5 Dividend Stocks That Have Raised Payouts for Decades. Are They Still Buys?

A long dividend streak only means something if current cash flow can keep paying for the next raise. That test shapes this list. Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR | EMR Price Prediction) just told investors it is entering its 71st consecutive year of increased dividends. The other four names here also have records of raises running back decades, and each one’s latest quarterly results show earnings and cash flow that comfortably cover the payout. Below, each pick starts with dividend safety, then makes the bull case and flags the main risk.

Lowe’s Companies: Pro Customers Keep the Aristocrat Raises Coming

Yield: Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) pays a forward annualized dividend of $5 per share. At a recent price of $231.90, that works out to a yield of about 2.2%.

Dividend safety: That annual payout uses only about 41% of management’s fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of approximately $12.25. Cash flow gives even more room. In Q2, Lowe’s generated $3.1 billion in free cash flow and paid $673M in dividends. The company calls itself a dividend aristocrat, and the payout history backs that up. The quarterly payment rose from 1.05 to 1.1 in 2023, 1.1 to 1.15 in 2024, 1.15 to 1.2 in 2025, and 1.2 to 1.25 in 2026, with the latest step a roughly 4% raise. Shareholders’ equity is negative at -$7.4B because of years of buybacks. Leverage is the number that matters more: Lowe’s ended Q2 at adjusted debt to EBITDA of 3.0 times and is working toward a 2.75 times target by mid-2027.

Bull case: Lowe’s is growing even with homeowners holding back. Q2 revenue rose 8.3% YoY to $25.96B, and adjusted EPS of $4.40 beat the $4.22 consensus. Online sales grew 15.7%, and Pro and Home Services offset weak DIY demand. Chief executive Marvin Ellison noted that the U.S. has “the oldest housing stock on record,” which sets Lowe’s up for a recovery when deferred projects come back. The stock trades at about 20 times earnings and has risen 25.45% over the past month, so investors are already pricing in that rebound.

Risk: Management cut its full-year outlook to the low end, with comparable sales expected flat. Q2 gross margin also fell 77 bps. If the housing market stays frozen, the next raise could be smaller.

PepsiCo: Highest Yield on the List, With Thinner Cash Coverage

Yield: PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) pays $5.92 a year on an annualized basis. At $143.61, that is a yield of roughly 4.1%, the highest of the five.

Dividend safety: Coverage is adequate but tighter than at the other names here. PepsiCo’s free cash flow yield of 3.92% roughly matches its 3.90% dividend yield, so nearly all free cash flow goes to the dividend. For the year, management plans $7.9 billion in dividends against only $1.0 billion in buybacks, showing the dividend takes priority. Interest coverage of about 10.3x keeps the balance sheet in good shape. The track record is consistent: the quarterly payout has risen every year since 1999, climbing from 0.13 to 1.48 with no cuts. The latest raise from 1.4225 was about 4%.

Bull case: Volume growth is back. Q3 revenue rose 5.6% YoY to $25.27B, and adjusted EPS of $2.34 beat estimates for the fourth consecutive quarter. International organic revenue grew 8%. Chief executive Ramon Laguarta described the change in North American snacks this way: “Last year, that business was low-single-digit negative volume growth. This year, we are low-single-digit positive volume growth. That is a major turnaround.”

Risk: Margins are under pressure. Management lowered fiscal 2026 core EPS growth guidance to +2.5% to +3.5%, input-cost hedges are rolling off, and PFNA core operating profit fell 12% in Q3. With earnings growing that slowly, PepsiCo has less room to raise the dividend.

ADP: Double-Digit Raises Backed by Payroll Cash Flow

Yield: ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) pays $6.80 a year on an annualized basis. At $305.44, that is about a 2.2% yield.

Dividend safety: The current payout equals roughly 61% of fiscal 2026 EPS of $11.12. On a cash basis, the $2,626.3M in dividends ADP paid in fiscal 2026 used about 48% of $5.44B in operating cash flow, and the company still bought back $2,083.3M of stock. Dividend growth has been large: the last raise took the quarterly payment from 1.54 to 1.7, about 10.4%. Excluding two one-time distributions, the regular quarterly amount has risen every year since 0.07625 in 1999.

Bull case: Payroll processing gets built into clients’ daily operations, so revenue recurs and customers rarely switch. Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue rose 6.1% to $5.49B and adjusted EBIT margin widened to 26.8%. Management raised fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS growth guidance to 10-12%. Interest earned on client funds rose 15% to $329.3M. Last year’s raise was declared on 2025-11-12, so the next decision may come soon.

Risk: ADP expects client revenue retention to slip by 10 to 30 basis points, and income on client funds depends on interest rates. The stock is also up 21.37% year to date, so the low yield reflects a fully valued stock.

Emerson Electric: 71 Years of Raises and the Strongest Coverage Here

Yield: After its latest raise, Emerson pays $2.38 a year on an annualized basis. At $167.54, that is about 1.4%, the lowest yield on this list.

Dividend safety: Coverage is the strongest of the five. The payout is about 33% of fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS guidance of ~$7.25. Planned fiscal 2027 dividends of $1.3B compare with free cash flow guidance of $3.8-3.9B. Fiscal 2026 free cash flow rose 32.6% to $3.54B. On November 4, the board raised the quarterly dividend 7% to $0.595/share, payable 2026-12-10. Chief financial officer Mike Baughman said the increase “demonstrates our commitment to the dividend.”

Bull case: Emerson has evolved from a mature industrial into a provider of automation software and equipment. Q4 underlying orders rose 14%, backlog reached $8.2 billion (up 11%), and LNG, semiconductor, and power customers are driving demand. The company also plans $2.5B of buybacks in fiscal 2027, which shrinks the share count and lowers the total cost of each future dividend increase.

Risk: Growth is uneven by region. Europe sales fell 1% in fiscal 2026, and management still sees China as a weak spot. The stock is also up 27.67% year to date, which has pushed the yield down.

Atmos Energy: A Regulated Utility With 9% Dividend Growth

Yield: Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) has an indicated annual dividend of $4.36. At $175.36, that equals a yield of about 2.5%.

Dividend safety: The new payout is about 48% of the low end of fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $9.05-$9.25. That is conservative for a utility. Atmos ended the year with 60% equity capitalization and $3.8B in available liquidity. The streak is confirmed: management reported 42 consecutive years of dividend growth, and this 9.0% raise extends it.

Bull case: Atmos has clear visibility into future growth. It earns regulated returns on safety spending and expects the rate base to rise from approximately $25 billion to approximately $46 billion by fiscal 2031. Chief executive Kevin Akers expects “earnings per share growth of 6% to 8%,” and the company “intends to grow the dividend in line with earnings per share growth.” Of the planned recovery through regulators, more than 98% is expected to come through annual filing mechanisms.

Risk: The plan needs a lot of capital: ~$4.5B of fiscal 2027 capex and about $17 billion of new long-term financing over five years. About $23 billion of planned spending is in Texas, so one state’s regulators largely decide how much of it Atmos can recover.

Five Dividend Growers With Room for More Raises

All five companies pay out a manageable share of earnings and keep raising their dividends. Emerson and Atmos raised their payouts within the past week. ADP has been raising by double digits, PepsiCo offers the most current income, and Lowe’s gives investors exposure to an eventual housing recovery. Watch ADP’s next dividend declaration and PepsiCo’s margin trends in its upcoming earnings reports.

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