Dividend Aristocrats: Complete 2025 List of 69 Elite Dividend Growth Stocks

Key Takeaways

• Dividend Aristocrats are S&P 500 companies that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years
• The 2025 list contains a record 69 companies spanning multiple sectors, with consumer staples and industrials representing the largest groups
• Three new companies joined in 2025: FactSet (FDS), Erie Indemnity (ERIE), and Eversource Energy (ES), with no deletions from the previous year
• Historically, Dividend Aristocrats have delivered returns similar to the S&P 500 but with lower volatility, particularly shining during bear markets
• The group has averaged 6% annual dividend growth over the past decade, demonstrating consistent income growth for investors
• You can invest in the entire group through the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL)

Table of Contents

• What Are Dividend Aristocrats?
• Requirements to Become a Dividend Aristocrat
• Complete 2025 Dividend Aristocrats List
• 2025 New Additions to the List
• Sector Breakdown and Diversification
• Historical Performance Analysis
• Dividend Aristocrats vs Dividend Kings
• How to Invest in Dividend Aristocrats
• Important Considerations Before Investing
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Dividend Aristocrats?

Dividend Aristocrats represent an elite group of companies that have demonstrated remarkable financial resilience and shareholder commitment by increasing their dividend payments every single year for at least 25 consecutive years. This achievement requires not just profitability, but consistent cash flow generation through multiple economic cycles, market crashes, and business challenges.

The term “Dividend Aristocrat” specifically refers to companies tracked by the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, which was established in 1989. These aren’t just any dividend-paying companies—they’re large-cap stocks that have weathered significant economic storms including the dot-com bubble burst in 2000-2002, the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent high-inflation, high-interest-rate environment, all while continuing to reward shareholders with growing dividend payments.

For dividend growth investors, Dividend Aristocrats serve as a starting point for identifying financially strong companies with proven track records. According to investment philosophy outlined at Daniel Peris’s Substack, companies that consistently raise dividends typically demonstrate disciplined capital allocation and management teams focused on sustainable, long-term value creation rather than short-term gains.

Requirements to Become a Dividend Aristocrat

Not every dividend-paying company can achieve Dividend Aristocrat status. The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index maintains specific criteria that companies must meet for inclusion:

Core Requirements

S&P 500 Membership: The company must be a current member of the S&P 500 Index, which means it needs a minimum market capitalization of approximately $13.1 billion and must meet specific liquidity requirements. This eliminates smaller companies and ensures all Aristocrats are large-cap, established businesses.

25 Years of Consecutive Dividend Increases: This is the defining criterion. The company must have increased its dividend payment every single year for at least 25 consecutive years. Note that this means the absolute dollar amount per share must increase annually—simply maintaining the same dividend doesn’t count, nor does increasing the dividend yield if the per-share payment hasn’t grown.

Minimum Liquidity Requirements: Companies must meet specific average daily trading volume thresholds to ensure sufficient liquidity for institutional investors. This prevents thinly-traded stocks from entering the index.

What Doesn’t Disqualify a Company

It’s important to understand that some events don’t automatically disqualify a company from Aristocrat status. Companies created through spin-offs can maintain their parent’s dividend growth streak. For example, when Abbott Laboratories split into two companies in 2013, both Abbott (ABT) and the newly created AbbVie (ABBV) maintained Dividend Aristocrat status despite AbbVie being a new entity.

What Does Disqualify a Company

Companies are removed from the index if they cut or freeze their dividends, fall out of the S&P 500, or no longer meet liquidity requirements. Recent high-profile removals include 3M (MMM) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), both of which cut their dividends in 2024 after decades of consecutive increases.

Complete 2025 Dividend Aristocrats List

As of January 2025, there are 69 Dividend Aristocrats—the highest number in the index’s history. This represents companies across diverse sectors, from household names like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble to industrial stalwarts like 3M and Caterpillar (before their recent exits). Below is the comprehensive list organized by sector:

Consumer Staples (16 companies)

• Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM)
• Brown-Forman Corporation (BF.B)
• Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL)
• The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
• Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL)
• Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB)
• McCormick & Company (MKC)
• Mondelez International (MDLZ)
• PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP)
• The Procter & Gamble Company (PG)
• Sysco Corporation (SYY)
• Target Corporation (TGT)
• Walmart Inc. (WMT)
• The J.M. Smucker Company (SJM)
• Church & Dwight Co. (CHD)
• Kenvue Inc. (KVUE)

