Dividend aristocrats are popular with investors. After all, what dividend investor wouldn’t want to own the stocks of companies with a history of growing their dividends consistently over time? But dividend aristocrats aren’t always the best long-term dividend stocks to buy. Here’s how to find the top ones to own.

What is a dividend aristocrat?

Dividend aristocrats are defined as companies that have increased their dividends every year for 25 years or longer. There are currently more than 60 dividend aristocrats among the companies included in the S&P 500.

Investors like dividend aristocrats because they expect companies with a history of dividend growth to be able to continue to grow their dividends in the future. In addition, dividend aristocrats are mature companies with sufficient earnings to continue to increase their dividends and are run by management teams that prioritize dividends in the capital structure.

That being said, dividend aristocrats aren’t immune to dividend cuts. Early in 2024, for instance, onetime dividend aristocrat Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA cut its dividend nearly in half. How can investors avoid those dividend aristocrats that may be more likely to cut their dividends? “Companies with wide economic moats have been less likely to cut dividends than companies with narrow moats,” explains Morningstar Indexes strategist Dan Lefkovitz. “No-moat businesses are most likely to cut.”

And because of their rich histories of dividend growth, dividend aristocrats are often overvalued, too. As a result, they can carry a good deal of price risk.

The 10 best US dividend aristocrats to buy now for 2026

To come up with our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy, we screened on the following:

  • Dividend stocks included in the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF NOBL
  • Dividend aristocrats with Morningstar Economic Moat Ratings of narrow or wide that are trading below our fair value estimates

Here are 10 dividend aristocrats that made the cut.

  1. Clorox CLX
  2. Amcor AMCR
  3. Brown-Forman BF.B
  4. Becton Dickinson BDX
  5. West Pharmaceutical WST
  6. Kimberly-Clark KMB
  7. FactSet Research FDS
  8. Air Products and Chemicals APD
  9. Automatic Data Processing ADP
  10. PepsiCo PEP

Here’s a little bit about each dividend aristocrat on our list. All data is as of Jan. 23, 2026.

Clorox

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.70
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 4.37%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

Clorox tops our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy. Morningstar director Erin Lash expects mid-single-digit dividend growth over the next 10 years, resulting in a payout ratio near 60% long term. Clorox stock trades at a 30% discount to our $163 fair value estimate.

Amcor

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.74
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 5.87%
  • Sector: Consumer Cyclical

The highest-yielding stock on our list of the best dividend aristocrats, Amcor trades 26% below our $60 fair value estimate. Amcor’s scale as the largest global provider of plastic packaging and transportation benefits from proximity manufacturing with customers, providing a durable cost advantage that underpins a narrow economic moat, says Morningstar analyst Esther Holloway. The firm has a progressive dividend policy; given that, annual dividend growth is likely to remain the key means of capital management, she adds.

Brown-Forman

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.75
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 3.30%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

The second wide-moat stock on our list of undervalued dividend aristocrats, Brown-Forman, trades 25% below our fair value estimate. The manufacturer of premium distilled spirits, including Jack Daniel’s, earns that wide economic moat rating because of its strong brand loyalty and tight client relationships, explains Morningstar analyst Dan Su. We expect dividend payments to grow alongside earnings. We think shares are worth $37.

Becton Dickinson

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.75
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 2.08%
  • Sector: Healthcare

Becton Dickinson is one of the lower-yielding stocks on our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy. We think the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of medical and surgical products has carved out a narrow economic moat. The stock looks attractive, trading 25% below our fair value estimate of $270. Becton Dickinson isn’t just a dividend aristocrat; it’s a dividend king, too, which means it has raised its dividend for 50 consecutive years.

West Pharmaceutical

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.76
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 0.37%
  • Sector: Healthcare

West Pharmaceutical is the lowest-yielding stock on our list of the best dividend aristocrats to invest in. The global market leader in primary packaging and delivery components for injectable therapeutics, West Pharmaceutical has historically paid dividends in a 20%-30% payout range, observes Morningstar senior equity analyst Jay Lee. We expect the company to maintain a dividend payout ratio of about 13% through our five-year explicit forecast period. West Pharmaceutical stock looks 24% undervalued relative to our $310 fair value estimate.

Kimberly-Clark

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.77
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 4.93%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

In addition to making our list of best dividend aristocrats to buy, Kimberly-Clark is also a dividend king. We think the company has carved out a narrow moat with its portfolio of billion-dollar brands that includes Huggies, Scott, Kleenex, Cottonelle, Depend, and Kotex. Our long-term outlook calls for mid-single-digit annual dividend growth, says Morningstar’s Lash. Kimberly-Clark is one of the higher-yielding dividend aristocrats, too.

FactSet Research

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.80
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 1.53%
  • Sector: Financial Services

FactSet is the only financial-services stock on our list of the top dividend aristocrats to buy—and it’s also among the lowest-yielding stocks of the group. We assign FactSet a narrow economic moat based on switching costs. The company maintains a payout ratio in the 20%-30% range on a GAAP basis, says Morningstar analyst Rajiv Bhatia. We think FactSet’s stock is worth $360.

Air Products and Chemicals

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.86
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 2.74%
  • Sector: Basic Materials

Air Products and Chemicals is the fourth wide-moat stock on our list of best dividend aristocrats to buy; it’s also a dividend king. One of the leading industrial gas suppliers globally, the company earns that wide moat because of its high switching costs, explains Morningstar analyst Krzysztof Smalec.

Automatic Data Processing

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.87
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 2.64%
  • Sector: Technology

Automatic Data Processing is the only technology stock on our list of best dividend aristocrats to buy. Between fiscal 2010 and 2025, dividends per share have increased at a compound annual rate of 10.5%, notes Morningstar director Eric Compton. The company targets a dividend payout ratio of 55%-60%, he adds. Automatic Data Processing stock trades at an 13% discount to our $297 fair value estimate. It’s also a dividend king.

PepsiCo

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.87
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 3.94%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

PepsiCo rounds out our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy; it’s also a dividend king. A global leader in snacks and beverages, PepsiCo has maintained a payout ratio averaging 66% over the past three years, with dividends per share growing at a high-single-digit rate annually, observes Morningstar’s Su. Over our 10-year explicit forecast period, we forecast the payout ratio to stay in the low 70s on average, with the dividend payment growing at a mid-single-digit pace annually, she says.

Get Morningstar’s insights in your inbox