3 Dividend Kings You'll Wish You Bought Before 2025 Ends
Among the elite group of Dividend Kings, a few stand out not just for their history but for their strong fundamentals and potential for future growth.
Up Nearly 20% in a Month, Is This Turnaround Dividend Stock Still a Buy in July?
Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else.
As we reach the halfway point of the year, you may be wondering which Dividend Kings have performed well since the start of 2025. Technical indicators, such as Barchart Opinion and Opinion Direction, and Wall Street's analyst consensus ratings of 'Moderate' and 'Strong Buy,' help us decide whether the stock is at or past its peak.
With that out of the way, here are three of my favorite Dividend Kings that I believe are still worth buying today.
Emerson Electric Company is an American multinational specializing in automation solutions for industrial, commercial, and residential markets. The company is known for its automation solutions, specifically for its Copeland Brand.
Emerson is a Dividend King, having increased its dividends for 68 consecutive years. It pays a forward annual dividend of $2.11, translating to an approximate yield of 1.52%. EMR stock is also up 11.94% YTD.
Barchart Opinion reports a strengthening direction for the stock, indicating a potential bullish run over the short (20-day) and medium (50-day) terms. Overall, the company has an 88% buy rating, representing a significant improvement from last month's 40% buy rating, and highlights why investors are buyingEMR stock right now. Meanwhile, a consensus among 24 analysts rate the stock a moderate buy.
Walmart is a one-stop shop that primarily dominates retail here in the United States and Canada. Today, they operate as hypermarkets, department stores, and grocery stores and cater to our basic needs. It is no surprise that the company is on my list of favorite Dividend Kings as it offers a sense of stability while continuing to grow.
Walmart has increased its dividends for 52 consecutive years, and today, they pay a forward annual dividend of $0.94, translating to a yield of 0.97% WMT's stock price is up 7.46% YTD, with the distinct possibility of additional gains in the second half of 2025, if Wall Street's strong buy rating and $120 high target is any indication.
On the technical side, Barchart Opinion rates WMT stock a 72% buy overall, with moving averages indicating potential weakness over the short and medium terms. Still, I'm a long-term investor, and with that in mind, WMT stock still holds a 'Strong Buy' rating from analysts. That said, in the short term, WMT investors must expect the possibility of choppy price movements - and take advantage of them as a buying opportunity.
S&P Global Inc. is a leading independent provider of information and analytics, popular for showing transparent and objective ratings, benchmarks, and data. The company operates across four main divisions: S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Platts, and S&P Dow Jones Indices.
S&P Global Inc. is a Dividend King that has increased its dividends for over 50 years. Today, it pays a forward annual dividend of $3.84, yielding around 0.73%. Not the highest, but definitely one of the most stable investments with great potential. SPGI stock rose 5.69% YTD, roughly in line with the S&P 500's 5.85% performance over the same period.
SPGI's Barchart Opinion score has also vastly improved, now sitting at an 88% buy - up from 40% buy over the last month, although the technical indicators forecast some resistance over the long term.
Dividend Kings are known for their stability, but many do not recognize that you can still get in while they're cheap and capitalize on a bullish run. If you're looking for a stock that pays consistent dividends, like me, these three Dividend Kings could be a great addition to your portfolio.
On the date of publication, Rick Orford did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump confirms possible China trip, but insists ‘not seeking' Xi summit
President Trump has revealed that he may jet over to China in the near future, but rebuffed suggestions that he is seeking a summit with Beijing counterpart Xi Jinping amid intense trade negotiations between the two economic superpowers. 'The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a 'Summit' with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything!' Trump wrote on Truth Social late Monday from Scotland, where he wrapped up a five-day visit Tuesday. 'I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest! Thank you for your attention to this matter.' Staffers for Trump and Xi have held discussions about setting up a meeting between the two leaders, potentially on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in South Korea, which takes place Oct. 30-Nov. 1, Reuters reported last week. It is unclear whether any discussions of Trump traveling to China directly have been broached. 3 President Trump confirmed ongoing talks with China about him meeting with leader Xi Jinping. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images 3 President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's last in-person meeting took place in 2019. XinhuaTrump and Xi last met face-to-face in June 2019 on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The US and China have until Aug. 12 to reach a full-fledged trade agreement following a months-long truce that has seen duties temporarily come down from up to 145% on Chinese exports to the US and 125% on American goods. Negotiators from Washington and Beijing are holding a third round of talks this week in Stockholm. 'We have a good relationship with China,' Trump told reporters Monday at his Turnberry club on the west coast of Scotland. 'China's tough.' In 2024, China was the third-largest US trading partner among individual nations — behind only Mexico and Canada — with trade between the two nations amounting to $582.4 billion. Further complicating negotiations is Trump's looming threat to impose secondary tariffs of 100% against countries that trade with Moscow until the Kremlin ends its invasion of Ukraine and agrees a peace deal. China and India, in particular, have continued to purchase energy from Russia throughout the 41-month-old war on Ukraine. China has also been accused of providing Moscow's arms industry with critical supplies. 3 The Trump administration is currently involved in trade negotiations with China. Getty Images Beyond trade tensions, US officials have repeatedly warned about Chinese cyber attacks, such as the Salt Typhoon operation that breached American telecommunications systems. On Monday, the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration blocked Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te from stopping in New York City during a planned diplomatic visit to Central America later this year. China has long claimed sovereignty over the island state of Taiwan, which has its own currency, military and government. The US adheres to the One China Policy on paper, which acknowledges Beijing's claim, but takes no position on it.


