Twenty Years of Dividends Wey Dey Rise

A dividend growth champion na company wey don raise im cash dividend every single year for decades. Across our two-decade dividend record, the names wey dey below lift their payout every year without any cut or freeze, and the strongest one grow am pass sixty times. This page rank dem by that multiple: the latest annual dividend divide by the earliest one wey dey file.

Wetin be dividend growth champion?

Two numbers dey describe each name. The first one na the streak: the run of consecutive years wey the company increase im total cash dividend. The second one na the multiple: how many times the payout grow from the start of the streak reach the latest full year. Long streak and big multiple na different signals, and the ranking for here dey sort by the multiple.

Wall Street dey track two famous clubs by streak length. Dividend Aristocrat don raise im payout for at least 25 straight years; Dividend King for at least 50. Our warehouse dividend history start around 2004, and inside that window, the streaks wey dem measure here cap near 21 years. 25-year Aristocrat and 60-year King both read the same ~21 for this page. Treat this as every year for our two-decade record, no be the longest streak of all time.

Which companies raise their dividend every year?

The panel wey dey below hold the twenty names wey increase their dividend every year for the record, rank by how many times the payout grow. The streak column sit at 20 or 21 for all of dem: the increases never stop inside our window. Wetin separate dem na the multiple.

WITH annual AS (
    SELECT ticker,
           toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS y,
           round(sum(cash_amount), 4) AS div
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE frequency IN (1, 2, 4, 12)
      AND ex_dividend_date >= '2000-01-01'
      AND ex_dividend_date < toStartOfYear(today())
    GROUP BY ticker, y
),
f AS (
    SELECT ticker, y, div,
           lagInFrame(div) OVER w AS prev,
           lagInFrame(y) OVER w AS prev_y
    FROM annual
    WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY ticker ORDER BY y ASC)
),
brk AS (
    SELECT ticker, y, div,
           (prev IS NULL OR div <= prev OR (y - prev_y) > 1) AS is_break
    FROM f
)
SELECT ticker,
       max(y) - maxIf(y, is_break) AS streak_years,
       round(argMax(div, y) / argMin(div, y), 1) AS dividend_multiple
FROM brk
GROUP BY ticker
HAVING streak_years >= 20 AND max(y) >= toYear(today()) - 2
ORDER BY dividend_multiple DESC
LIMIT 20

TXN top the ranking, dey grow im annual dividend 61.9 times across 21 unbroken years. LOW and MSFT follow near 42.7x and 42.5x. All 20 names share the flat shape for the streak column, so the bars for that series line up while the multiple series fan out. Even the smallest multiple for the page, JNJ at 4.7x, mean the payout grow nearly fivefold across the same span.

Streak versus multiple: two different signals

The streak dey measure durability. Company wey raise im dividend through 2008, through 2020, and through every year between, keep the commitment across two recessions and pandemic. That one na record about consistency, and every name for this list clear the same 20-year bar.

The multiple dey measure the size of the compounding. Payout wey dey grow small percent every year go multiply across two decades, and payout wey dey grow for double digits go multiply pass. The gap between the top of the ranking and the bottom no be about who keep raising: all of dem do am. Na about the pace of each annual raise, wey dey compound year after year.

How the raise dey compound, one champion year by year

Single multiple dey hide the mechanism. The trace wey dey below follow one champion, Microsoft, one calendar year at a time. Each point na the total cash dividend wey dem pay across that year, regular dividends only.

SELECT toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS year,
       round(sum(cash_amount), 4) AS annual_dividend
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker = 'MSFT'
  AND frequency IN (1, 2, 4, 12)
  AND ex_dividend_date >= '2004-01-01'
  AND ex_dividend_date < toStartOfYear(today())
GROUP BY year
ORDER BY year

Microsoft annual dividend rise from $0.08 for 2004 to $3.4 for 2025. The line dey rise across the whole span and never turn down. Each year raise dey sit on top of the prior year base, and that stacking na wetin the multiple column for the ranking dey capture, wey dem draw here as curve. The same shape hold for every name for the list; only the steepness differ.

Why unbroken two-decade streak matter

Unbroken two-decade rise dey rare. Most dividend payers go eventually cut or freeze the payout during downturn, and single freeze go end streak. Name wey keep raising through every year for the record clear durability bar wey most companies no clear.

That record na starting point for research, no be promise. Streak dey describe the past and fit end for any future year. Income investors wey dey lean on names like these still dey face concentration risk when small number of holdings dominate portfolio, and the cash wey dividend dey throw off between pay dates get im own where e go sit while e dey wait to reinvest.

How to read the multiple versus the yield

The multiple for this page na growth, no be income today. Stock wey grow im dividend sixty times fit still carry modest dividend yield when im share price climb alongside the payout. Growth and current yield dey answer different questions: one na the history of the raise, the other na the check wey you dey collect now compared to the price wey you dey pay.

To catch the next payment for any of these names, the upcoming ex-dividend dates page dey list who go ex next, and the ex-dividend date explained dey cover the cutoff wey decide whether buyer go collect the coming dividend.

FAQ

Wetin be dividend growth champion?

Company wey don raise im cash dividend every single year for long run without cut or freeze. For this page, dem dey measure the run across our two-decade dividend record, so the streaks cap near 21 years. The names range from payout wey grow nearly fivefold to one wey grow pass 61.9 times.

Wetin be the difference between Dividend Aristocrat and Dividend King?

Both na streak clubs. Dividend Aristocrat don raise im dividend for at least 25 consecutive years; Dividend King for at least 50. Our data start around 2004, so Aristocrat and King both dey appear here with streak near 21 years. The label for this page na about the raises wey we fit see for the record, no be the full historical count.

Long dividend growth streak dey guarantee future raises?

No. Streak na record of past consistency, and any year company fit freeze or cut im dividend and end am. Long streak show say the payout survive past recessions, wey be durability signal, no be forecast. Treat am as one input to research alongside the company earnings and balance sheet.

Wetin the dividend multiple mean?

Na the latest annual dividend divide by the earliest one for the streak. Multiple of 40 mean the payout grow forty times across the years wey dem measure. E dey capture the compounding of many small annual raises, and e dey separate from the dividend yield, wey dey compare the current payout to the share price.

Every panel wey dey above ship with the SQL wey produce am. Expand any one to audit the numbers, or build your own dividend growth screen for the Strasmore terminal.