These Dividend Stocks Are Almost Guaranteed to Keep Raising Their Payouts
These Dividend Stocks Are Almost Guaranteed to Keep Raising Their Payouts
David MoadelFri, March 6, 2026 at 5:04 PM UTC
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Vadi Fuoco / Shutterstock.com (Vadi Fuoco / Shutterstock.com)Quick Read -
McDonald’s (MCD) improved its quarterly revenue by 6% and has raised its dividend distributions for over half a century.
Gorman-Rupp (GRC) is a nearly century-old business with 53 years of uninterrupted dividend increases.
Black Hills (BKH) stock features a hefty 3.79% annual yield, and the company probably won’t stop raising its dividends after 55 years.
Cincinnati Financial’s (CINF) 2.13% annual dividend yield and 65-year history of distribution raises make CINF stock a solid passive-income pick.
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There are no guarantees in the financial markets, but when you play the probabilities, you can win in the long run. In the realm of dividend-paying stocks, certain ones have a very high likelihood of increasing their cash payments to the shareholders.
Think about it: if a company has grown its dividend payouts (in dollar terms, as opposed to percentage yield terms) for over a decade, that's a positive sign. It's even better if they're dividend aristocrats that have hiked their distributions for 25+ years.
Sometimes, you'll even find dividend kings that have track records of 50+ years of payout growth. Certain publicly listed businesses are almost guaranteed to keep on raising their dividend payments, and here are four that deserve attention and recognition.
McDonald's (MCD)
Today's first prime passive income pick is none other than McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) stock. In the U.S. and other parts of the world, McDonald's is an immediately recognizable purveyor of fast food.
How likely is McDonald's to raise its dividend distributions in the future? Consider that the company has a 51-year history of uninterrupted dividend increases. There's no reason to believe that McDonald's will cease this pattern after 51 years.
Still, it's reasonable to want evidence that McDonald's can afford to pay its cash distributions. That evidence isn't difficult to find, as McDonald's improved its fourth-quarter 2025 revenue by 6% year over year to $7.009 billion.
Furthermore, McDonald's full-year 2025 revenue expanded by 2% year over year to $26.885 billion. It's safe to conclude, then, that there's no capital deficiency to prevent McDonald's from paying out dividends to the shareholders.
With over half a century of dividend hikes on its record books, McDonald's now provides a forward annual dividend yield of 2.27%. That's quite respectable, and investors would be wise to seriously consider a stake in MCD stock.
Gorman-Rupp (GRC)
Companies that have been around for a very long time can bring a sense of comfort and security to investors. In this category you'll find Gorman-Rupp (NYSE:GRC), a business that has existed for nearly a century.
To be more precise, Gorman-Rupp is a water-pump manufacturer that was founded in 1933. The company qualifies as a dividend king since it has increased its dividends for 53 years in a row.
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Gorman-Rupp is doing just fine from a financial perspective, as the company grew its fourth-quarter 2025 net sales by 2.4% year over year to $166.6 million. During that same time span, Gorman-Rupp also improved its net income from $11 million to $13.7 million.
The takeaway is that Gorman-Rupp has no reason to suddenly stop rewarding its loyal shareholders with bigger and bigger dividends. Hence, to participate in the long-standing success of a firm that pays a 1.21% annualized dividend yield, you can give GRC stock a try.
Black Hills (BKH)
Still on the hunt for businesses that are almost guaranteed to raise their cash distributions, I'd now like to turn your attention to Black Hills (NYSE:BKH). Impressively, Black Hills Corp. serves 1.37 million U.S. customers with natural-gas and electric-utility services.
If you can believe it, Black Hills has an even longer dividend growth history than the first two companies on this list. Without any gaps, Black Hills has grown its dividend distributions for a mind-blowing 55 years.
It's safe to conclude, then, that Black Hills is an extremely reliable dividend deliverer. The company also happens to be profitable, having expanded its adjusted earnings from $273.1 million in 2024 to $300.4 million in 2025.
Will Black Hills stay on the path of higher and higher dividend payouts? I can't promise anything, but the financial figures look great and you can still capitalize on the expected 3.79% annual yield you'll get from BKH stock.
Cincinnati Financial (CINF)
Saving what might be the best for last, Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) is a supremely consistent grower of dividend payments. Cincinnati Financial sells property casualty insurance, with CEO Stephen M. Spray emphasizing "strong agency relationships and fast, fair and empathetic claims service."
If you're surprised by the dividend-hike track records of McDonald's and the others I've already mentioned, then be ready for a real stunner. It's a real eye opener to discover that, for 65 consecutive years, Cincinnati Financial has never failed to increase its dividend distributions.
Conducting a quick profitability check, we can observe that Cincinnati Financial reported full-year 2025 net income totaling $2.393 billion. That's a 4.4% improvement when compared to the company's 2024 net income of $2.292 billion.
It would be difficult to construct an argument that Cincinnati Financial won't persist with its pattern of dividend hikes. Knowing this, investors can confidently add shares of CINF stock and enjoy a 2.13% anticipated annualized dividend yield in 2026.
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Source: “AOL Money”
