Verizon's Dividend Increase History

Verizon's dividend increase history is a long run of very small steps. The company has raised its payout in each of the last 12 calendar years, a genuine streak that still sits well below the 50 consecutive years a dividend king requires. This page charts the per share payout since 2005, the size of each raise in cents, and the declaration cadence the increase has followed.

Verizon's dividend increase history, year by year

Every number here comes from filed dividend records: the cash amount attached to each ex dividend date, grouped by calendar year. Verizon pays quarterly, so an ordinary year carries four ex dividend dates and four payments.

WITH yearly AS (
    SELECT toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS year,
           sum(cash_amount) AS annual,
           count() AS payments
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE ticker = 'VZ'
      AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
      AND cash_amount > 0
      AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2005-01-01')
      AND ex_dividend_date < toDate('2026-01-01')
    GROUP BY year
),
base AS (
    SELECT annual AS first_annual
    FROM yearly
    ORDER BY year ASC
    LIMIT 1
)
SELECT yearly.year AS year,
       round(yearly.annual, 4) AS annual_dividend_usd,
       yearly.payments AS payments,
       round((toFloat64(yearly.annual) / toFloat64(base.first_annual) - 1) * 100, 1) AS pct_above_first_year
FROM yearly
CROSS JOIN base
ORDER BY year

The payments in 2005 totalled $1.6 a share. In 2025 the total was $2.7225, or 70.2% above the starting year, across 21 calendar years and 4 payments in the final one. The line never steps down. It also never jumps: the shape is a gentle ramp rather than the compounding curve a fast grower draws.

How long is Verizon's dividend increase streak?

A streak counts consecutive calendar years in which the payout went up, and the count depends on the rule used to define a raise. The rule here: the largest single quarterly payment of the year is bigger than the largest of the year before. Comparing peak quarterly rates keeps the count honest when a calendar year happens to hold five ex dividend dates instead of four.

WITH yearly AS (
    SELECT ticker,
           toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS year,
           max(cash_amount) AS top_amount
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE ticker IN ('VZ', 'KO', 'JNJ', 'PG', 'MCD', 'MMM')
      AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
      AND cash_amount > 0
      AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2001-01-01')
      AND ex_dividend_date < toDate('2026-01-01')
    GROUP BY ticker, year
),
prior AS (
    SELECT ticker,
           year + 1 AS year,
           top_amount AS prior_top
    FROM yearly
),
flagged AS (
    SELECT yearly.ticker AS ticker,
           year,
           yearly.top_amount > prior.prior_top AS raised
    FROM yearly
    INNER JOIN prior USING (ticker, year)
)
SELECT ticker,
       max(year) - greatest(maxIf(year, raised = 0), min(year) - 1) AS consecutive_increase_years,
       toString(min(year)) AS first_year_compared,
       toString(max(year)) AS last_year_compared
FROM flagged
GROUP BY ticker
ORDER BY consecutive_increase_years ASC, ticker ASC

Sorted from the shortest run upward, MMM sits at 0: its largest quarterly payment in 2025 came in under the prior year's, which ends a run under this rule. KO comes next at 12 consecutive years. The remaining names reach 21 years, the ceiling of this window: the first year compared is 2005, and their runs began before it. Verizon's streak fits inside the window with years to spare, so 12 is the whole of it rather than a truncation.

Is Verizon a dividend king or a dividend aristocrat?

Neither, and both labels are fixed rules rather than opinions. A dividend king has raised its dividend for 50 consecutive years. A dividend aristocrat is an S&P 500 member with at least 25 consecutive years of increases, plus the index's size and liquidity screens. Verizon's 12 years clear neither bar. Dividend growth champions runs the streak screen across the whole market, which is where the names sitting at this panel's ceiling show their real length.

How big is each Verizon dividend raise?

Two numbers describe a raise: the cents added, and the percentage those cents represent. Verizon's cent figure has barely moved. The percentage attached to it falls as the base it divides gets larger.

