Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Other Dividend Stocks That Have Raised Their Payouts for 60 Years or More

These 15 companies include
Procter & Gamble,

Coca-Cola,

Johnson & Johnson,
and
Colgate-Palmolive,
as well as the lesser-known
Lancaster Colony
and
Northwest Natural Holding.

The 15 stocks were identified by the Dividend Freak YouTube channel. Barron’s confirmed the group’s dividend records from company reports. There could be others out there of which we’re unaware.

The champ—with 69 straight years of dividend increases—is
American States Water,
a smallish California utility ($3 billion market value) that supplies water to 80 communities in the state, including Simi Valley and Culver City, near Los Angeles.

American States Water stock has an excellent long-term record, with an annualized 12.5% return since 1988, versus 10.8% for the
S&P 500 index
—an impressive showing for a lower-risk utility.

Like many of the 15 stocks, it has a sub-3% yield, with a 2.2% payout rate.

Not surprisingly, the 15 stocks have generally beaten the S&P 500 over the long haul. Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Colgate-Palmolive have all had annualized returns, including reinvested dividends, in the 12% to 13% range since 1988. That seemingly small gap relative to the S&P 500’s 10.8% annual return makes a big difference over an extended period.

The ability to boost dividends for 60 years is a sign of strength and a quality that investors may want to consider in a stock.

The kings didn’t do well in 2023, though, with most posting sub-10% total returns. Why? Quality dividend payers trailed the overall market last year, as 2% to 3% yields don’t look as appealing with short rates at 5% as they did when they were at zero.

American States Water, the king of kings, describes itself as “a low-volatility utility with a secure and growing dividend, operating in a constructive regulatory environment in California, along with a growing unregulated contracted services business serving military bases under-50-year contracts.” The company lifted its payout by 8% last year—one of the largest increases among the 15—and by 8% annually over the past 10 years. Earnings per share have risen at a similar clip. Most of the companies boosted their payouts in the 4% to 6% range in 2023.

The water company’s stock, however, is down over 15% to $78 in the past year and trades near a 52-week low, reflecting a broad selloff in water utilities, which have the highest valuation in the utility sector. American States Water trades for more than 25 times trailing earnings.

The list also includes a group of industrial companies, including
Dover,

Parker-Hannifin,

Genuine Parts,

Emerson Electric,

Nordson,
and
3M.

Lowe’s
makes the cut, as does
Cincinnati Financial,
a property and casualty insurer. Northwest Natural Holding is a gas utility in the Pacific Northwest.

One little-known winner is Lancaster Colony. The Ohio-based food company with a $4.5 billion market value has a phenomenal long-term record of 13.5% annualized returns on its stock since 1988.

It has leadership positions in niche products like refrigerated salad dressings (T. Marzetti brand), frozen garlic bread (New York Bakery Texas Toast), and packaged salad croutons. It gets about half its sales from food service.

Lancaster’s sales have grown at an 11% annual clip since 1971, to $1.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year. It aims to generate low- to mid-single-digit growth in sales volume a year—a tough goal in the sluggish food business. The conservative company has no debt and has doubled its dividend over the past 10 years.

The stock, yielding just over 2%, doesn’t trade cheaply, at about 28 times projected earnings in its current fiscal year ending in June—double the price/earnings ratio of many food companies—after falling 15% in the past year.

Write to Andrew Bary at [email protected]