Rising Income Over Big Yields: 4 Dividend Kings That Have Raised Payouts for 70 Years Straight

A dividend that has risen every year for seven decades has seen a lot. It has survived recessions, sharp interest-rate swings, oil shocks, a financial crisis, a pandemic, and several rounds of new management, yet the board still approved a bigger check each year. That is what a Dividend King streak shows. The four companies below have some of the longest raise streaks on record, and American States Water leads the group at 72 consecutive years of annual increases. First, a long streak shows a business is durable, but every raise still has to be earned. Several former Kings have cut or frozen their payouts and lost the title. Second, most of these names pay modest yields. Their appeal is steady, rising income more than a large check today.

American States Water: 72 Straight Years and a 7% Growth Target

American States Water (NYSE: AWR) owns Golden State Water, which serves about 265,200 customer connections in California. It also owns Bear Valley Electric Service and a contracted services arm that runs water and wastewater systems on twelve military bases under 50-year privatization contracts. The company has paid a dividend every year since 1931 and has raised it for 72 consecutive years.

The latest increase raised the quarterly payout from $0.5040 to $0.5455, up 8.2%. The stock yields about 2.42%, which is a modest starting income. The draw is how fast that income grows: management’s long-term dividend policy targets growth of more than 7% a year.

Dividend safety: The annualized forward dividend of $2.182 equals about 61% of trailing EPS of $3.57, which is a comfortable level for a regulated utility. Second-quarter EPS of $1.09 beat the $0.93 consensus. Rate increases approved by California regulators are expected to add $32.0 million to adopted revenues. It says it has no plans to issue more equity through at least the end of 2029, so existing shareholders’ shares of the pie are not being diluted to fund the dividend.

Through a downturn: During the 2020 pandemic, the quarterly payout rose from $0.305 to $0.335.

Risk to the streak: Earnings depend on how much water customers use, and that moves with weather and conservation. Management warned that the favorable second-quarter demand and water supply mix may not continue throughout 2026. At a forward P/E of 22, buyers are already paying for that stability.

Dover: 71 Years of Raises With the Lowest Payout in the Group

Dover (NYSE: DOV | DOV Price Prediction) is a diversified industrial manufacturer with five segments. Its products include fueling equipment, refrigeration, pumps, marking and coding systems, and clean energy components. Its most recent increase, to $0.525 from $0.52 a quarter, marked the 71st consecutive year that Dover has raised its annual cash dividend.

The yield is small: about 1.07%. The raises are small too, often half a cent a quarter. If you need current income, Dover won’t cover much of it. It earns its place here on safety and its record.

Dividend safety: The forward annual dividend of $2.10 uses only about 20% of the low end of 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $10.55. Second-quarter free cash flow was $188.39 million. At the current share count, one quarter’s dividend costs roughly $70.7 million. Bookings of $2.33 billion exceeded the prior year’s $2.01 billion, and management raised full-year guidance. The stock trades at 17 times forward earnings.

Through a downturn: In 2009, during a deep industrial decline, Dover raised its quarterly payout from $0.25 to $0.26. In 2020, it went from $0.49 to $0.495.

Risk to the streak: Dover’s results track the industrial cycle far more closely than a utility’s. Organic revenue in Europe fell 5.0% last quarter, which shows that weak regions can drag on results even when the overall company is growing.

Northwest Natural: The Highest Yield Here, With a Tighter Balance Sheet

Northwest Natural (NYSE: NWN) runs a regulated gas utility with over 809,000 meters in Oregon and Washington. It also owns SiEnergy, a fast-growing Texas gas utility, and a water utility with about 81,300 connections. The board recently declared a quarterly dividend of 50 cents, which lifts the indicated annual rate to $2.00 from $1.97. This marks the company’s 71st consecutive year of increases and its largest declared raise since 2012.

At about 4.07%, Northwest Natural pays the highest yield in this group. That’s high-yield for a utility.

Dividend safety: The company targets a payout ratio of 55% to 65% of EPS. The new $2.00 rate equals about 66% of trailing EPS of $3.01, which is just above that range. Management expects 2026 EPS in the upper half of its $2.95 to $3.15 guidance range, and a Washington rate case added $20.1 million in first-year revenue. The CFO, Ray Kaszuba, said in the dividend release, “Strong execution provided the flexibility to increase the dividend at a higher rate than recent years while positioning us to meet our targeted payout ratio.”

Through a downturn: In 2009, the quarterly dividend rose from $0.395 to $0.415. In 2020, it rose from $0.4775 to $0.48.

Risk to the streak: The balance sheet is tighter than its peers’. Cash fell from $102.6 million to $24.2 million year over year, and the common equity ratio slid from 38.0% to 37.3%. Meanwhile, the company plans $2.6 to $2.9 billion in capital spending through 2030, suggesting more debt and possibly more share issuance.

Procter & Gamble: 70 Years of Raises and 136 Years of Payments

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) sells Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Charmin, Crest and Dawn in about 70 countries. Its latest raise marked its 70th consecutive year of dividend increases and the 136th consecutive year of payments since it incorporated in 1890. The quarterly payout rose from $1.0568 to $1.0885.

The stock yields about 2.71%. That beats Dover’s yield but is well below Northwest Natural’s.

Dividend safety: P&G has the strongest coverage of the four. Free cash flow for fiscal 2026 was $15.84 billion, against planned spending of about $10 billion on dividends and $5 billion on buybacks. The forward annual dividend of $4.354 equals about 63% of fiscal 2026 core EPS of $6.89. It holds $9.94 billion in cash, and the stock trades at 21 times forward earnings.

Through a downturn: In 2009, as consumers cut back, P&G raised its quarterly dividend from $0.35 to $0.40. In 2020, it lifted the payout from $0.7459 to $0.7907.

Risk to the streak: Earnings growth is slowing. Executives expect about $1 billion in after-tax costs from higher raw materials, energy, and transportation in fiscal 2027. Combined with other challenges, that adds up to $0.56 per share, or an 8% drag on core EPS growth. Core EPS guidance runs from in-line to 3% growth, so future raises may stay modest until those costs ease. The stock heads into its next earnings report up for the year.

Who These Four Dividend Kings Suit

Together, these four companies have each raised their dividends for at least 70 straight years. They raised payouts through 2009 and through 2020. Their payout ratios run from roughly a fifth of earnings at Dover to the mid-60s at Northwest Natural and P&G. They suit retirees and near-retirees who want income that grows each year from businesses that have already shown they can keep paying through bad times, and who can accept yields between about 1% and 4% in return for that reliability. P&G and Dover offer the deepest cash reserves. American States Water offers the fastest stated growth target, and Northwest Natural offers the most income today, with a balance sheet worth checking each quarter. If you want to see how the broader Dividend King list stacks up at today’s prices, we ranked ten of them by valuation in a free report here.

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