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The Dividend Aristocrats are a select group of 69 S&P 500 stocks with 25+ years of consecutive dividend increases. They are the ‘best of the best’ dividend growth stocks.

Not all Dividend Aristocrats are created equally. Some have high dividend yields but low growth, which could disappoint investors in the long run.

At the same time, many Dividend Aristocrats have lower current yields, but more than make up for it with high dividend growth from year to year.

The following 3 Dividend Aristocrats have low yields right now, but over time will generate strong income for shareholders due to rapid dividend growth.

Ecolab (ECL)

Ecolab Inc. is the global leader in water, hygiene, and energy technologies and services, with a presence in more than 170 countries.

The company operates in four major business segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional, Global Healthcare and Global Pest Elimination.

In mid-February, Ecolab reported (2/11/25) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Organic sales grew 4% over the prior year’s quarter, primarily thanks to accelerated growth in the Industrial and Healthcare segments.

Thanks to higher volumes, material price hikes and lower supply chain costs, adjusted earnings-per-share grew 17%, from $1.55 to $1.81, and exceeded the analysts’ consensus by $0.01.

Moreover, thanks to robust pricing and new business wins, management provided strong guidance for 2025. It expects earnings-per-share of $7.42-$7.62, implying 13% growth over the prior year at the mid-point.

Future growth will come largely through acquisitions, for example the 2021 acquisition of Purolite for $3.7 billion in cash. Purolite sells high-end ion exchange resins for the separation of solutions in over 30 countries.

Ecolab’s most compelling competitive strength is its scale, which allows it to aggressively invest in marketing, advertising, and research and development. Ecolab spends more than $1 billion on research and development each year, which has allowed it to create an intellectual property portfolio that contains more than 9,000 patents.

ECL has increased its dividend for 33 years.

Roper Technologies (ROP)

Roper Technologies is a specialized industrial company that manufactures products such as medical and scientific imaging equipment, pumps, and material analysis equipment. Roper Technologies also develops software solutions for the healthcare, transportation, food, energy, and water industries.

On January 30th, 2025, Roper posted its Q4 and full-year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. Quarterly revenues and adjusted EPS were $1.88 billion and $4.81, indicating up 16% and 10% year-over-year, respectively.

The company’s momentum during the quarter remained strong, with organic growth coming in at 7% and acquisitions-driven growth coming in at 9%. Organic growth was once again driven by broad-based strength across its portfolio of niche leading businesses.

For the year, adjusted EPS grew by almost 10% to $18.31. Backed by Roper's growth momentum, balance sheet strength, and a large pipeline of quality acquisition opportunities, management believes Roper is well positioned for continued double-digit cash flow growth.

Further, Roper introduced its adjusted EPS guidance for FY2025, expecting it to land between $19.75 and $20.00. We have utilized the midpoint of this range in our estimate, which implies a year-over-year increase of 9.0%.

Roper has proven consistent growth in its profitability over the years. Over the past ten years, the company has grown its adjusted EPS by an annualized rate of 12%. Roper Technologies is poised for sustained growth, powered by high margin software acquisitions like Vertafore (insurance solutions) and Strata Decision Technology (healthcare analytics).

Roper’s shift toward these asset-light, recurring revenue platforms has sharpened its portfolio and freed up capital for further M&A. Recent divestitures—like the sale of TransCore—also show Roper’s focus on concentrating on premium software and analytics segments.

Roper also has a tremendous dividend growth record, numbering 32 years of consecutive dividend increases, which earns the company the Dividend Aristocrat title. The company's latest dividend raise upheld its previous rate of growth (10.0% compared to the previous hike of 9.9%). Over the past decade, DPS has grown annually by an average of 12.7%.

W.W. Grainger (GWW)

W.W. Grainger, headquartered in Lake Forest, IL, is one of the world’s largest business-to-business distributors of maintenance, repair, and operations (“MRO”) supplies.

Grainger has more than 4.5 million active customers, with more than 30 million products offered globally.

On January 31st, 2025, W.W. Grainger posted its Q4 and full-year results. For the quarter, revenues were $4.23 billion, up 5.9% on a reported basis and up 4.7% on a daily, constant currency basis compared to last year.

Results were driven by solid performance across the board. The High-Touch Solutions segment achieved sales growth of 4.0% due to volume growth in all geographies.

In the Endless Assortment segment, sales were up 15.1%. Revenue growth for the segment was driven by core B2B customers across the segment as well as enterprise customer growth at MonotaRO.

Net income equaled $475 million, up 20.2% compared to Q4-2023. Net income was boosted by a 110 basis point expansion in the operating margin to 15.0%.

Earnings-per-share came in at $9.74, 22.8% higher year-over-year, and were further aided by stock buybacks. For the year, EPS reached a record $38.71.

Grainger’s strategic shift of lowering its pricing, thereby creating higher demand, and growing its revenues, seems to have worked well. Over the intermediate period, profit growth will be driven not only by rising revenue but also by a reduction in the company’s share count. The company repurchased $1.25 billion worth of its stock during 2024.

GWW has increased its dividend for 52 years.

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