend History: 33 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 19.1%
Thomson Reuters provides information, software, and workflow tools to legal, tax, accounting, corporate, and news professionals.
Its subscription-heavy model generates recurring revenue, while trusted proprietary content is especially valuable as customers adopt artificial intelligence.
The company has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years.
A 10% increase for 2026 brought the quarterly dividend to $0.655 per share, or $2.62 annualized.
Second-quarter revenue grew 9% to $1.954 billion, with organic revenue up 8%.
The company’s three largest business segments produced 10% organic growth.
Operating profit increased 28% to $558 million, adjusted EBITDA rose 10% to $745 million, and adjusted earnings-per-share advanced 14% to $0.99.
Free cash flow increased 29% to $727 million.
The strong quarter prompted management to raise its 2026 organic-revenue-growth outlook to approximately 8%, with 9.5% to 10% growth expected from the Big 3 segments.
Thomson Reuters continues to reposition around professional workflow software and fiduciary-grade AI, including CoCounsel Legal and its Thomson Reuters LLM.
It also agreed to form a Global Print joint venture with KKR, which will acquire a 51% interest for about $500 million in gross proceeds.
This should reduce exposure to structurally slower print operations while preserving participation in the business.
The company also completed a $600 million share-repurchase program, adding another use for its strong cash generation.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on TRI.
Blue-Chip Stock #4: Albemarle (ALB)
- Dividend History: 30 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 19.1%
Albemarle is a global specialty-chemicals company and one of the world’s largest lithium producers.
Its Energy Storage segment supplies lithium compounds used in electric-vehicle batteries, while Specialties serves industrial and consumer applications.
Lithium pricing makes earnings highly cyclical, but Albemarle’s scale and high-quality resources support its long-term position.
Its latest increase raised the quarterly dividend to $0.41, extending its dividend-growth streak to 30 years.
Second-quarter sales increased 31.1% to $1.743 billion.
Net income attributable to Albemarle was $480 million, diluted earnings-per-share were $3.52, and adjusted earnings-per-share were $3.75, up from $0.11 a year earlier.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 155% to $858.1 million.
Energy Storage sales advanced 77.9% as average realized lithium pricing increased to $19.53 per kilogram of lithium-carbonate equivalent.
Specialties sales rose 20.5%, with adjusted EBITDA up 61.3%.
Albemarle generated approximately $1.1 billion of operating cash flow during the first half and reduced its 2026 capital-spending outlook to about $500 million.
The company also sold a 51% interest in the Ketjen refining-catalyst business and idled its Kemerton lithium-hydroxide plant to improve capital efficiency and flexibility.
A fire at Talison’s CGP3 facility is expected to have limited full-year volume impact because production can be sourced from Wodgina.
The stronger balance sheet and cost discipline should help Albemarle navigate the commodity cycle.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on ALB.
Blue-Chip Stock #3: Badger Meter (BMI)
- Dividend History: 33 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 19.5%
Badger Meter provides water meters, flow-measurement products, sensors, and cloud-based analytics that help utilities manage water more efficiently.
Its BEACON software, ultrasonic meters, and connected endpoints give the business an attractive combination of equipment sales and recurring software revenue.
Badger Meter has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years.
Its most recent increase was 17.6%, bringing the quarterly payout to $0.40 per share.
Second-quarter sales were $222.3 million, up 10% sequentially but down 7% from the prior year.
Operating earnings declined 12% to $39.4 million, and earnings-per-share fell to $1.02 from $1.17.
Utility-water sales decreased 8% year-over-year because of project timing, although they increased 8% sequentially excluding acquisitions.
Flow-instrumentation sales were more resilient and grew 6%.
Badger Meter expects project deployments to accelerate in the second half of 2026 and continues to target approximately flat organic revenue for the full year.
The company completed its acquisition of UDlive in May, adding sewer-line monitoring technology and expanding its capabilities beyond drinking-water networks.
