Updated on April 4th, 2024 by Bob Ciura
Income investors are always on the hunt for high-quality dividend stocks. There are many ways to measure high-quality stocks. One way for investors to find great dividend stocks is to focus on those with the longest histories of raising dividends.
With this in mind, we created a downloadable list of all 149 Dividend Champions.
You can download your free copy of the Dividend Champions list, along with relevant financial metrics like price-to-earnings ratios, dividend yields, and payout ratios, by clicking on the link below:
Investors are likely familiar with the Dividend Aristocrats, a group of 68 stocks in the S&P 500 Index with 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases. Meanwhile, investors should also familiarize themselves with the Dividend Champions, which have also raised their dividends for at least 25 years in a row.
While their length of dividend increases is the same, leading to some overlap, there are also some important differences between the Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Champions. As a result, the Dividend Champions list is much more expansive. There are many high-quality Dividend Champions that are not included on the Dividend Aristocrats list.
This article will discuss the Dividend Champions, and an analysis of our top 7 Dividend Champions, ranked according to expected total returns in the Sure Analysis Research Database.
Table of Contents
You can instantly jump to any specific section of the article by clicking on the links below:
- Overview of Dividend Champions
- Top Dividend Champion #7: Sanofi SA (SNY)
- Top Dividend Champion #6: Enterprise Bancorp (EBTC)
- Top Dividend Champion #5: Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMCB)
- Top Dividend Champion #4: SJW Group (SJW)
- Top Dividend Champion #3: Sonoco Products (SON)
- Top Dividend Champion #2: Eversource Energy (ES)
- Top Dividend Champion #1: 3M Company (MMM)
Overview of Dividend Champions
The requirement to become a Dividend Champion is simple: 25+ years of consecutive annual dividend increases. The Dividend Aristocrats have the same requirement when it comes to number of years, but with a few additional requirements.
To be a Dividend Aristocrat, a company must also be included in the S&P 500 Index, must have a float-adjusted market cap of at least $3 billion, and must have an average daily value traded of at least $5 million. These added requirements preclude many companies that possess a sufficient track record of annual dividend increases, but do not qualify based on market cap or liquidity reasons.
As a result, while there is some overlap between the Dividend Aristocrats and the Dividend Champions, there are also many Dividend Champions that are not Dividend Aristocrats. Income investors might want to consider these stocks due to their impressive histories of annual dividend increases, so we have compiled them in the downloadable spreadsheet above.
In addition, we have ranked the top 7 Dividend Champions according to total expected annual returns over the next five years. Our top 7 Dividend Champions right now are ranked below.
The Top 7 Dividend Champions To Buy Right Now
The following 7 stocks represent Dividend Champions with at least 25 consecutive years of dividend increases, but they also have durable competitive advantages, long-term growth potential, and high expected total returns.
Stocks have been ranked by expected total annual return over the next five years, from lowest to highest.
Top Dividend Champion #7: Sanofi SA (SNY)
- 5-year expected returns: 14.3%
Sanofi is a global pharmaceutical leader, incorporated in 1994. The company develops and markets a variety of therapeutic treatments and vaccines. Pharmaceuticals account for ~72% of sales, vaccines makeup ~15% of sales and consumer healthcare contributing the remainder of sales.
Sanofi is truly a global leader, with a third of sales coming from the U.S., a little more than a quarter coming from Western Europe, and the remainder of sales coming from emerging markets/rest of the world. Sanofi produces annual revenues of about $49 billion. Two ADR shares equal one share of the underlying company.
On February 2nd, 2024, Sanofi announced fourth quarter and full year results. For the quarter, revenue grew 2.5% to $11.9 billion. Earnings-per-share per ADR of $0.90 compared to $0.93 in the prior year. For 2023, revenue grew 5.1% to $46.8 billion while earnings-per-share per ADR of $4.40 compared to $4.27 in the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SNY (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Top Dividend Champion #6: Enterprise Bancorp (EBTC)
- 5-year expected returns: 14.3%
Enterprise Bancorp Inc. was formed in 1996 as the parent holding company of Enterprise Bank and Trust Company, referred to as Enterprise Bank. Enterprise has 27 full-service branches in the North Central region of Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.
The Bank offers commercial, residential and consumer loan products, cash management services, electronic banking options, insurance services, as well as wealth management. About half of the company’s loan portfolio is in commercial real estate and about a third is in commercial construction loans.
