The Elite Club of Dividend Kings: Which Three Are Still Doubling Down on Payouts?

Understanding the Rarity of True Dividend Kings

Out of approximately 54,000 stocks trading globally, only 56 have achieved Dividend King status—companies that have raised their dividends annually for at least 50 consecutive years. But here’s the catch: not all dividend growth is created equal. A company raising its payout by 1% annually while inflation runs at 2.7% is effectively cutting the purchasing power of those dividends year after year.

This distinction matters enormously for income-focused investors. The real standouts are the rare dividend kings that don’t just maintain their status—they aggressively expand payouts at rates that vastly outpace inflation. After decades of consecutive increases, these firms continue pushing dividend growth into double-digit territory annually.

What Separates the Best From the Rest

The industrial equipment sector offers a cautionary tale. One established company recently announced a dividend raise of less than 1%—far below current inflation rates. Over a five-year span marked by 20% cumulative inflation, it managed only 5% in total dividend growth. While technically maintaining its historical status, such nominal increases fail to deliver real value to shareholders.

The dividend kings worth watching are fundamentally different. They combine three critical elements: strong operational cash generation, disciplined capital allocation, and willingness to make transformative acquisitions that fuel future growth. These characteristics allow them to sustain aggressive payout expansion long after reaching their half-century milestone.

Automatic Data Processing: The Tech-Enabled Dividend King

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ: ADP) represents the new generation of dividend kings. Based in Roseland, New Jersey, this cloud-based human capital solutions leader only recently joined the 50-year club in 2024—making it technically the newest Dividend King.

What makes ADP remarkable isn’t just its tenure, but its trajectory. The company announced a 10% dividend increase last November, and since 2021 has surged dividend payouts by a stunning 83%. To put this in perspective, inflation during that same period totaled only 20%. The stock’s dividend yield of 2.6% also towers above the S&P 500 average of 1.2%.

The sustainability of this growth becomes evident when examining capital allocation. Over the past nine years, ADP has repurchased $12 billion in shares while simultaneously distributing $15 billion through dividends. This dual-pronged approach amplifies shareholder value: fewer shares outstanding make it mathematically easier to grow per-share earnings, which in turn supports accelerating dividend growth. The company’s 61% payout ratio—meaning it distributes 61% of net income as dividends—falls comfortably within the sustainable range, suggesting this momentum can persist.

Walmart’s Acceleration From Retail to Tech

The landscape has shifted for Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT), the Arkansas retail colossus. While its 0.84% dividend yield sits below the S&P 500 average, the context reveals a compelling story. The company’s stock has surged 130% over five years—a reflection of its successful pivot toward technology infrastructure.

In February 2025, Walmart revealed a 13% dividend increase, marking 52 consecutive years of payouts going up. The underlying dividend itself grew 28% across that five-year window, a figure that substantially outpaces inflation, especially considering the modest dividend yield. This raises the critical question: if Walmart can justify a 13% hike now, what enables such confidence?

The answers lie in Walmart’s operational excellence. E-commerce sales have expanded beyond 20% for seven consecutive quarters, with last quarter hitting 27% growth. International operations tell a similar story: while U.S. same-store sales advanced 4.5%, China operations accelerated at 22%. This dual-engine growth translates directly to the balance sheet: operating cash flow reached $27 billion in the last fiscal year, representing a $4.5 billion year-over-year improvement.

If management allocates just one-third of that incremental cash toward dividend growth, the math alone suggests an 18.8% potential increase. With the company now trading on the Nasdaq as a reflection of its technological advancement, expect this trajectory to matter for dividend guidance.

Lowe’s: Building Future Growth Through Strategic Acquisition

Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) stands as the most established dividend aristocrat on this list, having just announced its 61st consecutive annual dividend increase. Last May’s announcement of a 4% raise might initially disappoint, but context proves critical.

The home improvement retailer completed an $8.8 billion acquisition of Foundation Building Materials in 2024. This strategic move addressed a $250 billion addressable market opportunity while bolstering capabilities for its professional customer segment. Foundation brought $6.5 billion in annual revenue and $635 million in adjusted earnings to the combined entity—meaningful scale that will amplify future dividend capacity.

Over the previous five years, Lowe’s had doubled its dividend—a 100% cumulative increase translating to roughly 14.9% annualized growth. The recent moderation to 4% reflects the temporary capital deployment associated with acquisition integration. However, as that deal normalizes and generates accretive earnings, the more aggressive dividend expansion trajectory should resume in 2026 and beyond.

The Investment Thesis for Dividend Kings

These three dividend kings share common threads: market dominance within their respective sectors, proven ability to deploy capital efficiently, and a demonstrated commitment to rewarding shareholders through both dividends and buybacks. ADP’s cloud-based positioning, Walmart’s omnichannel technology integration, and Lowe’s strategic portfolio expansion all suggest the structural conditions supporting continued double-digit dividend growth remain intact.

For investors seeking exposure to companies with 50+ years of unbroken dividend expansion combined with modern-era growth drivers, these three firms present compelling opportunities to blend capital preservation with meaningful income expansion.