Industrials (14 companies)

• A.O. Smith Corporation (AOS)
• Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)
• Cintas Corporation (CTAS)
• Dover Corporation (DOV)
• Emerson Electric Co. (EMR)
• General Dynamics Corporation (GD)
• Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW)
• Nordson Corporation (NDSN)
• Republic Services, Inc. (RSG)
• Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP)
• Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (SWK)
• W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW)
• Pentair plc (PNR)
• West Pharmaceutical Services (WST)

Financials (9 companies)

• Aflac Incorporated (AFL)
• The Chubb Corporation (CB)
• Cincinnati Financial Corporation (CINF)
• Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN)
• S&P Global Inc. (SPGI)
• The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV)
• T. Rowe Price Group (TROW)
• Erie Indemnity Company (ERIE) – NEW 2025
• FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) – NEW 2025

Healthcare (7 companies)

• Abbott Laboratories (ABT)
• AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)
• Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX)
• Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH)
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
• Medtronic plc (MDT)
• Amgen Inc. (AMGN)

Materials (7 companies)

• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD)
• Albemarle Corporation (ALB)
• Amcor plc (AMCR)
• Ecolab Inc. (ECL)
• Linde plc (LIN)
• The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW)
• Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Utilities (5 companies)

• Atmos Energy Corporation (ATO)
• Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED)
• Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS)
• Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT)
• Eversource Energy (ES) – NEW 2025

Consumer Discretionary (4 companies)

• Genuine Parts Company (GPC)
• Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (LEG)
• Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW)
• McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)

Energy (3 companies)

• Chevron Corporation (CVX)
• Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
• Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD)

Real Estate (2 companies)

• Realty Income Corporation (O)
• Universal Health Realty Income Trust (UHT)

Technology (2 companies)

• International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
• Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP)

Note: This list is current as of January 2025. For the most up-to-date list with current dividend yields and metrics, visit the Sure Dividend Aristocrats tracking page.

2025 New Additions to the List

The 2025 Dividend Aristocrats list welcomed three new members in January, bringing the total to a record 69 companies. Notably, there were no deletions this year, making it a rare occasion where the list expanded without any companies falling off.

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS)

FactSet is a financial data and software company serving investment professionals worldwide. The company provides integrated financial information, analytical applications, and industry-leading service to over 200,000 investment professionals. FactSet achieved its 25th consecutive year of dividend increases in 2024, earning its spot among the elite. The company has built a strong competitive moat through its comprehensive data platform and sticky customer relationships with asset managers, investment banks, and wealth advisors.

Erie Indemnity Company (ERIE)

Erie Indemnity is a property and casualty insurer operating primarily in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. The company has a unique structure as the management company for Erie Insurance Group, one of the largest auto and home insurers in the United States. Erie’s consistent profitability in the challenging insurance industry and its focus on customer service have enabled it to grow dividends for 25 consecutive years, qualifying for Dividend Aristocrat status.

Eversource Energy (ES)

Eversource Energy is New England’s largest utility provider, delivering electricity, natural gas, and water to approximately 4.4 million customers across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. As a regulated utility, Eversource benefits from predictable cash flows that support consistent dividend growth. The company’s 25-year streak of dividend increases reflects the stable nature of the utility business model and management’s commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Sector Breakdown and Diversification

The Dividend Aristocrats span multiple economic sectors, though the distribution is far from even. Understanding this sector concentration is important for investors building diversified portfolios.

Sector Concentration Analysis

Consumer staples companies represent the largest group with 16 members (23% of the list). This makes sense given that companies producing everyday essentials—food, beverages, household products, and personal care items—generate consistent cash flows regardless of economic conditions. Brands like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate-Palmolive have pricing power and recession-resistant demand that supports steady dividend growth.

Industrials follow closely with 14 companies (20%), including manufacturers, distributors, and service providers like Caterpillar, Illinois Tool Works, and Cintas. These businesses often serve essential infrastructure needs and benefit from long-term secular trends.

Notably, technology stocks are severely underrepresented with only two companies: IBM and Automatic Data Processing. This reflects the sector’s historical preference for reinvesting in growth rather than paying dividends, and the relatively young age of most tech giants. The S&P 500 itself is nearly 50% technology stocks, highlighting how different the Dividend Aristocrats composition is from the broader market.

