Income investors often focus on dividend companies with reliable payouts, such as the Dividend Kings, which have consecutively increased dividend payout for over 50 years. However, many of these companies have below-average dividend yields and growth rates, which is acceptable for those looking for the reliability and consistency these Dividend Kings bring to their portfolios.
While I see nothing wrong with that, I ask, wouldn’t investing in companies with reliable payouts, decent increases, and attractive yields be better idea? With that, I came up with a list of 3 Dividend Kings that check all those boxes.
How I Came Up With The List of Dividend Kings
- Watchlist: I selected my pre-made watchlist to screen for Dividend Kings. With Barchart’s watchlists, you can create categories as well, including Aristocrats, Magnificent 7, Growth Stocks, and many more.
- Number of Analysts: I set the number of analysts to 16 and above, so I’ll only get companies with a greater consensus - the more analysts, the better.
- Analyst Rating: Then, I set the analyst rating to 4 and above so I can only get Dividend Kings with a Moderate to Strong Buy rating.
- 5-Year Dividend Growth: I set the 5-year dividend growth to 20% and above. This excludes companies with “a quarter penny per year” dividend increases just to maintain the Dividend King title.
- Dividend Yield: I left this blank to see the overall spectrum of companies ranked from highest to lowest dividend yield.
After clicking “SEE RESULTS,” I was left with a list of 9 Dividend Kings. Then, I sorted the list from highest to lowest dividend yield.
From there, I my list of the top 3 buy-rated Dividend Kings with the highest dividend yields.
Sysco Corp (SYY)
The first Dividend King on the list is Sysco Corporation. It's one of the biggest names in food distribution, primarily serving restaurants, hospitals, schools, and hotels around the world. Sysco runs its business through four main divisions and maintains around 340 distribution centers. The company has a wide array of product lineups - frozen foods, fresh meats, seafood, dairy, drinks, and even specialty items that food service businesses need to operate.
Sysco’s Q2’25 financials reported wins - and some minor setbacks. Revenue increased 4.47% year-over-year to reach $20.15 billion, with operating income increasing slightly to $712 million. The said setback, however, is that Sysco’s bottom line decreased by 2.1% year-over-year to $406 million on the back of higher interest costs. EPS came in at $0.82, easily covering Sysco’s $0.51 dividend - which translates to to an aprox 2.8% yield.
But here’s where Sysco shines: their 5-YR dividend growth rate is currently 33.33%, rather impressive for a mature company like this. Investors can expect their next dividend to hit their account on April 25, 2025.
Consensus on Wall Street seems rather optimistic about Sysco - SYY stock has a favorable 4.29 out of 5 moderate buy rating from 17 analysts, with a high price target of $95 per share, which suggests a ~40% upside potential from the stocks current trading price.
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)
The next Dividend King on the list is a global biopharma company, AbbVie Inc. It mainly develops medicines across Immunology, Oncology, Aesthetics, Neuroscience, and even Eye Care. The company’s main revenue drivers include products like Imbruvica, Venclexta, Botox, Mavyret, and Venclexta specifically targeting blood cancers.
Abbvie’s dividend is also rather attractive for income investors. Its forward dividend sits at $6.56 per share ($1.64 quarterly) translating to an aprox. 3.7% dividend yield. Not only that, the company has a 5-YR dividend growth rate totaling 44.86%.
AbbVie’s Q4’24 financials reported quarterly EPS of $2.16, which easily covers the $1.64 dividend quarterly payout.
Wall Street consensus remains positive on ABBV stock, with 25 analysts maintaining a Moderate Buy rating with a score of 4.28 out of 5, and a high price target for the stock is $250, which suggests ~42% upside potential.
Coca-Cola Company (KO)
I think I can safely say that pretty much everyone knows the Coca-Cola Company.The company’s portfolio includes soft drinks (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta), water and sports drinks (Dasani, smartwater, BODYARMOR, Powerade), coffee and tea (Costa, Georgia, Fuze Tea), and juices/dairy alternatives (Minute Maid, Simply, fairlife, AdeS).
The beverage giant is one of the most established Dividend Kings, with 63 consecutive years of dividend increases under its belt. At the moment, the company has a forward dividend of $2.04 annually ($0.51 quarterly), yielding aprox. 3% with 21.25% growth over 5 years. And, speaking of which, the company’s most recent quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share was paid on April 1st, 2025.
Unlike the first two Dividend Kings, Coca-Cola’s Q4’24 financials are pretty strong despite global headwinds. The company’s revenue increased 6.4% year-over-year to $11.54 billion. Its bottom line also increased 11.43% to $2.2 billion.
As you might have expected, 22 Wall Street analysts rate KO stock a 4.86 out of 5 - which translates to the strongest buy rating on this list of Dividend Kings.
Final Thoughts
I believe the companies mentioned in this analysis are, without a doubt, reliable in terms of income. Warren Buffett famously said, “silly stock prices are going to appear periodically”, and as someone who’s been through 5 bear markets and 10 or so corrections, I can absolutely agree. The market can be unpredictable - even for established Dividend Kings. So, it’s always best to consider different metrics, such as company prospects, valuations, other performance, etc., before investing.
