Dividend Income Guide
Dividend glossary

Dividend King

A Dividend King is a company that has increased its dividend for 50 or more consecutive years. As of 2026, approximately 53 U.S. companies hold this distinction.

In more depth

Dividend Kings are the most elite tier of dividend payers. Fifty consecutive years of increases means raising dividends through the 1970s stagflation, multiple recessions, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2020 pandemic — a remarkable test of business durability.

The difference between a Dividend King and Dividend Aristocrat

Every Dividend King is also a Dividend Aristocrat. But not every Aristocrat is a King.

  • Dividend Aristocrat: 25+ consecutive years of increases, must be an S&P 500 member
  • Dividend King: 50+ consecutive years of increases (no S&P 500 membership requirement)

Because the King designation doesn't require S&P 500 membership, it includes some smaller companies that have quietly raised dividends for half a century but never grew large enough for the major index.

Selected Dividend Kings (2026)

| Company | Ticker | Consecutive years | |---|---|---| | Procter & Gamble | PG | 68 | | Emerson Electric | EMR | 67 | | 3M | MMM | 65 | | Cincinnati Financial | CINF | 63 | | Coca-Cola | KO | 62 | | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 62 | | Colgate-Palmolive | CL | 61 | | Illinois Tool Works | ITW | 60+ | | Walmart | WMT | 51 | | PepsiCo | PEP | 52 |

Streaks approximate and subject to annual verification.

What 50+ years of increases actually means

A company with a 50-year streak has raised its dividend through:

  • The 1973–74 oil crisis and stock market crash (worst bear market since the Depression to that point)
  • High inflation of the late 1970s (CPI hit 14.8% in 1980)
  • The early 1980s recession (unemployment above 10%)
  • The 1987 Black Monday crash
  • The early 1990s recession
  • The 2000–2002 dot-com bust
  • The 2008–2009 financial crisis
  • The 2020 COVID pandemic

A business that survived all of that with an unbroken dividend growth streak has almost certainly built something defensively durable — pricing power, essential products, conservative financial management, and consistent cash generation.

Are Dividend Kings always good investments?

Not automatically. A 50-year streak tells you about the past, not the future. Some long-streak companies face structural challenges today — declining categories, technological disruption, or balance sheets that are less conservative than they once were.

The streak is a powerful quality signal, but it should be evaluated alongside current payout ratio, free cash flow generation, and whether the underlying business remains essential and profitable.

How to invest in Dividend Kings

There's no dedicated Dividend Kings ETF with full coverage at low cost. The ProShares Kings of Dividends ETF (KDNG) provides exposure but with a higher expense ratio than the major dividend funds.

Many investors own Dividend Kings as individual stocks within a broader ETF-core portfolio — selecting 5–10 Kings with different sector exposure to supplement a fund like SCHD or VYM.

Related terms

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