Is S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) the Best Dividend King to Buy for Safe Dividend Growth?

The value of dividend stocks cannot beryllium denied, adjacent successful today’s marketplace environment, which is dominated by AI stocks. The S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index, which tracks the show of companies with astatine slightest 25 consecutive years, is down by implicit 4% since the commencement of 2025, compared with a overmuch harsher diminution of 13% successful the broader market.

Dividend stocks go progressively fashionable erstwhile companies turn their payouts regularly. Historically, dividend maturation stocks person performed amended than their peers and person shown little volatility. The dividend maturation way records, backed by coagulated fundamentals, connection reliable concern options to income investors. According to a study by Nuveen, dividend maturation stocks person outperformed different plus classes with little risk. The study revealed that companies with beardown dividend maturation streaks delivered an yearly mean instrumentality of implicit 10% betwixt 1973 to 2024, arsenic compared to a 4.2% instrumentality of non-dividend paying stocks. During this period, dividend cutters delivered a astir -2% return.

Though dividend stocks besides bash not travel with a committedness and tin besides fluctuate, these stocks person made important contributions to the market’s wide instrumentality implicit the decades. According to a study by Hartford Funds, dividends and reinvested dividends represented astir 40% of the market’s instrumentality from 1930 to 2024, with superior appreciation making up the rest. The study besides highlighted their value erstwhile the system was successful the trenches. The information mentioned that during the 1940s, 1960s, and 1970s, the full returns were little than 10%, however, dividends represented a larger information of the market’s performance.

According to Jerome Powell, ostentation successful the US is apt to ramp up due to the fact that of the President’s sweeping tariffs. Here are immoderate comments from Powell:

“We look a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of some higher unemployment and higher inflation. While tariffs are highly apt to make astatine slightest a impermanent emergence successful inflation, it is besides imaginable that the effects could beryllium much persistent.”

While this presents an wide uncertain situation for an concern landscape, dividend investors are successful the catbird seat, arsenic dividend stocks person historically been palmy successful protecting superior against inflation. WisdomTree reported that from 1957 done 2023, dividends person grown by an mean of 5.7%, compared with a 3.67% maturation successful inflation. The study besides mentioned that implicit the past 68 years, dividend payouts person lone decreased successful six years, and successful conscionable 1 of those years, they dropped by much than 5%. In comparison, banal prices experienced declines successful 18 years during the aforesaid period, with the worst driblet exceeding 40% and an mean diminution of much than 11%. Stock prices person proven to beryllium much than doubly arsenic volatile arsenic the underlying dividend currency flows. This is due to the fact that marketplace sentiment often causes short-term fluctuations successful banal prices, whereas dividend currency flows, which bespeak the company’s semipermanent value, are little volatile. Given this, we volition instrumentality a look astatine immoderate of the champion dividend kings for harmless dividend growth.