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?

It’s no wonder, then, that some investors fall into the dividend aristocrat trap: They assume dividend aristocrats are the best long-term dividend stocks to buy. That’s not always the case.

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 prioritise dividends in the capital structure.

That being said, dividend aristocrats aren’t immune to dividend cuts. Onetime dividend aristocrat Walgreens Boots Alliance cut its dividend nearly in half in 2024. How can investors sidestep the dividend aristocrat trap and avoid those most 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.”

The 5 best US dividend aristocrats to buy in 2026

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

  • 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 five dividend aristocrats that made the list.

  1. Clorox CLX
  2. Medtronic MDT
  3. Brown-Forman BF.B
  4. McCormick & Co MKC
  5. Kimberly-Clark KMB

Here’s a little bit about each dividend aristocrat on our list. All data is as of May 29, 2026.

Clorox

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.55
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 5.51%
  • 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 45% discount to our $163 fair value estimate.

5 best dividend aristocrats

Medtronic

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.66
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 3.85%
  • Sector: Healthcare

Medtronic is one of the lower-yielding stocks on our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy. The firm has long set a benchmark of 50% free cash flow distributed to shareholders, but the payout ratio has crept up closer to 70% to 80% in recent years, reports Morningstar senior analyst Debbie Wang. The stock looks attractive, trading 34% below our fair value estimate of $112.

Medtronic’s standing as the largest pure-play medical-device maker remains a force to be reckoned with in the medical technology landscape. Medtronic’s diversified product portfolio aimed at a wide range of chronic diseases spans therapeutic areas including cardiac, spine, chronic pain, as well as various products for acute care. This has put Medtronic in a strong position as a major vendor to hospital customers.

All along, the firm has largely remained true to its fundamental strategy of innovation, which has often resulted in differentiated technology. It is often first or second to market with new products and has invested heavily in internal research and development efforts as well as acquiring emerging technologies. However, in the postreform healthcare world where there are higher hurdles for securing reimbursement for next-generation technology, Medtronic has had to move in the direction of introducing meaningful innovation that can demonstrate measurable safety or efficacy improvements. The firm has also begun to partner more closely with its hospital clients by offering greater breadth of products and services to help hospitals operate more efficiently.

While some technology platforms, such as cardiac rhythm management, have reached maturity, Medtronic has established a significant footprint in new therapies, including transcatheter aortic valves, pulsed field ablation for atrial fibrillation, and stent retrievers for ischemic stroke. The firm is also early out of the gate for emerging technologies like renal denervation for uncontrolled hypertension and robots for spine surgeries.

As with many devicemakers, Medtronic has augmented its internal innovation with acquisitions of technology platforms, running the risk of overpaying. The large acquisition of Covidien depressed returns for far longer than typically seen among devicemakers when engaging in mergers and acquisitions. We remain wary that Medtronic, by virtue of its size and cash flows, remains one of the few medical device competitors that could entertain another truly large acquisition.

Brown-Forman

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.70
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 3.58%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

The second wide-moat stock on our list of undervalued dividend aristocrats, Brown-Forman, trades 30% below our fair value estimate. Over the next 10 years, we expect dividend payments to grow steadily alongside earnings, with the payout ratio stabilising around 52%, which we view as prudent and achievable, explains Morningstar senior analyst Kris Inton. We think shares are worth $37.

With over 150 years of distilling experience specialising in Tennessee whiskey and Kentucky bourbon, Brown-Forman has earned accolades and loyalty from consumers for distinct flavors and consistent quality, building strong brand equity for its core Jack Daniel’s trademark in the US and globally. We are constructive on the growth prospects of the premium spirits maker, as its high-end positioning in the structurally attractive whiskey category (where a multiyear aging process creates significant entry barriers) aligns well with the industry’s premiumisation trend.

Beyond this, we think the firm is poised for volume expansion, thanks to a strong innovation pipeline promising new launches not only in whiskeys and tequilas but also in the attractive and fast-growing ready-to-drink category. In particular, close collaboration with Coca-Cola for the global launch of the Jack & Coke premixed cocktail has enabled the distiller to capitalize on demand tailwinds and benefit from Coke’s distribution breadth internationally.

McCormick & Co

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.73
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Wide
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 4.05%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

McCormick is the third and final wide-moat stock on our list of top dividend aristocrats. We expect McCormick to remain committed to returning excess cash to shareholders and forecast its dividend payout to hold near 60% over our explicit outlook, says Morningstar’s Lash. We forecast high-single-digit annual dividend increases over time. The stock trades 28% below our $65 fair value estimate.

Although McCormick is the leading player in the $17.5 billion global spices and herbs market—with about 17% share, nearly 4 times the next-largest branded operator (per Euromonitor)—it hasn’t been immune from macro and competitive challenges. We don’t think the combination with Unilever’s food brands (primarily Knorr cooking aids and Hellmann’s mayonnaise) negates these headwinds. Rather, we think the massive deal, which will more than double McCormick’s sales base to around $20 billion, brings significant integration risk. However, we’re encouraged that Unilever intends to own around 10% of shares outstanding while maintaining board and executive leadership representation, which we think could facilitate a more seamless marriage.

Kimberly-Clark

  • Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.73
  • Morningstar Economic Moat Rating: Narrow
  • Forward Dividend Yield: 5.25%
  • Sector: Consumer Defensive

In addition to rounding out our list of best dividend aristocrats to buy, Kimberly-Clark is also a dividend king, which means it has raised its dividend for 50 years or more. 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 Lash.

Should you buy dividend aristocrats?

Dividend aristocrats can be compelling investments, but they have their caveats.

For starters, dividend aristocrats can, in fact, cut their dividends if business conditions warrant. “A streak of annual dividend increases of any length provides no guarantee that a company’s dividend is secure,” argues former Morningstar DividendInvestor editor David Harrell. He points to VF VFC and AT&T T as examples of onetime dividend aristocrats that have cut their dividends during the past few years.

Moreover, dividend aristocrats aren’t necessarily high-dividend stocks. “Twenty-five years of consecutive dividend growth doesn’t necessarily result in a high-yielding stock,” he notes.

And last, dividend aristocrats aren’t attractive unless they’re underpriced—at least not in our book. Overpaying for a stock simply because it has a solid history of dividend growth only increases the odds that the stock is likely to underperform.

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