Inflation Is Running Above 3%. These 3 Dividend Stocks Can Keep Up.
A fixed income stream quietly loses ground every time prices climb, but three companies have built the exact mechanisms to fight back and keep your paycheck growing year after year.
A fixed income stream loses a little buying power each year prices rise, and those losses add up quietly. The Consumer Price Index rose 3.7% year over year in the September reading, so any pension, annuity, or bond coupon that never changes falls behind. What protects you is a growing dividend. Each of the three companies below has increased its dividend every year in its available dividend record, and each has a specific way to pass rising costs on to customers. There is a tradeoff: the fastest growers here start with the lowest yields.
Automatic Data Processing: Wage Inflation Feeds the Payout
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ: ADP | ADP Price Prediction) runs payroll, HR outsourcing, and retirement services for more than 1.1 million clients. The stock yields 2.21%, the lowest starting yield of the three. That is the price of having the fastest raise in the group.
Dividend record: ADP pays $1.70 per share each quarter, up from $1.54 a year earlier and $1.40 the year before. That increase is about 10.4%. The payment history shows the regular quarterly dividend rising every year from $0.48 in 2014 to $1.70 in 2026.
Why inflation helps ADP: The business has two built-in inflation drivers. First, pricing: price added “a little north of” 130 basis points to Employer Services revenue growth last fiscal year, and management expects a similar contribution this year. Second, ADP holds client payroll money before paying it out and earns interest on it. Higher wages mean bigger balances, and higher rates mean better yields. Client funds interest revenue was $1.35 billion in fiscal 2026, and July’s fiscal 2027 outlook was $1.54 billion to $1.56 billion, with the average yield then expected to rise to 3.7% from 3.4%.
Coverage: ADP generated $5.44 billion of operating cash flow in fiscal 2026 against $2,626.3 million in dividends paid, and it still had room to buy back $2.08 billion of stock. It holds $3.28 billion in cash. This morning’s fiscal first-quarter report showed adjusted EPS of $2.82, beating the $2.77 estimate, on revenue of $5.49 billion, up 6.1%. Interest on client funds rose 15% to $329.3 million, and management raised full-year adjusted EPS growth guidance to 10% to 12%. On the July call, CFO Peter Hadley called buybacks an addition to “our long-standing commitment to growing our dividend.”
The stock is priced at roughly 27 times trailing earnings and 24 times forward earnings, a premium you pay for that consistency.
Risk: Much of ADP’s recent margin lift depends on interest rates. Management’s July yield outlook built in expectations for between 25 and 50 basis points of Fed rate hikes. If rates fall, that boost weakens.
PepsiCo: Brand Pricing Power and the Highest Starting Yield
PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) sells Pepsi, Lay’s, Doritos, Gatorade, and Rockstar around the world. It yields 4.2%, which makes it a high-yield name and the biggest source of upfront income in this group.
Dividend record: The quarterly payout rose to $1.48 from $1.4225 starting with the June payment, a raise of about 4.0%. In prior years, it went from $1.355 to $1.4225 and from $1.265 to $1.355. The record shows a raise every year from 2017 through 2026, and the quarterly amount has grown from $0.13 in 1999. The recent raises are the slowest of the three, the trade-off for the higher yield.
Why it can keep up: Strong brands let PepsiCo raise prices while also cutting costs elsewhere. The chief executive described the plan for the next round of cost increases simply: “We’re going to see a mix of net revenue management tactics that will impact some pricing, but also mix and all the decisions that we can make around that.” Growth is also coming from more places. International operations account for 45% of profit so far this year. Third-quarter revenue reached $25.27 billion, up 5.6%, and adjusted EPS of $2.34 beat the $2.30 estimate.
Coverage: PepsiCo’s free cash flow yield of 4.22% is just above its dividend yield. That means free cash flow pays for the dividend, though with a thin cushion. Its balance sheet can handle that. Interest coverage is 10.26x, net debt to EBITDA is 2.60, and cash on hand totals $10.68 billion. The company projects $7.9 billion in dividends this year out of $8.9 billion in total cash returned to shareholders, so dividends come first.
Risk: Inflation is now pressuring PepsiCo’s own costs. The CFO warned that “input costs are trending higher” as hedges roll off, and the company lowered its core EPS growth guidance to 2.5% to 3.5%. Core operating profit in North American foods fell 12%. Shares are down 9.67% over the past year. If margins keep contracting, future raises will likely stay low.
NextEra Energy: Regulated Rate Growth Backs a Guided Raise
NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) includes Florida Power & Light, one of the largest regulated utilities in the country, along with NextEra Energy Resources, a large renewables and battery storage developer. The stock yields 2.97%.
Dividend record: The quarterly dividend rose to $0.6232 from $0.5665, about 10.0%. The record shows annual payments rising from $0.385 in 2021 to the current rate. NextEra is also one of the few companies here that releases a dividend target: management expects to grow dividends per share “roughly 10% per year through 2026 off a 2024 base and 6% per year from year-end 2026 through 2028.” Raises will be lowest after this year, but the company has committed to a number.
Why inflation flows through: Regulated utilities earn an approved return on the capital they invest, and regulators set customer rates to recover those costs. When construction and equipment costs rise, the rate base grows too. Florida Power & Light’s regulatory capital employed grew 9.2% year over year. On the contracted side, management said, “When we sign our PPAs, we lock in the interest rates to lock in the economics,” and renewable recontracting so far this year has priced at about a $20 per megawatt-hour premium over recent realized pricing. The renewables and storage backlog stands at about 36.7 gigawatts.
Coverage: NextEra kept its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $3.92 to $4.02 and is aiming for the high end. That compares with a forward annualized dividend of $2.4928. Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.24 beat the $1.18 estimate. Management targets adjusted EPS growth of 8%+ per year through 2032 and expects operating cash to grow at or above that rate, so the earnings base under the dividend should keep growing.
Risk: The pending combination with Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) still needs approvals from Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, FERC, and the NRC, and closing is expected in the second half of 2027. Tough conditions from regulators or a delay could strain a balance sheet that is already funding a very large expansion.
Matching the Right Income Stream to Your Retirement Timeline
All three companies have a clear way to pass inflation through: ADP through wage-driven client balances and pricing, PepsiCo through brand pricing power, and NextEra through regulated rate growth. ADP and NextEra offer lower income today in exchange for about 10% raises. PepsiCo offers more cash now with slower increases. Together, they give a retirement portfolio an income stream built to rise along with prices (our free guide here details the full dividend ladder for lifelong income without selling a share: Never Touch the Principal).
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad, diverse career, including a stint as creative services director at an NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry.
Lee Jackson's journey in the financial industry spans more than 30 years, including nearly two decades as an institutional equity salesperson at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. His career spanned pivotal sell-side Wall Street events, from the dot-com rise and bubble to the Long-Term Capital Management debacle, 9/11, and the Great Recession of 2008. This reflects his resilience and adaptability amid market volatility.
Lee Jackson’s practical financial industry experience, gained through a career at some of the biggest banks and brokerage firms, is complemented by a lifetime of writing across various platforms. This unique combination allows him to shed light on the intricacies of Wall Street in a way only someone with deep insider experience and knowledge can. Moreover, his extensive network across Wall Street continues to provide direct access for him and 24/7 Wall St., a privilege few firms enjoy.
Since 2012, Jackson’s work for 24/7 Wall St. has been featured in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Business Insider, TradingView, Real Money, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and other media outlets. He attended the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and has a degree in broadcasting from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.