What This Means for Investors

According to analysis from Simply Safe Dividends, this sector composition explains both the strengths and limitations of investing in Dividend Aristocrats. The heavy weighting toward defensive sectors provides downside protection during recessions but limits participation in technology-driven bull markets. From 2020-2024, as technology stocks soared, Dividend Aristocrats underperformed the S&P 500 significantly.

Investors using Dividend Aristocrats as a core holding should consider complementing them with growth-oriented investments to capture different market opportunities. Alternatively, you might cherry-pick Aristocrats from underrepresented sectors rather than buying the entire group.

Historical Performance Analysis

The Dividend Aristocrats Index has compiled an impressive performance record since its 1989 inception, though recent years have presented challenges.

Long-Term Returns

Since 1989, the Dividend Aristocrats Index has delivered competitive returns compared to the S&P 500, with the added benefit of lower volatility. This pattern particularly holds true during bear markets and periods of market stress. During the 2008 financial crisis, for example, the Dividend Aristocrats declined 21.88% compared to the S&P 500’s 37% drop—a significant cushion during one of the worst market environments in history.

Similarly, during the 2000-2002 dot-com bust and the 2022 bear market, Dividend Aristocrats held up better than the broader market. This defensive characteristic makes them particularly attractive for investors nearing retirement or those with lower risk tolerance.

Recent Performance Challenges

Over the past decade, Dividend Aristocrats have faced headwinds. According to data from Dividend Growth Investor, the group delivered a 10.4% annual return over the ten years ending in 2024, compared to 14.6% for the S&P 500. This underperformance primarily stems from the group’s lack of exposure to high-flying technology stocks that drove much of the market’s gains.

The Dividend Aristocrats Index looks nothing like today’s S&P 500. While the benchmark is heavily weighted toward technology companies including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet, Aristocrats have minimal tech exposure. In an era where artificial intelligence and cloud computing drove massive valuation increases, this positioning hurt relative returns.

Dividend Growth Performance

While price appreciation lagged, dividend growth remained consistent. The Dividend Aristocrats have averaged 6% annual dividend growth over the past decade. For income-focused investors, this represents meaningful progress—doubling your income stream approximately every 12 years through dividend growth alone.

In 2024, the average Dividend Aristocrat increased its dividend by 5.95%. The smallest increase came from Emerson Electric at just 0.48%, while Sherwin-Williams led the pack with an 18.18% dividend raise. This variation underscores the importance of analyzing individual companies rather than treating all Aristocrats as identical.

Dividend Aristocrats vs Dividend Kings

Dividend Aristocrats are sometimes confused with Dividend Kings, but these are distinct groups with different requirements.

Dividend Kings Criteria

Dividend Kings have increased their dividends for at least 50 consecutive years—double the requirement for Aristocrats. However, Dividend Kings don’t need to be members of the S&P 500, meaning smaller companies can qualify. Currently, there are fewer than 50 Dividend Kings compared to 69 Dividend Aristocrats.

The overlap between the two lists is significant. Most Dividend Kings are also Dividend Aristocrats since they meet the 25-year requirement and are large enough to be in the S&P 500. However, some Dividend Kings aren’t in the S&P 500 and therefore aren’t Aristocrats, while some Aristocrats haven’t yet reached the 50-year threshold to become Kings.

Which List Is Better?

Neither list is inherently “better”—they serve different purposes. Dividend Kings represent the ultimate in dividend consistency, with companies like Procter & Gamble (68 years), Coca-Cola (63 years), and Johnson & Johnson (62 years) demonstrating extraordinary resilience. However, the smaller pool of Dividend Kings provides less diversification.

Dividend Aristocrats offer a broader selection of 69 companies while still maintaining rigorous standards. For most investors, the Aristocrats list provides sufficient quality screening while offering more choices for portfolio construction. You can explore both lists and focus on companies that appear on both—these represent the strongest dividend payers with the longest track records.

How to Invest in Dividend Aristocrats

There are two primary approaches to investing in Dividend Aristocrats: buying individual stocks or investing through an ETF that tracks the entire group.

