It is no secret that investors love receiving dividends. With up to half (or more) of all total returns through time coming from dividends, companies that are raising their dividends year after year tend to end up being the most sought after by investors. Among dividend-paying companies exists a classification of the Dividend Aristocrats. These dividend payers are the companies inside the S&P 500 Index with a history of having raised their dividends for 25 years or more.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through the stocks that fall into the Dividend Aristocrats index and featured the Dow Jones Industrial Average companies. These corporate giants have stated or admitted on their own that they are in the 25-year dividend hike game.

What is different now after seven and a half years of a bull market is that many companies are starting to run into issues. It seems rather obvious that some companies are likely to have issues when it comes to being able to keep growing their dividends at the same rate they have been used to. We have made an effort to screen out many of the dividend aristocrats that might run into issues ahead on being able to keep hiking those dividends.

Investors should know that not all the companies raising dividends are created equally. Some companies cannot maintain their pace of hikes indefinitely. Many other companies just haven’t been paying dividends for anywhere long enough to count. It seems that only a few energy companies can keep raising dividends.

Many investors might assume that the largest and most continually growing dividends would all be Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. Guess again. Not even one-third of the current 30 Dow stocks have a history of 25 consecutive years of dividend hikes. 24/7 Wall St. has featured the seven Dow stocks first for the club of 25 straight dividend hikes.

Additional commentary also has been included that was provided either in the official corporate statements of their last dividend hike or from their investor relations sites. Featured in a bullet format is the respective yield on each, followed by the number of years of consecutive dividend hikes, and with color and recent share performance on a total return basis added on each.

For a reference on relative performance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, via the Diamonds ETF for reflecting dividends, was last seen up 6.6 so far in 2016 and has returned 16.7% versus this time a year ago.

1. 3M
> Conglomerate
> Yield: 2.5%
> Years: Over 50

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), as of 2016, has paid dividends to its shareholders for more than 99 straight years. 3M has also hiked its annual dividend for 57 consecutive years. 3M shares were last trading at $177 — within about 3% of all-time highs. 3M’s consensus analyst price target is now $181.73, and its 52-week trading range is $134.64 to $182.27. The conglomerate and industrial player now has a total market cap of $107 billion.

3M shares have gained 19% year to date, and the stock has returned about 31% over the past year.

2. Coca-Cola
> Beverages
> Yield: 3.3%
> Years: Over 50

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) has paid dividends for more years than most investors can count. Its last dividend hike marked the 54th consecutive annual dividend increase. Coca-Cola was recently trading at $42.50. The stock has a consensus price target of $47.44 and a 52-week range of $39.36 to $47.13. The beverage giant’s market cap is $183 billion.

Coca-Cola shares have risen just 1.5% so far in 2016, which means all the gains have come from dividends. The performance versus a year ago is up 11%.

3. Exxon Mobil
> Oil and Gas
> Yield: 3.6%
> Years: Over 30

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is among the largest companies in the world. The oil giant is now also a natural gas giant and integrated all up and down the supply and demand chain. Exxon Mobil has paid dividends for more than 100 years, and its most recent hike in mid-2016 marked its 34th consecutive annual dividend hike.

Shares of Exxon Mobil were last trading at $83.75, and it has a total market cap of $347 billion. It also has a consensus price target of $89.93 and a 52-week range of $71.55 to $95.55.

Exxon Mobil may have had a very bad patch during the oil price meltdown. Still, the oil and gas giant’s total return has been 9.6% in 2016. Its performance versus a year ago has been more than 18%.

4. Johnson & Johnson
> Consumer Products and Health Care Products
> Yield: 2.7%
> Years: Over 50

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has proven itself a capable dividend payer for health care and consumer products companies. It hiked its dividend in early 2016, which made an increase in the quarterly dividend for its 54th consecutive year.

Johnson & Johnson shares were recently trading at $119.25, with a $326 billion market cap. Its consensus price target is $126.76, and it has a 52-week range of $91.76 to $126.07.

Its shares have risen 18.5% so far in 2016, and the gain versus a year ago is an impressive 34%, if you add in the dividends.

5. McDonald’s
> Casual Dining
> Yield: 3%
> Years: Nearly 40

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) said back in January of 2016 that it has raised its dividend each and every year since paying its first dividend in 1976. It also began paying dividends quarterly, like most companies today, back in 2008.

McDonald’s was last seen trading at $114.64, with a $98 billion market cap. The consensus price target is $129.09, and the 52-week range is $97.13 to $131.96.

McDonald’s has seen a total return of just 1.2% so far in 2016, also implying that the only shareholder reward has more or less come from dividends. Still, McDonald’s stock has a total return of over 25% versus this time in 2015.

6. Procter & Gamble
> Consumer Products
> Yield: 3.2%
> Years: 60

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) most recently hiked its dividend in April 2016. This actually marked the 60th consecutive year that the consumer products giant increased its dividend. The company actually has been paying a dividend for 126 consecutive years, since its incorporation in 1890. With this dividend increase, the payout ratio is expected to be over 70% of net earnings.

Procter & Gamble shares were recently trading at $88.75, and the market cap is $237 billion. The stock has a consensus price target of $92.28 and a 52-week range of $71.29 to $89.49. Investors might want to take note that this right up against all-time highs.

Shares have generated returns of 14% so far in 2016, with the restructuring set to continue. Compared with a year ago, its shares have returned 27% to shareholders.

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7. Wal-Mart
> Retail
> Yield: 2.8%
> Years: Over 30

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has now increased its annual cash dividend every year since first declaring a $0.05 per share annual dividend in March 1974, and the current dividend is $0.50 per quarter.

Shares of Wal-Mart were last seen at $71.75, with a consensus price target of $74.99 and a 52-week range of $56.30 to $75.19. The world’s largest retailer has a market cap of $224 billion.

Wal-Mart shares have recovered handily from their lows, with many analysts recently issuing come-along price hikes. The stock has returned 20.5% so far in 2016, and its return from this time in 2015 is 17%.

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