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NextEra Energy (NEE) will grow its adjusted earnings to $7.683 billion by 2025, and it has been increasing its dividend for three decades.
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After raising its dividend for 34 consecutive years, Linde (LIN) remains profitable, with adjusted earnings per share rising 6% year-over-year in 2025.
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FactSet Research Systems (FDS)’s first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings per share increased 3.2% year-over-year, and it has increased dividend distributions for the 27th consecutive year.
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United Bankshares (UBSI) reports record earnings in 2025, and UBSI stock’s 3.63% dividend yield should appeal to passive income seekers.
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To build a bulletproof dividend portfolio, you need to identify rock-solid companies with a proven track record of distributing cash to shareholders. Among the most worthy of your attention and capital are a class of publicly traded companies known as Dividend Aristocrats.
Note that a company can’t call itself a Dividend Aristocrat for no reason. To earn this designation, a business must increase its dividend payments (measured in dollar amounts, not necessarily as a percentage yield) for 25 consecutive years.
When you invest in Dividend Aristocrats, you should feel comfortable knowing that these are generally companies that respect their shareholders. Therefore, today’s list only includes financially stable businesses with a 25+ year history of uninterrupted dividend increases.
It makes sense to start with relatively safe stocks, with power companies often considered safe havens for investors. So we’re going to go with the utility giant next generation energy (NYSE: NEE ) becomes our first Dividend Aristocrat today.
To reiterate, no company belongs on this list unless it has a track record of at least 25 consecutive years of dividend growth. It turns out that after 30 years of rising dividends, NextEra Energy has earned aristocracy.
Even if it was a true Dividend Aristocrat, I wouldn’t mention NextEra Energy unless the company had evidence of profitability. The good news is that NextEra Energy is already profitable, in fact, the company’s adjusted earnings improved from $7.063 billion in 2024 to $7.683 billion in 2025.
In other words, NextEra Energy has ample earnings to report and can comfortably cover its dividend distributions. If you’re ready to give NEE stock a chance, you can buy some shares in hopes of earning NextEra Energy’s generous 2.66% annual dividend.
Belongs to the category of basic industrial materials, Linde (NASDAQ: LIN ) may not be a household name, but it’s still an important company. In summary, Linde supplies gases such as hydrogen, helium and nitrogen for industrial purposes.
Does Linde really qualify as a true Dividend Aristocrat? The cutoff number is 25, but that’s not a problem for Linde since the company has a 34-year history of dividend increases.
From a financial perspective, 2025 is a good year for Linde, with the company’s sales increasing 3% year-on-year to $34 billion. Additionally, Linde’s adjusted earnings rose 6% to $16.46 per share.
You don’t have to worry that Linde might cut its dividend distribution in 2026. Currently, LIN stock has a forward annual dividend yield of 1.26%, and if you want to participate, you can do your due diligence on Linde first.
Another noble company for you to consider is FactSet Research System (NYSE: FDS). FactSet Research Systems is well known to many traders and investors for providing a financial digital platform as well as extensive market research.
While FactSet Research Systems doesn’t hold the record for the longest dividend growth, it’s still a true aristocrat. Specifically, FactSet Research Systems has a history of consecutive dividend increases dating back 27 years.
There are reasons to wonder whether FactSet Research Systems is a positive earnings business, but there’s no need to worry about that. Data show that FactSet Research Systems’ adjusted diluted earnings in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 increased 3.2% year-on-year to $4.51 per share.
We’re sticking to the facts today, and the numbers strongly suggest that FactSet Research Systems is a stable and reliable Dividend Aristocrat. Income investors should definitely keep an eye on FDS stock, as FactSet Research Systems offers a respectable dividend yield of 2.03%.
After completing this list of four long-term dividend growth companies, I’ve come up with a list of solid financial companies you can trust. I mean Union Bank Stock (Nasdaq: UBSI), provides commercial and retail banking services in the United States
This long history of dividend increases should help any skeptical investors gain confidence in Union Bank stock. Indeed, this company has earned the title of Dividend Aristocrat, as United Bankshares can boast 37 years of uninterrupted dividend growth.
You should expect financial stability from a banking business, and Union Bank stock appears to pass that test. The company proudly disclosed that earnings in 2025 were a record $464.6 million, compared with $373 million in 2024. Additionally, United Bankshares’ earnings increased from $94.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $128.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Now that you know some basic statistics about Union Bank stock, today might be a good day to start taking a position in the stock. By purchasing UBSI stock, you can look forward to ongoing cash distributions from the Dividend Aristocrat, yielding an annual yield of 3.63%.
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