Individual Stock Selection

Purchasing individual Dividend Aristocrats gives you complete control over your portfolio composition. This approach allows you to:

• Overweight sectors or companies you believe offer the best opportunities
• Avoid companies with characteristics you find unattractive (high debt, declining businesses, valuation concerns)
• Customize your portfolio for specific dividend yield targets or growth rates
• Minimize exposure to companies approaching potential dividend cuts

When selecting individual Aristocrats, investors should evaluate factors beyond just the dividend streak. Key metrics include the dividend payout ratio (percentage of earnings paid as dividends), free cash flow generation, debt levels, competitive positioning, and valuation. A company with a 40% payout ratio growing earnings 10% annually offers better dividend growth prospects than one with a 90% payout ratio and stagnant earnings, even if both have 30-year dividend streaks.

Most online brokerages now offer commission-free stock trading, making it cost-effective to build a diversified portfolio of 15-20 individual Aristocrats across different sectors.

The ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL)

For investors seeking simplicity and instant diversification, the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (ticker: NOBL) tracks the entire index. This ETF holds all 69 Dividend Aristocrats in a single fund, automatically rebalancing when companies join or leave the index.

Key features of NOBL include:

• Expense ratio of 0.35%, reasonable for an actively managed index strategy
• Current dividend yield around 2.0%, lower than the average individual Aristocrat due to equal weighting
• Quarterly rebalancing to maintain equal weights across holdings
• Automatic inclusion of new Aristocrats and removal of companies that no longer qualify

NOBL works well for investors who want Dividend Aristocrat exposure without researching individual companies or those investing through retirement accounts where dividend reinvestment happens automatically.

Hybrid Approach

Some investors use a combination strategy: holding NOBL as a core position while adding individual Aristocrats they find particularly compelling. This provides broad diversification through the ETF while allowing targeted overweighting of favorite companies.

Important Considerations Before Investing

While Dividend Aristocrats offer many attractive qualities, investors should understand several important limitations and risks.

Past Performance Doesn’t Guarantee Future Results

A 25-year dividend growth streak, while impressive, doesn’t guarantee the next 25 years will be the same. Companies face evolving competitive landscapes, technological disruption, regulatory changes, and shifting consumer preferences. Even longtime Aristocrats can stumble—both 3M and Walgreens cut dividends in 2024 after decades of increases, shocking many income investors.

When evaluating Aristocrats, look beyond the streak and assess whether the business model remains viable. Is the company adapting to industry changes? Are earnings and cash flows growing or stagnating? High-quality dividend analysis should focus on future sustainability rather than solely on historical achievement.

The Dividend Yield Trap

Some investors make the mistake of simply buying the highest-yielding Dividend Aristocrats without deeper analysis. High yields can signal danger—often the stock price has fallen due to business problems, which mechanically increases the yield (yield equals annual dividend divided by stock price). A 6% yield might look attractive, but if the company cuts its dividend next year, you’ve actually lost money despite the high initial yield.

According to research from Morningstar, nine Dividend Aristocrats currently yield less than 1%, while the highest-yielding exceeds 7%. This wide range reflects different business models, growth rates, and market valuations. Moderate yields (2-4%) from growing businesses often produce better total returns than high yields from stagnant or declining companies.

Concentration Risk

With 23% of Aristocrats in consumer staples and 20% in industrials, the group has significant sector concentration. During periods when these sectors underperform—such as when inflation pressures margins for consumer goods companies—the entire Aristocrats group may struggle. Investors should be aware they’re getting less sector diversification than the S&P 500 offers.

Limited Growth Potential

By nature, companies that have paid and grown dividends for 25+ years tend to be mature, slower-growing businesses. They’re unlikely to deliver the explosive growth that younger companies in emerging industries might achieve. Investors seeking high capital appreciation might find Dividend Aristocrats too conservative.

The total return proposition for Aristocrats combines modest capital appreciation with growing dividend income. This suits investors who value stability and income, but growth-oriented investors might prefer allocating more capital to higher-growth opportunities.

Tax Considerations

Dividend income is taxable in non-retirement accounts. While qualified dividends receive favorable tax treatment (0%, 15%, or 20% tax rates depending on income level), they still create an annual tax liability whether you reinvest the dividends or take them as cash. Growth stocks that don’t pay dividends allow you to defer taxes until you sell, potentially providing more tax efficiency.

Many investors address this by holding Dividend Aristocrats in tax-advantaged retirement accounts (401(k)s, IRAs) where dividends compound tax-deferred or tax-free.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The Dividend Aristocrats list changes over time, and past dividend growth does not guarantee future increases. Investors should conduct their own research and consider consulting with a financial advisor before making investment decisions.