These 5 Dividend Kings Raised Their Payouts The Most Over The Last Year

Altria (NYSE:MO | MO Price Prediction) sends its latest quarterly check of $1.11 per share to shareholders on October 9, 2026. The prior rate was $1.06, so the raise works out to 4.7%. That beats the 3.9% increase Altria approved in August 2025. Altria still pays the biggest yield in the Dividend King group. On raise size, though, it ranked in the lower half of the dozen Kings we checked. Five companies with 50+ years of consecutive increases raised their payouts by more over the past year, and those five offer income investors a different mix of yield, growth and coverage.

How We Ranked the Biggest Dividend King Raises

We compared each company’s current quarterly dividend with the rate it paid a year earlier. The list includes only raises declared in the last 12 months. A Dividend King has increased its dividend for at least 50 years in a row. Yields below are trailing figures, meaning the dividends paid over the past year divided by the share price. Payout ratios compare the forward annualized dividend with trailing diluted earnings per share.

1. Parker-Hannifin Leads With an 11.1% Raise

Parker-Hannifin declared the biggest raise in the group on April 23, 2026, lifting its quarterly payout from $1.80 to $2.00. The latest $2.00 payment went out on September 11, 2026. The motion-control maker has plenty of room to keep raising. Its forward dividend uses only 28.1% of trailing EPS of $28.50, and quarterly earnings grew 19.3% year over year. The catch is the entry price. At about 34 times trailing earnings, the stock yields just 0.77%, so Parker appeals more to dividend-growth investors than to income seekers.

2. ADP Delivers a 10.4% Increase

Automatic Data Processing raised its quarterly dividend from $1.54 to $1.70 on November 12, 2025. Shareholders most recently received that rate on October 1, 2026. ADP pays out 62.1% of trailing EPS of $10.95, and the stock trades near 24 times earnings with a 2.52% yield. Its 10.4% raise gives it the firmest growth-plus-yield balance in this group.

3. Cincinnati Financial Lifts Its Payout 8.0%

Cincinnati Financial raised its quarterly payout from $0.87 to $0.94 on January 30, 2026, and the next check is due October 15, 2026. The property and casualty insurance company has the lowest payout ratio on the list at 17.8% of trailing EPS. Insurance company earnings include volatile investment profits, which is why the stock trades at about 8 times trailing earnings and 18 times forward estimates. The yield is 2.23%.

4. Illinois Tool Works Pays Its Raise the Same Day as Altria

Illinois Tool Works declared a raise from $1.61 to $1.72 on August 7, 2026. The first payment at the higher rate goes out October 9, 2026, the same day as Altria’s. ITW’s 6.83% increase edged out Abbott’s for fourth place. Its payout ratio is 62.3% of trailing EPS of $11.04. The stock trades at about 24 times trailing earnings and yields 2.47%.

5. Abbott Rounds Out the List at 6.8%

Abbott Laboratories raised its quarterly payout from $0.59 to $0.63 on December 12, 2025, a 6.78% increase. Its next payment is due November 16, 2026. On GAAP numbers, the dividend looks extended: it uses 81.6% of trailing EPS of $3.09, and quarterly earnings fell 47.5% year over year. The forward P/E of 17, compared with a trailing 32, shows analysts expect earnings to recover. Abbott yields 2.56%.

Altria’s Dividend Scorecard: Smaller Raise, Far Bigger Check

Altria declared its new dividend on August 27, 2026 for holders of record on September 15, 2026. The new rate sets the forward annualized dividend at $4.44, a 6.56% forward yield at the recent price of $67.68. That is more than double the yield of any other company on this list. Altria called its August 2025 raise its “60th dividend increase in 56 years,” and its stated policy targets mid-single digit annual dividend-per-share growth through 2028. The 4.7% raise fits that target.

Coverage is the weak spot. Altria raised the low end of its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.61 to $5.72, which means 3.5% to 5.5% growth from $5.42 in 2025. The new dividend takes about four-fifths of that guided profit. Against trailing GAAP EPS of $4.75, trailing dividends of $4.29 equal 90.3% of earnings. Altria also posted negative stockholders’ equity of ($3.2B) as of the first quarter, a result of years of returning more cash than it keeps.

Management says the dividend comes first. Altria paid about $3.6 billion in dividends in the first half of 2026. On the second-quarter call, management said, “Our primary vehicle to do that is by way of the dividend,” and added that “historically, after we have the dividend, we have about a billion excess in cash.” Debt-to-EBITDA stood at 1.9 times on June 30, close to the company’s target of about two times.

The core business still shrinks in volume. Domestic cigarette volumes fell 3.2% in the second quarter on a reported basis. Price increases did the work: smokable price realization of 4.5% lifted adjusted EPS 2.8% to $1.48. Shares have gained 23.07% year to date and 9.92% over the past year. Even so, the stock trades at about 14 times trailing earnings and 12 times forward estimates, the lowest multiples in this comparison apart from Cincinnati Financial’s trailing figure.

What Dividend King Investors Should Track Next

The list splits into two groups. Parker-Hannifin, ADP and Cincinnati Financial combine fast dividend growth with low or moderate payout ratios. Altria offers about three times their typical yield, but its dividend can grow only about as fast as its earnings. For Altria, watch three things: the launch of on! PLUS, including the 12 mg national expansion and flavor extensions planned for the fourth quarter; the timing of its planned return to e-vapor; and what happens to the $665 million left on a buyback program that runs out at year end. Next on the payment calendar are Altria and Illinois Tool Works on October 9, Cincinnati Financial on October 15 and Abbott on November 16.

For income-focused readers who want more ideas like Altria’s double-digit yield from a 50+ year dividend raiser, we ranked ten of our favorite Dividend Kings by valuation in a free report you can grab here.

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