3 Legacy Financial Dividend Stocks That Never Go Out of Style
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Financial companies that have lived through panics, recessions and every kind of rate cycle tend to treat the dividend as a promise. The three names below are a bank, a life insurer and an asset manager. Each has a long dividend record, and the oldest dates its roots to 1799. For readers at or near retirement, a legacy income holding should offer staying power, strong capital and quarterly checks that grow over time. All three deliver that today. Two of them also cut their dividends during the financial crisis, and those cuts are covered below.
JPMorgan Chase Pairs a Rising Payout With Fortress Capital
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM | JPM Price Prediction) dates its founding to New York City’s first water company in 1799. Today it is one of America’s Big Four banks, with a market value of about $910.4 billion. At $344.61 per share, the stock yields 1.8% on an annual dividend of $6.15. The appeal here is a modest yield supported by a dividend that is well protected and keeps growing.
Dividend Safety and Track Record
The dividend is well covered. Trailing earnings came to $23.93 per share, compared with the $6.15 dividend. Third-quarter results alone produced $15.3 billion in net income and EPS of $5.57. Banks don’t report free cash flow the way industrial companies do, so capital strength is the better measure. JPMorgan’s standardized CET1 ratio (its core capital cushion) stood at 13.9%. Management cited about $30 billion of excess capital and $1.5 trillion of cash and marketable securities. Chief executive Jamie Dimon places the dividend first in line when the bank decides how to use its capital: "After you pay your dividend, which hopefully will be steady, we really like investing in organic growth."
The record has one mark. During the financial crisis, the quarterly payout fell from $0.38 to $0.05 in 2009 and stayed there into 2011. That cut ended any long streak. The dividend was reset to $0.25 in 2011 and has climbed steadily since. The latest quarterly payment rose to $1.65 from $1.50.
Bull Case
JPMorgan makes money from consumer banking, investment banking, trading and wealth management all at once. Third-quarter revenue reached $50.9 billion, up 8% year on year, and assets under management climbed to $5.2 trillion. Management cut back on buybacks so it can put more capital into lending and other growth at strong returns. That builds the earnings that pay for future raises. The stock is priced at about 14 trailing earnings and 13 forward estimates.
Key Risk
Credit quality is the number to track. Third-quarter credit costs totaled $2.7 billion, including a $539 million addition to loan-loss reserves. Management expects about 3.2% of credit card balances to be written off in the fourth quarter. Chief financial officer Jeremy Barnum warned that a long stretch of high real interest rates and rising unemployment would hurt consumer credit results.
Prudential Financial Delivers the Biggest Income Stream of the Group
Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) got its start in Newark, New Jersey, in 1875. Today it runs retirement, group insurance, individual life and international insurance businesses. It also owns PGIM, an asset manager with $1.49 trillion under management. At $122.41, the stock yields 4.51% on $5.55 in annual dividends per share, the highest yield of the three. The board has already declared the next quarterly payment of $1.40.
Dividend Safety and Track Record
Trailing EPS of $10.98 covers the $5.55 annual dividend comfortably. Second-quarter adjusted operating EPS of $4.08 was well above the $1.40 quarterly payout. Prudential says that dividend represents a yield on adjusted book value of "over 5%". Cash and highly liquid assets ended the third quarter at $4 billion, above the company’s $3 billion minimum liquidity target. The solvency ratio of the Japan businesses was expected to be near 200%, well above the 150% operating target. Chief financial officer Yanela del Carmen Frias said the company’s plan for buybacks and dividends is fixed: "That total deployment plan has not changed. It will not change with the strategy."
Prudential has paid a dividend every year from 2002 through 2026, but it cut the payout during the financial crisis. The annual payment fell from $1.15 in 2007 to $0.58 in 2008, so there is no unbroken streak to claim. The recovery since then has been steady. After the switch to quarterly payments, the rate rose every year, from $0.40 in 2013 to $1.35 in 2025 and $1.40 now.
Bull Case
An aging population needs guaranteed income, and Prudential sells it. Retail annuity sales reached $3.9 billion in a single quarter, the most since 2013. PGIM brought in $9 billion of net new money from outside clients. Chief executive Andy Sullivan pointed to "the trillions of dollars of retirement that are in motion." The valuation is modest: about 11 times trailing earnings and 1.43 times book value.
Key Risk
Japan is the weak spot. Prudential of Japan voluntarily suspended sales, and that cut third-quarter adjusted operating income by $140 million. Management expects a full-year hit of about $500 million for that unit. Management says the suspension will have "no impact on cash flows or dividends out of the Japan businesses." Still, the cleanup could take longer than planned, and more misconduct could surface.
BlackRock Turns $15.49 Trillion in Client Assets Into a Growing Dividend
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) was founded in New York in 1988 to manage fixed-income assets, starting with eight people in a single room. It has since become the world’s largest asset manager, overseeing $15.49 trillion. At $1,216.01, the stock yields 1.83% on $22.40 in annual dividends per share. The quarterly payment rose to $5.73 from $5.21.
Dividend Safety and Track Record
Trailing EPS of $43.92 covers the $22.40 dividend with plenty of room. Third-quarter adjusted EPS reached $15.93, compared with the $5.73 quarterly payout. The adjusted operating margin hit 47.8%. Asset managers need little capital to grow, and BlackRock generated trailing EBITDA of $12.002 billion. Chief financial officer Martin Small set out the order of priorities: "We invest first in the business and then return excess cash to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases." The company bought back $550 million of stock in the third quarter and expects to buy back at least that much in the fourth.
BlackRock’s record of quarterly dividends begins in 2003 and shows no cuts. The rate held flat at $0.78 through 2008 and 2009. The payout rose every year, from $1.00 in 2010 to today’s $5.73. This ranks as the strongest dividend record of the three.
Bull Case
Client money keeps pouring in. Third-quarter net inflows totaled $205 billion. Organic base fee growth, meaning fee growth from new client money, was 11%, the ninth consecutive quarter at or above 5%. BlackRock also raised $68 billion in private markets over the last 12 months, and the annual contract value of its technology business grew 12%. The shares trade at 28 times trailing earnings but only 19 times forward estimates. That gap shows analysts expect strong earnings growth to keep funding raises.
Key Risk
Most of BlackRock’s revenue comes from fees linked to the value of client assets, so a sharp market fall would shrink revenue quickly. The stock’s beta of 1.382 tops the group, which means retirees should expect bigger price swings than with the bank or the insurer.
Legacy Income Built to Outlast Market Cycles
JPMorgan offers fortress-level capital and steady raises since its crisis reset. Prudential pays the biggest yield of the group and supported it with ample liquidity. BlackRock has the cleanest raise record. This article closes our five-part Legacy Dividend Stocks series, and the common thread is what these stocks offer a retirement portfolio: companies with deep histories, strong balance sheets and openly disclosed past cuts, paying income that rises over time. For readers who want to live off the checks without ever selling a share, we laid out how to build that kind of dividend ladder in a free guide here.
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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.
