Black Monday was on Monday, October 19, 1987, almost 40 years ago, and market veterans and long-time investors usually mention one important item: nobody really saw it coming or expected it. When the smoke cleared on the close that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped a stunning 22%. A similar sell-off today would be an incredible 11,562 points. The major difference between then and now is how much has changed in the financial world and investing over the past 40 years, and investors should be much better prepared for a crash or major sell-off. One of the best ways to stay prepared for a market downturn is to have Dividend Kings in your portfolio.
The Dividend Kings are the 57 companies that have raised their dividends for at least 50 years, a testament to their dependability and reliability. Those are two “must-have” items for investors who rely on passive income to boost their overall revenue. Unlike the Dividend Aristocrats, the Dividend Kings do not have to be members of the S&P 500. We screened the list for stocks that investors may be less familiar with and identified five top companies that not only survived Black Monday, the dot-com implosion, the 2007/2008 real estate crash, the 2020 COVID-19 sell-off, and more, but also continued to thrive even in down markets. For Boomers and retirees of all ages, if you’re looking for dependable passive income with the potential for solid total return, these are the companies you need to own.
All five of the Dividend Kings that have survived and thrived through every market meltdown are the kind of long-term holdings for growth and income investors who can buy and hold forever. Plus, they are all Buy-rated at the top Wall Street firms we cover.
Why We Recommend the Dividend Kings
Companies that have paid and raised dividends for 50 years or more are the kind of stocks that growth and income investors want to buy and hold in stock portfolios forever. These stocks are mostly conservative, and should we see a dramatic market correction, they will likely hold their ground much better than volatile technology names.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO | KO Price Prediction) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It remains a top long-term holding of Warren Buffett, whose 400 million shares are 9.3% of the float and 9.9% of the portfolio. The stock pays a dependable 2.51% dividend.
Coca-Cola is the world’s largest beverage company, offering consumers more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable brands, the company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, including:
- Diet Coke
- Coca-Cola Light
- Coca-Cola Zero Sugar
- Caffeine-free Diet Coke
- Cherry Coke
- Fanta Orange
- Fanta Zero Orange
- Fanta Zero Sugar
- Fanta Apple
- Sprite
- Sprite Zero Sugar
- Simply Orange
- Simply Apple
- Simply Grapefruit
- Fresca
- Schweppes
- Dasani
- Fuze Tea
- Glacéau Smartwater
- Glacéau Vitaminwater
- Gold Peak
- Ice Dew
- Powerade
- Topo Chico
- Minute Maid
Globally, it is the top provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, juices, and juice drinks. Through the world’s most extensive beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the company’s beverages at a rate of over 1.9 billion servings per day. And remember that the company owns 19.5% of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST), which continues to deliver strong financial results.
UBS has a Buy rating with a $98 target price on the shares.
Colgate-Palmolive
This consumer staples giant has been an outstanding idea for conservative investors, having paid a dividend every year since 1895 and currently yielding 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) is a growth company focused on Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, and Pet Nutrition.
The company sells its products under such brands as:
- Colgate
- Palmolive
- Elmex
- Hello
- Meridol
- Sorriso
- Tom’s of Maine
- EltaMD
- Filorga
- Irish Spring
- Lady Speed Stick
- PCA SKIN
- Protex
- Sanex
- Softsoap
- Speed Stick
- Ajax
- Axion
- Fabuloso
- Murphy
- Soupline
- Suavitel
- Hill’s Science Diet and Hill’s Prescription Diet
The Home Care product segment is managed geographically in five segments:
- North America
- Latin America
- Europe
- Asia Pacific
- Africa/Eurasia
All the segments sell primarily to a variety of traditional and e-commerce retailers, wholesalers, distributors, dentists, and skin health professionals.
The Pet Nutrition products include specialty pet nutrition products manufactured and marketed by Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Customers of Pet Nutrition products include authorized pet supply retailers, veterinarians, and e-commerce retailers.
UBS has a Buy rating with a $106 target price.
Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) is an American multinational personal care company that primarily manufactures and markets paper-based consumer products worldwide. The stock is also outperforming the index this year, up over 13%. Yielding 4.65%, the company raised its dividend for the 54th consecutive year earlier this year, retaining its spot on the Dividend Kings list.
It operates through three segments. The Personal Care segment offers a diverse range of products, including:
- Disposable diapers
- Swim pants, training and youth pants, baby wipes
- Feminine and incontinence care products
It provides related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Depends, Plenitud, Softex, Poise, and other brand names.
The Consumer Tissue segment provides facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels, napkins, and related products under these brand names:
- Kleenex
- Scott
- Cottonelle
- Viva
- Andrex
- Scottex
- Neve
The K-C Professional segment offers wipers, tissues, towels, apparel, soaps, and sanitizers under the Kleenex, Scott, WypAll, Kimtech, and KleenGuard brands.
In 2025, Kimberly-Clark announced it would acquire Kenvue (NYSE: KVUE) in a $48.7 billion deal, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026. The acquisition will create a combined consumer health and wellness company, with Kenvue shareholders receiving cash and stock. Kenvue shareholders will get $3.50 in cash plus 0.14625 shares of Kimberly-Clark.
Piper Sandler has an Overweight rating with a $121 target price.
PepsiCo
This top consumer staples stock reported solid second-quarter earnings and will continue to supply all the goods for summer picnics and parties. PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is a global food and beverage company with a solid 4.26% dividend yield.
Its Frito-Lay North America segment offers:
- Lays and Ruffles potato chips
- Doritos, Tostitos, and Santitas tortilla chips
- Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, branded dips
- Fritos corn chips
The company’s Quaker Foods North America segment provides:
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Grits
- Rice cakes
- Natural granola and oat squares
- Pearl Milling mixes and syrups
- Quaker Chewy granola bars
- Cap’n Crunch cereal
- Life cereal
- Rice-A-Roni side dishes
PepsiCo’s North America Beverages segment offers beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under these brands:
- Pepsi
- Gatorade
- Mountain Dew
- Diet Pepsi
- Aquafina
- Diet Mountain Dew
- Tropicana Pure Premium
- Sierra Mist
- Mug
BNP Paribas has an Outperform rating with a $183 target price.
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) was founded more than 185 years ago as a soap-and-candle company. It has paid dividends to shareholders since 1891, raised them for 70 straight years, and currently pays a 2.85% dividend. Procter & Gamble focuses on providing branded consumer packaged goods worldwide.
The company’s segments include:
- Beauty
- Grooming
- Health Care
- Fabric & Home Care
- Baby
- Feminine & Family Care
Its products are sold in approximately 180 countries and territories primarily through mass merchandisers, e-commerce, including social commerce channels, grocery stores, membership club stores, drug stores, department stores, distributors, wholesalers, specialty beauty stores, including airport duty-free stores, high-frequency stores, pharmacies, electronics stores, and professional channels. It also sells directly to individual consumers. It has operations in approximately 70 countries.
Procter & Gamble offers products under such brands as:
- Head & Shoulders
- Herbal Essences
- Pantene
- Rejoice
- Olay
- Old Spice
- Safeguard
- Secret
- SK-II
- Braun
- Gillette
- Venus
- Crest
- Oral-B
- Ariel
- Downy
- Gain
- Tide
- Always
- Always Discreet
- Tampax
- Bounty
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $179 price objective.
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