Seasoned income investors often turn to consistent dividend payers for wealth-building opportunities. Yet, not every dividend stock should be considered royalty, and after 25 years of yield hunting, I’m highly selective about my stock picks.
A quarter-century of experience has taught me that a dividend king isn’t just a company that pays a high annual yield. In actuality, a company can pay a moderate yield but still be a dividend king if the distributions are consistent.
Most importantly, true dividend royalty means having solid financials, not just in the past but in a recent data report. With those criteria in mind, here are a handful of unmatched dividend kings of the past and future.
Walmart (WMT)
How can you be sure that a company’s dividend is safe? There are no guarantees, but it’s reassuring when a big-box store giant like Walmart (NYSE:WMT | WMT Price Prediction) has a long history of delivering dividend distributions.
Indeed, Walmart checks a number of boxes that I’ve looked for during the past 25 years. The company has grown its dividend payments over the long term and has generally remained profitable.
Being profitable adds a safety element for dividend-paying businesses, so let’s take a closer look at Walmart’s recent financials. Ahead of its upcoming Q1 fiscal year 2027 earnings report scheduled for May 21, 2026, market consensus highlights expectations of an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.65, representing an 8% year-over-year increase.
Oftentimes, a business with a safe dividend will also demonstrate recent revenue growth. Walmart fits the bill as consensus projections sit at a projected Q1 revenue of $172.5 billion, marking a 5.5% expansion over previous segments. It’s impressive, you must admit, that Walmart managed to increase its sales despite consumer’s concerns about product price inflation.
There’s even more to this story, though. In its recent historical operations, Walmart grew its global e-commerce sales by 22% and its global advertising business by a whopping 50%. Those pockets of sales strength demonstrate Walmart’s resilience regardless of broad-market conditions.
By now, you should feel more confident about investing in Walmart stock and counting on those delightful dividend payouts. Currently, Walmart’s forward annual dividend yield stands at around 1%. Even if it’s not extremely high, Walmart’s yield is fit for a king and investors should consider a buy-and-hold share position today.
Anheuser Busch Inbev (BUD)
Now, here’s a dividend pick from left field. Beverage brewer Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD) doesn’t only serve up bottles and cans of beer; the company also serves its loyal shareholders with reliable quarterly dividend payments.
There’s no denying that Anheuser Busch Inbev is profitable since the company earned $0.97 per share in the first quarter of 2026, marking a substantial jump over previous operational baselines. You should also be interested to know that BUD stock is outperforming many stocks year-to-date; amazingly, it’s up by around 40% in recent market tracking.
Clearly, Anheuser Busch Inbev is selling a lot of beverages to thirsty consumers this year. Does this translate to revenue growth, though? The answer is yes, with Anheuser Busch Inbev increasing its Q1 2026 revenue by 12% to $15.27 billion, soundly beating consensus estimates driven by premiumization and non-alcoholic expansions across approximately 50% of the company’s markets.
It’s reasonable to conclude that Anheuser Busch Inbev’s dividend will be safe for the foreseeable future. Hence, let’s raise our glasses and celebrate the 1.51% forward annual dividend that you can get with BUD stock.
Morgan Stanley (MS)
Turning to the financials/banking sector, a well-known contender in this lucrative space is Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). How did this financial firm fare during the rough-and-tumble first quarter of 2026, though?
As it turns out, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its foundational strength by lifting its Q1 2026 diluted earnings per share (EPS) to $3.43. That’s a big improvement when compared to the company’s EPS of $2.60 in the prior-year period.
Thus, Morgan Stanley remains profitable and the company’s dividend ought to be safe this year. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley grew its net revenue to a record-breaking $20.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 16% year-over-year increase.
My conclusion is that investors aren’t panicking and pulling their funds out of Morgan Stanley. All in all, the shareholders can be confident in Morgan Stanley’s ability to maintain its 2.93% forward annual dividend yield, bolstered by the board’s recent declaration of a robust $1.00 quarterly common dividend.
Hopefully, you’ve gotten the gist of how I’ve picked dividend kings over the past 25 years. The next step is to conduct your due diligence on rock-solid businesses that pay safe dividends. After checking out Walmart, Anheuser Busch Inbev, and Morgan Stanley, feel free to investigate other unmatched dividend performers like Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY).
Editor’s Note: This article has been revised to incorporate newly released first-quarter 2026 financial metrics for Anheuser-Busch InBev and Morgan Stanley, alongside updated consensus earnings estimates for Walmart’s upcoming May 2026 report.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks