Forget Flashy Stocks: These 3 Boring Businesses Have Decades of Dividend Payments

Payroll must run, factory supply bins must be refilled, and store coolers must be restocked, whether the economy is growing or shrinking. Three companies that handle those jobs, Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX | PAYX Price Prediction), Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST), and Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE), have paid dividends through the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic. Paychex’s dividend record begins in January 1999, Fastenal’s in February 1999, and Coca-Cola Consolidated’s in February 1999. The yields are modest, and all three offer durability.

Paychex: Payroll That Runs in Every Economy

Paychex runs payroll, tax filings, benefits, and compliance for small and mid-sized businesses so the owners don’t have to. It serves about 840,000 customers and pays 1 in 11 U.S. private sector workers. A business can delay a software upgrade, but it still has to pay its staff every pay period. Once payroll, benefits, and insurance are all set up with one provider, leaving is a trouble. On the September call, CEO John Gibson put it this way: “For clients, when they have all their insurance through us, it’s very disruptive for them to leave.”

The dividend history shows how the company has handled past downturns. Paychex held its quarterly payment at $0.31 from July 2008 through July 2011, keeping the payout flat during the financial crisis. It did the same during the pandemic, holding it at $0.62 through 2020, then raising it every year after that. The quarterly dividend is now $1.19. The next ex-dividend date is October 26, 2026.

Paychex has also raised prices. In fiscal Q1 2027, GAAP operating margin expanded to 38.0% from 35.2% a year earlier. Management credited “price realization and strong product penetration” for the quarter’s results. Revenue rose 5.88% to $1.6305 billion, and adjusted EPS came in ahead of estimates at $1.34. Rolling 12-month return on equity was 47%.

Risk: Paychex’s results are tied to small businesses. Its fiscal 2027 guidance assumes “stable demand and flat employment levels”. Interest earned on client funds also depends on rates. Total borrowings were about $4.6 billion at quarter end, and the company is still integrating its Paycor acquisition.

Fastenal: Supply Machines Bolted to the Factory Floor

Fastenal sells fasteners, safety gear, cutting tools, and maintenance supplies to manufacturers and builders. Much of that product sits in vending machines and smart bins on customers’ own shop floors. At the end of Q3, there were 143,878 weighted FASTBin and FASTVend installations, and contract customers made up 76.5% of revenue, up from 73.8%. Once a device is installed and connected into a plant’s purchasing system, few customers bother to replace it.

Of the three, Fastenal is the most exposed to the industrial cycle. What keeps it steady is that it sells consumables: bolts, gloves, and drill bits get used up and have to be replaced. In 2020, Fastenal paid its $0.25 regular dividend in all four quarters and added a $0.40 payment in December. The current quarterly dividend is $0.26, and the stock goes ex-dividend on October 28, 2026.

The company raised prices and kept its margins. In Q3, product pricing added about 240 basis points to sales growth, and operating margin expanded 90 basis points to 21.5%. Revenue rose 15.47% to $2.4633 billion, and EPS of $0.35 came in above the $0.34 consensus. Return on invested capital reached 32.5%. Over the trailing 12 months, Fastenal returned about $1.2 billion to shareholders.

Risk: Gross margin is getting thinner. It was about 45%, down 40 basis points, because larger customers buy at lower margins (about a 50-basis-point headwind). Price/cost was still a 30 basis point drag. Management also trimmed its device-signing goal to 27,000-29,000 units.

Coca-Cola Consolidated: Exclusive Territories and Daily Deliveries

Coca-Cola Consolidated is the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S. It makes and delivers drinks in 14 states and the District of Columbia to about 60 million consumers, mostly by direct store delivery. It holds exclusive bottling rights in its territories, so retailers there have no other bottler to source Coca-Cola products from. People keep buying soft drinks, water, and sports drinks in a downturn.

The dividend shows the same consistency. From 1999 through April 2024, every listed quarterly payment was $0.25. That includes every quarter of the 2008 to 2009 recession and of 2020. The payout held flat during that stretch, paid every quarter, and the listed amount has risen since 2024. The next ex-dividend date is October 23, 2026.

Revenue rose 10.61% in Q2 to $2.0524 billion. Volume grew 7.6%, and annual price increases also boosted net sales. The company has gained market share for five consecutive quarters. Over 10 years, the split- and dividend-adjusted share price is up 1496.05%, to $213.19.

Risk: Higher aluminum costs are hurting margins. They added about $45 million in Q2, and adjusted gross margin fell 150 basis points to 38.4%. Net income fell 15.24%. Part of the volume boost came from America250 and FIFA World Cup demand, which won’t repeat, and Q4 2026 has six fewer days than Q4 2025. It also relies on The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) for marketing and new products.

Durable Businesses, Modest Expectations

These companies prize consistency. Each has paid shareholders through two recessions, and each has a business customers find hard to leave. In the coming quarters, keep an eye on Paychex’s small-business employment trends, Fastenal’s gross margin, and Coca-Cola Consolidated’s aluminum costs.

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