WITH yearly AS (
    SELECT toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS year,
           sum(cash_amount) AS annual
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE ticker = 'VZ'
      AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
      AND cash_amount > 0
      AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2009-01-01')
      AND ex_dividend_date < toDate('2026-01-01')
    GROUP BY year
),
prior AS (
    SELECT year + 1 AS year,
           annual AS prior_annual
    FROM yearly
)
SELECT year,
       round((yearly.annual - prior.prior_annual) * 100, 2) AS increase_cents,
       round((toFloat64(yearly.annual) / toFloat64(prior.prior_annual) - 1) * 100, 2) AS growth_pct
FROM yearly
INNER JOIN prior USING (year)
WHERE year >= 2010
ORDER BY year

In 2010 the annual payout rose 5.75 cents a share, a gain of 3.1%. In 2025 it rose 5 cents, a gain of 1.87%. Read the two series together across the 16 years on the chart: the cents line runs nearly flat while the percentage line drifts down beside it. That is the arithmetic of a fixed size raise applied to a growing base, and it is the part of the record a headline yield never shows.

When does Verizon declare its dividend increase?

Verizon's board declares each quarterly dividend, and one declaration a year carries the raise. The panel pins each of those: the declaration date, the ex dividend date of the first payment at the new rate, the new quarterly amount, and the size of the step in cents.

WITH yearly AS (
    SELECT toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS year,
           max(cash_amount) AS top_amount,
           argMax(ex_dividend_date, cash_amount) AS ex_date,
           argMax(declaration_date, cash_amount) AS declared_date
    FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
    WHERE ticker = 'VZ'
      AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
      AND cash_amount > 0
      AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2012-01-01')
      AND ex_dividend_date < toDate('2026-01-01')
    GROUP BY year
),
prior AS (
    SELECT year + 1 AS year,
           top_amount AS prior_top
    FROM yearly
)
SELECT year,
       formatDateTime(yearly.declared_date, '%b %e') AS declared_label,
       formatDateTime(yearly.ex_date, '%b %e') AS ex_date_label,
       round(yearly.top_amount, 4) AS new_quarterly_usd,
       round((yearly.top_amount - prior.prior_top) * 100, 2) AS raise_cents
FROM yearly
INNER JOIN prior USING (year)
WHERE yearly.top_amount > prior.prior_top
  AND yearly.declared_date > toDate('2005-01-01')
ORDER BY year

Across the 13 increases from 2013 onward, the declaration has landed in the same stretch of the calendar every year, with the first payment at the new rate going ex a few weeks later. The most recent step was declared Sep 5 with an ex dividend date of Oct 10, taking the quarterly rate to $0.69 and adding 1.25 cents. A cadence describes the past. No board is obliged to keep one, and only a declaration makes a raise real.

Owning the shares before that ex dividend date is what puts a holder on the payment. The ex dividend date explained walks the four date timeline, and upcoming ex dividend dates lists what goes ex across the market over the next two weeks.

What slow growth does to a high yield

Dividend yield is the annual payout divided by the price. The history above fixes the path of the numerator: up every year, in steps of a few cents. Everything else in the ratio comes from the denominator, which moves every session. A yield can climb while the payout crawls, and separating the two paths is the work a screener leaves undone. Verizon's dividend page carries the current yield and the next payment date. Dividend increases and cuts tracks announcements across the market as they land.

Verizon dividend increase FAQ

Is Verizon a dividend king?

No. A dividend king has raised its dividend for 50 consecutive years. Verizon's run of 12 straight years, measured from filed dividend records through 2025, is far short of that threshold.

How many years in a row has Verizon raised its dividend?

12 consecutive calendar years through 2025, counting a year as an increase when its largest quarterly payment exceeded the largest payment of the year before.

When does Verizon usually announce a dividend increase?

The last 13 increases were all declared in the same part of the calendar. The most recent was declared Sep 5, and the first payment at the new rate carried an ex dividend date of Oct 10.

How much does Verizon raise its dividend each year?

The most recent step added 1.25 cents to the quarterly rate, taking it to $0.69. Measured on the annual total, 2025 came in 1.87% above the prior year.

Is Verizon a dividend aristocrat?

No. That label needs at least 25 consecutive years of increases together with S&P 500 membership and the index's size and liquidity screens. Verizon's streak stands at 12 years.

Every panel here is a stored query over filed dividend records, and the SQL behind it opens underneath. Run the same history for any other payer on the Strasmore terminal.