At 24/7 Wall St., we have closely followed dividend-paying stocks for over 15 years. With a growing audience of savvy Baby Boomers and retirees seeking safe income ideas that deliver more than the 10-year Treasury bond’s 4% bi-annual dividend, we have screened hundreds of stocks, looking for recurring, dependable dividend payouts and a degree of safety that allows for a good night’s sleep. One group of stocks that we have always recommended is the Dividend Aristocrats. For dividend safety and reliability, they are among the best ideas for growth and income investors.
With the potential for a December rate cut growing, dividend stocks could get a nice end-of-year tailwind.
The Dividend Aristocrats are solid ideas for nervous investors who feel that a bigger correction could be on the way sooner rather than later.
With the potential for a year-end Santa Claus rally, grabbing the highest-yielding Dividend Aristocrats now could be a total return home run.
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Investors seeking defensive companies that pay substantial dividends are drawn to the Dividend Aristocrats, and with good reason. The 66 companies that made the cut for the 2025 S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats list have increased their dividends (not just maintained them) for 25 consecutive years. But the requirements go even further, with the following attributes also mandatory for membership on the aristocrats list:
Companies must be worth at least $3 billion for each quarterly rebalancing.
Average daily volume of at least $5 million transactions for every trailing three-month period at every quarterly rebalancing date.
They must be members of the S&P 500.
We screened the Dividend Aristocrats list for the five highest-yielding companies, and all five look like outstanding ideas for growth and income investors seeking dependable, growing dividends. All have a Buy rating at the top Wall Street firms we cover.
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S&P 500 companies that have paid and raised their dividends for 25 years or longer are the types that growth and income investors want to buy and hold in their stock portfolios for the long term. These stocks are mostly conservative, and should we see a dramatic market correction, they will likely keep their ground much better than volatile technology names.
This company is an excellent idea as its products are always in demand and pays a 6.03% dividend. Amcor PLC (NYSE: AMCR) provides packaging solutions for consumer and healthcare products. The company develops sustainable packaging in flexible and rigid formats across multiple materials and operates through two segments.
The Flexibles segment consists of operations that manufacture flexible and film packaging in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries.
The Rigid Packaging segment consists of operations that manufacture rigid containers for a broad range of predominantly beverage and food products, including:
The company’s subsidiaries include Amcor Flexibles North America, Amcor UK Finance, and Amcor Finance (USA).
Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating with a $11.50 target price.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) is among the most prominent global money managers. The firm markets mutual funds and institutional separate accounts under the Franklin, Templeton, and Mutual Series brands and pays a solid 5.81% dividend. At times, 50% of its sales are from outside the United States, an advantage given the maturing U.S. market.
Franklin Resources offers its products and services under the brands of:
The 2023 to 2025 bull market has been a strong tailwind for the company; however, the recent sell-off has made the shares appear incredibly cheap. While withdrawals from baby boomers may be a concern, the path forward in 2026 also appears solid, as the shares have rebounded from their April lows.
Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $29 target price.
Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O) is a real estate investment trust that invests in free-standing, single-tenant commercial properties. This is an ideal stock for growth and income investors seeking a safer, contrarian investment for the remainder of 2025, with a 5.66% monthly dividend. Realty Income is an S&P 500 company that provides stockholders with dependable monthly income.
The company acquires and manages freestanding commercial properties that generate rental income under long-term net-lease agreements with its commercial clients.
It is engaged in a single business activity: leasing property to clients, generally on a net basis. This business activity spans various geographic boundaries and encompasses a range of property types and clients across multiple industries.
The company owns or holds interests in approximately 15,621 properties in:
All 50 United States
The United Kingdom
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Portugal
Spain
With clients doing business in 89 industries, its property types include retail, industrial, gaming, and other sectors, such as agriculture and office.
Its primary industry concentrations include:
Grocery stores
Convenience stores
Dollar stores
Drug stores
Home improvement stores
Restaurants
Quick service
UBS has a Buy rating with a $66 price objective.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is an American retail corporation with a chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets. This company remains a solid and safe retail total return play, and after a rough 2025, down almost 24%, it is a stellar buy, trading at 14 times forward earnings with a strong 5.20% dividend yield.
Target is a general merchandise retailer in the United States that offers apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, infants, and newborns, as well as jewelry, accessories, and shoes. The company also offers a range of beauty and personal care products, baby gear, cleaning supplies, paper products, and pet care products. It also provides:
Dry grocery, dairy, frozen food, beverages, candy, snacks, deli, bakery, meat, and food service
Electronics, which includes video game hardware and software
Toys, entertainment, sporting goods, and luggage
Furniture, lighting, storage, kitchenware, small appliances, home décor, bed, and bath
Home improvement
School/office supplies
Greeting cards, party supplies, and other seasonal merchandise
In addition, the company sells merchandise through periodic design and creative partnerships, shop-in-shop experiences, and in-store amenities. It also sells its products through its stores and digital channels, including Target.com.
The company suffered a “Bud Light” moment a few years back after a disastrous merchandising campaign for LGBTQ products, which struck a nerve among many shoppers. While not as severe as the beer giants’ conundrum, it was a significant negative that has seemingly subsided.
Evercore ISI has assigned a Positive rating and a $100 target price.
This American food processing company was founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota. With a very reliable dividend and many well-known products, Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) is a very safe investment now, offering a 5.02% dividend yield. The company develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, food service, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally.
It operates through three segments:
Retail
Food Service
International
Hormel is a Dividend King with over 50 years of dividend increases and is a consumer staples company focused on protein-based packaged foods. Its yield is historically high, and the Hormel Foundation’s oversight ensures dividend reliability. Reports indicate that it is restructuring its portfolio and cutting costs to improve performance.
The company provides various perishable products, including fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacon, and shelf-stable products, including canned luncheon meats, nut butter, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.
It sells its products under these brands:
Hormel
Always Tender
Applegate
Austin Blues
Bacon 1
Black Label
Bread Ready
Burke
Café H
Ceratti
Chi-Chi’s
Columbus
Compleats
Corn Nuts
Cure 81
Dan’s Prize
Di Lusso
Dinty Moore
Don Miguel
Doña Maria
Embasa
Fast N Easy
Fire Braised
Fontanini
Happy Little Plants
Herdez
Hormel Gatherings
Hormel Square Table
Hormel Vital Cuisine
House Of Tsang
Jennie-O
Justin’s
La Victoria
Layout
Lloyd’s
Mary Kitchen
Mr. Peanut
Natural Choice
Nut-Rition
Old Smokehouse
Oven Ready
Pillow Pack
Planters
Rosa Grande
Sadler’s Smokehouse
Skippy
Spam
Special Recipe
Thick & Easy
Valley Fresh
Wholly
J.P. Morgan has an Overweight rating and a $27 target price.
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