The Hill
15 minutes ago
- The Hill
What critics don't understand about Trump's energy policies
A recent New York Times article made some alarming claims: China is racing ahead in clean energy, while America under Trump clings to fossil fuels. Beijing is supposedly building wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles for a decarbonized world, while Washington is instead doubling down on obsolete oil, gas and coal. The contrast is stark and seemingly damning — the U.S., the article suggests, is losing the future. But this story is misleading. What the article misses is the deeper logic shaping the Trump administration's energy policy. It has little to do with nostalgia or climate skepticism, and everything to do with the demands of artificial intelligence. Trump's energy agenda is being guided by a different kind of technological revolution. Massive AI models, sprawling data centers and next-generation chip foundries demand vast, uninterrupted flows of energy. However clean or cheap they may be, wind and solar, by their intermittent nature, cannot deliver the stable, high-density power these systems require. That distinction, between intermittent and dispatchable energy, is the real dividing line in global energy strategy today. And it's why Trump's policy may be more forward-looking than critics realize. If you want to understand the real rationale, look to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. In a recent interview, he stated, 'To achieve Nvidia's and America's dream to win the AI race, we've got to produce a lot more electricity.' Wright's position is blunt but accurate. Natural gas, followed by nuclear and coal, is what now powers most of America's electricity, and it is these sources that will fuel the AI boom. 'Expanded natural gas electricity production … that'll be the workhorse of winning the AI race,' Wright explained. Thus, in Wright's view, the Trump administration policy isn't to reject the future but rather to win it by unleashing American energy production to support the backbone of tomorrow's economy: AI chips, training clusters and data centers. Contrast that with the Biden administration's approach. The Inflation Reduction Act was a landmark in climate legislation, pouring hundreds of billions into renewables, clean tech and place-based development incentives. It was designed to build solar farms, wind capacity and green manufacturing hubs, especially in disadvantaged communities. But for all its strengths, the law was designed in a pre-ChatGPT world. A 2023 Treasury Department fact sheet on the law goes on at length about electric heat pumps, rooftop solar and tax credits for underserved areas. It says nothing about AI, chip fabrication or crypto foundries. The Biden plan focused on equity and emissions, while Trump's plan focuses on watts and AI's electricity demands. That contrast became even sharper with Trump's second-term executive orders. Within days of taking office, Trump moved to dismantle the regulatory infrastructure supporting Biden's climate agenda. He ordered agencies to fast-track fossil fuel development and streamline the permitting of pipelines and power stations. Biden-era climate councils and carbon accounting models were scrapped. Electric vehicle mandates were rolled back. Furthermore, Trump's executive orders on nuclear power called for 300 new gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050. Advanced reactors are to be deployed at AI data centers and military bases within two years. Uranium enrichment, the revival of shuttered nuclear plants and fuel recycling are all being ramped up under the banner of national security. From liquefied natural gas exports to uranium enrichment, the Trump message is consistent: deregulate, drill, and build. Trump's coalition is not anti-technology — in fact, it is aggressively trying to corner the energy inputs required for technological supremacy, even if it means tearing up climate policy to get there. That brings us back to the New York Times's climate article's core claims. The piece frames the global energy race as a contest between a clean-energy China and a fossil-fueled America, casting the U.S. as the laggard. But that reading confuses the form of energy with its function. The future won't be won by whoever builds the most solar panels. It will be won by the country best positioned to power the technologies that drive tomorrow's economy. And right now, that technology is artificial intelligence. AI isn't just another app layer. It's a foundational shift in computing, manufacturing, defense and global finance. It demands enormous, stable, always-on energy loads. That means natural gas, nuclear and dispatchable capacity, not just wind and sun. By this logic, it may be China — not the U.S. — that's making the bigger strategic misstep. Beijing is doubling down on renewables, but those technologies weren't built to power the AI revolution. Meanwhile, Washington, under Trump, is retooling its energy policy to meet precisely that demand.


Bloomberg
16 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Harsh Reality of US Trade Deal Stirs EU Angst
European Union leaders are working through the consequences of their new trading arrangement with the US, and confronting the reality of just how far they have fallen. The terms of the framework deal agreed on Sunday will mean a significant hit to European companies — the EU accepted a tripling of tariffs to 15% on most exports to the US and will keep its own levies on American goods to 1% or less once the pact goes into effect.