These are stocks that have increased their dividends for 50 or more consecutive years. That’s akin to being a Dividend Aristocrat twice over. Just imagine running your own business and having to write ever-larger dividend checks to your investors for 50 or more years in a row. Imagine how amazing of a business you’d have to run in order to accomplish something like that. I mean, just surviving as a business for 50 years is difficult enough. Managing to produce rising profit year in and year out, like clockwork? Then paying out a growing dividend year in and year out, like clockwork? For 50 or more years in a row? Nearly impossible. That’s why Dividend Kings are the cream of the crop when it comes to dividend growth stocks.

Dividend King #1: American States Water (AWR) American States Water is a water and electric utility company with a market cap of $3 billion. Let me tell you something right now. Water is quickly becoming liquid gold. Oil was the liquid gold of the 20th century. Well, I think water is starting to displace oil and will become the liquid gold of the 21st century. In that new paradigm, there are few companies better positioned than American States Water. And even if you assume the future is no brighter than the past, that’s okay. Because the past has been amazing for this water company and its shareholders. American States Water has increased its dividend for 66 consecutive years. This one of the most reliable dividend growth stocks I know of.

Dividend King #2: Hormel Foods (HRL) Hormel is a global branded food company with a market cap of $26 billion. Food. Humans gotta have it in order to survive. So any company in the business of selling food is starting off on the right foot. Or so you’d think. In reality, every business thinks that, which is why so many businesses enter this space and create an incredibly competitive and difficult industry. Only the toughest survive. Hormel hasn’t just survived, though. It’s absolutely thrived. Hormel has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years. This Dividend King almost always looks worthy of long-term investment. The thing about Dividend Kings like Hormel is, you don’t need to fine tune the valuation. You know you’re investing in a wonderful business that’ll take care of its shareholders and do extremely well over the long run. There’s no guesswork here. With its 2.1% yield, which is 30 basis points higher than its five-year average, you’re getting a nice current income stream here on top of that near-guaranteed dividend growth. The P/E ratio, at 29.5, could be lower, sure. If it dips, the stock would be even more appealing.

Dividend King #3: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare conglomerate with a market cap of $432 billion. Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend for 59 consecutive years. This is a prototypical dividend growth stock that allows you to sleep well at night. While meme stocks, cryptocurrency, and invisible sculptures keep speculators up at night, Johnson & Johnson just continues to make more and more money by selling the pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and medical devices the world demands. I’ve never heard of a Johnson & Johnson shareholder up all night worrying about their investment. It’s the kind of foundational dividend growth stock that can be a bedrock of a portfolio. With most basic valuation metrics not too far off from their respective recent historical averages, Johnson & Johnson looks reasonably valued. This is a Dividend King to strongly consider owning, if you don’t already.

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