We Highlighted 3 Undervalued Dividend Aristocrats a Year Ago: Here’s How They Did and 3 New Picks

By Trey Thoelcke Published Apr 1, 8:15AM EDT

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Three undervalued Dividend Aristocrats we identified a year ago have delivered positive returns since.
Three new picks, Clorox (CLX), Genuine Parts (GPC), and McCormick (MKC), look equally compelling.
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We Highlighted 3 Undervalued Dividend Aristocrats a Year Ago: Here’s How They Did and 3 New Picks — © jittawit21 / Shutterstock.com

A year ago, we identified three Dividend Aristocrats trading at compelling discounts to fair value. That April 1, 2025 article recommended Northwest Natural (NYSE: NWN), Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), and PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP | PEP Price Prediction) as undervalued names worth owning. All three delivered positive returns over the following 12 months, two by wide margins. We are now applying the same framework to identify three new Dividend Aristocrats where the undervaluation case looks equally compelling.

How the Original Three Performed

The S&P 500 returned 15.9% from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026. Two of our three picks beat that benchmark handily.

ADM was the standout. Shares rose from $46.55 to $71.75, a gain of roughly 54%, as the market repriced the stock after years of accounting-investigation overhang began to lift. The forward P/E compressed toward 15x as management delivered FY2025 free cash flow of $4.20 billion and raised its dividend for the 53rd consecutive year. The accounting cloud was obscuring a fundamentally sound agricultural processing business, and patient investors were rewarded.

Northwest Natural gained roughly 30%, from $41.13 to $53.62. The January 2025 SiEnergy acquisition added approximately 98,000 connections, Oregon rate increases took effect in October 2025, and the company extended its record to 70 consecutive years of dividend increases. Stifel raised its price target to $58 following Q4 results.

PepsiCo delivered a more modest gain of roughly 9%, from $143.92 to $156.82. The company beat both revenue and EPS estimates in Q4 2025 and authorized a new $10 billion buyback through February 2030, but Rockstar brand impairment charges totaling $1.993 billion and tariff-driven commodity cost pressures capped the upside. A positive total return with a growing dividend is a win.

The full original analysis is available at 247wallst.com.

Three New Undervalued Dividend Aristocrat Picks

Clorox

Clorox (NYSE: CLX) stock has pulled back sharply, with shares trading near $104 after falling 29.6% over the past year. The drop reflects real headwinds: FY2026 guidance calls for net sales of −6% to −10%, and an ERP transition created roughly a $0.90-per-share headwind. The final phase of the U.S. ERP implementation completed in January 2026, and a definitive agreement to acquire GOJO Industries, maker of the Purell brand opens a new growth avenue. The quarterly dividend is $1.24 per share, the analyst consensus target is $122.82, and our predicted price of $115.61 implies roughly 15% upside from current levels.

Genuine Parts

Genuine Parts (NYSE: GPC) shares trade near $106, down 11.2% over the past year. Q4 2025 adjusted EPS of $1.55 missed the $1.81 estimate, and a $741.97 million non-cash pension settlement charge drove a GAAP net loss. The forward story is a planned tax-free separation into Global Automotive and Global Industrial businesses, targeted for Q1 2027, unlocking value across addressable markets of $200 billion in automotive aftermarket and $150 billion in global industrial distribution. The company has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years, most recently to $1.0625 per quarter. The analyst consensus target is $139.12, and our predicted price of $120.54 implies roughly 15.5% upside.

McCormick

McCormick (NYSE: MKC) is our top new pick. Shares have fallen 38.7% over the past year to near $50, creating a significant dislocation from intrinsic value. Q1 FY2026 revenue of $1.87 billion beat estimates of $1.79 billion, with adjusted EPS of $0.66 beating the $0.61 consensus. The January 2026 acquisition of an additional 25% stake in McCormick de Mexico, bringing the total to 75% contributed meaningfully to growth. FY2026 guidance calls for net sales growth of 13% to 17% and adjusted EPS of $3.05 to $3.13. McCormick trades at a trailing P/E of 18x, well below its historical range, with a dividend that has grown without interruption for over 25 years. The analyst consensus target is $67.77. Our predicted price of $62.57 implies roughly 23% upside from current levels, making it the highest-conviction name among our three new picks.

The Same Thesis, Applied Again

A year ago, the common thread across the three undervalued Dividend Aristocrats was durable dividend growth, identifiable near-term headwinds masking long-term value, and prices that did not reflect normalized earnings power. All three delivered. Our three new picks share those same characteristics today: each has raised its dividend through multiple economic cycles, each faces a specific and arguably temporary challenge that has pressured the stock, and each trades at a discount to intrinsic value. The framework worked once. The question is whether the market will recognize the same pattern again.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.