Quarterly project timing can make results uneven, but the underlying drivers remain favorable, including aging water infrastructure, labor constraints at utilities, leak reduction, and greater adoption of digital monitoring.
The dividend consumes a modest portion of expected earnings, giving management ample flexibility for further increases alongside investment in growth.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on BMI.
Blue-Chip Stock #2: S&P Global (SPGI)
- Dividend History: 53 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 22.0%
S&P Global owns leading financial-data, ratings, benchmark, and commodity-information franchises.
Its brands include S&P Ratings, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Capital IQ, and Platts. High recurring revenue, embedded customer workflows, and valuable proprietary data support strong margins.
The company has paid a dividend every year since 1937 and raised it for 53 consecutive years.
The quarterly dividend is $0.97, or $3.88 annualized.
Second-quarter revenue increased 10% to $4.146 billion.
Operating profit rose 17% to $1.812 billion, net income increased 14% to $1.217 billion, and diluted earnings-per-share advanced 18% to $4.12.
On a pro forma basis excluding Mobility, revenue grew 11% to $3.678 billion and adjusted earnings-per-share increased 23% to $4.83.
Ratings revenue rose 17%, while Indices revenue grew 20%, demonstrating the strength of S&P Global’s benchmark businesses.
The company completed the separation of Mobility Global on July 1st, creating a more focused group centered on four core divisions.
Management also reorganized Market Intelligence to accelerate AI-enabled products and agentic workflows.
For 2026, S&P Global expects adjusted earnings-per-share of $17.50 to $17.75 and plans more than $7 billion of share repurchases.
The Mobility separation makes reported comparisons more complex.
However, it should sharpen capital allocation and emphasize the company’s higher-margin data and benchmark franchises.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on SPGI.
Blue-Chip Stock #1: FactSet Research Systems (FDS)
- Dividend History: 27 years of consecutive increases
- Expected Total Return: 22.5%
FactSet Research Systems supplies financial data, analytics, and workflow tools to asset managers, investment banks, wealth managers, and other financial professionals.
Its products are deeply embedded in client processes, supporting high retention and recurring subscription revenue.
FactSet increased its quarterly dividend 5.5% to $1.16 in May, marking its 27th consecutive year of dividend growth.
That record is particularly notable because the company has simultaneously funded product investment and regular share repurchases.
For the fiscal third quarter ended May 31st, revenue increased 6.4% to $622.9 million, while organic revenue rose 7.0%.
Organic annual subscription value grew 7.1% to $2.486 billion, and client retention remained above 95%.
Adjusted earnings-per-share increased 6.1% to $4.53, although adjusted operating margin declined to 34.0% from 36.8%.
Free cash flow increased 11.1% to $254 million.
FactSet is directing substantial investment toward artificial intelligence and open-platform capabilities.
More than 90% of its 50 largest clients now use at least four FactSet AI products, and partnerships with Google Cloud, Finster AI, and TIFIN.AI broaden its ecosystem.
The company also launched a Model Context Protocol server to connect FactSet data with AI agents.
During the quarter, FactSet returned $243.4 million to shareholders through dividends and repurchases.
The central question is whether AI-related investment can sustain subscription growth while margins recover over time.
Deep Dive: Click here to download (for free) our most recent 3-Page Sure Analysis PDF report on FDS.
Final Thoughts
These 10 companies combine at least a quarter-century of dividend growth with the highest Dividend Risk Score in our Sure Analysis Research Database.
Their records span very different economic environments, which is meaningful evidence of durable business models and shareholder-friendly capital allocation.
The return cases vary.
FactSet, S&P Global, and Thomson Reuters offer recurring data and workflow revenue, while H2O America provides regulated utility growth.
Badger Meter and Pentair benefit from water-infrastructure investment, while Stepan and Albemarle offer more cyclical recovery potential.
Brown & Brown and Marzetti add insurance and consumer-staples exposure.
The projected returns are unusually high for companies with such long dividend records.
However, the underlying drivers differ, making valuation, execution, and the sustainability of each company’s earnings outlook important distinctions between the names.