In late January, Enterprise reported (1/25/24) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Loans grew 12% while deposits dipped -1% over the prior year’s quarter. Net interest margin edged down from 3.30% to 3.29% and net interest income decreased -13% due to higher deposit costs. As a result, earnings-per-share fell -37%, from $1.01 to $0.64.
EBTC recently raised its dividend by 4% and has now grown its dividend for 30 consecutive years.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EBTC (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Top Dividend Champion #5: Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMCB)
- 5-year expected returns: 15.1%
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp is a locally owned and operated community bank with 32 locations in California. Due to its small market cap and its low liquidity, it passes under the radar of most investors. F&M Bank has paid uninterrupted dividends for 88 consecutive years and has raised its dividend for 58 consecutive years.
In late January, F&M Bank reported (1/24/24) financial results for the full fiscal 2023. The bank grew its earnings-per-share 21% over the prior year, from $96.55 to a new all-time high of $116.61. It posted 4% growth of loans and a -2% decrease of deposits.
Net interest income grew 11% thanks to an expansion of net interest margin from 3.81% to 4.30% and growth of loans. Management remains optimistic for the foreseeable future, as the 23-year high interest rates are likely to continue to support a wide net interest margin.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on FMCB (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Top Dividend Champion #4: SJW Group (SJW)
- 5-year expected returns: 15.8%
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.
On January 25th, 2024, SJW Group announced that it was raising its quarterly dividend 5.3% to $0.40, extending the company’s dividend growth streak to 56 consecutive years.
On February 22nd, 2024, SJW Group announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2023. For the quarter, revenue declined slightly by 0.1% to $171.3 million, beating estimates by $10.3 million. Earnings-per-share of $0.59 compared unfavorably to earnings-per-share of $1.09 in the prior year, but this was in-line with expectations.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SJW (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Top Dividend Champion #3: Sonoco Products (SON)
- 5-year expected returns: 15.9%
Sonoco Products provides packaging, industrial products and supply chain services to its customers. The markets that use the company’s products include those in the appliances, electronics, beverage, construction and food industries.
On February 14th, 2024, Sonoco Products announced fourth quarter and full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the quarter, revenue declined 1.8% to $1.64 billion, but this was $20 million above expectations.
Adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.02 compared unfavorably to $1.27 in the prior year and was $0.08 below estimates. For 2023, revenue decreased 6% to $6.8 billion while adjusted of $5.26 compared unfavorably to $6.48 in the prior year. This was, however, the company’s second-best adjusted EPS result in its history.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Sonoco (SON) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Top Dividend Champion #2: Eversource Energy (ES)
- 5-year expected returns: 20.2%
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%.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ES (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Top Dividend Champion #1: 3M Company (MMM)
- 5-year expected returns: 20.7%
3M is an industrial manufacturer that sells more than 60,000 products used daily in homes, hospitals, office buildings, and schools worldwide. It has about 95,000 employees and serves customers in more than 200 countries.
On January 23rd, 2024, 3M announced fourth quarter and full year earnings results for the period ending December 31st, 2023. For the quarter, revenue decreased 0.3% to $7.69 billion, which missed estimates by $30 million. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.42 compared to $2.28 in the prior year and was $0.11 more than expected.
For 2023, revenue was lower by 4.5% to $32.7 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $9.24 compared to $10.10 in the prior year. However, comparable adjusted earnings-per-share totaled $9.88 in 2023.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on 3M Company (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts
The various lists of stocks by length of dividend history are a good resource for investors who focus on high-quality dividend stocks.
In order for a company to raise its dividend for at least 25 years, it must have durable competitive advantages, highly profitable businesses, and leadership positions in their respective industries.
They also have long-term growth potential and the ability to navigate recessions while continuing to raise their dividends.
The top 7 Dividend Champions presented in this article have long histories of dividend growth, and the combination of high dividend yields, low valuations, and future earnings growth potential make them attractive buys right now.
The Dividend Champions list is not the only way to quickly screen for stocks that regularly pay rising dividends.
- The 10 Best Dividend Aristocrats for total returns.
- The Dividend Kings List is even more exclusive than the Dividend Aristocrats. It is comprised of 56 stocks with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The 10 Safest Dividend Kings with ultra-safe dividends.
- The Blue Chip Stocks List: stocks that qualify as Dividend Achievers, Dividend Aristocrats, and/or Dividend Kings
- The High Dividend Stocks List: stocks that appeal to investors interested in the highest yields of 5% or more.
- The Monthly Dividend Stocks List: stocks that pay dividends every month, for 12 dividend payments per year.